It has turned to God's Word and
to the portion that we were considering last Lord's Day evening in Ephesians
chapter 6. In Ephesians chapter 6 and I
read verses 11, 12 and 13. Put on the whole armor of God
that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore, take
unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand
in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. turning in particular to the
words that we have here in the 13th verse. And here we have
a very positive and practical response with regards to that
armor with which God equips the believer. And observe the words
that we have here. Wherefore, he says, take unto
you the whole armor of God That, or literally in order that, you
may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all,
to stand as a believer as God equips him. for his conflict
with sin and particularly here with Satan. Now the believer
is to stand and to withstand because God has provided all
that is necessary that he might engage in this fearful conflict. Now last time we looked more
particularly at verses 11 and 12 and considered something of
the armour that he's provided the armour that is to be put
on, because the warfare, as we said last time, is with Satan. The believer, as we've seen previously,
here in chapter 4 of Ephesians, and also there in the epistle
to Colossians, the believer is to put on the new man. which
is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created
him. And as the believer puts on the
new man, so he puts off the old man. There is to be that mortifying
of the deeds of the body, as he has known that great work
of God in regeneration, as he is a partaker of the divine nature,
as he is a new creature, a new creation in Christ, yet there
is a conflict that that is born of the flesh is flesh, that that
is born of the spirit is spirit, says the Lord Jesus Christ. And
now these are contrary one to the other, the flesh lusting
against the spirit, and the spirit lusting against the flesh, says
Paul, and you cannot do the thing that you would. The believer
then is in conflict in a sense with himself, and we thought
somewhat of that fearful conflict with self, or that I had not
and myself said good Ralph Erskine. He felt the warfare just as the
Apostle does as he indicates in the seventh chapter of the
epistle to the Romans. But we were thinking last week
more particularly of this great adversary of the soul who is
called Satan. And now God has provided the
believer with armor in order that he might engage in the battle. In Romans 13 and verse 12 Paul
says, let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let
us put on the armor of light. The works of darkness are associated
with Satan. But the believer is to cast those
things off, he's to put on the armor of light. And we thought
last time of Satan as that one who is so subtle a foe. We have mentioned there at the
end of verse 11 of the wiles of the devil. Put on the whole
armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles
of the devil. How cunning a foe he is. And Paul says we are not ignorant
of his devices. We need to be well informed with
regards to the stratagems and the tactics of that evil foe
who is ever seeking those that he may devour. And we see his
subtlety in some respects in that he oftentimes will masquerade
as an angel of light. and in that portion that we read
there in that 11th chapter of his 2nd epistle to the Corinthians
remember what Paul says in 2nd Corinthians chapter 11 verse
13 he says such are false apostles
deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles
of Christ. They were those, you see, who
had crept into the church of the Corinthians, false teachers,
and pretending to be Christ's apostles. And Paul says no marvel,
for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light, therefore
it is no great thing if his ministers also are transformed as the ministers
of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works."
Now, believers, you see, are to judge righteous judgment.
Some say, we're not to judge at all, that's folly. We are
to judge, but we're to judge righteous judgment. Beloved,
believe not every spirit, says John, but try the spirits, because
many false teachers are gone out into the world. What does Paul say there in the
former part of that chapter that we read? He says, as the serpent
beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your mind should be corrupted
from the simplicity that is in Christ. Well, here is the secret,
friends, is it not? In seeking to discern the false
teachers, they would have us depart from that simplicity.
that is in the Lord Jesus Christ, or the simplicity of that way
of salvation, that salvation that gives God all the glory,
that abases the sinner in the dust. It is so simple, is it
not? The message of the Gospel, the
message of the Word of God, it is that that speaks of sin in
us, but it speaks of salvation altogether in God and altogether
of God. or that we're not corrupted then
from that simplicity which is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Satan comes and he masquerades.
He's so clever, so cunning, so subtle a foe, he will even quote
the Scriptures. And he does so, remember, and
we observed this last time, when he comes to tempt the Lord Jesus
Christ, we find Satan referring to the Word of God. quoting scripture
to the Satan. Remarkable is it not, there in
Matthew's account of the temptations, we're told how the devil taketh
him up into the holy city and setteth him on a pinnacle of
the temple. Matthew chapter 4 and verse 6
he says, unto Christ, if thou be the Son of God, cast thyself
down, for it is written, This is the devil. It is written,
"...he shall give his angels charge concerning thee, and in
their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash
thy foot against a stone." He is quoting from the Word of God.
He's quoting actually from Psalm 91, but he omits those words,
"...in all thy ways." That was the promise of God, that Christ
would be kept in all his ways. That is in the ways of God, not
in the ways of the devil. And there is Satan seeking to
deflect the Lord Jesus Christ, tempting him to do some remarkable
thing, to cast him down from some pinnacle of the temple. Oh, he misquotes the words of
God. Oh, he will, as the Puritan William
Gurnall says, lead the sinner by winding stairs down into hell. He is so subtle a foe, this adversary
of souls, but then also, is he not strong? Is he not strong? He's a fallen angel. And so we're
told here in verse 12, we wrestle not against flesh and blood.
Oh, we're not really fighting with mere mortals, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness
of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. He is a mighty angel, but he's
a fallen angel. He is that one who is spoken
of in Isaiah, is he not, where we have that name Lucifer in
the 14th chapter of Isaiah. Now it's true that in the context
there is some reference here to the great heathen monarchs
maybe it's a man like Nebuchadnezzar that's being spoken of who would
exalt himself and God humbles him to the very dust as we see
in Daniel's book takes away his reason from him, he becomes as
a wild beast of the field. But is there not also a spiritual
significance to the words? Isaiah 14, 12 How art thou fallen
from heaven, O Lucifer, sun of the morning, always the morning
star? How art thou cut down to the
ground, which did weaken the nations? For thou hast said in
thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne
above the stars of God. I will sit upon the mount of
the congregation of the sides of the north. I will ascend above
the heights of the clouds. I will be like the Most High."
How we're doing warfare then against spiritual wickedness
in high places. This great adversary is strong,
much stronger than we are. The devil is a roaring lion.
walketh about seeking whom he may devour. But God has made
provision, put on the whole armour of God, he says. Wherefore, in
the words of the text tonight, verse 13, Wherefore, or therefore,
take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to
withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. The
believer's stance, then, is what he said before us here in our
verse tonight. The believer's stance. What do we have here? We have
the command, the precept of God. As a soldier, he is under authority
and is to do the bidding of his superiors. So, the believer,
as a soldier, is under authority. He receives commands. And here
we have the imperative mood in the verbs that are used in this
particular verse. Here is God giving a commandment,
take on to you, take on to you the whole armour of God. It's a precept. There are precepts
in the Gospel, we know that. There are those holy commandments
that God has given. The believer is under the gospel, is he not,
as his rule of life and his rule of conduct. So it doesn't surprise
us to find, besides great promises in the gospel, also God issuing
words of command. And what we have here is a repeated
commandment. We've already seen the commandment
back in verse 11. Again, the imperative, he says,
put on. He's telling the believer what
to do. Put on the whole armour of God. And now it's repeated. Wherefore
take unto you the whole armour of God. And now we see God's
goodness, you see, when the Lord God repeats himself. It is necessary
to have these repeated words of exhortation and commandment,
is it not? When Paul writes to the Philippians
in chapter 3, he says, Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord,
for right the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous,
but for you it is safe. What he might have said before,
he'll say again. It's necessary. It's necessary,
it's good for them. Again, not only Paul but Peter
is of the same mind when he writes in his epistles. He also at times
will repeat himself there in 2nd Peter. The opening chapter of 2nd Peter
in verse 12 he says, Wherefore I will not be negligent to put
you always in remembrance. of these things, though ye know
them, and be established in the present truth. Yea, I think it
meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, in this body, to
stir you up by putting you in remembrance." Repetition is good,
is it not? God repeats Himself. God repeats
Himself, of course, in the Gospel. As we said before, we have a
fourfold Gospel. Matthew Mark, Luke and John. And certainly with those first
three, what we call the Synoptic Gospels, there is a great deal
of repetition. What Matthew says is repeated
sometimes in Mark or in Luke, might be repeated in all of them.
In fact, we might find certain statements, certain truths recorded
in the four Gospels. Why does God repeat himself?
Because He's a merciful and a gracious God. And of course here in the
Gospel we have the record of the ministry of our Lord Jesus
Christ. And all of them go into great
detail with regards to the end of His life and the great sacrifice
that He makes as He offers Himself in the room and in the stead
of His people. God is good and God repeats Himself,
He repeats to us His promises, those exceeding great and precious
promises, but He also on occasions will repeat His commandments. And as I said, we have it here,
we have it here, put on the whole armour, of God's. Wherefore take
unto you the whole armour of God." It's principally the same
thing. It's repeated in a slightly different way, but it's the same
principle, is it not? Make sure that you have the armour,
and that you're clad with that that God himself has provided. Be aware, you see, that you're
engaged in a most deathly conflict. Remember how Peter speaks of
him, we've referred already to Satan as that roaring lion. But what does Peter say as he
speaks of him? He says, be sober, be vigilant,
because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, is walking
about seeking whom he may devour. Oh, you're to be sober. No time
now, you see, for fooling. Don't fool with the devil. See
him for what he is. Be vigilant. Make sure that you're
armed against his fearful assaults. And so we have it here, you see.
Put on the armour, he says in verse 11. Take unto you the armour. Now it's interesting. It's, as
I say, principally the same sort of word of exhortation, and yet
the words are somewhat different. It's to be put on, we see there
in verse 11, but here he says, take on to you, take on to you. And the word that he uses literally
has this meaning, to take back, to take again, to take anew. The believer, you see, might
grow slack with regards to his armour. And that armour might begin to
hang somewhat loose upon him. And therefore he needs to take
it anew. He needs to look to himself again.
Is that place, he said, not for self-examination in the light
of the child of God? We're told are we not there in
the 13th chapter of 2nd Corinthians to examine ourselves and to prove
ourselves and to know ourselves how that Jesus Christ is in us
except we be reproved. We're to prove ourselves, we're
to prove our armour. All believers do grow slack and
God needs to come and He needs to speak to us again and He needs
to issue His commandment all over again. And so we have it
here, we have a repeated commandment. Paul, when he writes to the Galatians,
says, ye did run well, who did hinder you? Oh, at times we are
hindered, are we not? At times we become forgetful.
We are not as diligent as we should be. And so we need God
to come and to tell us over again and over again and over a guide
there is that word that the Lord Jesus speaks to the church of
the Ephesians in Revelation chapter 2 he says repent and do the first
works repent and do the first works and here we see it you
see you put on the whole armor but all you need to take that
armor to your guide and the guide never be putting on that armor
do the first work It is a repeated command, I say, that the Lord
God is giving to His people. And it's an urgent command. It's
an urgent command. Here in verse 13, we have five
verbs. And they're all in the simplest
form of the verb. It's the Aries tense that is
being used. We don't have the equivalent
in our English grammar, but it simply indicates the simplest
form of action. What are the verbs? They are
to take, they are to be able, they are to withstand, they are
to do, and they are to stand. They are to do all of these things
as God has provided them with the armour. They are to take
it, and as they take it so they'll be enabled and they'll be enabled
to withstand and to do and to stand against all the wiles of
satan because the armor is so suited to them we have the details
of course of the armor in the following verses the loins girt about with truth
the breastplate of righteousness, feet shod with the preparation
of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation,
the sword of the Spirit. For God has made provision, but
now His people are to be those who are ready to stand and to
withstand. Whereas, having considered something
of the command that God is giving, and as I said at the outset,
there is such a thing as gospel precept, as well as gospel promise,
and we certainly, well I trust with those who delight in the
promises, we love the promises. Those exceeding great and precious
promises. Or are they not the sum and substance
of the gospel and they're all in the Lord Jesus Christ and
they're all yea and amen in the Lord Jesus Christ? God has confirmed
them by an oath, Christ has sealed them with his blood. Or we live
off the promises, but we're not to be partial in the word of
God, we're not to be partial in the gospel, they're our gospel
precepts. And as I said, they're repeated and they're urgent,
so we do well to take account, to be sober, to be vigilant,
to hear what God is saying to us. But as I was saying, let
us, in the second place, look more carefully at the believer's
position, the believer's stance, as he is thus equipped by God.
Wherefore, He says, take unto you the whole armour of God. All of the armour is to be taken. That's God's command, and then
the consequence. That, as I said, it's introducing
a strong clause. It's literally in order that. Here is the purpose of taking
the armour. In order that ye may be able
to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand. Two things then we observe with
regards to the believer's stance. There is the withstanding and
then there is the standing. The withstanding and also the
standing. In order that he might be able
to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand. Well, let us consider the difference
between these two particular words. The withstanding first
of all. The word that we have here literally means to stand
opposite, to oppose, to resist. It doesn't add a chord with what
we read in the epistle of James. James 4 verse 7, resist the devil,
withstand the devil. and He will flee from you." Ah,
there is a promise, is it not, attached to the precept. God has declared it in His Word. Resist the devil and God assures
us He will flee from you. All things greater is He that
is in you than he that is in the world. Isn't that the source
of our comfort and of our hope? If God before us, who can be
against us? We are to withstand, we are to
oppose this great adversary. That ye may be able to withstand,
it says, in the evil day. Now what is the evil day? Now the word that's used here
as we have it, evil, is not really referring to that that is morally
evil. We might use the word evil in
that sense, something that is wicked and sinful and contrary
to God and his commandments. But the word that we have here
is not referring to that moral evil, really. It is speaking
principally of the day of trial. the day of trouble. The word
is from the verb that means to toil. It's that toilsome day,
that painful day. As the believer you see is engaged
in this conflict. How it will be wearisome, wearing. How we'll have to toil at it.
Do we not have the word of the Lord Jesus Christ? He says in
the world Ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have
overcome the world. There again is our comfort, we
have the promise of God, you see. There's no escaping that
tribulation, those troubles that come in the world. Why this world
lies in wickedness, does it not? It lies in the wicked one. The
believer in that sense is on alien grounds. Oh yes, God is
the creator of all things. God is the sustainer of all things.
But the world lies in the wicked one, says John. How he has calmed
that great usurper. How he attacked that man and
that woman that stood at the very apex of God's creation. How sin enters the world there
in Genesis chapter 3. And this world then is not a
comfortable place for the child of God. In the world ye shall
have tribulation. There's no avoiding it. We must,
says the apostle, we must through much tribulation enter the kingdom. And we see it, we see it demonstrated,
do we not, in the experience of the apostle Paul, who's writing
here to the Ephesians, He knew troubles, we were troubled, he
says, on every side. Without were fightings, within
were fears. Look, whichever way he would,
troubles, troubles, troubles. Fightings, fightings, fears,
fears. This is the light of the people
of God, is it not? It's an evil day. It's a day
of troubles. And the believer throughout this
day is to be withstanding Satan and all his fearful assaults. It is no easy life, the life
of the child of God. It is a fight, is it not? Fight
the good fight of faith, he says. Take hold on eternal life. Yes, it's a fight, but it's a
good fight. It's a good fight. As we take
on Him who is the great adversary of God. Him who is the source
of all evil and all sin in this world, even Satan himself. But look at the words that the
Apostle uses. He doesn't just speak of the evil die. He speaks of
the evil die. It's just a die. It is such a
short period of time, is it not? Oh, that's the believer's comfort.
As Peter says, now for a season, if need be, you are in heaviness
through manifold temptations. Where do the temptations come
from? Let no man say when he is tempted, he is tempted of
God, because God does not tempt any man with evil. It is Satan, you see. who comes
to trouble us. But what says Peter? It is now,
for a season, if need be. It's just now. That's the force
of the language that Peter is using there in 1 Peter 1.6. Just
now. It's for a season, it's only
for a little while. A short space of time, a few
days. And yet, Afterwards he has laid
up for the child of God an eternal weight of glory. Oh, but here,
you see, what is the believer to do? He's to be withstanding
Satan. He's to stand opposite him, he's
to resist him. He's not to be ignorant of his
devices. We're to know our enemy. Isn't
that one of the principal necessities of successful warfare? To know
your enemy. to know your enemy, to understand
his ways. So we're to know Satan, we're
not to be ignorant of his devices and we're to therefore stand
opposite to him and to oppose him. And then besides the withstanding
we have the standing, having done all to stand. What does this mean, to stand?
It means to stand as those who are prepared, those who are ready,
those who are alert. Standing, not sitting, not lounging,
but standing ready to engage in the battle. Believers must stand in that
fashion. And how is this done? It's done
as they are looking to the Lord God Himself. And they recognize
their own weakness, their own inadequacy, and they draw all
their strength only from Him. Greater is He that is in you,
says John, than he that is in the world. Look at what the psalmist
says, back in the 20th Psalm, in Psalm 20. And there in verses 7 and 8 he
tells us some trust in chariots and some in horses but we will
remember the name of the Lord our God. They are brought down
and fallen but we are risen and stand upright. Oh, if we trust
in the name of the Lord our God we will stand upright. But only
as we're trusting in the name of the Lord our God. We're not
to trust in an arm of flesh. We're not to look to any man.
Some trust in chariots, some in horses. Oh, are we those friends
who remember the name of the Lord our God and all that that
name declares. The name of the Lord is a strong
tower, we're told. The righteous runneth into it
and is safe. There's our place of safety when
Satan attacks us. we run into the name of the Lord
and all that his name declares thou shalt call his name Jesus
for he shall save his people from their sins." Oh, what a
comfort there is, friends, in that revelation that God has
given to us of himself and it's in the Lord Jesus Christ that
he has discovered himself to us, is it not? And there, I say,
is the place of safety As we run there, as we remember that
name, then we arise. Then we stand upright. There's an alternative reading
here in the margin. What does it say? Having done
all, is what it reads in the text, having done all, to stand. But the margin says, having overcome
all to stand. And how is it that we overcome?
The Lord Jesus said in the Revelation to him that overcometh will I
grant to sit with me in my throne even as I overcame and am set
down with my father in his throne Revelation 3 and verse 21 but
not only that again in the Revelation remember those words that we
have in chapter 12 verse 10 John says I heard a
loud voice saying, In heaven now is come salvation, and strength,
and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ. For
the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them
before our God day and night, and they overcame him by the
blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony. and
they loved not their lives unto death. Therefore rejoice, ye
heavens, and ye that dwell in me." Well, here is the believers,
strenuously. We're told in the previous ninth
verse the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent called
the Devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world. He was cast
out into the earth, and His angels were cast out with Him. And then,
or John goes on to declare it, now is come salvation and strength,
the kingdom of our God, the power of His Christ. How do they overcome
Him? They overcame by the blood of
the Lamb. This is the way we stand, this
is the way we overcome. having overcome all, to stand. It's to stand in the Lord Jesus
Christ. That lovely hymn of Kanzinzendorf
103. We sang it last Lord's Day morning,
I believe. Jesus, thy blood and righteousness,
my glory are, my beauty are, my glorious dress. And he goes
on to say there, bold shall I stand in that great day, for reward
to my charge shall lay, while through thy blood absolved I
am from sin's tremendous guilt and shame. Bold shall I stand. How do we stand? We stand only
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's the comfort that Zinzendorf
is anticipating in the hymn to be found in the Lord Jesus Christ
even in the terrible day at the end of time when the books are
opened and the world is in flames the judgment day has come and
yet all in that great day to stand bold in the Lord Jesus
Christ. This friends is the way in which
we are to resist Satan. This is the way, the only way
in which we can oppose Him. We cannot do it of ourselves,
we cannot do it in our own strength. We must be strong in the Lord,
and in the power of His might. Wherefore, take unto you the
whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the
evil day, and having done all, having overcome all, to stand. Oh, the Lord grant that we might
be those who are truly engaged in it, that good fight of faith
laying hold on eternal life. The Lord be pleased and to bless
to us his word. Amen. is number 1007, the tune is Truro
426. Stand up, my soul, shake up thy
fears, and gird the gospel armour on. March to the gates of endless
joy, where thy great captain Saviour's gone, number 1007.