1 The Noble Battle Eph 6:10-18 Video Clip from Knute Rockne, All-American. Craig runs out on stage dressed in football uniform. I m ready to go. I m ready to get in there. How about you? As I look out at many of you, I can see that about half of you are thinking, Has Craig lost his mind? He s dressed in a football uniform? The other half of you are not puzzled by this at all. You know that I must be in possession of it first. How many of know there is a spiritual battle going on? The idea that you are in the middle of a war zone may seem odd to you. It doesn t look like a war zone. You don t see blown up buildings, people starving for food or wandering around with that lost look in their eyes tying to find a safe place. You don t see twisted metal and dead bodies by the roadside. But if you were to look with spiritual eyes you would see just that homes blown up by infidelity and selfishness. people starving for love wandering around with a lost look in their eyes unable to find a safe place to rest or safe people to be with. and the dead bodies are everywhere. The living dead walk among us without hope, without love, without a way out of their lost-ness. Can you see it? Do you get it? For a moment right now, we sitting here in church worshipping God. It is not unlike half-time of a football game. For a moment, the battle has ceased. This is the time to gather yourself.. to refocus and get refreshed so you can go back out there and continue the good fight. Will you leave here today, realizing the battle awaits you? Will leave here today and take hold of the Lord and the resources He has given you for the battle? Until September 11 th, we thought we were insulated from terrorism. Terrorism happened in places like Israel, the Philippines, Malaysia, Kenya, Tanzania, Columbia, Peru, Germany, Bosnia everywhere else in the world but the US. 9-11 forced us to realize that terrorism is everywhere, including here. In the same way, there is a spiritual battle going on 24-7. It is a battle of cosmic proportions and the stakes are extremely high not so much for God as for you and me. God has already won the battle in heaven. Satan was thrown out along with the angels who followed him. Satan has lost. He cannot win. But like Saddam who had his army set the oil fields of Kuwait on fire as they retreated to Iraq for no other reason then to create chaos and deny them to the victor, Satan has turned his attention against the people of God. His only goal is to create as much carnage as possible.
2 As we come to our final passage in this study of Ephesians, we read what is tantamount to a half-time, locker room talk to the new community of the Church. God calls the Church and her people to join in the spiritual warfare that I call the NOBLE BATTLE. But it is very important to note that in this NOBLE BATTLE we do not declare war on Satan. Satan has declared war on us --- on God s people --- and on God s Church. We are instructed to BE STRONG IN THE LORD. STAND AGAINST THE DEVIL S SCHEMES PUT ON THE ARMOR OF GOD... and STAND FIRM IN THE LORD resting in the victory that He has already won in the cross of Jesus Christ. To that end, God had equipped us. No general would send a solider into battle without the proper equipment helmet, weapon, ammunition, radio, and canteen. No coach would send a football player out into the game without the proper equipment helmet, shoulder pads, spikes, hip pads, thigh pads, knee pads. No boss would send a salesman or woman into a meeting without the appropriate files in hand, presentation materials, PDA, and cell phone. No principal would send a teacher into a classroom without a lesson plan, lecture notes, relevant articles, and pictures and if it was a tough class, a 50,000 volt, 26 watt Taser to immobilize rowdy students. The Church of Ephesus understood this call to the NOBLE BATTLE. Do you remember at the beginning of this study that Ephesus had been the center of pagan worship for the goddess Artemis? And do you remember that through the efforts of Paul and the Church. Christ had so impacted this city that those who made their living off the worship of Artemis were afraid they were going to have to hang out the going out of business sign? Dr. Luke records in Acts they were so upset that they even started a riot to try to kick Christ out! But they lost that battle because the new community of the Church transformed a city by answering the call of God, entering into THE NOBLE BATTLE using all the equipment of God. Ephes. 6:10-18 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can
3 extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. The NOBLE BATTLE we fight is not against people. It is a spiritual battle. It is not like the Israelites conquering the Promised Land nor Gideon routing the Midianites nor David slaying Goliath. It is more like Esther standing up for her people Daniel refusing to kneel to anyone but God or Peter and John preaching Christ at the Temple even though the religious authorities punished them. The NOBLE BATTLE is the spiritual struggle between Christ and the culture. The NOBLE BATTLE is about submitting control of your life to the Spirit so God can fill you with His character. The NOBLE BATTLE is about living a life that communicates to others the love truth and hope that we have in Jesus Christ. The NOBLE BATTLE is about resisting SIN living in the FORGIVENESS of God saying no the FLESH holding on to your FAITH and joining in the SERVICE of the Lord which ultimately means being TRANSFORMED by God and helping God to transform the world. The call to the NOBLE BATTLE is a call to PUT on and USE the EQUIPMENT God provides for the battle. We are instructed to take up the full armor of God and stand up for Jesus. There is no hiding out. There is no letting someone else fight for you. There is no I ll get to it later. The call is to you. The call is for now. The direction is to stand firm in Jesus NOW so that when the day of evil comes you are ready. The day of evil refers to those times when you are under spiritual attack. That attack may come in the temptation to commit adultery. It may come in the temptation to lie or keep from telling the whole truth. It may come in the temptation to forsake Jesus to forsake the Biblical values God has given us in His Word or to forsake His Church. The NOBLE BATTLE is your spiritual fight to remain true to God. It is your spiritual fight to obey God. It is your spiritual fight to proclaim Christ to a world that does not know Christ or God s love for them in Him. God is calling you and I to be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. He is calling you and I to take up the FULL armor of God NOW not part of the armor, but the FULL armor. We are to take the BELT OF TRUTH and allow it to strengthen us. A soldier in Roman times wore a belt that he wrapped around his mid-section. When he was on
4 duty the belt was tightened. When he was off duty, the belt was relaxed. His belt served much the same purpose as a weight belt used by weight-lifters or the girdlelike apparatus you might see on an employee who does a lot of repetitive lifting. The belt gives the body added strength. The Truth gives us strength. And even though Jack Nicholson might have said, You can t handle the truth in A Few Good Men, believe me when I tell you - you can handle the Truth. You must handle the truth, because the world needs the Truth. What is the Truth? The Truth that strengthens us is that God loves us so much He came to earth, in the second member of the Trinity, in the person of Jesus Christ and died a sacrificial death upon the cross in order to set us free from bondage to sin and spiritual death. Throughout the centuries this Truth has strengthened believers in the face of ongoing persecution, imprisonment, and death. It is because of this Truth that our friend, Mary Bacher, carried bibles into China, even though it could have meant imprisonment. It is because of this Truth that our friends, Pete and Pam Sanderlin, continue to faithfully teach school in Turkey, even though they face increased governmental scrutiny and attempts to shut down the school for no other reason than they are Christians who witness to Jesus in a Muslim nation. And it is because of this Truth that simple men and women, like you and me, can take courage and have the strength to share our faith with others in the face of criticism and judgment. We are instructed to take up the BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. A Roman author described the soldier s breastplate as his HEART-PROTECTOR. Our heart-protector is the righteousness of God. In Is 59:17, God Himself is pictured as putting on righteousness as his breastplate. God s holiness and call to us to be holy like Him is what protects our hearts. Righteousness refers to moral uprightness. But unlike God, our holiness or moral uprightness does not come from us it comes from our faith in Christ it comes from our submission to the Spirit of God and obedience to His Word. Do not be fooled, the breastplate of righteousness is not your righteousness. It is the covering of Jesus blood and his forgiveness that protects our hearts. We, who believe in Jesus, are recovering sinners. From time to time, we slip we black slide we sin. But God still forgives us because the blood Jesus washes away our sin. The Bible doesn t call us sinners Bible doesn t call us recovering sinners. The Bible calls us saints: To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus: Ephes. 1:1 and To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Rom 1:7. We are saints because the righteousness of Jesus is our righteousness. Our feet are to be FITTED WITH THE READINESS that comes from the GOSPEL OF PEACE. Shoes might seem like a strange thing to include in the
5 armor. But one of the weapons that revolutionized warfare was the sandal. Huge armies moved faster and farther than those without footwear. It was one of the secret of the Greeks and the early Romans. We do not fight with guns and weapons that destroy lives. We fight with spiritual truth and love to save lives. We bring the gospel of peace to people everywhere. We put on our shoes and go wherever God leads us to whomever leads us and tell them about Jesus who came to make peace between a Holy God and sinful men. We tell them how God hates sin. It is against His very nature. All who sin are at war with God. But God, in His love for sinners, has redeemed us in Christ. We tell them Jesus died upon that cross to pay the debt that washes away your sins. We tell them that when you accept Jesus as your Savior, the war between you and God is over. This is gospel of peace! There is the message of hope. This is the Good News. But there is still more armor for the NOBLE BATTLE. We must put on all the equipment. so take up take up the SHIELD OF FAITH the HELMET OF SALVATION the SWORD OF THE SPIRIT which is the Word of God and PRAY(ING) IN THE SPIRIT. As Roman soldiers went into battle, they marched in tight formation using their large shields to protect them from the long distance attack of arrows. In this way, they approach and engaged the enemy with a minimum of loss. Our faith acts like a shield that protects us from the attacks of Satan s faming arrows. James rightly reminds us that faith without deeds is dead, (James 2:26). In other words, true faith results in a changed life and good deeds. There is also the helmet of salvation that we are to place upon our heads. Like a helmet in battle, it will keep us safe. Once you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, you are forever saved. Jesus promised, My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. 29My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. John 10:27-29 Notice that the emphasis is not on your faithfulness, but on Jesus faithfulness to keep you. As believers, we all continue to enter into sin from time to time. but the blood of Jesus that washed us clean, continues to wash us clean. Our security is not in our ability to walk perfectly without sin, but in Jesus who continues to save us from our sin. Finally, the soldier picks up his sword. The sword we pick up is the Word the God -- the Bible. This is the only offensive weapon. When we are tempted by Satan.. tempted to sin we need to wield this weapon as Jesus did when Satan tempted him in the desert. Each time Satan challenged Jesus, Jesus answered with the Word of God. "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" Matt 4:4. It is written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"
6 Matt 4:7. and, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'" Matt 4:10 Trust the Word of God and not the inner voice that confuses your mind and tempts you to do wrong. Trust the Word of God and not the emotions that keep telling you that you are entitled and try to lead you away from God. Trust the Word of God and not the world s reasoning that is faulty and temporary at best. Lastly, we are to remain in CONSTANT COMMUNICATION with God through prayer in the Spirit, calling upon the power of God so that we might win the NOBLE BATTLE. There is a spiritual battle going on 24-7. It is not like other wars. It is an ongoing hand-to-hand, spiritual combat against the likes of selfishness and greed cheating and lying denial, addiction, and abuse fornication, adultery, and divorce hostility, hatred, and cruelty depression, mental illness, and suicide poverty, prejudice, and racism and much, much more. God calls us to the NOBLE BATTLE. But let us be mindful that this NOBLE BATTLE is not a call to attack Satan and take on the forces of evil. Jesus has already defeated Satan in this world. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. 1 John 3:8 And having disarmed the powers and authorities (SATAN and FRIENDS), he (CHRIST) made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. Col. 2:15. And when the DAY OF THE LORD comes, Jesus will rid the world of Satan. The Book of Revelation tells us And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever. Rev. 20:10 Until that time, we are called to the NOBLE BATTLE. to resist evil and remain true to God to obey God to serve through the new community of His Church proclaiming Christ to a world that does not know how much God loves them through Jesus. The call to the NOBLE BATTLE is a call to be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power Put on the full armor of God not part of it but all of it! GO with the Truth of Jesus Christ GO with the Lord s righteousness covering your heart GO where God leads you and proclaim peace with God through Jesus GO with true faith that results in a changed life and good deeds. GO with the assurance of your salvation GO with the Word of God in your heart, mind, and mouth GO with prayer and stand firm in the NOBLE BATTLE. Use the full armor of God and answer the call to be transformed by God and to help God in transforming the world this is the NOBLE BATTLE.