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jeff
  - Joined on 09-08-2006
- Lichfield, UK
- Posts 54
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13 Truth Encounter - Our Defence: Putting on the Armour of God
Our Defence: Putting on the Armour of God
by Jeff Fry Ephesians 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. 19 Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should. Thesis: We must resist the devil by putting on the armour of God.
I. Intro
A. We've been learning that our faith is embattled on three fronts: the world, the flesh and the devil. And these things try to steal away from us our
1. our security - we are secure and safe in God
2. our significance - we are objects of high value to God
3. our acceptance - we are loved and accepted by God
B. But sometimes the battle gets tough and we get stuck in our faith. Something hinders our forward growth and momentum. Often times it is that sin that so easily entangles. It is different for every person - sometimes it is anger, lust, fear, materialism, etc..
C. We need to get free of this sin or hindrance.
D. Last week we learned that one aspect of our defense against these attacks is to know our position in Christ. This week we learn about another aspect of our defense - the armor of God.
E. The great news is that we can become unstuck. In our passage today you will see that it is very positive about our ability to come "unstuck" or as it calls it "to stand ground" against the attack of the enemy.
F. Let's see how we can be free of defeat and instead stand our ground against the attack of the enemy.
II. We must put on the armor of God
A. State
1. The context
a) Those who hit out at other people around them and destroy relationships instead of build those relationships don't really know who their enemy is. It's not the people around them, but the spiritual forces of darkness.
b) In the 20 verses preceding today's passage Paul talks about relationships. Relationships between:
(1) husband and wife
(2) children and parents
(3) employers and employees
c) That's important because this shows that Paul's thought process travels from relationships right into the spiritual battle with the forces of evil. There is a link.
d) Certainly destroying relationships is one of Satan's specialities and we must resist this through God's given armor.
2. We are not to make the mistake that it is the people in our lives that we are fighting with. We are to realize that firstly we are fighting a spiritual battle and we must fight with spiritual weapons.
3. If you fight in the flesh and with fleshly weapons, then you fall right into Satan's hands.
a) what does 1John 5:16 say, "If anyone sees a brother commit a sin … he should
(1) attack that brother verbally so that they would stop it
(2) don't have anything to do with that brother
(3) no - the rest of the verse says, "he should pray and God will give him life
(a) prayer is a spiritual weapon and we fight with spiritual weapons, not fleshly or worldly ones.
(b) spiritual weapons don't instigate conflict , but reconciliation in the end.
4. The Armour - Our spiritual weapons.
a) Key to interpretation: The key for interpreting these pieces of armor are the OT imagery to which they point as opposed to the pieces of armor of the roman soldier although that is helpful too (the writer omits some key items of armor - eg. spears and greaves or shin guards). The writer is concerned far more with the Christian realities to which the pieces of armor point than to enumerating the pieces of armor on a roman soldier of the day. After all this is what Ephesians continually does - points the Christian to the unseen spiritual realities that exist for the one who believes.
b) The words the author uses are also words used in the OT when talking about God or God's people battling their enemies.
c) pieces of armor of the Messiah in Isaiah
(1) belt of truth
(a) from the Isaiah 11:5 (LXX) we have:(i) Isaiah 11:5 and righteousness will be put on his waist, and truth will cover his sides. (my translation)(ii) the word " truth" in this verse in Isaiah in the LXX has the sense of faithfulness and whole heartedness as in one's devotion to the Lord should be with faithfulness and a whole heart.
(b) Meaning: "truth" in the sense of moral and ethical integrity, honesty, and faithfulness
(c) So, we are to put on faithfulness and honesty
(2) breastplate of righteousness
(i) where it says, "And He [Christ] put on righteousness like a breastplate …"(ii) in this verse the word "righteousness" has the sense of doing what is just and right and good - ie. being just, fair and honest in one's dealings. (iii) This is the moral and ethical righteousness, not the positional or justifying righteousness which is imparted from Christ to us upon salvation.
(b) Our weapon that we fight with is that we live an honest, true and just life.
(3) readiness which comes from the gospel of peace
(i) " as the feet of one preaching glad tidings of peace … "(ii) the feet are equipped with the readiness of the gospel of peace
(iii) this readiness is the readiness for combat and for standing in the battle that is bestowed by the gospel of peace
(iv) the gospel of peace allows us to be ready to fight the real battle. Maybe the reader assumes that we are not distracted by fighting ourselves and therefore can fight the real battle on the real front - the battle in the heavenlies with Satan, the flesh and the world. (v) The evil one will try to divide and create disunity, but we must be ready to take the gospel of peace to be unified and stay united as one against the enemy.
(4) shield of faith
(a)
(5) helmet of salvation
(a) Isaiah 59:17 Isaiah 59:17 He put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head; he put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak.
(b)
(6) sword of the Spirit (word of God)
(a) Isaiah 11:4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
(7) pray
(a) Ephesians 6:18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
III. Conclusion
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