Ephesians 6:10-20 - The Armour of God

THE ARMOR OF GOD

Ephesians 6:10-24

Key Verse: 6:13

“Therefore put on the full armour 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.”

In Ephesians 1-3 Paul outlines the basic facts of the gospel. He tells us in chapter 1 that God has an eternal plan to bring all things in heaven and on earth together in Christ. God chose us and redeemed us and made us to be children of God. So in 1:20 we read that God raised Jesus from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms. That’s part one. We have been made alive, raised up with Christ. Then, as chapter 2 goes on, Paul tells us how we have been brought together under Christ with our fellow believers. There is no longer a dividing wall between Jews and Gentiles, and indeed there is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female, for we are all one, in Christ, under Christ, and with Christ. In the second half of Ephesians, from chapter 4 onwards, Paul urges us to live a life worthy of God’s high calling for the gospel. Knowing the gospel should change our lives. In the light of God’s plan, we should start to live like Jesus, imitating God. Paul applies the gospel to our relationships: our marriages in chapter 5, and our family lives and our work at the beginning of chapter 6. How do we live in a hostile environment, surrounded by those who do not believe, and by spiritual forces of evil? We may ask, “Why do I have to struggle so much to live as a Christian?” Christian life is a spiritual battle. Mostly this battle is invisible and within ourselves. Through today’s passage we will be able to paint a slightly clearer picture of the battle in which we are engaged. Paul urges us to do three things in order to stand firm when the devil attacks us-be strong in the Lord, put on the armour of God and pray in the Spirit on all occasions. I pray that we may have victorious spiritual life by putting on the full armour of God daily. May God bless us to stand our ground in our spiritual battle until we see Christ seated in the heavenly realms.

PART I. BE STRONG IN THE LORD (10-12)

If the world was perfect, we wouldn’t need any spiritual armour. But this passage is about being a Christian in a hostile, non-Christian world. We can’t live our whole lives surrounded by Christians. So how are we to engage in the battle? Look at verses 10-12. “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 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.” We can’t face the world on our own. If Christians try to cope day-to-day without looking to God for strength then they quickly crumble and give up. The first step to win the spiritual battle is to know who is the object of our struggle. When we do not know who our enemy is, we cannot fight effectively and we will be confused without any clear direction. In a military battle, it is essential to know the strength of the enemy. In warfare, if we know our enemy’s weakness, we can win victory 100 times out of 100 battles.

The same principle applies to spiritual battle. We have to know who our spiritual enemy is. Verse 12 says that they are the devils and the spiritual forces of the evil in the heavenly realms. Of course, our struggle is not against flesh and blood. Our enemies are not people or nations, but the evil spirits that use people to oppose God. Therefore, it is useless to struggle with people in our spiritual battle. We waste our time and cannot win any battle if we fight against people. We need to fight the spiritual battle and not an emotional battle. Demons are fallen angels who rebelled against God. Therefore, they are strong. They are the rulers, the authorities, the powers of this dark world, and the spiritual forces of the evil in the heavenly realms. They are powerful spiritual forces. Revelation 12:3 says, “Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads.” Rev. 12:9 says, “The great dragon was hurled down-that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray.” Here the dragon refers to the devil or Satan. The horns symbolise strength. The devil has seven heads and ten horns; he is a powerful adversary. How many heads and horns do we have? We have one head and no horn. Among us, Yinka looks tall and strong but he has no horn. So he cannot match defeat the devil. Only the Lord is strong enough to defeat the devil. So verse 10 does not tell us to lift weights and become strong to fight the devil, but it tells us to be strong in the Lord.

What is the devils’ main job? It is to lead the whole world astray. It is to destroy the work of God. Where there is the work of God, there is the work of the devil. When we make a decision of faith to believe in Jesus, the devil comes right away to cause us to stumble and fall. When we live without Jesus, the devil usually leaves us alone. When God blessed Adam and Eve, the devil came right away and shot his flaming arrow, to cause Eve to doubt God’s love and disobey God. Satan’s temptation is very real in our spiritual life. As soon as we make a decision to pray in the early morning, the devil tempts us to stay up late with TV or video games, and then to oversleep in the morning. As soon as we want to go out and find a Bible student, the devil comes saying, “Hey! You failed before. You will fail again and you would better take easy and have a lot of fun. Don’t waste your time” The devil knows our weakness well and attacks us not to do the work of God. That’s the devil’s job. How can we defect the devil’s flaming schemes? We need to rely on the power of God. The devil is strong but God is stronger than the devil. By the power of God we can defeat the devil’s schemes. God defeated the devil by raising up Jesus from the dead. God is almighty God who created the heavens and the earth and made the Red Sea as a dry ground. Ephesians 1:19 says, “And his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength.” We must hook up God’s power in our daily life. We can defeat the devil when we receive the mighty strength of God. The devil is our enemy who tries to destroy our relationship with God and to take away our happiness. We don’t need to struggle with other people because they are not our enemies. We don’t need to struggle with our co-workers or sheep or children. The devil is behind them so that he can divide us. They are not our enemies but the devil behind them. God’s work is to build but the work of the devil is to destroy. We like to blame other people for all our difficulties: “My non-Christian friends make it really hard for me to be a Christian when we’re together,” we say, or “It’s very difficult to be a Christian at work.” That is true of course, but the battle isn’t against people, it’s against spiritual forces of evil. Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, it’s against the very real and very powerful forces of darkness. The devil’s scheme is evident like the scheme of Osama bin Laden and his associates. We need to solve the source of the problem the devil though the devil pretends that he does not exist. Therefore, we have to fight a spiritual battle against the evil forces of the devil with the strength of God. Then we can have a beautiful spiritual life serving the body of Christ with prayer and joyful heart.

PART II. PUT ON THE FULL ARMOR OF GOD (13-20)

In the first part we learned that we needed God’s strength to defeat the devil’s schemes. In this part we need the armour of God. Look at verse 13. “Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the days of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” This is a real battle, even if we are unaware of it. What sort of help does God provide for us? How are we to be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power? Paul says that we need God’s armour. In Afghanistan U.S. soldiers put on the full armour of high tech weapons to fight against the enemies. They crushed the enemies because they put on the armour. Do we need high-tech military weapons in our spiritual battle? No. Instead, we need the full armour of God. Why? It is a spiritual battle against the devil. We are soldiers of Christ. We need full armours made in God not made in USA and not made in China. We need weapons provided by God. What are the armours of God we need to stand the ground? Paul is simply highlighting the characteristics of the armour we will need to survive in such a spiritual battle. If we want to be a good soldier of Christ in the world, then here’s what we need. We need six weapons. They are truth, righteousness, readiness, faith, salvation and the word. Let’s think about each of these six armours God provided for us to stand firm in our spiritual warfare.

First, the belt of truth. Look at verse 14a. “Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist.” Let’s think the importance of the belt for a moment. The belt is used to strengthen our waist. It is used to keep everything together. How many people are wearing a belt today? If you do not wear it, please go to the department store and buy one. If we not wear a belt, someone can pull our pants and we cannot run well. Soldiers hoist their swords or guns to their belts. I resisted to have a cell phone before. But I needed one for our staff conference. It was difficult to carry in my pocket. Abe Lee bought a carrying case and I buckled it to my belt securely. In the same way truth is our vital spiritual weapon to defeat the devil. Jesus said in John 8:44, “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of all lies.” Here we learn that Jesus speaks truth and the devil speaks the lies. John 8:32 says, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” When we have Jesus in our heart and hold his word of truth, the devil has no room to attack us and we can stand firm. We recognize the devil’s lie immediately when we have the word of truth. But when we do not have Jesus in our heart, the devil’s lies look sweet and good. We have to be armed with the truth of God to defeat the devil’s schemes.

Second, the breastplate of righteousness. In the battle the breastplate protects our hearts from the poisoned arrows or spears or bullets. That’s reason why the President wears a bullet-proof jacket when he travels. Our breastplate is righteousness comes from God. In the spiritual battle the devil accuses us when he sees our weaknesses. The devil accuses us by saying, “You are a sinner and a hypocrite. You are a man of many contradictions. How can you be a shepherd without any sheep?” When we hear such accusations, we fall into self-pity, self-condemnation or self-righteousness. We say to ourselves, “Yes, I am not qualified to become a servant of God. I am a terrible sinner. I am a failure.” We fall into fatalistic thinking saying, “Oh, I don’t deserve to be a servant of God.” But this kind of accusation is groundless. We are not saved by our own righteousness but by the grace of God. Here righteousness means a right relationship with God. Though we could not have right relationship with God due to our sins, God made us have right relationship with him when we believed in Jesus by faith. God made us to be right with him. No one is qualified to accuse us. We don’t have to listen to the devil’s false accusations. We have to listen to Jesus because he is our defense lawyer and our advocate. Romans 8:1 says, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Wow! Nobody can accuse us and we can defeat the devil through Jesus.

Third, the shoes of the gospel of peace. Look at verse 15. The shoes are important for the soldiers. They cannot fight the battle barefooted. It is very important to wear proper shoes to be ready for our task. In the same way the Christian soldiers must wear the shoes of the gospel of peace. We are to be ready, at any time, to share the gospel of peace with anyone who asks us about it - ready to answer questions and alert to opportunities. There was a national emergency when I was in the army. So I had to sleep wearing my combat shoes on so that I could be ready for the battle with a short notice. Readiness is important in our spiritual life. How did you like YDJ soldier dancing? YDJ team did a wonderful soldier dancing with a short notice because they were ready. Sarah Brogi was ready with a short notice. Here shoes refer to the gospel of peace. Though we live in the troubled world, Jesus gave us peace comes from God. Do you have the gospel of peace? Are you ready to share the message of peace with students who are in trouble? Romans 10:15b says, “As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’” Usually the feet are not beautiful. But when we use it to deliver the gospel of peace, it is beautiful. M. Sarah Chang’s feet are beautiful because she delivered the gospel of peace to Lawson Glenn and Ellen Bakke.

Fourth, the shield of faith. Look at verse 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.” The function of the shield is to protect our whole body from the flaming arrows. In the movie “the Brave Heart”, most soldiers were killed by the arrows. Without the shield no soldier can win any battle. In our spiritual battle the flaming arrows comes in the form of doubts, unbelief and lustful desires. These days the devil throws the arrows of doubts and lust through the Internet. If we use the Internet properly, it is a useful tool. But if it is misused, it will turn into the flaming arrows to destroy our spiritual life. Sometimes we want to drop the shield because we are tired to hold it for a while. King David was a warrior and survived in many battles because he relied on God. We can fight well when we see the enemies. It is not easy to fight the invisible enemies. Sometimes we have the enemy within ourselves. King David became complacent and the devil threw the arrows of lustful desire. He sinned against God by committing adultery with Uriah’s wife. But by faith he repented of his sins and thus received forgiveness and became a man of faith. Faith is the best weapon to extinguish all the devil’s arrows of doubts and lustful desires. Mother Barry said, “I memorize the word of God in order to protect my heart from many garbage information in the Internet.” Faith is the best weapon we can have in our spiritual battle. Many parents named their children “Faith”. If we have faith in God, we can move mountains. Abraham in Genesis overcame his sense of loss by faith when God said, “I am your shield”(Gen 15:1) God is our refugee and our shield. Faith is mobile and effective to defend us from all attacks.

Fifth, the helmet of salvation. Look at verse 17. “Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit.” Football players wear their helmet and construction workers wear their helmet. We have to wear the helmet of salvation. In the same way salvation is our helmet. Salvation assures that we are heirs of God and coheirs with Christ.

Sixth, the sword of the Spirit. Here the sword of the word of God. This is only offensive weapon mentioned here. Of course, the sword is both defensive and offensive weapon. It is a multi-purpose. The best way to overcome the devil’s attack is to hold on the word of God. The devil tries to deceive us and to separate us from God. But we can overcome the devil’s attack by the word of God. Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to the dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrows; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Our spiritual revival came when we sharpened our sword through the book presentation. How’s your sword, dull or sharp? Jesus defeated Satan’ temptation by the word of God. That’s the reason why we have to be equipped with the word of God daily. Every piece of armour has something to do with the gospel.

So, in other words, to put on the armour we need to know the gospel and have a gospel lifestyle. It is as simple as that. If we want to be strong in God’s mighty power, then we don’t need to be especially clever. We don’t even need to have had an extraordinary spiritual experience of some kind. We need to know the gospel and have a gospel lifestyle. That’s the way to fight the enemy. If we want to survive as Christians at all - when we’re on the battlefield we have to wear armour, or we will quickly stumble and fall. We’ve got to know the gospel and live the gospel, every minute of every day: that’s what it means to be a soldier of Christ. That’s what it means to do things in God’s strength.

PART III. PRAY IN THE SPIRIT ON ALL OCCASIONS (18-24)

Paul tells us that we need to pray. Look at verse 18. “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” If we want to be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power as we face the pagan world, we have got to wear God’s armour. We have got to know the gospel and live it out. But we must also pray. If we forget to do any of these things we are living in our own strength and we won’t last very long. So we need to pray for ourselves. We need to pray that we will keep going. If God is the one with all the mighty power to sustain us in our struggle, then we need to ask him for it.

And we shouldn’t just think of ourselves either. “Keep on praying for all the saints” Paul says - other Christians are fighting the same battle. We’re in this together. Our prayer lives will be more effective if we keep this in mind and keep on praying for others to be good soldiers of Christ.

And finally pray for the people who are involved in proclaiming the gospel. Look at verse 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 for which I am an ambassador in chains” Those who teach and preach the gospel are also involved in the spiritual battle. They too need God’s help and power, so that they can be bold and fearless as they teach. It is very easy to be timid. When we think of our missionaries abroad, it is easy to just think about the money they need to keep going. But most of all they need our prayers. Many, like Paul, face persecution for their faith. Some see little or no fruit after years and years of faithful ministry. It must be very tempting to just give up and go home. Or if they are not quite ready to give up, it must be just as tempting to soften the impact of the gospel in order to escape persecution.

“Pray that I may declare the gospel fearlessly” says Paul, “as I should”. Even the Apostle Paul needed God’s strength to keep him going, so we shouldn’t expect our missionaries to get by without our prayers. Do we pray for them, that they would be faithful in studying and preaching God’s Word? Or do we take them for granted? Do we assume that they will go on faithfully preaching the gospel without our prayer support?

Verses 21-24 are final greetings from Paul. Let’s read verses 21-24. Paul wanted his flocks to have peace of God and to be filled with God’s grace.

In conclusion, look at verse 13 again. “Therefore put on the full armour 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. Stand firm then...”. The armour Paul encourages us to wear is all defensive. Even the Sword of the Spirit is a defensive weapon. The word for sword there simply refers to a small dagger, used by Roman soldiers as a last line of defence.

We are fighting a defensive war, but we are only doing so because we have won the victory when Jesus defeated Satan on the cross. We have the advantage, we occupy the high ground. Indeed, we are seated with Christ in the heavenly realms, saved by grace. The entire universe is being brought together under Christ, until all his enemies are made like a footstool for his feet. We fights from a position of strength, a position that was won for us on the Cross 2000 years ago, and which we are in no hurry to give up. We do not need to be afraid of the devil and all his minions of darkness. They have lost, and they know it. The spiritual forces of darkness - they are the ones who are afraid. The victory is ours, through our Lord Jesus Christ. All we must do is maintain our hold on what he has given us. We need to hold our ground to the end. It is hard to be a Christian in an unbelieving world. So we need to be strong in the Lord and in his mighty strength by putting on the armour he has provided. We have to live a life worthy of God’s call by making disciples of Jesus and by living for the glory of God. May God bless us to put on the armour of God daily and win spiritual victory daily. Let’s read the key verse 13.