The Armor of God (Sermon)

After some 20 sermons on the greatness of the goodness of God in the book of Ephesians the end is now near. Paul has written to entreat us to attempt at grasping the wonder of the Cross. And not only grasping the wonder of the cross but also the wonder of who God is.

That he has predestined you before the foundations of the world to be adopted as son or daughter. That though you were dead on the side of the road He chooses to redeem you. Though the portrait of you as the necrotic dog makes your mind falter and faint for the image is gross and the imagined smell would well overpower, yet the truth of the matter remains clear, God has saved you by himself and for himself.

It is here; at the end of the book that Paul gives the passage many of you are familiar with, ‘The Armor of God.’ The placement of this part of the book should speak to how we see this armor. This armor is not the main focus, this armor is not for you to read about and be impressed with whom you are when dressed within it. No! It should never be that you are impressed with yourself in this armor. Rather you should see all that Paul has written about before he comes to the armor.

Namely, that the Gospel is the hope of what you are, of who you are, and of who you will be as believers. It will be the thing that transforms you from one degree of glory to another for it is the tool in the Redeemer’s hands, which will be used to mold you into the image of Jesus.

Therefore before we continue on any further realize, get this into your brain, that the armor you wear as a believer is more than something to inspire you, and it is more than something to strike fear in your foes, oh it is much more. It is, as I hope to show you the Gospel. For as you put on the Gospel, by the grace of God so too is the armor of God worn. These two things, the Gospel and the Armor of God are inextricably woven together.

With that said now let’s pray and look to the passage:

Ephesians 6:10-17
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 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. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God…”

First, it is of worth to see that as a believer you are strong in the Lord, in the strength of his might. Only in God are you strong, for it is only in the Lord that your hope lies and it is only in Jesus that your foundation is built and thus it stands to reason that only in God are you sure of your footing.

You cannot wish to find your strength in your own fleshly arms for these arms will grow arthritic and the use of them will quickly fade away into only remembrance. Soon you who are young will feel the pain of age. Soon you who now “live life to the fullest”, so to speak, will see the ease of late nights quickly fade into the morning of old age. And even now some of you feel the wear of time and understand this subject more completely, that only in God is your strength to be found.

Also your strength cannot be placed in your reason, logic, or intellect for they too will come to nothing when the bitterness of dementia takes firm root within your brain and all is incomprehensible to your waking eyes. Old age is coming quickly and you who are young must understand that the things you now hope in will no longer be the things that can save you.

Neither can you take strength in the morals of this world. For the right thing now may not be the right thing in the future. Indeed the world is changing now as I speak and thus you cannot find your sure footing in morals.

You must, for you are bound by His perfection find all of your strength in the God who is, the God who has been from before there was anything, and the God who will be when all is dead and gone. In him, and in him only is there constancy, consistency and an immovable foundation. Dwelling in his strong salvation must become the theme of your life. For in his strong tower there is hope.

Second, by God’s grace you put on his armor.

The reason you are instructed to put on armor is because you are living in a time of constant war. All of the believer’s life is a fight against sin. From waking up in the morning to falling asleep at night, the fight against sin is continual. For your deepest enemy and you are one.

Let me describe your enemy, he is cunning and knows your weakest moments. He sees your deepest faults for he was your very nature. You see, before you were brought to life in the Gospel your nature was sin, that sin lived so deeply within you that you will be fighting him for all your life. The roots of his life sink so deeply and are entwined so closely with your life that only death will carry you away from him. Your enemy’s prowess in bringing you to your knees in the mire of sin is more formidable than you know. He has been defeated at the cross and knows the war is won by Jesus but he is now more dangerous than before, for he on his last leg and will kill any that come his way.

The devil will use you against yourself. He will tempt you with what you desire and cause you to sin by making a good thing a god thing. His schemes are damnable and his craftiness in the arena of sin is centuries in the making. But Jesus has dealt his death blow so his the stab of his sword will no longer kill you.

Therefore you put on the whole armor of God. So as to, by the grace of God, stand against this foe that much desires to see your failing and falling and to see Jesus made a mockery of in the entire world.

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

You do not fight against each other, but the devil, the world and sin. Though there may be temptation in the world around you the sin lies deep within yourself. Thus, as we have seen, you must prepare to battle against your own sin for all your life. Though the battle will be desperate and the fight will consume all of your strength; the sweat and blood shed will be shown to be worth the loss for the glory of God compels you and the war is already won.

But it is critical that you remember that you fight because of the strength of God given to you. You do not fight with your own ability nor do you fight with your own knowledge and wisdom, but with that which God has given and emboldened you to use in this battle.

So, because God has graciously given you His armor in His Gospel put it on, dress yourself for battle, feel His strength pulse through your veins and understand it is God working through you to fight your sin to his good pleasure. And thus any withstanding done against your sin, the world or the devil is a grace and mercy afford by God; and any standing firm in the truth of God is a grace and mercy bought by the blood of Christ.

With all that said let us now look at the armor provided by God to be used solely for his glory. I pray God uses this time to help us better understand each portion of His armor.

“Standing therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth…”

John 17:17 says,
“Sanctify them in truth; your word is truth.”

In his High Priestly prayer Jesus makes special mention of your sanctification, the process through which you are made more into the image of Christ. He says that through the word you are sanctified. What is this word?

In John 1:1-5 we read,
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.”

Jesus is the truth within which you are tied together as a believer. He is the piece of your armor that keeps your paints up… Though the picture is funny and the connotations interesting the truth of the matter remains there. A warrior of the Most High King will not be frivolously caught with his paints down when there is a battle to fight and an enemy to slay.

Some of you are fooling around with sex like it is a game, thinking that it will bring no harm. Others are more inclined to be satisfied by a 2-D image of naked woman. You call yourself a Christian! You say that Jesus is your all-satisfying reward and then go sleep with your boyfriend or girlfriend! Grow up! Put your pants on, the enemy has you in his clutches and he is killing you with your sin! Do you not see the bars all around you? Do you feel the pressure of this sin bearing down on your back like a mountain?

Be free of it! Run to Jesus; find your satisfaction in him and in him alone. Put on his truth; be consumed with the greatness of the goodness of God in the person of Jesus and stand firm in Jesus having put on the belt of truth and place those childish lusts behind you. You’ve been called from the mire of sin to the adopted place of son or daughter so conduct yourself as an adopted one of the King of the universe. Put on the belt of truth, which is Jesus, your Savior.

“… Having put on the breastplate of righteousness…”

Hear Ephesians 4:24,
“… And put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

From one degree of glory to another you are being transformed into the likeness of God in his righteousness and holiness. This righteousness is defined further in Romans 3:21-22,
“But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it-the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.”

Jesus is your righteousness. As a believer in the Gospel your righteousness, your goodness is built completely on the person of Jesus. “For he made him who knew no sin to be sin so that [you] might become the righteousness of God.” Jesus’ perfection is given to you the underserved dead. Thus though while you are still underserved you are no longer dead.

It is in this righteousness that your vitals are protected. Your heart is hidden behind the perfect righteousness of Jesus. The lungs with which you draw breath are kept sound in the loving care of your Redeemer. Your life is hidden with Christ on high. In the safety of his perfection you find your comfort and security for his embrace is sure and his strength eternal.

“… As shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the Gospel of peace.”

The Gospel is by its very nature a peace-bringing thing. For, Jesus “… is the image of the invisible God, the first born of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” (Col 1:15-20)

Now because of the finished work of Jesus you have peace with God. The debt you owed is paid, the punishment you ought to be eternally enduring has been taken and the just wrath that should be being poured out on you has been poured out on Christ on the cross. Peace has come between you adopted sons and daughters and God because of the blood of the crucified Lamb.
Now there is peace between your fellow man. For no longer is your wrestle against flesh and blood but against sin, the sin that dwells so deeply within yourself. Strife between your brother and sister must not come to sin for your biggest problem has been taken care of on the cross of Christ. No longer are the thoughts of others your biggest care for you are seen as an adopted beloved child. No longer are the slanderous words of others where your stock is found for you are declared as perfect as Jesus because of Jesus. No longer must the worries and struggles of this life be the things that define you for you identity is solidly found in the Maker of the stars.

Jesus is our Gospel of peace. He is the shoes within which we stand firm in his Gospel. And because he is your peace you are ready for everything, whether it is death or breathing, you are ready because Jesus is your hope.

“In all circumstances take up the shield of faith…”

Hebrews 12:2 says,
“… Looking to Jesus the founder and perfecter of our faith who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

All of your faith is based in, on and around Jesus. For his claims are outrageous, he cannot simply be a ‘good teacher’ or ‘prophet.’ Though all this world tries to press him into one of these molds he will not fit. For his claim is to be God incarnate! If you do not believe Jesus to be God then you have no faith and there is no foundation for you to put on the armor of God for there is no salvation in your bones.

Similarly you must believe! Many of you sit in your chair this morning and claim to believe that Jesus is God, but you remain the same day after day and year after year. Is not the Christian life marked by transformation? Should not it be evident that you are changing from one degree of glory to another? Should there not be a desire to study and know this God you “love?”

I fear that many will come to the Judgment Day having simply claimed belief. For in that day they must depart from God and forever bear his just wrath on their souls. Either you believe and are changed for you good or you don’t believe and are judged to your destruction, the matter is that simple.

For, “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.” (Heb. 11:1-3)

Jesus is your faith. Not your pastor, not your church, not your goodness, but Jesus. So this shield of faith, “… With which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one…” is none other than Christ your Savior.

Only in him are you able to quench those flaming darts that stick deep in your skin. Those fears which bring you to your knees and cause you to hide in the dark corners. Whether they are complete feelings of inadequacy or the desire to be seen as something you are not it does not matter. Those things, those fears that rock you to your soul are quenched by the person of Jesus, for he is your Great Reward.

All these things you suffer now will be of no comparison in that day when you behold your Savior face-to-face. When that eternal day comes and you walk in glory alongside God your Father all the tears of pain and strife will be wiped away and for all of eternity you will be discovering life as it should be in the person of God.

I pray you all see the Reward I speak of and thus see all things pale in comparison to the glory of God. That you feel the weight of this world leave your shoulders and you behold, with your waking eyes, the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

“… And take up the helmet of salvation”

Jesus is your salvation. He is the God-Man sent from outside of time itself into time in the form of sinful flesh to bear your sin. In your place condemned he stood. Paying the penalty for your sins. Dying in the most excruciating way possible. With his Father’s back turn on him and God’s just wrath being poured out undiluted on him. At the high price of himself Jesus purchased you. In this Good News your head is protected.

It is in this Gospel that the transformation of your mind occurs. That which at one time seemed folly is now the deepest wisdom you know. What at one time you considered to be the crutch of the weak-minded is now your only hope.

Jesus is the helmet of your salvation. It is only in him that you see the infinite goodness of God and comprehend the vastness of your sinfulness and the unfathomable-ness of God’s grace

Of Jesus we read, “Surely he has borne our grief’s and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.” (Isa. 53:4-5)

Your hope must be built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness. For he alone makes you good enough, he alone makes you righteous, he alone rescues you from every drop of death you deserve to drink for all eternity.

“And take up… the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.”

This thing, this book, is your offensive weapon.
Do you know where yours is?
When was the last time you read its pages?
When was the last time it broke you of your sin?
How often do you run to its pages for comfort?

There are many of you who claim to be Christian but do not care for the Bible. You are no Christian. For how can you love God and not his Word? How can you love God if you have no idea who he is? He is revealed clearly in Scripture but you wouldn’t know that because you don’t read it.

Rather than knowing the Creator of the universe you create your own god from mismatched verses and pithy quotes and call that ‘God.’ You bow your knee before an imagined being. You claim a stake in the righteousness bought by Jesus but you simply want the gift and not the Giver.

“But it is hard to read the Bible.” Some of you may say. You’re right! It’s hard to read something that is, “Living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Before which, “No creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” (Heb 4:12-13) But it must be done.

As a believer in the Gospel you must read the Bible, for in its pages is the Gospel spoken of and expounded upon. In its pages has the God you love revealed himself to you. In its pages is sound doctrine; in its pages is your firm foundation. May God convict you and bring you on your knees to your Bible, that he may reprove you and teach you of his greatness. So that above all things you desire to be satisfied by God and nothing else.

Stop wasting your life on frivolous pursuits you warrior of the King. There is a battle to be fought and sin to be killed; there are the weak to protect and the poor to love. There are others still inside the prison to be rescued by the Gospel. You are chosen to be the proclaimer of God’s Gospel. Come out of your drowsy state and see the urgency that is all about, see the smoke of battle in the air, put on the whole armor of God and prepare to strike your foe. Take up the Sword given to you and be taught how to use it by the Great Teacher.

But understand that the battle will not last forever.

The time will come when you may lay down your bloodied sword. When your dented breastplate may finally be taken off. When your splintered shield may be put aside. When your feet may breathe the free air. When your eyes will no longer see through the slits of a helmet but see the full picture. The day is rushing towards us that we may go into the Kingdom and no longer be sojourners in a distant land. When we will no longer have to suffer outside the camp with Christ but rather we will be with our Father in his house. When all will be as it should be, when sin is finally killed and Satan thrown down, when all that has been broken by the fall will be remade anew.

But, my fellow believers my brothers and sisters, that time has not yet come. Now we must stand firm in the Gospel of God. Now we must take up our sword and fight. Now we must wear the armor for our good and the glory of God. Now we must see dimly through the slits of our helmets. Looking to Jesus the founder and perfecter of our faith who for the joy set before him endured the cross… So too must we joyfully suffer a little while longer.

So be wary for this land is full of dastardly fellows that wish for nothing more than to see the redeemed fall and Jesus mocked. Wear well the armor of you King. Fight well the fight of faith. Stand firm in the righteousness of your Savior. You, oh Christian, are a beloved child and will soon be home.