Ephesians 6:13-14
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction: I didn’t bring any of my old security dolls with me to church this week.
Today’s message and next weeks message is really and extension of last weeks message. They really do all flow together and in fact, the verses we will start looking at today are really just an extension of what Paul has already said in verse 11.
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
Here he says, we must put on the “whole armor of God.” We said last week that we must, “Get Right, Get Ready and Get to Rumblin’.” So today and next week…we will be talking about how we specifically “Get Ready.” This whole section is one connected unit of thought. It flows together. Let’s look at the next few verses in this section.
13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;
17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,
19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.
Textual Idea: We must ready ourselves for a rumble.
Textual Idea: We must ready ourselves for a rumble.
Today we will talk more specifically how to get ready.
The text today starts with “therefore.” We are all bible scholars and you have heard me say this before… “whenever you see the word “therefore” in the text, you need to ask yourself the question, ‘What is the therefore, there for?’”
Did you experience any spiritual attacks this past week? If so how did you deal with them?
Everything that Paul is going to say from this point forward is based off the truth he just said. He just said that we are engaged in a battle with “spiritual forces of evil.” First of all, let that sink in. Something that is “spiritual” is not physical, but still a part of reality. That is really creepy.
It would be one thing to step into the ring with Mike Tyson when he was in his prime, he was lights out…his physical presence would have been so imposing. (I have dated myself!!!) Do you guys know who Mike Tyson is? Last week I referenced watching him eat Evander Holyfields ear. Did you know that? Check this out. (PICTURE)
Ok…so back to the point I was trying to make. It would be one thing to step into the ring with Mike Tyson when he was in his prime especially if you had ears and he was hungry. So, let’s say we walk into the ring and we hear the roar of the crowd and that tells us we do indeed have ears and our heart rate doubles and bead of sweat drip from our brow and it is evident that there is something to fear in front of us. Wow…but now after Michael Buffer says his phrase and is handed a 25k check we step forward to touch gloves and as we do…Mike Tyson disappears and the bell rings.
He is still a reality, he just happens not to be visible for the next 3 minutes. And we realize that this has just gotten a lot more difficult. And instead of him landing body blows that leave us reeling in pain, he start with the 1 two combinations that only our immaterial souls can feel. Doubts, temptations, discouragements, anxieties, worries, fears, “Did God really say this?” Did “God really mean that? You know He is holding out on you right?” “How could the unfolding of current events be working together for your good.”
All of those, maybe not all at once but throughout the course of the round land squarely on your soul and every immaterial part of you…and the bells rings and you hobble your way back to the corner and your realize…maybe you have underestimated what it means to be engaged in a battle with “spiritual forces of evil.”
This is no joke. and the problem is, some of you are hearing this and think it is because you don’t experience any of what I am saying in your soul. And the reason why is because it has become so calloused and bruised over time that you might not even feel anything anymore. Or you might not even be under attack because you pose no threat at all to the “spiritual forces of evil” because you have already been defeated by them and your aren’t in the ring anymore…you are out side the ring and in their corner. And some of you say… “No not me. My life is not that bad and it’s not because I am not being tormented by Satan…it is because I got a clue and wised up and I have come out from underneath the oppressive thumb of the ruler maker in the sky. You are ridiculous preacher man.”
Are you sure? Are you really willing to gamble with something so precious as your immortal soul? Here is the thing about the ultimate “spiritual force of evil” that we are up against.
2 Corinthians 11:14 (ESV)
14...Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
He masquerades…he deceives us about his true identity. He doesn’t show up and say… “I’m the devil look at the horns in the the pitchfork. Look at the red suit and the forked tail.”
What does it mean that “Satan disguises himself as an angel of light”? (2 Cor. 11:14)
First of all, it is idiotic to think that this is what someone who masquerades as an angel of light would look like and it is equally idiotic to think that this is his actual appearance even when he is not masquerading. He is a “spiritual being.” Satan is not a cartoon character. If we insist on having a physical description attached to a non-physical entity we ask the Prophet Ezekiel and then when he tells us our collective jaws will hit the ground in response to the beauty that is attributed to the guardian cherub by the prophet when he said,
Ezekiel 28:12 (ESV)
12 ...“You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
There is something majestic and beautifully attractive about the one who who is against us. Unlike cartoonist and medieval Catholic artists, the biblical authors actually give our adversary some credit. Not only is he the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty, they say he is “craftier than any other beast the Lord God made.” That doesn’t mean he has a future in Etsy sales. That means he is very skilled at presenting the bait but he hiding the hook. He is very good at painting rebellion against God in virtuous colors. His skill is unmatched in getting us to think of sin as “no big deal.” Everybody does it. It’s not as if for one sin you will be guilty of damnation. Or if that does work, he will show us the extent of our our sin and gets us to think about how horrible we really are to the degree that we can’t lift our eyes from our sinful selves to see the sinless Savior who was sacrificed for us. He is crafty.
Have you ever seen artist rendering of Satan? How do they compare or contrast with the description Ezekiel gives in Ezekiel 28:12?
Satan knows that if he showed up and said, “I am the devil.” No one would follow him. So he is masterful in the art of deception. He is deceptive and clever and sneaky.
Last week we gave a lot of wrestling and football analogies…now for a basketball one.
Think about your favorite basketball team being down by 1 point with 5 seconds left to play in the game. The coach calls a time out to come up with an inbound play that will give your favorite team the opportunity to take the last shot. But to your dismay, instead of the coach having the players gather round a clipboard, he walks over to the announcers booth and gets on the loud speakers so that everyone in the stadium can hear and then he says,
Hey Billy…you are going to inbound the ball to Johnny. And then Johnny you pass the ball to Steve in the corner after Tim sets a screen on his defender. Then Steve take the wide open shot for the win.
That would be crazy…all you would have to do is double team Steve in the corner and the game is over.
Satan masquerades as an angel of light…he is really good at it.
Some of you say, hey preacher man, I am like what ACDC said, I am on a highway to hell. And I would say, “Yes you are…but why in the world would you want to be if you don’t have to be?”
And some of you would say, “I’m on it because I am choose to be.”
And I would say, “But why choose to be?”
And some would unknowingly think that it won’t be that bad because of their conception of hell. The way that hell has been characterized in popular culture is as if it is some raving party thrown by the devil, but there is nothing further from the truth.
I can’t wait to go to hell and party with the devil and all my friends. What a miserable wretched confused thought.
The devil will have no opportunity to party in the place that was created by God Almighty for him specifically to be tormented in day and night forever. Hell, according to Jesus was specifically prepared for the “devil and his angels.” Remember the “sheep and goats” teaching in Matthew 25?
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
Hell was created for the devil and his angels and if we end up there it isn’t because God desires us to be there in everlasting torment. In fact, Paul tells Timothy that,
1 Timothy 2:4 (ESV)
4 (God) desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Here is the thing! The only reason anyone will end up in the “place that was prepared for the devil and his spiritual forces of evil” is because they will have rejected the life giving message of the One who is, “the way, the truth, and the life.” He was sent into the world so that “whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” And anyone who hears his words and build their life on His teaching will not escape the torrents of wind and waves, but their lives won’t fall apart because their lives are built on the ROCK and they are united to Him and they have have crossed over from death to life.
Have you ever thought or know of people who thought that, “Hell won’t be that bad…I am just going to party with the devil and my friends?”
The only reason human beings will end up in the place of torment that was created for fallen angelic beings whose leader was made, “full of wisdom and was perfect in beauty” is because misery loves company and they will have been deceived by those “spiritual forces of evil.” They will have preferred his beauty and his ways over the ways of the One who was prophesied by Isaiah that was to come who was said to have,
Isaiah 53:2 (ESV)
2 no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.
Humans willfully walk on the broad road that leads to destruction because it is actually a lot easier than following after the one whose path lead to Golgotha. They choose to follow after the one who promises life but delivers death, instead of following after the One who was, “the resurrection and the life.”
If you believe in him, even though you die, yet you shall live.”
This serpent has come in deceit and has tricked them and that is why Jude, the brother of Jesus yells at his readers to,
Jude 23 (ESV)
23 save others by snatching them out of the fire;
This is no game. You will not party in hell with the devil. The devil will have no time to party in the place that was created for his punishment and torment by the Omni-present, Omnipotent One who will actively and decisively deliver the appropriate punishment that the devil deserves for deceiving God’s image bearing humans into thinking that God was somehow withholding His good from them. This was the first atrocity that ever happened and it has lead us to where we are today. It must be dealt with appropriately and it certainly will. In fact the place has already been prepared!
And if any of us follow God’s adversary instead of the One who was sent to lead us down the narrow path and through the narrow gate into the joy of our Master, if we follow the one who actively hates us instead and we end up following him into his place of torment…we will be eventually lift up our eyes and scream out in agony for someone to dip their fingers in some water and to come and sooth our parched tongues because we will be in anguish in the flames, but that dread filled cry will not be heard by anyone and there will be none to come and rescue, rather we will continue on in utter darkness while weeping and gnashing our teeth. So, this is no party. This is no game. This is no joke, but for some of you it is your future reality.
Some of you need to repent. (GOSPEL MOMENT)
Once you do you need to join the rest of us as we...“Get ourselves ready for war by putting on the full armor of God.” The siren for war has been sounded…let’s suit up.
There are two preliminary things that should be noticed before we move on to our specific armor.
Why do we need to put on the “full” armor of God?
First of all, we need to pay attention to repeated words because they will clue us into things that are of great importance. So, I want to call to our attention that Paul says to “put on” or “take up” the FULL armor of God. He references the “full armor” twice. There is a sense in which if you fail to put on all of what Paul is about to mention, then you will not be able to do that which you’re supposed to do which is to “withstand or stand against: the plots of evil that are against us”. So in a sense, you can’t just pick and choose. It’s all or nothing. It’s all or vulnerability.
Second of all, we put on the full armor so that we might be able to stand. Remember we talked about that last week. This word shows up 4 times in the paragraph. The idea of standing communicates to us something firm and not wobbly. We should imagine ourselves as stable, firm, rock solid and sure footed. That is what it means to stand…we have a “capability” about us because we are “in the Lord.”
Now let’s enter into the dressing room and look at the specifics...
13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
Belt of Truth
Belt of Truth
What is at stake if we are not surrounded and upheld by truth?
So we all enter the dressing room and Paul hands us our first item to put on. And we look at him with dread because he hands us a belt and says make sure it is tight. Fasten in it up. This isn’t just for show. Now I know that to some of us belts feel like instrument of torcher when they are fastened up. Some of you right now are thinking…man I can’t wait to get home and take the wretched thing off. That is not what Paul had in mind. What Paul had in mind is, you need to move out of your relaxed passive state and into an aggressive active state. You are in a wrestling match. There is no time to have a wardrobe malfunction. The alarm has sounded. So wrap what is true around all your garments because your first line of defense against the enemy is to know that which is true. The belt is placed in the dead center of a soldiers body and holds it all together. The truth girded around our waists will keep everything in its proper place. We talked extensively last week about how the truth will set us free. We need to cling to that which is true and not be taken in by falsehoods. There is absolute truth that exists in the world even though the thinking of modern man says the contrary. If you want to know if there are absolutes in the world, go jump off a building and see what happens. No don’t…I will just tell you…you will fall.
Breastplate of Righteousness
Breastplate of Righteousness
There is no coasting as you follow Jesus. This is an active pursuit AND it is a pursuit that has and enemy that is trying attack they very causal core of our beings…our hearts. So we need to put on something that can protect our most priceless spiritual blood pumping organ. We need something to cover us from mortal wounds. We must protect our hearts because as Solomon says, they are the wellspring of life.
The heart in the bible is really all the immaterial parts of a person. The heart is the seat of reasoning, the source of decision making. It is where your passions, desires, intentions, motivations, and judgements come from. If he attacks the very core of our being with anxiety or guilt or discouragement, if that part of us is not covered with righteousness, then we are in trouble before the bell even dings.
So what way are we to put on righteousness?
One view says it is an “objective” righteousness: that is the righteousness that is given to each believer by Jesus when they trust in Him as Savior. If this is what Paul has in mind, then every time we recognize that we are being attacked by our enemy we can remember that Jesus indeed was flawless and He has given His righteousness to us. When Satan rubs our sin in our face, we can do what the modern hymn says.
When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within
Upward I look, and see Him there
who made an end to all my sin
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me.
We are “righteous” in God’s eyes and God’s opinion is the only judgement that matters. Not Satan’s. Not yours. Only God’s
There is one quote from Scottish pastor Robert Murray McCheyne who lived in the early 1800’s (1813–1843) that rattles around my brain often. He said, “For every look at yourself, take ten looks at Christ.” I can’t tell you how often I have to remind myself of that concept. Man, I probably think about it daily. That is how often I am tempted to despair or that I feel the guilt of my moment by moment shortcomings crying out to me that I am not worthy to be called His child. But I know of something that is more powerful than my feelings of guilt or my actual guilt and it shouts louder than all other accusations and it says:
1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
And because this truth is truer than my feelings and my failings, I say… “Devil…you lie.” and then I say,
1 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! 2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, 3 who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
So Paul might have had an objective righteousness in mind. Or he might have had a “subjective” righteousness in mind as he wrote.
What is a “subjective” righteousness?
A “subjective” righteousness would be a righteousness that is subject to the decisions making of each individual person. We all make choices and we are subject to the consequences of those choices. So this idea would put a heavy responsibility on our own personal right living. In this view, when we obey or when we actually walk the narrow path toward the narrow gate, then will be be somewhat protected by our “subjective righteousness” because we will see those temptations for what they are and we will not take the bait because we will have seen the hidden barbed hook.
Why is it important to guard your “immaterial parts” like your emotions, your mind and your passions?
This could certainly be what Paul has in mind because he has already spent 3 whole chapters describing how we are to “actually live.” We have been looking at how to walk in a manner worthy of the Gospel for months now. All the commands and imperatives that have been coming at us week after week since we looked at chapter 4:1, if and when those are obeyed, we would have been building up a subjective righteousness that by now would have covered our vital organs. You could almost say that it has been made into a breastplate to cover our immaterial selves. So that rendering makes good sense…so what is it?
Well, who is to say that it is either or? I think it is both/and. If you take both views and blend them together, I think that you will see that you can’t have one without the other. You can’t just believe right things, but you must act on what you believe. Your breastplate can’t just be conceptual, it must been actual as well if it is to work. And you won’t be able to have “actual” righteousness if you haven’t been changed at your causal core. There is an indissoluble connection between the two.
As believers we have a righteousness that has come to us by someone outside of us. The prophet Jeremiah spoke of a day when this would be our reality when he said,
5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’
The Lord IS our righteousness. His righteousness covers our vital organs. And then, we embody that righteousness by the way we actually walk as was foretold by God through prophet Ezekiel when he said,
27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
Paul elsewhere says to the Romans
11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.
We have been given a righteousness so that we might live righteously.
People, never, ever, for any reason take this breastplate off…it guards the wellspring of your life.
These are two items that must be on your person at all times…because whether you know it or not, we are at war.