Armor of God

Ephesians 6:10–23

When you can’t walk with Christ, stand in Him

• All of the book of Ephesians is about a Cosmic Battle. Paul uses this talk about cosmic powers in Ephesians 2 and then brings it back here in ch 6. The notion is that there are all sorts of spiritual powers in the world. that we do not live outside of spiritual influence

• The rest of this passage doesn’t make sense if we don’t realize that Paul sees things from a cosmic battle.

To live is to walk and to fight is to stand

– Paul uses the metaphor “walk” throughout the whole book of Ephesians.

• To be a Christian is to walk in what God is giving us.

• That’s the question I’ve been asking all week. Why would Paul tell us 7 times to walk (a metaphor for the Christian life) and then in the last part of ch 6, tell us to stand three times?

• When Paul uses the word “walk” he either uses it positively or negatively

Ephesians 2:10 ESV

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:2 ESV

in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—

• But then the word Stand

• Paul uses it three times in Ephesians 6, all the same word, all mostly meaning the same thing. To endure. To stand there.

• We do not have the wherewithal to fight on our own, we need someone to come to our aid. We need rescue.

• We are called to walk and express the goodness of God in the world. And we are called to stand when we need to experience the very strength that God provides.

• When we walk we express God’s life in our situations

• When we stand we partake in God’s strength for our situations.

We will need strength

Ephesians 6:10 ESV

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.

• And we are not simply to utilize the strength of the Lord we are to do that within the Lord. We are to be strong in Him, in relationship to Him. We are not buying or borrowing strength, we have strength because we trust in Him.

• God says we don’t need strength to oppose battle and we don’t need strength to oppose the enemy. We need to stand in Christs strength

We will need a place to stand

• The armor of God is showing us what it looks like to stand

• Each piece of armor holding us in a way that allows us to stand no matter the battle.

• Belt of truth

• breastplate of righteousness

• shoes, Gospel is movement

• shield of faith

• helmet of salvation

• sword of the spirit

• We are not creating strength but borrowing it. Strength is not a position for the Christian. Strength is a position for God on behalf of the Christian

Christ is both the foundation and strength so we can stand

• That we are living lives that only Christ can produce.

• That we are standing in places that only a foundation in Christ can allow.

• If you can’t walk this morning, you have been offered everything you need to stand in Christ.