The Armor of God part 3
Ephesians • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 4 viewsWe must be prepared to fight by putting on the full armor of God
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The Armor of God Part 3
Ephesians 6:10-17
No one ever faced a more menacing figure than when David stood before Goliath. The Philistine Giant stood 9 feet 6” tall. He weighed almost 500 lbs. When you compare him to one of the largest human beings alive today, Shaquille O’Neal, you see there are no comparisons.
Shaq is 7’1” and 320 lbs. So, Goliath would dwarf Shaquille O’Neal by more than two feet and outweigh him by two hundred pounds.[1]
The armor Goliath wore weighed 125 lbs. and he carried a 14-foot spear that had an iron tip. The giant was an invincible killing machine. The men of Israel had every right to cower in fear and refuse to go out and fight him. They couldn’t win and they knew it.
Then David, a young shepherd boy shows up on the scene to bring his brother’s bread. He heard the giant’s threats, and he accepted the challenge.
Instead of the men of Israel refusing to let this young boy fight for them. These cowards begin to fit him with the king’s armor. They tried to put the king’s helmet on David, and they tried to get him to carry the king’s sword and shield.
But David had more wisdom than the men of Israel. He knew he was not going to win this fight with conventional warfare but by the power of God.
And we know how the story goes David chose five smooth stones from the river, and with his sling in hand, and faith in his heart, he slayed the giant.
Today we face a far more menacing enemy than Goliath. We face the armies of Satan and his demons. We need the power of God to overcome this enemy.
We don’t fight this battle through conventional warfare but through the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the armor, and we must put Him on and wear Him in the battle. (Read Ephesians 6:10-17)
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.
11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.
14 Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of PEACE.
16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. [2](Pray)
In our passage this morning we are once again studying the Armor of God, and this will be the final message in this series.
I want you to notice the armor comes to us in two groups. The first three pieces of armor are worn on the body: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, and gospel shoes.
The second three pieces, which we are going to talk about today, are items that we take up for battle: ‘the shield of faith … the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.’
For the first kind of armor, Paul tells us to stand ‘having put on’ these pieces. They are passive and we wear them for our protection. They are truth, righteousness, and the gospel of peace.
Even when there is a lull in the action, we keep them on to avoid being exposed. But when the battle begins, we pick up our weapons of warfare.
We lift the shield of faith, we put on the helmet of salvation, and we take up the sword of the spirit. You see we must do more than just be on the defense in this battle. We must attack and take the battle to the enemy as well. That is what Paul teaches us in Vs. 16–17.[3] What we learn from this passage is we must be prepared for the fight, and we do that by putting on the full armor of God.
The first piece of armor we come to is the shield of faith, Vs. 16. “In addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”
Some of the older translations (KJV) begin Vs. 16 with the phrase “above all take up the shield of faith.” It almost suggests this is the most important piece of the armor, but that is not what this means. It means in addition to everything else; you need these things too. There are no unimportant pieces of Christian armor. However, the shield was critical.
The Roman soldier had two kinds of shields. They had a small shield that fit on one arm and was used to fight against the sword in hand-to-hand combat. But they also had a larger shield that was 4’ high and 2’ wide they used to cover their whole body as they were advancing against the enemy.
It is the large shield Paul is talking about here. The soldiers would stand shield to shield and form a wall of protection against the flaming arrows of the enemy. Many times, these arrows were being shot down on them from on top of a wall.
As long as the soldier’s stayed together behind the shields, they were safe, but if they moved out from behind the shield it was fatal. They would be exposed and killed instantly. One soldier reported having over 200 enemy arrows in his shield after an intense battle! So, the shield was essential for survival![4]
It didn’t matter how strong you were. It didn’t matter how well you could fight, if you didn’t have a shield, you were an easy target for the enemy. On the other hand, a soldier who had taken up his shield and stood together in the ranks was invincible regardless of the attacks against him because of the strength of the shield.
Well, I can’t help but see the spiritual significance of that in the life of a Christian. It speaks to the importance of the church. We need each other to form a wall of protection against the enemy. I need your faith and you need mine. I need your prayers and you need mine. We are in this battle together and we are stronger when we are united together.
Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 4:12, that two are better than one and a three- chord strand is hard to break. That means you, me and Jesus are impossible to beat. A Christian who thinks he doesn’t need the church, is a Christian without a shield.
When Paul uses the word “faith” He is talking about our trust in the promises of God. Believing that what God has said about you is true no matter what you are going through.
Notice the phrase in Vs. 16 “Flaming arrows.” In the ancient world one of the deadliest forms of attack was flaming arrows. These were arrows dipped in pitch (a tar like substance) and lit on fire. They would shoot these arrows into the shields of the approaching army and the pitch would splatter sending flames in every direction.
So, you needed your shield and the shield of your friends to protect you. Again, I can’t stress the spiritual significance of this enough. We need to be united as a church and bring our shields of faith together to go to war against the enemy. No matter what we face we never have to face it alone.
We should think of these arrows as difficult circumstances or trials we go through. This is talking about attacks on your family, neighbors, and friends. This is talking about attacks against your health, home, or at school. No matter where you are Satan is relentless and will attack every area of your life.
I am reminded of Daniel. No one faced more fiery trials in life than Daniel. He was kidnapped as a teenage boy and made a slave in Babylon. He refused to bow down to the king and they threatened to kill him. He refused to stop praying to his God and he was thrown into a lion’s den. But through it all Daniel couldn’t be defeated because he trusted God. The same thing is true in your life. No matter what we face in this world, you can trust in God to be your shield.
Paul identifies the enemy in Vs. 16. He calls him the “evil one.” He is talking about the devil himself. He is the embodiment of all that is evil. He is evil in his character, his strategy, and his influence. He is evil in his intentions for your life, and he uses temptation and sin to wreak havoc.
The word evil means extreme wickedness and speaks of all that is immoral, polluted, hateful, and cruel. The evil one is the enemy of every Christians life, and his goal is to destroy your relationship with God. 1 Peter 5:8 says, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”[5]
So, the Christian soldier must have the shield of faith to protect him. It’s about having confidence in the promises of God. It’s about believing what He says about you is true. It’s about placing our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and growing in a relationship with Him.
The next piece of armor we see in this passage is the helmet of salvation, Vs. 17.
The helmet was another critical piece of armor for the Roman soldier, because after the enemy hurled its flaming arrows at the advancing army, you were ultimately going to end up in hand-to-hand combat, and you had to protect your head.
These helmets were made of iron and bronze and wrapped around the soldier’s face like a football helmet. They had to be worn because one blow from a sword or a battle axe was fatal. No soldier would even consider entering the battle without a helmet.
It reminds me of people who ride a motorcycle today without a helmet, and I am as guilty as anyone. But just like crashing on a motorcycle without a helmet is fatal, a soldier entering a battle without a helmet didn’t stand a chance to survive.
When Paul says, “The helmet of salvation” he is now talking about our spiritual lives. He is talking about the salvation offered to us by Jesus Christ.
Just like the helmet was used to protect the soldiers head, the Christian uses his helmet to protect his mind. Specifically, the way we think about our salvation.
It is important that we realize our need to be saved. Every relationship with God begins there. But Paul is writing this to people who are already saved.
He told us that back in chapter 1. He said, they had been chosen by the Father, redeemed by the Son, and sealed by the Spirit. So, these are people who already know the Lord Jesus Christ.
But what they need is an assurance of their salvation. They need to know that they are saved. We can never be effective in overcoming the enemy until we are confident the Lord, and we belong to Him. We need to know, that we know, that we know we are saved.
If we doubt our salvation, we are timid and weak in spiritual warfare. The devil will use the world around you to tell you, “You are a fool for believing in God.” And he will use trials and struggles in life to make you want to quit and give up. How you think about your salvation determines how you live for God.
This is a serious problem all of us as Christian’s face, because it is addressed throughout the New Testament. For example, in Matthew 24 Jesus warns His disciples that hard times are coming. He says, you are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars. There is going to be false prophets in the world and tribulations of all kinds. But Jesus said, don’t be afraid, it leads to my return and to your salvation.
Paul brings it up again 2 Cor. 4:8–9. He said, “we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;”[6] But then he comes to this conclusion in Vs. 16-17. “Do not lose heart,’ ‘For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory.”
The Book of Revelation was written to tell us about our victory. After all the trials we go through, Revelation 21:1-2 ends with an incredible vision of “a new heaven and a new earth … the holy city, new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.” Victory is the future for all who belong to Jesus. And we need to know that. We need to know we are saved so we can have confidence in the battle.[7]
I am reminded of Job and how he suffered the loss of all his children. He endured more hardship than anyone in the bible, yet he refused to give up on God.
His friends blamed him for what happened. His wife told him to curse God and die. But Job’s response was, “Though He slay me yet shall I serve Him.” And in Job 19:25-26 He shows us that his ultimate hope was in his salvation. He said, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth. “Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God[8]
That is how we overcome the enemy, by knowing we are saved. We put on the helmet so we can be bold in the battle. A Christian who knows he is saved is unbeatable because he realizes he already won the victory.
The final piece of the armor in this passage is the sword of the Spirit, Vs. 17 Paul says, “And the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.’
The only offensive weapon a soldier had was his sword. No army can stay on the defense and expect to win. There has to be an offensive threat, and that was the soldier’s sword.
In ancient times there were two kinds of swords. There was a broad sword that was a massive weapon used to chop off someone’s head. And there was the short sword, which was like a dagger or a large butcher knife. And that is the word Paul uses here. He is describing the short sword used in hand-to -hand combat.
It was small but it was deadly and effective. The soldier always had his sword and he was always ready to use it. He would train with it and become so skilled, he could use it with the precision of a surgeon.
That’s the idea Paul has in mind for the Christian. We are to become trained and skilled with the Word of God. We should be able to use it like a weapon, with the precision of a surgeon. Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
Paul calls it the sword of the Spirit, because it the Spirit who gIves us the ability to use it. In other words, the Holy Spirit puts the word in our hand and in our heart so that we can pull out the appropriate scripture at the appropriate time.
We can offer a word of encouragement to someone who is struggling. We can offer a word of rebuke to someone who is challenging, and we can offer a word of hope to someone who is suffering.
What Paul is teaching us is, the Spirit puts the sword in your hand by putting the words in your mouth. That’s why discipleship, and small groups are so important. You have to get this Word inside of you so the Holy Spirit can bring it out of you when you need it.
The image of a sword teaches us that we are not only on the defense, but we are to drive the enemy back. Think about Jesus in the wideness and how He defeated the devil with the Word of God. He didn’t just use some random text, but He used the right word at the right time to confront the enemy and drive him away.
Well, the same thing is true in your life and mine. We need a war chest of scripture at our disposal to win this battle. We need to be able to go on the attack and answer the doubters, confront the skeptics, and stand strong in our faith.
Conclusion
Consider how deceptive our enemy is. Consider Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. They lived in paradise. They had the best of everything God had to offer. He had given them the universe.
Yet the devil was able to convince them that God was not good, and that He was holding something back from them because He didn’t want them eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But, the fact is, it was because God is good, and He loved them that He didn’t want them to eat from that tree. He knew it would destroy them.
Well, the same thing is true in your life and mine. God wants what is best for your life, and no one knows better than God what that is. The next time Satan tells you that God doesn’t love you and that He is holding something back from you. Be reminded by the Holy Spirit of who you are in Christ. You are chosen, you are redeemed, and you are sealed, and you belong to God forever.
[1]Hughes, R. K. (1990). Ephesians: the mystery of the body of Christ (pp. 230–231). Crossway Books.
[2] New American Standard Bible: 1995 update (Eph 6:10–17). (1995). The Lockman Foundation.
[3]Phillips, R. D. (2016). Ephesians(p. 443). Mentor.
[4]Cole, S. J. (2017). Lesson 59: The Essential Shield (Ephesians 6:16). In Ephesians (Eph 6:16). Galaxie Software.
[5] New American Standard Bible: 1995 update (1 Pe 5:8–9). (1995). The Lockman Foundation.
[6] New American Standard Bible: 1995 update (2 Co 4:8–9). (1995). The Lockman Foundation.
[7]Phillips, R. D. (2016). Ephesians (p. 446). Mentor.
[8] New American Standard Bible: 1995 update (Job 19:25–26). (1995). The Lockman Foundation.
