The Christian defense system
Ephesians 6:13-17
Introduction: If you have been listening to the world news lately you have heard about our nation changing our strategy for missile defense systems used to protect our country. There has been a big debate about how this will affect our security as a nation. Do you know that God has provided you with a Christian defense system? If were not careful we can compromise it and reduce its ability to keep us safe from our old enemy the devil. Look with me this morning as we examine “The Christian defense system.”
Eph 6:13
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.
Paul tells us to do everything we can to stand. Now Paul isn’t talking about our individual ability, no, he is talking about being the Christian God wants us to be. If we are saved by the blood of Jesus we are supposed to be living like it, no like the world.
We talk about the Christian life, we sing about it, we preach about it but how often do we stand for it.
Taking a stand means we roll up our sleeves and get our hands dirty. I know that’s not popular but that’s what the word of God tells us to do. We are to fight against perversion, pornography, abortion, drugs, alcohol, we are to fight against the unseen spirits that exploit mans fallen nature, mans passions, mans lusts, and the devil who devises human error.
Eph 6:14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about
with truth,…
The girdle held in place protection for the
lower organs of the body from these lower organs come mans procreative power.
What we sow in life doesn’t only manifest itself in our offspring,
it also manifests itself through our influence. The truth isn’t a matter of
choice, opinion or relative circumstance. We must be sure we sow the seed of
God’s truth, absolute truth.
The devil is the father of lies, sowing
deception, a sugar coated truth. We can be sincere and still not be truthful, truth is the girdle that protects the spiritual
procreative power of God.
Eph 6:14 …and having on the breastplate of
righteousness;
Just as the girdle protected a soldiers
lower organs, the breastplate protected the upper organs, the heart and lungs. Pro 4:23 tells us “Keep thy heart
with all diligence; for out of it are
the issues of life.”
The word righteousness is a key word in our
text, it tells us that God is righteous, perfect and without sin, it is
impossible for Him to do anything wrong. You and I do not have that ability we
are sinners by birth and by choice. We cannot imitate Gods righteousness,
however because of Jesus Christ we can have it imputed to us through
regeneration. Every born again Christian has the Holy Spirit to live within us
and direct the affairs of our life, reproducing Christ’s righteousness in and
through our lives.
Eph 6:15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the
gospel of peace;
Paul tells us to go prepared with the gospel. If we are to go that means we are supposed to be sent. What I am saying is we don’t decide where to go, God does. When we go on our own we set ourselves up for failure, every time, and you can count on it.
How many people in this county have never heard the gospel? I bet there are more than we care to discuss, it would shame us to know the real number. Why don’t they know, because the church doesn’t take it to them? Why not? Because were not prepared. I’m not talking about using a big bible to beat someone into guilty submission, no, I’m talking about sharing the gospel with others seeing the Holy Spirit work in their life convict them and lead them to a soul saving experience through Jesus Christ.
We prepare ourselves financially, physically, materialistically, but the Christian too often fails to prepare themselves spiritually concerning their knowledge of the word of God. If we take care of what God wants, God will take care of what we need, He has promised that.
Eph 6:16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith
ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
The soldiers of Paul’s day used two types of shields, a small round one for self defense and hand to hand combat and a large one that would hide their entire body and when placed beside another one a literal wall could be formed for the soldiers to use for protection.
Christians have a similar type of shield one that protects us entirely. It is called faith. I’m not talking about head knowledge; I’m talking about knowing that whatever comes your way God is bigger than any problem we face. Not only should we know it and believe it we should live it.
The devil is a master manipulator he has proven it through Adam and Eve and he has no fear for God, else he would not have tried to do the same to Jesus the son of God.
When hell comes to camp in your back yard are you going to have faith to fight it off?
Eph 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation,…
Our head is where our intellectual power are
stored, or at least for most people. God created humans to think and
communicate through music, math, physics, philosophy, the arts and many other
ways. The beasts of earth do not have this ability. Our mind must be protected
at all cost.
Given the state of affairs our world is in
it is obvious to me that too many people have removed their helmet.
Without Godly protection from salvation
offered only through the blood of Jesus Christ we are intellectually vulnerable
to attacks from the devil. Everything from temptations, to possession and
affliction threaten our society today.
Too often instead of the church transforming
the world, the church is conforming to the world in order to make themselves more acceptable. Remember we must take the gospel
message into the world, not change the message to conform to the world.
Eph 6:17 …and the sword of the Spirit, which is the
word of God:
Until now we have covered the defense of a
Christian, now we are going to look at what God has given the Christian for
offense.
We have His word, the Bible, the inerrant,
infallible, inspired word of God.
It is not just the best answer for false
religions, cults, the occult, secular humanism and the new age movement, it’s
the only answer.
Just like any weapon if we don’t learn to
use it our skills will become rusty and we will be vulnerable to the attacks of
the enemy.
Illustration: This year I have resumed
hunting and fishing after being away from it for some time. I was surprised at
how rusty my skills had become. I had not used them in a while and I found
myself making rookie mistakes. That’s what will happen with anything, including
our ability to use the word of God if we don’t keep our skills sharp.
Conclusion: So how is your Christian defense
system this morning? It’s important that you be honest with yourself. I hope it
is in good working order, everything is up to date and in its proper place. I
hope you’re prayed up, studied up and living up to the standard God has given
in His word. If not you can make changes before you leave today, only you and
God know for sure? Close as the Lord leads.