Stand Firm With Full Armor On

Transcript

GR 162
12/28/1975
Stand Firm With Full Armor On
Ephesians 6:14-17
Gil Rugh

Ephesians, on the sixth Chapter in your bible again, we have been studying The Book of Ephesians in our Sunday morning services together. Last week we took a break and looked a portion in Isaiah. This week we are going to resume our study even though I know that many of those who have been with us are not able to be here this week and probably not next week and some of you are visiting and have been in on the previous studies. I think the section we have this morning is enough of a unit that even if you haven’t been here previously well I think it will tie together well enough for you.

Paul is drawing this letter to a close, next week we are going to conclude this letter, and in Verse 10 he has almost changed gears a little bit to bring in another area that he hadn’t touched on directly previously. We noted before it would seem logical and seemed logical for him to have ended after talking about husband and wives then the children, then the slaves and the masters after Verse 9 just in Verse 21 to have drawn it to a close with his closing greetings, but he brings in another area here and that is the area of conflict that every believer is involved in. So he didn’t want to close this epistle without reminding them and making clear to them that they are in a conflict and in a battle. He has talked about their position in Christ in the first three chapters. And in Chapter 4 he talked about their conduct in light of their position and that is carried over to Chapter 6.

Now to realize that it won’t be without obstacle that this because I have a position in Christ and that position is defined its manifestation in my conduct. There are obstacles to that taking place and one of the key obstacles is the opposition of the Devil. Verse 10, we were exhorted to be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might, and then in connection with this in Verse 11 to put on the full armor of God. So he emphasizes here that we need the strength of the Lord, the strength that his might or his power provides. Now in connection with this put on the armor that he has provided. We noted that in Verse 11 the emphasis is on the full armor, the armor in its entirety. It is not going to be enough to put on several pieces of the armor. We must put on the full armor of God. We will touch on this again in a moment.

The purpose being that we would be able to stand against the schemes of the Devil. So our opposition does not come from one who is an easy foe but from the Devil himself. He elaborated this in Verse 12, “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood.” In other words, not against humanity, not against other human beings that we are in a battle, but we are battling against rulers, against the powers, against world forces of this darkness, spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenlies. And we noted that these expressions denote a hierarchy in the spirit world, particularly here the fallen spirits. Satan having been Lucifer son of the Morning who has an exalted position in the presence of God fell from that position because of rebellion against God. And in that rebellion against God a host of angels followed him, and they followed him in his fall as well as rebellion. These are the demons, these are the forces arrayed in an orderly fashion under his leadership, and it’s against these forces that we are struggling in Verse 12. We are to note to wrestle, the idea being that we are in not a battle that is carried on over a large long distance but it is intimate, close hand to hand type of conflict that we are engaged in with the forces of the spirit world.

Therefore, Verse 13, “Take up the full armor of God.” So, he gave the instruction put on the full armor in Verse 11. Then in Verse 12 he gives us some insight into the foe we are battling against. Now he backs up and says take up the full armor because of the danger when he says put on the full armor. Well, okay I will do that but we are lax. Perhaps we realize something of the foe we are battling against. It will put something of the urgency before us and thus we will be more ready to equip ourselves with the armor of God. It is the armor that God has provided and it has provisions for every believer. The purpose being that you may be able to resist in the evil day and done everything to stand firm.

Note the emphasis on standing here or standing firm Verse 11. He mentioned it. You may be able to stand firm and he mentions it again in Verse 13, “Having done everything to stand firm.” Verse 14 begins, “Stand firm therefore.” The picture of a soldier in battle and so fully equipped and prepared that through the battle he stands unmovable and when the battle is all over, he is still left standing firm. And thus the victor we looked at Second Timothy Chapter 4 Verse 7 where Paul says I have fought a good fight, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is wait up for me, a crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous judge shall give to me. Not to me only but to all those who love his appearing.

Paul at the end of his life said I stood firm through the battle. Now I anticipate seeing that one who will give me the reward, the fitting one who has been a soldier of his. We are going to focus our attention upon Verses 14 to 17 this morning. The pieces of armor, the last area of prayer that is connected with this armor, we are going to go until next week and give a little more attention to it. Paul takes the different pieces of armor as we have noted. He had been chained to a Roman soldier for three years in Rome. He is writing from imprisonment in Rome. As he writes to the Ephesians he is well aware of the situation of a soldier and the equipment of a soldier. So he draws the equipment of a Roman soldier into this analogy of the equipment spiritually for the believer and the provision God has made for him, for his spiritual warfare. That is Verse 14, “Stand firm therefore” and you will note it has been repeated the standing firm is inseparably to having the armor on and if you are not clothed in the armor that God has provided you as a Christian will find yourself being beaten, defeated, discouraged, despairing and so on.

Stand firm therefore having girded your loins with truth. The first item of equipment is the girdle or the belt worn around the loins and it serves several purposes. It serves to hold the other equipment in place. We will see about the breastplate in a moment. The breastplate was tied down by this leather belt. The sword was held in place by this belt. If it came that the soldier happen to be in battle wearing one of his longer tunics, it was this belt was used to bind the tunic up so he had more freedom. Though usually a Roman soldier wouldn’t be in a battle wearing a short tunic that he did not need to be bound for a battle situation. So this is the belt, the first thing that is put on and it is called the truth. Your loins, guard your loins with truth. Now it is possible that this could be the truth of God as revealed in the word. The problem is that later on he deals with that specifically, the sword of the Spirit is the word of God. So in all probability the girdle of truth is not truth in the objective sense of God’s word, but the idea is that of truthfulness or sincerity. And believers are to put on truthfulness or sincerity as the characteristic of their lives.

As I manifest God’s character in my life truthfulness or sincerity is to be a character that is displayed in all that I do, every aspect of my life I am the one who is truthful, one who is sincere. Now we are dealing with our conduct again. We dealt with our position in the first three chapters primarily and now that position is finding it work in my life. Now it is true if I am not oriented to the truth and the one who himself is truth, Jesus Christ, then truthfulness will not characterize my life. But Paul has taken a step further from our position to our conduct and the first piece of armor that a believer puts on is truthfulness.

Look over in First Corinthians Chapter 5, First Corinthians and the fifth Chapter, page 258. Paul here is dealing with the matter of sin in the life of a Christian and since sin is in the life of a Christian he is no longer function truthfully or insincerity. So he encourages the Corinthian believers to orient their life to this character. He uses the analogy of leaven in Verse 6 boasting is not good. In other words the Corinthians were proud even though they tolerated sin in their midst, they were proud of themselves as believers. Do not know a little leaven leavens the whole loaf, talking about sin here, and leaven is consistently the symbol of sin in the Bible. Clean up the old leaven that you may be a new lump just as you are in fact unleavened for Christ our Passover has been sacrificed. Let us there celebrate the feast, not with old leaven nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. So using a different analogy but to the same point. Wickedness, malice ought not to have any part in any believer’s life but rather my life ought to be characterized by sincerity, truthfulness in whatever I do and that rules out then malice and wickedness. If I tolerate sin in my life, if there are sin that I am harboring whether you know about it or not, then I am no longer functioning truthfully or in sincerity.

Paul wrote the same thing in Second Corinthians Chapter 4 Verse 2, “But we have renounced the hidden things because of shame or the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness.” That would be the opposite of walking in truthfulness. Walking in craftiness, you are no longer walking in sincerity, openness, transparency, honesty. Not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God but by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. Paul says my walk is in truthfulness, it’s not in craftiness that ought to be true of every believer. I have an open, honest walk and if you analyze my walk, it is characterized by truthfulness or sincerity. If I tolerate sin in my life, then I no longer am functioning in realm.

Look back in Isaiah Chapter 11 quickly, page 971 in The Old Testament. You will note the way that is printed in your text indicates it is a quote from The Old Testament in Ephesians 6. So just to draw your attention to where Paul may be quoting from or what he may have in mind. Isaiah 11 one of the outstanding messianic portions of The Old Testament dealing with Christ and his messianic rule, that is messiah of Israel and talking about his characteristics. Verse 5 of Isaiah 11, “And righteousness will be the belt about his loins and faithfulness the belt about his waist.” Thus righteousness and faithfulness are drawn together here as going together. It is interesting in the sense the Greek translation of The Old Testament made a couple of hundred years before Christ, this word faithfulness is translated by the word truth and truth will be the belt about his waist or truthfulness. So Paul may have been drawing on that background, the Greek translation of The Old Testament when he draws in that statement in Ephesians Chapter 6.

In order words, Jesus Christ as the ruling Messiah would be characterized by righteousness, faithfulness, truthfulness, and Jesus identified himself as the One who is the Truth. That is in John 8, 44 and 45. He talked about the fact that He conducted himself in truth and He spoke the truth. Truthfulness characterized him in every way. So what we are talking about as a believer I put on the character of Jesus Christ. So the first piece of armor is that belt or the truthfulness of life and conduct manifesting Christ character in all that I do and if you do not have truthfulness as part of your armor, then to that extent you are vulnerable to the attacks of the Devil. Areas of your life where sin is tolerated makes you vulnerable to that extent, to the attacks of the Devil. Again, we note that you must put on the armor in its entirety or you are open to the attacks of this one who is such a clever foe.

So back to Ephesians Chapter 6, the next piece of armor in Verse 14 of Ephesians 6 is the breastplate of righteousness. Again a key part of the armor of the Roman soldier served to protect all the vital organs. Sometimes it was leather with pieces of metal woven over it. Sometimes it was a solid piece of metal that was jointed so that it would allow him flexibility but it served the purpose of giving him protection over the vital organs of the body. Roman soldiers would not be caught in battle of course without a breastplate. Again it is called the breastplate of righteousness.

Now it is true we have positional righteousness that we have talked about. The righteousness of Christ has been imputed to me. The moment I believe in Christ I was justified by God, I was declared righteous by him because the righteousness of Christ was credited to me. But it seems that in the context here we are not talking about that imputed righteousness, but we are talking about the righteousness in our conduct and in the character as we live our lives. Because again Christ’s righteousness is imputed to me, I don’t have to put that on. That’s mine by virtue of faith in Christ. But in my conduct I am to be characterized by righteousness in all that I do. Of course there is no positional righteousness. There will be no practical righteousness.

You cannot be righteous in your conduct if you are not righteous in your character. You cannot be righteous in your character without first believing in Jesus Christ and having his righteousness credited to you. God says in Romans 3 there is none righteous, not even one. So all the good deeds you do, all your trying, all your striving God looks at it as Isaiah writes and says “All our righteousnesses they are like filthy rags.” Literally menstrual rags. They are polluted. They are defiled. They are worse than worthless before me. That’s what my righteousness is. So you cannot talk about righteousness in your practice if you have not become righteous before God by faith in Jesus Christ. We are justified, declared righteous by faith in Jesus Christ. But that being the case, then this righteousness that is ours positionally is to manifest itself in our practice.

Look back in Isaiah again Chapter 59, we could have picked this Verse up while we were back there. Isaiah 59, page 1038, again what we see here is the same description that is to be characteristic of a believer is now described of God. As the God has seen the one in view here and he is providing salvation. Verse 17, “And he put righteousness like a breastplate.” Same analogy we have. Righteousness like a breastplate and the helmet of salvation, we will pick that up in a moment in Paul’s section in Ephesians. God putting on the breastplate of righteousness, the helmet of salvation. Again evidently this is what is in his mind as Paul writes. And righteousness and salvation characterizes God in all his dealings and all his doings. And righteousness is to characterize me.

Look over in Romans Chapter 6, page 239 in The Testament. In Romans Chapter 6 we have this breakdown and a pattern following through that first you are made a new person in Jesus Christ. When you believe in Christ you are baptized with the Spirit which means you are identified with Jesus Christ and his death is burial and resurrection. Since you have died, been buried with him and raised a new man now you are to function as the new man that you are in Christ. So again the righteousness in your practice is a result of being made righteous in Jesus Christ.

So you can read the first part of the chapter for the foundation but then Verse 13, “Do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as weapons of unrighteousness but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead and your members as weapons of righteousness to God.” Little different analogy, the same thrust. Now that I am to be functioning as a righteous person and righteousness is to characterize me in all my doings, not unrighteousness. And that as a believer righteousness is a character, characteristic that is manifest in all that I do. I am to be righteous as God is righteous because it is his righteousness that is being manifest through me in my conduct, and that’s what Paul writes in Romans 6.

Now a couple of areas that may indicate breakdown in righteousness that someone noted and I just want to share them with you is Second Corinthians Chapter 2 the first one, this is an example of how Paul talks about a breakdown in this area. Page 276, Second Corinthians Chapter 2, this is the same situation Paul picking up again that we talked in First Corinthians 5 the man in sin, he had been disciplined by the believers in the church and now he has turned from his sin and as started to begin fellowship with believers. Paul says the believers are to forgive him.

Verse 8, “I urge you to reaffirm your love for him.” Verse 10, “But whom you forgive anything I forgive also, for indeed what I have forgiven I have forgiven anything. If I have forgiven anything I did it for your sakes in the presence of Christ in order that no advantage be taken of us by Satan for we are not ignorant of his schemes.” Paul says I have forgiven because if I didn’t it would give an advantage to Satan and I am not ignorant of his schemes. Do you see how this and awareness of being in a battle pervades Paul’s life? Wherever he is he recognizes that Satan is arrayed against him. So he says if I manifested an unforgiving spirit in this occasion, it would give Satan an advantage and I am not ignorant of his scheme. So an area of where there can be a breakdown in our personal righteousness because I am not willing to manifest the forgiveness that God manifest, and not willing to forgive as he is forgiven. Now again you know that maybe something that no one else knows about but you, that’s all right, that opens the way to Satan, he knows about it even if I don’t or someone else doesn’t, an unforgiving spirit not willing to forgive.

Another interesting one we just note is over in First Timothy Chapter 5, page 323, Verse 14, “Therefore I want younger widows to get married, bear children, keep house and give the enemy no occasion for reproach, for some have already turned aside to follow Satan.” You note here how Paul links proper character and conduct in the home. We are doing battle with the Devil and neglect of the responsibilities in the home gave the Devil an opportunity, the result being he carried to battle in this certain area. And some have turned after following him by being disobedient to God in this area. A breakdown in personal righteousness and no longer functioning in accord with God’s standard of right, the revelation of his character and the word. And here the issue was the arrangement of my home, and if it is not in accord with God’s revelation in the word, the result is I have given the Devil an opportunity and if I give him an opportunity he is right there to take advantage of I; so this breastplate of righteousness the pervading characteristic that must be true of me in every area of my life.

All right back to Ephesians Chapter 6, third piece of armament is in a way maybe strains us at first in Verse 15, “Having shot your feet with the preparation of the Gospel of peace wearing the proper shoes.” Now again to a Roman soldiers it would be very important, and we do the same thing today, people wear different shoes for different activities. You don’t wear the same shoes to play ice hockey that you do to run track. I mean that wouldn’t help you at all. Whilst it is the same thing with the Roman soldier; he had a set of sandals that were hard nailed and the purpose being that they will give him a firm footing because he is out here in hand to hand conflict doing battle with his sword and he has got a slippery pair of shoes on and falls down, that puts you to a distinct disadvantage in a battle. It is hard to do sword battles on your back and so they had a special set of shoes, the purpose being that they enabled their feet to be firmly planted and fixed so that the soldier was unmovable, his feet didn’t go sliding out from under him in a key time in the battle.

Now we are told that we are to have the shoes of the preparation of the gospel of peace. And two possibilities here, one that I think is more possible than other, some would connect this with the passage in Isaiah which talks about how beautiful are the feet of those who bring the message of the gospel, precisely put, that would be a possibility. Here our feet we are carrying the gospel. That doesn’t seem to be the context here though; idea seems to be more the feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace, the idea of preparedness for conflict as a result of the peace which God has provided.

In other words the gospel that Jesus Christ died because of my sins, that he was raised because of my justification. When I respond in faith to that the peace of God resides in my life. “Therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God,” Romans Chapter 5 Verse 1. Now as I am established firmly on that the gospel of Jesus Christ, death and resurrection because of my sins and because of my justification and when I respond in faith to that then his peace takes up residence in my life to prepare me and give me a firm foundation for the conflict in which I am involved.

If I am not firmly planted on the gospel, I am not clear on that and settle on that, Jesus Christ died for my sins, rose because of my justification and because of faith in the gospel as it has been presented, I have peace with God. If I don’t have that as my foundation and that’s not settled, then naturally I am on a slippery footing and I find my feet going under me when the pressure is applied because I can’t maintain my footing. So I must be firmly planted on the gospel. As a believer I must be clear on the issues of the gospel; I must be settled on the peace that I have, both positionally and practically because of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

He is my peace and thus because I am resting in him I have peace and this peace is to pervade every area of my life, and if I am not firmly planted there I will find every time the conflict gets strenuous my feet are sliding out and that results in getting walked on and getting beat and that hurts and I find despair setting in. So another crucial element and area of the armament of the believer. It is hard to pick out one area over another as importance because whatever you don’t have opens you up. You can have the best shoes but if you don’t have the breastplate on you are vulnerable and vice versa and so on.

The next area that is touched on here is the shield of faith. Verse 16, “In addition to all taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one.” Now the shield here is not the one you sometimes see in Gladiator pictures on television which is a round shield attached to the left arm and they waive it around and move back and forth and do battle, that was one type of shield used, but the Roman soldier used one that was a large shield, this comes with the word door and sometimes called the door shield and it was four feet high and two and a half feet wide. So it basically covered the soldier from top to bottom. He could crouch down behind him and Roman soldiers were often lined up and just a solid line of shields, one next to the other and then move forward as a wall that could not be pushed back.

Now this is the type of shield that we are talking about here, to extinguish fiery missiles. One of the key elements of this was Romans as well as other soldiers would often dip their spears or their arrows in pitch and then light them and then send them on their way. I don’t know what the difference is I guess it is smart so if you get stuck with a burning arrow, I guess it is smart if it is not burning but the idea being of course that these arrows would set things on fire as well and be incendiary in their character and caused greater destruction. But these flaming arrows that were coming, the defense of the soldiers since many of them would come at a velocity that could even pierce the breastplate would be the shield of faith and the shield deflects them and thus they fall harmlessly to the ground and are extinguished, and a Roman soldier without a shield again was in a defenseless type of position but with that shield he was secure. And our shield here is called faith, that reliance upon God.

Now it is true I am saved by faith, but not only am I saved by faith my life is to be lived by faith day by day and moment by moment, and one of the key attacks of the Devil is to get me to lay aside my shield and begin to rely upon myself and getting confidence in myself. And then I find myself being pierced through with burning arrows as he shoots away, why? Because I had been careless as a soldier and laid aside the shield, instead of relying upon God moment by moment in every situation I thought here is one I can handle, I wouldn’t bother God about this, I can surely take of this, and what happens? The Devil is just there to fire away and all of a sudden I find myself in great pain and agony, why? I don’t have a shield. The arrows of the Devil are coming non-stop, why? Because I have laid down the shield; I failed to continue to rely upon God in this situation. So simply every believer needs that shield. It is now I have been saved I can make it on my own.

Now I have been saved by faith and I must live my life day by day and moment by moment by faith, and any time you set down shield, any time you lay aside the shield, you can be sure that the Devil is cranked up there with a flaming arrow ready to let it fly and he just never misses an opportunity and maybe somebody will be on sentry duty or guarding and he will get careless and here comes the enemy sneaking up and saying how can you be so stupid? Here comes the enemy and he is propped up, going to have a cigarette or whatever and relax and of course they come up and do him in and I go uh, why would they do that?

You know the same thing happens to us spiritually. We are told the enemy is there, he is going about, he is watching for any little bit of relaxation in our defenses, and yet we think we can sit back and take it easy, I can set down the shield a little bit here and relax because I have worked hard, I deserve a break. There can be no break. I have to keep constantly relying on the Lord and my faith is in him and thus the shield is up and I am protected. You will note you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one. That ought to give us confidence. The Devil does not have a flaming missile in his arsenal that will not be extinguished by this shield of faith. So I know if I begin to get pierced by these darts, flaming darts that is because I have set down the shield. It is not because he has come up with a new weapon. It is because I am not using the armament that God has provided for me of resting in him.

All right, the next piece of equipment is the helmet of salvation. We saw this in Isaiah 59. Again here I think it is probably not our initial salvation although that would inseparably be involved because our salvation past, present and future comes as a package but here since we are putting it on and it is part of our armament and it is given to us, we seem to have more to do than just the faith that resulted in our forgiveness of sins. Open First Thessalonians 5, Paul uses the same analogy and perhaps gives us some insight into what is in view here. First Thessalonians 5, page 315 Paul talking about this alertness that we were talking about, being sober, being alert because we are in a battle.

Verse 8, “But since we are of the day let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love and as a helmet the hope of salvation.” As an expression the hope of salvation and that probably is what is in view in Ephesians Chapter 6. That assurance and security that we have in our salvation, that recognition not only have I been saved for my sins, not only am I in the process of being conformed to the character of Christ but I am looking forward to ultimate glorification in his presence which is the hope of my salvation. That settled assurance and confidence that I have in God as a result of experience the salvation that he has provided.

Move over a couple of books First Thessalonians and Second Thessalonians, First Timothy Chapter 6, so two books further back, Paul seems to state the same idea to Timothy and you see just again and again this analogy of a battle comes out in Paul’s writings; in Verse 12 of First Timothy 6, “Fight the good fight of faith, take hold of the eternal life to which you were called.” Note fight the good fight of faith and take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, now if you read the rest of First Timothy you read Paul’s dealings with Timothy there is no doubt that Timothy is a saved man so Paul is not telling him to experience eternal life by believing in Christ but take hold of the eternal life that you already have. In other words settle yourself and that assurance and security that your salvation has given you.

Today one of the key areas the Devil attacks us is he keeps our helmet off. Many Christians do not have the assurance of their salvation. They doubt their security in Jesus Christ and how can you go into battle without a helmet. Now today we say well what’s the difference? In Roman days when they like to chop on your head with a sword a helmet was important. It protected your head and that is a vital part of your body. And if a believer does not have that settled conviction of his assurance and security in Christ, that his hope is ultimate glorification in the presence of God, then he will not be equipped to do battle with the Devil because he will be unstable and unsecure. You will be doubting and toast to and fro, and one day we will really lose this salvation back here and on and on and on. So he has no confidence in the battle in which is arrayed because he does not have the security of his salvation.

All right back to Ephesians Chapter 6, one last piece of equipment, the end of Verse 17, “The sword of the Spirit which is the word of God.” So here we come to the sword and this is the only offence part of the armament. You know all the rest have been primarily defensive, the breastplate, the belt, the shield, the helmet and so on. The sword is the sole offensive part of the equipment with which you do battle. And the sword here is identified as the word of God and the word of God here emphasized in its spoken capacity. The word as God has spoken it.

Now we haven’t recorded into written word but God words as he spoken and as he gave it to us. Thus the sword that we fight with, the sword that we do battle with is the word of God and it is entitled in Hebrews Chapter 4 the word of God there the emphasis being on the written word, the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two edged sword piercing dividing a son through soul and Spirit. So we have a weapon very suited to the battle and the using of this weapon is perhaps best illustrated in Matthew Chapter 4 in the temptation of Jesus Christ. Here we have opportunity to see how Jesus Christ as a man when brought into conflict in battle with the Devil himself did battle with him.

In Chapter 4 of Matthew Jesus is led up in the spirit by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil, to do battle with the Devil. Verse 3, “The tempter came to him after he is hungry and said if you are the son of God command that these stones become bread.” So there is the attack and attack that hits on various parts of the armor, if you are the son of God would cast doubt right here and in other words, if you are doubt that you are and yet Christ because he is girded in truthfulness, righteousness and the helmet of salvation is secure in his position but the Devil tries to cause doubt there. He says command that these stones be made bread. In other words, prove yourself to me. Note how Christ responds in Verse 4, “But he answered and said it is said man shall not live on bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God,” a quote from Deuteronomy Chapter 8. So what happens Satan attacks and what does Jesus do? He stabs back with the sword of the word quoting from Deuteronomy Chapter 8. I cannot respond to what you said because of what God said.

All right note next area the Devil doesn’t run away and hide, he comes back for another attack, the Devil took up to the holy city, put him on the pinnacle of the temple and said cast yourself down, and note here, “For it is written.” Verse 6 and he quotes from Psalm 91. Now Satan said all right if you want to do battle with swords, all right here you go, and he takes out the sword of God and uses it in his attack against Christ. So you have to be careful. It is not enough to have the sword. Satan can use the sword of the word; the problem is he misuses the sword of the word. And he quotes Scripture to Christ.

Now what does Christ say in response to Psalm 91, what Christ says in response to Psalm 91 is Deuteronomy Chapter 6. I don't know how you would have responded in that battle. Someone hits you in the face with Psalm 91 and you had to respond back with Deuteronomy Chapter 6, I am afraid most of us would have found our sword clattering on the ground as we turn and ran. Note we have to be familiar with the word.

Deuteronomy 6, “On the other hand it is written you shall not tempt your God.” In other words, Satan you have to understand Psalm 91 in light of Deuteronomy Chapter 6. In other words it’s the word of God in the context of God’s words in its entirety. Portion that I often use in talking to people who want a portion of the word explained. You know how it is they will turn to you and say, “Explain this verse.” You say, “Yes, that verse is best understood in light of this verse/”. They say, “No, wait a minute, I want you to explain that verse.” I say, “Yes, but this verse over here now explains this verse.” And I usually turn to Matthew 4 and say, “You can’t understand that verse if you are not willing to put it into context of overall Scripture.” Why? Christ said you can’t understand Psalm 91 unless you put it into the context of Deuteronomy Chapter 6. So you note you need a grasp of the word. It is not enough to be able to quote John 3:16, Ephesians 2, 8 and 9 and a couple of other pet verses because God’s word in its entirety is to be at our disposal for whatever the battle necessitates. Satan is not done and he offers him the kingdom of the world. Remember we noted that Satan is the prince of the power of the air, the god of this world. And in this position he says to Christ if you will follow down and worship me I will give you all under of course my lordship. Verse 10, “Jesus said to him be gone saying it is written “You shall worship the Lord your God and serve him only”.” Another quote from Deuteronomy 6, the Devil left him. So there you see how Christ used the sword of the Spirit, the word of God in combating the temptations of the Devil, almost overly simple isn’t it?

Simply pull out the word that God had put at our disposal. Now a couple of problems, the first one is you must know the word. I don’t how many of you would be able to do battle with Deuteronomy but God’s word is the sword that he puts at our disposal and we got to be saturated in it from beginning to end because it is all important and I understand the context of this verse by the context of this verse and that’s why we are here to know the word and grow in our understanding of the word.

Now secondly tie with this and just a further advance on it, not only must you know the word but you must know how to use the word. By this I mean you can know the word from the standpoint of quoting it and throwing it out, that does not mean you know how to use the word as the sword of God, the sword of the Spirit. Satan knows how to quote the word, he does not know how to use the word. I think this is an area of danger that we have to confront as believers. In Indian Hills we put a strong stress on knowing the word, but there is the danger that by that we get the idea because I have certain facts of the word in hand now I am ready to use the word. You know what one area that points out that we do not have the maturity to effectively use the sword that we have is that we find ourselves using the word, the sword of the Spirit to stab other Christians. I have got a problem with that.

Paul was talking about a battle with the Devil when we use the sword of the Spirit. But sometimes we as believers we latch on to a piece of new truth, I can’t wait to run out and run some Christians through with it because he doesn’t know yet, and we find ourselves doing battle among ourselves. Christian with Christian with the truth of God, now I know right away wait we have to put it in context of truth and believers have to function in truth and that's right, but remember Galatians Chapter 6, “If you see a Christian who is overtaken in a fault, you are who are spiritual restore such a one in the spirit of meekness considering less you also be tempted.” Remember the exhortation is to love one another and if you love the father you will love the one who is born of the father. I am to function in this context and there are times when believers need corrected in light of the word always in the context of meekness in light of the Spirit, of First Corinthians Chapter 13.

The fact that I run around stabbing other Christians with the word is an indication that I do not know how to use the word yet, that this sword is being used. What kind of army would it be if the Roman soldiers all lined up behind their shields, they got their swords and the guy next to them stabbing the guy alongside him with the sword. Yet we as Christians do the same thing, we are all lined up ready to go battle with the Devil right umm, somebody alongside of me stabs me, why? Because I learned that and you didn’t know it. Someone says he is a dummy, he didn’t know that truth, it doesn’t matter I have been a Christian 20 years and just found it out and he has been a Christian too, I know it now and anybody who doesn’t know is going to get run through. That’s a misuse of the sword of the Spirit.

We are applying the word to another believer to help him because of an error in his life, it has to be applied in meekness and in love, with a compassion even if he refuses to respond then I have to cut off fellowship with him Paul writes to Thessalonians and says, “I cannot consider him an enemy but a brother. My constant goal is the desire to see him to be restored and built up.” So if I am running around using the word on other Christians I need to back up and find out if that is like giving a sword to a four-year-old kid and he runs around swinging and stabbing whoever comes in sight, why? Because he has sword but he has no concept of how to use it. He hasn’t developed the maturity necessary to function properly with the sword that has been given to him. So it is not enough that I heard this truth. Gil said this; now I run out and stick it in somebody else. It is not the idea. You know what it means, it means now I let that settle down into my life, become part of my life. I saturate myself in that truth in the word and allow the Spirit to confirm me to it.

One test that I am misusing the word is as soon as I hear I want to run out and dump it on somebody else because I know they don’t know it. I don’t give the Lord the chance to work it into my life. I don’t give the Lord a chance to show me through the word. I am just running out and dumping it on somebody else, and that’s I am not functioning as I should with the word, the sword of the Spirit. You know what this does? It means as soon as I begin to use even the word and misuse the word and that happens, we saw Satan doing it in Matthew Chapter 4 using the word, quoting it but in the wrong sense, quoting it against Christ the way we sometimes use it against other believers I am afraid.

There is a breakdown not only in my use of the sword but a breakdown in the breastplate of righteousness because I have ceased to function in accord with God’s revealed will in the word. Thus the breastplate of righteousness now has a flaw in it because I am no longer functioning righteously in accord with the revelation of God’s word and I have opened up myself now to the attacks of the Devil because in my use of the sword I have functioned unrighteously, out of harmony with God’s revealed will in the word, and all it does is my breastplate has suffered a flaw and thus Satan is there to attack me. So I think I am going to town on another believer but I am doing it in a manner and in an attitude that is unbiblical which means my breastplate has come apart. And so the Devil goes to work on me and I find myself being attacked by him and finding myself very vulnerable.

So you know God has provided the armor. Now I am to equip myself with that armor as he has directed in his word. I think there is confident assurance here. That if I put on the whole armor of God I am invincible. I have no fear of the Devil. I have no fear of the demon world because God has completely equipped with all the armor necessary. I don't need to be concerned about the Devil as much as I needed to be concerned about getting my armor on, evaluating do I have that girdle of truth? Is truthfulness and sincerity characterize every area of my life? Does righteousness characterize all my conduct? Do I have on the helmet of salvation fully secured and settled in the conviction of the security I have in him? Are my feet firmly planted on the gospel and the peace that gospel has brought? Do I have up the shield of faith? Am I adept in the word and using the word as the sword of the Spirit? As a believer when I am functioning as God has prepared me then I am invincible. The result being that when the evil day comes as Satan attacks me I stand firm, and having come through the battle I am still standing firm unmovable and unshakeable and undefeatable because of my great power? No, because of God’s great provision in order that I might manifest his character at all times and all situation to his honor and glory.

Let’s pray together. Our Father again we thank you for your word, Lord for the marvelous salvation that we have in Jesus Christ, that he did come to earth, that he did die because of our sins. Now that he was raised because he had accomplished our justification. Lord we thank you for the provision we have made for our lives daily as believers. Lord for the provision of armament in order that as the Devil attacks we might be fully equipped and prepared. Lord we pray that we might be willing to analyze ourselves, each one individually to see if we have been honest before, if we have taken up our responsibility and putting on the armor as you provided it. We pray the Lord as the Spirit shows up weakness in our armament that we might be willing to submit ourselves to you and allow you to equip us in order that we might bring honor and glory to you, for we pray in Christ’s name, Amen.