Centered on Jesus

On the first Christmas, an angel appeared to some shepherds who were keeping watch over their flocks at night.  We are told that at the angel’s appearing, the shepherds were “terribly frightened.”  The angel announced to the shepherds: “And so the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger” (Luke 2:10–12).   The Christmas story does not begin with the shepherds, or with the angel’s visit to Mary with the words: “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son and you shall name Him Jesus.  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end” (Luke 1:31-33).  The story of Christmas began long before the promise made to Mary’s fiancé, Joseph: “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.  She will give birth to a Son; and you shall name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matt. 1:20b-21).   The story of Christmas begins in Genesis 1:1 with the words: “In the beginning.”  It involves an antagonist (the devil), it is all about a hero (God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit), and it is about our need to be rescued (we have a sin problem).  The story of Christmas is a story that transforms unlike any other story; it is a story identified by one word in the Bible, and that word is, “Gospel” which means, “good news.”  Of this good news, the apostle Paul wrote: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…” (Rom. 1:16).   The Christmas story is about the promised savior born to be king—the Lion of the Tribe of Judah from whom, “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet” (Gen. 29:10).  Christmas is the ancient promise that the Son of David would be unlike any other king in that God would, “establish the throne of his kingdom forever” (2 Sam. 7:13).  The coming King who would save His people from their sins would be “Immanuel” (Isa. 7:14)—God with us.    What is the Helmet of Salvation? Like the soldier’s shield, the helmet could be taken of and put back on.  The helmet of the Roman soldier was made of bronze and had cheek pieces to provide protection to his head.  Like the breastplate of righteousness, Paul draws his language from Isaiah 59:17, “He put on righteousness like a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head; and He put on garments of vengeance for clothing and wrapped Himself with zeal as a cloak.”  If you recall from my sermon on the breastplate of righteousness, the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53 who was, “pierced for our offences, and was crushed for our wrongdoings” is the Divine Warrior of Isaiah 59, which begins with these words: “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short that it cannot save; nor is His ear so dull That it cannot hear” (v. 1).  The One who is able to save is the One to Whom righteousness and salvation truly belongs.    When redemption and righteousness was beyond the reach of sinful humanity, Immanuel “put on righteousness like a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head” and was born of a virgin to save us from our sins. But what does it mean to be saved from our sins, and is salvation something that can be taken up and put off like a helmet? To answer those questions we must answer what “salvation” is.    Salvation literally means, “preservation or deliverance from harm, ruin, or loss.”  In the strictest and most biblical sense, salvation is something that has happened in the past, but it is also happening in the present, and yes... it is also something that will happen in the future.  In other words, Jesus came to save his people from their sins so that they can be saved from the past, the present, and in the future, from the full curse of sin.  How so?  Well, think about what was announced: Jesus came to save His people from their sins.    When Adam and Eve sinned, all of creation was brought under a curse, and that curse includes not only our propensity to sin against God, but also death and the vandalizing of a peace with God all of humanity was intended to enjoy.  Here is what the Bible says: “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all mankind, because all sinned...” (Rom. 5:12).  So, when it comes to our salvation, Timothy Keller said, “The Bible says every Christian stands in the middle of three tenses of their salvation. You can’t understand the glory and the beauty of it unless you see it. In fact, you won’t be able to understand the Scripture and you won’t be able to understand what’s happening to you if you don’t understand.”[1]  We stand in the past tense of our salvation: You have been saved from the penalty of sin and pardoned from your guilt and now have been covered under the righteousness of Christ and are justified before a holy God (1 Pet. 3:18). We stand in the reality that we have been saved from the penalty of sin!   We stand in the present tense of our salvation: You are being saved in the sense that God is changing you through the power of His Holy Spirit.  The evidence of your nature to sin is still there and the struggle against your own sin is very real, but each moment that you move closer to death on this side of eternity is one step closer to Christlikeness.  This is the fight I was talking about last week. In this present life you, Christian, “fight the good fight of the faith” and by doing so, we “take hold of the eternal life to which you have been called” (1 Tim. 6:12).  We stand in the reality that we are being saved from the power of sin!   We stand in the future tense of our salvation:  Because we have been saved from the penalty of sin and we are being saved from the power of sin because Jesus, as the Divine Warrior of Isaiah 59, is able and will indeed rescue us from all sin.  The third verse in the carol, Joy to the Word, rightly states: No more let sins and sorrows grow, Nor thorns infest the ground; He comes to make his blessings flow Far as the curse is found.    Jesus came to save us from our sins in the sense that He will make his blessings flow as far as the curse is found, and on that day: Death will be swallowed up in victory (1 Cor. 15:54), what is mortal will be swallowed up by life (2 Cor. 5:4), sorrow and singing will flee away (Isa. 51:11), every tear will be wiped away (Rev. 21:1-4), and all things will be made new (Rev. 21:5).  We stand in the reality that we will be saved from the presence of sin... forever and will receive a better and more glorious Eden!    The salvation that Jesus came to deliver is not something we take off and put on again, so what then is the helmet of salvation?  According to 1 Thessalonians 5:8, the helmet of salvation is the hope of our salvation: “But since we are of the day, let’s be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.” Because we are saved, being saved, and will be saved... we live in the hope of our salvation no matter what the enemy launches at us or does to us, “the night is almost gone, and the day is near” (Rom. 13:12).   How Do You Take Up the Helmet of Salvation? To take up the helmet of salvation is to live in the reality that this mortal life is not the end and that you are now, and forever will, remain a child of the living God!    The helmet of salvation protects your head, it protects your mind, it protects your line of sight so that you can see the hope that is yours in Christ.  When things in life seem to go south, when this life is shortened by disease, when this world’s resources are stripped away, when the proverbial rug is pulled from underneath, and when it seems that all in this world is lost... you can respond with gospel-centered hope: “For our momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison...” (2 Cor. 4:17).   The helmet of salvation is the assurance of our salvation! Listen, there are two dangers that every person faces if they are a part of any Bible teaching and gospel centered church.  The first danger is to believe that you are a Christian when you are not.  If you believe that you can believe in Jesus with your mind for the salvation of your soul with little consequence to the way you are living your life today, then you may not be a genuine Christian.    True saving faith is to believe and trust that Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection is enough for the salvation of your soul; the evidence that you genuinely believe and trust in Jesus as your savior will be evidenced in your standing in your past salvation, present salvation, and hope in your future salvation.  Do not forget Ephesians 2:8-10!  You were saved by grace through faith in Jesus, and the purpose for your salvation is stated in verse 10, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”  Genuine saving faith in Jesus will be evidenced by a changing life that looks more and more like Jesus’ life over the years.    The second danger you face in the local church is that the enemy can get you to doubt your salvation.  If the enemy can get you to doubt your salvation successfully, he will have a better chance of tempting you to live closer to your sin rather than closer to Jesus as your savior.  When you take up the helmet of salvation, you stand in the shoes of the gospel of peace, with your identity in Christ firmly belted around your waist, the righteousness of Christ securely fastened over your chest, so that you can take up your biblically saturated faith.  When the devil attempts to undermine your salvation, you can take up your helmet of salvation knowing that only because of Jesus, there is no condemnation for you (Rom. 8:1)!    When you take up your helmet of salvation in the enemy’s presence, you do so with confidence, knowing: “...that He who began a good work among you will complete it by the day of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 1:6).  When the attacks come and the devil or your flesh is all up in your face to tempt you to doubt the sufficiency of Christ, you take up your helmet of salvation with the assurance of 2 Corinthians 4:7-9, “But we have this treasure in earthen containers, so that the extraordinary greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed...” (2 Cor. 4:7–9).   How do you know that the salvation Jesus provided is enough?  The One born to save His people from their sins is the “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace” promised long ago (Isa. 9:6-7).  He is the promised King whose, “times of coming forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity” (Micah 5:2).  The One born King of the Jews is He who was declared long before His birth through the virgin Mary: “I am the first and the last, and there is no God besides Me” (Isa. 44:6; Rev. 1:17-18). Jesus can save because He is the righteous Branch of David who is called, “Yahweh Our Righteousness” (Jer. 23:5-6). He is Him who is, “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation... by Whom all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions, or rulers, or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him” (Col. 1:15-16).  The salvation Jesus provided is enough because, while He existed in the form of God as the Divine Son, He humbled Himself, “by taking the form of a bond-servant and being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross” (see Phil. 2:1-11).  This is why we can have every confidence that Ephesians 1:7-8 is all that we need for the hope of our salvation: “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our wrongdoings, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us.”   So, in light of all that Jesus is and all that he did to secure your salvation, who are you, Chistian?  You are chosen by God before the foundation of the world (1:4-6)!  Who are you Christian?  You are redeemed as a child of God by the blood of His own Son... namely Jesus (1:7-12)!  Who are you Christian?  You are sealed by the Holy Spirit as a child of the living God until the day when redemption is finally complete (1:13-14).  You can have all the confidence that Jesus is enough because He alone is the Divine Warrior qualified to live the life you could not live for the purpose of dying a death you deserved! Jesus is your righteousness, and He is your salvation!    On December 4th, I read something Thomas Watson wrote that Jonathan Gibson’s O Come, O Come, Emmanuel included in his devotional.  When it comes to what our salvation means, Watson’s words seem to capture the beauty and magnitude of the Jesus who came to save his people from their sins: He was poor that he might make us rich.  He was born of a virgin that we might be born of God.  He took our flesh that he might give us his Spirit.  He lay in the manger that we might lie in paradise.  He came down from heaven that he might bring us to heaven... that the Ancient of Days should be born,--that he who thunders in the heavens should cry in the cradle,--that he who rules the stars should suck the breast,--that a virgin should conceive,--that Christ should be made of a woman which himself made,--that the branch should bear the vine,--that the mother should be younger than the child she bore, and the child in the womb bigger than the mother,--that the human nature should not be God, yet one with God: this was not only amazing but miraculous.”   If you a Christian, Jesus is the hope of your salvation for He is the helmet of your salvation.  If you are not a Christian, you can receive Him as the Hope of your salvation by surrendering your life to Him as your Savior.   [1] Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

It has been a few weeks since we were in Ephesians.  The last sermon I preached was on the shoes of the gospel of peace.  I have a confession to make, and it is not one to be proud of: I am not very good at creating space for my own rest. One of the symptoms that a break and vacation is needed is when your pastor takes 15-20 minutes to talk about shoes during his sermon introduction!  In preparation for this sermon, I have been thinking about the importance of rest as it is related to faith.    One of the Ten Commandments is to, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exod. 20:8-11).  Here is the irony with the fourth commandment: The first four commandments address our relationship with God and the last six commandments address our relationships with one another.  I am of the opinion that a Sabbath rest has less to do with the seventh day of the week and more to do with our need to separate ourselves from the noise of life. Regarding the fourth commandment, Jesus said: “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:23-28).  The purpose of the Sabbath is that it creates space for you to listen to God for the purpose being strengthened in Him.   The reason why the fourth commandment is sandwiched between the first three concerning our vertical relationship with God and the final six concerning our horizontal relationships with your neighbor is because if you ignore a Sabbath rest, both your relationship with God and your relationships with others will suffer.  If you ignore the fourth commandment, you will be more prone to develop idols in your heart and become little good to those around you.  So, here is what I want you to hear as we move forward: Sabbath rest stabilizes gospel grounded faith.  The kind of rest I am talking about must include the kind of rest described in Psalm 46:10, “Stop striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted on the earth.”     Now, with God’s command for a Sabbath rest as our backdrop, let’s consider again the armor of God: “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 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. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.” (Eph. 6:10–13)   Remember that the schemes belong to the devil, but the armor we are to put on belongs to God.  The belt of truth is our identity in Christ, the breastplate of righteousness is our righteousness in Christ, and the shoes of the gospel of peace enable us to keep our footing in the whole Gospel, that includes our salvation but also the full redemption of all creation.  The whole Gospel includes our resurrection, but it also promises us a day when sorrow and sighing will flee away: “And the redeemed of the Lord will return and come to Zion with joyful shouting, and everlasting joy will be on their heads. They will obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away” (Isa. 51:11).   The fourth piece of God’s armor is the shield of faith.  The questions we need to answer are what is it really; and how does one use the shield of faith?    What is the Shield of Faith? The shield Paul had in mind was not the small round shield you would expect a soldier to have for hand-to-hand combat, for it was light but left most of the body exposed.  Instead, the shield Paul envisioned was more like the one a soldier carried to protect his whole body from the enemy’s arrows shot from a distance.    The large shield was called a “scutum” and was typically used by Roman legionaries. It was designed not only to protect the soldier wielding it from arrows, but was designed especially to protect him from arrows that were dipped in pitch and lit on fire before they were launched.  The front of the shield was covered in leather that could be soaked in water; in this way, when the flaming arrows hit the shield, the fire would be quenched.    For what purpose did a flaming arrow (aka “fire arrow”) serve?  What is fire known for doing?  The enemy would launch flaming arrows to set on fire anything that was flammable such as buildings, materials, and enemy troops.  Fire consumes and destroys, and this is exactly what the rulers, powers, world forces of this darkness, and the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places desire to do to any and all of God’s people.  We are told to take up the shield of faith to protect us from such attacks from the enemy, but what is it?    Is the shield of faith a self-determined will to hold on to what you believe?  Is it something that you would have more of if you simply believed more?  Is the shield of faith more about having enough faith in what we read about in the Bible so that you can claim financial, emotional, relational, spiritual, and physical healing and wholeness for yourself?  I don’t think the shield of faith includes any of that.    Remember that Paul did not just come up with the armor of God because of some Roman soldiers around him.  Paul received his shield metaphor from the Old Testament.  To address Abraham’s fear about being without an heir, God promised Him, “Do not fear Abram, I am a shield to you; your reward shall be very great.”  In Psalm 28:7, David celebrated the God who hears the prayers of His people with these words: “Blessed be the Lord, because He has heard the sound of my pleading.  The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart triumphs, and with my song I shall thank Him.”  However, I think Proverbs 30:5 is the most helpful verse that helps us understand what the shield of faith is: “Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.”   So, which is it? Is God our shield and if so, how can our faith be the shield?  On this point Iain Duguid is helpful: “Faith is the means by which we flee to God for refuge.  It is how we cling to God and find in him comfort and protection in times of difficulty and distress.”[1]  It is one thing to believe that God exists but is quite another thing to flee to the God you know to be true because of the way He has revealed Himself through His Word.  The more you know about God, the more inclined you will be to flee to Him as your refuge and strength, for the Bible says, “the people who know their God will be strong and take action” (Dan. 11:32b).    The way you cling to God and find Him to be your comfort and protection is through His Word!  We are told in Ephesians 5:26 that Jesus intends to sanctify and beautify His church through the washing of water with the word.  It is the word of God that we use to saturate our shield “to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”  This is not a New Testament concept; it is a Genesis through Revelation principle for living faithfully before God.  Listen to Psalm 119:10-11 and tell me if you cannot hear the same tone that you hear in Ephesians 6:16, “With all my heart I have sought You; Do not let me wander from Your commandments.  I have treasured Your word in my heart, so that I may not sin against You.”    How do We Use the Shield of Faith? It is all well and good to know what the shield of faith is, but how do you use it?  To answer that question, permit me to show you something that I have read dozens of times and missed because I did not read Ephesians 6:14-17 as carefully as I should have.  There are six pieces that belong to the armor of God. The first three are all pieces that a soldier puts on and keeps on so long as he is active: “...having belted your waist with truth” (v. 14a) “...having put on the breastplate of righteousness” (v. 14b) “...having strapped on your feet the preparation of the gospel of peace” (v. 15)   Each of these pieces are attached to the Christian as part of his/her identity in Christ.  The belt of truth is your new identity in Christ, the breastplate of righteousness is your righteousness in Christ, and the shoes of the gospel of peace are the promise of full redemption that Jesus makes possible.  You put on these pieces of armor by standing in the gospel, confidently recognizing that all your righteousness is in Christ, and that your identity is rooted in Christ as truth for all of life!   Now notice the final three pieces of the armor of God and how Paul distinguishes them from the first three pieces with the words, “in addition to all...”: “...taking up the shield of faith” (v. 16) “...take the helmet of salvation” (v. 17a) “...take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (v. 17b)   The soldier’s shield, helmet, and sword were all a part of his armor, but they were pieces he could take up and put down at will. The enemy can tempt you to believe that Christ is not enough, but what he already knows is that your righteousness is Christ’s righteousness; wearing the breastplate of righteousness is simply walking in light of that truth.  However, when the enemy attacks with his flaming arrows in the form of temptations, lies, and accusations, you can choose to take up the shield of faith or allow those arrows to pierce you so that their fire can overwhelm, consume, and incapacitate you.   If you are a Christian and you have truly been born again, the flaming arrows may not be able to destroy your soul, but they certainly can wound to the point of rendering you immobile and unable to fully engage and participate in God’s mission in the world and purpose for your life.  If you are a Christian, the enemy knows that God chose you before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4-6), that you were fully and completely redeemed by the blood of His Son (1:7-12), and that you have been sealed by the Holy Spirit as God’s inheritance to receive all of His promises (1:13-14, 18-23).    In fact, I am convinced that the devil has more of a theological grasp over what it means for you to be a Christian than many Christians, but if he can deceive you, if he can aid in destroying your Christian witness, if he can paralyze you with shame and guilt to keep you from clinging to all that the cross of Christ represents, then he will do all within his ability to do just that!  Dear Christian, when those flaming arrows come, you have a shield God has given that you can take up to defend yourself from such attacks! God has given us all that we need, but faith in His promises, a dependance upon Him, and the responsibility to proactively saturate our faith with the word of God is something we must do.    Conclusion The enemy will launch his flaming arrows but make no mistake from what we have learned so far from Ephesians, there is also the danger we face from self-inflicted wounds when we fall into temptation.  The devil never makes us sin, we do that all on our own!  This is why it is important to take on the full armor of God.  When we are mindful that Jesus is our identity and not our sin, when we are fully aware that Jesus is our only hope and righteousness, and then stand in the truth of all of God’s redemptive promises, our resolve to resist sin and temptation becomes more determined.    But, when the flaming arrows fly you can lower your shield and let them pierce and consume, or you can take up your shield.  When the enemy whispers: “You sinned and now you are too disgusting for God to love you!”  You take up your shield saturated with the word of God and say: “Do not rejoice over me, enemy of mine.  Though I fall I will rise; though I live in darkness, the Lord is a light for me... He will bring me out to the light, and I will look at His righteousness” (Micah 7:8, 9).  You take up your shield saturated by the word of God and say, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.... For if while we were enemies we were reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” (Rom. 5:8, 10).   Don’t you think that Mary and Joseph endured many the constant barrage of the enemy’s flaming arrows the moment they found out about the conception of Jesus while Mary was still a virgin?  Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her: “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.  And behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and you shall name Him Jesus” (Luke 1:30-31).  Her only question was: “How?” since she was a virgin.  After the angel told her that the Holy Spirit would make it possible miraculously, her response was simply: “Behold, the Lord’s bond-servant; may it be done to me according to your word” (v. 38).  Mary could have been overwhelmed by fear over what her mother, father, relatives, and neighbors would think, but instead she raised up her shield of faith in the form of a song saturated with what she knew from the word of God: “My soul exalts the Lord,    And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. “For He has had regard for the humble state of His bond-servant;       For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed.   “For the Mighty One has done great things for me;       And holy is His name. “And His mercy is to generation after generation       Toward those who fear Him.   “He has done mighty deeds with His arm;       He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their hearts. “He has brought down rulers from their thrones,       And has exalted those who were humble.   “He has filled the hungry with good things,       And sent the rich away empty-handed. “He has given help to His servant Israel,       In remembrance of His mercy,   Just as He spoke to our fathers,       To Abraham and his descendants forever. (Luke 1:47–55)   Joseph could have walked out on Mary in disbelief, but He took up his shield as well and believed that God was not only big enough to make the conception of Jesus supernaturally possible, but he too believed the word of God: “Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son, and they shall name Him Immanuel” (Isa. 7:14; see also Matt. 1:18-25).   So, how do you use the shield of faith?  How do you take it up to defend yourself?  You take up the shield of faith each time you flee to God for refuge through the truth of His word and cling to Him to find your comfort and protection in times of difficulty and distress.    [1] Iain M. Duguid, The Whole Armor of God (Wheaton, IL: Crossway; 2019), p. 68.

Ephesians 2:4-9

Luke 10:38-42

There was a time when I could not stand the idea of exercise.  I was tired of being on cholesterol and blood pressure medicine, and finally got to the place where I became desperate enough to get healthy.  One of the first things I chose to do was join a gym, hire a trainer, and sign up for a 5K because I thought that if I did not train for it, I would die.  So, I began running twice a week while I trained at the gym three times a week.  What I learned soon after I started running was how important it was to have the right shoes.    Because I grew up just outside of Philadelphia, we called anything that you could run around and play in: “sneakers.” Depending on where you grew up, you may know them as “tennis shoes.” Before I started running, I did not know that there were all types of “sneakers” depending on the kind of thing you liked to do.  For those who like to run, you can pay to have your foot analyzed to determine if you need a neutral shoe (for those with a stable foot and normal or high arch).  If you are a runner whose outer edge of your heel hits the ground first or Vis versa, then you might need to choose a more stable shoe.  If you participate in track and field, you may need a shoe with spikes designed to be more lightweight.  If you want a bit more cushion while running, there are cushioned running shoes.  If you do not like the cushion and want to feel more of the ground while running, there is the minimalist running shoe.  If you like running on trails, there is the trail running shoe.  If you are an avid runner, and do not have the right shoes, you will develop pain in your knees, feet, thighs, etc.    Needless to say, wearing the right shoes are important if you are a runner.  Wearing the right shoes while hiking is important if you hike.  Wearing the right shoes doing anything is important.  Wearing the right shoes as a soldier is especially important for combat readiness, and the third piece of equipment belonging to God’s armor that we are told to put on is the shoes of the gospel of peace.   What are the Shoes of Gospel Peace? Most translations insert the word “shoe” to make sense of the Greek. Shoes are assumed and the way it is translated in the NASB is the most literal of all the versions: “...and having strapped on your feet the preparation of the gospel of peace” (v. 15).  The English Standard Version translates the Greek in a way that really gets at the heart of the point that I believe Paul is attempting to make: “as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.”  The question we need to answer is, for what purpose do the shoes of the gospel of peace serve?    The Roman soldier was fitted with a type of sandal that was heavier than what civilians wore.  The sole of the sandal was made with several layers of leather that were about ¾ of an inch thick with hollow-headed hobnail spikes on the bottom of the sole.  The sandals a soldier of Rome wore were not designed for running but did allow him to keep his footing while standing against his enemy.  The shoes Paul had in mind are the type that allowed a soldier to establish himself so that the enemy would not push him back.  Now with that in mind, consider Ephesians 6:10-13, Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 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. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.   So, if the shoes Paul had in mind are the type that allowed a soldier to firm up his stance before the enemy, what does it mean to put on the shoes of the gospel of peace for the Christian?  I have read in a number of commentaries that to put on the shoes of the gospel of peace is Paul’s way of saying that “believers should always be ready to share the gospel.”[1]  I definitely believe that sharing the gospel is what Paul assumed would be the motive and desire of the Christian who has put on the full armor of God.  After all, he was very much aware of Isaiah 52:7, which states: “How delightful on the mountains are the feet of one who brings good news, who announces peace and brings good news of happiness, who announces salvation, and says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns’” (Isa. 52:7).  Jesus did say of His followers: “You are the salt of the earth.... You are the light of the world” (Matt. 5:13, 14).  It is true that the only way people will hear of the gospel of Jesus Christ is if Christians everywhere tell them: “But how are they to preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things” (Rom. 10:15).  However, is this the main point the apostle is making in Ephesians 6:15?  I do not believe that it is.    The shoes of the gospel of peace are the good news of Jesus Christ, but the good news of Jesus Christ is not only that he died for our sins and rose from the grave for the salvation of our souls.  The good news that we are to strap onto our feet, includes Jesus’ death and resurrection; but it much more than that!  “How so?” you ask.  For starters, you need to consider the context of the shoes of the gospel of peace within Ephesians 6:10-18.  Does Paul mean that we are to put on the shoes of the gospel of peace so that we can be ready and prepared to tell people about Jesus (see also Matt. 28:19-20; 1 Pet. 3:15)?  If he did mean this, don’t you think he would have written instead: “strap upon your feet the preparation so that you can make known the gospel of peace”? Instead, Paul tells us to put on the shoes of the gospel of peace so that we would be prepared... but prepared for what?      Remember that the shoes of the Gospel of peace belong to the armor of God, and by wearing them, they prepare us for something.  What is it that they prepare us for?  This is where the context of a particular passage is so important!  The gospel shoes of peace prepare us to stand firm against the devil’s schemes, they prepare us to resist on the evil day, the shoes of the gospel of peace prepare us to stand firm in the strength of the Lord!  I think the New Living Translation is helpful on this point: “For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.” What we are to strap onto our feet is the whole gospel and it is the shoes of the whole gospel that prepares us to stand firm as a Christian who has put on the full armor of God.    Why are the Shoes of the Gospel of Peace Needed? Permit me answer why the shoes of the gospel of peace are needed and then I will unpack my answer for you.  You must have the shoes of the gospel of peace securely fitted upon your feet because if you get the gospel wrong, your belt of truth and breastplate of righteousness will be compromised, and you will therefore be vulnerable when you stand before the enemy.   So, what is the gospel?  It is the good news that Jesus Christ, as the perfectly righteous Son of God, lived a perfectly obedient life to the Law of God on our behalf.  That He died for our sins, triumphantly conquered the grave through His resurrection on the third day, and now stands victoriously as creation’s redeemer.   Jesus is the Son of God If you get Jesus wrong, you will get the gospel wrong.  There is no room for error when it comes to who Jesus is in relationship to what it means to trust and believe in Him!  As the Son of God, Jesus had no beginning, and He will have no end.  He is not a creature like us because He was and forever is eternally begotten of the Father in the sense He existed with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  Of Jesus, the scriptures testify: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of mankind. And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not grasp it” (John 1:1–5).      Jesus was sent by the Father to become fully human while remaining fully God by immaculate conception through Mary while she was a virgin, through whom the Son of God was born: “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us; and we saw His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).  He is the One of whom the prophets spoke: “For a Child will be born to us, a Son will be given to us... and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace” (Isa. 9:6).  By being born of a virgin, He became the righteous descendant of David who bears the name: “The Lord Our Righteousness” (see Jer. 23:5-6).  If Jesus is not fully God and if He did not become also fully human, then there would not have been a fully qualified and fully capable redeemer for mankind and the rest of creation.    Jesus is Our Redeemer As the Son of God, Jesus was the only One qualified to save sinners and reverse the curse of sin over all creation.  Jesus is the Kinsmen-redeemer who met the three requirements to redeem what was lost when Adam and Eve rebelled against God on behalf of all humanity.  The three requirements a kinsmen-redeemer was required to meet were that he had to be related to Adam’s race, he had to be willing to redeem what was lost by Adam’s race, and he had to have the means to redeem what was lost, which was not only humanity but all of creation under Adam’s headship.  The only qualified kinsmen-redeemer who could provide what was needed for redemption had to be One who was both fully God and fully human.  This is why Jesus took on flesh to become our kinsmen redeemer, and as our Kinsmen Redeemer, God, “put all things in subjection under His feet, and made Him head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Eph. 1:22-23).    Jesus is our Triumphant King Who is making all things new! The Bible says that Jesus is God’s “Yes” to all of His promises (2 Cor. 1:20), and His promises from Genesis through Revelation include not only the promise of redemption for sinful man, but the reversal of the curse of sin (Jer. 23:5-6; ), the defeat and destruction of the devil (Gen. 3:15; Rev. 20:1-10), and the resurrection and restoration of all things (2 Pet. 3:10-13).  The gospel of peace that belongs to the armor of God is the gospel Peter wrote about to encourage suffering Christians to stand firm: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Pet. 1:3–5). Jerry Bridges was absolutely correct when he wrote in his magnificent book, The Discipline of Grace: “The gospel is not only the most important message in all of history; it is the only essential message in all of history.[2]   Listen, when you stand in the shoes of the gospel of peace, you stand in the reality and truth of all that the gospel is, and when you have “strapped on your feet the preparation of the gospel of peace”, you stand firm in all that the gospel is for you as one who has been redeemed by the blood of the perfect Lamb of God!  When we stand with the gospel of peace securely strapped to our feet, we can say with Job in the midst of great suffering: “Yet as for me, 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 will see God, whom I, on my part, shall behold for myself, and whom my eyes will see, and not another” (Job 19:25–27).  When your feet are fitted with the gospel of the peace, you can respond to the uncertainties of life as the apostle Paul did: “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21).  When you put on the shoes of the gospel of peace, you can stand against the devil’s schemes knowing that because of Jesus, “The Lord your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will rejoice over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy” (Zeph. 3:17).   The gospel brings peace because not only does it promise our redemption, but it is the promise that Jesus is coming back and when He does, “He will judge between the nations, and will mediate for many peoples; and they will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning knives. Nation will not lift up a sword against nation, and never again will they learn war” (Isa. 2:4).  The gospel brings peace because we have Jesus, we can stand in the promise of knowing that whether in life or death, we who are the redeemed, will enter into the presence of God, “with joyful shouting, and everlasting joy will be on our heads.  We will obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away” (Isa. 51:11).    This is why the gospel is not something you leave and move onto deeper and better doctrines!  You will never outgrow your need for the gospel.  To take on the armor of God is to stand in the gospel, to walk in light of the gospel, to march to the drumbeat of the gospel, and to fight the fight of faith while standing in the reality and truth of all that the gospel is for you... the redeemed! This is why Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, “Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong” (1 Cor. 16:13).   When you put on the shoes of the gospel of peace, you will be compelled to proclaim all that the gospel is to you to the world around you because of the peace that it brings in preparing you to stand firm in the evil day.  So, I leave you with the following questions in light of my sermon today: What shoes are you standing in right now?   Are you standing in the full gospel of peace, firmly secured around your feet?   How tight are your laces and are they tight enough so that you will not lose your footing as you, “walking in a manor worthy of your calling” (4:1)?   Who do you know that really needs to hear about the peace that you have in Jesus?   [1] Tony Merida, Exalting Jesus in Ephesians (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2014), 180. [2] Jerry Bridges, The Discipline of Grace (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress; 2006), p. 45.

What does it mean to be a Christian?  How do you know that you are a Christian?  What assurance can you have that you will remain a Christian?  Well it is mentioned over thirty times in Ephesians, in fact we are told about 10 times in the very first and very long sentence that makes up the first 14 verses of Ephesians: In Christ, all the spiritual blessings in the heavenly places now belongs to you Christian (v. 3) In Christ, you were chosen before the foundation of the world (v. 4) Through Christ, you were predestined and adopted as sons and daughters of the living God (v. 5). In the Beloved Son of God, you are a favored child of God (v. 6). In Jesus, we have redemption, forgiveness, and the riches of God’s grace through His blood (v. 7). In Jesus, God made known the mystery of His will (v. 9). In Christ, the Father is bringing all things together to accomplish His good plan (v. 10). In Christ, we have obtained an inheritance in accordance with the plan of the Father’s perfect will (v. 11). In Christ, we are the praise of God’s glory (v. 12). In Jesus, you have been sealed by God’s Holy Spirit for the day of redemption (v. 13).   To be a Christian is to be a person who was once spiritually dead, but now is alive with Christ not because of any religious activity on our part, but only because of the work of Jesus on our behalf (Eph. 2:1-9).  This is what it means to be a Christian, but how does one become a Christian?  I believe that in the same way that you become a Christian, is the same way you put on and take up the breastplate of righteousness.    Some of you will remember our time spent in the sermon on the mount during my sermon series, “Something Greater” just over two years ago.  In fact, if you are trying to make sense of the rhetoric and animosity that we are experiencing in our nation, I encourage you to read the first manuscript in that series from May 22, 2022.  If you were here for that sermon series, you discovered that not only is the sermon on the mount the greatest sermon ever preached, but Jesus’ sermon shows us what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.    During our time in the beatitudes I shared that the first three beatitudes, which are also known as “beatitudes of need,” reveal what is essential for any person to understand what is necessary for the salvation of your soul.  Let me walk you through it because it will help you appreciate just how encouraging the breastplate of righteousness really is.  So here are the first three beatitudes from Matthew 5:3-5, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”   “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”   “Blessed are the gentle, for they will inherit the earth.   To be poor in spirit is to arrive at the cross of Christ with empty hands, recognizing that you are spiritually bankrupt of any moral virtues adequate to earn or gain God’s forgiveness for sins committed against Him.  Those who mourn are those who see and understand their sins for what they are and grieve because of them.  The meek are those who understand that their problems are beyond them, their problems are because of the sin in them, and their problems are of their own doing.    To come to Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins is to come to Jesus knowing that there is no righteousness in yourself; it is to mourn over the reality that your sins offend the God who is infinitely righteous, and to come to Jesus knowing that there is not one thing you can do to generate the kind of righteousness necessary for your salvation.  The person who has been truly born again is one whose experience is now the fourth beatitude: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied” (Matt. 5:6).  In Jesus, “we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our wrongdoings, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us” (Eph. 1:7-8).    What is the Breastplate of Righteousness? The Roman soldier’s breastplate was most likely form fitting and extended from the base of the neck to the top of the thighs, covering the thorax and abdomen for the purpose of protecting the vital organs such as the heart, lungs, kidneys, and bowels.  The breastplate is the second piece of God’s armor we are told to put on, but what kind of righteousness does it represent?    Is the breastplate of righteousness the righteousness of Jesus that has been imputed upon you the moment you were saved through faith by Christ alone?  The imputed righteousness of Christ is when the righteousness of Jesus is applied to you the moment you believed the gospel as we are told in verses like 2 Corinthians 5:21, “He [God] made Him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”  Here, consider another passage that concerns the imputed righteousness of Christ from Romans 5:18-21, So then, as through one offense [Adam’s sin] the result was condemnation to all mankind, so also through one act of righteousness the result was justification of life to all mankind. For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous. The Law came in so that the offense would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, so also grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.   In other words, the imputation of Christ’s righteousness is good news because God the Father no longer sees you as a sinner because of your sinfulness but sees you as righteous because Jesus’ righteousness has been applied to you permanently.      Do you remember last week when I showed you that the belt of truth includes your identity in Jesus and that He is now your truth?  The One we follow is, “the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6), and now we follow His way, we walk in His truth, and we are united to His life.  Some of you, like John Bunyan, really struggle with the tension between what you know the Bible says about your salvation and your very real frustration over your sin.  John Bunyan wrote Pilgrim’s Progress, a book he wrote while in prison for preaching the gospel, it has now been translated into more languages than any other book, except the Bible.  Bunyan also wrote other books, and one such book so profoundly helped me with my own struggle of desiring to live for Jesus while struggling with my own sin. One day, while Bunyan was taking a walk, he discovered something that we dare not miss concerning the righteousness of Christ; he wrote about it in his book, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners: One day, as I was walking in the field, my conscience still somewhat wounded and still fearing that all was not well, these words suddenly entered my soul: “Your righteousness is in heaven.”  And I thought, moreover, that I saw, with the eyes of my soul, Jesus Christ at God’s right hand.  I say, my righteousness was there [in heaven]; so that wherever I was, or whatever I was doing, God could not say of me, ‘He is in need of my righteousness,’ as my righteousness was right in front of him.  I also saw, moreover, that it was not my good state of heart that made my righteousness better, nor even my bad state that made my righteousness worse, since my righteousness was Jesus Christ himself, ‘the same yesterday, today, and forever’ (Heb. 13:8).   Now indeed the chains fell off my legs, and I was loosed from my afflictions and irons. My temptations fled away too, so that from that time those terrifying Scriptures of God stopped troubling me; I now went home rejoicing in the grace and love of God.  So when I got home I looked to see if I could find that verse: ‘Your righteousness is in heaven,' but I could find no such statement. So my heart began to sink again; the only words which came to mind were these: ‘Of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God – and righteousness and sanctification and redemption (1 Cor. 1:30).[1]    Bunyan’s book was first published in 1666, but his words echo what so many of us struggle with today as we seek to “walk in a manner worthy of our calling” (4:1).  But is this the breastplate of righteousness that we are to put on along with the belt of truth?  The answer to that question is yes... and no.  The answer is “No” in that if you are a Christian, you do not need to apply the righteousness of Christ to your life, that is something that only God can do and already has been done for you (see Eph. 1:7-12)!  If you are a Christian, you can say with the apostle Paul, “I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them mere rubbish, so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith...” (Phil. 3:8-9).   So in what way is the breastplate of righteousness the righteousness of Christ then?  We put on the breastplate of righteousness when we live and walk in the confidence and reality that all we have is Christ, and His righteousness is righteousness enough!  John Bunyan said that after he realized that all his righteousness was before the Father because Jesus is our righteousness and sanctification before God. He went on to say, “Having reached this point, I rested very comfortably here, for some time, at peace with God through Christ. ‘Oh,’ I thought, ‘Christ, Christ!’ There was nothing but Christ before my eyes.... Oh, I saw my gold was in my trunk at home, in Christ, my Lord and Saviour.  Now Christ was all – all my righteousness, all my sanctification and all my redemption.”[2]  This my dear brothers and sisters is what it looks like to take up and put on the breastplate of righteousness.  It is God’s to give, and it is now yours to rest, stand, and walk in!    Why is the Breastplate of Righteousness Needed? I am not sure I need to say much to convince you why the breastplate of righteousness is needed, but to be sure that you not only understand why it is needed, but that you are able to celebrate that it is yours to wear, I feel the need to point out a few more things.    One of the great expositors and pastors of the 20th century, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, said of this piece of God’s armor: “You do not put on ‘the breastplate of experiences’, you put on the breastplate of ‘righteousness.’”  The breastplate of righteousness, like the belt of truth, is not something you generate or create out of your own strength.    When Paul described the armor of God, he didn’t invent it based on what he saw the Roman soldiers wearing around him while in prison, his understanding of the armor of God came from various passages in the Old Testament such as Isaiah 59.  In Isaiah 53 we are promised a suffering servant who would be “pierced for our offenses and crushed for our wrongdoings” and that suffering servant was Jesus who was punished for our sins (see Isa. 53:5-10).  Then when we come to Isaiah 59, the suffering servant is now the divine and righteous warrior who will come to rescue His people from their sins.  Isaiah 59 begins with these words: “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short That it cannot save; nor is His ear so dull That it cannot hear. But your wrongdoings have caused a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear” (vv. 1-2).    As we read on, we discover similar language that is used in Ephesians 2:1-3 used in Isaiah 59:12-13, “For our wrongful acts have multiplied before You, and our sins have testified against us; for our wrongful acts are with us, and we know our wrongdoings: Offending and denying the Lord, And turning away from our God, Speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering lying words from the heart.”  Now listen to how desperate the condition of sinful humanity according to Isaiah: “Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands far away; for truth has stumbled in the street, and uprightness cannot enter. Truth is lacking, and one who turns aside from evil makes himself a prey. Now the Lord saw, and it was displeasing in His sight that there was no justice” (vv. 14-15).   So what does Yahweh do to address the unrighteousness of His people?  He made salvation possible for those who could not save themselves!  It is in Isaiah 59:16-17 that Paul was referring to in Ephesians 6:14, “And He saw that there was no one, and was amazed that there was not one to intercede; then His own arm brought salvation to Him, and His righteousness upheld Him. He put on righteousness like a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head; and He put on garments of vengeance for clothing and wrapped Himself with zeal as a cloak” (vv. 16-17).   The Divine Warrior promised in Isaiah 59 is He who would conquer our sin by suffering the wrath of His Father for our sins in our place!  The only truly and perfect righteous One hung on a cross for unrighteous sinners!  Upon His head was a crown of thorns to serve as a reminder of the curse of sin that He bore in our place, and once He declared that it was finished, the Divine Warrior bowed His head in death to become our salvation!    Oh, dear brothers and sisters... do you see how critically important the breastplate of righteousness really is?  Jesus is not only our Divine Warrior who is qualified to save rebel sinners, but He is the One also promised in Jeremiah 23, “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; and He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land. 6In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will live securely; and this is His name by which He will be called, ‘The Lord Our Righteousness’” (vv. 5-6).      Jesus is our righteousness and to put on the breastplate of righteousness is to walk in confidence that He is enough because His mercy is rich, His grace is sufficient, and His love is great!  Charles Spurgeon described it this way: “Saints are so righteous in Jesus Christ that they are more righteous than Adam was before he fell, for he had but a creature righteousness, and the Christian has the righteousness of the Creator. Adam had a righteousness which he lost, but believers have a righteousness which they can never lose, an everlasting righteousness.”   To put on the breastplate of righteousness is to stand, walk, live, and run in consideration of Jesus as your truth and as your righteousness.  The breastplate of righteousness is important because when you put it on, it protects the vital organs of your faith, such as your heart.   Your hope and salvation are not bound to a nation, or whoever the next president will be.  Whatever happens today, tomorrow, on Tuesday, or any day before you, your Sovereign is Jesus, and it is He, Who walks on the waters Who speaks to the sea Who stands in the fire beside you He roars like a lion He bled as the Lamb He carries your healing in His hands!   He has said, “I am the first and the last, and the living One; I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and Hades” (Rev. 1:17-18).  Amen.   [1] John Bunyan, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners (Auburn, MA: Evangelical Press; 2000), pp. 113-14. [2] Ibid, p.114.

October 31st marks the 507th anniversary of the protestant reformation when a Catholic monk by the name of Martin Luther wrote ninety-five complaints concerning the Roman Catholic Church and nailed those complaints to the door of All Saints Church in Wittenberg in 1517.  Little did Luther know that his complaints would be taken down, translated into multiple language, and mass produced through the newly invented printing press.    It was because of what Martin Luther was reading and studying in his Bible that he wrote his complaints for the purpose of debating and dialoging over what he believed were inconsistences with the teachings of the church compared to what the Bible actually taught.  Eventually, on April 17, 1521, Luther would have to appear before the Diet of Worms to give account for the vast number of texts, treatises, letters, and tracts calling into question the teachings and traditions of the Roman Catholic Church.    It was at the Diet of Worms Luther was given the option to recant and repent, and if he did so, he would be welcomed back into the Church.   If Luther refused, he would be branded a heretic and burned at the stake.  Luther requested an adjournment to pray and formulate an appropriate response.  The meeting was reconvened the next day on April 18th, and it was on that day that Luther delivered a speech that would forever affect the Church.  Luther was only permitted to give a short and simple answer whether he would retract his teachings or stand by them; here is the most well-known part of his answer before the Diet of Worms:  Since your most serene majesty and your highnesses require of me a simple, clear, and direct answer, I will give one, and it is this: I cannot submit my faith either to the pope or to the council, because it is clear that they have fallen into error and even into inconsistency with themselves. If, then, I am not convinced by proof from Holy Scripture, or by cogent reasons, if I am not satisfied by the very text I have cited, and if my judgment is not in this way brought into subjection to God's word, I neither can nor will retract anything; for it cannot be either safe or honest for a Christian to speak against his conscience. Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen.   Luther was not burned at the stake over his answer but understood that his answer could have resulted in his death. What did happen was he had to go into hiding and change his name and appearance for a while, for his own safety.  Luther delivered his great speech because there was a truth greater and more important than his own safety, for what he was most concerned about was not what the Pope declared to be true, but what God’s word said and how everything else compared to what the Word of God said.   We live in a different time compared to the day Luther lived!  However, if you are a Christian, you a part of a community known as the church of Jesus Christ, and therefore are a people of one book, and that book is the Bible which contains within its pages the truth of how it is we are to live.    When Paul wrote his epistle to the Ephesians, he did so while in prison.  Before the apostle was the presence of a roman soldier, and it was with the armor a soldier of Rome wore that Paul would become all too familiar.    What is the Belt of Truth? Paul lists six pieces that belong to the armor of God, seven parts if you include Paul’s statement on prayer in 6:18-19 and that there is no power apart from a dependance upon God in prayer.  The first piece of armor that he begins with is a belt.   The belt was an important part of a Roman soldier’s armor, not because it made it look better, but because it served two primary purposes: it was used to tuck in and keep the soldier’s garments from tripping him up, and it was used to hold the sheath for one’s sword.  It is worth noting that the belt also served to display a soldier’s military status and rank.  The belt went underneath the armor, while remaining visible so that it was obvious he was ready to fight.    As the warrior’s belt was critical for his readiness in battle, truth is essential to the Christian life.  If we are going to stand in the might of the Lord, if we are going to be able to stand firm against the devil’s schemes, and if we are going to have any hope in resisting on the evil day, truth is essential to the Christian life.  It is the nature of our God and the character of His Word: “Teach me Your way, Lord; I will walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name.” (Ps. 86:11)   “God is not a man, that He would lie, nor a son of man, that He would change His mind; has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” (Num. 23:19)   “The Rock! His work is perfect, for all His ways are just; a God of faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and just is He.” (Deut. 32:4)   Truth is not only essential to the Christian life; it is the center of the Christian faith!  Think about it, God’s fullest and most perfect expression of His faithfulness and character is in His Son, Jesus: “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom He also made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power” (Heb. 1:1–3a).  If you are a Christian, you follow Him who said: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6b).    Think about what Paul is saying in Ephesians 6:10-14; the only way you will be able to resist the father of lies (the devil) is by putting on the full armor of God, beginning with the belt of truth!  But, dear Christian, what is the belt of truth?  I want you to think about the significance of where the belt is placed.  It is the first part of the armor that is put on and it is the one piece that is tightest and closest to your person.  I do not believe I am reading too much into this when I say that I believe the belt of truth is more than just the Word of God (although it certainly is that), it is also our new identity now that we are in Christ!  We who were once dead in our sins are now alive with Jesus (2:4-5), and now He is head over His church which we are now a part of (1:22).  We are now His body (1:23), Jesus is our peace (2:17-18), we are His temple (2:21), because Jesus now dwells in our hearts through faith (3:17).     Through Christ, we are one body, sealed by one Spirit, called in one hope by one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of all... (4:4-7).  Our identity is now in Jesus, which means that He is our truth!  This is why, more than any other book in the entire Bible is the phrase “in Christ” repeated more than thirty times to describe where it is the Christian finds his/her identity than in the epistle to the Ephesians!    Listen, to put on the belt of truth is to do what we read in Romans 13:14, “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.” To put on the belt of truth is to identity with the Jesus who said: “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:27).  If you are a Christian, His truth is now your truth.    Why is the Belt of Truth Important? To put on the belt of truth is to be so identified with Jesus that you are freed up to, “walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called” (Eph. 4:1).  To put on the belt of truth is to stand on the foundation of the prophets and the apostles with Jesus Christ as your eye-opening, mind-captivating, and life-shaping cornerstone (2:19-20).  To put on the belt of truth is to walk in love, “just as Christ loved you and gave Himself up for us, and offering and sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma” (5:1-2).  To put on the belt of truth is to subject yourself under the cleaning water of God’s word (5:26).  To put on the belt of truth is to identify with the Lordship of Jesus by doing what He says (see Luke 6:46).   We seem to live at a time in society when “my truth” trumps all other truths.  Since the days of Martin Luther, we have moved closer and closer to redefining truth with every form of media invented to give us more knowledge and make the world more accessible to us.  Now, do not misunderstand me, God gave us a brain to grow in our understanding and the different forms of media has made available to us some really great things, but it has also been used to pervert knowledge and truth.   Think for a moment of how the different forms of media have changed our lives.  The printing press paved the way for the enlightenment and modernity when truth was measured by reason.  The worldwide web paved the way for postmodernity beginning in the 60s until our present day with the conviction that reason and the human intellect is no longer the arbiter of truth, but also includes the emotions and intuition as the arbitrators of truth to the point when we now have our own truth.  Now, with the invention of AI, we are entering a new era and the way our society measures truth and morality, like modernity and postmodernity, will never be the same.     Our world is changing so rapidly and so profoundly, but there is one thing that has not changed and cannot change, and that is this simple fact: all truth is God’s truth.  Truth belongs to our Creator and the lies belong to the devil.  Our identity is in Jesus who is, according to the Bible: “...the same yesterday and today, and forever” (Heb. 13:8).    Our world is changing, but not so with our God!  He remains infinitely good, infinitely just, infinitely holy, infinitely wise, and is equally a God of love and mercy in infinite measure!  He alone, in our ever-changing world, remains always true, always honorable, always right, always pure, always lovely, always commendable, always excellent, and always praiseworthy (see Phil. 4:8).  The God who chose you before dirt was invented, He who redeemed you with His blood, and the One who has sealed you for the day of redemption DOES NOT CHANGE! “For I, the Lord, do not change; therefore you, the sons of Jacob, have not come to an end.” (Mal. 3:6)   “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.” (Jas. 1:17)   “God is not a man, that He would lie, nor a son of man, that He would change His mind; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” (Num. 23:19)   So, if the One who is truth does not change, how is it and why is it that some in the church feel the need to mold and shape what the Bible teaches to what our ever-changing world defines as true?  So here is the rub.  If you are a Christian (or thinking about becoming a Christian), you follow Jesus who said: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6b).  As Lord over your life, He will make demands upon your life for His glory and your good, to put the belt of truth on is to walk in light of your identity as a Christ-follower.  You cannot and you will not “walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called” (4:1), if you are not putting on the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 13:14).   Because Jesus is the cornerstone of His church and the apostles and prophets are Her foundation, we, as His church, are “a pillar and support of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:14-15) in a world that does not know the Truth, because it does not know Jesus.  Sam Storms said of our enemy: “Satan will always flourish in the midst of theological ignorance.” 

Can I ask you a question?  Why is it that we Christians in America tend to be surprised by the supernatural?  Think about what it is that we say we believe.  We believe the Bible to be true and supernaturally inspired by God Himself.  Because we believe the Bible to be supernaturally inspired, we believe God created all things by the act of His omnipotent will.  Because we believe the Bible to be inspired by God, we believe that there was a serpent in the Garden who successfully tempted Adam and Eve to sin, that Satan does indeed exist, as does his legions of demons.    One of my favorite stories about the fight between the Kingdom of Light and the kingdom of darkness is the one found in 2 Kings 19:8-37.  We do not have the time to read the entire story, but I do think it is worth pointing out a few things that happened in order to teach how we can respond to the threats of our day.  Judah’s king, Hezekiah, received a letter from the king of Assyria that read: “Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you by saying, ‘Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.’ Behold, you yourself have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, destroying them completely. So will you be saved? Did the gods of the nations which my fathers destroyed save them: Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the sons of Eden who were in Telassar?” (2 Kings 19:10–12)   What was Hezekiah’s response?  He stood firm against his enemy in the way his great grandfather David encouraged God’s people to do: “Some praise their chariots and some their horses, but we will praise the name of the Lord, our God” (Ps. 20:7).  Here is Hezekiah’s response: Then Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said, “Lord, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Incline Your ear, Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, Lord, and see; and listen to the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to taunt the living God. It is true, Lord; the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, and have hurled their gods into the fire; for they were not gods, but only the work of human hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. But now, Lord our God, please, save us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, Lord, are God.” (2 Kings 19:14–19)   God didn’t use Hezekiah’s chariots or horses, but instead, He sent the angel of the Lord and killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers.  So, when we read stories like that, how is it that we are surprised?  When we read Ephesians 6:10-13 and are warned about the demonic realm consisting of rulers, powers, world forces of this darkness, and spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places... how is it that we do not take such warnings as seriously as we ought?    Throughout the gospels we read of Jesus encountering the demonically possessed and how the demons were terrified of Him.  We read of the Jewish exorcists in Ephesus who went from place-to-place attempting to mimic the kinds of miraculous things they saw Paul do in the name of Jesus.  At one point, in an effort to cast out the demons the Jewish exorcists said: “I order you in the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches!”  The evil spirit responded: “I recognize Jesus, and I know of Paul, but who are you?” We are then told that the demon possessed man, “pounced on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of the house naked and wounded” (see Acts 19:11-16).  I wonder if Paul recalled these stories when he wrote, “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” (Eph. 6:12).   As we consider Ephesians 6:12-13 this morning, there are two points that we dare not miss.  The first is, “Our enemy is spiritual, strategic, and satanic.”  The second point is, “Our fight is direct, dangerous, and dogged.”    Our Enemy is Spiritual, Strategic, and Satanic What Paul wants us to understand is that when it comes to the world that Jesus said would hate us because it hated Him, that our struggle was NOT against flesh and blood.  In other words, our enemy does not include those who reject Jesus or embrace the ideologies of this world, but instead our enemy includes, “...the rulers, the powers, the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (v. 12).    Ephesians 6:10-13 is the most explicit reference to the Christian’s struggle against evil forces that we have in the Bible.  It cannot be any clearer than this!  There is no real way to tell if Paul is describing an authority structure within the demonic realm, but it does seem that way from everything else I read in the Bible.  Let me begin by sharing five things that we know about angels from the Bible:   Angels are spirit beings that possess personhood, created for the glory of God (Ps. 148:2-5), and are a part of the created order (see also Job. 38:4-7; Isa. 6:2-4; Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:14; 12:22; Rev. 4:8).   Angels are temporarily above man but will be subject to judgment by Jesus’ church at the judgment (1 Cor. 6:2-3). Meanwhile they are unusually strong, swift and intelligent, and can take the appearance of man (see Ps. 103:20; Dan. 9:21; Ezek. 28:12; 1 Pet. 1:11-12; Gen. 18:1-3; Mk. 16:5).   Angels are limited in ways that man is not. Angels cannot marry, man can (Matt. 22:30; 19:4-6); angels cannot experience redemption, man can (2 Pet. 2:4; Rom. 5); angels are created as angelic beings while man is created in the image of God (Ps. 148:2-5; Gen. 1:27).   Angels possess personhood: intellect, emotion, and will (emotion: 1 Pet. 1:12; intellect: 1 Pet. 1:12; will: Jude 6).   Angels seem to be ranked by authority (1 Thess. 4:16; Jude 9; Rev. 12:7; Eph. 6:12; Col. 1:16; Isa. 6:2; Ezek. 28:14). Lucifer was God’s guardian cherub (Ezek. 28:12-17) who seems to have out ranked all the other angels, there is at least one archangel (1 Thess. 4:16; Jude 1:9), cherubim (Gen. 3:24; Ezek. 10:1-22), seraphim (Isa. 6:2-3), and a multitude of angels (Rev. 5:11ff).    We are told that the there was a war in heaven; the timeframe of when the war happened is unclear.  I believe the war happened sometime between creation and Genesis 3 when we are first introduced to Satan as the serpent.  The angels who sided with Lucifer (the dragon) are now known as demons.  Here is what we read in Revelation 12:7-9, “And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war, and they did not prevail, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him” (Rev. 12:7–9).    The rulers, powers, world forces of darkness, and spiritual forces of wickedness are those angels who sided with Satan in his war against God.  Although Satan is only one demon who cannot be in more than one place at a time, he has command over millions of demons who obey his every command.  Our enemy is spiritual, our enemy is strategic, and our enemy is satanic.  Our enemy is very real and although limited, they are capable of the following:   Demons can provide superhuman strength to the victims they possess (Mark 5:1-20; Acts 19:16). They have the same capability that angels have in that physical barriers cannot restrict them (Mark 5:9-13; Dan. 9:21-23; 10:10-14). Demons can physically harm, oppress, and possess humans (see Matt. 9:32-33; 12:22; 17:15; John 13:21-30; Acts 16:16-18; 19:11-16). Behind every idol, false teaching, and anything that is against Christ are demons (1 Cor. 10:14-22; Gal. 4:3-9). Demons can influence nations, world leaders, and governing authorities (read the books of Daniel and Revelation as an example).   It is good to have a right and biblical understanding of demons, but you must also understand that the Bible teaches us that they have no power over the Christian because of our relationship with Jesus who redeemed us!  If there is any bit of anxiety in what you have just heard about the demonic, consider what Colossians 2:13-15 promises: And when you were dead in your wrongdoings and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our wrongdoings, having canceled the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him. (Col. 2:13–15) Our Fight is Direct, Dangerous, and Dogged Jesus did indeed disarm the rulers and authorities through His sacrifice upon the cross and His triumph over the grave with His resurrection.  However, we are warned that we are still in a fight, and that our fight is with the demonic forces that stand opposed to God.  In this fight, we are to stand strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might by putting on the full armor of God.    Our fight is a struggle; the Greek word that we get the word “struggle” (πάλη) from is a word used to describe the kind of fight that comes in the form of close hand-to-hand combat. The point is that we must be prepared for the enemy’s attacks from afar or up close, and the enemy brings his fight against us in all shapes and sizes!  It comes in the form of slander, false teaching, and the temptation to sin.  Our fight can come in the form doubt, depression, and deception.  Our struggle can be with the temptation to sin against God and others. The battle can come in the form of persecution from friends, family, or state authorities.   The evil day includes a greater evil that is coming, but it also includes any day you find yourself face to face with the enemy’s attacks or find yourself in his crosshairs from a distance.  The evil day will be the final cataclysmic satanic attack that will come just before Jesus’ second coming.  The evil day is your entire life as a Christian from new birth to physical death.  The evil day includes those days in the Christian life when the onslaught of the enemy seems the strongest.  The evil day are those days when the temptation to sin is more of a struggle than usual.  So, Christian, how will you resist in the evil day?  You do so by taking up the only help available to you that has been provided by God Himself: Take up the full armor of God.  The three imperatives of Ephesians 6:10-13 are as follows: Be strong in the Lord and the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God. Take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist on the evil day.   When you have done everything to put on the full armor of God, only then can you stand firm. Stand firm with and in all of God’s truth. His truth is the only truth that matters.   Stand firm with the breastplate of Christ’s righteousness. All of Christ’s righteousness is now your righteousness.   Stand firm in the peace of God as a beneficiary of His mercy. You are a child of God almighty.   Stand firm with a shield of faith, saturated by the water of the word of God. God is infinitely bigger than all your problems, but you will not know that unless you receive it from His word.   Stand firm with the helmet of salvation, which is the assurance that you belong to the One who chose you, redeemed you, and sealed you with His Holy Spirit. What can man do to you ultimately when the God of Life is for you? Stand firm with the ability to handle the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. You have the Word of God that is the authority of God who is able to change lives.

Some of the pets that I enjoyed the most growing up were the kind that ate other living things.  Most of you know that I spent the first 12 years of my life in South Jersey just across from the Delaware and then moved into Pennsylvania on the other side of the Delaware.  As a kid, I owned a lot of pets!  I had hamsters, hermit crabs, at one time we had five Doberman pinchers, and a whole bunch of cats!  If I am honest, my favorite pets were the kind that ate other living things.  For example I used to own multiple Black piranhas that I would not only feed feeder goldfish to, but I would catch salamanders to feed to my piranhas.  At one time I owned a yellow rat snack I would feed mice!  However, I have never seen an anaconda in person.  I did come across something that caught my attention with the title: “How to be Prepared for an Anaconda Attack.”  Here is a list of instructions in the event that your path does cross with an anaconda, and it decides wants to eat you for lunch:   If you're attacked by an anaconda, do not run; the snake is faster than you are.   Lie flat on the ground.   Put your arms tight at your sides and your legs tight against one another.   The snake will begin to climb over your body.   Do not panic.   The snake will begin to swallow you from the feet end.   Step 6 will take a long time.   After a while, slowly and with as little movement as possible, reach down, take your knife, and very gently slide it into the snake's mouth. Then suddenly sever the snake's head.   Be sure your knife is sharp.   Be sure you have your knife.       Some Anacondas can grow up to 30 feet long and weigh over 500 pounds.  You will not catch me lying flat on the ground positioning myself to be its lunch!  Clearly this list is meant to be funny.  Yet, there is a greater serpent who is much more dangerous from which we very much, in a metaphorical sense, chose not to run; instead, we make it easy for him to do the thing he wants, and what he wants is to destroy us!    Be Aware of the Devil’s Schemes When Adam and Eve were in the garden, there was something worse than an angry anaconda talking to them! He is also known as Lucifer, Satan, and the devil.  He is described in the following scary ways: he is the Beast (Rev. 14:9-10), his name is Beelzebub (Matt. 12:24), he is described as a Dragon (Rev. 12:9), he is a roaring lion (1 Pet. 5:8), the god of this age (2 Cor. 4:4), the Prince of the power of the air (Eph. 2:1-2), the Ruler of Demons (Luke 11:15), the ruler of this World (John 12:31-32), Serpent of Old (Rev. 12:9).   Of all the places in the garden of Eden Adam and Eve could have hung out, they decided to idly stand unprepared before the one tree they were told not to eat from.  It was at that one tree that great Serpent waited and schemed his way into their minds, hearts, and lives.  It was the institution of marriage and family the Serpent wanted to attack and destroy, and he did it when Adam and Eve were unprepared!  Listen, the Serpent of Old still does the same thing today, the only difference is that he has had more practice at scheming since the Garden.  This is why Paul addressed how we can walk in a manner worthy of our calling in marriages, in our parenting, with our children, and in our working (see 5:22-6:9).  What “tree” are you idly standing in front of that you should not be?    We laugh at the list I read to you about what you should do if attacked by an anaconda, but when it comes to sin and temptation, how many of lay down on the ground instead of running to Him who is the great serpent crusher, namely Jesus.  Instead of standing before trees we have no business standing in front of, we ought to be running to another tree, namely the cross of Christ!  Why?  Because “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” (6:12).      So, what are the devil’s schemes?  Well, he has a whole list of names that gives us some clue as to the kind of scheming he is up to.  Satan is known as the Accuser (Rev. 12:10), the Adversary (1 Peter 5:8), the Deceiver (Rev. 12:9), the Enemy (Matt. 13:39), the Evil One (John 17:15), the Father of lies (John 8:44), the Lawless One (2 Thess. 2:8-10), Murderer (John 8:44), the Tempter (Matt. 4:3), the Thief who comes ONLY to steal and kill and destroy (John 10:10), and the Wicked One (Eph. 6:16).  So what do these titles and names tell us about our great enemy?    As the accuser, Satan wants you to be paralyzed by past failures with the kind of shame and guilt that keeps you from running to Jesus in repentance because he wants you to believe that your sins are too great for God’s mercy, love, and grace!   As the adversary, the Devil seethes with hatred towards you. He will use all that is at his disposal to destroy you.  He wants to separate you from the community of God’s people because he knows that is where you are weakest.    As the deceiver, he seeks to harm you with his cheap counterfeits by deceiving and scheming you into believe that the counterfeit will satisfy more than what God has designed for your good. He does this with sexuality, politics, and the good things that he can get you to treat as ultimate things.   Satan is an enemy because he wants to harm you.  Satan is the evil one because he is sinister, malicious, diabolic, heinous, crooked, vile, and malevolent... and all of his evil scheming is directed towards you and the success of God’s mission!  Satan is not only a liar, but he is also the father of lies; so of course he wants you to turn from any and all truth... especially God’s truth found in His word.  Satan is lawless, so he has no moral compass.  Satan has been a murder from the beginning, so he is no advocate for life.  Satan is a thief who only comes to steal, kill, and destroy.  Does it have to be any clearer than that?  The first step in standing firm against the schemes of the devil is to know how it is that he intends to scheme.      Listen, Satan is the personification of evil, but he hides his true colors behind a veneer of what appears to be innocence. To understand the devil’s schemes you must be aware that he, “disguises himself as an angel of light”; and all the demons do the same (2 Cor. 11:14).  We will look into this more next week but know that he is not running around in a red suit and a pitchfork.  He is scheming behind the rulers, the powers, the world forces of this darkness, and the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places (v. 12).    Stand Against the Devil’s Schemes If you are a Christian, you are at war!  You who were once dead in your sins and were by nature a child of wrath (2:1-3) and were under the influence and enslaved to the rulers, the powers, the world forces of this darkness, and the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places (v. 12).  However, as powerful as the devil and the demonic world are, Jesus has already defeated them all!  Remember what we read in Ephesians 1:19-22; first Paul’s prayer: “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the boundless greatness of His power toward us who believe” (Eph. 1:18–19a).  The boundless greatness that is ours who believe, is NOT our power but the power of Almighty God!    What happened at the cross and the empty tomb is that Jesus defeated the devil along with the rulers, the powers, the world forces of this darkness, and the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places!  Listen to how Paul describes the way the devil and the demonic have been defeated: “These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and made Him head over all things to the church...” (Eph. 1:19–22)   All things are in subjection under the feet of Jesus, and it is He who is head over all things.  The devil has been defeated and he is not happy about it!  Because of Jesus’ victory through the cross and the His resurrection, your salvation was made possible (1:7-12; 2:4-5)!   We must stand against the devil’s schemes, but we are only able to do so in the strength of the might of King Jesus!  We do this only by putting on the full armor of God.  Do not miss what is being said in verse 12: “Put on the full armor of God.”  This is not a suggestion, but a command (an imperative)!  Now, notice who the armor belongs to.  It is not armor we create that we are to put on, but armor that belongs to God!  The armor of God is armor He has provided, but you only need to put it on in order to “stand firm against the schemes of the devil.”      Now we are going to take our time working through what each piece of the armor of God is in the weeks to come, but for now, you need to understand what it is.  We are not told to put on some of the armor to stand against the devil’s schemes, but the full armor of God; so what is the full armor of God?   The belt of truth: This is the first piece that a soldier would put on around his waist that would hold all the other clothing out of the way so that he could run and fight without any of his clothing under the armor getting in the way. It is not “your truth” but God’s truth that you are to put on and it is foundational for standing against the devil, but it will do you no good if you do not put it on by obeying the truth of God’s word.   The breastplate of righteousness: The breastplate as part of a warrior’s armor protects the vital organs, so it is no mystery why Paul would characterize the righteousness of Christ as essential to protecting the vital organs of the Christian’s faith. The breastplate of righteousness is provided by God because what we need and will always need is the righteousness of Christ!   The shoes of the gospel of peace: Just as any warrior cannot fight effectively without shoes, so it also true of the Christian.  The one who has the righteousness of Christ is one who hungers for the righteousness of Christ.  Jesus said in his Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.”  The shoes of the gospel of peace are the gospel of Jesus Christ that gives us shalom, which is the peace of God that prepares us to stand against the devil’s schemes as we are satisfied in Christ alone.   The shield of faith: The shield Paul has in mind here is not the little round shield a soldier might wield on his arm, but the kind designed to shield the whole body from the onslaught of arrows which I believe are the doubts, temptations, impure, and evil thoughts that come out of nowhere.  The shield of faith is only as large as your confidence in the Word of God, dependance upon the righteousness of Christ as your righteousness, and your conviction that only Jesus satisfies your soul.   The helmet of salvation: The helmet of salvation is the hope of our salvation (1 Thess. 5:8-9); it is the confidence that we belong to Christ and that there is no other who can satisfy and bring life to our whole being, but Christ alone!  The helmet of salvation is the security that we have in the assurance of our salvation.  The devil is the accuser and although he cannot rob you of your salvation, he can erode your confidence in the truth that the cross of Christ is sufficient for all your sins.    The sword of the Spirit: The Sword of the Spirit is our only offensive weapon in all the armor we are to put on.  The Sword of the Spirit is the word of God, and like the shield of faith, it is only as effective as our ability to wield it through as we grow in our knowledge of it.  Of the word of God, we are told in Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, even penetrating 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” (Hebrews 4:12).  Sam Storms suggests that there are three primary ways we can use the Sword of the Spirit: “We proclaim the Word (as Jesus did; see also Rev. 12).  We pray the Word (Eph. 6:18-19; Acts 6:4; John 15:7).  And we praise with the Word (i.e., sing the Scriptures).[1]   Conclusion So, how can you begin to stand firm against the devil’s schemes?  Well for starters, don’t lie down and make it easy for your enemy!  Stand firm by deciding to submit to God’s truth instead of what the culture says truth is.  Stand firm with a confidence that all the righteousness you will ever need is the righteousness of Christ.  Stand firm in the peace that the gospel of Jesus Christ brings.  Stand firm in a faith that God is both infinitely good and infinitely greater than all that stands against you.  Stand firm in the security that you are now a son/daughter of God because you are alive with Christ.  Stand firm with the confidence that the Bible is the Word of God and that it is indeed sharper than any other sword; stand firm by proclaiming the Word of God, praying the Word of God, and by praising with the Word of God.    We can stand against the schemes of the devil in the strength of the One who beat the beast, bludgeoned Beelzebub, defanged the dragon, and leveled the roaring lion at the cross!  The Christ of the cross is the King of kings who is infinity greater than the god of this age. He preeminently and powerfully prevailed against the prince of the power of the air. He reigns on High and His heel is on the throat of the ruler of demons. One day soon the full weight of Jesus’ omnipotent heel will be felt upon the skull of the serpent of old, and on that Day his skull will finally and permanently be crushed!  Brothers and sisters, we can be strong in our Lord and in the strength of His might because He reigns!  We stand in the might of Jesus who said, “I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades” (Rev. 1:17-18).   [1] Ibid., p. 305.

The threat of sin within and among those who make up the Bride of Christ has existed since the beginning, and the danger of wolves is something we are warned about throughout the Bible.  In fact, after three years of strengthening the Ephesian Church through the faithful preaching and teaching of God’s Word, Paul warned: “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.  I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after them” (Acts 20:28-30).  Years after Paul had left Ephesus, Timothy served as their pastor and in his final letter before Paul was executed by Rome, he warned Timothy of difficult days ahead—days I believe we find ourselves in today: But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power; avoid such people as these. For among them are those who slip into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. (2 Tim. 3:1–7)        The threat we face is also individual and internal!  The desires of your own sinful flesh are the most immediate and present threat you face!  We are warned: “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world” (1 John 2:15–16). This is why Paul pleaded with the Ephesian Christians to be diligent is how they lived and walked: “Be careful how you walk, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil” (Eph. 5:15-16).   Although there are wolves who sneak in from the outside and there are real dangers from within, Paul wants us to understand the nature of those threats in Ephesians 6:10-13, Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 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. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.” (Eph. 6:10–13)   The very real dangers we face as followers of Jesus includes wolves from the outside and our flesh and sin from within; however, our struggle is cosmic, and it is with the realm of the demonic!  My hope and plan for the weeks to come is to not only help you appreciate just how real our struggle is, but to offer you practical ways you can remain strong, stand against the schemes of the devil, and resist the spiritual forces of darkness by standing firm in your faith as a Christian.    We are at War! Today, I want to turn our attention to Ephesians 6:10, but before I do, you need to understand that if you are a Christian, you are engaged in a cosmic war!  It is a war that Paul categorizes as a “struggle.”  The Greek word Paul uses for “struggle” is palē (πάλη) which is a word used to describe what is involved in close hand-to-hand combat.  In close hand-to-hand combat, you have no choice, for you must chose to fight against the one who wants to harm you, or you must surrender to slavery or even death.  Before you were a Christian, you were, “dead in your offenses and sins...” (Eph. 2:1); according to Ephesians 2:2-3, you behaved and acted as one in agreement with the one who commands and orders the demonic realm against God and His creation: “Among them we too all previously lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath” (v. 3).   Jesus said, “I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it” (Matt. 16:18).  Out of God’s rich mercy, great love, and all-sufficient grace, you were rescued, ransomed, and redeemed through the cross of Christ.  If you are a Christian, it is because God made you alive with Christ (Eph. 2:5).  Through Jesus, God rescued you from your sin and Satan and according to Ephesians 2:6-7, He “raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the boundless riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”  What we learn from the first three chapters in Ephesians is that the battle over our souls has been decisively and categorically won by Jesus!  However, the prince of the power of the air, the rulers, the powers, the world forces of darkness and the spiritual forces of wickedness want to do whatever they can to take you out by any means necessary!    Martyn Lloyd-Jones rightly said, “There is no grosser or greater misrepresentation of the Christian message than that which depicts it as offering us a life of ease with no battle and no struggle at all.... The first thing we must realize is that the Christian life is a warfare, that we are strangers in an alien land, that we are in the enemy’s territory.”[1]  According to Paul, this is a warfare that we are in, it is a warfare we have to engage, it is a warfare that is ongoing, and it is a warfare with demonic cosmic forces that are determined to fight until the very end.  However, our strength to fight comes from a power that is not our own!     Our War Requires Us to Be on High Alert In order to fight and to engage the spiritual war we find ourselves in, we must be alert, and we must be strong!  The very first word is, “Finally.” After all that he has written about what it means to be a Christian and what it means to be the Church of Jesus Christ that have been filled with doctrinal exhortations, firm warnings, and great encouragements, the apostle saved what we read in Ephesians 6:10-18 for last not because it is least important but because of the great threat that faces Christ’s Church!  The word “finally” is Paul’s bugle call for the Christians to assemble for action!  As Sam Storms observed in his book on spiritual warfare: “There is never a truce or ceasefire.  Satan takes no holidays.  He observes no Sabbath rest. There may be times of greater or lesser intensity, but never a time to relax or let down your spiritual guard.”[2]   Notice where Ephesians 6:10 is placed!  It is strategically and intentionally placed just after the section in Ephesians where Paul explains what a Christ-centered marriage looks like, how Christlikeness ought to be displayed in parent and child relationships, and how we can be Christ-like through our work.  It was through the institution of marriage, one of the great gifts of God, that Satan attacked for the purpose of destroying the relationship Adam and Eve were created to enjoy with God and each other and how their sin affected their children and how they managed the earth through work.    When Eve was tempted by the serpent while Adam stood and watched, their struggle was not only with flesh and blood, but with the demonic cosmic forces of evil! When Cain murdered Abel, his struggle was not only with flesh and blood, but with the demonic cosmic forces of evil, and it has been that way ever since!  Do not miss how it was that the demonic cosmic forces of evil attacked Adam and his family.  Satan did not tempt Adam and Eve while they were on high alert and actively engaged in the work of God, he tempted them while they were both idol and their spiritual senses were dull.  When Cain decided to murder Abel, he increasingly became insensitive to the things that pleased God until he finally caved to the sin that God warned was lurking at the door of his heart, and instead of mastering it, he gave into his sin and murdered his younger brother (see Gen. 4:1-8).    We will talk about this more when we look at verse 11 and how it is we can stand against the devil’s schemes, but for now I will say that you cannot expect to walk with wisdom or in a manor worthy of your calling as a born again follower of Jesus if you are not on high alert and ready for the kind of hand-to-hand combat that is always before you Christian! You may not be able to see the devil or his demonic hoards with your physical eyes, but as John Stott once wrote: “Beneath the surface, an unseen spiritual battle is raging”[3]   Our War-Time Strength is From God’s Might Now, notice the urgency in the apostle’s language! First a command: “Be strong” (v. 10), then “stand firm” (v. 11), “resist” (v. 13a), “stand firm” (v. 13b), and then another command: “Stand firm” (v. 14).  But how are we to be strong, how are we to stand firm, how are we to resist?  We are to do it in the power of the God who raised Jesus from the grave! The Greek word Paul uses for “strong” is the same word he uses in Ephesians 1:19.[4]  The point is that the source of our power does not come from within, but from an infinitely greater power source!  Remember Paul’s prayer for the Christian at the beginning of his epistle: “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the boundless greatness of His power toward us who believe.” Then Paul uses the same language in Ephesians 1:19-20 that he uses in 6:10, consider the apostle’s carefully chosen words in 1:19-20 again: “These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places...” Our power comes from His might and nowhere else!  It doesn’t come from our talents, it doesn’t come from our skills, it doesn’t come from our education, and it doesn’t come from how many verses of the Bible we fill our brains with; all those things are good, but they are not the place from where we draw our power!    We have got to get this straight in our churches and especially at Meadowbrooke!  We have seen several pastors fall recently, three of the men that come to mind have had such a profound impact upon my life such as Ravi Zacharias, Tony Evens, and just this week... Steven Lawson! I have the books these men have written on my bookshelves, I have listened to scores of their sermons, and their ministries have ended due to sexual sin!  For five years Steven Lawson preached in his church and at huge conferences while maintaining an affair with a woman a third of his age.    There have been many Christian song writers and worship leaders who have either renounced their faith in the name of deconstruction and we have sung their songs with the impression that they were motivated by God.  It is possible to have a demonized or even a wolf in sheep’s clothing lead in our worship services and assume his motivations are pure when instead they are predatory.  Oh how easy it is to trust in skill, and charm, and beauty, through what we see and feel and assume the power is from God when it is not from Him.  How easy it is to become idol while our spiritual senses dull to the onslaught of the demonic!    In Ephesians we are told repeatedly where it is that our source of power must come from if we are going to, “walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called” (4:1).  Notice where it is that Christ is seated in Ephesians 1:21-23; He is seated, “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and made Him head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Eph. 1:21-23).  Do you know what that means?  What it means is that He has conquered the rulers, powers, the world forces of this darkness, and the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places!  They are all under the heel of His omnipotent foot!  All the might you will ever need to be strong, to stand firm, and to resist in the evil day is in Jesus.    However, if you are not abiding in Jesus, if you are not pursuing Jesus, if He is not to your life and breath, then you will grow dull in your spiritual senses!  If God’s word is not the truth you are putting into your spiritual veins, if you are feeding your mind and soul more of what this world wants you to consume, if you are more interested in playing than you are in preparing to stand before Jesus... then you are easy prey for the enemy to devour!    If you are a Christian, you have been chosen by God to be holy and blameless in Jesus (1:4-6). If you are a Christian, you have been redeemed through the blood of the Lamb of God for another city God has for you (1:7-12).  If you are a Christian, you have been sealed by God’s Holy Spirit and have all of the Holy Spirit you will ever need to live in the kind of divine power to stand firm against the devil and his schemes (1:13-14).  How much of your heart does the Father have?  How much of your allegiance does the Son have?  How much of your life does the Holy Spirit have?    What changes can you make to be more alert and to stand in the strength of almighty God?  Permit me to make some recommendations: Cut back on the time you spend on social media or what have on your watch list, and read your Bible more...   Instead of being consumed by secular music, listen more to praise music during the week. Music is in our DNA, and it is something we will enjoy throughout eternity, so start filling your mind and heart with praise now.   Pray! If you are not used to praying, start by praying the Lord’s Prayer (Matt. 6:9-13; Luke 11:2-4).  If you only pray a few minutes out of day, add another five minutes to your prayer time.  If you do not have a time scheduled to pray, find a time in the day and spend 5,10,15, 30 minutes, or more in prayerful conversation with God.   Finally, remember that your strength is not in your ability, skills, or talents when it comes to what God wants to do in your world. Our strength must come from God’s might!  Maybe instead of rushing for a solution to fix whatever is the biggest problem you are facing in your life, you should do what we read in Psalm 46:10-11, “Stop striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted on the earth.” The Lord of armies is with us; The God of Jacob is our stronghold.”   [1] Martyn Lloyd-Jones, The Christian Warfare: An Exposition of Ephesians 6:10-13, (Grand Rapids, MI: BakerBooks; 1976), p. 21. [2] Sam Storms, Understanding Spiritual Warfare (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Reflective; 2021), p. 290. [3] Tony Merida, Exalting Jesus in Ephesians (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2014), 175. [4] In Ephesians 1:19, Paul uses dynamis (power); in 6:10, he uses endynamoō (strong).  Both words are from the same root.