|
Our
Armor in Christ
Charles R. Biggs
Text:
Ephesians 6:10-18
Ephesians
6:10-18: 10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord
and in the power of His might. 11 Put
on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles
of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle
against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of
wickedness in the heavenly places.
13 Therefore take up the whole armor of
God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done
all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with
truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and
having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above
all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all
the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of
salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying
always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to
this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints -- 19 and
for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly
to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an
ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
Introduction
- Standing
firm in the Lord (vv. 10-13)
- Standing
clothed in the Lord (vv. 14-17)
- Standing
together in the Lord (vv. 18-20)
Introduction
Here is Paul's final and climatic words to the church at Ephesus. Paul was imprisoned at
Rome and he uses the imagery of the Roman soldier's armor, as well as
themes from the OT to teach the Ephesians a great and precious truth about
the battle won by Jesus Christ and the victorious position that is to be
maintained by his people until he returns. This is the part of Paul's
letter where he teaches the people of God how or what they should, how they
should live, because of the reality of who they are in Christ. Paul has
taught in his letter of the grace and love that the Father had for his
people from the foundation of the world. He ends the letter appropriately,
by telling the people of God how they should live and stand as they
continue as a Church, and to stand firm while they await expectantly their
Sovereign Lord and Savior.
Remember that
Paul has told believers that God has made us alive with Christ and has
seated them with Christ in the heavenlies, this
is the status of "who the believers truly are" - they are
victorious and united with the risen and ascended Christ as 2:6 teaches us.
Now he wants to tell them to stand "as they are" - -that is, to
stand firm in the armor provided by God because the victory has been won by
Christ! Paul has told the Ephesians, that in light of who they are as
seated with Christ, how they should live, or walk, living out their calling
until Christ returns and renews all things (4:1; cf. 4:17; 5:2; 5:8; 5:15).
This conclusion in chapter six combines the truth of the believers'
"sitting in the heavenlies" and the
walking "in this present age", with the final exhortation to the
readers now "to stand"- - that is, to maintain and appropriate
their position of strength and victory. We truly as believers are seated
with the victorious and ascended Lord Jesus and therefore in the evil day,
we are to stand. We live worthy of our calling in the world in the face of
the opposition of evil cosmic forces.
The battle is
won, we as Christ's people are only to stand. Let's consider point one: (1)
Standing Firm in the Lord. We have a real and true enemy who is not flesh
and blood. The victory over the world, the flesh and the devil has been
accomplished by our Lord's Jesus' Person and Work. Paul does not tell the
Ephesians and us to "win the battle" he tells us to stand in the
day of the battle- - which is now- - the last days. These are the
"evil days" (look earlier at Eph. 5:14-16).
Paul is telling
us to be strong (imperative) in the Lord, and in the power of his might. He
tells the church to put on the whole armor of God, so that we might be able
to stand against the wiles, or craftiness, or tricks of the devil. In
ourselves, we are not able to stand- -we stand in the might of the LORD,
united to him by faith. His victory over sin and death and the devil, is
our victory! Christ was victorious on behalf of his people. The spiritual
battle we fight is in the power and might of the Lord and his work on our
behalf.
Now you may
ask: Why is there such a battle in the Christian life in the first place?
Well, we must remember the precious and glorious truth told to us in
chapter two of Ephesians. We have been rescued from the dominion of the
Prince of the Power of the air, we no longer follow the spirit of this
world, and are no longer led by his power- - but we who are in Christ are
led by the Spirit of the LORD God Almighty. Not all have been redeemed and
thus they still serve their master, obeying his whims and desires. The
Devil is angry with our God and Father who, by his grace has made us alive
even while we were dead, and the Devil's people follow the ways of the
world, not the ways of God. In other words, since Christ has come and
inaugurated his Kingdom by his life, death, resurrection and ascension, you
might say there is this final battle, final showdown between the "sons
of the light" and the "sons of the darkness".
This may seem
evident, but think about the implications for the Christian. We rest in the
salvation that has been permanently wrought by the Person and Work of
Christ on our behalf and we have been transferred from the kingdom of
darkness, into the Kingdom of the dear Son whom God loves and has sent to
reconcile us unto himself! You may sum this conflict up in this way:
"Because Christ is the King, the one who has conquered sin, hell, and
the devil, there is tension between Christ's Kingdom, which proclaims the
gospel of the death and resurrection of the Lord Christ, and the Kingdom of
Satan, the prince and the power of the air- - that is, the powers of
darkness.
In order to see
this victory, look at Colossians 2:9-15:
9 For in him the
whole fulness of deity dwells bodily,
10 and you have come to fulness of
life in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.
11 In him also you were circumcised
with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of flesh in
the circumcision of Christ;
12 and you were buried with him in baptism, in which you were
also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from
the dead.
13 And you, who were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together
with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,
14 having canceled the bond which stood against us with its
legal demands; this he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
15 He disarmed the principalities and
powers and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in him.
You might also
ask: Where does this standing firm in the Lord take place? Look at the
passages before our passage (do not forget Paul's context). In chapter 5,
Paul has told them how to "walk" as imitators of God, as his
beloved children. In 5:22-33, Paul speaks about husbands and wives, the
Church; in 6:1-4, Paul speaks about children in parents; in 6:5-9, Paul
speaks about slaves and masters (or today perhaps employers and employees).
What does this teach us about Ephesians 6:10ff? Well, the standing firm
against the devil and his craftiness, in the power and might of the Lord,
is in everyday affairs: marriage, church, family, business relations! This
is the arena for our standing in the power of the Lord, and I do not have
to remind you, this is the arena where Satan and his children will attack
most vehemently!
The importance of
the armor of God is that from head to toe the Roman warrior was clothed
with Rome's protection from all their enemies- - the Roman soldier's word
the armor of Rome. In a similar way, Christian's are clothed with
protection from the armor of God. It is the armor of God,
that is the emphasis. It is not a protection we have left to
ourselves, we are vulnerable, weak and the devil is mightier that us. We
are fallen and indefensible before the great accuser of the brethren in the
deadness of our trespasses and sins (as Paul has described our condition
earlier in Ephesians chapter 2). The devil is the prince of the power of
the air, and we have no weapons to stand against his power in the evil day.
We are naked, not only before the taunts of the enemy, but naked before a
Holy and Just God without a righteousness given to us by God.
This is the
righteousness given to us by God, it is the
working of his resurrection power in our hearts when he raised them from
the dead. God gives to us the righteousness of Christ and unites us by
faith so that the Scriptures truly teach that we are seated with Christ in
the heavenlies, which simply means we are united
with Christ and spiritually where he is in the new creation- -he has been
exalted to the right hand of God, above all principalities and powers, not
only in this age, but also in the age to come as Ephesians 1:20ff teaches
us. Because of Christ, we are able to stand firm clothed in his
righteousness against all the spiritual forces of the evil one. Like David,
we can stand firm when we confront the evil one, because as David, we stand
firm in the name of the LORD God of Israel!
Next, let us
consider the second point of (2) Standing clothed in the Lord, or the
wearing of the armor of God. Paul is drawing upon imagery that the Church
of Ephesus would have recognized in a Roman soldier. Perhaps, more
importantly however, he is using imagery and themes from the OT revelation
of God the Divine Warrior. God fought on behalf of Israel in the OT. The
Israelites took the land of Canaan by the defeat of "flesh and blood
enemies" because the LORD was with them to deliver them out of the
hand of their enemies. With the coming of Christ, the Messiah of God, he
has come to once and for all defeat the enemies of God and his people. Christ
Jesus withstood the devil and his temptations in the wilderness. He did
this where Adam had failed and fallen. This Christ Jesus withstood the
devil on behalf of his people, fulfilled the Law on our behalf, and has
defeated sin, death and the devil by his perfect work and his resurrection
from the dead. God has raised him above every principality and power that
would try to destroy his people. Our God reigns!
We stand in
Christ's righteousness as "spiritual" warriors. We are not
commanded in this time period to fight "flesh and blood" enemies-
- in fact, Jesus told us to "put up the sword" when he
surrendered to Roman and priestly authorities to secure our salvation and
the victory over the world. Our blessing in Christ is that we are seated
with Christ in his victorious place at the right hand of God! As Joshua had
led the Israelites in the OT to destroy the enemies of God in order to take
the land, so the One greater than Joshua has come. He has permanently
destroyed and defeated all the spiritual enemies of God and his people. We
learn in Hebrews 4 that Jesus has completely destroyed the works of the
devil, but we still await the Final Day when this shall fully be realized.
This too is part of the already not yet. Our Lord Jesus has already
defeated Satan and inaugurated his kingdom, but we do not fully see the
defeat or the full kingdom of Christ established over all the earth.
Another way to say this is: The powers of the wicked age, however much
already vanquished in Christ, now that Satan has been "bound" to
use this language, these powers have yet to become harmless. But in order
to be able to contend against them suitably, the church has received an armor from God, so richly furnished that it is able
to continue to stand as it waits upon its King to return and renew all
things!
Look at Is.
59:17; Is. 11:4-5. Notice the armor and weapons of God is a mixture of
God's very own, as described in Is. 59, with the armor and weapons of the
Messiah in Is. 11:4-5. The battle has been won by Christ, but complete
victory lies in the future- -this is the "day of evil" (v. 13;
cf. 5:16- "the days are evil"). Notice in verses 14-17, the
emphasis on standing firm is standing firm together as a church, not
independently (remember Paul's earlier teaching in Ephesians 4, concerning
the unity of the Church as the Body of Christ?). The church is given God's
armor- - and the Messiah's belt of truth and breastplate of righteousness
are added, along with his powerful word which strikes judgment according to
the verses we read in Isaiah 11:4-5.
In v. 15, there
is an allusion to Is. 52:7. The church needs a deep spiritual understanding
of the gospel of peace in order to stand (cf. 2:14-17). This provides the
church with a firm grip for their feet to stand that will equip them to be
ready and prepared for battle. It also is a readiness to teach the
"children of darkness", those who war against you, the truth of
salvation. This is the challenge. When you are being persecuted by those
who are "flesh and blood" (i.e. "men", cf. Gal. 1:16),
it is easy to lash out against them in anger. This is where you must
remember that your battle is not against "flesh and blood". Those
who scoff at children of the light, those who do battle against you, know
that your great weapon is to tell them the truth of the gospel of being
saved by grace alone through faith! This is the hope of all the
"children of darkness" before the Great and Dreadful Day of the
Lord.
If you are here
today and are a child of darkness, one who hates the Church and Jesus
Christ, look away from yourselves today to Christ- - believe upon the Lord
Jesus Christ and you shall be saved- - saved from the Day of Wrath that is
coming on you children of disobedience. We must never forget that we are
all born dead in trespasses and sins, and we want to be able to declare the
good news of a God that raises dead hearts up from the dead- -to give
everlasting life through his Son!
In v. 17, the
helmet of salvation is described as part of the armor of God. Another
allusion to Isaiah 59:17. This assures our hearts of our union with Christ-
-this protects our mind and allows us to understand the truth that we are
truly seated with Christ in his exalted and victorious place at God's right
hand.
As Christ has
won the victory for us and we not sit with him, we then walk as holy people
because as Eph. 2:10ff teaches us: "We have been created in Christ
Jesus to do good works which God prepared beforehand for us to walk in
them." We also know from Paul's description of this armor in Romans
13:10-14:
10 Love does no harm
to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
11 And do this, knowing the time, that
now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer
than when we first believed.
12 The night is far spent, the day is
at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on
the armor of light.
13 Let us walk properly, as in the day,
not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and
envy.
14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.
This armor of
God, or armor of light, is the holiness and fruit which we bear as being
united to Christ by faith. Notice in Romans 13, how the Apostle Paul
compares the old way of living, the living according to this present age,
with the life of walking in Christ because we have put on the armor of
light. There is an important connection we do not want to miss in the
casting off the works of darkness, putting on the armor of light, walking
properly, and putting on the Lord Jesus Christ. This is how we must
understand the armor of God. It is a life of living truthfully or honestly,
it is living righteously in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.
It is believing by faith in our Savior who has
overcome and the words which he has given to us in his Scriptures. It is
not just the pieces of the armor we should notice, but that it is indeed
the full armor of God to help us to stand in the day of evil- - which is
now before the return of Christ.
Since we have
looked at the whole of the armor and its OT background and Roman imagery,
let's focus on two of the pieces of the armor: the shield of faith and the
sword of the Spirit. Remember, in order to stand our faith must always been
looking away from ourselves to Christ. Faith every looks away and grabs
hold of the righteousness of God provided us in Christ. The arrows of the
evil one flame - -they sting and hurt us! We must guard ourselves by our
faith- -this is our shield that protects us. Our faith ever hopes in God's
promises and truths revealed to us in his word. Thus the reason for the
sword of the Spirit.
The Sword of
the Spirit and the Shield of Faith are listed together purposely. Faith and
the Word go together as a warrior's shield and sword. The shield protects
from attacks without - -it is defensive - the sword is offensive, it
marches forward in the truths of God's word lighting our path and providing
a lamp for our feet to lead us in the way of righteousness for the glory of
God.
Why is the Word
important, why is it described as a sword? Well, what has God said about
you? What does God think about you in Christ? This is where the word is
extremely important to you as Christians standing in the evil day! The Word
of God is the place where God teaches us about the righteousness of Christ!
It is where we learn of the love of God for us and his building of his
Church- - the preparation of Christ's bride- - that
he will make pure and unspotted, to be given to Christ on the day he
returns.
Only the Word
of God can strengthen our faith just as the sword can strengthen the use of
a shield for a soldier. The Word teaches about God, our utter inability to
keep his righteous and just commandments. As well as the absolute depravity
and inability of doing anything righteous before him. But, by his grace,
the Word teaches us of the Christ, who in the fullness of time was born
under the Law, in order to fulfill the righteous requirements of God's holy
law!
The Word of God
continues to go forward on the offensive, because by the power of the
Spirit of God working with the Word, it delivers men out from under the
bondage of the flesh, the world and the devil, and makes them children of
the Living God.
Finally, in
verses 18-20, we want to consider standing together in battle. Prayer is
not an additional piece of the armor of God. The armor of God which can be
summed up as a true and spiritual understanding of the truth of Christ and
his gospel combined with alert prayerfulness - -this is the right
combination for standing firm. We stand firm with the armor of God provided
for us, but we also are commanded to pray at all times in the Spirit. The
same Spirit that works in us Christ-likeness as explained in verses 14-17:
righteousness, truth, salvation- -all the fruits of the Spirit to stand
firm in day to day situations, is the same Spirit that helps us to pray. We
learn this also from Paul's letter to the Romans, in the eighth chapter.
His command here is for the Church who is united together, growing in
maturity and knowledge of Christ as Paul explained in chapter 4 of
Ephesians, that church is to be praying together and for one another.
Have you ever
seen a soldier on the battlefield by himself? Well, the church is a
corporate body - -Christ's body. This body of Christ is covered together
from head to toe with the armor of God and his victorious Messiah. We
should also pray for one another with this mindset. Knowing that as
Christ's body, his church we are to be unified in all things, including the
standing firm and praying one for another. As Paul teaches in 1 Cor. 12- - the "eyes" problem is also the
"foots" problem, the "arms" rejoicing and strength is
also the "hands" joy and power! We need to stand together in the
armor of the Lord and pray for one another constantly. If we know the
battle is difficult in our own lives, then we must know that the battle is
just as difficult in other's within Christ's body.
With this
truth, notice verse 19. Now of all the people in the world, you would think
that there was one Christian who needed no prayer. A Christian who was
mighty in the Lord and strong in his might, one able to stand alone on the
evil day. But notice Paul's command here is a command for prayer for all
the saints- -including the Apostle Paul! Even the Apostle Paul depended on
the Ephesian church and other churches in the
body of Christ as he ministered unto the Lord. We all have unique gifts and
callings, and we want to pray for one another that Christ will be honored
in the use of our gifts and callings. We must pray for one another. We must
see the armor of God as the clothing of Christ over his church and we want
to stand firm in these last days.
Those who are
standing clothed in Christ's righteousness, those who belong to his body,
the Church- -Nothing can overcome you! Nothing can ever separate you from
the love of God in Christ. Turn to Romans 8:31-39.
Prayer
Final hymn: Christ Shall have Dominion.
Benediction: Church: Know this! You know from the Apostle
Paul that the whole creation is groaning for redemption, waiting for Christ
to return. For now, you must understand that the victory has been won by
your great Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ. You must know the truth of Romans
16:20, that although the "standing in the Lord" today will have
its difficulties, God will soon crush Satan under the feet of the church,
the body of Christ, in accordance with the promise given at the ejection of
Adam from paradise, a long, long, time ago! God is faithful to his people!
|
