Wednesday Preverb – 21August2024 – Ephesians 6:10-20

 

 

 

Lectionary Notes

 

Armor Up and Stand Firm!

Ephesians 6:10-20  NIV

 

Any great war movie contains a certain indispensable feature. It is the rousing speech delivered prior to a pivotal battle that is set to take place. Think of movies like “Patton,” “Braveheart,” and “300.” The generals of these armies all gave impassioned speeches with well-crafted words meant to inspire loyalty and courage in their troops. After hearing these speeches, the armies were inspired, focused, and prepared for the imminent battle.

In the movie, Independence Day, a speech was given prior to a battle that did not take place with an ordinary army. And the stakes were no less than the very survival of our species. Their enemies were, in fact, not of this world.

In our pericope today, we will be looking at the most important and inspiring battle speech contained in the Bible. And no, oddly enough, it is not found in the Old Testament. It was written by the apostle Paul, while being chained to a Roman soldier as he was being closely guarded under house arrest.¹

 

The letter was transcribed and was to be delivered to and read by the Ephesian church. It was a battle cry that was meant to inspire courage and loyalty to Christ against another enemy, who is also not of this world. Though these words were penned nearly two thousand years ago, it is a timely masterpiece of our faith meant to ready the soldiers of Christ.

Read, or have someone read, Ephesians 6:10-20.

What we just read was Paul’s crescendo to his letter to the church in Ephesus. His letter covered a lot of ground. He stressed God’s plan of redemption through Christ. He discussed the importance of unity amongst believers. He unpacked the mystery of Christ as the inclusion of the Gentiles. And he thoroughly covered how to walk in love, and what living a holy life in various relationships should look like.

Everything has been said. What more can Paul offer at this point? Chances are, he may never see the brethren again. He may never be able to write them again. Paul wants to inspire them to fight the good fight just as he had. And what he finishes with becomes the most memorable and most quoted part of the entire letter.

At the start of his speech, he wants to make one thing abundantly clear — that we are to be strong, but in Jesus, not in ourselves.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. (Ephesians 6:10 NIV)

The only legitimate strength we are able to exhibit is that which comes from God. It is not something that we can muster up. It is not something that we can enforce by our physical power or knowledge or good intentions. Our strength is our reliance on our Savior, Christ Jesus. This is not to be overlooked as it builds the foundation for the rest of this passage.

The armor of God that we are to put on has already been provided for us. The armor is his strength taking shape in its various forms in our spiritual lives. We do not create the armor; we simply put on what has already been freely given.

In case you haven’t figured it out yet, our lives in Christ don’t always resemble a leisurely stroll on a sunny day in the park. Or at the beach, if you prefer. Paul makes it clear that there is an enemy intent on destroying us. There will be battles and struggles in our lives. There will be many things that we will have to contend with and resist. This is our reality.

Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. (Ephesians 6:11-13 NIV)

From this passage, it should be clear that what we are up against is not something that our physical eyes can necessarily see. So, when we get annoyed by the greater world around us and how things are being run, just know that there is something deeper going on. There are spiritual realities that do not have the things of God in mind.

We might be tempted to think that the bane of our existence is that annoying co-worker, inconsiderate neighbor, or a nagging spouse. But once again, they are not the ones that we are ultimately fighting against. Remember, they are fighting their own battles as well.

No matter who, or what, these forces are that oppose us, we are to consider that we have the very power of God on our side. We have the Holy Spirit that keeps us strong and confident. We are not in this alone. In our weakness, we find his strength.

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Ephesians 6:14-17 NIV)

In this section, Paul gives a vivid description of what the armor of God looks like. And who better to describe it to us than someone who was chained to a real live Roman soldier.

Paul symbolizes the attire of a Roman soldier to that of how a Christian should be equipped in the spiritual realm. The belt represents the truth of the gospel which upholds us. Our breastplate is the righteousness that we have received in Christ. The shoes represent the readiness with which we are to go and to proclaim the gospel. Our shield of protection is the faith of the Son of God. The helmet represents the knowledge of our salvation by grace. And the sword of the Spirit is the Word of God.

You could write an entire sermon on each of these individual pieces of our armor. For the sake of time, we are going to focus instead on how a Roman soldier would have conducted himself in battle. Since Paul has gone into detail regarding how that armor is used in our spiritual lives, it’s important to consider the other side to Paul’s symbolism to see if there are still some symbols that we have yet to explore in this passage.

The Romans were known for their disciplined and methodical fighting style. When they moved, they were shoulder to shoulder. Their steps were slow and sure. When their enemies’ arrows rained down upon them, their shields were long enough to cover not only themselves but the soldiers next to them. Other soldiers used shields to cover the top of their heads. They were fully encased from top to bottom and front to back. Not a single part of them was unprotected. They were virtually impenetrable.²

Hopefully, you were able to pick up the symbolism between the fighting style of the Roman soldiers and how we are to conduct our lives in the faith. As believers, we are to rely on one another. We are to be unified. We are to stick together. We are to be committed to each other.³ Although our faith stands individually (Romans 12:3), we are encouraged and emboldened when we observe and appreciate the faith of others.

A soldier who decided to go it alone and to fight the battle on his own individualistic terms was quickly cut down. The enemy wants to divide us and to get us to scatter and to convince us that we don’t need anyone else. When this thinking infects the body of Christ, we are easy pickings for the enemy of our souls. We are playing right into his schemes.

Standing firm, then, as Paul puts it, is not about a bunch of individual Christians all diving recklessly into our own skirmishes against the forces of evil. We are to come alongside each other. We are to see where our fellow soldiers have been weakened and find ways to support and shield them, to remind them of the armor that belongs to them. United we stand, divided we fall.

 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should. (Ephesians 6:18-20 NIV)

It’s interesting to note that while Paul goes into detail regarding our armor, he spends even more time talking about and concluding with the importance of prayer. Prayer becomes the punctuation mark to Paul’s impassioned battle speech.

Prayer is our lifeline to the Father. Although, we are never away from his presence, it is through prayer that we gain a greater sense of the mind and heart of Christ. Here we find expression to the very deepest parts of our being. In Psalm 84, King David writes,

How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of Hosts! My soul longs, indeed, it faints for the courts of the LORD. (Psalm 84:1,2a NIV)

We are to pray on all occasions and to continually bring our requests before God. The indication here is that prayer is something worth getting excited about. Our prayers are to be abundant, alive, and expectant. Paul mentions this earlier in this letter where he says,

In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him. (Ephesians 3:12 KJV)

In keeping with the idea of not just being individual, isolated soldiers, we are to pray for and with one another. Someone once said that we grow closer to those that we pray to, pray for, and pray with. So, there is great power in prayer as we approach our loving heavenly Father and agree together.

With thankfulness in our hearts, we trust that he causes us all to stand firm in the faith, fully equipped with the full armor of God. As we look to our right and to our left, we can be assured that we are not standing alone. There is an entire army standing with us. And this army of God will prevail, not by might nor by power, but by the Spirit of God. Brothers and sisters, let us armor up and let us stand firm together!

 

 

 

 

“We have to walk on a knife-edge in these matters; you must not become extreme on one side or the other. But you have to be watchful. And, of course, you can always tell by examining yourself whether your strength is increasing or declining.” (Lloyd-Jones)

5. (14-15) The spiritual armor to have.

Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

a. Stand therefore: We can only stand when we are equipped with the armor God has given us in Jesus Christ. Each aspect of this symbolic armor answers to a specific dynamic within the Christian life that enables us to stand against spiritual attack.

i. Paul wrote this while in the custody of Roman soldiers. It was easy for him to look at the equipment of his guards and see how God has equipped the believer.

ii. The order in which the pieces of armor are described is the order in which the soldier would normally put them on.

b. Having girded your waist with truth: Truth is symbolically represented as a belt which both protects our abdomen and gathers up our garments so that we can fight effectively.

i. Strictly, the belt is not part of the armor, but before the armor can be put on, the garments underneath must be gathered together.

ii. “The soldier might be furnished with every other part of his equipment, and yet, wanting the girdle, would neither be fully accoutered nor securely armed. His belt… was no mere adornment of the soldier, but an essential part of his equipment… it was of especial use in keeping other parts in place, and in securing the proper soldierly attitude and freedom of movement.” (Salmond)

iii. When a man sat down and was relaxed, he took off his belt. Putting on the belt prepared for action, it freed one for movement, and it put a soldier in a battle frame of mind. The same idea was communicated by Jesus in Luke 12:35-36.

iv. The belt of truth puts on the Biblical beliefs of the Christians as a whole, what other passages call the faith. Many people believe that the church will never go forward until it takes off this belt of truth, but that is completely wrong. This is part of the armor to have, which is a foundation to live upon all the time, our understanding of and confidence in the basic doctrines of the faith.

c. Having put on the breastplate of righteousness: Righteousness is represented as a breastplate which provides essential protection for the most vital organs. We can no sooner battle against spiritual enemies in our own righteousness than a soldier can effectively fight without his breastplate.

i. This is not our own earned righteousness, not a feeling of righteousness, but a righteousness received by faith in Jesus. It gives us a general sense of confidence, an awareness of our standing and position.

ii. “Thank God for experiences, but do not rely on them. You do not put on the ‘breastplate of experiences’, you put on the breastplate of ‘righteousness.’ ” (Lloyd-Jones)

iii. We are sometimes tempted to say to the devil, “Look at all I’ve done for the Lord.” But that is shaky ground, though sometimes it feels good. It is shaky because feelings and experiences change quickly. God’s righteousness isn’t. The breastplate of righteousness is your best defense against the sense of spiritual depression and gloom that comes against us.

d. Having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace: The preparation of the gospel is represented as the protective shoes (or sandals) worn by Roman soldiers. No one can fight effectively or effectively go about his business without this equipment.

i. Preparation is a word meaning “a prepared foundation.” The gospel provides the footing for everything we do. However powerful the rest of your body is, if you are wounded in your feet you are easy prey for the enemy.

ii. On the shoes: “Josephus described them as ‘shoes thickly studded with sharp nails’… so as to ensure a good grip. The military successes both of Alexander the Great and of Julius Caesar were due in large measure to their armies’ being well shod and thus able to undertake long marches at incredible speed over rough terrain.” (Wood)

iii. Paul had Isaiah 52:7 in mind when he refered to having shod your feet: How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”

iv. The idea of preparation is really readiness. We must be mobile, flexible, and ready with the truth. This is a place to have in the Christian life, to live in constant readiness and flexibility.

 

 

 

6. (16-18) The spiritual armor to take.

Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;

a. Above all: This really has the idea of “in addition to the previous,” and it applies to each of the three pieces of armor that follow. It isn’t the idea, these parts of the armor are more important than the others.

b. Taking the shield of faith: Ephesians 6:13-14 tells us of armor to have. Some of the armor we must wear all the time and have as a standing foundation. Therefore having comes first. We must be rooted in the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, and the “combat boots” of the gospel. Yet now Paul will deal with aspects of the armor we are to take at the necessary moments of spiritual warfare and opportunity.

c. Taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one: Faith is represented as a shield, protecting us from the fiery darts of the wicked one, those persistent efforts of demonic foes to weaken us through fear and unbelief.

i. The shield Paul describes is not the small round one, but the large, oblong shield that could protect the whole body. In ancient warfare, these fiery darts were launched in great numbers at the beginning of an attack. The idea was not only to injure the enemy, but to shoot at him at all sides with a massive number of arrows, and thus to confuse and panic the enemy.

ii. “Even when such a missile was caught by the shield and did not penetrate to the body, says Livy, it caused panic, because it was thrown when well alight and its motion through the air made it blaze most fiercely, so that the soldier was tempted to get rid of his burning shield and expose himself to the enemy’s spear-thrusts. But the shield of faith not only catches the incendiary devices but extinguishes them.” (Bruce)

iii. Thoughts, feelings, imaginations, fears, and lies – all of these can be hurled at us by Satan as fiery darts. Faith turns them back.

d. And take the helmet of salvation: In the ancient world this usually was a leather cap studded with metal for extra strength. Often some kind of plume or decoration was added, perhaps to identify the solider to his regiment. Salvation is pictured as this kind of helmet, protecting an essential part of the body. A soldier would be foolish to go into battle without his helmet.

i. 1 Thessalonians 5:8 speaks of the helmet of salvation in connection to the hope of salvation. The helmet of salvation protects us against discouragement, against the desire to give up, giving us hope not only in knowing that we are saved, but that we will be saved. It is the assurance that God will triumph.

ii. One of Satan’s most effective weapons against us is discouragement. When we are properly equipped with the helmet of salvation, it’s hard to stay discouraged.

e. The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: The idea is that the Spirit provides a sword for you, and that sword is the word of God. To effectively use the sword of the Spirit, we can’t regard the Bible as a book of magic charms or tie one around our neck the way that garlic is said to drive away vampires.

i. To effectively use the sword, we must regard it as the word of God – which is the word of God. If we are not confident in the inspiration of Scripture, that the sword really came from the Spirit, then we will not use it effectively at all.

ii. But we must also take the sword of the Spirit in the sense of depending that He helps us to use it. Not only did the Spirit give us the Scriptures, but also He makes them alive to us (or us alive to them), and He equips us with the right thrust of the sword at the right time.

iii. Think of a soldier or a gladiator in training, practicing sword thrusts and moves and positions. Now, he must practice them ahead of time and if he is a superior fighter and has a great fighting instinct, at the time of battle he will instantly recall which thrust, which position suits the precise moment. He will never be able to use the thrust in the fight if he has not first practiced it; but he still needs to make the move at the moment.

iv. Therefore, effectively using the sword takes practice. The great example of this was Jesus combating the temptation of Satan in the wilderness.

 

There is the belt of truth. It was the belt which girt in the soldier’s tunic and from which his sword hung and which gave him freedom of movement. Others may guess and grope; the Christian moves freely and quickly because he knows the truth.

There is the breastplate of righteousness. When a man is clothed in righteousness he is impregnable. Words are no defence against accusations but a good life is. Once a man accused Plato of certain crimes. “Well then,” said Plato, “we must live in such a way as to prove that his accusations are a lie.” The only way to meet the accusations against Christianity is to show how good a Christian can be.

There are the sandals. Sandals were the sign of one equipped and ready to move. The sign of the Christian is that he is cager to be on the way to share the gospel with others who have not heard it.

There is the shield. The word Paul uses is not that for the comparatively small round shield; it is that for the great oblong shield which the heavily armed warrior wore. One of the most dangerous weapons in ancient warfare was the fiery dart. It was a dart tipped with tow dipped in pitch. The pitch-soaked tow was set alight and the dart was thrown. The great oblong shield was made of two sections of wood, glued together. When the shield was presented to the dart, the dart sank into the wood and the flame was put out. Faith can deal with the darts of temptation. With Paul, faith is always complete trust in Christ. When we walk close with Christ, we are safe from temptation.

There is salvation for a helmet. Salvation is not something which looks back only. The salvation which is in Christ gives us forgiveness for the sins of the past and strength to conquer sin in the days to come.

There is the sword; and the sword is the word of God. The word of God is at once our weapon of defence against sin and our weapon of attack against the sins of the world. Cromwell’s Ironsides fought with a sword in one hand and a Bible in the other. We can never win God’s battles without God’s book.

 

18praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints — 19 and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.   

 

Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints; and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

a. Praying always with all prayer: The idea is all kinds of prayer or prayer upon prayer. We should use every kind of prayer we can think of. Group prayer, individual prayer, silent prayer, shouting prayer, walking prayer, kneeling prayer, eloquent prayer, groaning prayer, constant prayer, fervent prayer – just pray.

i. We can say that it is through prayer that spiritual strength and the armor of God go to work. In theory, the prayerless Christian can be strong and wearing all the armor; but never accomplishes anything because he fails to go into battle through prayer.

ii. Often we just don’t pray because we are simply overconfident in our own abilities. Winston Churchill said to Britain in the early days of the Second World War: “I must drop one word of caution, for next to cowardice and treachery, overconfidence leading to neglect and slothfulness, is the worst of wartime crimes.”

b. For all the saints: We can battle spiritually not only on our own behalf, but also on the behalf of others. The soldier isn’t only concerned for his or her own safety. He feels an instinct to protect and to battle on behalf of others.

c. And for me, that utterance may be given to me: After bringing up the idea that spiritual warfare can be waged on behalf of others, Paul asks his readers to pray for him.

d. Boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel: Paul could have asked prayer for many things, but he wanted his readers to pray for this. He probably had in mind his upcoming defense before Caesar.

i. We could imagine Paul asking for many things, such as relief from his imprisonment or for other comforts. But his heart and mind were fixed on his responsibility as an ambassador of the gospel.

e. That utterance may be given to me: The idea behind utterance is clear speaking. Added to boldly, Paul asked for prayer that he might proclaim the gospel both clearly and with a fearless power. It is easy to neglect one or the other.

f. I am an ambassador in chains: Of course, the ancient Greek word for chains meant a prisoner’s shackles. But it could also be used for the gold adornment worn around the neck and wrists of the wealthy and powerful. On special occasions, ambassadors wore such chains to show the riches, power, and dignity of the government they represented. Paul considers his prisoner’s chains to actually be the glorious adornment of an ambassador of Jesus Christ.

 

Finally, Paul comes to the greatest weapon of all–and that is prayer. We note three things that he says about prayer. (a) It must be constant. Our tendency is so often to pray only in the great crises of life; but it is from daily prayer that the Christian will find daily strength. (b) It must be intense. Limp prayer never got a man anywhere. Prayer demands the concentration of every faculty upon God. (c) It must be unselfish. The Jews had a saying, “Let a man unite himself with the community in his prayers.” I think that often our prayers are too much for ourselves and too little for others. We must learn to pray as much for others and with others as for ourselves.

Finally, Paul asks for the prayers of his friends for himself. And he asks not for comfort or for peace but that he may yet be allowed to proclaim God’s secret, that his love is for all men. We do well to remember that ever Christian leader and every Christian preacher needs his people to uphold his hands in prayer

 

Paul suddenly sees a picture ready-made. All this time he was chained by the wrist to a Roman soldier. Night and day a soldier was there to ensure that he would not escape. Paul was literally an envoy in a chain. Now he was the kind of man who could get alongside anyone; and beyond doubt he had talked often to the soldiers who were compelled to be so near him. As he writes, the soldier’s armour suggests a picture to him. The Christian too has his armour; and part by part Paul takes the armour of the Roman soldier and translates it into Christian terms.

 

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