The Armor of God
The Armor of God | The Belt of Truth
By Ty Blackburn
Preached on: Sunday, July 5, 2020
Providence Church
2146 Buford Hwy
Duluth, GA 30097
Website: providenceduluth.org
Online Sermons: www.sermonaudio.com/providencechurch
Please turn with me in your Bibles to the sixth chapter of Ephesians, Ephesians 6. We are continuing our study of the book of Nehemiah, then we’re in Ephesians. Remember that as we were in Nehemiah 4, we saw that extraordinary account of the lives of the people of God as they rebuild Jerusalem, they rebuild the city walls. That’s what they’re called to do and the rebuilding of the walls necessitates that they be willing to fight; that we titled a couple of messages “The Sword and the Trowel.” Though the word “trowel” doesn’t occur in the English text, the idea is the tool, the tool of building like a trowel, and the sword, and that in verse 17 of Nehemiah 4 we see that they were with one hand they were building and with one hand they held a weapon. So there was the sense of a sword and the trowel were necessary implements for the people as they built the walls of Jerusalem, rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, and so that we are called in the same way to build one another, Jerusalem now fulfilled in our day in the people of God and that as we build the church, we are building the new Jerusalem that will come down as a bride adorned for her husband. In Revelation 21, the new Jerusalem is the church of the living God and so as we build one another up in the faith, we build ourselves up in our holy faith, we build others up in the faith, we reach unbelievers, we’re building Jerusalem and if we’re going to be doing that, we’re gonna have to also be ready to fight. And so we then went to a series of messages from that, we said we build, we fight, drawing on that last week, that title from the motto of the Seabees, the US Navy Construction Battalion, construction battalion, CB, and so if we build we have to be willing to fight. We build, we fight, that’s who we’re called to be.
Today the title of the message is “The Armor of God,” just more straightforward from Ephesians 6, because as we looked at this, we saw there’s a real parallel between Nehemiah and what he’s trying to do and the book of Ephesians, and that Ephesians we saw and I’m not gonna review that except for just a couple of sentences, we did this last week, but we’re called to build up the spiritual temple in Ephesians 2 which means building up, the metaphor changes slightly, to building up the body of Christ in Ephesians 4, and then that’s carried on, as we do, you must be ready to stand against the attacks of the enemy, Ephesians 6. So we fight because we build. We build, we fight.
So that’s what we saw last time, so today we’re looking at the armor of God. The title of the message is “The Armor of God,” and Ephesians 6:10-18. So we’ll read the text together. I’m reading from the New American Standard Bible. There’s pew Bibles in the seats in front of you if you’d like to read along in the New American Standard if you have a different translation. Ephesians 6:10,
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12 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. 13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,
Let’s go to the Lord in prayer.
Our Father, how grateful we are for Your word. We’re thankful, Lord, that in Your word we find everything that is necessary for life and godliness, that all Scripture is God breathed and profitable to equip us, to fully equip us to live lives that are pleasing to You, fully equip us for every good work You call us to do. We come this morning thankful for Your word and thankful for the promise of the Holy Spirit to illuminate and to enlighten our eyes that we can see and behold wonderful things from Your word. And we pray that today You would do that, that You would help us to see and to understand and You would grant repentance and faith that we would rest in Christ. We pray for every believer here to grow in their sense of trust in the sufficiency of Jesus, grow in their consequent repentance and turning from sin. We pray for every unbeliever that’s here that today might be the day that they truly give themselves to Christ and find in Him the answer to every longing of their soul. We pray this in Jesus’ wonderful name.
Amen.
