Equipped for Battle

SERMON: 2013-02-03--e0613--equipped-for-battle-part-1 SOURCE DURATION: 00:44:22.000 PROPOSED CUTS: 1 CONFIDENCE: 1.00 APPROVED: false REASON: The recording begins with the editor setting up the topic (spiritual warfare) and continues through extensive theological exposition and scripture readings until the very end. The entire passage constitutes the main sermon content. Acoustic segmentation found sustained music at the end edge and moved the boundary to the adjacent transcript segment. ACOUSTIC EVIDENCE: available ACOUSTIC MUSIC INTERVALS: 00:41:13.620-00:44:17.600 ACOUSTIC SPEECH OVERLAP: yes ACOUSTIC BOUNDARIES APPLIED: end Inline CUT markers identify each proposed audio boundary after the relevant word. --- ORIGINAL TRANSCRIPT WITH PROPOSED CUTS MARKED --- I want to come back this morning to the subject of spiritual warfare. We sort of introduced it last week. And the classic scripture passage on spiritual warfare, of course, is, as you know, Ephesians chapter 6. And we're going to read from verse 10 to verse 18, and then we're going to spend some time trying to walk through it as far as we can this morning. We probably won't be able to finish it. There's a lot there. It was Watchman E. many years ago who wrote a little book summarizing the teaching of the book of Ephesians in just three words. He entitled his book, Sit, Walk, Stand. And he picks up on Paul's theme in the book of Ephesians that, first of all, we are seated with Christ in heavenly places. Because we are seated with Christ in heavenly places, we can walk the Christian walk. And because we are seated with Christ in heavenly places and we can walk the walk, we could also stand against the wiles of the devil. Because as we will see again this morning, we are engaged not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers. Hear then this morning the word of the Lord. The apostle Paul, Ephesians 6, beginning at verse 10, he says, "Finally, in light of everything that he has said previously, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 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. 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. Stand firm then with a belt of truth buckled around your waist, with a breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all of this, take up the shield of faith with which you can quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, 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 saints. This is the word of the Lord. Pray with me. Father, we're not accustomed to thinking in spiritual terms. We are accustomed to thinking in terms of circumstances. We think of events. We think of people. We think of situations that are bigger than we are. But we don't very often think about the reality of spiritual warfare, nor do we very often have the discernment to recognize which is which. And so Lord, sometimes we're bowled over. Sometimes we fall victim to deception. Sometimes we fall victim to accusation. Sometimes we fall victim to destruction. But we read in your word that in Christ you have given us whatever it is that we need so that even in the day of evil we can remain standing. So I pray this morning for each one of us that as we take stock of our lives that you will help us to see the places and the areas of vulnerability, the places and the areas where we need to lean more especially on you and on the provisions that you have made, knowing that Lord, this isn't just about us individually, important as that is, but this is about you building Christian community through which the redemptive purposes of God can be declared to the nations of the world. So help us to put on the armor of God so that when all has been said and done we may stand and accomplish your purposes in our lives and in our generation. So I pray this morning that you protect us, that you will bind up the forces of evil, that you will release the power of your Holy Spirit, and that you give me, Lord, the courage and the boldness to say what needs to be said so that we can grow up in every way and bear fruit for you. We'll be careful to give you glory through Jesus Christ in whose name we pray. Amen. Well, I pointed out last week that whenever the kingdom of God comes in power, that is to say when people turn to Christ in faith and through that faith in Christ their lives begin to change, the backlash is never far behind. You see that, for example, in the ministry of Jesus. However, in the human history was there a man more committed to our collective well-being than Jesus. And yet by the time his fairly short earthly ministry was completed in three and a half years maybe, one of his own disciples had betrayed him, another disciple denied him, and the state and the religious establishment normally swore the enemies teamed up together to put him to death. And historically, all through history, that is exactly what has happened. When there is spiritual renewal or spiritual revival, when God's people start living and moving in the power of God, the backlash from hell is never far behind. Peter put it this way, 1 Peter chapter 4, the verses 12 and 13, he says, "Do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you, but rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed." Peter says, "Do not be surprised as though something strange were happening to you." So why is it that when you and I, whether individually or collectively, really lay hold of God, experience his love that we have been singing about this morning, and are all that much more determined to serve him, that suddenly life can go wrong on so many levels? Well, two reasons come to mind almost immediately. And the first is that the darkness cannot stand the light. Jesus puts it this way in John chapter 3, he says, "Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light, because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed." When heaven's values of faith, hope, and love become visible in the world, they expose the values of the world, the pride of life that we've looked at in the past, the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh. And that either then brings you to the light and brings you to repentance, or you must kill the light, which of course is why they put Jesus to death, because he exposed the selfishness of the human heart. They couldn't stand it, and they couldn't wait to get rid of him. But there's still another reason, and that is because behind the darkness and behind the human forces that are so often at work resisting the kingdom of God all over the world, there are spiritual forces of evil that have a vested interest in keeping you and me from Christ. If they cannot keep us from Christ, then they will do everything they can to keep us from growing in Christ so that Satan's kingdom will not be demolished and hindered, but rather it will grow in power. And that of course is exactly what Paul is talking about in Ephesians 6 verse 12 when he says, "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." Two words, two words in that verse that we need to take particular note of this morning. The first is the word "struggle." Our struggle is not against flesh and blood. A lot of Bible translations use the word "wrestle." I prefer that personally over "struggle," I think it's closer to the Greek word. There is "pale," P-A-L-E, and it's a word that comes from the Olympic contests, and the picture that comes to mind is two contestants duking it out, wrestling with the winner-takes-all. And Paul says, "Don't you kid yourself, if you're a Christian and you're a follower of Jesus, then you are engaged in the contest of life. You are engaged in a wrestling match. Winner-takes-all. We don't wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, spiritual forces behind the scenes that are, as we will see in a moment, absolutely determined to do with sin." Why the emphasis on the battle? Because you see, sometimes as Christians, I think we are surprised by how difficult the Christian life can be. Haven't you ever found that? I mean, really, most of us, we come to faith in Christ, why? Because Jesus says, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." And a lot of us have discovered in those moments of surrender the reality of God's love and the reality of God's power. I remember so clearly in my own youth and in my own life how refreshing and powerful that was and how I looked forward to a life of peaceful rest. Haven't you looked forward to a life of peaceful rest? So why the battle? Because we have an enemy, and that enemy is always going about like a roaring lion. Listen again to these words from Peter. He says, "Be self-controlled and alert your enemy. The devil prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Resist him standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings." You see, it is so important to be sober and to be alert and to recognize that if you experience struggles in the Christian life, that doesn't mean that you're losing your faith. That doesn't mean that somehow you're a substandard Christian because a good, happy Christian is up in the clouds all the time and feeling the glory and the presence of God. That's not true at all. There is a struggle, and there will be days you wake up and you say to yourself, "I wonder where God is." There will be days you're far removed from experiencing the reality of what you know to be true in Christ. There will be days when your head's foggy and you can't think clear, and you're suddenly assaulted by questions and temptations. You don't know where they come from, and you say to yourself, "What is the matter with me?" Well, it may be there is nothing the matter with you. It might just be that your life is a danger to the kingdom of darkness, and you are experiencing something of the struggle of contending against spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. That's the second thing in this little verse, Ephesians 6, that we need to take note of, the word "evil," because Paul talks about our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Now, think that through with me a little bit, because the word "evil," I think, can maybe best be defined as the absence of good. These spiritual forces that are all about us in the atmosphere, which is why sometimes the air is heavy and you feel like you can't move, you don't know what's going on, you can't figure out how come whole people populations are being swept up in a particular belief system or in particular actions. There are spiritual powers behind the universe, but these spiritual powers, I was going to say they don't have a redemptive bone in their bodies, except they don't have bodies, so they don't have redemptive bones either. There is nothing good to be found in these forces of evil. They are all darkness. There's no love, there's no compassion, there's no sense of fairness. There is only a desire to destroy God, to destroy his kingdom, and to destroy you and me in whatever way they can. And if you want to get a little taste of what that might look like, then look in history at the human figures that they have used to advance their purposes. Look at a Hitler or a Stalin or a Nero or Mao, Chairman Mao in China, or the Khmer Rouge or the terrorists of today. And you get a little glimpse, and I say a little glimpse because even those people that we write off as evil usually are sort of a mixture and there is usually some redemptive bone in their bodies, but there is none of that in the forces of evil. And if they can get hold of you, if they can get hold of me, if they can get us to where they want us to be, nobody stands a chance, because notice too in our text that these spiritual forces of evil are highly brilliant and strategically positioned to try to do a scene both individually and collectively. And I say that because earlier on in verse 11, Paul talks about taking your stand against the devil's schemes. He says put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. Now, the word schemes there is the Greek word "methodeia," and you don't have to be a Greek scholar this morning to know what English word comes from that, "method." There is method to the devil's madness. He is extremely intelligent. He has spent his whole lifetime studying you and me. He knows you and me better, I suspect, than we know ourselves. And he is always poking and prodding, looking for some place of vulnerability so that in a critical moment, he can take us down. Why do you think it is that historically so many times high-profile leaders in the Christian faith have this fall from grace and make such a mess of their lives by some kind of sinful behavior because the enemy has found a vulnerability that he zeroes in on. He has schemes and strategies. He has studied human history for thousands and thousands of years, and he knows exactly what works and what doesn't work. So of course, the big question becomes, after all of that, how in the world do we stand up? What chance do we have, mere mortals as we are, filled with sin and shortcomings and Lord knows what kind of personality defects, how in the world can God use us in this battle against the forces of evil? Well, I thought you'd never ask the question. Because that, of course, is precisely the whole point of this passage. We can only stand in the strength of the Lord. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. There's only one person historically, thank God, that has been able to stand up against the wiles of the devil, and his name is Jesus. And no matter how the devil prodded him and poked him and tried to provoke him and tried to drive a wedge between the Father and Jesus, he never, ever succeeded. In fact, John's Gospel reports that as Jesus was giving himself over to the forces of evil for his crucifixion according to the will of God, we read in John 14 verse 30, "The Prince of this world is coming," says Jesus, "but he has no power over me." And I like the Greek literal reading, "He has nothing in me." Wouldn't you like to be able to say, "The devil can find nothing in me. He can sift me all he wants. He will never find anything short of wheat." Well, good luck, my friend. The only one who was sifted and not found wanting was Jesus. And for that reason, God, upon his resurrection and ascension, raised him to the highest name above every name so that at the name of Jesus, every knee would bow. All those principalities and powers that we've talked about, all these forces of wickedness that are at work behind the scenes, the forces that mobilize the Hitlers and the Neroes and the Stalins and Lord knows, whatever other dictators there have been in the course of human history. This is bigger than all of them because his name is above every name. And so from his position of authority, he shares his authority and his power with you and me. Amen. That's worth a shout because you see, by the Holy Spirit, he shares his strength and his power so that in this battle, we can remain standing. And that's why Paul then goes on to say again in verse 13, "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." Repeatedly, three or four times, I lost count. In this passage, you find the emphasis on standing. It's not like we have to conquer the whole world. It's just that we need to be firm in our relationship with God and the calling that he places upon our lives no matter how many times the devil comes against us and he tries to pull the rug out from underneath us. And the key, says Paul, is this thing that he calls the armor of God. The armor of God is, of course, a word picture that he takes from the armor that was worn by the Roman soldier. Paul would have been very acquainted with Roman soldiers and so would most of the believing Israelites because they were all over the place. And what Paul does is he takes this armor that they were all familiar with and he puts it in a spiritual context. Just for starters, that there are six elements to the armor of God as represented by the Roman soldier. There's the belt of truth, there's the breastplate of righteousness, there is the feet shod with readiness for the gospel, there is the shield of faith, there is the helmet of salvation and then the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And in the time that remains to us this morning, let's start at least by looking at these specific pieces and see how God in Christ has made provisions for every last one of us so that when we get sifted, when the pressure mounts up, whether it's through circumstances, people or spiritual attack that comes directly into our hearts, we cannot only resist but we can remain standing for the glory of God. So first of all then, there is the belt of truth. Ephesians 6, 14, Paul says, "Stand firm then with the belt of truth buckled around your waist." Now as you can see from that picture, the belt of truth refers to the belt that the Roman soldier would wear around his waist even as today we use belts not only for accessories to dress but also for the very practical purpose of holding up your pants or whatever else that it might take. The belt of truth is Paul's way of saying this is the foundational garment on which the rest of your uniform is built. And it's more than just the Roman belt that you see in that picture that holds his uniform together and provides a means for holding on to his scabbard for his sword. The original phrase Paul uses in the Greek is actually a Hebrew saying because it reads originally, "Having your loins girt about with truth." And what that is, is a reference to hiking up your skirt if you will so that you can be ready for the race or ready for the battle. I mean we're accustomed men and to a large degree women now wearing trousers or pants or whatever but in biblical days that wasn't the case. Of course they typically wore robes, long flowing robes and so if you had to engage in battle or if you had to run fast you trip all over yourself so the first thing that you do is you either put your robe aside or you would bundle it up and you would put it in place and you would hold it in place with your belt so to speak. So girding up your loins became an expression that said pull yourself together. Be prepared for action, be prepared for the battle. Peter uses a very similar phrase when he says and you'll never notice it in English. He says in 1 Peter 1 verse 13, "Prepare your minds for action, be self-controlled." But the phrase there really is, it's a funny play on words, is gird up the loins of your mind. Gird up the loins of your mind. In other words, pull yourself together. Pull yourself together, be prepared for action, don't just be caught off guard tripping all over yourself. Now the key he says is the belt of truth. The belt of truth here refers then to the objective truth of the gospel and we can summarize it this way in Paul's words of 2 Corinthians 5 19 that in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself not counting their trespasses against them and he has committed the message of reconciliation to us. The belt of truth are the foundational truths of the Christian gospel. Now listen carefully because this is of critical foundational importance in fighting Satan. If Satan can get us challenging or questioning the foundational truths of the gospel, nothing else he does matters because he already has won the battle. The foundational truth of the gospel is that we are sinners. We are under the rightful judgment of God. We cannot save ourselves. God chose to save us by sending Jesus into the world and we can only be saved by repentance and faith in his name. There is no other name given among men under heaven whereby we can be saved. Foundational and it's that truth that Satan fights the hardest because if he can keep us out of Christ so to speak then we are at his mercy because apart from that nobody stands even the remotest chance against him and that's why if you read the New Testament it's a very interesting thing periodically Paul pronounces anathemas on people that is he brings down the curse and you can look at every example of that in the New Testament and it's always in connection with denying the truth of Jesus. That is to say some gospel that says we can be saved apart from outside of Jesus by our good works, by our political systems, by our belief systems, anything short of Jesus. How many times are you and I not bowled over by the philosophies of the world that are coming at us and that picture the secret to success and the secret to happiness and the secret to fame and popularity but they bypass the cross of Jesus but they sound so enticing they sound so powerful they sound so true. The only antidote is to know the truth of the gospel we need to know to the core of our being what is of Christ and what is not of Christ. Our whole defense says the Apostle Paul begins with a belt of truth does that make sense? It's an objective truth not only but it's also a subjective truth. That is to say we not only need to know all of the right things out there truth needs to be present inside David put it this way he says surely you desire truth in the inner parts you teach me wisdom in the inmost place. How many times doesn't the devil bowl us over because there is a place in our hearts where we love comfort more than we love truth where we love our own prejudices more than we love the truth where we would rather believe the lie than believe the truth because the truth is too painful and too difficult the Bible talks about the whole world one day being deceived by the power of the evil one because they did not love the truth. Standing up in the battle against the principalities and the powers begins by loving the truth the truth about God the truth about the world truth about other people the truth about myself. It begins with a belt of truth all right enough said does that make sense this is no minor matter because we all prefer our version of truth over God's truth and what God needs to work into our hearts is a love for truth that says I don't care how costly this business is I will only believe what God says ultimately is truth. So it starts with putting on the belt of truth then he goes on to say and talk about the breastplate of righteousness verse 14 continues stand firm he says with the breastplate of righteousness in place and the picture that you see there is actually a pretty accurate reflection of the breastplate that the Roman soldier would wear it was usually made of layers of metal it had a front and a back and in many cases came down all the way to his thighs and it would cover his vital organs his heart his lungs his stomach and sometimes even his his bowels and all of that is significant in biblical language because the heart in biblical thought is the seat of affection it's the place of personality it's from where you do your living and your bowels interestingly enough in biblical language are often the place in the seat of your emotions and you can see how they came to that belief because what happens when you are in a manic situation well your heart begins to beat faster what happens when you are nervous about something that you need to step into you get butterflies in your stomach and what happens when you're under a great deal of stress and your intestines go all awry we won't go there but you know what I'm talking about so the bowels were the seat of emotion and the heart was the seat of affection and let me ask you this morning how many times in the Christian life do we not find ourselves in places where our heart which the Bible says outside of Christ is deceitful above all things leads us astray with false love and false affection how many people don't you know over the course of their Christian life had to choose between loving God and loving a girlfriend or a boyfriend and chose the body with skin on over against Almighty God who said I want you to love me above all else how many people how many of us haven't found ourselves in situations where we set our affections on the purchase of this that or the other thing or something we wanted to do we knew it was not God's will for our lives but nevertheless the temptation was simply too strong and we succumbed again and again and again is that true and how many times haven't we all find ourselves in situations where the devil comes along and turns the table on us first he tempts us into abandoning God and forsaking him and then he comes along and he says well what kind of a poor excuse of a Christian are you anyway and so he plays on our conscience he plays on our failure he plays on our guilt and before you know it we're down the tube because we can't stand up against his accusations we just may as well throw in the towel because well I can't I just can't run this race I can't resist this temptation I can't remain standing in this particular battle well Paul says the antidote to all of that is the breastplate of righteousness and the breastplate of righteousness is the righteousness of Christ first of all imputed to us and then impart it and those two words refer to justification and sanctification the imputed righteousness of Christ is that when I belong to him and I am joined to him by faith as long as I I repent of my sins and cling to him I am as righteous before gone as I'm ever going to be all the days of my life and it's the righteousness of Christ that is my defense against the accusations of the devil remember the blood of Christ is how they overcame him the word of their testimony and because they didn't love their lives even unto death but not only objectively do we stand on the righteousness of Christ the righteousness of Christ also becomes imparted to us that is to say when we abide in Christ and he abides in us he changes us from the inside out and as he helps us to stand and to walk righteously before God there is no room for the devil's accusations because we are hid in Christ and his righteousness covers my affections covers my emotions covers my will covers my desires in him I have whatever it takes to walk righteously before God I love the way John puts it in 1 John 3 this then he says is how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us for God he says is greater than our hearts and he knows everything aren't you glad that even when you feel condemned on the inside Jesus is at the right hand of God the father and he ever lives to make intercession for you and in his righteousness we stand secure [CUT] [PROPOSED CUT 1 START at 00:41:13.620; remove through 00:44:22.000] for time and eternity. In the eyes of all men will be fixed on the Lamb who was crucified, in the midst of the mercy and justice you'll reign at your father's side, and the angels will come and hail the Lamb. Who is slain for the world, who is crowned, and the earth will reply, "You shall reign as the King of all kings and the Lord of all gods." There's a shield in our hand and a sword at our side, there's a fire in our spirits, I cannot be denied, for the Father has told us for the ease you have done, for the nations that gather before you. In the ears of all men will be fixed on the Lamb who was crucified, who descended to hell yet was raised up to reign at his father's side, and the angels will come and hail the Lamb, who is slain for the world, who is crowned, and the earth will reply, "You shall reign as the King of all kings and the Lord of all gods," and the angels will cry, "Hail the Lamb who is slain for the world, who is crowned, and the earth will reply, "You shall reign as the King of all kings and the Lord of all gods." [CUT] [PROPOSED CUT 1 END at 00:44:22.000; resume after this marked segment]