Awake, Sleeper! Pt 3

I am well aware that I have jumped
the gun on the spring collection. My tie is a full four days early. I think we have four more days
of winter. It is my attempt to nudge winter along. If you would take your Bibles
and turn to the book of Romans. Romans chapter 13. Romans chapter
13. We find ourselves in the midst
of this great section, which we have been considering now
for several weeks. Paul had begun back in chapter
12 to talk about life with others, how are we as Christians to interact
with others? He took off the subject of dealing
with other Christians in verses nine through 13, those who are
antagonistic in verse 14, those who are downtrodden versus 15
and 16 beginning in 17. He deals with those who are contrary,
those who would persecute us for our faith. Then in chapter
13, still continuing with the theme of life with others, he
takes on civil government, the first seven verses. And then
throws the doors open wide to deal with everyone in verse six.
Pardon me, in verse eight of chapter 13. And in verse eight,
when he begins that section of wrapping up, essentially. Putting an umbrella over all
people that that’s how we’re supposed to behave. Oh, nothing
to anyone except to love one another. Paul does so without
any other motivation. But that’s what he begins to
provide in verses 11 through 14. He gives us the motivation. Paul looked out on the day in
which he lived. Paul recognized the crucial hour
in which he lived. Paul recognized that there was
a peaceful season in which he found himself. A season of gospel
opportunity, a season of relative peace. But Paul knew that that
wasn’t going to last forever. Paul didn’t know the extent of
the persecutions that would break out upon the church, but he certainly
knew. He certainly knew that it wouldn’t
last forever, this peace. And Paul uses this to urge the
Roman church, the Christians there in the midst of this exceedingly
secular and heathen society, he urges them in the midst of
that, that because of this fleeting hour in which they too live,
that we must be busy. That’s the motivation that he
provides in dealing with other people, Christians and otherwise. If you would pick up with me
in verse 11. where Paul writes, and this do
knowing the time that it is already the hour for you to awaken from
sleep. For now, salvation is nearer
to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone and
the day is at hand. Let us therefore lay aside the
deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave
properly as in the day, not carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual
promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. But put
on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh
in regard to its lusts. Paul uses this to draw attention
to the urgency for every Christian to get on with the Christians. One great business and that is
living as a Christian in the midst of a darkened world. I’ve
already stated that I believe that there are four urgencies
here in this passage that are prompted by the hour at hand.
Paul points to that hour. He points to the fleeting nature
of the time in which we live. We’ve already looked at a few
of them. Back in verse 11, we noted that the hour at hand motivates
our very duty to others, that’s the purpose of this section,
and it encompasses everything that Paul’s talked about all
the way back to chapter 12, verse 9. It motivates our duty to others. Look at verse 11, this do knowing
the time that were this pointing back To everything that Paul
had previously spoken of, it’s a motive. It’s an incentive to
moral earnestness, it’s an incentive to live as we ought to live with
whoever we come across. There are very directions for
each group. Paul points to that time and
he says, given the fact that we know the brevity of time,
even the Psalms teach us to number our days were never promised
in any sector of Scripture. to have. Perpetuity of life and
given our knowledge of the brevity of time, whether it’s our own
life personally or the nearness of the Lord’s return, either
one either way. Given our knowledge of the brevity
of time. We are to use that as motivation
all the more to fulfill our obligations to others, not only in the church,
but also outside of it. Look at what Paul uses as a device,
I suggested it was an alarm clock that didn’t go off. We’ve all
known that experience. Paul says this, do knowing the
time that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep,
you’re already late. We’ve all known that sentiment.
There’s no time for leisurely preparation, there’s no time
for moral inattention, as one pointed to, there’s no time to
be slothful. This do knowing the time that
it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep. Why for
now at this moment, no matter how old you are, no matter how
long you’ve walked with Christ, no matter how long. You’ve been
a Christian. Now, salvation is nearer to us
than when we believe. That season of opportunity is
already shorter than when you first placed your faith in Christ.
When you first placed your faith in Christ, you were eager to
walk with him and serve him and. Do. Everything that you would
do to the glory of God. And those seasons of opportunity,
they’re fleeting for every Christian. No matter what time it is for
you, it’s shorter now than when you believe that’s Paul’s point. We spoke about that salvation
that he mentions. He seems to point to it as future,
and it’s taken that way in a variety of different senses, even in
in and throughout Scripture. There’s a sense in which we’ve
been saved. We looked at that. There’s a sense in which we’re
in the process of being saved. And there’s a sense in which
we won’t know and recognize and experience and enjoy the full
salvation of God until glory. There’s a sense in which we will
be safe. Well, Paul uses all that to point that in view of
the coming of the Lord, in view of the brevity of life, we are
stirred and exhorted to all avoidance of spiritual indifference and
slothfulness and foolishness. So that we may enjoy the salvation
that God has for us that when we are glorified with Christ. We look back with no regrets.
Paul pointed to a second motivation that we found in verse 12. I
said there were four urgencies prompted by the hour at hand.
Not only does the hour at hand motivate our very duty to others,
but it is it admonishes us to spiritual readiness. Look at
verse 12. The night is almost gone. And the day is at hand. Let us,
therefore, lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor
of light. Now, throughout this whole section,
verses 11 through 14, Paul kind of bounces back and forth between
these metaphors of night and day and darkness and light, and
he does that throughout his epistles. He uses these Metaphors frequently
in his letters. We talked about that last week.
The interesting thing is. There are a lot of people that
saw this as a good thing. The night is almost gone. The day is at hand and it is
a good and glorious thing. It is and will be a glorious
thing when Christ returns. The death of any saint. is precious
in God’s sight and in that sense it’s a good thing. Paul wasn’t
afraid of it himself. Philippians chapter one. But
there is also a sense in which and this is the very purpose
for which Paul is using. There is a very real sense that
that statement the night is almost gone. It must be greeted with
a touch of sadness. It’s the night of opportunity. It’s the opportunity that we
have to interact, it’s the opportunity we have to promote and preach
the gospel, it’s the opportunity that others have to repent. We
looked at that and it literally says the night has progressed,
it’s it’s closer now than it was to dawn. We might even refer
to it as twilight. You can’t quite see any color
differentiation on the horizon, but you know the sun is coming.
You know the dawn is coming. The watch may say that the morning
is near, but there’s no differentiation on the horizon, not yet. This
night, this darkness that Paul talks about is the sinful world
in which we live. And it’s compared with the light
and day the glories of heaven and it is coming. But there is
a touch of joy. In knowing that glory awaits
and there is a touch of solemnity. That that is the end of opportunity. And in the midst of this night,
as Paul said in Ephesians 5, we are to walk as children of
light. We’re to walk different and live different. That’s his
whole point in this entire section. There is to be spiritual readiness,
not for the future, not just for the future. There is supposed
to be spiritual readiness in the here and now. We’re supposed
to already be living differently so that we may embrace that day
with joy and not with regret. Paul says, look at verse 12.
The night is almost gone. The day is at hand. Therefore,
let us therefore lay aside the deeds of darkness. He’s calling
us to a right life now. Not one that we clean up just
in time for Jesus to burst through the clouds, right? He calls us
to a different kind of life. Lay aside the deeds of darkness.
Deeds that are characteristic of darkness. Deeds that are part
of the darkness. Remember, we pointed out last
week and someone this last during this last week was just very
taken by that image that we were just in the darkness. We were darkness. We were part
of the darkness. And the only thing that I can
think of to explain to it is what I’ve said before, you know,
we oftentimes when little Johnny falls into trouble, We want to
say that Johnny fell in with the bad crowd. No, Johnny was
bad, too. We were sin, we were in sin,
we were part of the problem. We were part of the moral darkness,
but God rescued us out of that. No wonder Paul says in Ephesians,
do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead
even expose them. Now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. What
he says here, don’t participate in the deeds of darkness, and
he’ll come back to that theme here soon. In verse 13, he takes
up that and really expounds upon what those deeds are, but we’re
going to take that as it comes. For now, he says, not only verse
12, the second part, let us therefore lay aside the deeds of darkness.
And put on the armor of light, this is where we left off. Put
on the armor of light. I was intrigued by that. I spent
more time studying it even this past week, the armor of light,
what is that? It’s important. Paul makes a
big deal of it. It tells us that we should put
aside the deeds of darkness and that we should actually do something. We should put on something and
it’s referred to here by him as the armor of light. It’s important. It’s crucial. What is it? Paul uses this imagery of weaponry
on a number of different occasions, the spiritual weaponry, And he
essentially points to it as weapons that are needed for the work
that needs to be done. The word has been used even in
the book of Romans already in the sense of instruments, if
you will, tools. But here in the context, it’s
got a point to armor. He’s calling us to battle. He
doesn’t say run to the shed and get the garden rake and the hoe.
He says, take up the armor of God. And he points here to both
defensive and offensive weapons. And so, OK, so what is it? He
doesn’t really. Unpack it here, he doesn’t really
go beyond just the simple allusion to some kind of military preparation,
military readiness that he appends this word light. What is this
armor of light? Well, one very artfully said
that its armor, which befits the children of light, blending
that passage from Ephesians with this. That doesn’t tell me much. Another pointed to all Christian
graces, which are bright and shining in the eyes of the world,
though that’s creative, but I don’t see that that’s derived much
from the passage itself and to a degree that it’s true. Paul
refers to weaponry. We have a few minutes, so take
A moment if you would and turn to 2nd Corinthians chapter 6.
In 2nd Corinthians chapter 6 he will allude to this idea of spiritual
weaponry and he does so. And as he does so rather he provides
with with detail in the midst of the section we find ourselves.
Glanced down, if you would, at verse one of chapter six. Where
Paul says and working together with him, we urge you not to
receive the grace of God in vain, for he says that the acceptable
time I listened to you on the day of salvation, I helped you
behold. Now is the acceptable time. Behold,
now is the day of salvation, giving no cause for offense in
anything. So that the ministry will not
be discredited, but in everything, commending ourselves as servants
of God. And then he goes on to say in
the power of God, by the weapons of righteousness, it’s a frequent
illustration that Paul uses. Paul is fond of those kinds of
military metaphors. He uses it again in First Thessalonians
five. Don’t turn because it’s so brief.
I’m going to go there in a more lengthy fashion in a moment.
But he uses it in Ephesians chapter six which passage will take up
in just a few moments. He says, commending ourselves,
we’re basically presenting ourselves as role models for Christianity. And I know that sounds absurd
to the modern era. I know it sounds almost arrogant.
My granddad used to say, don’t do as I do, do as I say. Well,
that’s kind of an absurd thing compared to Christianity, because
Paul routinely says, watch me and do likewise. Let me set before
you a model What you’re to do, how you’re to behave, how you’re
to act. Paul wasn’t being arrogant. Paul was being what a Christian
is supposed to be. Paul was modeling for others
how a Christian is supposed to live and conduct themselves.
And note that he says we are commending ourselves as servants
of God. In the power of God, we do this
by God’s grace, everything that we do, you and I, if it’s good,
you can bet it’s a grace. All we can do is mess it up.
Commending ourselves in the power of God by the weapons of righteousness. Paul uses that military metaphor
routinely as I said turn if you would now to first Thessalonians
5. And I will tell you that this
is a classic passage to be messed up and befuddled if you don’t
read it in context. And so we’re going to do that.
You don’t read this in context, you could derive all kinds of
fanciful things. Turn, if you would, to verse
one. Where Paul writes, and that’s
my thought, let’s let Paul be his own commentator, because
I coursed through every commentary I could get my hands on. I think
I’ve got 27 on Romans now. And this was really this whole
thing, the armor of light, very anemically treated, as I’ll share
in a moment. Only a few good thoughts really
worth gnawing on and savoring. Let Paul be his own commentator,
is what I would say. Here’s what he says. Look at
verse one. Now, as to the times and the
epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written
to you. Here’s what was going on in Thessalonica. Some people
were saying the rapture had already taken place. We certainly have
seen that even in our era. You know, somebody claims that
it’s going to happen and they sell all their possessions. And
the next thing you know, they’re sitting there and it doesn’t
happen. That’s essentially what happened in Thessalonica. And
you have some people that were really upset. Says you have no need of anything
to be written to you, calm down. For you yourselves know full
well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in
the night. You can only prepare so much. It’s going to catch
us by surprise. No one is going to predict it.
No amount of delving into any prophecy or every form of prophecy. Nothing is going to produce a
date where someone can say this is when Jesus comes bursting
through the sky. In fact, As soon as you name
that date, you can be sure that’s not when he’s coming. You yourselves
know full well the day of the Lord will come just like a thief
in the night while they are saying peace and safety, then destruction
will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman
with child and they will not escape. We have that image all
the time, right? The doctor predicts the baby
will be born on such and such a date, and it almost never is.
Surprise. Look at verse four, but you,
brethren, are not in darkness. He uses that imagery again that
the day would overtake you like a thief or we are all you are
all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor
of darkness. We’re not part of that sphere
anymore. We were lifted out of darkness itself. We were darkness
and now we are no longer. So then let us not sleep as others
do. Blends the metaphor that he uses
here in this passage in Romans. Let us not sleep as others do,
but let us be alert and sober for those who do sleep, do their
sleeping at night and those who get drunk, get drunk at night.
But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on
the breastplate of faith and love and as a helmet, the hope
of salvation. There’s Paul’s description of
the armor of light. Paul says that if you want to
get ready for battle and he’s calling us to battle, not when
the sun dawns. He’s calling us to battle in
the midst of night. I’ll get back to that point in
a moment. Having put on the breastplate of faith and love, he wants us
to live this way now. Not when we get to heaven, he
wants us to put on our armor for usefulness in the battle
in the here and now. Not to prepare ourselves only
for heaven. That having put on the breastplate
of faith and love and as a helmet, the hope of salvation, that’s
what gets us through. That’s what gets us through the
trials and difficulties that life dishes out the hope of salvation. That’s what gets us through seasons
of persecution. That’s what gets us through heartache.
That’s what gets us through the problems and trials of life.
The hope of salvation. No matter what I’m experiencing
now, you know what one day one day, whether I die and go to
be with Christ or whether Christ comes back for me in bodily form. I have hope. And it’s not this
hope is not just wishful thinking. He’s coming and I’m going. For God is not destined us for
wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
who died for us so that whether we are awake or sleep, we will
live together with him. What hope he imparted to the
Thessalonians. Can you imagine all nervous?
You know, the sky is falling kind of Christianity. And all
of a sudden, Paul writes this letter and says, look, Jesus
didn’t leave you behind. This armor of light he points
to is absolutely crucial for the Christian. But if we’re going
to do battle now and we must. Can you think of going into a
literal battle? without any armor, no helmet,
no combat boots, no no weaponry. No armor protected vehicle. When Paul says put on the armor
of light, he doesn’t just suggest it to the Christian. He says
this is absolutely requisite, this is absolutely crucial. If
you’re going to survive. If you’re going to really flourish
on the battlefield, you have to put on this armor and we’ve
already talked about this first, you must put aside the deeds
of darkness. You can’t dabble in both. You can’t go to battle
for the Lord Jesus Christ and still be dabbling in your chief
and favorite sin can’t. In fact, if you look down, where
are we? We’re in Thessalonica. Well,
Get out of Thessalonica. Come back, if you would, to Romans
just for a moment. Look at this passage. He’s going
to clarify exactly what he means by the armor of light. Let us,
therefore, lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor
of light. Look at the look at verse 14, the end of his argument.
Put on the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s what we’re supposed to
look like. Not when we get to heaven only. Here and now, here’s
the battle, here’s where we’re supposed to make a difference.
This armor is not just new clothes fit for the dawning day so that,
you know, like we put on our Sunday best and we march out. It’s armor that is appropriate
for the battle of night. Let me show you why I so strenuously
make that point. Look back, if you would, at verse
12. He says the night is almost gone. He doesn’t say the night is gone.
He doesn’t say the dawn is here. Here’s the Lord. Heaven and glory
are with him. The night of difficulty, the
night of battle is over. He doesn’t say that says almost. And for 2000 years, people have
been reading that saying the night is almost gone. It is almost gone. Salvation
is nearer, but it’s still night. We might even think of it as
twilight. We don’t know exactly for sure. As we glance down at
our watch, we don’t know it’s almost gone. But it’s still dark,
it’s still morally dark, and we’re still deadlocked. in a battle. We’re still deadlocked in war.
And that’s why Paul draws the conclusion that he does let us,
therefore, it’s still night, therefore, lay aside the deeds
of darkness and put on the armor of light. Take you to another passage of
Scripture, if I could, where Paul uses this imagery. And you’ll
know exactly what Paul is pointing to when we get through this.
There’s no Vagueness with regards to what Paul is pointing to when
he talks about the armor of light. All you have to do is read what
Paul says about it. Ephesians Chapter 6. In Ephesians
Chapter 6, you have one of the most amazing illustrations by
one of the most amazing illustrators that God ever gave as gift to
the church. You have the Apostle Paul And
in this letter and several others, Paul is writing in the midst
of being in prison. There were daily these images
of soldiers all about him dressed in not only their full regalia,
their non battle uniform, but there were also those that were
dressed in full battle uniform, complete with weaponry. And Paul
seizes upon that image and he drives that point home to the
Christian. Look at Ephesians chapter 6,
beginning in verse 10, where Paul says, finally, be strong
in the Lord and in the strength of his might put on the full
armor of God. so that you may be able to stand
firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not
against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the
powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the
spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore,
take up the full armor of God that you may be able to resist
in the evil day and having done everything to stand firm. Stand
firm, therefore, having girded your loins with truth and having
put on the breastplate of righteousness and having shod your feet with
a preparation of the gospel of peace. And in addition to all,
taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to
extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one and take the
helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word
of God. You say, well. You know, Um,
I’m a pacifist and, uh, you know, this battle imagery, it isn’t
for me. You know, I didn’t come to fight. I don’t want to fight. Um, you know, I just want to make,
I just want to love people. I just want to be at peace. You
know what? If you have placed your faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ, you just got drafted. There’s no
option. Male, female, young, old. If
you’re a Christian, if you place your faith in Christ, you’re
already in service. And you know what? The enemy
is cresting the hill. John Bunyan, everybody knows
John Bunyan. Those who went to the Shepherds
Conference got a pleasant surprise this week. Did your box come?
Our box came. Oh man, our box came and I just
kept pulling book after book out of this box. We got free
books at the Shepherds Conference. And I had to remind my wife they
were free dear. Got these books but one of them
is a CD of Pilgrim’s Progress. Everybody knows Pilgrim’s Progress.
What most people don’t know is that John Bunyan wrote another
allegory. Allegory called The Holy War. Listen to this. In this gallant
country of universe there lies a pleasant and peaceful municipality
called Mansoul. He was just amazing, wasn’t he?
The picturesque architecture of this town, its convenient
location and superior advantages cannot be equaled under heaven.
Once upon a time, a mighty giant named Diabolus made an assault
on this famous town of Mansoul. He tried to take it and make
it his own habitation. This giant was the terrible Prince
of Darkness. He was originally one of the
servants of King Shaddai. who had placed him in a very
high and mighty position. Knowing that they had lost their
positions in the king’s favor forever, Diabolus and his rebels
turned their pride into hatred against Shaddai and his son.
They roamed about in fury from place to place in search of something
that belonged to the king on which to take their revenge.
At last, they happened to find this spacious country of universe.
And they steered their course toward the famous town of Mansoul. Considering it to be one of the
chief works and delights of King Shaddai, they decided to make
an assault upon this town. You’re drafted. There’s no option. The devil’s coming and he’s coming
after you and he’s coming after everyone around you. He’s coming
after anyone and anything that names the name of Christ, as
I shared with one brother. in the midst of his own church
difficulties. Don’t be surprised. The devil
has your number. He knows where you are. See a
lot of times Christians especially they think that they’re here.
This is almost like Disneyland. You know we can enjoy all the
things that are here for us to enjoy. And then you know all
this in heaven too. That really is our mindset. It’s
kind of like building a picnic in the midst of a battlefield. I’ve said this before, one of
the sure proofs of this is Halloween. You know, when the little kid
comes dressed as a devil. Oh, isn’t that the cutest little
devil you ever saw? As if the devil is just some
fictional character. It’s a battle. It’s absolute
warfare. One faithful pastor said the
Christian conflict is not only real, it is difficult and dangerous.
It is one in which true believers are often grievously wounded.
Doesn’t every saint in the room know that to be true? Don’t you
know friends that have paid a terrible price for sin? And multitudes
of reputed believers entirely succumb. Some fall away from
the faith. It is one also in which great
mistakes are often committed and serious loss incurred from
ignorance of its nature and the appropriate means of carrying
it on. Some people don’t know how to fight. Some people don’t
know how to fire their weapon. Some people don’t know how to
run and hide when it’s time. Some people don’t know how to
engage in battle. Goes on and says men are apt
to regard it as mere moral conflict between reason and conscience
on the one side and evil passions on the other. They therefore
rely on their own strength and on the resources of nature for
success. The source of strength is not
in nature. As we have superhuman enemies
to contend with, we need not we need not only superhuman strength,
but divine armor and arms. The weapons of our warfare are
not natural, they’re divine. Glanced down at verse 10. He
says, be strong in the Lord. In the strength of his might.
You look about it, so many Christians who are weak, weak in their knowledge
of scripture, weak in their, you know, their fellowship, weak
in just their spiritual duties. They’re victims waiting to happen.
But this, if you look at it, it’s a passive verb, it’s not
something we do, we don’t pull ourselves up by the bootstraps
and ready ourselves, he says, be strong in the Lord, in the
strength of his might be strengthened literally is what he says. It’s
by grace, not something that we accomplish, it’s the Lord
who strengthens us. Look at verse 11, put on the
full armor of God. We’ll talk about that armor in
a second. But look at the purpose. If this
doesn’t motivate you to go home and get yourselves ready. Put
on the full armor of God that you may be able to stand firm
against the schemes of the devil. You know what you’re going up
against? You’re going up against the arch enemy of Christ himself. He’s not sending foot soldiers
against you. He’s not sending private first
class so and so of the devil’s army. He’s sending the this tried
and true general himself. Look at. As this passage develops
our enemy. Our struggle is not against flesh
and blood. You know we could probably win
some of those wars couldn’t we. We could win some of those battles
anyway. We could do OK if it were people. That’s all it was,
but look at the look at what’s arrayed against us. Our struggle
is not against flesh and blood. But against the rulers, against
the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, we fight
against not only the devil himself, but all of his minions, all of
his henchmen, the demons. The powers of evil, demonic authorities,
world rulers, powers that dominate the world that we can’t even
see. How are you going to fight those? What weapon are you going
to use on that? Against the spiritual forces
of wickedness in heavenly places. I mean, this is all this makes
you want to run and hide, doesn’t it? Also, don’t run and hide. Equip yourselves for battle. One pastor referred to these
list of enemies. He says the combat is with spirits
higher of high rank and position fallen spirits. No vulgar herd
of fiends we encounter but such of them as are darkly eminent
in place and dignity. These evil spirits who are wary
and vengeful antagonists have acquired special dominion on
Earth. Their nature is evil. Their commission
is evil. Their work is evil. These are
PFCs. These are the demons and devils
themselves, and they’re after us. You have no choice whether
to arm yourselves. In the evil day, that day of
satanic attack, it’s almost constant, isn’t it? The day that you think
you’ve got something whipped, here comes something else in
your Christian life. Because of the sad consequences
that failure brings, that unpreparedness brings, that that carelessness
brings. Paul says we can’t live that
way. The devil is coming and he comes with a rush of a sudden
ambush. He doesn’t fight fair. He doesn’t
march through a battlefield like. So many soldiers did in the past,
he uses guerrilla warfare, he uses whatever warfare methods
he needs. Look at his Look at his weapon.
Look at verse 16. What are the devil’s weapons?
I don’t know what these look like. Man. Flaming missiles? How do you even fight that? Hide in the pool? One pastor described it. He said
that in the devil’s quiver, there are all kinds of fiery bolts,
tribulation, anguish, persecution, famine, doubt, lust, greed, vanity,
envy. That’s what they look like. Promotions to evil suggestions
to evil, planting those evil thoughts in our hearts and mind
impulses to do that and those things. Thoughts of doubt towards God
himself. There’s one faithful shepherd
described it as impurity, selfishness, doubt, fear, disappointment,
vanity, covetousness, persecution, false teaching, false teaching,
thwarting of plans and efforts, frustration, discouragement,
self-sufficiency, false accusations. All of that rolls in to the devil’s
armory. He’s got it all at his disposal.
So what do we do? Paul says the same thing here
that he says In Romans 13. Put on the full armor of God,
take up the full armor of God. He doesn’t say to hang it in
your closet, he doesn’t say to have it at the ready, he says,
put it on, put it on right now because the battle is now. One pastor again. Do not enter
into battle with such adversaries, naked and defenseless, but take
your armor. Do not cover one portion and
leave another. You wouldn’t think of going into
battle without your helmet. You wouldn’t think of going into
battle without a weapon. And you need the whole armor
of God, the full armor. Leave nothing out. And note also
what he says, it’s the full armor of God, God provides it. It’s
God who forged the weapons. It’s God who gives the weapons.
It’s God, the one that teaches you how to fire the weapon. It’s
God’s. Armory. So oftentimes we want
to trust in our own. Efforts are human merits, our
talents, our ability, we want to find the devil, right? That’s
popular now. That never works. I find you. I rebuke you. Oh, now the devil’s frightened. When it’s all been taken up,
what does Paul say? Go hide behind the hill. You
go watch as the lion is prowling about. Paul doesn’t use that
imagery here. That’s Peter’s imagery. Paul doesn’t say go take a hiding
spot, go back to your barracks. Look at verse 14. He says, Stand
firm. Don’t move. Don’t budge an inch. You need to protect this hill.
You need to stand your ground. You need to take an opposition
to the devil. You don’t give him an inch of
your life. And then he lays out this beautiful
picture of the arms which we’ve been
given. Look at verse 14, having girded your loins with truth.
What is the truth? The truth is. The truth, it’s
God’s word, it’s the truth about us that we’re sinners, it’s the
truth about God that he’s provided one way for salvation. He’s provided
his son that if we place our faith in him, he gives us the
righteousness of Christ and puts upon Christ our sin. It’s the
truth. And every word every single word
of God’s Bible is truth. As one said it is the assured
conviction that you believe and that it is God’s truth you believe
and it gives the combatant alertness and buoyancy to the battle. We’re
not afraid of anything. We know the truth. We know who
wins this battle. Not only having girded your loins
with truth having Having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
that’s the great feature of Paul’s writing, isn’t it? Righteousness.
It’s what we lack. It’s what we most desperately
need to stand before God and in and of ourselves. We don’t
have it. And only in Christ is it given
to us. And when we have it. We are at
peace. We stand before God justified
at peace with God. and we put it on. It is called
here a breastplate of righteousness and we stand boldly. We stick
out our chest and we stand before the devil having been justified. We’re not earning anything. Look
at verse 15. Having shod your feet with the
preparation of the gospel of peace. We’re ready. We’re ready
to tell anybody who will listen. We’re ready to lay out the gospel. to anybody who’s near. We’re
ready to tell them whether they want to hear it or not. We’re
ready. We have peace with God, and we
want them to know that peace, too. We used to know that burden. We used to live under that burden.
That burden was excessive. We want them to be relieved.
We want them to be free. We want them to walk with Christ
as we walk with Christ. Not only having girded our loins
with truth and put on the breastplate of righteousness, having shod
our feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace, Paul
says, in addition to all, take up the shield of truth. That
is, the devil throws thoughts at you about yourself or about
somebody else. Bang! You have a shield. You have faith. And you keep
on believing God, you keep believing God in what he has said, not
one in the devil whispers in your ear like a snake in the
garden. One described it as that unwavering
confidence in God and his grace, which guards the mind from aberration
and despondency. We don’t get down because we
know God. We have moments, but as soon
as we remember, we recoil and we recharge and we stand up again. See, the Christians confidence.
Is in God and it keeps us from being wounded, the devil takes
his shots, he throws his fiery arrows, we fend off what we can
with our shield, the rest strikes us in the breastplate of righteousness
and we move on. Whatever happens does not kill
us and our faith carries us through through despondency and through
discouragement and through even earthly defeat. There’s another
piece of equipment. Look at verse 17, the helmet
of salvation. What is this armor? It’s not
complete without this to protect the head. Now you see, you know,
if you go skiing, that’s the only thing they would protect,
right? First thing, were you wearing
a helmet? See, in the midst of all the
difficulty and hardship that we’re going to face, it’s the
assurance of salvation. It’s the knowledge in our skull. Do you know what? God sent His
Son to die for me. I placed my faith in Him and
I am saved. And that carries you through
the battle. You walk through the battle and the arrows and
the darts and the fire is flying. And people are dying all around
you. You don’t have to wonder. You
could know for a confidence of a truth that you’re saved. You’re at peace with God. You know what’s interesting about
this passage? He goes through all the defensive weapons first.
And then he goes to the offensive weapons. And he only mentions
one. You only need one. Look at this. And the sword of the spirit,
which is the word of God, you have God’s word himself. It’s
far better than any earthly general has ever been given as far as
a battle plan. This tells you about yourself.
It tells you about your God. It tells you about salvation.
It tells you about the means to heaven. It tells you about
your Lord. It tells you everything. It is a lamp unto your feet in
the midst of this battle in the night. It’s the Bible. It’s the
Word of God. I love Hebrews 4.12. Just talked
to my brother about it. Hebrews 4.12, the Word of God
is living and active. and sharper than any two edged
sword and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit
of both joints and marrow and able to judge the thoughts and
intentions of the heart. You know what? When you post
a scripture. Posted on your bathroom mirror,
you jot it down, you post it online, whatever the case may
be. You know what? You just wielded a mighty weapon. A two edged sword. That is able
to touch and do work that you don’t even have an idea about. God is able to take his word
and use it for the glory of God because it’s his word. It’s our
weapon, but it’s his word and he’ll do what he wants with it. What is this armor of light? What is it that truth and righteousness
and peace and faith and salvation and the Word of God. That’s what
Paul points to when he talks about the armor of light. And essentially what he says.
You’re armed. You’re drafted. Go fight. I told you there were four urgencies
that were prompted by the hour at hand. Not only the motives
that The hour motivates our very duty to others and admonishes
us to spiritual readiness. But it urges us to mortify sin. That’s the third point, and we’ll
take that up next Lord’s Day. You bow before our God. Our merciful King, we humble
ourselves in your presence. We walked in scared. We walked
in beat up and defeated. We walked in fearful that you
might call our name. And now we know that you have.
The Lord we know. We now know that we’re equipped.
You tapped us on the shoulder. You called us. The devil is already
on the attack and we’re ready. We’re ready to fight. Because
you’ve made us ready. Father, we thank you for every
saint in this room who you’ve called to faith, called out of
darkness and into light. And Lord, for any in this room
who does not know the Lord Jesus Christ, they literally are in darkness.
Lord, seize hold of them. We plead with you. Grab them
and take them out of the domain of darkness. and place them into
the domain of light. Make them to be light itself.
Lord, as they begin to see their sin and sinfulness, may they
come to faith in our Jesus Christ. May they place their faith in
Him for salvation. May they stop trusting in their
own righteousness and look only to Christ and to Him for salvation. Father, do this work. No one
else can. It’s in Jesus name that we pray.
Amen.