Sermon on The Christian Armour or The Full Armour of God (Introduction) - Ephesians :10-13 Stand and Withstand

Sermon republished here by kind permission of Pastor JJ Lim of Pilgrim Covenant Church, Singapore.

Listen to the sermon at SermonAudio.com website

STAND & WITHSTAND

Introduction to The Christian Armor or The Full Armor of God  
Christian in Complete Armour

Text: Ephesians 6:10-13

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 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. 13 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.

Introduction
We have come to the concluding words of Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians. But this is not going to be our last sermon on this letter. If you are familiar with Paul’s letters, you will realise that his concluding words are often packed with fresh instructions that will take time to study and provide much material for meditation.

So when Paul says finally, don’t assume that he means to say ‘last and the least’, but rather ‘lastly, and building upon all that we have said, consider…’

Paul has been speaking about Christ and his church throughout this letter. He began with theology—how we are united to Christ, both in eternity and in time. Then he sought to teach us how we must live in view of our union with Christ and our calling to be the disciples of Christ. “Walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called” he pleads (Eph 4:1).

He teaches us how we must walk in unity with the rest of the church, as individual believers and as families.

He teaches us our roles in the family as Christian husbands, wives, parents, children, servants and masters.

But Paul is no arm-chair theologian. He knows the struggles that every believer will face in their Christian walk. In fact, he knows that the struggles will be very very intense.… so intense that it may be described as a warfare.

A cosmic war had begun after Adam and Eve fell into sin. The LORD had declared to Serpent:
“And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise [or crush] thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Gen 3:15).

At the Cross of Calvary, Christ crushed the head of the ancient serpent. Victory is secured. The serpent suffered a mortal wound, and will die. However, the serpent, is still thrashing about, like as serpents do after their head is crushed. And he is trying to sweep as many in hell with him as he possibly can. For this reason, though the war is won, there are still battles to fight.

Every Christian is enrolled into the army of Christ and will join the war and fight the battles. They will have to battle against sin and Satan. They have to fight the remnant of corrupt in themselves, and they have to defend themselves against Satan and the world under the control of Satan.

This war is obviously not a conventional one. The enemies of this war are invisible. The weapons of this war are totally unconventional. They are largely not fleshly and material. They are spiritual, or are at least used spiritually. It is a spiritual warfare. No one in the world is going to teach us about this war. Only Christ, the Captain of our Salvation, the LORD of Host, the King of kings and Lord of lords is qualified to do so.

For this reason, Paul writing under the inspiration of the Spirit of Christ, would before, he conclude this letter, give us a briefing on the battle and on the weapons available to us. Paul will, as it were, bring us into the armoury where we will be able to study and draw out the equipment and weapons that we need in the battles that we have to engage in.

But before we enter into the armoury, the apostle Paul, our quartermaster has some words of introduction and encouragement. This, essentially is what our text for this morning is. This is what the Spirit says, Ephesians 6:10-20—

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 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. 13 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.

What is the Lord saying through Paul? We may summarise what he is saying into 5 points:

• First, Arm yourself with courage in the Lord. We need to courageous to fight this battle; ‘Be strong in the Lord’ says Paul.
• Secondly, Rely wholly on the Lord to Supply all you need. We need to understand that the battle will be very intense, and so we will need the strength and equipment that only the Lord your King can supply: “be strong… in the power of his might” says Paul.
• Thirdly, Make no mistake: unseen does not mean unreal. We must understand that it is a spiritual warfare that we have to fight.
• Fourthly, Occupy and Hold your Ground. We must understand that the war we have to fight is a defensive war, and therefore we must fight by occupying and holding our ground.
• Fifthly, Receive your armour and use it! We can only fight this war effectively if we put on the whole armour of God.

1. Arm Yourself with Courage in the Lord.

Beloved brethren, youth and children, if you bear the name of the Lord, you have been enlisted in the army of Christ the King. There is a battle already raging. You must join your captain at the frontline. And please know that this battle is not for the faint hearted.

Too many have enlisted to fight this war. But they have gone AWOL or MIA.

Many of them entered the fight full of vigour; but you know what they lack? They lack courage! For when they saw the Goliath of the army of Satan, their heart grew faint. They hid behind the rocks and bushes. They begin to murmur about having to leave Egypt. They miss the leeks and cucumber. Life in the army is too tough for them. They are tempted to part ways like Orpah did to Naomi. And many do.
But when they do, they do so at what tremendous cost, for only those in active service in the Lord’s army can drink from the fountain of the water of life. Those who depart have to drink stagnant water from the broken cisterns that the enemy supplies.

Beloved brethren and children, you need to be strong to remain in the battle. ‘Be strong in the Lord’ says Paul. Arm yourself with courage from the Lord.

There will be many temptations and afflictions along the way. There will be things that will distract you from fighting the battles. The cares of the world, poor health, relationship problems, covetousness, materialism, laziness and doubt are among the obstacles or the weapons of Satan that you can expect to encounter.

Unless you are strong, you will fall. And you may be tempted to switch sides in the battle, for such as fall out of the army of Christ are usually captured by Satan and made his slaves. Or you may be tempted to be despondent or depressed so that you find your self too weak to fight on, when you see the army marching on.

Beloved brethren and children, do not be surprised by tribulation and temptations and even injuries. Be strong. Be strong for service, strong for suffering, strong for fighting. Arm yourself with Courage in the Lord.

This battle that you have enlisted in to fight is very intense, for the enemy is very strong and well-equip. You can be sure that if you rely on your own strength, you are not going to make it. You will be overwhelmed.

But thank God that He does not leave us to fight alone. The battle is not yours. It is the Lord’s battle. Christ the King is leading the battle himself as the captain of our salvation.

You must draw strength from him. Some of the most successful soldiers of Christ understood this very well. Moses taught the people to sing…

• “The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation” (Ex 15:2).
David likewise teaches us to sing:
• “The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower” (Ps 18:2).
• “Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight” (Ps 144:1).

But what is it to be strong in the Lord or to arm yourself with the courage and strength of the Lord?

Well, let me briefly note three things:

First, it is to be in Christ. Now, this ought to be very obvious, but I am afraid, it is not so obvious to many. Many have enlisted in the Lord’s army but are not in Christ. How can they expect to fight the Lord’s Battle when they are not in Christ, “for without me ye can do nothing” says the Lord (Jn 15:5). So he who would be strong in the Lord must be born again. “Ye must be born again,” says the Lord.

Secondly, to be strong in the Lord is to recognise your own inability and so to constantly seek grace from the Lord. The apostle Paul says: “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God” (2 Cor 3:5). You must seek His help in all things, whether you are praying or reading God’s Word or seeking to do good works in his name. You must depend on Him.

Thirdly, to be strong Lord or to arm yourself with the Lord’s courage is to look to the Lord for inspiration and direction.

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb 12:2).

You must study His Word; you must hear his voice through the preaching of His Word; you must seek to follow His example and His instructions; and most of all you must live and fight the battles for His sake. The Lord your captain laid down His life for you. Let a grateful heart strengthen your resolve to serve Him. To that end arm yourself with his courage.

But now secondly, Paul would have us understand that as the battle will be very intense, we will need more than courage. We will need the strength and equipment that only the Lord our King can supply: “be strong… in the power of his might” says Paul, i.e.…

2. Rely Wholly on the Lord to Supply Your Need.

Understand that the Lord does not leave you alone to fight in the war. He who calls you to the battle is almighty and that mighty power is engage in your defence and to enable you to fight the battles.

The apostle Paul says: “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:19).

He who has called you to battle has his storehouse filled with the spiritual food, equipment, weapons and ammunition that you need for the battle. You must avail yourself to the supplies.

Remember that as long as you are fighting the Lord’s battles, You will never run out of supplies. For Paul also says: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Phil 4:13).

Now, notice what he is saying: It is Christ who strengthens. It is Christ who will personally supply all you need for the battles.

He not a king who sends his troops out without adequate supplies. He has a great storehouse of supplies. And his supplies are not locked-up unused because there is no re-supply plan. Neither does He require you to carry any unnecessary burden with you.

No, no; Christ your king is also the captain of your salvation. He does not send you into the battle field alone. He goes ahead of you. And not only so, but He brings the supplies that you need day by day. In fact, He would actually carry the burdens that you bring into the battle field.

By His Spirit and providence, He strengthens you with His mighty power day by day; and by His Spirit and providence, He carries the burdens that you may have.

Only be strong and continue to fight the battle. Rely confidently and wholly on the Lord’s Supply. Do not give up, do not be discourage.

When you feel weak and weary, do not allow yourself to slip into despondency; all you need to do is to cast your burdens on the Lord and stretch out your hands and call unto the Lord and he will fill you with what you need for the battle.

The apostle Peter, referring to this same war that we have to fight, encourages us:

“6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: 7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you” (1 Pet 5:6-7).

One day we shall have no more burdens to carry. But today as we fight that spiritual warfare, we will have many burdens because of sin and the cares of this present world. We must learn to humble ourselves and to cast our anxieties upon Him.

You must not fight on as if you are able and self-sufficient. No, no, you must rely on the supply and support of your captain. You must fight humbly. You must not fight like a gung-ho soldier who is too proud to rely on his captain to re-supply his needs or to carry his burdens.

No, no; you must rely on your captain. Cast your burdens upon Him; and draw the strength and supply you need from Him. Go to him for wisdom, He has the words of everlasting life. Go to Him for protection, at His word, His angels will surround you like a wall of fire. Go to Him for Christian graces to strengthen your heart for the battle—like patience, perseverance, longsuffering humility, charity, faithfulness, etc, etc.

The Lord will hear and supply your request. He will strengthen you by the power of His might.
Oh what a blessing to fight with our captain and king. Only Rely upon him wholly to supply all you need for the battle.

But thirdly, …

3. Make No Mistake, Unseen does not mean Unreal

12 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. 

The Roman soldier battle against flesh and blood. They see their enemies. They see them coming. They know precisely what the enemy is doing and how many enemies they kill.

They have a far easier job than we. We do not see our enemy. We don’t hear them. They can sneak up against us without our knowing. We may not even know when they launch an offensive until the damage is done.

But the battle is for real. The enemy soldiers comprise of spiritual beings making use of people and things around us and taking advantage of the circumstance we are in life. Things do not simply happen at random in our lives. We have real enemies, and we are fight a real battle against the army of Satan.
And although the captain of our enemy, is called the Lord of the flies—Baalzebub, we must not imagine that they are disorganised like flies or mosquitoes. No, no; they have a definite structure. They are organised. They too have a plan of attack.

Paul speaks of principalities and powers and rulers. I do not think he is detailing the structure of the demonic army as we may speak about division, brigade, company, platoon and section. But he is telling us that the army of the devil is structured and determined to fight against the army of Christ.
And they are wicked; they are opposed to anything righteous. They are rulers of darkness. One of their aims is to darken the understanding of those they capture.

Beloved brethren and children, let us not be ignorant of this army that is encamped against us. They are like the Al Qaeda, a terrorist army.

But they do not plant bombs nor fly aeroplanes into buildings. They do worst. They make those who plant bombs and aeroplanes into building think that they are doing a good deed; and they make others think the same way.

Also, they seek to prevent anyone from joining the army of Christ. They seek to make those outside mock Christ and they seek to make the soldiers of Christ bring dishonour to Him. They do not have the power to do miracles unless they are given special permission by the Lord. But they have the power of suggestion.… especially over the unbelieving world.

Oh beloved brethren and children, do not fall under the devices of this spiritual Al Qaeda! Be aware of its existence. Be prepared to fight it. Make no mistake, unseen does not mean unreal.
But how do we fight the battle? What strategy should we use? What are your orders? Here it is…

4. Occupy & Hold Your Ground!

Paul says,
“…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” (v. 13).

That is to say: We must first fight a defensive battle.

Christians are not called to attack Satan or his army. There are some charismatic groups who think that they have the authority to rebuke the devil and his demons, whereas both the apostle Peter and Jude condemns those who in their pride “despise dominion and speak evil of dignities” (Jude 8), “Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord” (2 Pet 2:11).

No; no, we are not called to directly attack Satan or his army whether verbally or otherwise.

Yes, we are more than conquerors through Christ who love us. But the fact is that Christ our King has already conquered. He conquered at the Cross of Calvary. We are more than conquerors in Him. He conquered in order that we might occupy.

What remains as our duty is to stand our ground. We must defend the territories Christ has conquered. I am speaking figuratively, you must understand. I am speaking about our heart and our life. By His victory at the Cross, Christ conquered our heart and life. Our heart and life belongs to him that He might transform us by the renewing of our minds.

But Satan will want to regain lost territory. Paul speaks about the ‘wiles of the devil.’ The word translated ‘wiles’ come from the Greek word ‘meqodeiva’ from which we get the English word ‘method.’ Satan has his cunning and deceitful method of trying to regain lost ground. He will resort to trickery and temptation.

We must be aware of his methods. We must take heed lest we fall. We must be watchful. We must be sober and vigilant, for as Peter reminds us, our adversary the devil is prowling about like a roaring lion waiting to devour whom he may (1 Pet 5:8).

You know how lions hunt don’t you? They do not run after their prey like cheetahs. They wait. They wait for their prey to be inattentive or to be trapped in the mud hole. They wait quite patiently. Sometimes they even wait for days and weeks.

This is how our enemy operates too. He is waiting for his opportunity to attack us. He is waiting for us to drop our guard or to become entangled in some cares of the world or disappointment or disillusionment.

Therefore beloved brethren, let us ever be vigilant. Let us bear in mind that the war of ages will affect every aspect of our lives. Do not allow, for example, the demands of work, or of the education system trap you or rob you of your spiritual alertness.

I am quite convinced, for example, that the public education system in Singapore can become a mud hole in which we may get trapped and become easy prey for the wicked one. Let us open our eyes and be alert.

If we let our guard down, Satan will sure attack us. He will rob is of the spiritual blessings that God has given us (Eph 1:3). He will make us doubt and make us joyless. He will make us bring dishonour and shame to the name of our Lord.

We must therefore stand our ground and fight on manfully. Beloved army of the Lord, Occupy what Christ has conquered and hold your ground.

But in order to do so, we must put on the whole armour of God! So fifthly,…

5. Receive & Put on the Armour of God
Now the words ‘whole armour’ translates a single Greek word, panopliva, from which we get the English word panoply. In the army, we have what is know as SBO—skeleton battle order; and FBO—full battle order. When we put on the SBO—we do not carry all the equipment that we need. We can only go for short term missions. But when we put on the FBO with a full-pack and all the food and the ammunition that we need, we can go on for days.

Paul, as it were, wants us to put on the full battle order. He wants us to put on every piece of equipment that we need for the battle. We must not miss out any piece.

Now, we will look at the individual parts of the armours in the following weeks. But for now, let us understand what it means to put on the armour of God.

Well, in the first place, let us understand that Paul is not telling us to go through a ritual of putting the armour on piece by piece. I know a friend who was in the Charismatic church who was taught to do so literally. So every morning, he would very religiously do it as an exercise. He would put on the spiritual helmet, the spiritual breastplate, the spiritual belt etc etc.

What then is it to put on the whole armour of God? I believe Paul is referring to (1) OBTAINING, (2) USING, and (3) CULTIVATING the Christian graces that are available to us for repelling the temptations and strategies of Satan.

How to OBTAIN these graces? Well, in the first place, as soon as we enrol into the army of Christ, Christ our Captain and King has the entire panoply prepared for us. That is to say: To make sure that we have the equipment we need for the warfare, we must make sure that we are personally enrolled in the army. The king is not interested in pretenders. You will get no equipment if you are merely pretending to be a soldier of Christ when your heart is really with the army of the Enemy.

Also the King has allowed membership by proxy for our covenant children. But, children, you cannot remain a member of the army by proxy. You must make sure that you personally believe in the Lord if you are to be enrolled personally. Only if you are personally enrolled in the army by faith can you be assured of the panoply for you to fight the battle.

Now once you have obtained the panoply, you can be sure that every part of it is ready for your use. They do not need any alteration nor will you be required to change any part of it as we often have to in the army.

However, you must be aware that you have the equipment and you must USE it.

It will be a great shame if Christ has prepared a panoply for you, but you lay it aside and would not use it.… especially when Satan comes to attack you. We will talk about how each part of the panoply must be used in the subsequent weeks. But consider for example, how sad it would be if Satan tries to hit your head, and you fail to put on the helmet of salvation but allow yourself to seek deeper and deeper into hopelessness.

Putting on the whole armour of God means making use of the whole armour to repel Satan’s devices.
But finally, putting on the armour also mean that you must take good care of it. If you do not maintain your equipment they will become stiff and rusty and uncomfortable to use. It can even be dangerous to use them. I have a pair of combat boots in my cupboard which I have no worn for about 15 years. It has become very stiff. I doubt I can walk with it, not to mention go into battle with it!

So you must maintain and cultivate the panoply. You must CULTIVATE it by prayer and by the use of the means of grace.

Conclusion

Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power, beloved brethren. Stand and withstand, as a faithful soldier of Christ:

• Arm yourself with courage in the Lord.
• Rely wholly on the Lord to Supply all you need.
• Make no mistake: unseen does not mean unreal.
• Occupy and Hold your Ground.
• Receive your armour and use it!

You can be more than conquerors through him who love you and laid His life for you. Amen.

Sermon by Pastor JJ Lim of Pilgrim Covenant Church, Singapore.
Sermon republished here by kind permission of Pastor JJ Lim of Pilgrim Covenant Church, Singapore.

Sermons on The Full Amour of God / Christian in the Complete Armour / Christians' Armour

• The Full Amour of God Introduction 
• The Full Armour of God Part 1
• The Full Armour of God Part 2 
• The Full Armour of God Part 3
• The Full Armour of God Part 4 
• The Full Armour of God Part 5 
• The Full Armour of God Part 6

Sermon on The Christian Armor or The Full Armor of God Part 1 - BELT OF TRUTH Ephesians 6:14

Sermon republished here by kind permission of Pastor JJ Lim of Pilgrim Covenant Church, Singapore.

Listen to the sermon at SermonAudio.com website:



Part 1 of The Christian Armor or The Full Armor of God   
Christian in the Complete Armour 

1. BELT OF TRUTH

Text: Ephesians 6:14

Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness.

Introduction

There is a war of cosmic proportion raging. It has been raging for several millennium. About two millennium ago, the outcome of the war became clear for all to see— for at the Cross of Calvary, Christ crush the head of the ancient serpent as it nipped at his heels. But the war is far from over, for the ancient serpent, the devil, is thrashing about in its death throes, seeking to sweep as many as he possibly can into hell with him.

There are still battles for the seed of the woman to fight, i.e. Christians, to fight. Everyone of us who profess faith in Christ or have receive the water of baptism have been enrolled into the army of Christ to fight the battle behind our Captain of Salvation.

Last Sabbath, we stood outside the armoury of the army of Christ; and listened to a briefing by the apostle Paul on the battle that we have to engage in.

There, Paul reminded us of 5 things we need to do and know about the war. We were reminded to…
• Arm ourselves with courage in the Lord.
• Rely wholly on the Lord to Supply all we need in the battle
• Make no mistake: unseen does not mean unreal.
• Occupy and Hold our Ground.
• Receive our armour and use it!

The war we have to fight is a spiritual war. The enemies are invisible terrorists. We must fight on in the courage, strength and graces supplied by the Lord. We must occupy the grounds that Christ has already conquered and then fight a defensive battle to prevent Satan from regaining them.

We must stand and withstand as Satan the Prince of the enemy army schemes and plots to regain lost ground. And in order to fight, we must put on the full armour that God has provided for us and use them effectively.

But now we must begin to learn about various parts of the armour that is available to us. This morning, the Lord helping us, we must consider the belt of truth.

Paul says: 14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth

Now, it is very likely that Paul was thinking about a belt, when he wrote these words. Therefore, we can study this piece of equipment by asking three questions: (1) What is the purpose of the belt in Paul’s mind? (2) What does this belt represent? (3) How to put on this belt?

However, if we use these three questions as our sub-heading very few of us are going to remember much about the belt of truth by the end of this sermon. Therefore, I would propose for us to discuss four points which will answer these question and provide us with an immediate summary of things to remember regarding the belt of truth.


Here are the four points:
1. Basically, the belt is a badge, a bell and a binder.
2. Everything to do with truth is represented by the belt.
3. Listening to and Studying the Word is one way of wearing the belt.
4. Truthfulness to self & others is another way of wearing the belt.

Consider our first point, which is:

1. Basically, the Belt is a Badge, a Bell and a Binder.

In modern days, belts are either decorative or used to hold up pants for men….
In the Ancient Near Eastern Cultures people wore flowing clothing. When they were relaxed and not doing anything, they would let the garment hang loose. But if they are about to do some vigorous activity, they would put on a girdle or a belt around their waist.
 
So the Jews during the time of Moses were commanded to eat the Passover with their loins girded, their shoes on their feet, and their staff in their hand (Ex 12:11) to symbolise their preparedness to leave Egypt at the Lord’s command.

So girding of the loins was for the Jews always associated with preparedness.

But Paul was quite obviously thinking about the belt used by the Roman soldiers, for when he wrote this letter, he was suffering his first Roman imprisonment around A.D. 61. He was chained to a centurion 24 hours a day. It is very likely that what he saw of the Roman’s soldier’s panoply led him to write about the panoply of God. Of course, he wrote under inspiration, but the Holy Spirit would have made use of his experience to write what he wrote.

Now, for the Roman soldier, the girdle or belt around the waist serves a slightly different purpose compared to that of the ancient Jews.

• In the first place, the Roman soldier’s belt or c(h)ingulum was a kind of a badge of office (just as boys scouts today are allowed to wear their belt and scarf only after they have made their Scout’s Promise and Pledge). So the belt of the Roman soldier was a badge of Roman authority. It identified the soldier wearing it as a representative of the emperor of Rome
• In the second place, the belt of the Roman armour had an apron or groin guard which makes a kind of jangling noise which helped to intimate the enemy whenever the legionaries marched. In other words it is like a warning bell that proudly announces the approach army.
• But in the third place, the belt has a practical purpose of holding the rest of the panoply together. The Roman soldier puts on the girdle first before he puts on his body armour or breastplate. The breastplate, kind of sits or hangs on the belt. And similarly the soldier’s sword and dagger also hangs on the belt. The belt is therefore a very important piece of equipment that in a way binds every part of the armour together.

Thus the belt of the Roman armour served as a badge, a bell and a binder all in one.

And so too the belt of truth that we must put. The belt of truth will hold all the other parts of our spiritual armour together. You need to put it on first if you are to go into the battle. If you do not have it, you would not be prepared for battle.

And likewise, the belt of truth identifies us as belonging to the army of Christ, and in some ways warns the enemies of Christ of their certain doom unless they submit to Christ. Such is the importance of the belt of truth.

So the belt of the spiritual armour is a badge of the authority of Christ, a bell of warning to the enemies of Christ; and binder for all the other graces represented by the other parts of the armour. The belt is a badge, a bell and a binder.

But what exactly is the belt of truth? What does it represent? The answer is our second lesson point:

2. Everything to do with Truth is Represented by the Belt

This belt of our spiritual armour is the belt of truth. Paul tells us to put on this belt of truth, but he does not tell us what truth he is referring to. Is he speaking about objective truth as in the doctrines of the truth of the Gospel, or is he speaking about subjective truth as in sincerity, integrity and faithfulness?
Well, commentators are divided on what the apostle has in mind.

Some say that he is referring to the facts of the Gospel, for unless we bind the truth to ourselves, we will easily be tempted by the devil to stray into heresy and lawlessness. If we hold fast the truth of the Gospel, we will be restrained from straying from the Lord.

Others believe that Paul is not speaking about the objective truths of the Word of God, but about sincerity, integrity and faithfulness.

Well, I personally believe that Paul is referring to both aspects of truth, for unless we hold fast to the truth of God, we cannot truly be truthful. How can we be truthful when we are holding on to lies and reject the truth of God?

So then this belt of truth speaks of everything that has to do with truth whether objective or subjective. We must not deceive ourselves by speaking about our sincerity if we deny the truth of God. On the other hand, if we know the truth of God, we must live faithfully and honestly in imitation of our Lord.
Only when we have the belt of truth gird about our loins, will we have ease and freedom of movement to fight the spiritual battle.

Without the truth of the Word of God, we will fall into the trap of Satan, for you can be sure he will ask us as he did Eve, “Hath God said.”

And without the truth of honesty, we will fall into the sin of deception and hypocrisy; and begin to do the work of Satan, who is the father lie.

Without the belt of truth, we will not be able to fight the battles of our Lord. How to fight any spiritual battle if we do not sincerely believe the truth of the Word of God? How to fight the battle if we are being hypocritical in our faith?

So then, we must put on the belt of truth—both of the truth of the Word; and of honesty and integrity. For everything to do with truth is represented by the belt.

We must put on this belt of truth.

But the question is how do we put on the belt of truth? In answer consider our third and fourth lessons.
Our third lesson is:

3. Listening to and Studying the Word is One Way of Wearing the Belt

We saw a moment ago how the truth that is represented by the belt of truth has both an objective and a subjective aspects.

Now, the objective aspect of the belt of truth is made up of a fabric of biblical propositional truths.
Therefore, if you are to have the belt of truth, you must begin by listening to the Word preached diligently and studying the Word faithfully.

When we bind the truth of the Scripture to ourselves, we are putting on the belt of truth, otherwise we may be putting on a belt of error. We must, therefore, be concerned that what doctrine we hold to is the truth and not just some arguments and traditions of man. “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good” says Paul (1Th 5:21).

Bear in mind that if the truth is not tightly bounded to your waist, then you may be fighting the devil’s battle.

The belt of truth, at least in its objective aspect, indicates whom the wearer belongs to, and whose battle he is fighting. Remember that it is a badge of authority.

Think of the liberals and cults such as Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses. They would call themselves Christian, but whose battle are they fighting? They wear a belt, but it is not a belt of truth. It has some truth but a lot of errors. You do not want to fight alongside them. In fact, you want to fight against them by denouncing their heresies.

So what belt should you bind to yourself? Remember that in a certain way the belt determines whom you should be fighting alongside and whom you should fight against. So you do not want to define the belt too narrowly, or you will be fighting against everyone. What then, should you wear practically?
Well, I would suggest, that the Confession of the Church provides a good definition of the objective belt you should wear. Bind these truths to yourself. Fight against anything that is contrary to these truths. So fight Arminianism, Dispensationalism, legalism, antinomianism, etc. But refrain from fighting about issues that are not found in our Confession.

Unless you are steadfastly entrenched in the major tenets of the truth, the devil will try his best to shake you from the faith. Unless you have the belt of truth tightly around you the devil and his army is not going to be afraid of you. If your warning bell sounds like an ice-cream bell, who is going to be afraid?

Indeed, if you don’t have the belt of truth binding all the other pieces of your armour, the devil will try to dislodge your armour piece by piece… and leave you defenceless against his assaults. You can be sure of that.

So take heed to arm yourself with the truth. Listening to and studying the Word of God is one way to put on the belt of truth.

But finally, consider how…

4. Truthfulness to Self & Others is Another Way of Wearing the Belt.

While a lack of objective truth can be used by the devil to lead us astray; a lack of subjective truth makes us like the devil. Therefore, we must also bind subjective truth to ourselves. How?

Firstly, you must put on the belt of truth by resolving not to bluff yourself. Be honest with yourself. Refuse to give excuses for your sins and failures. Resist the temptation to compromise, or to cast aside your conscience.

It is easy to bluff yourself. Lot bluff himself that it is alright for his family to live toward Sodom and Gommorah. Perhaps he was resolved only stay outside the city and benefit from the pagan city without being involved with the city life.

But slowly he finds himself moving nearer and nearer into the city. Perhaps he bluff himself that it would be OK. He would teach his children well. He will make sure that they are protected from the influence of the people in the land by daily family worship.

But slowly his family began to assimilate into the culture of the land. This righteous man was daily vexed with the filthiness of the land and was weak to resist the suggestions of the devil because he compromised. He bluffed himself. He did not put on the belt of truth.

By the grace of God, Lot was preserved. But the price of his self-deception was great. He lost his wife and sons in law; and his daughter had little qualms committing incest.

Beloved brethren and children put on the belt of truth. Resolve to be honest with yourself. Do not bluff yourself by telling yourself that you do not need to repent or to change the course of your life.
So for example, if on account of backsliding you find yourself not willing to come for the means of grace, you must resist the temptation to bluff yourself by saying, ‘I am tired’, ‘I don’t feel very well,’ or ‘I have stomach ache’ etc.

You should rather go to the Lord to seek His Help. Put on the belt of truth. Be honest with yourself and with the Lord. Unless you are truthful in your assessment of your heart, you will not grow spiritually and you will easily fall under temptation of the wicked one.

Secondly, you must put on the belt of truth by resolving to be truthful with others.

Children, this will be your particular temptation. Some say that children will never tell lies. I don’t believe that at all. Every child is born with a fallen nature. They know how to lie from the earliest age. If you did something wrong, and you know that your daddy or mummy will scold you or discipline you, what will you be tempted to do? You’ll be tempted to tell a lie, wouldn’t you?

I remember when I was a young boy. I forgot to learn my ‘ting xie’ (i.e. Chinese spelling test). I scored zero or near to zero. I was called up by the teacher. What did I do? Immediately I told her: I lost my paper. It seemed less wrong to loose the paper than to forget to learn. I got a spanking.

I did not know it was sin against God to tell a lie. I lied so much that it became very easy to lie. It was very shameful. Children, put on the belt of truth. Do not allow Satan to tempt you to lie because with each lie, you will find it easier and easier to lie so that after a while, your automatic reaction is to lie whenever you feel threatened. I have been through that. It is a terrible feeling to know that you are a liar.

But, brethren, make no mistake. The temptation to be untruthful is not only a problem amongst children. It is a problem amongst adults too, for we are always tempted to want to look better before others. But put on the belt of truth. Let us be candid and honest with one another. If you hold anything against another person, and the person ask you if you hold anything, be honest about it. Do you say, “no,” and then behind his back say bad things about him.

Unless we put on the belt of truth and are prepared to tell the truth one to another, we shall have occasion of stumbling one another and Satan will have occasion to re-claim lost-ground.

Truthfulness to self and to others is another way of putting on the belt apart from listening to and studying the Word of God. Let us take heed to do all we can to put on the belt of truth.

Conclusion : Beloved brethren and children, put on the belt of truth. 

Remember the four points we raised this morning that are relative to the belt of truth:
1. Basically, the belt is a badge, a warning bell, and a binder.
2. Everything to do with truth is represented by the belt.
3. Listening to and Studying the Word is one way of wearing the belt.
4. Truthfulness to self & others is another way of wearing the belt.

It is very important for us always to know the truth and to tell the truth. If you know not the truth, you may end up fighting the devil’s battle; and if you tell a lie, you would be doing the devil’s work.
Liars are children of the devil. With each lie they speak, they become more and more like the devil. Liars are easily persuaded by the devil to shame the name of Christ.

The devil will try to tempt us into telling lies when we are confronted with a fault. He will suggest to you that no one else knows the truth. But you must remember, God knows the truth. And he is deeply displeased with falsehood.

“These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren” (Prov 6:17).

Out of these six things, three has to do with falsehood or half truths.
We must put on the belt of truth if we want to fight the Lord’s battle. Let us ask the Lord to help us to know the truth, to be honest with ourselves and to be sincere and truthful towards others. Amen.

Sermon by Pastor JJ Lim of Pilgrim Covenant Church, Singapore.
Sermon republished here by kind permission of Pastor JJ Lim of Pilgrim Covenant Church, Singapore.


Sermons on The Full Amour of God / Christian in the Complete Armour / Christians' Armour

• The Full Amour of God Introduction 
• The Full Armour of God Part 1
• The Full Armour of God Part 2 
• The Full Armour of God Part 3
• The Full Armour of God Part 4 
• The Full Armour of God Part 5 
• The Full Armour of God Part 6

 

Sermon on The Christian Armor or The Full Armor of God Part 2 - BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS Ephesians 6:14b

Sermon republished here by kind permission of Pastor JJ Lim of Pilgrim Covenant Church, Singapore.

Listen to the sermon at SermonAudio.com website:



Part 2 of The Christian Armor or The Full Armor of God    
Christian in the Complete Armour 


BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

Text: Ephesians 6:14b

Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness.


Introduction

There is a war of cosmic proportion raging. It has been raging for several millennium. About two millennium ago, the outcome of the war became clear for all to see— for at the Cross of Calvary, Christ crush the head of the ancient serpent as it nipped at his heels. But the war is far from over, for the ancient serpent, the devil, is thrashing about in its death throes, seeking to sweep as many as he possibly can into hell with him.

There are still battles for the seed of the woman and all united to Him to fight. Everyone of us who profess faith in Christ or have receive the water of baptism have been enrolled into the army of Christ to fight the battle behind our Captain of Salvation.

Two sabbaths ago, we considered Paul’s briefing in regards to the war that we have to fight. He tells us essentially 5 things…

• Arm ourselves with courage in the Lord.
• Rely wholly on the Lord to Supply all we need in the battle
• Make no mistake: unseen does not mean unreal.
• Occupy and Hold our Ground.
• Receive our armour and use it!

Having heard the briefing, we stepped into the armoury to learn about various parts of the armour that is available to us. We have considered the belt of truth.

We learned 4 things about the belt of truth, namely:

1. Basically, the belt is a badge, a bell and a binder.
2. Everything to do with truth is represented by the belt.
3. Listening to and Studying the Word is one way of wearing the belt.
4. Truthfulness to self & others is another way of wearing the belt.

So we must put on the belt of truth. But having put on the belt of truth, we must next put on the breastplate of righteousness.

Paul says:
Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness.
But what is a Breastplate? What does this breastplate represent? How to put on this breastplate? These are the questions that we must ask this morning.

To answer these questions, consider these six points:
• The Breastplate Protects the Soldier’s Heart.
• Holiness & righteousness by regeneration is one side of the Breastplate
• On the other side is the righteousness of Christ by Justification.
• Resting in Christ’s Righteousness is one way of wearing the Breastplate
• Adorning Holiness by a righteous Christian walk is the second way.
• eXamining ourselves to avoid extremes is another way.

Consider these six points briefly:

1. The Breastplate Protects the Soldier’s Heart

There are essentially two kinds of breastplates referred to in the Scriptures. In the Old Testament, the high priest wore a breastplate with the Urim and Thummim as well as the names of the 12 tribes engraved on precious stones fixed on it (Ex 28:15-30; 39:8-21).

It is clear, however, that this is not the breastplate in the armoury of the apostle Paul. The breastplate that Paul wants us to put on is one that is to be used in actual battle rather than in temple ceremonies.
The breastplate in the panoply of the Christian army is like the kind used in the Roman army. Each Roman soldier was issued with a breastplate to protect his most vital organs from enemy weapons.
The word translated breastplate is actually a Greek word (qwvrax) from which we get the English word ‘thorax.’ Our thorax is the part of our body between our neck and our navel where the ribs end. Within the thorax are our most vital organs including our heart.

I am not sure if the term thorax was first used to refer to the breastplate or to the part of the vital part human torso. Whatever the case might have been, the Roman breastplate is aptly known as the thorax as it s protects the vital organs in the chest.

It is thought that the thorax worn by the Roman soldiers during Paul’s time consisted of two parts. One part protects the front of the body, while the other part protects the back. Each part is made of shiny strips of iron (cf. Rev 9:9, 17), laid in an overlapping fashion, and secured by leather straps.
When the strips of iron are attached in such a fashion, it makes for an extremely strong, yet flexible defence against enemy swords and stabbing weapons. The soldier wearing this breastplate could move freely and use his shield and sword without it getting in his way.

It is true that the breastplate did not protect the Roman soldier’s entire body. But no thinking Roman soldier would ever go into battle without his breastplate.

And so no Christian soldier should venture to go into battle without our spiritual breastplate in place. Without our spiritual breastplate, we can be severely injured in the battle.

What does it mean to be injured in the spiritual battle? To be spiritually injured is to give in to temptation; to backslide; to become spiritually despondent or joyless; to become cynical; or worst to give up the fight altogether.

Beloved brethren, youths and children, in the war that we are engaged in, there will be casualties, but like in any war, we must never enter into battle expecting to be injured or killed. We must protect ourselves. We must fight a safe battle.

Therefore, let us neglect not to put on our breastplate and to wear it constantly. As the breastplate protected the Roman soldier heart, tt will protect our spiritual heart.

But what exactly does the breastplate represent?

Well, we mentioned that the Roman Thorax has two pieces—one to protect the front, the other to protect the back. And providentially, we may also think of our spiritual breastplate as having two parts.

Consider therefore what the breastplate represent in our second and third lesson points. Our second point is:
 

2. Holiness & Righteousness by Regeneration is one side of the Breastplate

The spiritual breastplate is a breastplate of righteousness. So it represents righteousness.
But the Scripture speaks of righteousness both in the objective and subjective sense just as it speaks of truth in the objective and subjective sense.

Objectively, righteousness is purchased by Christ and imputed to believers in justification.

Subjectively, righteousness is earned by Christ and imparted to believers in regeneration and sanctification.

What kind of righteousness is Paul referring to? Some commentators say it is either this or that. Calvin insists that it is the subjective sense. Paul is speaking about “a devout and holy life,” he says.

Charles Hodge disagrees:

Many say it is our own righteousness, integrity, or rectitude of mind. …But this is no protection. It cannot resist the accusations of conscience, the whispers of despondency, the power of temptation, much less the severity of the law, or the assaults of Satan.

What do we say? Well, I agree with Matthew Henry it must refer to both!

Righteousness, both objective and subjective must be our breast-plate. Consider the subjective sense of holiness first: Holiness is one side of the breastplate.

Many commentators, including Calvin insist that this is what the apostle Paul is referring to by the term righteousness when he speaks of the breastplate of righteousness.

Now, remember that this righteousness is not our own righteousness by nature—for there is none righteous no not one, and all our righteous deed borne out of our fallen nature are filthy rags in the sight of God.

Moreover, this righteousness that Paul talks about is part of the spiritual armour supplied by the Lord. It is no doubt supplied at regeneration, which is why Paul teaches us in Ephesians 4:24 that the new man “is created in righteousness and true holiness.” This is the righteousness and holiness that the Scripture talks about as being essential if we are to be saved:

The Lord Jesus says:

“Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 5:20).

Take note that the Lord is not referring to justification here but to actual righteousness for he goes on to explain how we must keep the Law. We cannot keep the law by our own nature, but with the righteousness imparted by the Lord in our regeneration, we may indeed keep the law—albeit imperfectly in this life.

But however imperfect, we must have such a righteousness and holiness or we can have no assurance of salvation. Thus the apostle to the Hebrews asserts that without holiness no man shall see the Lord (Heb 12:14).

Now, we will talk about how we must wear this part of the breastplate of righteousness shortly, but for now let us understand that we must wear it.

The righteousness of Christ implanted in us is our breast-plate to fortify our heart against the attacks of Satan. This righteousness of Christ implanted manifest itself in a holy life. Unless we have a holy life, we shall be easily fall prey to the temptations of the devil.

Sin always begets sin. If you do not have the breastplate of a righteous life, you will be bound to sink deeper and deeper into unrighteousness. For Satan will make every attempt to sink you with the weight of his arrows of temptation.

Therefore, beloved brethren and children, make sure you are born again and have an actual righteousness and holiness in your heart—for Holiness & Righteousness by Regeneration is one side of the Breastplate…

But now thirdly, note that…

3. On the other side is the Righteousness of Christ by Justification.

We noted how imparted righteousness does not affords sufficient protection as it does not make us perfect. Well, we think it affords some protection, but it is not sufficient. We need also the righteousness of Christ imputed through justification by grace through faith.

The righteousness of Christ imputed to us is not only our breast-plate against the arrows of divine wrath, but our breast-plate against the arrows of Satanic accusation and condemnation. Satan is known as the accuser of the brethren (Rev 12:10). But “who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died” for us (Rom 8:34).

Without the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, we will have no defense against the attacks of the devil whenever we fall under temptation. The devil, you can be sure will try to cast doubts in your mind. He may make you doubt, for example, that God will still receive you when you fall into sin.
Sometimes, only the knowledge that God accepts us not on account of our imperfect righteousness, but on account of the perfect righteousness of Christ will lift us up and bring us to the throne of grace to seek pardon.

And not only so, except we have the righteousness of Christ imputed to us through justification, no conscientious Christian can have any sense peace and freedom—for we will never be satisfied that God is pleased with our efforts to live the Christian life.

We will always be trying harder and harder to please God, and we will find our Christian life to become a life of dos and don’t and a desperate attempt to please God and man.

Beloved brethren and children, do you find your Christian life to be burdensome and discouraging? Do you feel a constant guilt in your conscience because of your failure to meet up with the unspoken expectations fellow believers, but demands of the preaching of the Word of God?

If so, I would suggest to you that you have not been putting on the second piece of the breastplate of righteousness, even the righteousness of Christ through justification?

You are working out your salvation without a proper understanding that you are already saved and justified in Christ and accepted of God.

This being the case, the devil is, as it were, having a field day with you. He is making you a miserable legalist. He has robbed you of peace and gratitude. And he is probably making use of you to make others feels miserable by having you to look at others with a critical and judgmental attitude and tempting you to insinuate the faith of others by your critical and sarcastic remarks.

Beloved brethren and children, be very careful to put on the breastplate of righteous—both sides of it. Remember: Holiness and righteousness by regeneration is one side of the breastplate. On the other side is the righteousness of Christ by justification.

But now, how to put on and wear the breastplate? For this consider our 4th, 5th and 6th lesson points.

4. Resting in Christ’s Righteousness is one way of wearing the Breastplate

We noted that the breastplate of righteousness has two parts: Christ’s imputed righteousness through justification on the one hand and Christ’s imparted righteousness through regeneration on the other hand.

So to put on the breastplate of righteousness is to apply the doctrine of justification as well as the doctrine of regeneration and sanctification in our lives.

In the first place, in application of the doctrine of justification by grace through faith, we may say that…

Resting in Christ’s Righteousness is one way of wearing the breastplate.

To rest in Christ’s righteousness, you must understand that salvation is all of Christ. It is not what you do that is going to save you—whether before or after your conversion. Therefore, you must be determined to fix your eyes on the Lord. You must constantly remind yourself that your salvation is of the Lord, not of yourself. Working out your salvation with fear and trembling is not about working to be accepted by the Father or to avert his wrath.

You are or well be accepted by the Father not on account of your own righteousness, for all our righteousness are as filthy rags says the prophet Isaiah.

It is the righteousness of Christ that alone is acceptable to God. You must ensure that this truth is lodged firmly in your mind, or should I say your breast.

Only if you learn to rest in the righteousness of Christ in justification will you have a true freedom, and the courage and strength to serve the Lord out of gratitude rather than out of an attempt to gain the Lord’s favour.

Conversely, a conscientious professing Christian who fails to grasp the doctrine of justification will tend to be legalistic in his service and worship. He can be very zealous, but his zeal is not according to knowledge (Rom 10:2). I think of devout Roman Catholics going for mass every morning before going to work. I think of fervent fundamentalists going about doing street evangelism while neglecting their studies and family commitments.

Beloved brethren and children, do not allow yourself to go off balance. Rest in the righteousness of Christ. Work out your salvation out of a grateful response to the Lord for the salvation that He has granted you, not to make sure that God will be compelled to give you salvation!

Unless your relationship with God is founded upon the righteousness of Christ imputed to you, you will easily fall under the temptations of the devil in hours of discouragements due to your own failures.
Therefore, at times when you fall into sin, and come under the assault of the devil, remember to go to the Lord acknowledging that you are a sinner and thanking him that he came for sinners and not for the righteous. Do not allow Satan to tempt you to give up because you are not good enough. It is not about you! You are accepted not because you are good enough, but because of the righteousness of Christ.
Remember: Resting in Christ’s Righteousness is one way of wearing the Breastplate. Unless you rest in Christ’s righteousness, you will have many occasions to be wounded by the devil as he tries to make you doubt your salvation, or make you serve out a slavish fear of the Lord.

But be as that may be the case, remember also fifthly that…

5. Adorning Holiness by a righteous Christian walk is the second way of wearing the breastplate.

We not how it is dangerous for a Christian to fail to wear the half of the thorax that represents the righteousness of Christ in justification.

However, take note that the doctrine of justification if embraced without a proper understanding of sanctification will lead to lawlessness or antinomianism; which will in turn be used by the Devil to bring disrepute to the name of Christ.

I think of conservative Christians who are supposedly resting in Christ so much that they sleep through most of the sermon. They would not lift a hand to help out in anything in the church, or to do their Christian duties at home, and yet are absolutely sure they are going to heaven! I think of professing Christians who have no idea about the law of God but are sure they are going to heaven because they once prayed to receive Christ.

Can you see how fallen human beings, including Christians are prone to swing from one extreme to another? Fail to put on one side of the breastplate and we will be tempted to legalism; fail to put on the other side of the breastplate and we will be tempted to lawlessness.

Therefore, remember beloved brethren and children: Resting in Christ’s righteousness is one way of wearing the spiritual breastplate. Adorning holiness by a righteous Christian walk is another way of wearing the breastplate.

In other words, to put on the breastplate of righteousness, you must not only rest in Christ’s righteousness; you must also work out your salvation with fear and trembling. It is the Holy Spirit who sanctifies, but you have a responsibility too. Remember the famous words of the apostle Paul to the Philippians—

“Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.…For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Phil 2:12-13).

Therefore, out of gratitude for the Lord,…
• Resolve to know and to keep God’s commandments.
• Resolve to make use of the means of grace appointed by the Lord.
• Resolve to read the Scriptures daily and pray without ceasing.
• Resolve to have family worship if you have a family.
• Seek always to do good to others and to glorify God in all that you do.

In this way, you can have the assurance that your breastplate of righteousness is still protecting your heart against the assaults of the Wicked One.

Remember: Adorning holiness by a righteous Christian walk is another way of wearing the breastplate of righteousness.

But finally consider how…

6. eXamining ourselves to avoid extremes is another way of wearing the breastplate
Remember how the thorax or the breastplate of righteousness has two parts corresponding to the two great doctrines of regeneration and sanctification on the one hand; and justification on the other hand.
Remember also how we tend to extremes. Or should we say: we tend to be forgetful. We tend to forget one or the other half of the breastplate—and so we are tempted by the devil to ding-dong between lawlessness and legalism.

So we find ourselves fervently zealous for a season; and then slumping into morbid inactivity for another season. This ought not to be the case. The conscientious Christian should really be walking in the freedom that Christ gives, yet constrained by the love of Christ to a holy zeal to serve Him and witness for Him.

But unless we take time to think about how the two pieces of the breastplate are to be tied together and to examine ourselves to see if we are walking circumspectly; we will easily fall to one extreme or the other.

Beloved brethren and youths, remember that the way of righteousness is a narrow way. There are two lions chain to each side of the path. On one side is the lion called lawlessness; and the other side is the lion call legalism.

These two lion are chained by the blood of Christ and need not trouble us. But the pilgrim must put on his breastplate and walk confidently between them if he were to pass through them without being mauled or clawed by one or the other.

Now, the remarkable think about these two lions is that when they manage to claw you, it will not hurt immediately—though you may get infected and fall very ill. So it is essential that we see to it that we do not get clawed by them. How? By wearing both pieces of the breastplate, and by checking ourselves for scratch wounds.

How should you check yourself? Well, you know that the lion Lawlessness has clawed you if have become lazy and excusing yourself from the public means of grace. So if you find yourself weak to overcome temptation and having no qualms to break God’s law, you must suspect that you are walking too close to the lion Lawlessness. Likewise, if you find yourself becoming irresponsible in the way you dress and speak; or not caring that your words can hurt and stumble other believers; then you know that you are walking too close to the lion Lawlessness.

On the other hand, if you find yourself becoming too much of a Martha—being too busy for Christ to have time to enjoy his word, then you must suspect that you are walking too close to the lion Legalism. The Lion Legalism will make you feel depress if you fall sick or have your opportunity of service taken away from you. It will make you judgemental over fellow believers who are less zealous. It will make you think the worst instead of charitably of brethren who absent themselves from the means of grace for one reason or another.

Beloved brethren and children, do you see these faults in your heart? Perhaps, one or both sides of thorax are loose. Perhaps you are walking to close to the Lions Legalism or Lawlessness without the proper protection over your heart. Oh will you not tighten the thorax, and seek the Lord’s grace to walk in the path of righteousness —gratefully, constrained by His love.

Conclusion

Beloved brethren and children, put on your breastplate of righteousness that you may withstand the assaults of the devil.

Remember:
• The Breastplate Protects the Soldier’s Heart.
• Holiness & righteousness by regeneration is one side of the Breastplate
• On the other side is the righteousness of Christ by Justification.
• Resting in Christ’s Righteousness is one way of wearing the Breastplate
• Adorning Holiness by a righteous Christian walk is the second way.
• eXamining ourselves to avoid extremes is another way.
Amen.


Sermon by Pastor JJ Lim of Pilgrim Covenant Church, Singapore.
Sermon republished here by kind permission of Pastor JJ Lim of Pilgrim Covenant Church, Singapore.

Sermons on The Full Amour of God / Christian in the Complete Armour / Christians' Armour :

• The Full Amour of God Introduction 
• The Full Armour of God Part 1
• The Full Armour of God Part 2 
• The Full Armour of God Part 3
• The Full Armour of God Part 4 
• The Full Armour of God Part 5 
• The Full Armour of God Part 6

Sermon on The Christian Armor or The Full Armor of God - Gospel Shoes (Ephesians 6:15)

Sermon republished here by kind permission of Pastor JJ Lim of Pilgrim Covenant Church, Singapore.

Listen to the sermon at SermonAudio.com website:





Part 3 of The Christian Armor or The Full Armor of God    
Christian in the Complete Armour 

GOSPEL SHOES

Text: Ephesians 6:15

And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.

Introduction

There is a war of cosmic proportion raging. It is the war between the Seed of the Woman, Christ and His Church and the Seed of the Serpent, Satan and the unbelieving world.

At the cross of Calvary Christ crush the head of the ancient serpent when it bit his heels. But the war is far from over, for the ancient serpent, the devil, is thrashing about in its death throes, seeking to sweep as many as he possibly can into hell with him.

So the war is still raging, though it is in its last days.

So every Christian and Christian Church is enrolled as soldiers and platoons and companies of Christ to fight the battles that are raging.

In this war, blood is seldom shed. Satan is a cunning enemy. He will try to prevent bloodshed so as not to rouse any slumbering members who may be in Christ’s army.

Because of this strategy, many who profess to be Christian have been recruited by the Wicked One to fight his battles without their even knowing. That was the case during the days of the apostle Paul. It is still the same today.

This is one of the reasons the apostle Paul wrote about the Armour of God—to warn us about the battles that are raging; and to instruct us on how we must fight the battles.

A few sabbaths ago, we considered Paul’s briefing in regards to the war that we have to fight. He tells us essentially that we must fight a defensive war in the strength and equipment provided by the Lord. We must put on our ARMOR and stand and withstand.

Having heard the briefing, we stepped into the armoury to learn about various parts of the armour that is available to us. We have considered the BELT of truth.

We saw that this belt symbolises everything to do with the truth.

Objectively it refers to the truth of the Gospel which we must hold on tenaciously. Subjectively, we must gird ourselves with honesty, faithfulness, and integrity. Unless we know the truth and are truthful, we shall easily fall prey to the temptation of the devil to fight on his side. For Satan is the father of lies.

Then we considered the breastplate or THORAX of righteousness. We saw that the thorax of righteousness has two parts. We may think of one part as referring to Christ’s imputed righteousness, and the other part as referring to Christ’s imparted righteousness. We must walk and war gratefully as saints justified in Christ; and we must live holy lives in response to the work of sanctification of the Spirit of Christ.

But now, the Lord helping us, this morning we must now consider the foot protection that Paul wants us to wear. This is our combat boots.

Paul says:

“And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace” (Eph 6:15)

This is an amazing statement and much may be said about it. But for our purpose this morning, we are going to have to be very brief. If you desire more details, I would recommend Dr Lloyd-Jone’s sermons on Ephesians or William Gurnall’s “The Christian in Complete Armour.”

But for our purposes, it is my desire that we can get a handle on what Paul is saying, and apply what the Lord is teaching us into our day to day battles. For this purpose, let us consider these 5 points:

• Shoes facilitate Movement
• Holding ground sometimes involve offensive operations
• Only if you know the Gospel will you be ready
• Every providential contact is a Gospel opportunity
• Serve the Lord by joining the Church in her Gospel Battles.

First, then…

1. Shoes facilitate Movement

There is one piece of equipment that every modern infantry soldier must have. It is not the rifle. It not the body armour. It is not his helmet. It is his boots. Although the larger part of modern warfare is not fought on the ground, the humble boots is still an essential part of the soldier’s equipment.

Someone has put it very well when he says: “if the soldier’s feet fail, all of his high tech equipment is useless”

A poorly designed or poorly fitting pair of boot can become a tremendous source of pain and frustration for the soldier. Imagine having blisters on the foot and trying to fight a battle? Those of you who have been to the army will know. If your boots are too tight, you can hardly walk. If they are too loose, you get blisters.

You need comfortable boots that you can wear and not worry about if you want to fight a battle. I remember how, when I was undergoing training in OCS, many of us would go to the sport shops to buy the best insoles to line the inside of our boots because we realise that it was so important that our feet were comfortable,—because so much of what we do as soldiers are done on our feet.

So the boots are extremely important to the soldier.

Well, it was so during the days of Paul too. No doubt they did not wear combat boots the way that we do; but they wear a kind of leather shoes tied with leather tongs as well as metal greaves (like leg armour) to protect their lower legs.

These footwear were designed be comfortable and yet at the same time to allow the soldiers to have freedom of movement without fear of stepping on sharp rocks or traps that the enemies may lay on the path.

The soldiers who did not have good protection for their legs and feet knew that as soon as they step on a sharp rock they would be out of action. On the other hand, those who have proper shoes can go out to fight their enemies on their turf.

But what do the shoes in the panoply of God represent?

Paul teaches us that our feet should be “shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.”

Notice that the shoes that the apostle Paul is talking about represents not the Gospel of peace itself, but the preparation or the readiness of the Gospel of peace.

We are not shod with the gospel. The gospel is the good news or the Word of God, which is our belt and sword. What we are shod with is the preparation or the readiness that comes with the gospel.

Just as a army commander may tell his troops: “Keep your shoes on, and be ready to march in moment’s notice,” so the apostle is telling us to do the same: “Make sure you have your shoes on. Be ready to go with the Gospel at any moment.”

You can only be ready if you are wearing the shoes of the preparation of the Gospel. You can’t be ready with mere courage. You can’t be ready just because you have money and intellect. You can’t even be ready with mere intellectual knowledge without the joy and peace of the Gospel.
The Shoes facilitate movement. The shoes which are the readiness of the gospel of peace facilitate spiritual movement in the battles we have to fight.

But what a minute? Isn’t the battle a defensive one? Aren’t we supposed to hold our ground? Why are we called to be ready to go out?

Well, in answer, let’s consider the second point, which is…

2. Holding ground sometimes involve offensive operations

Take note that because the apostle Paul teaches us that this spiritual war that we have to fight is a defensive war, some commentators believe that Paul is not speaking about the spreading of the gospel.
They say that Paul is picturing the soldier as standing rather than advancing. So they suggest that that the shoes must represent the “believer’s stability or surefootedness from the gospel which gives him peace so he can stand in the battle.”

Well, I am not sure about that. I wonder how a soldier can fight a battle by standing without moving. And if you are standing only why do you need shoes?

No, no, it appears to me that when Paul teaches us to stand, he is not saying that we don’t move!
The fact is, in order to fight a defensive battle effectively, we must be ready to move when needed.
Why are so many Western countries fighting the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan? Rightly or wrongly, it is because they believe that in order to defend their country effectively, they sometimes need to go out on the offensive. The whole military doctrine of pre-emptive strikes is based on this idea. The point is: a ready offence is an essential part of successful defence.

I believe this is what Paul has in mind. I believe that what Paul is saying is: Let your feet be ready and prepared to move with the gospel of peace. Therefore put on your shoes with that readiness.

In this spiritual battle that we fight, we must never go on the offensive directly against Satan. But we must be ever ready with the Gospel to make advance. Christ has already conquered. In order that we may hold our ground, we must march on to occupy the conquered territory—even the hearts of those for whom Christ died. We must do so in the power and purpose of Christ and His Gospel.

The gospel shoes represent the readiness to move with the gospel of peace and to move with its power and purpose.

Paul, no doubt, has in mind the words of the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 52:7. He quotes this verse in Romans 10 and I am quite sure he has it in mind in our text too.

Turn to the verse and you will see what I mean.

“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth PEACE; that bringeth good TIDINGS OF GOOD, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth” (Isa 52:7)

Do you see the similarly? Isaiah is painting the picture of a bearer of good news running across the mountains to bring peace and good tidings.

In ancient days there were no telephone or internet. Messages had to be conveyed personally on foot. And if you are anticipating to receive a piece of new, whether good or bad, you may stand on a watchtower where you can see the messenger running with the news. Often, by the person chosen to bear the news and the way he runs, you would be able to tell if he is bearing good news. And if you think that the person is bearing good news, then what a beautiful sight it would be to see the feet of the runner making progress towards you.

Think of the days after David’s son Absalom was defeated. It was a piece of good news. But Joab had killed Absalom contrary to David’s instruction and so he knew that it was bad news for David. So when Joab wanted to send a messenger to inform David, he refused at first to send Ahimaaz. Why not? Because Ahimaaz knew that David would be very sadden by the news; and Joab did not want the people to think that something bad had happened. And so he chose someone neutral, who would not feel for David to bring the message. When this person brought the news, he would only think of the victory that was secured. He would not think of David’s sorrow, and so he would run as a bearer of good tidings.

Now, the apostle Paul, although, he was describing the armour of God would probably have in mind this idea of bearing good news too.

The gospel is literally ‘good news!’ The gospel of peace is the good news of peace! “And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace” he says (Eph 6:15) Can you see why I say Paul must have Isaiah 52:7 in mind?

And so we can be quite sure that when Paul speaks about being shod with the preparation of the gospel, he is telling us that we should all be ready to run with the gospel; to tell the good news; to publish peace that comes with salvation; and to say “Our God reigns!”

When we do so, we are not only going forward to occupy the territory that Christ has conquered but also fortify ourselves against the assaults of the Wicked One—in a kind of pre-emptive strike.

Yes, the apostle Paul is teaching us how we may stand against the wiles of the devil. It is a defensive battle that we have to fight. But in order to fight it effectively we must be ready always to make advance with the gospel of peace.

The apostle Peter says:

“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear” (1 Pet 3:15).

Now, it is instructive to note that the word translated ‘ready’ here has the same root as the word translated ‘preparation’ in our text. Preparation is readiness. Peter wants us to have the preparation of the gospel to be able to answer to every man who asks us of the hope that is in us.

This, beloved brethren, youth and children, is an important defence strategy. It is important for us to be always ready to give an answer to anyone who ask us whether they be asking out of genuine interest, or curiosity, or even challenge. If we can’t give an answer, then the devil will assault us with doubts until we find a satisfactory answer.

But more than that, being always prepared to speak the gospel is one of the best ways of experiencing the power of the gospel in our lives that will enable to stand and withstand the assaults of the devil.
Though we are not all called to preach the gospel, we are all called to be witnesses of the gospel. We are all called to gossip the gospel. We are all called to be like Andrew who when he found the Lord went to call his brother Peter. We must be like the Samaritan woman who when she found salvation in the Lord went and told the whole village about the Messiah.

If we would be like Andrew and the Samaritan woman, we shall ourselves be greatly strengthened in our fight against the Wicked One. For one of the best ways of experiencing the power and assurance of the gospel in your life is to give it away or to bring others to it.

The Lord says:

“Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it” (Lk 17:33).

The more you are ready to lay down your life and your pride to speak about the gospel, the more you will know of the power, joy, assurance and peace that comes with the gospel.

In dying you will live. In giving the gospel of peace, you shall receive peace yourself.

Put on there those shoes of the preparation of the gospel and be ready always not only to give an answer to those who ask you, but also to give out the gospel to those who are too blinded and hardened in their hearts to ask. The more you do so, the more you will see the reality of the spiritual war you are fighting. It is one thing to fight a war while sitting at the HQ Ops Room. It is quite another to go out to the battlefield. Armchair commander or soldier will never be able to fight a war effectively.

Likewise, a Christian soldier who does not go out to meet the enemy troops and try to lead then to the Lord, will never understand why it is so important to fight the good fight. Only those who go out with the shoes of the preparation of the gospel will know the awful reality and bitterness of being under the rule of the Price of Darkness.

Therefore holding grounds should also involve offensive operations, or we will loose the battle.
But remember thirdly,…


3. Only if you know the Gospel will you be ready

Paul teaches us to make sure that our feet are shod with the readiness of the Gospel of peace. But how?
Well, first of all, you must know the gospel well. Beloved brethren, teens and Children, if I were to ask you to tell me the gospel, are you able to?

Are you to tell your friends who is the Lord Jesus and why he lived and died? Only if you are able, can you say that you are wearing the shoes of the preparation of the Gospel.

So what is the Gospel? The Gospel, beloved brethren is that Christ lived, suffered, and died and rose again in order to reconcile God to sinners. Man is created in the image of God to enjoy fellowship with God his maker. But our first father Adam fell into sin and plunged all mankind into sin. The wages of sin is death. God as a just God must punish sin. But man cannot pay for his own sin. Only the Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man is able to do so. Therefore he lived a perfectly holy life and suffered not because he had any sin, but because he was taking the place of his people to suffer and to die for them.
Thanks be to God, his sacrifice was accepted. So he rose from the dead and ascended to heaven and is seated at the Right hand of the throne of God. All those for whom Christ died would believe in Him and would be given life eternal, abundant and free today and forever more.

This beloved brethren, teens and children is the long and short of the Gospel of peace.

See to it that you know the Gospel well. Indeed, don’t just think that you know the Gospel well, for you hear it so many time that it is easy for you to think that you know it and yet are not able to express it. Only if you are able to express it can you be said to have the shoes of the preparation of the Gospel of peace.

Therefore may I recommend a practice exercise, namely to try to explain with one another. One of you pretend to be an unbeliever, the other try to tell him the Gospel.

Tell him about the Lord Jesus. Tell him about how you found peace and salvation in Him.

Children, if you can’t tell the gospel, then you must ask your daddy to teach you how to tell the gospel.
Brethren, let is make sire that we know the Gospel. Parents let us make sure our children know the Gospel.

But it is not enough to know the Gospel and how to express, we must seek to make use of every opportunity that God providence’s afford for us. And so let us remember, fourthly:

4. Every providential contact is a Gospel opportunity 

Remember that Paul is teaching us to put on the shoes of the preparation of the Gospel of Peace. Now, to put on the shoes of the preparation of the Gospel, you must resolve not to be ashamed of the gospel.
I am not saying that whenever you talk to anyone you should force the gospel into the conversation. If you do, you will become very irritating and obnoxious to those who know you and no one will want to talk to you.

But we mind remind ourselves not to be ashamed to bring up the Gospel. In fact, we should pray for and seize every opportunity to gossip the gospel.

When you have the opportunity, give a tract. If you are sitting beside someone whether in the bus, or the MRT or in the plane, and you get talking remember to give a tract.

If you are doing business transaction with someone, and the opportunity arise, tell the person that you are a Christian, and invite him to come to church.

If your classmate asks you what you do on Sunday, tell him you are a Christian and you go to church. But do not stop there. Tell him that Sunday is the day that the Lord Jesus rose from the dead and you go to church to worship and serve a risen saviour.

If your colleague complain to you about how others misunderstand her and don’t like her, then tell her about the Lord was misunderstood. Tell her of how when He gave you faith you found freedom from bondage of wanting always to please man rather than to please God.

And what about facebooks and blogs? Many of us like to tell the world about ourselves. I am not so sure it is a good idea. But if you feel it necessary to expose your heart and life to the world, then please do not expose your sin, while hiding Christ. No, no; be not ashamed of Christ. Be ready to express thanksgiving to the Lord at every turn of providence in your life. Never, never be afraid to disclose that you are Christian! But please do not bring shame to Christ when you tell the world that you are a Christian.

Beloved brethren and youths, let us ask the Lord to open our ears and eyes to the opportunity to gossip the Gospel.

But finally, let us…

5. Serve the Lord by joining the Church in her Gospel Battles

The spiritual battle is not only the Christian’s battle, but the church’s battle. Therefore, I would suggest that if you would have your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel, then you must resolve to seize every opportunity to join the church when your brethren go out to bring the Gospel—whether at the neighbourhood, in the streets, in the hospitals or at the home of someone unable to come to church.
Some of us may be hindered from going out for one reason or another. You must not feel guilty about not being able to go. But let us remember to make it a point to keep those Lord’s Day afternoon free of other encumbrances and let us resolve to go.

And parents, forbid not your children from going. If they are going to fight the spiritual battle, they must early be exposed to the battle by going out into the field.

Remember that the Great Commission is not only the duty of the minister. And while not every one of us is called to preach the Gospel, everyone of us are joined together for the defence and confirmation and furtherance of the Gospel. We must support the ministry of the Gospel in prayer, and in participation when we go out.

How have you participated? Are your feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel?

Conclusion

But let us now conclude. Beloved brethren and children, let your feet be shod with the preparation and readiness of the Gospel of peace. Fight a defensive battle, but do not forget that in order that you can fight it effectively, you must also be prepared to take the offensive when the occasion calls for it.

Remember:
• Shoes facilitate Movement
• Holding ground sometimes involve offensive operations
• Only if you know the Gospel will you be ready
• Every providential contact is a Gospel opportunity
• Serve the Lord by joining the Church in her Gospel Battles.
May the Lord grant us his help not to put off our gospel-readiness shoes seeing that we are constantly in a battle. Amen.

Sermon by Pastor JJ Lim of Pilgrim Covenant Church, Singapore.
Sermon republished here by kind permission of Pastor JJ Lim of Pilgrim Covenant Church, Singapore.


Sermons on The Full Amour of God / Christian in the Complete Armour / Christians' Armour :

• The Full Amour of God Introduction 
• The Full Armour of God Part 1
• The Full Armour of God Part 2 
• The Full Armour of God Part 3
• The Full Armour of God Part 4 
• The Full Armour of God Part 5 
• The Full Armour of God Part 6

 

Sermon on The Christian Armor or The Full Armor of God Part 4 - SHIELD OF FAITH Ephesians 6:16

Sermon republished here by kind permission of Pastor JJ Lim of Pilgrim Covenant Church, Singapore.

Listen to the sermon at SermonAudio.com website:



Part 4 of The Christian Armor or The Full Armor of God    
Christian in the Complete Armour

SHIELD OF FAITH

Text: Ephesians 6:16

Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

Introduction

We are standing inside the armoury of the army of Christ last Friday.

Earlier on, we have been reminded to be brave; to take courage and to draw equipment and strength from the Lord as we enter into the fight.

We have also been briefed on what kind of war we are fighting and the strategy that we must adopt in the battle. It is a spiritual war. The enemies are unseen but real. We must fight a defensive battle. Christ our King has already conquered. We must stand and withstand as Satan the Prince of the enemy army schemes and plots to regain lost ground.

In order to fight this battle effectively, we must put on the full armour that God has provided for us.
We have considered the belt or girdle of truth. We saw that this belt symbolises everything to do with the truth.

Objectively it refers to the truth of the Gospel which we must hold on tenaciously. Subjectively, we must gird ourselves with honesty, faithfulness, and integrity. Unless we know the truth and are truthful, we shall easily fall prey to the temptation of the devil to fight on his side. For Satan is the father of lies.

So we must put on the belt of truth. We must girt our loins with truth.

We have also considered the breastplate of righteousness. We saw that the breastplate of righteousness has two parts. One part of it refers to Christ’s imputed righteousness, and the other part refers to Christ’s imparted righteousness. We must make sure that we are assured of our justification in Christ and we must live holy lives in response to the work of sanctification of the Spirit of Christ.

We considered how we must put on the shoes of the preparation or readiness of the Gospel of peace. Though the war that we fight is a defensive war, we must be ever ready to move out not only to answer the queries of anyone who ask us of a reason for our faith, but also to present the Gospel to the lost.

The Lord helping us, we must now consider the shield of faith, through these 6 brief points:
1. Shields provide the first level of defence for soldiers
2. Having saving faith is having a spiritual shield
3. In the Spiritual war, all wicked suggestions to sin are fiery darts.
4. Extent of Biblical Knowledge is the Size of Shield
5. Lift up your shield by countering every sinful suggestion with the Word.
6. Deal with the weakness of your shield by prayer.

1. Shields provide the first level of defence for soldiers

Most of us are familiar with what is a military shield. Though some of us may not have actually seen one in person, we would probably have seen in books, photographs and on TV.

Almost every ancient army made use of shields to protect against enemy sword, spears and arrows. Whether they were Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Chinese or Romans, the shield was essential equipment for every soldier.

Shields came in different shapes and sizes depending what is the perceived capability of the enemies. Some were round, others were rectangular and even triangular. Shields were made of different material. Some were made of metal, which offered a lot of protection but were very heavy and difficult to use. Others had wooden frame covered with leather. In some cases the shields were carried by an armour bearer such as during the time of King Saul and Goliath. But in most cases, the fighter held the shield himself.

The shield of the Roman soldier, that the apostle Paul as familiar with was huge but light enough for the soldier to carry into battle. The Greek word that Paul use to describe the shield in our text (thureos, qureov") is derived from the Greek word for door (thura, quvra), which suggests that it looks like a door.

It was about 2 and half feet wide by 4 feet tall. It had a wooden frame overlaid with linen and leather which was treated not only to repel the blunt force of enemy swords, spears and arrows, but to absorb and quench the fiery arrows or arrows whose head has been set on fire.

Shields, you see are always designed based on what is the perceived capability of the enemy. If your enemy is expected to come with sticks and stones, then a dustbin cover would be enough as a shield. But if your enemies are coming with arrows set on fire, you better have a shield that would not only block the arrows, but douse the fire!

This shield afforded the soldier a first level defence against the enemy. Though the soldier would wear helmet and breastplate, this shield was nevertheless very important, for without it, the other levels of protection would often be useless. Think of what happens if the shield does not stop a fiery arrow. Even if the breastplate prevents the soldier from being killed, he will be badly hurt.

This is why the apostle says, “Above all, taking the shield…” or “In addition to all these protection, take the shield…”

But what does this shield represent?

2. Having Saving Faith is having a Spiritual Shield

Paul says, “Above all, take the shield of faith.” The shield represents saving faith. Our shield is our faith. Our faith is our first level of defence against the assaults of the Wicked One.

What is faith? Faith is belief or believing. But it is not just a matter of believing that things will turn out well. An unbeliever may say: “I have faith. I believe that everything will work out well for me.” But this is an empty wish. The scripture does not speak of faith in such uncertain terms.

Biblical Faith or saving faith is a gift of God by which we are enabled to believe everything that God says in His word, especially what He says about Christ our Saviour. So saving faith is receiving and believing in everything that the Word of God reveals, especially what it reveals about the Lord Jesus Christ—that he is the eternal son of God, who took on human flesh, to live and suffer to die as the God-Man, to pay for the penalty due to the sin of his people.

Faith believes that he died for me and rose again from the dead.
Faith sees Christ to be altogether lovely and desirable.
Faith believes that the blood of Christ cleanses me from all my sin and the righteousness of Christ clothes me so that I am acceptable before the thrice-holy God.
By faith in Christ I know that I will no longer be condemned and that Satan and sin has no claim over me.
By faith I receive and use all the benefit of salvation that Christ has purchased for me.

Those who have this faith, have a shield which they can use against the fiery darts of the wicked one.

But what are fiery darts of the wicked one? For this consider our third point…

3. In the Spiritual War, all Wicked Suggestions are Fiery Darts.

Satan, the wicked one, may shoot all his fiery darts of temptation to try to slay us. His temptations are called darts, or arrows because they are very swift and they fly to us from the most unexpected direction. And is they hit us, they cause deep wounds and terrible injury to our soul, for they are not just darts, but fiery darts—not just arrows, but flaming arrows. By these violent temptations of Satan, the soul of his victims are set on fire of hell. These are the kind of arrows, Satan and his cohorts shoot at us.

But how does Satan do that? Well, in the first place, let us understand that Satan’s fiery darts are essentially wicked suggestions to sin against the Lord.

But how does Satan give us the suggestions? After all, he is a spiritual being. He does not speak to us with an audible voice. This prompts a question of whether Satan can actually plant or inject thoughts in our mind. This is a difficult question; and if you read our bulletin, you will realise that I answered this question twice over a span of a few years in a different way. Once I had said, no, and another time when I had forgotten about my first answer, I had said yes. Why this inconsistency? Well, if you read carefully what I had written, you will realise that it is not really an inconsistency. What it is, is that there a sense that Satan can plant thoughts and there is a sense in which Satan cannot inject thoughts into our minds. I was in the two articles emphasising on each of the two senses.

Well, without going into details, let me suggest that Satan cannot invade our minds to plant a thought that is foreign to us for which we can claim to be not our thought. However, it is possible for Satan to influence or somehow make a man do his bidding. We see, for example, that Satan was able to make the Chaldeans fall on the camel-herd of Job and to slay his servants (Job 1:17). How this was done, we are not told. But he could do it in one if three way.

First, since he can manipulate things in physical space, it is easy for him to so manipulate circumstances that he can achieve his objective. For example, what Satan was trying to do to Job was to manipulate the circumstance surrounding his life as well as his health in order to tempt him to blaspheme God. If Job were a lesser man, he could easily have succumbed under the intense pressure.

Secondly, Satan can influence or even control man by way of demon-possession. When the Lord asked the demoniac what was he name, his reply was: “My name is Legion: for we are many” (Mk 5:9). It is clear that the man was not in control of his faculties. The demons have taken control of him.

But thirdly, it seems that Satan can actually directly influence the thoughts and actions of man without taking full-control of his faculties by possession. Again examples of this abounds. We are told, for example, of how God granted permission to a demon or the devil himself to be a lying spirit in the mouths of the false prophets of Ahab in order to persuade him to go up to battle against the Syrians at Ramoth Gilead (1 Kgs 22:20-22). It is possible that the demons actually possessed the false prophets in this case.

But what about the cases involving believers? It is clear that the devil or his demons cannot possess believers for the Holy Spirit who indwells believers is greater than he who is of the word (1Jn 4:4).

Yet, we are told of how Satan was able to incite David to number Israel (1 Chr 21:1) and how Peter at one point became a mouth piece of Satan and was addressed as such, for the Lord said to Peter:
“Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men” (Mt 16:23).

And so if we ask the question: Can Satan plant thoughts in our mind, our answer has to be, yes and no. No, he cannot put a thought into our mind that is not our own. He cannot inject a thought into our mind like the way a computer hacker may plant a virus program into our computer.

However, when He is given permission by the LORD, he can manipulate circumstance around us to make us think in a particular way and to tempt us to sin against the Lord. This was the case when Satan wanted to tempt Job. This was also the case when Satan tempted David to number the troops (cf. 2 Sam 24:1).

Now, it is clear also that Satan does seek permission to sieve God’s children as wheat (Lk 22:31); and that Christ our Lord does have the prerogative intervene to prevent that from happening when He chooses to (Lk 22:32).

But the fact is that the Lord does sometimes allow Satan to tempt us. And Satan’s temptation will come like fiery darts, out of nowhere. This is why we need a spiritual shield.

When we are tempted to sin against the Lord, we must know that the devil and his cohorts are probably involved in trying to draw us away from the Lord.

Our faith is our shield against such arrows of Satan. “this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith” says the apostle John (1 Jn 5:4). Our faith can stop and extinguish every flaming arrows of Satan that are, as it were, shot at our direction.

But remember, as the shields of ancient soldiers differ in size and effectiveness, so our spiritual shield will differ in size and effectiveness.

So consider our 4th point, namely,…

4. Extent of Biblical Knowledge is the Size of Shield 

Faith we must remember is not some esoteric energy or force-field. Neither is faith an emotion or an emotional state. Faith is essentially assensus. Saving faith is assenting to all that is known in Scripture to be the word of God. This faith is not natural.

Someone who does not have saving faith may agree to various parts of the Scripture, but will never agree to everything in the Bible because spiritual things are spiritually discerned.

But those who have saving faith have been born again. They have their hearts changed, eyes open, ears unstop. They are enabled by the Holy Spirit to understand and to agree with everything that is revealed in the Bible. And by their new nature, they are enabled to live according to the truth of God’s word.
However, there is such a thing as great faith and small faith; and strong faith and weak faith. And this is not just about strength of belief, it is also about the content of belief.

Think of a person who does not know much of the Bible. He heard Christ preached and he was converted. But he had not read through the Bible. He knows and believes that he is a sinner in need of salvation. He knows and believes that Christ Jesus is the Son of God who came to die for sinner. He knows and believes that it is by grace through faith that he is justified before God. He knows and believe that he must walk in the way of the Lord and make use of the means of grace for his growth.
But that is about all he knows.

Now, will his shield of faith be very large? Probably not!

You see, the way that Satan tempts us to sin is by contradicting God’s Word. He told Eve, “Hath God said ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” God did not say that, but you see Satan is very cunning. He crafted his question in such a way as to cast doubt in the mind of Eve. And then when he had an opening, he went on a frontal assault: “Ye shall not surely die!” he said.

Now, that is how Satan tempts us. He insinuates suggestions in our mind, or he steers us to think of certain ideas by so orchestrating circumstances around us. With his limited power, he and his demons can easily discover what we don’t know and so tempt us to sin.

So you can imagine: If you don’t know much about, say, the character the God, His laws and His promises, then Satan and his cohorts would have a field day.

For example, if you don’t know that you should not bow down to any idol, the devil can easily tempt you into doing that and so cause you to sin against the Lord. Ignorance does not exonerate sin.

Likewise, if you do not know that God requires that all man and especially believers keep the Sabbath holy, the devil and his minions can easily make you a sabbath-breaker. And again, ignorance does not exonerate sin.

Again if you do not know that God is displeased with unequally yoked relationships, the devil can easily tempt you into entering one to your sorrow and pain. Even if you know, the Devil can tempt you to enter into such a relationship. What more if you are ignorant?

Again, if you don’t know that the Lord will not punish his saints for sin, because He has already punished His son, then the devil can easily make you despondent in your trials thinking that God is punishing you in his wrath.

Can you see how the extent of your biblical knowledge, or knowledge of the character, law and promise, is essentially the size of shield.

Therefore, beloved brethren, youths and children; build your shield by taking effort to hear the word of God, to learn doctrine and theology by reading, personal study and classes. “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” says the Psalmist (Ps 119:11).

Do not be contented with a small shield to protect yourself against the fiery darts of the wicked one. Remember that ignorance is not bliss in the spiritual realm.

But now remember the shield, does not automatically protect you. You must take the shield. “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.”

You must lift up your shield and hold it against the assaults of the wicked one.

How do you lift up your shield?

Consider our fifth point.…

5. Lift up your Shield by Countering Every Sinful Suggestion with the Word.

Your faith, which is founded upon proper knowledge, is your shield against the attacks of the wicked one.

You must lift up your shield to ward off the attacks of the wicked one. But faith is your shield, and faith cannot be lifted up like an object. In fact, faith is part of you. It is a quality and an exercise of your soul. So how does faith actually protect you in the spiritual battle?

Well, actually, your faith is a shield in that it enables you to see the attacks of your enemy and also to repel his attacks by neutralising his suggestions.

Faith is your spiritual eyes. It is the eyes of your soul. By faith you see through the temptation of the devil. Satan always have a good reason for you to do his bidding. By faith you are enabled to see that his arguments are spurious. By faith you are made to understand that the way of God is always best for you.

Satan may offer me a part time job that requires me to work at night and on the Lord’s Day. Faith gives me a ready reply to the temptation and enables me to see it as wrong for me to take it up and reminds me that if I seek first God’s kingdom he will see to it that what is right for me will be provided.
Satan offers me the world. By faith I see, not only that he cannot give; but even if he can give, what does it profit me, if I gain the whole world, but loose my soul?

Satan offers me pleasure, but he does not tell me the pain that follows. He will suggest to you, you people, that it is no harm indulging in a little sensual activity with a member of the opposition gender. By faith you are enabled to respond to the devil’s wicked suggestion with the 7th commandment of God.

Satan tries to persuade me that what he wants me to do is not really that sinful. Faith reminds me that God is holy.

Satan suggests to me to tell a lie to protect myself. Faith reminds me that God hates lies and that God will be pleased if tell the truth thought it is painful to do so.

Satan tells me that I have a right to be angry and to react angrily against my brother. Faith reminds me that I see the mote in my brother’s eye more clearly than I see the beam in my own eye.

Satan tells me that I have a good reason to do what he is suggesting; but he wants me to forget that God requires us to walk not in expediency but in obedience. He wants me to forget that God’s laws are absolute and applicable in all situations.

Faith enables me to see that the way of the Lord is the right way. Faith is the eyes of my soul.
Faith is also the hand of my soul by which I draw strength from Christ to fight the temptation to follow the way of Satan.

By faith I am assured that Christ is on my side, and I cannot go wrong if I refuse to listen to Satan but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

Faith is the shield with which we must quench the fiery darts of the devil.

Faith makes the arrows of the devil ineffectual. It prevents the arrows from hitting us, or at least from hurting us.

Beloved brethren and children, unless you take up the shield of faith you cannot fight against the wicked one. Without exercising faith you will be badly injured spiritually.

Therefore, Lift up the shield of faith with which you may quench the fiery darts of the devil. Lift it up by bringing to mind all that the Lord has taught you from His Word. When Satan tempts you sore, then cry out ‘I belong to the Lord’ and “We walk by faith and not by sight” (2 Cor 5:7).

But remember finally, Satan will take advantage of your doubts to hurt you. And doubt are weak parts of your shield. You can enlarge your shield and fill up the holes in your shield by diligent study of the Word. But how do you deal with the weakness of your shield that is due to doubt.

For that consider our final point, namely…

6. Deal with the Weakness of your Shield by Prayer.

As we mentioned: In some ways the size of our shield is determined by our knowledge of God’s Word especially as it pertains to the character and work of God, as well as the laws and promises of God.

However, our shield will only be as strong as our faith; and there is such a things strong faith and weak faith. But do we deal with weak faith?

We must, beloved brethren and children, deal with weak faith by prayer.

Remember the man whose son was possessed by a demon who met the Lord after he came down from the mount of transfiguration? This man had pleaded with the Lord to heal his son, and the Lord replied: “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth” (Mk 9:23).

How did the man reply: “Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief” he said with tears in his eyes (Mk 9:24). What a wonderful prayer. The Lord heard his prayer; and the Lord answered his plea on behalf of his son.

Again, consider the words of the Lord to Peter when he knew he knew that Peter would be tempted sore by the devil, Luke 22:31-32—

“31 And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: 32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren” (Lk 22:31-32)

Can you see the necessity of prayer when dealing with the weakness of our faith? Beloved brethren, if you would have a strong shield to defend against the fiery darts of the wicked one, you must pray. Let us not forget to pray that the Lord will strengthen us in the inner man, and let us pray for one another that our faith fail not. Let us pray for our children too that the Lord will not only grant them increase in knowledge, but increase in faith.

Conclusion

Beloved brethren, teens and children, take up the shield of faith. Satan will continue to shoot his fiery darts at you. But you must believe that you are Christ’s and that the way of Christ is the best way.

Do not allow Satan to tempt you to sin against God. Let your shield of faith extinguish the flames of Satan’s arrows. Remember:

1. Shields provide the first level of defence for soldiers. Without a shield you will be easily be injured even if you are wearing other parts of your armour.
2. Having saving faith is having a spiritual shield. Your God-given faith is your shield against the attacks of the wicked one. Do not neglect the importance of your faith.
3. In the Spiritual war, all wicked suggestions to sin are fiery darts. The devil may not be able inject foreign thoughts into your mind, but he and his minions are perfectly capable of steering your thought by external circumstances and so making wicked suggestions to you to sin.
4. Extent of Biblical Knowledge is the Size of Shield. Faith is not a feeling or an esoteric force field. The content of faith is knowledge of the world of God assented to. The more you know of the truth of God’s word, the bigger will be your shield. Therefore put effort to listening and studying the word of God.
5. Lift up your shield by countering every sinful suggestion with the Word. When you encounter temptation, remember to bring to mind the Scriptures to fight against the temptations.
6. Deal with the weakness of your shield by prayer. Remember to pray that your faith and the faith of your brethren may be strengthened.

Our faith may be of different shape and sizes, as shields can be of different shape and sizes. But let us remember make use of constantly.

[Take] the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
Amen.

Sermon by Pastor JJ Lim of Pilgrim Covenant Church, Singapore.
Sermon republished here by kind permission of Pastor JJ Lim of Pilgrim Covenant Church, Singapore. 

Sermons on The Full Amour of God / Christian in the Complete Armour / Christians' Amour :

• The Full Amour of God Introduction 
• The Full Armour of God Part 1
• The Full Armour of God Part 2 
• The Full Armour of God Part 3
• The Full Armour of God Part 4 
• The Full Armour of God Part 5 
• The Full Armour of God Part 6