A key component to a successful military action is respect for authority. Before a leader can expect others to respect his authority, he must first demonstrate good leadership skills. He must set a good example for others to follow. He must project confidence in his ability to lead.
Ephesians 6, verses 1 thru 3 start off with a reminder of the Fifth Commandment to honor your father and mother.
"Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.”
How many of you parents have read these verses to your children before? You probably read it in exasperation, right? But what about the verse that follows?
"Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord."
Verse 4 tells us fathers to not provoke our children in anger, but to instead bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Why do you think the Scripture addresses fathers specifically and not fathers and mothers? Because we are accountable for our families. We are the leaders.
Why do you think it says we are not to provoke anger in our children? Why not pride or coveting or adultery? Because anger is the most powerful emotion. Anger blinds us. Anger over-rides all other emotions. It is the most destructive emotion.
Now let's go back to verse 1. How many of you remember that this verse also applies to how we treat our own parents? Remember we lead by example. How do you treat your parents in front of your children? Do you bad mouth them? Do you complain about what a lousy job they did raising you? Maybe you had an alcoholic father like me?
It took me a long time to forgive my father for how he treated my mom. In fact, it wasn’t until after my salvation that I took this verse to heart and chose to forgive him.
As leaders in our home, we must always let our family see us respect our parents and those who hold positions of authority in our lives. How can we expect our children to learn to respect us if they see us disrespect our parents, our bosses and our leaders?
When we disrespect authority what are we doing? We’re practicing hypocrisy. Remember hypocrisy is the number-one reason that youth (and adults) drift away from the church.
Now that isn’t to say that when someone in an authority position sins or condones sin we have to ignore it and follow them into sin. We are not bound by Scripture to follow any leader into sin.
Let’s say that the President of the United States says something unbiblical like “it’s OK for gay people to get married.” We should not slander the character of the President or bad mouth him. We should explain to our family why his comment was bad or inappropriate. We point to Scripture to explain why his statement was incorrect. Rather than criticize the President, we should ask our family to pray for him that his heart might soften and see the error of his ways. We should seize this opportunity to remind our family that we are to hate the sin, not the sinner. Training our children in the ways of the Lord.
Now we come to my favorite part of the Book of Ephesians. Now it’s time to get battle ready. In my struggles as a man born to sin, these verses we are about to study are where I draw my strength to fight the daily battle we wage against sin. Here is where we put on the full armor of God and go toe to hoof with Satan and sin.
Chapter 6, verse 10 leads us into battle with the command to "be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might."
How do we become strong in the Lord?
We study Scripture. We study His Word. We not only study it, we bind it to our hearts. We not only learn it, we apply it to how we live our lives. We make the Holy Word of Scripture an inseparable part of us.
Scripture is our most valuable tool of defense, but we should not forget that Satan will also use Scripture as a weapon against us. After 40 days of fasting in the wilderness, a tired and hungry Jesus was tempted by Satan. Satan twisted and perverted Scripture in an attempt to lure Jesus into sin. But Jesus had a sound knowledge of Scripture. Jesus had Scripture bound to his heart and could not be fooled or led astray by Satan.
This is why we bind Scripture in our hearts. We memorize Scripture so that we can have it at the ready whenever we need it. Jesus didn't tell Satan, "Hang on a minute there Beelzebub, I gotta go look that up". No, he knew it in his heart. Scripture was a part of him.
We need to make it a part of us also. This is the battle ready state we must keep ourselves in 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
So then, how do we go into this daily battle? We suit up with the full armor of God. Verse 11 encourages us to "Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil."
Notice that the Apostle Paul says to put on the WHOLE armor of God. You don't go into battle with just a breastplate assuming you won't get hit in the head, right? You don't go into battle with a sword and leave your shield at home. You don't protect your head with a helmet and figure your moves are good enough to dodge any attacks to your body.
When you go into physical battle, you use every piece of gear you have. Why should spiritual battle be any different? God gives us armor for a purpose. Do not leave any part of your body or soul exposed because if you do, chances are great that sin will find its way in. If we put on the whole armor of God, Paul assures us that we "may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil."
In the Greek lexicon, the phrase "may be able" comes from the Greek root word dynamai. In English, the word dynamite is derived from this same root word which means to be connected with power. When we put on the whole armor of God, we are connected with the power of God to wage battle against the schemes of the devil. Isn't that amazing?
We're talking being connected with the Creator of the universe. The all knowing, all powerful God is connected with us in our fight against sin, right there by our side. Off to a good start, right?
Now let's take a look at our opponent in this battle. Verse 12 teaches us "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places."
Who is Paul describing in this verse as the authority, the cosmic power over darkness? Satan commands the army of evil that promotes sin. He is a spiritual power greater than man. But take heart gentlemen. Our commander is greater. As powerful as the prince of darkness is in this world, he is inferior to our God.
That doesn't mean we can be complacent towards the power Satan holds on this earth. Unprotected, Satan and his army of sin will crush man. We will be overwhelmed by the schemes of the devil and spend our eternity in the misery of Hell.
That's why we need God. We need the armor that God provides for us. If we put on the whole armor of God we WILL stand against the schemes of the devil. We will prevail.
Sounds like a no-brainer, right? Sounds like we got this in the bag as long as we have this armor of God. But here's the catch. God does not put the armor on for us.
God may feed the sparrow, but he doesn't toss the food into the nest. It's still up to fallen man to take up the sword of faith and go into battle against the evil one. God isn't going to fight the battles for us. Therefore, we must secure each piece of armor as we prepare ourselves for battle.
What exactly is this armor Paul speaks of? Let's take a look at the following verses and examine the full purpose of each piece of armor:
Verse 14 instructs us to "Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth,"
To stand means to stand in the presence of others. It means to stand before judges. Specifically it was used to represent standing before judgment by the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin were the Jewish version of the supreme court and are also the group responsible for condemning Jesus to die on the cross.
To fasten on the belt of truth literally means that we are to equip ourselves with knowledge of the truth.
What is the truth? God's word is the truth. Where do we find the truth? We find the truth in Scripture.
Strongs Concordance defines truth in this verse as "the execution of God's principles through Christ, opposing the superstitions of the Gentiles, the inventions of the Jews, and the corrupt opinions and precepts of false teachers, even among Christians".
In the context of armor, the belt piece also included the cod-piece. What did the codpiece protect? The groin. Why protect our groin? I'm sure all of us men have taken a hit between the legs at some point in our lives. Aside from the pain aspect our groin is where our reproductive organs are. When we protect ourselves from spiritual attack, we are also protecting our children. We are waging battle as part of the legacy we should leave behind for our kids. So we must protect that legacy, right?
Verse 14 continues with "and having put on the breastplate of righteousness".
Our heart is protected by the breastplate of righteousness, and righteousness is defined as a right standing before the Lord. In terms of the Trinity, who guards our heart? The Holy Spirit guards our heart and clads us with righteousness.
Jeremiah 17:9 warns us that our hearts are "deceitful above all things". Unchecked, and without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, our hearts cannot be trusted. Our heart's desire does not always reflect God's desire.
We must guard and protect our hearts at all times. In Psalm 51, David prays "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." If our hearts are not clean, we will surely fall. It all starts and stops with the heart.
Does the Holy Spirit keep us from sinning?
The Holy Spirit is in our hearts to convict us when we sin, not to keep us from sinning. Remember that as believers, we have the ability to choose not to sin. We aren't reprogrammed with the sin gene removed. That software upgrade doesn't come until later, when we are safely at home with our Lord. For now, we still have to choose. For that reason, we must always remember to guard our hearts.
Verse 15 continues up with "and as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace."
Readiness in this verse means to be prepared. To have confidence. The confidence we receive through the gospel of peace. Peace is defined by Strongs as "The tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot."
What do we do with this confidence we receive? We use our feet to fulfill the Great Commandment given in Matthew 28:19. We go forth to make disciples of all nations.
Every battle has casualties. Part of our duties as soldiers of the faith is to perform search and rescue. We use our feet to run to the aid to those who have fallen. To help free those who are prisoners of sin.
Verse 16 begins with "In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;"
For a definition of faith, we turn to Hebrews 11:1 "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."
Strongs defines faith as "conviction of truth that God exists and is the Creator and ruler of all things, the provider and bestower of eternal salvation through Christ."
Notice that Paul says that armed with the shield of faith, we can extinguish ALL of the flaming darts of the evil one. Not just some of them. ALL of them. No matter what Satan shoots at us, our shield of faith will deflect it. None of Satan's lies, none of his deceitful ways can pierce us. Christ took those flaming darts for us.
Remember, sin can enter our hearts only if we invite sin into our hearts. Does that mean we are untouchable? No. The shield is our tool, our weapon of defense. Our method of deflection. But the shield is only so big. If you're under attack, you've got to keep the shield moving to block all those flaming darts. Unless you've got moves like Jackie Chan, chances are some of those darts are going to get through.
When Roman soldiers went into battle, they gathered in small groups and formed what they called a "tortoise formation".
The men at the front protected them from frontal attack, the men at the sides placed their shields to the left or right to protect them from side attacks, and the men in the rear covered the rear. Then all the men in the middle balanced their shields on their heads to protect them from above. Working together as a team, they were able to become virtually invincible against attack.
As men of faith, we gain strength and protection from fellowship and accountability with other men. Don't just rely on your own shield for protection. Call on your brothers in Christ to help. Don't fight the battle alone. If you aren't already a member of a men's ministry, join one. If you don't already have an accountability partner, get one. There is power in numbers gentlemen.
We continue with verse 17, "and take the helmet of salvation..."
We all know the literal definition of a helmet. Helmets protect our heads. Specifically, our helmet of salvation should be in place to guard our senses. The helmet piece in a suit of armor protects the entire head, and that's good because we need to protect ourselves from more than brain injuries.
You've likely heard the story of the three monkeys, see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil?
Of the three senses, seeing / hearing / speaking, which one is most likely to lead us men into sin? Men are visual by nature. Our eyes can lead us into sin very quickly.
Sexual lust is the number one sin men commit with their eyes. 1 Corinthians 6:18 speaks of the uniqueness of sexual sin. "Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body."
When you are enticed visually to sin, you need to fight with your mind to say no to the image and then fill your mind with counter images that kill off the seductive image. It's not enough to pray for forgiveness and deliverance and then hope the desire will go away, or worse that God will take it away for you. That is too passive.
Matthew 5:29 tells us "If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell."
We know that this is a metaphor to illustrate the severity of this sin, but we really do need to take a very aggressive approach to conquering visual enticement. This is a battle of the mind; an internal battle we wage from within. It is absolutely necessary to get the image and the impulse out of our mind. The best way to do this is to replace it with a counter image. This image must be so powerful that the other image cannot survive.
How many of you have seen the movie Passion of the Christ? Next time you are tempted to look at something inappropriate, visualize in your mind instead the scene where Christ is being scourged by the Roman guards. Christ is savagely beaten and whipped with metal hooks ripping the flesh from his body. Think about the agonizing pain He must have suffered. Then think about Him struggling under the weight of that wooden cross as he slowly made his way to Calvary.
Your lustful thoughts should be immediately replaced by repulsion. Your knees should buckle under the weight of what Christ did for you. Humbling? Yes. But more importantly it reprograms our thoughts.
It exposes our desire to indulge in sinful fantasy as the wicked and evil sin that it really is. If you practice this procedure, you begin to train your brain to pursue images of Christ crucified with the same creative energy that you use to pursue sexual fantasies, and you will succeed in killing those fantasies.
OK, back to the monkeys. What about hear no evil? Are you able to discern against false teaching? Are you able to walk away from gossip rather than get drawn into it?
Put on the helmet of salvation.
Speak no evil. Are you the one spreading gossip? Do you tear people down with your words? One of the most powerful weapons we have is our words. We can build people up and tear them down with just a few words. Whoever said "sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me" is a liar.
Words can hurt us. "The Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone" (2 Timothy 2:24)
Put on the helmet of salvation.
In addition to putting on the helmet of salvation, verse 17 continues with "and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God".
So far our armor has been used as defensive weapons. Our sword is our offensive weapon. The Bible is our sword. Inside we find everything we need to prepare us for battle.
2 Timothy 3:16-17, "All Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, reproofing, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be well equipped for every good work"
We use the sword of the Spirit to attack sin. We use our sword to rescue fallen and wounded brothers. We attack against false teaching and we defend against temptation. Our sword is the Word of God. There is nothing more powerful than God's Word. It is the truth that rises above all lies.
Keep your sword sharp at all times. Read the Word every day. Memorize verses. Share the Word daily.
"If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31)
God will lead us into battle, and he guarantees victory, just not always on our terms. Although we can draw upon the confidence of victory, God isn’t going to wage the battle for us. When God’s chosen people entered into the Promised Land after 40 years in the desert, God could have wiped all the opposition out in an instant. But God wanted man to fight the battles. God wanted man to demonstrate their faith in Him.
When we wage war against sin and attacks on our faith, we have to make an effort. I pray that the Book of Ephesians will bless you as it has me. I pray that you use the wisdom given to us in this chapter to successfully fight the battles against sin that you encounter in your life. I pray that you will always put on the whole armor of God so that you may stand against the schemes of the devil.
I'd like to close our time together by praying with you through 1 Timothy 6:11-16.
But as for you, O man of God ... Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.
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