The Armor of God - Part 2

0:10Thank you for listening to the Sermon Audio Podcast for Crossroads Reformed Baptist Church in Rockdale, Texas. Crossroads Reformed Baptist Church is a reformed confessional Baptist church that meets every Lord's Day at 10 a.m. for Bible study and 11 a.m. for corporate worship. For more information about our church or for directions, you can visit us online at www.crbcrockdale.org. Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

0:40Good morning. Once again, and as usual, Brother Stephen picked out perfect hymns for us to sing. I really could just read the text from all those hymns again and just read our passage and go home. But since I have prepared something, you will get to hear it. This is part two of our discussion on the full armor of God. So if you have your Bible, I hope that you do, you can turn to Ephesians chapter 6. We will start in verse 16 through the end of that section. We'll begin then with a bit of review of where we were last week, a bit of recap. And I didn't point this out specifically or explicitly last week. We just went for it with those first three pieces of armor. But this armor of God that we are covering here in Ephesians chapter 6 is divided into two separate groups of three. And we will see that division, and I'll point that out a little clearer here in just a minute. But that first set of three, the belt, the breastplate, and the shoes, that is the truth, the righteousness, and the gospel, those are the first set of three. The belt, then, to recap, that which keeps us ready to move, keeps us from tripping. This is the fullness of objective truth. Through the revelation of God in his creation, and to a clearer degree the revelation given to us in and through his word, we can indeed know what is true. We can gird ourselves in that truth, and we must. Further, we saw the breastplate of righteousness that covers and that protects, we said, our passions and our emotions. Righteousness covers these things. When we're tempted to despair, when we're tempted to allow the enemy to condemn us, when we are tempted to rest upon our own actions, we are to be a victim of our fears, our fleeting passions. It is the righteousness of God that covers us, that protects us. It is the covering of his perfection given to us that will dispel the accusing darts of the enemy. Lastly, then we saw last week that a firm footing grounded in the good news of the gospel is required to keep us from stumbling. When our feet are equipped with the assurance of the gospel, we shall always keep our footing. So we know these things. We meditate on these truths. We continually remind ourselves of these truths. We equip these things. Not because we look good in armor, though some of you might. This is about being equipped to stand and fight against the enemy and against the sin within each of us. This is why we labor for these things. For our security in Christ is why we labor. For our transformation into his likeness, this is why we labor. As we press on toward eternal glory. So that was last week. Let's cover this week. Stand with me as we read our text. Ephesians chapter 6. I'm starting in verse 13. No, sorry, 16. In all circumstances, take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one, and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication, to that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints and also for me, that words may be given to me in the opening of my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I might declare boldly as I ought to speak. This is the word of the Lord. Lord, we thank you for this word as always. We thank you for the fullness of this armor that you give us, Lord. We pray and ask, would you open our hearts now as we receive these last three pieces of armor, Lord, would you speak to us in and through them, Lord, that we may equip them indeed, Lord, and live unto you. We ask all these things in the name of Christ. Amen. Paul begins this section with a bit of a transition statement. My translation says, in all circumstances, as verse 16 begin. Your translation perhaps might say, above all. I prefer the translation of the ESV, in all circumstances, as above all does seem that it is putting perhaps a greater weight upon these last three pieces of armor. And that is not what Paul is saying here at all. The first three pieces that we talked about last week are much more permanent or they're much more constant in nature. These are things that we put on and we don't take off. They are essentially or essentially become an extension of ourselves. Truth, righteousness, and the gospel. These are extensions of ourselves, but these last three pieces can be more circumstantial. Armor then that we can take up to defend and to fight in daily life. This is why Paul uses the put on language with respect to those first three, put on those pieces of armor. And these last three, he says, take up. Not as though the second or the first is better or worse, or no distinction there. But rather with these last three, in all circumstances, or we could say, above all, take these things up. Okay? Pick them up, wield them. And that is what we will do, beginning then with the shield of faith, Paul says, in all circumstances, take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one. I'm sure you've all seen those movies of medieval warfare, where one giant line of soldiers is advancing, and where the other side, in the face of this advancing army, lights up arrows on or lights their arrows on fire, and they indiscriminately volley them into the crowd of advancing soldiers. Not aiming at anything in particular, just a barrage of arrows, hoping that something lands, something will catch someone on fire, and will slow down the advancement. This is what the enemy often does with us. And certainly he is, as we've talked about, cunning and he is very deliberate at times. This is sure, but he also seeks to slow us down in a million small ways. How often are you praying when everything else but your prayer infiltrates your mind? How often are you reading? Does your mind drift to everything but what you are reading? How often do you wake up? And before you even get out of bed, you're already thinking about everything that you have to get done that day. Already reaching for your phone, already feel an urge to check the news, already feel an urge to check the weather. Already begin to stress on whatever is going on in your life that day. How often is your day actually going well for once in your own mind? And then you get hit with a hundred things all at once that completely derail you. I know no one's been there. How often do you just have days or weeks where it feels like everything is just piling on? This is no coincidence, church. Those are just a handful of perhaps a million illustrations or examples of how we are sent a barrage of arrows to derail us, to distract us, to slow us down in our walk. Faith, Paul says. Some things to note here about faith. Faith is active. Faith is active. 1 Peter 5, verse 6. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you. Be sober-minded, be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. Resist him. Firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of sufferings are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. What do we do when the enemy prowls and seeks to devour? According to Peter, we resist him in faith. We cast our anxieties on God, knowing that he cares for us. Knowing that we are all in this fight together, church. We are all standing firm in faith together. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory that has overcome the world. What is it? Our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? Faith is not something then that we receive and then put on a shelf. But something that we keep, something that we wield, something that we overcome with, something that keeps us and perseveres us. Faith also has an object. Hebrews 11, verse 1. Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Faith trusts in something real, namely the person and the work of Jesus Christ. The one who overcomes all things. So often the world simply has faith in faith. Right? Have you heard this? I'm a person of faith. I hear it all the time. How about I have faith that things will work out? We assume that in the end we will get to heaven because what? Because we have faith. We have no idea what it is we are having faith in. Or who is the object of this faith. Church, we are able to stand and to overcome in these moments of attacks not because we have faith in an abstract way, in something indiscriminate, or faith in our religion, or faith in ourselves, or just faith in things working out. We withstand these things because we trust in the person of Christ. We believe that he is real, don't we? That he is alive currently, that he has won, that he is empowering us, that he will provide for us, that he desires for us to know him, to resist the enemy, to fight on his behalf. This is faith. We trust that he is the way, that he is the only way, that he has gone ahead of us, that he has prepared a place for us and glory, and that we are presently on our way there to him. That is real, church. And if you would sit with that, if you would meditate on that, if you would know that, then you will overcome your tough days. And you can indeed focus your mind in the midst of distractions when you set your gaze in faith on the risen and exalted Christ, the God man who is on the throne, waiting for you in glory. Abraham believed and it was counted to him as righteousness. Why? Because he trusted in the promises of God. That's why. He trusted what God said. He did not walk in his own circumstances, but he was shielded under the promise of God. He stood on the promises of God. Church, the enemy will do all manner of things to give you doubt, to distract you, to instill fear, to make you believe that God has forgotten about you, that God is not active in your life anymore, that he doesn't have control over your life at all, that he has no regard or control over your present situation. He will try to frustrate you. He will attempt to forget you to forget God's word and his promise. But faith, the shield that covers us, remembers the promises of God. That he has purposed every moment for us. That he is working in you presently. That he has always shown up for you, hasn't he? That he has always kept you and will always keep you. That he has always guided you, that he has always worked it out for good. That he's never left your side. Faith always returns to that never-ending faithfulness of God. That's how we keep going. Genesis 15, verse 1. After these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision. Fear not, Abram. I am your shield. Your reward shall be very great. Psalm 46, God is our refuge and strength, a very help, very present help and trouble. Therefore we will not fear. Though the earth give way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling, come behold the works of the Lord. How he has brought desolations on the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear. He burns the chariots with fire. Be still. Be still. And know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in all the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress. The Lord is with us. He is, church, our fortress. His love is always with us. He never fails. He always preserves. Not even death carries any power over us. Do you believe that? When the arrows come, then we cover ourselves in the blessed promises of God. Psalm 84, for a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the Lord God is a son and a shield. For the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you. Next, then we look to the helmet of salvation. In all circumstances, take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish the flaming darts of the evil one. And take up the helmet. Salvation. A helmet covers the head, right? But more specifically, with respect to the text here, it covers our minds. Not our emotions and our passions, right, which we often think come from our minds. And practically speaking, I suppose they do, but biblically, those were covered by the righteousness of Christ. But our minds here are guarded by salvation. The mind so quickly becomes weary with the struggles of the world, doesn't it? The mind so quickly becomes weary with the struggles of the world. Maybe you're doing everything you can, but things are still really hard. Maybe those sins that you are fighting are fighting back and it's draining you. Maybe you're in a place of mourning and it feels like it will not let up. Maybe you are discouraged and feel that all this striving that you are doing for good to walk worthy, it's just not worth the trouble anymore. Have you been there? Galatians 6, verse 9. And let us not grow weary of Doing good for in due season we will reap if we do not give up. What will we reap in due season? Salvation, deliverance. This is the protection of our minds. That we do not labor in vain, we do not struggle in vain. There will be a time of reaping. And it will make every second worthy of our effort. So we keep fighting, we keep striving. This is seeing the end as motivation for the present. So one of the reasons why I wanted to talk about end times this past Wednesday. Why it's so important for us. Church, if we are fighting to lose, are we motivated to keep going? If we are fighting to lose, are we motivated to keep going? But if we are sure that we will win, if we are confident in the victory of our salvation, then surely we can become motivated to continue, to fight on. Elsewhere, Paul calls this the hope of glory. Here are the words of Romans chapter 5. Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into his grace, into this grace in which we stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Knowing that the suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. This is the hope of glory. And what does the hope of glory do? It produces perseverance, faith, endurance. Our lives, then, our minds are perseverance. They're protected by and through the hope of salvation, the hope of glory, the hope of the future that is to come for us, church. This is exactly the opposite of the nihilistic or the meaningless tendencies of our world today. But this goes all the way back to Paul, to Paul's day, in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 30. Paul says this, why are we in danger every hour? I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day. What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, let us eat, drink, for tomorrow we die. What is the point of anything, church, if the dead are not raised? What is the point of life if there is no hope of glory? I would say eat and drink, because tomorrow you die. If there is nothing in future glory, if there's no hope of salvation, you will indeed spiral into despair, into selfishness, into pity, into hopelessness. But the protection is that indeed Christ has been raised. There is salvation for all who trust in Christ. There is a resurrection for all who trust in Christ. All is not lost, all is not hopeless, all is not in vain. Our salvation informs us that everything indeed has a purpose and has an eternal purpose, an everlasting purpose. Don't let the enemy convince you that you strive in vain. Protect your mind with the helmet of salvation, that is the hope of glory. Finally, then, in terms of the pieces of armor, we turn to the sword of the spirit. Take up the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. This is the only truly offensive weapon that Paul tells us to take up. And certainly one can defend themselves with a sword, and often do, I suppose. But a sword is primarily a weapon of attack, isn't it? I think this is how Paul intends us to interpret the sword of the Spirit. Matthew chapter 16, verse 17. And Jesus answered him, Blessed are you, Simon Bar Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. This is after Peter's confession of Christ. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And we certainly defend ourselves at times against the enemy, but that does not mean we are always on the defensive. We shouldn't be. We are not hiding from the enemy. In fact, his realm is gated against the church. We will storm the gates with the word of God, and they will not hold against us. We, the church, in the power and the authority of Christ, we are coming for those souls the enemy has captured, but that do not belong to him. We will attack him. We will fight back. But not just any weapon will work here, church. I'm sure that you've seen in every good um every good myth, every good legend, there's always a magical weapon that perhaps seems common or ordinary, but in the right hands, that is, the hands of this one who is anointed or chosen to wield it, it becomes supernaturally powerful. Think of uh King Arthur's sword, Excalibur. I was thinking of Thor's hammer, uh, Peter's sword from Narnia, if you've read those books. Humanity has a long history of these enchanted weapons. We have a fascination with this idea because the reality of the enchanted sword, this is a truth that God has placed into the heart of man. God has given us, church, such a weapon. The only weapon, in fact, that can do a damaging blow to the enemy. The only weapon that does not pierce flesh and bone, but cuts a man to his soul. This is the word of God. The sword that the Spirit, God gives to us through the Spirit to pierce the heart of man for his good, to win him back from the evil one, and to slay that same enemy. We have been given this weapon, and this is the only offensive weapon that we need, church. But do we wield this weapon? Or have we buried it in the closet and forgotten that it's there, considered it some relic of the past. Church, this is the sword that we use to fight against the kingdom of darkness. This is why the word is enough for us, church. It's enough for us in worship. We don't attempt to move beyond this weapon. It's enough for us in evangelism, it's enough for us in encouragement, it's enough for us in teaching, for counseling, it's enough for us to win souls. This enchanted weapon is enough to fight with. An unenchanted sword is just a sword, it's just a hunk of metal. Words on a page, even if you bind them in beautiful leather, it's just ink on a page. But when the spirit is behind them and empowering them and moving in them, these words, this sword, it's inspiration, it's wisdom, it's illumination, it's power, it's authority. These words are transformed to become words of life. The power of God into salvation. It's a sweet salve to the brokenhearted. This is the comfort to a mourning soul, the encouragement to a weary pilgrim. This is the sword that pierces darkness. That is why we don't look for anything else. No other weapon could ever match the sword and the spirit-empowered word of God. No program, no method, no element, no feature, no focus, no battle against the enemy, against sin, against temptation, against the fallen man, against broken hearts, or pain, or sorrow, or death is one without the Spirit-empowered word of God. Some of my favorite verses in the Bible, from my favorite chapter in the Bible that y'all perhaps know, John chapter 6. This is John chapter 6, verse 66. After this, many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the twelve, Do you want to go away as well? And Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God, to wield the words of eternal life concerning this eternal word made flesh, to bring us everlasting peace. How does it get any more powerful than that? It does not. As Paul concludes then, this last bit of exhortation before he closes this grand and glorious letter, he reminds us here to ground everything that we just talked about in prayer. Verse 18 and following, prayering, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication to that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare them boldly as I ought to speak. We pray at all times in the Spirit, with the truth that he gives, in the fullness of his revelation, in the righteousness he covers us with to guard our passions and our emotions, with the gospel that he gives us to our footing to keep us firm, keep us from stumbling, with the faith that he provides to keep our eyes fixed on the person and finished work of Christ, with the shield that he gives us, that shields us from the arrows of temptation and circumstance, with the hope of salvation that he promises and protects our minds from despair, with his words on our hearts and in our hands to win the war against sin and the devil. We pray. We pray. We pray, O Lord, equip me with this holy armor, that I may be ready and use me for your glory. Lord, equip your saints with this armor, that they may have what they need when they need it. That your truth and your gospel will be with them, that your words will be in their mouths, so that when they speak, they will speak not only not their words, Lord, but your words, to boldly proclaim the mystery of this gospel, that at all times we may speak as we ought to speak, not for our own glory, but for the glory of our victorious King. That is our prayer, Church. We have these truths. We know these truths. Now let us be not just hearers of the word, but doers also. Let us by the Spirit make use of this armor for his grand and glorious purposes, to preserve and to win souls for glory, to guard ourselves and to empower others that the gospel may continue to go out and be successful, that lost souls are found and that lives are forever changed to the glory and honor of the Lamb of God. Let me end with this, Revelation 7, verse 14. They washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple. And he who sits on the throne will shelter them in his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore. The sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat, for the lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to the springs of living water, and God will wipe every tear from their eyes. Take up the armor, church. That is our end. Amen. By your grace and through your word and through your son, Lord, you have indeed shown us the end. You've shown us the purpose. You've shown us the purpose of his life, Lord, that he came not to live for himself, Lord, but to give himself up as a ransom for his people. We pray that we see that this morning, Lord, and we trust in the work of Christ. And we trust in his work alone, his righteousness alone, his blood alone for the forgiveness of our sins and of our justification before you. Lord, and then through your word, you've also shown us that there is an end, a glorious end, where you will wipe every tear from our eyes, and there will be sorrow no more. Lord, there will be everlasting feasts and joy, worship and glory. You have promised that to us, Lord. And we thank you that you have indeed shown us that end, Lord. Now we pray and ask that you would help us by your spirit to receive that, to take hold of that hope of glory, Lord, and now to live in light of that, Lord, to put on the armor that you have provided to us, that we would walk and we would stand and we would fight, knowing that it is not in vain. But that we have a future, an everlasting future prepared and kept for us in heaven. Help us to walk worthy. Help us to pray at all times. Lord and fight for you. We ask all these things in the name of Jesus. Amen.