Welcome to our program. Now today
I'm going to be preaching from Ephesians chapter 6 and the title
of this message is The Whole Armor of God. Now this one is
part 2 and if you didn't hear last week's message on this subject,
The Whole Armor of God part 1, I urge you to get that message
and listen to both messages. I'm going to pick up in verse
14 and 15 here where the Apostle Paul is instructing and encouraging
the believers in the church at Ephesus to put on the whole armor
of God. Now this armor that he's listing
here has to do with salvation and all that is involved in the
warfare, the warfare that a believer has to engage in while on this
earth. It's a spiritual warfare, not
an earthly warfare. I spoke quite a bit about that
last week. It's a warfare of the mind, of
the heart, of the conscience, of the affection. Whenever Satan,
we might say it this way, whenever the world, the flesh, and the
devil attack the people of God. This is the warfare we're engaged
in and this is the armor. Now, this armor is the armor
of God. God is the one who made this
armor. It's the power of God. He began this in verse 10 with,
Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. So this
is totally salvation by grace. This is not a situation where
people sometimes say, well, God saved you initially by grace,
but then you must meet all these conditions and requirements in
order to stay saved. No, sir. All of salvation is
by grace. All of salvation is by the power
of God's might in Christ. Now last week we started in verse
14 when he spoke of having your loins girt about with truth.
The Roman soldier is the analogy he's using here because everybody
back then in that culture would have known what a Roman soldier
would look like in his armor ready for battle, ready to defend,
ready to attack. And he starts off with the girdle
of truth. That's the belt that the Roman
soldier wore around his waist, which held all the armor in place
together, upon which he had his sword, and it hung down to protect
his front, and it's the girdle of truth. The truth there is
the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace in the Lord Jesus
Christ. How God saves sinners, not by
works of righteousness, which we do or have done, or will do. but by His righteousness imputed
or legally accounted to the sinner. It's the work of Christ. It's
His obedience unto death. And that goes to the second piece
of armor that I dealt with last week. Having on the breastplate
of righteousness. The breastplate was that plate
of armor that covered the front and went all the way around to
the back to protect the vital organs, the heart especially,
and the chest and the lungs. And whenever an arrow would come
towards that soldier, if it would hit that armor, it would bounce
off. Now Satan is called the great adversary or the great
accuser. The word devil means adversary.
The name Satan means accuser. And whenever Satan fires his
darts, his accusations, his arrows against a believer, if the believer
has on the breastplate of righteousness, then those arrows, those darts
cannot pierce and kill him. Now what is that breastplate
of righteousness? It is the imputed righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the entire merit of the
obedience and death of the Lord Jesus Christ that He went through
for His people, which is legally accounted, that's what imputed
means, legally charged to their account. So in other words, when
Satan accuses me and that arrow hits that armor of Christ's righteousness,
Then I can say with the Apostle Paul, as he did in Romans 8,
who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God
that justifies. Who can condemn us? It's Christ
that died, yea rather. He is risen again and seated
at the right hand of God, making ever living to make intercession
for us. There is therefore now no condemnation in Christ. And you see, that's what the
gospel is. That's what the truth, the girdle of truth is the gospel.
Well, the gospel is the revelation of the righteousness of Christ
for his people. So as long as I have his righteousness
on, I don't have to fear the arrows of Satan. Now in verse
15 he speaks of having your feet shod with the preparation of
the gospel of peace. Last week I've spoken, I spoke
of the word stand back there when he says stand therefore
in verse 14. The Roman soldier had to have
a good firm stand on solid ground in order to be a ready able fighter
in this battle. Well the true believer has to
stand on solid ground in order to win this battle. And what
is that solid ground? It's Christ and His work for
His people. Christ and Him crucified. On
Christ, the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. As long as we're standing on
Christ, we cannot fall. He is the solid rock. He is the
rock of our salvation. But now, the Roman soldier also
had to be ready to march He had to be ready to run. He had to
be ready to ship. And this speaks of the witness
of the gospel in the world. You're to have your feet shod
with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Why should the church
march in every direction all over the world, north, south,
east, west, to spread the gospel of peace? What is that gospel
of peace? It's the message and word of
reconciliation that Paul wrote of in 2 Corinthians chapter 5.
It's the message of reconciliation, how God can be reconciled to
sinners. By nature we're sinners who have
fallen in Adam, depraved and wretched, and against God. We've
declared war on God in Adam. So God's justice must punish
sin. God has a matter against us,
and how can peace be made between God and sinners? Well, he says
there's not but one way, and he states it in 2 Corinthians
5.21, for he, that is God the Father, made him, that is God
the Son incarnate, sin for us, Christ who knew no sin, that
we may be made the righteousness of God in him. Christ took the
sins of his sheep, and went under the wrath and justice of his
Father, and drank damnation dry. He took all the punishment that
his people deserved, and he paid their debt in full, and he established
a righteousness whereby God could be both a just God and a Savior,
and he gives it to them. And that's how peace is made
between God and sinners. It's peace based upon the blood
of his cross, Colossians 1 tells us. It's peace between God and
sinners, made between God and sinners, based on the righteousness
of Christ. Now when the church marches,
when the believer marches, when he goes to this direction or
that direction, when he shifts and turns, it's to preach and
to witness the gospel of peace. So have your feet shod with the
preparation of that gospel. In verse 16, he continues, He
says, above all, taking the shield of faith wherewith you shall
be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked, or the wicked
one. Now that word faith, the shield
of faith, some say that should be the word faithfulness. But
let me say this about faith. The word faith in the Bible is
much misunderstood. Sometimes the word faith is used
in different ways. For example, Sometimes faith
can be just as well stated as Christ himself and his work. The Bible speaks of the faithfulness
of Christ. In fact, what the scripture actually
teaches is this, is that salvation is not based upon the sinner's
faithfulness to God, but it's based upon Christ's faithfulness
to God. He was faithful. What does that
mean? That means that Christ was faithful
to do everything that the Father sent Him to do for the salvation
of His people. So many times the word faith
can refer to Christ and His work and His faithfulness. Now I believe
that's included here, the shield of faith. But also the word faith
can be referred to as the body of truth, the faith in other
words, or the gospel. You may have had somebody ask
you the question, what is your faith or of what faith are you? The Bible speaks of the faith
as the gospel truth. My faith is the gospel. God's grace, salvation by grace,
not by words. And then another, and I believe
that's included here in the shield of faith. And that faith, the
faith, speaks of Christ. Now, another way faith is used
is the gift of faith that God gives by His Spirit in the new
birth whereby we lay hold of Christ, we actually believe.
The Bible speaks of Abraham. Abraham believed God and it was
accounted unto him for righteousness. What does that mean in Romans
chapter 4? It means this, Abraham believed God. Now what did he
believe about God? Well, it says what God had promised. Now, what he means there is that
what God had promised Abraham was accounted to Abraham for
righteousness. Well, what had God promised Abraham?
Salvation by his grace through the promised Messiah, the Christ. And so Abraham believed it. And
Christ said it this way in John chapter 8. He said, Abraham rejoiced
to see my day. He saw it and he was glad. The
Bible says, for by grace are you saved through faith, by means
of faith. We believe. And that's not of
yourself, it's the gift of God. Man doesn't have faith by nature. Faith is not the goodness within
you that you stir up if somebody just fans the spark. By nature,
we're totally without faith. So if any of us believe, it's
because God made us willing to do so. He gave us the gift of
faith. And I believe that's included here. So the shield of faith
has to do with all faith. It has to do with salvation by
grace. That when Satan launches his
fiery darts, as it said, his spears, his arrows, we hold up
the shield of faith. What is that faith? My friend,
it simply means this. My whole salvation is Christ
and Him crucified. My whole salvation is the grace
of God in Him. I have no other wisdom but His
wisdom. When Satan tries, or my own flesh
now, this is not just Satan, but when the world or the flesh
of the devil tries to get me to act like a fool, what am I
to do? Hold up the shield of faith. My only wisdom is Christ.
And when the world, the flesh, and the devil accuse me and try
to condemn me and my conscience, what am I to do? Hold up the
shield of faith. My only righteousness is Christ.
And that's good enough. It's more than enough. Whenever
the world, the flesh, and the devil tries to make me walk in
ungodliness, and not as one who is set apart by God as a child
of God, saved by His grace, hold up the shield of faith. Christ
is my sanctification. I'm a child of the King. I'm
a citizen of the heavenly Jerusalem, not of the world. And then when
the world, the flesh, and the devil try to make me faint and
quit and just leave it all, hold up the shield of faith. Christ
is my redemption. He redeemed me by His blood at
Calvary. but he also is coming back again
to redeem me finally and take me to glory with him. So, above
all, taking the shield of faith wherewith you shall be able to
quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. Hold up the shield
of faith. Verse 17, he says, and take the
helmet of salvation. The helmet of salvation, that
helmet was put on the soldier's head to protect his head. whenever
they would strike him with a sword, that helmet protected him. Now,
the reason the helmet was put upon the head was to protect
the brain, and the brain is the organ of the body which we speak
of intelligence or knowledge that guides us. It's the central
system whereby we make our movements, our direction. Spiritually speaking,
I believe this helmet of salvation would have to do with the knowledge
and assurance of salvation. that we who are resting in and
trusting in Christ have in Him. The helmet of salvation. I know
I'm saved. How do I know? Because I'm trusting
Christ and Him alone. He's the author and finisher
of my faith. In Him is salvation. In Him is life. In Him is all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places. Ephesians 1 and verse
3. If I have Christ, I have everything
that God freely gives in salvation. I don't have to earn any part
of it. I can have assurance of salvation, not because I'm so
good, because I'm not. I can have assurance of salvation,
not because I'm so powerful, I'm not. I can have assurance
of salvation because Christ is good, and He's powerful, and
He's able to keep that which I've committed unto Him against
that day. He's able to save to the uttermost. Again, he's the
author and finisher of our faith. That's the helmet of salvation.
It's a knowledge. It's an assurance that comes
only by the grace of God in Christ. And then he says, take the sword
of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. In other words, the soldier
had a sword, and with that sword he attacked. And this is what
he's talking about, the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word
of God. Now, there's other times in the
Bible that the Word of God is called the sword. In other words,
the Bible says the Word of God is sharper than any two-edged
sword. It's able to cut to the quick
and the marrow and discern the thoughts and the motives and
the intents of the heart. The Word of God is a powerful
sword. But notice he calls it the sword of the Spirit. The
Word of God only has power as it is empowered by the Holy Spirit. and it must be yielded by the
Spirit. And so the believer must use the Word of God in the power
of the Spirit. In other words, I can read you
the Word of God, I can preach to you the Word of God, but I
cannot cut your heart to the quick as it needs be to bring
you to conviction and drive you to Christ. It's my responsibility
to wield this sword, this sword of the Word, the Bible, the preaching
of the Word. Sometimes in the Bible, the Word
of God refers to Christ Himself, the living Word, Christ Himself,
the incarnate Word, the Word made flesh. Sometimes it's the
written Word, but this written Word is about Christ. It's Christ
and Him crucified. And sometimes it's the preached
Word, the uttered Word, which is based upon this written Word
that speaks of Christ. Yield the sword of the word,
you see, in the power of the Spirit. It's my responsibility
to wield this sword and to preach the gospel to you, to read the
word of God, to search it, but only the Spirit of God can give
it the power to bring a sinner to faith in Christ. And then
in verse 18, he says, praying always with all prayer and supplication
in the Spirit, and watching therein too with all perseverance and
supplications for all saints. One of the main battlefields
of this warfare of the flesh and the spirit or warfare is
prayer. Pray to God. Prayer is an act of worship and
faith and dependence and humility. We don't pray to change God's
mind. We don't need to change God's mind. God's mind is perfect.
Prayer changes our mind. But we pray to God for blessings. And we pray according to his
will. Thy will be done. You see, if
God's will will always be done, and it will, then our prayers
will always be answered. And what we have to say, well,
sometimes I pray for things and don't get them. Well, we're children
of God. Maybe we don't need them. It's
just like our children. When they want things that would
be bad for them, we don't give it to them. You see, God knows
best. So Paul says, pray always with
all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, by the power of the
Spirit, through Christ. He says in verse 19, and for
me that utterance may give unto me that I may open my mouth boldly
to make known the mystery of the gospel. Paul says pray for
me that I'll have boldness in preaching the gospel of God's
grace wherever God sends me. Don't let me faint. You pray
for me. He covets their prayers. He says this gospel for which
I am an ambassador in bonds or in chains. that therefore I may
speak boldly as I ought to speak." In other words, Paul was in prison
when he wrote this letter. He was in prison at Rome. And
he said, though I'm in chains, I want to speak the gospel boldly.
I'm a free man in Christ spiritually and eternally. These chains cannot
bind the gospel. He told the church at Philippi,
he said that my bonds, my chains, my captivity has furthered the
gospel because more people are talking about it. and people
are encouraged by the truth of the grace of God he goes on in
verse 21 he says but that you also may know my affairs and
how I do he mentions a man named Tychicus here who is a beloved
brother and faithful minister in the Lord he said shall make
known to you all things this beloved brother was going to
the churches and he went to the church of Ephesus bringing this
letter telling them about Paul, telling about his situation,
telling them how he's rejoicing in Christ, how he's making all
things known in the boldness to preach the mystery of the
gospel, how he's standing fast and firm, even as a man who is
in prison, who's been arrested for preaching the gospel because
it's so offensive to the natural self-righteous ways of man. And
here's Paul standing fast and firm as a good soldier in Christ,
having on himself the whole armor of God. He has on himself the
girdle of truth, the breastplate of righteousness. His feet had
been shod with the preparation of the gospel. Paul preached
the gospel wherever he went. That's the reason he traveled. He wasn't just on vacation when
he went to these cities. He was a minister of the true
and living God. He said one time, he said, I'm
an ambassador of Christ. And right back up here in verse
20, he says, for which I am an ambassador. You know what an
ambassador does, don't you? An ambassador doesn't go anywhere
and say anything of his own authority and power. He's one who stands
for a higher power, just like this Roman soldier who had on
Roman armor. He represented Caesar. Well,
the Christian soldier, the true believer who has on the whole
armor of God, when he goes places, having his feet shod with the
preparation of the gospel, He represents a higher power. He
represents the head of the church. He doesn't represent Caesar,
who's a false, ungodly king. He represents the King of Kings.
He represents the God who is sovereign over all things. He
has his feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace as it
comes down from the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. And that's
why Paul says, pray for me. pray for one another. You know,
so many people are confused on this matter of prayer. As I said
before, prayer doesn't change God's mind. That's what a lot
of people believe prayer is. It's the utterings of a person
who is confident that if he just speaks it loud enough, often
enough, or if he gets enough people with him doing it, he
can change God's mind or he can earn blessings from God. Prayer
is not a way to earn blessings from God. In the Bible, in the
book of Hebrews chapter 4, the Apostle talks about prayer and
he gives us some things here that we need to really understand
about this issue. And this is right after he talked
about the sword of the Word of God, which is right with what
our subject is. He says in verse 14 of Hebrews
4, Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is Christ,
He's the high priest. That's why we don't need an earthly
priesthood. "...that is passed into the heavens. Jesus, the
Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not
an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our
infirmities, but was in all points tempted or tested like as we
are, yet without sin." What he's saying here, he's setting this
up for this verse 16. He's saying Christ is able and
he is willing he knows what we're going through he suffered all
the infirmities and pains and sorrows of the flesh the difference
was between him and us is he was without sin so he says let
us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may
obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need and then
as we're instructed to pray to God we're always instructed as
I said before to say thy will be done So Paul says, I'm an
ambassador. Picture him like the Roman soldier
in the whole armor of God, preaching the gospel, not his own word,
not by his own authority, and not by his own power, but standing
as a soldier that he may speak boldly. And here this Tychicus,
this man who was his friend, a beloved brother, he's coming
back and he's reporting this to the church at Ephesus. In
verse 22, he speaks of Tychicus, he says, whom I have sent unto
you for the same purpose, that you might know our affairs, and
that he might comfort your hearts. There's many ways to comfort
the hearts of believers. Number one is to preach Christ.
Tell me of the Lord Jesus Christ and his glory, the glory of his
person as God-man. the power and the efficacy of
His finished work on the cross to save me completely 100% from
all my sins and that comforts my heart. In 2nd Corinthians
chapter 1 God is called the God of all comfort and His promises
are so comforting to us and it says in verse 20, for all the
promises of God in Christ are yea and in Him. Amen. Sure and
certain. And then comfort their hearts
by telling them about Paul, encouraging them. Paul's doing fine, he's
in prison, but he's preaching the gospel. And he still loves
you, he's concerned for you, he wrote this letter or God wrote
it through him to give to you. And then he says in verse 23,
peace be to the brethren and love with faith from God the
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul's prayer for them was that
they have peace and love and faith. not one or the other but
all three and he says in verse 24 grace be with all them that
love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity and amen what a way
to close this beautiful letter this epistle of God's grace with
a prayer for the people of God for peace and love and faith
all of this that comes from God's grace by the Lord Jesus Christ
who is the Prince of Peace, that peace which passes understanding
that can only come from Him. Well, put on the whole armor
of God. Look to Christ for all the salvation. Rest in Him. See His power and His glory and
His goodness as your whole salvation. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ
and you shall be saved. But not only that, you'll be
kept saved by the power of His grace and every piece of this
armor is of His making. It is by His grace and His power. Well, I hope that message has
been helpful to your understanding of the Scriptures, and I hope
that you'll get a copy of it. If you'd like to get a copy of
this message, listen to the announcer and he'll give you the details.
The title of this message is, The Whole Armor of God. This
was Part 2. This is Part 2. Be sure to get
Part 1. And I hope you'll join us next
week for another message from God's Word.