Sermon Date: 11th March 2018
The Armour of God – Ephesians 6:10-18
Main Teaching Point:
The Christian is to put on the full armour of God to engage in spiritual warfare.
To stand in spiritual warfare Christians must: appreciate that it is real; know ourselves; know our enemy; know our enemy’s methods … and put on the full armour of God.
A Command Repeated (6:11a, 13)
In spiritual warfare Christians cannot engage in their own strength. The Devil would crush us every time! Christians are to be strong in the Lord
and in His mighty power
[the same Greek words Paul used in 1:19, translated his mighty strength, in relation to God raising Jesus from the dead]. How? By putting on the full armour of God (6:11a). This is so important that the Apostle repeats the command (6:13a).
A General Consideration of the Armour of God
The Holy Spirit may have used at least two means to fire Paul’s imagination:
• his familiarity with Roman soldiers. He may have been chained to one.
• his knowledge of references in the Hebrew Scriptures to God as a Warrior, dressed in armour, and fighting for His people (Isaiah 59:15b-18).
Key Introductory Points about the Armour of God
1. The Christian must
put on the full armour
of God.
… of God
may mean: the armour belonging
to God, supplied by
God, or that is
God. Regardless, the Christian’s Father cares for His children and supplies clothing for spiritual warfare.
Never assume, or boast, that you will never commit a certain sin (Proverbs 16:18; Matthew 26:31-33). We must engage in warfare clothed in the armour of God, not the armour of self-reliance!
2. The Christian must
put on the full armour of God.
The armour must be put on and kept on. God provides it for His children; He does not put it on for you! You eat, sleep, work, and do recreation in it!
3. The Christian must put on the
full armour of God.
Do not leave a chink for the Devil to exploit.
4. The Christian must put on full armour of God in the correct order.
The Biblical order is intentional, significant, logical.
5. The six pieces of armour can be categorised.
Three items fitted to the body [belt, breastplate, boots] and three taken up [shield, helmet, sword].
6. The Christian must always
be clothed in the armour of God.
The battle has no cease-fire. The Christian is always a soldier, always on duty.
Standing in the Day of Evil (6:13b)
What is the day of evil? The view commending itself is that it refers, generally, to the time between Jesus’ first and second comings, and specifically, to days in Christians’ lives when Satanic forces attack. On such days Christians can stand firm if wearing the armour of God. As he did with the Lord, the Devil may attack, then leave until an opportune time (Luke 4:13).
Conclusion – Wear the Armour!
In Heaven we shall appear not in armour but in robes of glory; but here they [armour of God] are to be worn night and day; we must walk, work and sleep in them, or else we are not true soldiers of Christ.
[William Gurnall]. We could add and neither will we be victorious in spiritual conflict.
© Dr Bill Parker, 2018