The Armor of God

Followers of Jesus, as we learned last week, are in a spiritual battle, in a war.

And we have a very formidable enemy, a very intelligent enemy, an adversary. And one of the devil's schemes is to try to take away the seed of the Word of God. When Jesus told the parable of the sower in Mark chapter 4, He said that as the seed is sown, and that's the Word of God, as the seed is sown, some of it falls onto hard ground. And He says immediately the birds take it away. And He explains to His disciples that the seed is the Word of God, and that the bird is a picture of our enemy who, whenever the seed is sown, tries to take it away.

So remember that. As you hear the Word of God today, our enemy is trying to take that away. Once we come to saving faith in Jesus Christ, our enemy, the devil, tries all he can to divert us. The Word of God, sometimes He appears as a roaring lion. At other times, He's a wolf in sheep's clothing, seeking to ravage, to choose, to divide, to confuse. And at other times the devil appears as an angel of light.

And often when he does that, he seeks to propagate false doctrine. Yet as we learned last week, although he's a formidable enemy, he is a defeated enemy by our Lord Jesus Christ. But the question is, that we're going to answer today, is what are we to do when we're attacked by the enemy and you will be attacked? And Paul draws, writing in the first century to the Christians at Ephesus, he draws on the military world and the athletic world as he answers this question. He tells us first, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Spiritual strength is required. The spiritual life is not for wimps, it's not for passivity, it is for strength.

Strength which does not come from ourselves, but from God who is all powerful. And then he tells us to put on the whole armor of God. And that's our subject today, to put on the whole armor of God. So let's learn about it, Ephesians chapter 6. We're going consecutively through the book of Ephesians.

We've almost come to the end. In fact, next week, Lord willing, will be the last message on Ephesians. So we're looking at Ephesians 6, and we're looking particularly at verses 14 through 17, but for connection I'm going to read from verse 10 of Ephesians 6. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand an evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand, therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances, take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one, and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

Amen. Put on, says Paul, the whole armor of God. Now what's the armor of God? Well, verse 14 is first, having fastened on the belt of truth.

Isn't that very, very important? The first thing that Paul says as we deal with the attacks of the enemy is truth. The first thing we put on is truth. We are people of truth.

Christians are to be people of truth. Truth in our world is under attack, isn't it? We live in a world of distortion, lies. People talk of fake news, spin deception. Lying and cheating have reached epidemic proportions. I read recently that in our schools and in our universities, it seems that the majority of students are cheating regarding exams, regarding their assignments. Lying, cheating, deception have reached epidemic proportions in our society. It's so bad that when you listen to the news, you try to think who can I believe? It used to be said that seeing is believing.

That's no longer the case. Now, particularly with artificial intelligence, they can generate photos and audios of people that are fake, but they appear to be real. I haven't said it, but apparently there's a fake video of President Biden and former President Trump slinging insults at each other while they play a video game. And if you watch it, you think that's actually what they're doing. No, it's not. It's fake.

It's a distortion. And it's put out there, and as we look on social media, as we listen to the news, as we interact with people, we think, what is really true? What is going on? Is this man, is this politician telling the truth? Is this professor telling the truth? Is my business partner telling the truth?

Can I believe the salesman? Truth. I think all of us would realize, even if we're not followers of Jesus Christ, that truth is very, very important. You say, well how do you determine what is true? Well, for most people, truth is what they personally feel. We're in an age where truth is determined by our feeling. In other words, their psychological well-being is their controlling factor. This is what I believe because I feel it is true.

It's pretty dangerous, isn't it? Preaching the Word of God as the truth of God is increasingly seen as judgmental, intolerant, old-fashioned, inappropriate in our modern world, we're told. Truth is out, it seems, and feelings is in. We're told to follow our heart. It's a pretty dangerous thing, isn't it, to determine truth?

That what I feel must be true? I'm to follow my heart, do what's comfortable, rather than hearing, obeying, and humbly submitting to the Word of God. How important it is in our world then that we who are followers of Jesus put on the belt of truth. The Roman soldier is ready for action when he puts on his belt.

This belt probably refers to the leather apron under the armor, which secured the soldier's clothes. The belt of truth then is a defense against the deception of our enemy, who Jesus said is the father of lies. You understand that? The devil never speaks the truth. The devil deceives you. It sounds good.

Other people are doing it. If it's from the devil, it is always a lie. He is a master of deception. But truth for the Christian is foundational.

It holds everything in its place. Without truth in our lives, there is no security, no grounding. Why is it in our society with all of the advances here in the United States, there are so many people who are insecure? Our society is riddled with insecurity. People are insecure themselves and who they are. They're insecure in their marriages. They're insecure at work. They're insecure politically. They're insecure as they look out internationally.

We're a very insecure people. The Christian is to be secure. The Christian is to be grounded in truth. And we grow, Paul has told us in Ephesians 4, verse 15. He said, speaking the truth in love, we grow up in every way into him.

Who is the head into Christ? You will never grow up spiritually without the truth. You'll never be a strong, secure person without truth. Paul has referred in chapter 1, verse 13, to the gospel.

What does he say? Ephesians 1, 13, in him, that is in Christ also, when you heard the word of truth. What's the word of truth? The gospel of your salvation and believed in Him.

You're sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. That is that the gospel, the message of the gospel that Christ died for our sins was buried and rose again is truth. It's the word of truth. It's the gospel. It's not just some idea. This is not fantasy. This is not fiction.

This is truth. Paul says in 1 Timothy 3 that the church is to be the pillar and buttress of the truth. When you come to the church, when you come to a service like this, you should be there to hear the truth. Sadly, in many churches, instead of giving the truth, they're copying our society, our pagan society. Isn't it remarkable how we who profess to be followers of Jesus Christ allow the pagan culture to shape what we believe?

And you know whatever is coming out of the media, whatever is coming out of society, the latest trend that sooner or later that is going to infiltrate the church. And before long, you're going to have pastors and ministers saying, well, this is really what we believe. And in that way, thrown away the word of truth. Jesus said to God, your word is truth. God's word is truth. Whether you believe it or not, it stands as truth. That is, we believe that absolute truth is not arrived at through our own feelings. It's not arrived at by getting people together and saying, what do we believe about something? We believe that truth is revealed by God, that God is a God of truth and God speaks to us and has given us His Word, the Word of truth.

This is why we preach the Bible. This is why I ask you, come and open your Bibles so that we are people of truth and that truth produces, please hear this, that truth produces truthfulness, faithfulness and integrity in followers of Jesus Christ. We then put on this belt of truth and as we go out into the world, as you go to work, as you raise your family, as you go to college, wherever you are, you are to be a truthful person. You're to be a person of integrity. You're to be a person who is faithful because the Christian life is not based on your feelings.

It's not based on the latest trend of our society. It is based on truth, as I'm now saying, on Christ who is the truth, the solid rock, I stand. No other ground is sinking sand. So first, put on the belt of truth. Say, verse 14, the breastplate of righteousness. Chapter 6, verse 14, stand therefore having fastened on the belt of truth. Have you got it on?

If you do not, here's something else. Put on the breastplate of righteousness. The Roman breastplate of the soldiers, Paul is drawing on these metaphors, extended from the base of the net, as you see it, to the upper part of the thighs. It was a kind of ancient bulletproof vest. No member of a SWAT team goes to arrest an armed man without putting on his bulletproof vest.

We have security officers in this building. Some of them have a bulletproof vest. I find it uncomfortable, so I'm not wearing one, but I am got the breastplate of righteousness on. No Roman soldier would go into battle without his breastplate. Protects the heart and the lungs. No follower of Jesus Christ should go into battle without the breastplate of righteousness.

You say, what on earth is that? Think of it, the breastplate of righteousness. Your own righteousness is inadequate against the attacks of the enemy. Remember, this is the armor of God. It's not your armor.

It's not mine. It's not supplied by Calvary Church. You don't go into the Christian bookstore and say, I want to buy the breastplate of righteousness.

No. This is not something that we supply, but something which God graciously gives us. Your own righteousness, you may be a pretty good person.

You may think, well, on the whole, I'm a truthful person, but don't you admit that in your life there are failures, there are flaws, there are sins? Trusting in your own righteousness will lead you not further and further to God, but further and further away from God. You cannot, I repeat, you cannot have victory in the spiritual battle with your own righteousness. We need a righteousness outside of ourselves.

You say, what's that? This righteousness comes from our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the righteous man. He comes from heaven and He lives a sinless life. Isaiah 59 verse 17, and Paul is surely drawing on the Old Testament. He says here that the Messiah puts on righteousness as a breastplate and a helmet of salvation on His head. Figurative language that when the Messiah comes, He's going to have a breastplate of righteousness. And when our Lord Jesus Christ comes into time and space almost 2,000 years ago, He is truly God and truly man, and He is 100 percent righteous.

Read the Gospels. Think of how the people try to accuse Him. Think of the religious establishment examining Him to see if they could find some fault, some flaw in His character. They had to conclude, even His enemies had to conclude, this one is different. He's done nothing wrong.

He's the perfect man. Now here's the point. In the miracle of conversion, yes, in the miracle of conversion, many wonderful things happen. This wonderful thing happens. The righteousness of Jesus Christ becomes ours. It is imputed to us. It is credited to us. It is reckoned to us.

It's sometimes called the great exchange. Here we are. This hand represents all my sin. It's a very, very great weight of my sin. And this hand is the righteousness of my Lord Jesus Christ, 100 percent righteousness.

I am unrighteous. He is righteous. He comes into this world and is given the name Jesus, Savior, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Here I am, a sinful person. Here is Christ, the righteous one. And in the miracle of conversion, He takes my sin. All of my sin is placed on Him.

He is my substitute. He bears my sin on the cross. That's the Gospel. Christ died for our sins. He takes the sins of John Monroe then in His own body on the tree, and He pays the price that I deserve for my sin so that my sins, as I trust Christ, as I repent of my sin and trust Him, I am forgiven.

That's a great word, isn't it? To be forgiven of all my sins. Every single sin that is cleansed, that is wiped out, isn't that something?

Ah, but there's more. Not only does my Lord Jesus Christ take my sin, His righteousness is imputed to me. His righteousness is credited to me so that in the eyes of God, as He looks on John Monroe, He sees the righteousness of His Son, my Lord Jesus Christ. My only standing before God is not in my own righteousness, but is in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. This is my breastplate of righteousness. He takes my sin, I receive His righteousness. The great exchange.

That's the best deal ever, isn't it? And it's all of grace. I don't work for it. I don't deserve it. It is by grace that we're saved. Amazing grace that saved a wretch like me. Now our enemy, you've experienced it.

I've experienced it. One of his attacks, and I think we've all experienced it, one of the ways he attacks us is to tell you that you're unworthy. I was teaching a membership class yesterday. We're talking about baptism, and I said I was baptized just before my 17th birthday, and the question was, why didn't I get baptized before? And I thought, why didn't I? I knew I should be baptized. And I said to the class, some of you heard me, that the reason was I felt I was unworthy. I felt, you know, there are these Christians, but in order to be baptized, you've really got to be this higher standing of a Christian. I'm unworthy.

Where does that come from? Does that come from the Word of God? Am I unworthy? Yes, I'm unworthy in my own righteousness, but I have been saved by the grace of God, but the devil comes and says, John, you think about getting baptized?

I mean, come on, I know you. Thought comes to your mind. You feel that God is calling you to do something.

You think I'm unworthy. He causes us to doubt our salvation, doesn't He? Reminding us of our failures, reminding us of our sin. He always wants to go back, doesn't He, and dig up the dirt of the past.

He wants to get you back there to discourage you and to say, there you are, you're singing in the choir. And people thought, well, there she is. She looks very good, but the devil says, yeah, but remember that. What's the answer? But I have the righteousness of Christ. Christ has borne that.

It's gone. God's buried in the deepest sea. When I stand before the throne, dressed in beauty, not my own. When I see Thee as Thou art, love Thee with a sinning heart.

Then, Lord, shall I fully know not till then how much I owe. We are dressed in the righteousness of Christ. It's a spiritual bulletproof vest, as it were.

When we sin, I am to quickly to confess that sin, knowing that He's righteous and He cleanses us from all of our sin. So when the devil attacks you, remember, you've got a breastplate of righteousness. But then verse 15, there are these shoes, gospel shoes. In all, sorry, verse 15, and they're shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. Gospel shoes provide, first of all, stability.

The Romans, as you know, they built impressive roads all over Europe. And there's a lot of marching if you're a Roman soldier, therefore you needed good footwear. You needed boots for the hundreds and hundreds of miles of marching. No tanks then.

Remember, no cars. You walked. You marched. And they needed sureness and firmness for their feet. The soles of their feet were sort of, you see it there in the picture, reinforced with studs, just as if you play soccer, we have studs or cleats, they call them, to give you stability.

Now here's the point. When the enemy attacks you, it is very, very important that you have stability so that you're not easily knocked over. Some of us are easily knocked over when the enemy attacks us.

Very easy. We just kind of fall. We get discouraged.

We give up. No, we're to stand fast. Notice again, verse 11, put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. In order to stand, you need good shoes. Verse 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 firm. Verse 14, stand therefore. I'm to stand. I'm to be firm.