Wrestling With
Another World – Part 5
Ephesians 6
August 25, 2013 PM
Pastor Craig Ledbetter
I.
Introduction (Ephesians
6:10-18)
A.
How can any selfish,
self-condemned sinner ever expect to resist the devil, except by a superior
power - a superior force?
B.
With the Whole Armour of God!
1.
This armour enables the Christian
to STAND (6:10-13), and not fall when under attack from any enemy - spiritual,
or physical! Most “Christians” fall like rain under pressure and attack. We need
so desperately to learn to stand!
2.
To fight Satan we must put on
"the whole armour of God". Not
just a few bits and pieces, but the whole package, every day! Why? Because Satan
looks for the weak spots in our life to hit at.
a.
Every soldier is issued weapons
and defensive gear
1)
They are tools to get the war won
2)
Every fisherman has tools to
catch fish, every carpenter has tools to build homes, and every Christian has
tools to defeat the devil!
b.
But all the training in the world
wont do any good in battle if the soldier doesn’t PUT ON THE ARMOUR - doesn’t
carry his weapons into the fight
1)
God is calling every Christian
here to faithfully prepare for each day, and each battle by choosing to “put on”
every piece of God’s armour!
2)
Don’t be like the idiot soldier
that went to the loo, and was taken prisoner simply because he forgot to carry
his weapon!
3)
Satan traps more Christians
simply because:
a)
They never learn their weapon -
how it works, how to use it
b)
They let someone else destroy
their faith in their weapons
c)
They forget to use their weapons,
and try fighting against tanks with sticks, rocks, and mud! You wont survive!
c.
Preparation is found in personal
discipline - reading and studying your Bible, being in church, praying,
exercising your faith - growing stronger!
d.
A Christian who is not ready, and
prepared to live for God each day, is destined to wind up spiritually shot-up,
and wounded and hurt! And probably even dead. There is NO glory in that!
C.
There are six pieces of armour
the Christian needs to be wearing every day so to stand:
1.
The under-garment of God’s truth
- wraps around us like a wide belt
2.
The breastplate of God’s
righteousness
3.
The boots of the Gospel
4.
The shield and buckler of faith
5.
The helmet of personal salvation
(forgiveness)
6.
The Bible (sword) of the spirit -
the word of God
D.
We looked at the first two this
morning, and the remaining four tonight!
II.
Message – The Spiritual
Weapons of a Christian…
A.
The Weapon of Truth (Eph 6:14a). All
our armour rests upon this
B.
The Breastplate of Righteousness
(Ephesians 6:14b)
C.
Gospel Shoes!
(Ephesians 6:15)
1.
God knows we need armour on our
feet
a.
Usually people put a lot of
emphasis only on arm strength and upper body armour – and when pushed and shoved
by the devil and the world, they slip and fall!
b.
These Gospel Shoes are more than
just shoes, they are boots - army boots.
They may be a bit uncomfortable to wear, but they are a very necessary part of
our armour (Rom 10:15)!
1)
Boots - feet shod (covered) -
enables a soldier to stand in all weather and conditions
2)
Preparation - ready to go, ready
to stand, ready to fight
3)
The Gospel of peace: the words
that make peace with God (at war with the devil) - most have it the other way
around!
2.
God gave us these shoes, and we
MUST wear them all day every day – not just when we feel motivated to wear them!
3.
Do you KNOW the Gospel?
What is the Gospel? Get this clear in your minds!
a.
Some think it is
a book on an altar. Some think it’s
all about the kingdom,
miracles, signs and wonders! These
are
1)
Like Mormons, JW’s, “prosperity”
gospel promoters, social gospel
ministers (feed the poor, etc), the
liberation gospel fighters (free the oppressed minorities of the world)
2)
Some may be good causes, but are
NOT the Gospel! There are “feel good”
gospels (never offends), and “do your own thing” gospels - they are the devil’s
poison
b.
THE Gospel is the
good news about one
Man, the God-Man, Jesus Christ! His
death, burial, and resurrection in our place (1 Cor 15:1-4)! It is ONLY about
Jesus! And that you
can have eternal life - it is
available to all who repent and receive Christ’s gift by faith ALONE!
c.
Believe any other “gospel” and
you will go to hell as fast as a bullet!
4.
The Gospel does THREE Things for
the Christian besides saving them:
a.
Knowing it Prepares us – for
SPIRITUAL fighting
b.
Knowing it Protects us – from
slipping
c.
Knowing it Propels us – to the
farthest corner of the world
5.
The Gospel Prepares You for the
a.
Know this! Satan meticulously
trains, and programs his army. So
should WE!
b.
Part of your armour is actually
the preparation to fight - you can have the best weapons at your disposal, and
still lose because you do not know how to use them!
c.
The Gospel Prepares You To
Stand - while serving, soul-winning, and under attack! It is like an army
boot. How does the Gospel prepare a Christian to stand?
1)
Gives the person a
reason to stand in the first place – for people’s souls!
2)
Provides the
armour to enable the Christian to withstand attacks - in muck, mire, on
slopes, slippery places - it provides firm support
3)
Expands our understanding of what
is really at stake in this spiritual warfare we are caught up in - Gospel gives
us a view of eternity - that the whole world is going to hell under a wicked,
evil tyrant named Lucifer (no fairy tale) - and they must be freed!
6.
The Gospel Protects You IN battle.
a.
To stand against your enemy, you
need firm footing. Psa 40:2 He
brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet
upon a rock, and established my goings.
b.
The Gospel keeps you OUT of bad
places!
1)
Psa 119:101
I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word.
2)
Psa 119:105
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
3)
The Gospel will keep you out of
pubs, jails, discos, off-licenses
c.
The Gospel will keep you from
slipping
1)
Into Calvinism
2)
Into Apathy
3)
Into laziness – people are dying
and going to hell right now at almost 2 per second!
4)
Into filthy sin – that would ruin
your testimony and send more people to hell
d.
It keeps us focused on the real
battles! Paul worried most about how people messed with the Gospel. Once you
mess with the Gospel, you damn people – period!
7.
The Gospel Propels You to the
a.
The Gospel came to these
Thessalonians in
b.
The Gospel changed those
people - into followers of Christ (1:6)
c.
The Gospel motivated those
new Christians to sound it out across the region: into
8.
That’s why God calls the
Christian’s feet beautiful (Is 52:7;
Ro 10:15)
a.
If your salvation didn’t affect
your feet, and get you to taking the gospel to the lost, then something is
wrong, and you need to get back right with God (too many are like the
b.
Realize what you are getting into
- spiritual warfare - over lost souls!
9.
The most victorious Christian is
a witnessing Christian!