Strong Armor for Weak Sheep, Part 3

The Bible often employs a paradox to make a point. For instance, Jesus often referred to his followers as sheep. It's not a flattering reference given all the weaknesses associated with this lowly animal. Jesus empowered obedient sheep to become roaring lions.

So what's the secret for this newfound confidence? The key is found in the passage we're looking at today, Ephesians chapter 6. Chuck titled his message, Strong Armor for Weak Sheep. Take up the full armor of God. This is not Rome's armor. This is not a soldier's armor, though those are the word pictures. Take up the full armor of God.

Why? So you may be able to resist in the evil day. And having done everything else, stand.

That's what sheep do. Stand. We stand against the enemy in the equipment God has provided. Truth is first.

I like that. The belt of truth. Stand firm, verse 14, having wrapped yourself around with the belt of truth. Truthfulness. It's living truth, telling truth, representing truth.

It's the absence of duplicity, hypocrisy. It speaks of an authentic life and lifestyle. Nothing is hidden that is shameful when you are girded with truth.

The belt is followed by the breastplate. Having put on the breastplate of righteousness. This is a full on coverage of the righteousness of Christ.

Put it on. You know, when it started, it started its salvation. The definition of justification is the sovereign act of God whereby he declares righteous the believing sinner while we are still in a sinning state.

Say it again. The sovereign act of God whereby he declares righteous the believing sinner while we are still in a sinning state. Every believer hearing my voice at this moment is justified. You have been declared righteous.

Put it on. You have his righteousness because you have Christ. That's why salvation is essential, men and women. You can't be protected if you don't know the Lord Jesus Christ. It's impossible for you to put on any of this armor because part of it is righteousness. And when you stand in the righteousness of Christ, the enemy knows he is defeated. He cannot get in if he knows that you're emotionally stable standing in the righteousness of Christ and the breastplate will equip you with that assurance, the righteousness of Christ.

Third is the boot. Verse 15, having shod yourself your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Before we get to the preparation of the gospel of peace, look at the feet. The warrior has to march across rough and rugged terrain. He must climb jagged, sharp rocks. He must wade through ponds and streams where the stones are slippery.

He has to walk through thorns or perhaps climb not only mountainsides but sometimes trees to get a vantage point, often going over walls. The boots are so important and these are like that. They are boots that are the preparation of the gospel of peace.

They prepare you for battle. What's the gospel of peace? The gospel means good news. And I take it that this is the peace we have with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. It is peace in the heart that makes us ready to fight. Christ, our peace, gives us the courage to face the enemy in the battle. I don't lack peace. I have peace and I walk in it.

That's the whole point of this. Belt, breastplate, boots, the shield of faith, salvation, the scriptures, the shield of faith. See, back in those days when they fought, it wasn't with bullets. It was with arrows and with spears. And often the enemy would dip the tip of that arrow or spear into something flammable, set it on fire, and then launch it in the air towards you.

And the shield would deflect the arrows or the spear. But this has reference to the invisible world, the flaming arrows of the evil one. What would that mean? Well, I made a list of them. Here's just a small list.

Here are the arrows that come your way. Doubts, defeating thoughts, discouragement, depression, fears, subtle curiosity, imaginations and exaggerations, feelings of hopelessness, guilt, shame, confusion, overly concerned about other people's reactions. That's a big one in our day. Greed, lust, pride, presumption, unrealistic expectations, mental anguish, stubbornness.

Here's a big one. Suspicions. Some of you are suspicious by nature. And the enemy knows it and he sends his darts, his arrows toward you. So they land and you become increasingly more suspicious. You are not trusting for whatever reason. Here come the missiles up with the shield.

And what's the shield? Trust. Lord, I trust you today in spite of these feelings. Lord, I trust you even though these things are coming my way.

Lord, in spite of my nature, regardless of the habits I have formed, today, Lord, I walk in trust with you. And I use this shield of trust to keep those arrows away. I pray that you will start early this morning in protecting me with this shield because I cannot protect myself.

So I need your shield. And I trust you, Father, when I am afraid. I trust you when it gets dark. I trust you when I'm in a situation that is tempting. I trust you to guard my tongue from overuse. I trust you to guard me from mental anguish and tension and worry and a half dozen others we could name. The shield of faith is the shield of trust.

See the value of it? The shield of faith quenches. I love the word all. All the fiery.

The flaming arrows. You say, Chuck, if you if you knew my back, wait a minute, it says all. It says all.

Well, if you knew the habit, it says all. It says if you were married to who? It says all, all, all, all. Extinguish all the flaming arrows of the. See how we get around them? We walk out of this place thinking that was great truth.

I know it's all from the Bible is so good. But if he only knew what I have to live with, I mean, he would realize half of that doesn't even apply to me. Sorry. What I realize is that you lack trust.

You don't want to believe that. More importantly, your enemy wants you to keep walking as you continue to walk, trying to please everybody or living in suspicion or doubt or lust or pride or confusion. You want that.

You want it more than you want relief. So you're defeated. So you become a tool in the hand of the enemy. Among the sheep. Frightening thought. And you don't roar.

You bleed. The shield of trust. And then the helmet of salvation.

Get this. Surrounding the head was a heavy helmet, different shapes, according to whoever, whatever the rank or whatever the realm of soldiering. But the helmet covered this all important part of the body. And in combat, there was nothing like a helmet. And to this day, warriors are told, wear your helmet. Don't let your helmet get set aside.

It will deflect all kinds of debris and bullets. The assurance of your salvation is one of the most strategic parts of your equipment. You are saved. You came to Christ.

You will never be unsaved. You never need to lack assurance. The assurance that came when you were born again is still yours to claim today. One of Satan's favorite and disturbing tactics is to weaken your confidence in your eternal security. You have the helmet of salvation. And he says to us, take it. The implication is wear it. You're not operating from a position of weakness when you wear the helmet, but from a position of strength.

Remember, in the end, God wins. Isn't that great news? Up to this final point, up to this last piece of equipment, everything is defensive.

Have you noticed? Belt, breastplate, boots, shield, helmet, sword, sword. This is a wonderful invention the Romans came up with. It was called a machaira, machaira. It was a little 18 inch dagger, sharp as a razor on both sides. I mean, you cut somebody, they wouldn't know their cut till they sneeze. I mean, it's really quick. And either way, man, where did that arm go? I mean, this was close combat machaira sword.

It's not a big sword. You could throw one around like three times in a lifetime. Do you people get junk mail like we do? We get probably 40 pieces of junk mail for every two bills. We get two pieces of meaningful mail, which we hate, and then we get 40 pieces that we don't want. So mail is not our most precious time of the day. And did you put me on a catalog to get the sword catalog?

Take me off. I get this catalog, and it's got page after page after page. Why does an American need a sword? And most of them are real big.

Now, one's made in Austria, one's made in Germany. This has emeralds on it. Is this hold both hands? Am I going to walk around the house going, Cynthia, come here. You will not believe what I just got in the mail. This sucker is big. Boy, you can't operate with a great big sword.

You probably get it in a slink. You cut yourself. You need a little fighting sword. You need a little machaira. Now, I got you all set up for the best part of the whole thing.

It's the saying of God. Hrema. R-H-E-M-A. Hrema.

Hrema. It's not logos for the concept of the Lord Jesus. It is not grafe for the written word of God.

It is Hrema. It's called here the word of God. You know what it means? Listen.

Listen. It means the saying. That's what Jesus did when the enemy came after him for those 40 days and 40 nights. He answered with the word of God. It's the verbalizing of the word of God.

That's why you memorize it. Isaiah wrote, As the rains come down and the snow from heaven and don't return without watering the earth and making it bring forth and bud, even so shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth. It shall never return to me empty.

It shall accomplish the thing for which I sent it. Isaiah 55, about 8 through 11. Wonderful passage of scripture. When you use the word of God, the enemy backs off and runs because he can't stand up against the sayings of the scriptures. God's word is truth. Heaven and earth will pass away. My words will never pass away. And he says, Take the sword of the spirit which is the word of God.

Isn't that great? It's the announcement of what God has written and you send this to the enemy. He hears it and backs away.

It's part of your resistance. I suggest you do it in the middle of the night when you're afraid. The darker the night, the louder you say it. I suggest you walk through the house if it will help and read aloud the word of God. If the hotel room is the place of temptation for you, I suggest you take the sword of the spirit, the sayings of God, and you say those words from the scriptures in that hotel room.

If you know you're going into a situation that's going to be tough to face, you may normally be intimidated. It is the sayings of God that will keep the intimidation at a low level. You're a sheep.

You're a sheep. And since you're just a lamb, the only way you're going to roar is to roar with the scriptures. That's how missionaries make it.

That's how they make it. The word of God taken, spoken, shared, lived out, and the enemy backs away and says, I can't take that territory. That belongs to Christ.

Believe me, it's better than the brightest mind, the most eloquent human words you could come up with. And then you've got a battle cry. 18 to 20 is the battle cry. The battle cry is prayer, prayer, staying alert, and pray, and pray, and pray.

He says it several times in 18, 19, and 20. The battle cry. We've got battle cries in our American history. Remember one of them? The Revolutionary War.

The Red Coats are coming. That's a battle cry. Texas independence. Remember the Alamo. That's a battle cry. How about World War II? Remember Pearl Harbor.

I mean, how many soldiers were kept in the fight just remembering Pearl Harbor? The battle cry for the believer is prayer, petition, praying at all times, alert with perseverance, and petition for the saints. Listen, folks, we're sheep.

We're sheep engaged in this enormity of battle, and we have no words that are able to meet the enemy and no strength in ourselves with which to do it. It's from God. Thomas Guthrie, the great Scottish pastor and writer, put it this way. The Bible is an armory of heavenly weapons, a laboratory of infallible medicines, a mine of exhaustless wealth. It is a guidebook for every road, a chart for every sea, a medicine for every malady, and a balm for every wound. Rob us of our Bible, and our sky has lost its sun. And America has been robbed of its Bible. Unless the sun shines through you.

Shine, shine. You say, Chuck, I'm just a sheep. Well, that's all we all are. That's all we all are. We're all a bunch of lambs. I came across a very touching vignette that emerges from the days in which the young men were knighted.

In my study, I found this. The young man would often spend the entire night before he was knighted awake in the quietness of the castle chapel. While in there, he would strip off all of the armor and spread it out before him as he offered up his soul to God. Each piece of his armor would be named and touched by the young warrior as he would declare his dependence on God for his courage and for his survival.

Isn't that a great account? I'm asking you in this message to look at the armor and to place your hands, if you will, on each one. Each one. The belt. The breastplate. The boots. The shield. The helmet.

The sword. And for the sake of your courage and survival, I challenge you as a fellow sheep to claim God's protection in whatever situation you find yourself. And for you who do not know Christ, you can't make it without him. You can't make it. You won't make it.

You're sunk. Just a matter of time. But the good news is this is a moment you can turn to him and give him your life. Isn't that a great thought?

This could be the day that you could give him your life and have everything transformed for you. I'd like us to bow our heads. I'm going to bow mine with you, and I'm going to say to all of you that the Bible divides this world into two categories. This is truth.

This is not politically correct nicety. This is truth. You are a sheep or you are a goat. You are saved or you are lost. You are going to heaven or you are on your way to hell. You have a shepherd or you are lost without hope. Now, if you find yourself in that second category, since I've talked to the sheep throughout this message, let me say to you who would have to admit you've never come to Christ. You have no righteousness. You have no shepherd.

You have no hope. This is your moment. This is my invitation. This is an invitation from God, in fact, for you to take the Lord Jesus Christ into your heart right now. You're surrounded by fearful, frightened, weak sheep in themselves, but we now roar because we have protection. We have a lion working through us and speaking for us and defending us, protecting us. I invite you to come to him today.

I'm going to pause here and give you a moment to think about that. Our pastors stand here to meet with those who today want to give their lives to Christ, and we'll be here as long as someone needs to talk to us about that. Lord God, Father, gracious Father of love and mercy, thank you for your word that is so enriching and alive. It's hard to find our way, Father. We're outnumbered, and sometimes we feel we're overwhelmed.

It's not easy to speak truth in a situation where it threatens our job or it's easy to be misunderstood, but it's essential we believe truth and live truth. Help us with that. Help us with our shield and with these boots and with the breastplate and with the sword. Give us the courage in frightening situations to claim the very words of your book. Help us to find shelter and renewal and refreshment and new hope there. Now, Lord, I pray for those who lack all of these things, and I pray in their vulnerable and lost state that you would graciously win them to yourself through the loving appeal of your Spirit. Convince them, Lord, of what no one else can convince them of, that they're lost and they need a Savior. And give us who are sheep a renewed gratitude that you have equipped us as you have.

Not a source of pride, but a source of gratitude. Thank you for being our gentle shepherd. Lord, come and lead us. Help us to find our way through you, and we'll walk closely and sensitively with you, our Father, in this path full of obstacles and struggles.

Amen. You're listening to Insight for Living, and our prayer is that God will use Chuck Swindoll's message to transform men and women all around the world from those who feel like weak sheep to those who become roaring lions. To learn more about this ministry, visit us online at insightworld.org. You'll be glad to know that we receive affirming notes from your listening colleagues from all around the world every single day.

We hear the most surprising stories from people who describe, in their own words, what it means to gain the confidence of a roaring lion. For instance, someone left a message that read, Chuck, you're one of the pastors who taught me the truth while I was incarcerated. And another listener from Florida who said, I remember starting into recovery from alcoholism in 1993. You really helped me get through 27 and a half years of sobriety. And here's another from Ohio that said, Thank you so much for teaching on Ephesians.

My husband and I have had a hard marriage. I've been praying about our marriage for 30 years, and not much has changed. Your teaching on Ephesians softened me, and if God never changes my husband, he has changed me. Well, that kind of feedback reminds us that God's word is living and active.

And as we band together and support Insight for Living, God will use his truth to conform his sheep into confident followers of Christ. You're invited to join us in this worthy mission to reach all 195 countries of the world. To give a one-time donation, call us. If you're listening in the United States, dial 1-800-772-8888. Many are choosing to automate their giving by becoming a monthly companion. This growing family of supporters is providing a predictability of income that truly helps Insight for Living advance its mission. As you're prepared to become a monthly companion, please give us a phone call. If you're listening in the U.S., dial 1-800-772-8888. Or you can easily sign up online at insight.org slash monthly companion.

Join us again when Chuck Swindoll talks about finishing well, Friday on Insight for Living. The preceding message, Strong Armor for Weak Sheep, was copyrighted in 2000, 2001, and 2009. And the sound recording was copyrighted in 2009 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide. The creation of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.