“The Full Armor” – Pt. 6 – Eph. 6:10-18

So, I did some research on goals this week and by “research”, I mean I googled it, right?  Here’s a couple of quotes that I found about goals.  “Whenever you want to achieve something, keep your eyes open, concentrate and make sure you know exactly what it is you want. No one can hit their target with their eyes closed.” ― Paulo Coelho “If you have a dream, don’t just sit there. Gather courage to believe that you can succeed and leave no stone unturned to make it a reality.” ― Roopleen  “Reach high, for stars lie hidden in you. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal.” ― Rabindranath Tagore

Now, what I learned from my “research” was that there are a lot more people who are good at coming up with quotes than there are at achieving goals.  Do you know what the goal of our church is?  It is not something we voted on.  The Leadership Team didn’t come up with it.  The goal of our church is to further the Kingdom.  That’s our goal because we are a church.  If any church has something else as their main goal then they are churching wrong.  We are not to try to further our church or ourselves but to do whatever it takes to promote the Kingdom of God.  That is the Biblical model of the goal of the church and we continue to strive for that.

If that is our goal, then what do you think is the goal of the enemy?  In our series the last few weeks we have been seeing that our battle to reach that goal is not against flesh and blood but against Satan and his demons and all the dark forces of evil.  What do you think their goal is?  Their overall goal is to hinder the Kingdom.  They want to kill it, make it go away, distract it, whatever they can do to hinder the progress and the promotion of the Kingdom of God, and they should.  That’s a good plan for them.

Fortunately for us, we have the playbook of the enemy.  We have a powerful force in the canon of scripture and especially in this passage we have been looking at over the past few weeks in Ephesians 6:10-18.  This helps us to understand the schemes of Satan so we know not only what he has done in the past but we see how to expect him to attack in the future and I will say again that I believe that is one of the reasons why our church has been put to the test so often and so hard lately is because Satan has had to up his game and he is ticked off about us focusing on how to defeat him.

There are a lot of classic books on the art of war.  Sun Tzu wrote a book by that very name that is popular with military strategists.  Almost all other big names in military strategy have written books on how to be successful in battle.  Hitler had Mein Kaumpf.   Napolean, Ghengis Khan, Alexander the Great and Hannibal all had notes or writings explaining the best ways to be victorious over the enemy.  And do you know what they all considered to be one of the most vital parts of military strategy?  In fact, it is part of the strategy used even in the latest wars the United States has fought.  It is the strategy of deception.

Deception.  It is important to have the latest technology and the largest force possible and to be well trained with an excellent chain of command who communicate well but all these being equal, if you can make your enemy think you are going to do one thing and you do another, you can be victorious.  If you can deceive them into thinking they don’t have all the equipment they need or that you have more than you have; if you can deceive them into thinking there is no way they can win; if you can deceive them into thinking you are about to give up or that you are going to the left and then you go right; whatever you can do to deceive your enemy will benefit you, especially when you are overpowered.

Now, cue Satan.  That is exactly where he is.  He is vastly overpowered and will resort to doing whatever he can do to deceive us into thinking things that will give him an edge.  He knows that while he is more powerful than we are that we are protected by and provided for by the Almighty God Himself.  He knows he is doomed.  He has heard enough preaching over the years to know how all of this is going to play out for him but he won’t go down without a fight.  He wants very much to do his worst in your life as a Christian.  He can’t stand you and would kill you in a second if God removed His hand of grace from you.  We have several ways to protect ourselves from Satan, though, as we will continue to look at the armor of God in Ephesians 6:10-18.  Turn there now and read along.

¹⁰Finally, be strong in the LORD and in his mighty power. ¹¹Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. ¹²For 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. ¹³Therefore 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. ¹⁴Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. ¹⁸And 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 LORD's people.

We will be focusing on the first part of verse 17 this morning.  We have looked previously at how to put on the belt, the breastplate, the shoes and the shield.  Today we are told to “take” the helmet of salvation and I want us to look at 3 things as we study this passage.  I want to first look at what the helmet of salvation is and then how to put it on and then what it protects us from.

For the typical Roman soldier that Paul was envisioning here, the helmet was made of a leather inner liner with an outer shell made of brass or other metal and for the officers it often had a plume or row of feathers on top for show.  Now, I guess if I was an officer I would have to follow orders and wear a row of feathers on top of my helmet but for me that just seems kind of silly.  I’m too proud to wear something like that on my head.  When I wear a helmet, I want to look tough and manly.  I don’t want silly feathers on my motorcycle helmet, I can assure you.  So, that’s why when I wanted to dress up my helmet I went for the natural look.  What do you think?

Yep, nothing says, “Don’t mess with me” like a real skunk skin.  It actually did save my life one time.  I fell asleep on a long trip and when I woke up in the hospital the front of the helmet was mashed together and there was rocks and gravel all in the front of the pelt.  There are also some scratches on the side.  Good helmet and pretty much one of a kind as far as I know.  And the skunk smell is almost gone so that’s good.

But for us today in our battle against Satan, what does it mean to put on the helmet of salvation.  I think we can get a little better view of what Paul was talking about by reading another of his references to the helmet of salvation in I Thessalonians 5:8 where he says, “But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.”  You see here he says it is the hope of salvation but he is not talking about hoping that we are saved.  It is what is alluded to in Romans 13:11, when he says, "now is our salvation nearer than when we first believed." It is, says 1 Peter 1:5, "a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

Note that this salvation is a hope. Paul says in Romans 8:24-25, "if we see what we hope for, then it is not really hope. For who of us hopes for something we see?" In other words, hope looks to something we do not see or have rather than for something we already see and have. This is not the same kind of hope as hoping that it doesn’t rain or hoping something good will come on TV.  This is a confident hope.

So, the salvation of our helmet is something yet future, something as yet not possessed or not fully entered into. It is referring to a salvation that is to be ours when Christ comes again. Hebrews 9:28, "Christ…shall appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him." In short, we can say that the salvation that we hope to receive at Christ’s second coming is, as it is stated in Titus 1:2, "the hope of eternal life, which God, Who cannot lie, promised long ages ago."

So, we have seen what the helmet of salvation is.  We have seen that we will be victorious through Jesus.  We have seen that we have a lot to look forward to.  We have seen that salvation is ours to come.  Now let’s look at how to put it on.  When I put on that skunk helmet I always fasten the chin strap tight so the helmet doesn’t fall off.  You can test it by pulling on it and see that it won’t come loose.  It is the same with the helmet of salvation.  We are told about it in the Bible and you all told me last week that you believe the Bible and it has been tested throughout all of history and has proven itself to be true and faithful.

Now the option is to rely on what you think or feel which may well be corrupted by the great deceiver, Satan.  How many times have you felt something that turned out to be false?  Sometimes you may have a gut feeling that helps you but oftentimes our feelings get us into trouble.  Have the prophesies of your feelings come true since the beginning of time?  The Bible’s prophecies have.  Have your feelings proved themselves reliable in every way every time?  The Bible has.

Satan loves for us to act based on our feelings. We’ve seen that the weapons that he aims at us are intended to attack our minds and our emotions and to try to get us to be discouraged and to doubt. And since our feelings are certainly impacted by the circumstances of life, they change all the time as our circumstances change.

But God’s Word never changes. So, if we base our hope on His Word, our hope will be consistent and we won’t be tossed around by our feelings. In fact, one of the reasons God has given us His written Word is so that we can know without a doubt that our salvation is secure.

1 John 5:13 says, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”  John was writing to followers of Jesus so that they could know without any doubt whatsoever that they have eternal life.  That’s how you put the helmet on, by knowing, through that shield of faith, that you, as a believer have eternal life in heaven with Jesus.

If you’re like me, it might help to have some examples of people who have shown us in the past how to put on the helmet of salvation; how we actually do it and what it looks like.  If we are to take the helmet of salvation as Paul says with the expectant hope of our future salvation, I want to see how to do it.  Those are real pretty words but until we can apply them to our lives in action then that is all they are.

First stop is Psalm 28.  Most of you know that David is one of my favorite biblical characters.  I love David because while he was king and a man after God’s own heart, he was also very human and had terrible heartbreaks in his life and we can all learn from his example how to survive difficult times.  He was going through one of those difficult times when he wrote Psalm 28.  Read 1-2 and 7-8.

To you, Lord, I call; you are my Rock, do not turn a deaf ear to me.
For if you remain silent, I will be like those who go down to the pit.
2 Hear my cry for mercy as I call to you for help, as I lift up my hands
toward your Most Holy Place.

In these first two verses he calls out to God and says “If you don’t answer and solve this problem, I will die.”  But then in verses 7-8 (before God answers his prayer) he says,

7.The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.
My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him. 8 The Lord is the strength of his people,
a fortress of salvation for his anointed one.

David had every reason to be depressed and discouraged.  And he doesn’t try to cover over his hurt with fake smiles and plastic platitudes but at the same time he knows that God and God alone is his salvation.  He doesn’t know when it will come.  He knows it may get darker yet, but ultimately he knows, because he has a relationship with the Lord, that he will be saved and that brings him joy and strength.

I have another example of how to put on the helmet of salvation and I think this one is pretty good as well.  It should be pretty good since it is shown to us by the words and actions of Jesus as recalled in Hebrews 12:2. “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” 

How is that possible?!  How could Jesus, being God but at the same time being all man, endure the outrageous, off the charts physical pain and the emotional distress of taking on all of our sins and endure it with joy?  Because He knew what salvation was like!  He knew what heaven was like.  He knew the rewards and the benefits of being obedient even when your feelings say otherwise.  He could look forward to His own salvation but He also knew that He was our salvation and that through Him we could spend eternity in Heaven.

That should bring joy and praise like it did for David instead of discouragement and doubt that Satan wants to deceive us with and that brings me to my last point.  What the helmet of salvation protects us from is that doubt and discouragement that Satan uses in our lives every day to keep us from having joy and peace; that keeps us from living an abundant life as it says in John 10:10.

The thing that makes doubt and discouragement such powerful weapons for Satan is two-fold:  it keeps us out of the fight, sitting in our foxholes feeling sorry for ourselves instead of waging war but it is also similar to a virus in that whatever attitude we have is contagious.  When we feel down and discouraged because we have taken off the helmet of salvation and have relied on the view we have of our circumstances and how we feel about that then the other people around us tend to be dragged down into that as well.

The good news is that when people see us putting on our helmets and looking past our circumstances and feelings and looking forward to the salvation that is to come then they start buckling up their helmets as well and pretty soon we start to look like an army to be reckoned with.  People in the community will see us and see that we are going through difficult times but we don’t cave in.  We don’t start self-medicating.  We don’t start complaining and worrying.  Who wants to be around that?  There is enough of that in this world.  People don’t want to see it in the church.

Some of you may hear this sermon and think I am preaching a feel-good gospel where if we just believe and have goals then everything will be ok in this world.  You would be mistaken.  I wish I could preach something like that but I have to tell you that in all probability, as bad as it is in your life right now, things are probably going to get worse.  I promise you this world is not going to get any better.  As long as we live on this nasty, ugly, self-serving, every man for himself planet then things are going to get worse and worse.  There is not much to look forward to as far as the morality and standards of this world go.

But let me encourage you with one last thought from I Thessalonians 4:13-18:  13 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

There is our salvation!  There is our helmet!  Put it on and don’t be deceived!  We know what is truth and we have that buckled around our waist.  We know that we have imputed righteousness that comes from God and imparted righteousness that comes flows out of us and it is protecting our heart like a breastplate.  We have peace that comes from knowing the Gospel.  When doubts and fears come, we just take up our shield of faith and keep moving and now we have the helmet of salvation – that hope of Heaven - to protect our minds from being deceived about this life.

We will still go through difficult times but as Christians we have all this armor and more that is not available to a non-Christian.  The good news is that everybody can have this armor and God wants us to have it.  But first, you have to make Jesus Lord of your life, not just a part of your life.  You have to commit your life to Him, believing that He is in control and He loves us and wants to forgive us of our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  Repent of that sin today.  Put all that down and start taking up His armor.  Don’t be deceived any longer.

Invitation / Prayer

“Christian, meditate much on heaven; it will help you to press on and to forget the difficulty of the journey.” –C.H. Spurgeon

Paul said in Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.”

I say think about Heaven this week.  Think about what you are going to do, who you are going to see, and how, though we don’t deserve it, we are co-heirs with Jesus to all the good things Heaven has to offer!

“The Full Armor” – Pt 5 – Ephesians 6:10-18

I have some questions for you this morning and I would like for you to answer yes or no, please.

Would you agree that God is all-powerful? All-knowing? All-loving? Would you agree that Jesus is alive? Is He part of the Trinity? And the Trinity is God, 3 in 1, Father, Spirit, Son? Would you agree that the Bible is completely true? It is the Inspired word of God? Its words are powerful and will not come back void?

If all of that is true, then can you prove it scientifically?  Would it be fair to say, then, that you believe all of these things on faith?  Would it be fair to say then that you believe these things because that is what the Bible teaches and you believe the Bible on faith?

When Roman soldiers were training to go into combat (actually, all soldiers do this but our passage refers to Roman soldiers) they would prepare for battle by practicing what might happen if they were attacked.  The leader would line them up and say something like, “If your opponent thrusts his sword at you straight on you should step aside and then counter with your sword.  If he swings his sword over his head at you then bring up your shield to defend yourself.”  And they would practice that in slow motion in a safe place all to prepare themselves for the real thing when the enemy would really be trying to kill them.

That is basically what we are doing this morning.  We are told in the Bible that Satan is prowling around looking to see who he can kill and so all of us are in the faith training course.  Now we just have to be ready for when he attacks for real.   Just like the enemy of the Roman soldier would not go in slow motion, announcing what he is about to do and allowing the other to be ready, so, too, does Satan not attack in slow motion announcing his intentions.

He doesn’t come to you and say, “Um excuse me but I just wanted you to believe that God is not all-powerful.”  What he does do, though, is to place doubts in your mind when things happen in your life.

When you get a bad report from your doctor, Satan is right there to make you question God’s love.  When you check your bank account and everything has hit at once, Satan is there to say, “Well, you obviously aren’t going to be tithing this week.”  When your favorite sin comes tempting, Satan will say, “Go ahead.  It’s not that big of a deal and besides, nobody will know.”

 Turn to our passage this morning in Ephesians 6:10-18 and we will talk more about how to be ready when Satan attacks.  Like all good combat warriors, Satan attacks with speed, surprise and violence of action so we have to be ready for him at all times.

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 Lord’s people.

We will be concentrating on verse 16 this week.  This is our 5th week to be studying the armor of God and we have seen in previous weeks how we are to put on the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness and the importance of having our feet shod with peace.  This week we will be looking at the shield of faith.

I’m sure Paul is writing this at least with the memory of being chained to a Roman soldier.  He may even be looking at one as he writes it, we don’t know.  But Paul has had enough face to face time with soldiers to know well what they wore and how they dressed.  In this verse he talks about the shield.  The shield to which he alludes here is not the small dress shield used in parades but the big shield used in real battle.  It was almost as big as a door but had a handle on the inside the soldier could grab easily.

It wasn’t enough for the soldier to have on the body armor of the day.  For intense battles he needed the protection of the shield.  So also should the Christian not only be wearing truth and righteousness with peace but for the intense Satanic battles, we need to hold up the shield of faith.  But what does that mean?  What does it look like for us today? 

This is not necessarily the saving faith that is often talked about but the Greek word means the faith that is a deeply held belief or conviction.  Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”

I read the story of the little boy who fell over the side of the cliff and was sitting on a small outcrop of rock.  The firemen came to get him and dropped a rope over the edge and told him to grab the loop and they would pull him up.  He refused until finally his father called down to him and told him he would pull him up by the rope.  The little boy immediately grabbed the rope and was pulled to safety.  The little boy couldn’t see his dad but had faith in him and him alone.

So far, as we have looked at this armor, I have tried to positively motivate us into putting on each piece.  Today I want to look at 3 things that happen if we don’t pick up the shield of faith.  There may be more but for today there are 3 things that suffer from Satan’s flaming arrows that could have been extinguished had we picked up the shield of faith.

The first thing Satan’s arrows attack is your peace and joy.  Next, they attack your witness and lastly they attack your relationship.

A few years ago I decided I was going to do a Bible study and figure out the secret to getting and keeping joy and peace.  I dug deep, doing word studies and looking at the original Greek or Hebrew words in a concordance and was surprised by what I found.  I found that peace and joy have nothing to do with circumstances or stuff but are only found through…wait for it…that dreaded “O” word…obedience.

You see it in the Old Testament in the life and writings of David and you see it in the New Testament in the life and writings of Paul as well as others.  Think of Daniel in the lion’s den, Esther before the king, Peter in prison, Jesus Himself as the boat he was in was about to sink.  What do they all have in common?  Peace and joy through obedience.

The next time you see a dog sitting in a front yard with no fence, I want you to think about this.  That is the perfect picture of peace through obedience.  If that dog was to run off he would have to stay in the back fence but because he is obedient to stay in the yard he can go anywhere at any time.  So many think obedience is not getting to do all the fun things we want but with God it is freedom!  It means that God wants what is best and because we are obedient we can have the joy and peace of a dog sitting in the sun even when difficult times come.

And that drives Satan crazy to see you with joy and peace and so he does everything he can to ruin that.  So when difficult times come, Satan draws back his bow and sends the flaming arrow of doubt, fear and worry right into your heart and kills your joy and peace.  And the extra benefit to Satan is that rarely does your joy and peace die without taking out someone else’s.  And Satan giggles his ever-loving head off.

It says right here that our battle is not against flesh and blood but Satan wants you to think it is.  He wants you to worry all night about your kids and grandkids and then be mad because your spouse doesn’t!  He wants you to feel guilty about what you did to that person 20 years ago.  He wants you to doubt that your spouse is faithful. 

Satan may not be able to kill you because God won’t let him but the next best thing to a dead child of God to Satan is a child who is preoccupied and distracted with his own circumstances because Satan knows that child has no witness and that is the next thing Satan’s arrows attack.  They attack your witness.  So, instead of being obedient and picking up our shield of faith that says, “I don’t know why I am having to go through this.  I don’t deserve it.  I don’t want it and it hurts…BUT…I trust God to protect and provide and to not put on me more than He and I can handle.”  Instead of that we suffer with no peace or joy and no witness.

I want you to think now about how Satan’s schemes attack our witness.  Satan would have you to think that because your spouse is not as loving as they used to be that it is ok to have an affair.  He wants you to at least consider the idea that missing church every now and then is not any big deal and that God understands that you have had a long, hard week.  He wants you to think that because everybody else at church is gossiping that it must be ok and besides, who is going to get hurt?

I want you to consider your own little pet sin or sins.  Think for just a second about where you struggle and about what is going to happen when the news gets out that you are a gossip or a liar or a thief or a pervert or whatever it is that you do.  What is going to happen when word gets out that you do those things?  Nobody will ever know, huh?  Do you realize that is exactly what every single person in the news right now was thinking?  Nobody ever thinks they will get caught. 

“Whew, when my wife finds out I’m cheating she’s gonna be mad.”

“I know I’ll get caught robbing this bank but I hope they put me in a nice cell.”

“When my daddy hears me cussing he’s gonna tan my hide!”

I think about those Secret Service agents who were in Colombia a couple of years ago who were busted with prostitutes after a night of partying.  I guarantee you they thought there is no way anybody is ever going to find out.  I’m 2000 miles away from anybody who even cares and so I will do whatever I want.  Can you imagine being that man who comes home and has to face his young daughter who says, “Daddy, I saw you on the news.  What’s a prostitute and why were you with her?”

Here’s a headline from just this past week.  “Former U.S. Congressman Anthony Weiner wept on Friday as he pleaded guilty in federal court to sending sexually explicit messages to a teenage girl.”  He had even been busted for doing that before but he still did it again, just knowing that he would never get caught.

Now I don’t know the spiritual condition of any of those men but I know that is right where Satan wants all of us.  No peace, no joy, no witness and no relationship with God.

The Bible teaches us that once you ask Jesus into your heart you are always a child of God.  Jesus says in John 10 that nobody can snatch you out of His hand (and that is another thing Satan wants you to worry about) but we can lose our close relationship with Him and we do when we sin.  Sin brings a barrier between us and God.

You see it in the very first sin when Adam and Eve listened to Satan and ate the fruit.  What happened?  Instead of walking in the cool garden with God, they ran and hid and were ultimately banished from the garden.  I have an idea that as they walked out of the garden that day they could hear the echo of laughter coming from that snake Satan.

You also see it the Bible when King Saul makes bad choices, when the Israelites disobey, when David goes through Bathsheeba-gate or when Peter denies Jesus before He is crucified.  What do they have in common?  No joy, no peace, no witness and no relationship with God.

How about in your own life?  When Satan attacks you and says there is no way God is going to do what He said He is going to do and you believe him and then you do whatever it is that you do, then what happens?  Your prayers bounce off the ceiling, your wisdom heads south, your security is threatened and you wind up tied up in knots in the backyard whining like a puppy.

The good news is that when that happens I John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”  And our relationship is restored.  Our joy and peace ease back in and our witness…well, sometimes it takes a while for our witness to be restored.  With some people it may never come back.  Just a little added bonus for the evil one; the deceiver, the father of lies.

For me, I don’t want to have to explain myself to y’all.  I don’t want to have to look you in the face and tell you my excuse for not picking up my shield of faith.  I don’t want to hear Satan laughing at me.  I want to hear God laughing with me, saying, “Well done my good and faithful servant.  I know it was difficult.  I know Satan was sneaky but you did so well!  Come in here to my rest, my peace, my joy, my relationship.”

Go back to Hebrews 11:1. “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”  What do we hope for and are certain of even though we can’t see it or prove it?  As Beth Moore said, we have faith that God is who He says He is.  God can do what He says He can do.  I am who God says I am.  I can do all things through Christ and God’s word is alive and active in me!

That’s your shield of faith and it will protect you from all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  But only if you are a true believer.  That’s who Paul was writing to.  This armor will not fit on somebody who doesn’t have a relationship with God through His Son Jesus.  Just coming to church isn’t enough.  Coming from a Christian family isn’t enough.

You have to repent -  turn away from - your sins, ask God to forgive those sins and truly believe that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life and that nobody gets to the Father but through Him.  Then when you do that your life will reflect that belief in your changed life, including your ability to pick up and use effectively the shield of faith.  Do that today.

“The Full Armor” – Eph. 6:10-18 – Part 4

Do you ever have “one of those days”? Everybody has bad things happen to them every now and then, right. And sometimes your bad day turns into a bad week or even a bad month. And for some people, it seems like it is always something. Why is that? Is God displeased with us? Does He hate us and want bad things to happen to us?

I don’t even have to bring up all the things happening in the news. It’s bad enough for some of us here today in our own lives. I look out and see people affected by difficulty all over the room. Job problems, physical problems, money problems, marriage problems (those two words go hand in hand, don’t they?). Problems with the kids, problems with the car, the weather…It’s enough to make you just want to give up sometimes, isn’t it?

Well, it would be if we weren’t being so saturated by the peace of God that passes all understanding. That’s what Philippians 4:7 says; that our hearts and minds are protected by God’s peace through Jesus Christ. It doesn’t say that bad things won’t come our way and I’m not going to stand up here and tell you that being a Christian makes life easy but I will tell you that I don’t understand how people get through this life without the peace that comes from having a relationship with Jesus.

Did you know that having God’s peace is actually part of what we are called to put on when Satan attacks us?  It is part of the armor of God that Paul talks about in Ephesians 6:10-18.  Now, surely nobody here ever gets attacked by Satan, right?  You do?  How?  Is every bad thing that happens in this life an attack from Satan?  No.  Sometimes God allows bad things or even causes bad things to happen so we can’t blame it all on the devil.  Then sometimes bad things happen to us because we do bone-headed stuff that has consequences, right?

But make no mistake, we are in a battle.  We are at war with Satan and all his minions and they want nothing more than to kill you but if God won’t allow them to kill you, they will settle for making your life miserable, either through temptations to sin or by causing bad things to happen to you.  So, we are looking at what our options are when that happens.  What protection do we have?  What armor?  What weapons?  Well, Paul tells us in beautiful detail in the book of Ephesians chapter 6.

Verse 15 is where we will focus but to keep everything in context, let’s read the full passage.

Ephesians 6:10-18 says, “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 Lord’s people.”

You may have heard sermons preached on this beautiful passage before and if so I have to warn you that many times it may be a good and inspiring sermon but many times it gets interpreted incorrectly. To have your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace is not Paul exhorting us to take the gospel out. This is one time where he tells us to put the gospel on and then stand there.

There are many, many other places that tell us as Christians to go out and tell others the good news or the gospel but this is not one of them and it is important to know exactly what Paul was talking about because if we fail to put on one part of the armor, we can be assured that is where Satan will attack us.

On Feb. 28, 1997, 2 men robbed the Bank of America in North Hollywood, Ca. They went in carrying several guns each with over 3000 rounds of ammo and wearing full suits of home-made body armor that covered them from their heads down to their knees. They immediately started shooting with armor-piercing ammo that went right through the police cars when the cops got there.

When the police shot back the body armor repelled every bullet. It is estimated that the police fired almost 700 rounds at the 2 men but it wasn’t until one of the SWAT team members, who had ducked behind a police car shot under the car hitting one of the men in the shins and feet that finally the man was brought down. They had protection everywhere else and may have gotten away with it but they had left one piece of armor off and it proved to be their downfall.

So, it is just as important or more for us to know what armor is available to us and to make sure that we put it on. Paul tells us to be strong in the Lord and stand firm against the schemes of the Devil and to put on the belt of truth and the breastplate of righteousness as we have talked about in previous weeks. He then says to have our feet fitted with the readiness that comes from having the gospel of peace.

Some of your translations probably say to be shod with the readiness. It means to lace up tightly. As I prepared for this sermon I read several commentaries about what this verse means. Almost every commentary would explain that a Roman soldier’s shoes would be made of leather and metal with spikes on the bottom for traction or sometimes they might imbed rocks in the sole for the same reason.  They would also include brass greaves that would protect from the knees down to the top of the foot. The commentary would then go on to say that we should shod ourselves with the gospel of peace so we don’t slip.

I would read that and think, “Yea, we should do that. But what does that mean?” I read sermons from other preachers and they would talk long and pretty about fitting ourselves with the gospel of peace but few tried to actually explain it. Some would say that our feet should always be ready to take the gospel to all parts of the world and while that is true and good to say, it is not what this passage is talking about.

As we explore what it really means to have our feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace, I want us to see 3 basic things:

· The Gospel – the good news about Jesus Christ and how He lived, died and was resurrected and lives today so we can have a relationship with Him – that Gospel brings

·         Vertical peace

·         Horizontal peace

·         Internal peace

The Greek word translated “readiness” or “preparation” refers to the basis of something or the foundation, the firm footing of something. We are to be strong in the Lord, standing against Satan’s schemes, on the firm footing of knowing the good news that God is in control and that He loves us. Let me ask you some questions as examples.

How many of you have ever had God tell you to do something or not to do something and you wanted to do the right thing but you just couldn’t. How many of you have ever had somebody do something mean or wrong to you and you harbored a grudge against that person for years? How many of you have ever been scared about what was going to happen to you tomorrow or next week?

We have probably all been in all of those situations and the answer to all three is having our feet shod with the readiness of the gospel of peace. You see, if God has told you not to do something and you keep on doing it then you need the gospel that brings vertical peace, up and down, between you and God. Romans 5:10 says that before we were Christians we were actually enemies with God. He loved you and sent Jesus to die for you but until we accept Jesus into our lives to be Lord and Savior, we are His enemies

But the good news (the gospel) is that once we accept Jesus we are considered friends with God. We are joint heirs with Jesus to all good things including a life of purpose and fulfillment and then eternal life with God in Heaven. It also means that we accept God as our spiritual Father who is sovereign, in control of everything and while we should have a fear of Him and His power it should also bring us great peace because we know God has proven Himself faithful over and over again; and not just faithful but very loving, compassionate and generous.

Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Do you understand that? When God tells us to do something or stop doing something and we refuse it is because somewhere in our minds we are not sure if we can trust Him. We say we believe Him and trust Him but our disobedience is proof otherwise. When difficult times come and we start to worry and we take off those brass greaves that protect our shins and Satan hits us with a baseball bat of doubt and down we go. We slip. We fall. We sin.

Put on the good news, the gospel, that God loves you and wants to make you like Him. It won’t always be easy. He never promises to give us everything we want. But He does promise to work for the good of those who love him and that brings vertical peace or peace between us and God.

Another way it brings peace is horizontally, between us and others. One of the reasons the Roman army was so successful was because they knew how to march and fight in formation, as a whole. The men in the front had their shields to the front. The men in the back had their shields to their backs. That way the whole platoon was protected from the spears and arrows of the enemy.

Colossians 3:15 says, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.” The good news of Christ should affect how we deal with others. When we know that everything that happens has to cross the desk of the Creator, Sustainer, Deliverer and our Friend, then we should be at peace with other people even when they mistreat us.

There is always going to be the potential for friction anytime two people show up at the same spot for anything even if it is the church. Adrian Rogers was a powerful Baptist preacher from a time not long ago. He was in a meeting one time when a young man stood up and said, “There is only one way to see this problem and that is this way…” When he got through explaining his way was the only way, Adrian Rogers said, “It’s a mighty thin pancake that only has one side!”

There is usually at least 2 ways to see a problem and that is going to lead to friction but it doesn’t have to mean that we slip and fall and bring shame to the Kingdom. It is an opportunity for us to show the peace that we have with God to the other person, knowing, again, that God is in control and is going to work to make all of us more like Him and to our good. That ought to bring such peace that when Brother Thundermuffin stands up in a meeting and he is full of hot air and bad attitude and wrong ideas that instead of arguing over our preference, we let him have his way knowing that God is in control. We don’t compromise on truth but when it comes to preferences we show peace and let Brother Thundermuffin go home thinking, “What’s different about that person?”

I'll end this section by simply saying that every time there is disunity in the church, you can trace it back to sin somewhere.  Remember Colossians 3:15. “As members of one body, we are called to peace.”  And why wouldn't we have peace with others when we have such peace with God? 

The last way the gospel provides peace is internally.  Let me tell you what I did this week.  I loaded up the dogs, my tent, a fishing pole and my Bible and not much else and I went out to Possum Kingdom State park and spent the night and two days with the park almost completely to myself.  PK is such a beautiful place and I found the best campsite right next to the water.  It had a covered picnic table and I built a little fire that evening and I even caught a few fish.  There is nothing better that fresh-caught catfish over an open fire.  The weather was perfect while I was there and I’ll tell you, you would have to try pretty hard to be stressed out right there. 

Do you know what Paul means by “peace” in this passage?  The word means to have rest and contentment.  It is easy to have rest and contentment on the banks of a nice lake with perfect weather, some music playing and a Dr. Pepper in the arm rest of the chair as your bobber dances on the waves.  Anybody and everybody could find rest and contentment there.

But what about when it’s not peaceful?  What about when you have a crisis?  Do you have to lose your rest and contentment when the doctor says you have a physical crisis or the bank says you have a financial crisis or your spouse says you have a marital crisis?  When Satan attacks you with a crisis, did you know that you can still have rest and contentment?  Did you know that if you have the belt of truth buckled up and the breastplate of righteousness pulled over and your feet are planted firmly in the good news of Jesus then you can still stand?

I have two beautiful passages of scripture to illustrate this.  The first one is Psalm 46:1-3 and 10. 

1 God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging. 10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;

Though my body give way and my job fall into the sea.  Though my spouse roars and foams!  Be still and know that I am God.  That means to quit striving.  Let your hands hang down.  Quit running around trying to fix everything with your own power.  In fact, isn't that what Paul is telling us to do in our main passage?  Be strong in the Lord, and STAND!  Accept God's peace and stand strong when Satan attacks.

The last passage I want to look at is in Habakkuk 3:17-19. 

17 Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will be joyful in God my Savior. 19 The Sovereign LORD is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to tread on the heights.

For this last passage, I want you to go home and personalize it.  I want you to go home and substitute what sustains you in the place of what sustained Habakkuk.

Though the credit card gets declined and the bank account falls to zero, though the contract gets cancelled and the grocery store runs out of food.  Though there is no car in the garage and no clothes in the closet, yet will I rejoice in the Lord.  I will be joyful in God my Savior.  Can you say that this morning?  If not then your feet are not fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.  And that may be because you don't know God well enough; you aren't close enough to Him.  Or it could mean that you don't know Him at all.

In John 14, we see Jesus comforting His friends who are going through a really rough time.  These words are a comfort to us as Christians today but they are also an invitation to those who have never accepted Him into their lives to be Lord and Savior.

John 14:1 says, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me."  Trusting in the Lord is what gets you to Heaven but it is also what you have to do every day as you put on that armor every day.  This life is rarely easy.  Don’t try to go another day on your own.  You sure don’t want to try to fight off Satan’s attacks on your own.  I don’t know how anybody makes it through without a relationship with Jesus.

Repent of your sins.  Ask God for forgiveness of those sins and then trust Him.  When you do that you will have vertical, horizontal and internal peace.  What’s that worth to you?