Ephesians 6:10-20. Paul starts off todays reading with a phrase that is usually translated “finally”. In English “finally” can be used to introduce the last in a series of ideas but the Greek words (remember that the New Testament was written mostly in Greek, the main language of Paul’s day) that Paul uses have the idea of a concluding idea linked to what he as been talking about. Today’s reading isn’t just a final though it is a summary and conclusion of what he has been saying.

It’s important to remember that Paul has just spent quite as bit of time encouraging his readers to live lives that matter. We are to use our marriages (I know you guys aren’t married yet, but when you are), our family relationships, even relationships that are less that perfect (like slaves toward their masters) to paint pictures to those around us of who God is and what is really going on in the world.

Paul uses the idea of armor and preparing for a battle in this concluding section. We are not on our own in this battle. Although Paul tells the reader to be “strong in the Lord” it isn’t strength from within that they have to rely on, it is God’s strength. As we have seen before though God doesn’t just take over our lives he wants us to follow him willingly. This isn’t like the strength of the comic book hero the Hulk or like the real life stories in the Bible of a demon possessed person being completely empowered and controlled by an outside influence, we allow God to empower us, we put on God’s armor. The armor from God needs to be put on so that we can stand firm against the strategies of the Devil. The Devil is a real being and he has plans and strategies and help, other angles who have also turned against God. Satan and these demons are called spiritual forces in the heavenly places but they have power to affect the physical world (see Job 1:12, 16. 19) and influence on human beings (rulers, see Job 1:14-15, 17). The effects of their actions are described as darkness and wickedness. We have already see darkness used to describe actions of people in the world that don’t give life meaning and help people find peace with God. The word translated “wickedness” has the same idea of hard work that doesn’t produce anything (like pulling weeds, remember the original Garden of Eden had no weeds just productive plants that Adam was supposed to care for).

In verse 13 Paul returns to the armor and tells them to put it on so they can resist the evil influences and actions in our word and not be tripped up (“so you can stand firm”). That idea reminds me of a verse that Paul wrote to the believers in Corinth, “Be steadfast, immovable, always overflowing in God’s word, knowing that your efforts for God are not useless and empty.” (1 Corinthians 15:58). That verse follows a reminder by Paul that we will all be restored to physical life someday; resurrected. There is more to our existence that here and now, we have an eternal, physical existence promised to us; a fact that is confirmed by the fact that Jesus was resurrected in a real body after his death, a forever body that will not decay or grow old (1 Corinthians 15:53).

Our inner being screams out that there must be more, all human being sense and long for immortality, that is because that is what we were made for, an eternal existence in God “family”, and God put an impulse in our beings that constantly reminds us of that (Ecclesiastes 3:11, eternity in their hearts). The author of that verse also reminds us that we don’t understand what is going on though. The first part says life has meaning, the second part says we know about and want to be a part of eternity and the third part says we don’t understand what is going on.   Why are we confused? Because our world is filled with a lot of senseless stuff and then we die. Where is God and where is eternity? The answer is God is right here fixing the world we have broken. The consequences of our disobedience and disrespect (sin) for God cannot just be “swept under the rug”. Some times one of our animals will barf or do go to the bathroom on the floor and my wife is busy so she will throw a rag on top of it to cover it. That doesn’t really deal with the mess though it just covers it up for a while. Ultimately one of us has to pick up the poop and wash the floor. Jesus is the “soap” that cleans up the sin mess in the world. But it is a mess that exists in the heart of each person and God wants each of us to personally invite him to clean that mess up; to allow Jesus’ sacrifice to pay what we owe. Helping the world find these answers and have their broken relationship with God restored is the purpose we have in life but it takes time; that is what God is doing in history, but that is why evil is still around (see 2 Peter 3:3-9).These facts are the “truth” about existence (remember the talk about reality back when we looked at Ephesians 5:9).

So we are in a battle but we are on the winning team. The truth is on our side and truth is the first piece of armor. Girding up their loins is a picture of tying up their loose garments so they would not trip. People in those days wore robes. If you were going to fight and needed to move around quickly you wouldn’t want the robe tangling up your feet so you would pull it up between your legs and tuck it in your belt. The truth is what keeps us from being “tripped up”. If you know the story of Adam and Eve and the first “sin” you might remember that the Devil “tripped” them up by causing them to doubt the truth of what God had told them. A lot of people today want to create doubt in God’s existence, His love, and his actions with ideas like evolution and questions like, “If a loving God exists why…? And then they describe some evil thing that has happened. The truth above is what gives us stability and meaning in our lives.

That is an outward attack, those are doubts from outside. The next piece of armor is the breastplate. Although you would think of this as sort of a bulletproof vest I think the enemy fires these bullets from inside of us. A bullet proof vest protects our vital organs, heart, liver, etc. In both Hebrew and Greek thinking your guts are the center of your emotions (we like to talk about “heart” but they used a word that meant “guts”) The Devil is in the doubt business and if he cant shake you by getting you to doubt God’s actions in the world he will attack you personally. “Ok, so there is a God and he is working some sort of plan to save people, but surely you aren’t one of them. Remember all the stuff you have done?” Righteousness (being right) is just the answer. God knows we mess up, our actions are not always right, But Jesus’ were, and we are accepted because Jesus’ life was completely perfect, we get credit for his test score (Romans 3:22, 24. And if you doubt the fact that we don’t live right read the verses before that one).

Some people say that these verses are about standing our ground and that has certainly been the picture so far but he next piece of armor seems to indicate that we need to move forward. We are secure with God but wee have a job to do, help the world learn about Jesus and get right with god them selves. The shoes we put on in order to take that journey are the “Gospel”. That word “gospel” means “good news”. The good news is all the stuff we have been talking about a broke relationship with God and death and Jesus taking the consequences of our disobedience and rebellion (sin) and being offered a way back to God and eternity with Him. It’s all very good news to beings that want immortality and peace; that’s us, all of mankind! And we have the answer for all of the bad stuff in our existence, Jesus.

Another piece of protective gear that God has given us is faith. Our faith is a shield against flaming arrows shot at us by the Devil. Again it seems that some sort of doubt is in mind. Remember those verses in 2 peter. People were questioning that God was going to fix the world, “Where is the promise of his return?” Hebrews 11:1 tells us that through faith we have certainty about the things we are hoping for (like an eternity with God filled with all good and no bad) and are convinced of things we haven’t seen yet. Back in Ephesians 2:8-9 Paul told the believers that they had been saved (their sins had been dealt with and they were now a part of God’s forever family) as a free gift from God (that is what “grace” means). The way this took hold in their lives was through faith. You can’t see salvation, you can’t see into the future and see yourself sitting there with God, but you can trust what God has told you and accept those facts as truth. It’s not a faith without proof though. Fulfilled prophecies validate the words we read in the Old Testament and that story points to a savior (see “The Old Testament Connection”). The historical record in the New Testament identifies the savior as the eternal God-Man, Jesus who lived and died and was resurrected again to deal with the consequences of our sin and prove to us he could and did just that. In 1 John 5:13 we are told that those who hear the story about Jesus and believe in who he is and what he had done for them could know that they had an eternally restore relationship with God (eternal life). Our faith is based on facts that support our trust in God and his promises; He’s not slow just patient (2 Peter 3:9). Faith protects us from doubt.

Salvation is our helmet. The head is a pretty important part of the body it direct the rest of our actions. I see two ways Paul could have been looking at this piece of armor. We cold see the head in a very literal sense, the place where my personal brain is housed. In Matthew 22:37 Jesus says the greatest commandment in the whole law that God gave to Moses was t “love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.” We have already seen how the breastplate helps us when the Devil uses our bad actions to make us doubt our place in God’s family; attacks our heart. The helmet may be protecting us from more intellectual” attacks from Satan; it may help us keep loving God with our mind. The historical facts about Jesus life that prove that he was God in human flesh (things like walking on water, raising people from the dead, curing illness, commanding the weather; miracles in other words) and the fact of the resurrection (which proves that he has power over death, not just his own but ours too) all of the facts about “salvation” give us mental proof and assurance and help us not doubt.

The second way Paul may have been thinking about the head and protecting it is with respect to Jesus. Paul has used the idea of head three times in the letter, all referring to Jesus (Ephesians 1:22; 4:15; 5:23).   I especially like the last one where Paul reminds them that Jesus is the head of the group of believers (church) the savior of the “body” (here meaning the church, or the group of believers). Salvation protects our head in the respect that it keeps us connected to Jesus. Although the church is a group it is made up of individuals and salvation is a personal thing, salvation keeps each of us connected to Jesus and protects us from any “schemes” of the Devil. Although Paul tells them to take or receive the helmet the idea here is to use it since salvation is already a part of their lives.

The final piece of equipment is the word of God. It is called the “sword of the Spirit”. The reference here is to the Holy Spirit, the third person of the trinity (see “Three or One?”). The grammar here seems to indicate that the “sword” comes from the Spirit. This fits with the description of the Holy Spirit in John 14:16-17, 26 and John 15:26 where he has the function of helping us remember what Jesus has taught and done. Also 1 Peter 1:21 tells us that the Holy Spirit had a big part in how the words of the Bible wound up written down. Paul told a young pastor who had traveled with him, Timothy, that the whole Bible was useful for teaching, correcting and training. But in this case we see the word of God described as a sword. In Hebrews 4:12 we see that the Bible is a sword and that it judges our thoughts and intentions. In other words the Bible helps us see things as they really are. Remember Paul has been trying to get the Ephesian believers to bring people to Jesus. The Devil likes to deceive we need to use the word of God to help people understand about sin and it’s consequences and see the offer of God to fix it all.

In verse 18-19 Paul encourages the believers to use perhaps their most important resource, prayer. God know everything, God sees everything, God knows what is going to happen, God knows the best strategy and we need to communicate with Him. When we pray it helps us focus on who God is and what his priorities are. He tells them to pray in the spirit. Again a reference to the Holy Spirit. Letting the Holy Spirit direct the words we say to God is one way to understand what God is doing and what we need to do. In a way it’s like that old saying about putting on the other guys shoes. When we “walk in their shoes” we see life from their perspective and it can help us know haw we ought to act. As we talk to God and do it in a way that helps us see what he is doing we need to be alert and not let the Devil trick us with his schemes. Early in his adult life Jesus went off by himself to the wilderness. During that time we are told he didn’t eat and that he was “ministered to by angles”.   It was probably a time of prayer for Jesus as he prepared for a three year journey of teaching and doing miracles that would end in his crucifixion (though he was resurrected too). At the end of 40 days without food he was hungry and at that point the Devil tried to tempt him away from the plan God had put in motion. First the Devil tried to get Jesus to use his power to make food (remember that Jesus is God). When Jesus used the Bible to defend not using a miracle for his own personal comfort the Devil tempted him again using a Bible verse to do it. We have to be careful that we listen carefully to God and get the whole picture, we need to be alert and understand the Devil uses the Bible sometimes; or should I say misuses it.

We also need to keep at it, not give up. Sometimes we want to pray and have an immediate answer, remember God is working a plan that is taking a long time. There will be an end to it but in the mean time we need to be patient and stick with it (2 Peter 3:8-10). And we need to not just pray for ourselves, we are part of a team and need to pray for everyone on the team. Those prayers need to include our spiritual leaders. It’s interesting that Paul asked for them to pray that he would be bold. Wow, that coming from a guy who spent 30 years starting church all over the Mediterranean world while being hunted and pursued by various people and suffering all sorts of set backs (see 2 Corinthians 1:5, 8-9; 6:4-10,; 11:23-28).

As Paul finishes verse 19 and continues into verse 20 with a better idea of what he wants to be bold about: the good news, the Gospel about Jesus. It is the story of man and God and Jesus that he is a prisoner for and an ambassador for and he wants us to have that same purpose as we live our lives. That is what he has been telling them will give meaning to their lives and why they need to “suit up”. We are in a battle for the eternity of others. We don’t win this battle with force but by living for God each day and sharing the truth about Jesus , encouraging others to return to God through Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:16-20; 10:3-5).

God thank you for giving our lives purpose. Thank you for filling us with a desire to live into eternity. Thank you for wanting us with you in eternity. Thank you for recognizing that we have an enemy trying to keep us away for you . thank you for understanding his strategies and giving us protection against them. Thank you for allowing us to be a part of reaching out to our lost and broken world with the truth that heals. Let our lives reach into the lives of others and remove the cancer of sin and heal them for all eternity. Help me be patient as your plan to bring many into your forever family works its way out in history Thank you for Jesus.