The Full Armour of God

well I pointed out last week that the
Christian life is a life of conflict
biblically speaking Paul says Ephesians
6 verse 12 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 and we've been seeing in
recent weeks that what God is looking
for in your life in my life is for us
not only to understand what our di
identity in Christ is as the children of
God but to leave it out with the power
of the Holy Spirit so that by the power
of God's Holy Spirit we can accomplish
those good works that God has prepared
for us from before the foundation of the
world and we've been seeing together
that as we grab hold of that vision as
we try to step into those places try to
live out of the core gifting of our
hearts that's what we discover that
there is a battle and sometimes that
battle comes to us in the form of flesh
and blood other people sometimes people
closest to us who take issue with the
fact that they no longer can control us
because we're controlled by King Jesus
but behind flesh and blood according to
Paul's teaching here are what he calls
the rulers the authorities the powers of
this dark world and the spiritual forces
of evil in the heavenly places those
forces are the spiritual forces that are
in league with Satan the name means
adversary he hates god he hates the
purposes of God he hates it when you and
I escaped from his power and submit
ourselves to God's power and he hates it
even more when we become instrument
in the hands of God to rescue other
people and so the more we commit
ourselves to following the Lord the more
we commit ourselves to living in our
spiritual gifts individually and
corporately the more we will experience
that conflict of which the Scriptures
speak that is not a sign of failure that
is not a sign that we're doing something
wrong that is not a sign that we are
losers no it just means that we have
become a threat to Satan's Kingdom how
do we protect ourselves we protect
yourselves by putting on the full armor
of God Paul puts it this way in the
passage that we have been looking at put
on the full armor of God so that you can
take your stand against the devil's
schemes then 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 notice the emphasis
is on remaining standing and as Martin
Luther wrote so many years ago when the
great hema mighty fortress is our God
did we and our own strength confide our
striving would be losing were not the
right man on our side the man of God's
own choosing there's only one person who
was able to live in such a way that the
devil had no hold on him his name is
Jesus and when you and I by faith are
joined to Jesus the victory that he is
one he shares with you and with me and
it comes to us in the form of spiritual
armor the armor is complete it is the
whole armor of God but you and I have a
responsibility to put it on and to the
degree to which we put it on to that
degree
God's promises that we can remain
standing in the day of evil and I think
you will agree with me we live in a day
of evil we live in a day when Christian
values are blatantly being disregarded
in our society and when the values from
down below are embraced in the name of
love and tolerance that includes
everybody except Christians so having
painted the big picture of the whole
armor of God Paul now goes on in this
particular passage to talk about the
individual pieces of armor the
provisions that God has made in Christ
to enable us to remain standing in the
day of battle and in the time that
remains this morning let's at least make
a start at looking at those individual
pieces of armor what to begin then with
what Paul calls the belt of truth stand
firm with a belt of truth buckled around
your waist now it's really interesting
that in Greek it actually says having
your loins girded with truth that is a
phrase that you will find in older Bible
translations the newer translations
don't translate it quite that way but
your loins are of course your waist area
it is in biblical language the place of
of vigor and strength children are said
to come forth from your loins and the
phrase having your loins gird girded
refers to the fact that in biblical days
people wore long flowing robes and if
you were caught in a situation where you
had to run or make fast movements of
course those robes would get a no
a-and so what would you do well you
would hoist up your skirt so to speak
tie it with a belt or Sasha around your
waist so that you could be free to move
so the phrase your loins girded about is
a biblical way of saying be ready for
action don't be caught off guard don't
be caught short and so Jesus puts it
this way and Luke 12 verse 35 and this
is the king james version of it let your
loins be girded about and your lights
bird and your lights burning and then
the NIV translates in the more modern
fashion be dressed ready for service
don't be caught off guard Peter does the
same thing in 1 Peter 1 verse 13 again
in the King James wherefore gird up the
loins of your mind be sober and hope to
the end for the grace that is to be
brought unto you at the revelation of
Jesus Christ the loins of your mind in
other words be mentally prepared and
active standing for the truth waiting
for the coming of the Lord Jesus so in
Paul talks here about the belt of truth
he is talking about a preparedness that
is necessary to engage in the spiritual
conflict the belt was also one of the
ways in which your scabbard that was
attached to you so that you could have
your sword handy and again an indication
of being prepared for the battle now
here's the thing of course this belt
says Paul is the belt of truth stand
firm then with the belt of truth buckled
around your waist raises the question
immediately what is truth and you might
recall that's the quest
the Apostle or Pontius Pilate asked of
Jesus he said what is truth and it's the
question that many many many people are
asking today and many people are
answering we don't know what the truth
is because in today's society there is
no such thing as absolute truth truth is
what you make it truth is what you
experience truth is the narrative that
your clan has written up and so truth
for a lot of people is just what I want
it to be very convenient because then
you can do whatever you wanted here but
that's not as you will know the Bible's
version the Bible's version of truth is
that it's the way things really are from
God's perspective doesn't matter what
you think doesn't matter what I think
doesn't matter what I feel doesn't
matter what you feel it's what God says
is true and that truth is written to us
in the created order before it fell that
truth is revealed to us on the pages of
Scripture and that truth more than
anything is a reveal to us in the person
of Jesus Christ he put it this way in
John 14 6 I am the way and the truth and
the life no one comes to the Father
except through me and what Jesus means
to say here is that he is the bridge
between a holy God and a sinful people
when Jesus says I am the truth he says
look at me to see what God thinks of a
fallen humanity if you ever want to know
what God thinks about seeing look at
Jesus on the cross if you ever want to
know the truth about God look at the
holiness of Jesus as he reflects the
person of God so when Jesus says I'm the
way the truth and the life no one comes
to the Father except through me he's
really saying God is supremely holy
the human race is supremely sinful under
subjection to Satan's power and the only
way a sinful people can be restored to a
holy God is by the cross of Jesus there
is no other way to salvation all roads
do not lead to heaven all religious
systems do not lead to truth the only
way to be saved is to repent of your sin
put your faith in Jesus and surrender
your life to him that is the
overwhelming message of the gospel and
that's what Paul is referring to first
and foremost when he talks about the
belt of truth the battle begins by a
clear understanding and a clear
embracing of the truth of the gospel
that only in Jesus Christ is there
salvation now why do I make a point of
that because Satan is a liar and he is
the father of lies he hates the dividing
line that runs through humanity between
those who are the children of God and
those who are the children of Satan if
he can erase that dividing line and make
the children of Satan think they are the
children of God then people cannot
possibly escape from under his power and
the kingdom of God cannot possibly come
and so Satan is constantly at work
sowing confusion trying to deceive
people concerting the truth and our
obligation is to understand the truth
clearly proclaim it clearly and live it
clearly i love the way paul writes it in
Galatians 1 verse 18 even if we are an
angel from heaven should preach a gospel
other than the one we preached to you
let him be eternally condemned the word
is anathema Paul's way of saying if
anybody compromises on the truth of the
gospel let him go to hell strong
language we're not comfortable with
strong language and because there are
all kinds of people in the world who are
rigid and unloving and unkind and who
don't manifest the spirit of Jesus in
their conflict with the world that
having been said the gospel can never
ever be compromised because when you do
God cannot save the world there is no
other way so whenever you hear teaching
or whatever you hear movements or
whenever you find there is somebody
trying to persuade you about some point
of view the first question that you must
always ask yourself and I've talked
about this before but it bears repeating
where is the cross of Jesus in what is
being suggested and being proposed does
this message does this philosophy thus
this movement emphasize that we are
totally fallen away from God totally
subject to God's judgment does it teach
me that only in repentance and in faith
in coming to Jesus can I experience the
saving power of God not that complicated
but you will find that if you ask
yourself that question you can see
through most of
the devil's lies I have to tell you I
cannot believe how susceptible God's
people are to a whole host of
philosophies out there that come at us
that sound good that are that are
discriminatory against the cross of
Jesus because the cross is rejected as
foolishness and it's harmful and its
destructive so Paul says we are to put
on the belt of truth and then he goes on
to say we need to put on the breastplate
of righteousness stand firm then with a
belt of truth buckled around your waist
with a breastplate of righteousness in
place and what you can see from the
picture there and that's actually a
pretty accurate picture of the kind of
breastplate that the Roman soldiers used
in the time that Paul was writing if you
study the history of Roman armor then it
went through all kinds of different
modifications as the decades and the
years went by but as you can tell a
breast plate a breast plate as its
described to hear covers the chest
covers the abdomen sometimes they would
extend further down and covered part of
your bowels as well and that is
significant in that it well it's like a
flak jacket that police used today right
or people that are involved in in in a
military situation the breastplate of
the flak jacket covers your vital organs
the biggest target when somebody's
coming after you with the most dangerous
and so it includes your lungs it
includes your heart and then include
your your stomach and and and your
bowels as well and the heart in
Scripture
is always identified as the seat of your
intellect or you the seat of your
emotions and the seat of your passions
it includes the wheel often includes the
intellect often includes the emotions as
well and bowels in biblical language is
very interesting thing Bauer's bowels
are often the gauge of your emotional
state and you know if you've ever been
in a situation where you have been
required to step out of your comfort
zone into something else you will know
the butterflies in your stomach and you
will know how many times you got to run
to the bathroom just to stay on target
that's where that kind of notion comes
from and so these vital organs of our
lives are especially Satan's target
because if he can get to our heart if he
can get to our will if he can get to our
emotions he can take us in a lot of
directions that the Lord God would not
have us go in fact let me give you just
very quickly three reasons why the heart
needs the covering of the breastplate
first of all it's because our hearts
easily lead us astray proverbs 423 above
all else guard your heart for it is the
wellspring of life and what that means
is that what your heart feels is often
what you end up doing and how many
people don't you and I know who have
drifted away from the path of faith
because their heart was drawn to another
love a young woman who abandons her walk
with God and her desire for purity
because she loves her boyfriend or vice
versa I
or a woman who sells out his passion for
God because he or she craves the riches
or the wealth of the world or the
approval of his or her friends and so
our hearts are a wonderful tool that God
gives us to motivate us and to engage us
and to drive us forward but that also
makes our hearts very dangerous because
if the devil can find a way into our
loyalties into our affections then
that's going to change us some time back
I was really surprised in fact it was at
Roberta's mother's funeral I got into
conversation with with with a man in our
denomination that I have known for many
many years and have respected
tremendously because he has been so
innovative and so desirous to see the
kingdom of God moved forward and this
was just after Synod mat and Senate had
this big long discussion about providing
pastoral care for people who struggle
with same-sex attractions in the in the
in the church and I said well what did
you think of that and I was shocked to
hear is very negative reaction to the
position our denomination had adopted
which was actually a pretty good
position biblically speaking if you
consider the tremendous forces that are
at work to to deal with this particular
issue and then he went on to explain the
reason why he felt the way that he found
is because he is a son that is gay and
my heart went out to him because I can
understand what kind of a struggle that
is but that illustrates how easily our
hearts get in the way you see most
people are prepared to submit to
biblical truth on issues like divorce
and remarriage and biblical morality and
you name it until somebody that
close to them steps into those areas and
then all of a sudden we've got to
recalculate what the Bible is saying
because our hearts are tugging at US
isn't it true Satan knows how to
capitalize on the niceness of
relationships second reason that Satan
capitalizes on our hearts is because our
hearts are easily overcome with fear if
you've ever been in a situation where
you have been invited to step out into
something that you've never been in
before then you know what fear is I
remember years ago when I first came to
this community I was invited to be one
of the speakers at the ontario
convention in kingston at Queen's
University of the time and as Providence
would have a I seem to remember that I
had to I think I spoke twice at the
beginning of this event but also at the
very end now you don't know terror until
you've got to speak to a thousand young
kids who have been up all weekend and
who are much more interested in flirting
with each other than they are hearing
the truth about the book of Proverbs
that says commit your way to the Lord
and he'll make your paths straight never
you mind just let me be and I remember
in the session before that which I think
Henry will devour was doing I was
sitting on the top bleachers in the back
and I'm sitting there and I don't
recruit about this but I just about did
my pants honestly I have never been so
petrified in my life and it's in moments
like that that you say to yourself how
in heaven's name did I ever get myself
into this situation I should have just
been smart and said no when the
invitation came my way ever been there
hearts tremble
with fear the psalmist put it this way
he said I'm poured out like water and
this is a messianic Psalm Psalm 22 I'm
poured out like water all my bones are
out of joint my heart is like wax it is
melted in the midst of my bowels there
you got the two together my heart is
running right down into my love biblical
language like that just for the record a
lot of Bible translations really clean
up the emotional intensity of the Psalms
because they don't think that Christian
people can handle how dirty and ugly
sometimes life can be third reason Satan
our hearts are susceptible because Satan
in Scripture is the accuser of the
Brethren if the devil cannot tempt us
into sin then he will try to accuse us
with everything that he can and if ever
you have found yourself in a position
where you're stepping out into something
new and the challenges are big and your
heart is full of fear and and you're
wondering you know how can I do then you
will know the devil comes along and he
will remind you of everything in you
that is inadequate he will remind you of
every sin that you have ever faced and
he will remind you who do you think you
are that you think you can do this
particular thing he wants to dissuade us
from obedience by playing on our fears
and our insecurities and our places of
brokenness Michelle and I used to joke
in the early years of my ministry that
we could only have a marital fight that
lasted for less than a week because you
see sunday would come along and if i was
going to preach on sunday i have to have
my relations in proper order so we'd
fight like dogs and cats upon occasion
but i had to make
to make up by the time sunday rolled
around it was a good discipline so that
I couldn't carry grudges beyond six days
worked too you should try and straighten
your life out before you come to church
and it'll shorten your fights by a long
shot so our hearts are susceptible and
the antidote to all of that says the
Apostle Paul is of course the
breastplate of righteousness stand firm
then with a breastplate of righteousness
in place the only one who ever lived a
hundred percent righteous was the lord
jesus and john's gospel has a
fascinating little verse that we tend to
read over without giving much thought to
but it's very telling it's Jesus
speaking he says he's talking about when
he's going back to the Father he says I
will not speak to you much longer for
the prince of this world is coming he
knows he's going to the cross and gods
going to give him over into Satan's
hands but then he says this he has no
hold on me the Greek says he has nothing
in me you know that means it means there
is nothing in Jesus that Satan can latch
on to there is nothing in Jesus that
gives Satan power or authority over
Jesus that's why Jesus could die on the
cross death could not hold him God
raised him from the dead because Satan's
power was completely broken because of G
d's Jesus's obedience unto death the
only one that ever lived perfectly
righteous before God the Father was
Jesus Jesus himself says you know who
accuses me of sin how many of us can say
that we can so what we need is the
breast
plate of righteousness that is the
righteousness of Jesus that enables us
to stand against the wiles of the devil
now when it comes to the righteousness
of Jesus it's very helpful to understand
that we can distinguish between
righteousness that is imputed and
righteousness that is imparted
righteousness that is imputed and
righteousness that is imparted gets a
little technical but stick with me and
then we'll be done in a few moments very
important distinction imputed or
imparted you can say objective
subjective you can say positional you
can say experiential imputed
righteousness is the righteousness of
Jesus that is credited to our account
the Bible says concerning while imputed
righteousness is righteousness that is
credited to us on account of Jesus
Romans 49 Abraham's faith was credited
to him as righteousness what that means
is that because Jesus was perfectly
righteous you and I by faith in him not
only have all our sins forgiven and I've
talked about this many times before but
it's so critical to see it we are
considered righteous before God and when
the devil comes at you and it reminds
you that you're a no-good loser that you
have failed all your life that you can
never be like other people who measure
up to whatever status you think we ought
to be measuring up to in the kingdom
then you need to declare I am righteous
in Christ doesn't matter how messed-up
you are doesn't matter how many sins
you're still stuck in doesn't matter how
big your failures or doesn't matter how
bad you've been or how bad you're going
to be in Christ you are the
righteousness of God we call that
station we are perfectly righteous
before God and so when the devil comes
after you or the devil comes after me
when he tries to rub our noses in our
failures in the fact that our hearts are
just twist it and we're in love with the
present world and we just cannot be what
God wants us in Christ that's not you in
Christ you are righteous from God's
point of view and as long as we confess
their sins and keep short account with
God the devil can get out yeah that's
pretty good news you know that's the
breastplate of righteousness if you
don't get that would you please ask the
Lord to show you what that is because
it's the remedy to shame it's the remedy
to self-effacement it's the remedy till
I'm no good I'm never going to be able
to get there never you mind you're
already there in Christ you are that's
your receive it by faith that's why
we're saved by faith you see we're
saving it because we feel it or
experienced it but because God says so
but there's a second side to
righteousness and that's where we need
to understand the lack of confusion this
is where we often get confused the other
side is imparted righteousness which is
the righteousness worked in us on
account of Jesus remember that under the
terms of the New Covenant we're joined
by faith to Jesus and when we're joined
by faith to Jesus the Holy Spirit comes
to leaving us the Holy Spirit applies to
us the benefits of who we are in christ
helps us to recognize what's bad helps
us to put that off helps us to recognize
what's good stirs in us the desire for
righteous living and begins to change
our life so that from the heart we
become obedient to the standard of truth
to which we have been committed thanks
be to god this is Romans 6 verse 17 and
18 that you who are one slaves of sin
have become obedient from the heart to
the standard of teaching to which you
are committed and having been set free
from seen have become slaves of
righteousness and we call that
sanctification we need both we need
positional righteousness of Jesus but we
also need to learn to keep our lives
free from sin so that the enemy cannot
come after us and use those places of
sin in our lives to discredit us or to
tear us down and the more we are
involved in ministry or the more we are
involved in trying to lead an obedient
life before God the more important it is
to heed the words of Jesus when he said
to his apostles be innocent as doves but
wise as serpents and you know why that
matters because when you live Oh be
dient Lee you're going to make enemies
people are going to misunderstand you
their feelings are going to be hurt and
when their feelings are hurt and they're
under the conviction of the Holy Spirit
because of your life and your testimony
they're going to turn around and they're
going to look at you and they're going
to try to justify their position by
finding anything in your life that they
can find to hang on to so that they can
discredit your message do you understand
what I'm saying and if they can find
something in you that they can find
blameworthy then they can write you off
and they think they don't have to listen
to you because you're no better than
they are and that becomes an excuse for
them to reject the truth of the gospel
and her job is to put on the breastplate
of righteousness will never do it
perfectly and there will be lots of
things in our lives that we have to keep
taking responsibility for but the less
cracks we have in our armor the less
opportunity we give to our opponent to
try to tear us down which is why the new
testament constantly says to the church
live upright lives in God and in Christ
so they cannot speak evil of here how
many people are offended how many people
do not come to Jesus because there's a
Christian in their lives that lives
hypocritically that says one thing and
does another and gives cause for offence
and how important for us to walk in
humility how important it is for us to
embrace our own failures and our own
shortcomings and say yes I know these
things are true but what I stand for is
true nevertheless and Jesus still calls
you to follow him you know we talked
earlier and I'm going to close with this
about the chaos of the presidential
election south of the border I don't
know that there's ever been a campaign
with so much mudslinging and
name-calling and all of that kind of
stuff why because if I can throw mud at
you and it can stick with you that I can
discredit you and I can discredit your
position and one of the race is on and
the stakes are high I will try to find
anything that I can find in you to nail
you and if I can't find the truth than I
will make it up until I can win the
battle that's a strategy of hell and the
biblical antidote is the breastplate of
righteousness those are the provisions
that God has made in Christ I think
that's where we'll stop I had wanted to
go on to the next item which deals with
having your feet shod with the equipment
of the gospel of peace for them given
the homework assignment go home look at
that verse
having shod your feet with the equipment
of the gospel of peace and this isn't
thinking and do some research what in
the world does that verse mean of all
the verses in this passage that is the
hardest one to understand and has the
most different interpretations come back
next week and Lord willing I'm going to
give you the right interpretation with
you