Sunday, August 26, 2012

The Whole Armor of God


From today's reading: Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Ephesians 6:11

The following is a portion of a sermon I preached at Redeemer 6 years ago.

Paul tells us to be strong in the Lord and to pray at all times.  He tells us to be aware that things are going to happen to us that are going to try to draw us away from the Lord.  He says to put on the whole armor of God.  

Paul had been in prison when he wrote this and he had watched the soldiers put on their armor day after day and he thought of a way to use that to teach others how to do battle with these powers that seem to try to drag us down, and to be able to keep the faith.  He says, “dress yourself as a soldier dresses for battle.   Put on the belt of truth.”  You’ve heard the saying, ‘the truth shall set you free’ – if you keep the truth before you, then you won’t be distracted by lies and distortions others tell you.  

Next, you put on the breastplate of righteousness – the knowledge that you are of God, made in his image and you have chosen – made the decision to follow Jesus.  And that doesn’t change regardless of anything you do or that happens to you.  

Third, you put on the shoes of peace, that wherever you walk you strive to bring peace, not strife.  It’s not just proclaiming the gospel of peace, but it’s conducting your life in such a way that you demonstrate peaceful ways of co-existing with those around you.

Fourth, you must take of the shield of faith, that piece of armor that catches the darts and arrows that the enemy (those around you) try to throw (shoot) at you to distract you from the task at hand or to throw you off the course you have set for yourself.

Next you take up the helmet of salvation.  That helmet is Jesus Christ.   Jesus Christ loved you so much that he gave his life for you – regardless of who you are or what you have done.  God loved you so much that he gave his only begotten son, so that everyone who believes in him might have everlasting life.  We wear that helmet in the assurance of eternal life.

And the last thing you do is take up the sword of the Spirit – which is the word of God – given to us and it is our only offensive weapon.  When you are not sure of what to say, fall back on the word of God – scripture is a great defense.  But remember that you are not to beat people up with it – or drive off those who need desperately to hear what God has to say to them.

We are all sinners – every one of us – and we all need to hear the word of God.  There are some people here who want to run off those they feel are unworthy.  When we do that we may very well be cutting off their path to salvation – and we don’t have the right to deny anyone access to God’s saving grace.  We don’t come to church as full-blown Christians – we come to church as seekers, seeking where God’s grace can touch our lives and bring us into communion.

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