MEMORY VERSES: Ephesians 6:10-20
2.
We stand in God’s power; the believer’s armor is provided
by God (“the armor of God,” Eph. 6:11). We don’t stand in our own
power. We have the victory; we don’t
have to be afraid of the devil, but we have to stand against him and be on
guard.
3. Though the armor is available, we must put it on and learn how to use it.
The loins girt about with truth (Eph. 6:14)
1.
The loins must be protected in battle, because if you
are wounded in the loins you cannot continue to fight.
2.
The protection is truth. This refers to truthfulness,
honesty. God is a God of truth, and His people must be truthful people. In
contrast, the Cretians were liars (Titus 1:12-13). That was their reputation!
But this should never be true for the child of God.
3. Lying is of the devil (John 8:44) and it is of the old sinful
nature (Eph. 4:22-
25). Lying is of darkness; it is of this world; we must put it off and put on the new man, which is Christ.
4. There are many reasons why people lie.
a.
Lying is often caused by fear. It was fear that
motivated Abraham to lie
about his wife when he was in Egypt (Gen.
12:11-13). Peter denied
Jesus out of fear of man (Lk.
22:55-60). The Bible says the fear of man brings a snare (Prov. 29:25),
b.
Lying is often caused by hatred (Prov. 26:28). People tell lies about others to hurt them. This is why the devil
told lies to Eve. This is the motive behind spreading false rumors. In the 1980s the head of the Bible Society
in Nepal sent out a letter to
the churches claiming that I had burned Bibles, but it was a complete lie. He
did that because he wanted to force me to stop preaching and to leave the country.
Hindus tell lies about Christians to hurt the cause of Christ. For example, some Hindus in Nepal say that Christians must be baptized naked
in cow’s blood!
c.
Lying is caused by covetousness (Prov. 20:14;
21:6). People lie when they want to buy or sell. They also lie to gain position
and power, such as in politics.
d.
Lying is caused by selfishness and pride. It’s
often inconvenient in this world to speak the truth. This is why Ananias
and Sapphira lied in Acts 5.
They had pretended to be more spiritual than they were, and they lied in an
attempt to hide their selfishness.
5.
Lies destroy the believer’s spiritual
armor and allow
the devil to have an inroad into his life.
The breastplate of righteousness (Eph. 6:14)
1.
The breastplate covers the heart and is a very
important part of the soldier’s armor.
2.
The protection is righteous living. This is described
in Ephesians 4-6: putting away anger (4:26), not stealing (4:28), working and
giving to help others (4:28), pure speech (4:29-31; 5:4), being kind and
forgiving (4:32), putting away fornication and uncleanness (5:3), putting away covetousness
(5:3), having no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness
(5:11), redeeming the time
(5:16), being a submissive wife (5:22), being a loving husband (5:25), being an
obedient child (6:1), being an engaged, compassionate, and wise father (6:4), being a diligent
servant (6:5-8), being a just master (6:9).
Feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace (Eph. 6:15)
1. The
believer is to be moving forward into the enemy’s territory. We are not to be on the defense, hiding behind the castle
walls.
2. We move
into the devil’s territory by proclaiming the gospel. This is the great light that moves back the darkness.
This is what Jesus commanded
(Mark 16:15). Five times
the commandment to preach the gospel throughout the world is repeated
in the New Testament (Matthew
28; Mark 16; Luke 24; John 20; Acts 1).
3.
Preaching the gospel requires preparation. The
believer must learn how to preach the gospel to different types of people. He
must learn how to deal with sinners’ arguments. This reminds us that each
church is to be a training center to prepare soldiers for the warfare.
4. Those who
are not busy getting out the gospel do not have protection from the devil,
because they are living in disobedience.
The shield of faith (Eph. 6:17)
1. It is a shield of faith.
The devil attacks our faith with darts of unbelief. The darts are fiery, meaning they are cruel, hurtful, strong,
persistent. The devil attacks the
believer’s faith in God. He attacks
God’s character, as he did with Eve. He wants to convince the believer that
God doesn’t love him, that God will cast him away, that God won’t forgive him, that God won’t answer his prayers,
that God isn’t faithful, that God’s promises aren’t true, that it
is not possible to please God and live the Christian life, that God is
unreasonable, that He is a bully, that God just wants to give us trouble. In
his autobiography, John Bunyan, the author of Pilgrim’s Progress, described his terrible battle with the devil’s
darts of unbelief when he was a young Christian. The devil also attacks
God’s Word, just as he did with Eve in the Garden of Eden.
The devil attacks with fiery darts of temptation (1 Chron. 21:1; Acts 5:3).
The devil attacks with fiery darts of suspicion. He uses suspicion and slander to get us to think badly toward other people, even toward our own loving relatives and closest friends and most esteemed church leaders. We must remember that Satan is the “accuser of the brethren” (Rev. 12:10). The way of victory is to test suspicion with the truth. Don’t believe something without evidence that it is true, whether that thing is your own thought or something you hear or read. We also get victory over the devil’s fiery darts of suspicion by keeping our hearts tender and merciful toward others (2 Cor. 2:10-11).
Faith only comes by God’s Word (Rom. 10:17). This is why the believer must have an intimate relationship with the Bible, reading, studying, hearing, memorizing, meditating. The better you know the Bible, the better you can fight the devil’s darts of unbelief. This is how Jesus overcame the devil (Luke 4:1-12).
2.
It is a powerful shield. The shield of faith can
quench all of the devil’s fiery
darts. It is powerful because
it stands on God’s infallible Word (Rom. 10:17).
3.
The shield must be used. It must be “taken.” We are
not supposed to be standing still and hiding;
we are to move out into the devil’s territory
and do hand-to-hand combat
with his minions and win victories for Christ.
The helmet of salvation
(Eph. 6:17)
1.
The helmet is most important because it protects the
head or the mind. Professional snipers are trained to shoot for the head,
because it is the most effective point of attack.
2.
The helmet is the believer’s know-so salvation, and the devil’s
fiercest attack is aimed at
that point. He wants to make us doubt our salvation. “God does not love you; you are not secure in Christ;
you are worthless; God might cast you away
if you are not careful; God is tired of your sinning.” The teaching that the
born again believer can lose his salvation weakens the helmet. To put on his helmet properly, the believer must
understand his salvation. He must understand the great price that was paid to
assure that his salvation is full and free. He must understand that his
salvation is a gift, that it is by God’s grace. He must understand what it means to be born again
and must be sure that he is. The better the believer understands grace, faith,
gift, justification, propitiation, redemption, reconciliation, hope, the
stronger is his helmet. This is why we have dealt with these things in this
course.
The sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:17)
The sword of the Spirit is God’s Word, the Bible.
1. The Sword
is an offensive weapon. This again reminds us that we are to move forward against
the enemy rather than merely standing still and remaining
in a
defensive posture.
2.
The Sword must be sharp.
The Spirit of God gave a perfectly
sharp sword in the Masoretic Hebrew Old Testament and
Received Greek New Testament. We must have the sharpest possible translations
in our various tongues. A weak translation of the Bible is a sword but it is
dull and not as powerful and effective as it should be. In the English language the
sharpest Sword is the King James Bible,
which is translated from the right Hebrew and Greek texts and which is
translated literally and carefully and beautifully.
3. The Sword
must be skillfully used. Can you imagine trying to go out against a trained sword
fighter if you don’t know how to use a sword? You would be cut
to pieces. We must learn how to use the Word of God skillfully (2 Tim. 2:15; Heb. 5:12-14). We must remember that the Sword belongs to the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit Who enables
us to interpret the Scripture
aright. If we study the Bible
in our own ability we will not interpret it correctly. We must study the
Bible in fellowship with the Spirit and trust Him to lead us.
Praying (Eph. 6:18-20)
Prayer is an important part of our spiritual armor; it is the covering protection.
1. We must pray always. This means to pray throughout
the day.
2.
We must pray in
the Spirit. This means to be under the Spirit’s control, to follow His guidance, to not grieve Him.
3.
We must pray with
watching and intercession for others. This is an important part of
spiritual protection for ourselves and for others.
4. We must pray perseveringly, without
growing faint and quitting. This is one
of the most important principles of effective prayer.
5.
We must pray with plain requests
(Eph. 6:19). Intercessory prayer asks for specific things.
REVIEW QUESTIONS ON THE ARMOR OF GOD
1. Why is the armor called "the
armor of God"?
2.
What protects the believer's loins?
3.
What people are called liars in the Bible?
4.
Who is the father of lies?
5. What are four reasons why people lie?
6.
What verse says the fear of man brings a snare?
7.
What verse says a lying tongue hates those who are afflicted
by it?
8. What did God do to Ananias and Sapphira for lying?
9.
What protects the believer's heart?
10. What are
some of the ways of righteous living described in the epistle of Ephesians?
11. What are the believer's spiritual shoes?
12.
How many times is the commandment to preach the gospel to all the world
repeated in the New Testament?
13. What is the believer's shield against the devil's fiery darts?
14.
What are the devil's fiery darts?
15. Where does faith come from?
16. What were the two types of shields that the Roman soldiers used?
17. What is the believer's helmet?
18. How does the believer
put on this helmet?
19. What is the Sword of the Spirit?
20. What verses
instructs the believer to study to show himself approved to God, rightly
dividing the Word of truth?
21. How can we rightly
interpret the Bible?
22. What are the five lessons about prayer in Ephesians 6:18-20?
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