Prepared for War Rich Nathan October 11-12, 2014 The Story of the Kingdom Series Ephesians 6:10-18 If you ve listened to me for any length of time, you know that I am a student of history. I was a history major as an undergrad and I ve continued to read history for the last 35 years. Between the First and Second World Wars, France embarked on an ambitious project to defend its borders against future German aggression. France had suffered two invasions by the Germans, first in the 19 th century in the Franco-Prussian War and then in WWI. So they put up a series of forts along the French-German border with huge cannons encased in concrete facing Germany. The idea was that if Germany decided to invade France again they would be halted by these fortifications called the Maginot Line. Well, Hitler did invade France in WWII but instead of invading directly across the border between Germany and France, Hitler sent his army north and wheeled through Belgium and then proceeded south to France. The French couldn t defend themselves because all of their cannons were locked in cement. They were unprepared for the kind of warfare that Hitler unleashed on them. In a very different way the United States was also utterly unprepared for the enemies we faced in WWII. After WWI our country turned inward and we adopted a policy called isolationism. The attitude was let the Europeans fight and kill one another; it is none of our business; we re thousands of miles away protected by two great oceans. Let s mind our own business and not stick our noses in what s happening in what s happening somewhere else in the world. So, despite the warnings signs of the rise of two radically aggressive nations, Germany and Japan two nations that were rapidly building up their militaries, despite seeing what Japan was doing in China and their slaughter of the Chinese, despite Germany s annexation of Austria and grabbing parts of Czechoslovakia, even when German invaded Poland many in the U.S. kept saying, It s none of our business. We ll be left alone. Let s not bother ourselves with foreign affairs. Who cares about Europe? Who cares about Asia? So on the eve of WWII America was completely unprepared for war. Our army in 1939 was ranked 19 th in the world. Our Army at the time was the size of Portugal s army and only slightly ahead of Bulgaria. We still had a Calvary force of 50,000. In 1939 we still were using horses in some units to pull artillery. 2014 Rich Nathan VineyardColumbus.org 1
I ve been doing a series on the kingdom of God which was Jesus central message. Everywhere Jesus went he talked about how God, our good and wise king, was breaking into this world through Jesus words, through Jesus works, through Jesus wounds to reestablish his reign over again the reign of the usurping counterfeit king, Satan. What we have learned over the past few weeks is that life in this world from the cradle to the grave is war. Every new born baby born today whether in Iraq or in Central Ohio is born into a war zone. Your mind, your body, your family, your career, the church you attend are all battlefields in the ongoing conflict between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. There will be ultimately no peace, no end to this war until Satan and his demonic hoard is thrown into the Lake of Fire and the New Jerusalem descends from heaven. Like it or not, we have an enemy. And life in this world is not portrayed as an extended beach vacation, but as a war. So how do we prepare ourselves for this war? That s the topic of today s message which I ve called Prepared for War. Let s pray. Ephesians 6:10 18 (NIV) 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil s schemes. 12 For 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. 13 Therefore 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. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And 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 Lord s people. It is interesting what Paul says in v. 12: Ephesians 6:12 (NIV) 12 For 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. We are prepared for the Apostle Paul to pray that we re fighting and wrestling with evil angels. We re prepared for that. What we re not prepared for is Paul saying that we re not wrestling with flesh and blood. 2014 Rich Nathan VineyardColumbus.org 2
Prepared for our real enemy We want to say, Paul, you ve been beaten by people; you ve been whipped and run out of town. Right now you are writing this letter from prison. What do you mean that we don t wrestle with flesh and blood? If anyone ever had to wrestle with other people with flesh and blood, it is you, Paul. We think we face human opposition, my goodness, look at what you re facing, Paul. How can you say we wrestle not against flesh and blood? And I think Paul would say, You re right. Flesh and blood can be really evil. Human beings can do horrible things to one another. People can be really cruel, unkind and judgmental, selfish and self-centered, greedy and all the rest. But you need to understand that whenever someone else attacks you, or someone lashes out at you, viciously slanders you, speaks gossip about you, betrays your trust, someone intends to harm you, there is behind all of that something deeper, something bigger, something more sinister, something more destructive than meets the eye. Of course, flesh and blood can hurt us. Of course, flesh and blood can hinder the cause of Christ. But the big battle, the big war is not being fought against other human beings in your family, or at your workplace, in your small group, or in your classrooms. The big war is being fought against unseen spiritual forces of evil. That s the real battle. And that s the battle we need to defend ourselves against. How do we prepare ourselves for a war with spiritual forces of evil? How do we prepare for unforeseen powers? The purpose of Ephesians 6 is to prepare followers of Christ for a life of spiritual warfare. Ephesians 6 is all about giving us the proper equipment so that we don t go into this battle like the French did in WWII with guns stuck in cement, or like the Americans who in 1939 still had thousands of horses in the Army. Every day is a battle over our hearts desires. Every day we face a battle in our minds. Every day there is a war against our marriages, against our kids, against our health, against our reputation, against our faith. How do we prepare each day for the warfare we will face as we turn on our computers, as we go to work, as we try to be faithful to our faith commitments? Here is what we read in v. 11: Ephesians 6:11 (NIV) 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil s schemes. And also in v. 13: Ephesians 6:13 (NIV) 2014 Rich Nathan VineyardColumbus.org 3
13 Therefore 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. To fight the war successful, we are told two times to: Put on the full armor of God To stand in the day of evil, to not compromise regularly and bow the knee to Satan as we talked about last week, to not give up the fight and just go along with the crowd, to not offer God a little less than what God really wants from our lives, to take a stand and not retreat or run for an escape hatch when things get really hot, Paul says to put on the full armor of God. Then in vv. 14-17, Ephesians 6:14 17 (NIV) 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Paul goes through seven weapons, seven pieces of armor that we need to be prepared for battle. We can t pick and choose through the weapons and say, Well, I will use this and not that. I want peace, but I don t want truth. We need all the armor if we want to successfully prepare ourselves for the war we will inevitably face each day. And it is interesting that there are seven pieces of equipment Paul mentions. The number 7 is perhaps the most important number in the Bible. It is mentioned over 600 times. The number 7 in the Bible is the number of completeness. There are seven days in a week; the Sabbath is the 7 th day. Jesus spoke seven last words from the cross. The book of John is particularly structured around the number 7. There are seven signs and wonders in the book of John, 7 I am statements. In the book of Revelation there are seven angels blowing seven trumpets, seven bowls of wrath, and seven seals on the book, seven churches, seven lamp stands, and seven last plagues. And here, there are seven pieces of equipment that make up the full or complete armor of God. We need all of the equipment the complete set of weapons to fight the battle we face every day. We can t pick and choose and say, Well, we want a few of these things, but not this. We want truth, but we re not into prayer. It is like saying, I want a great marriage and I m willing to do everything that it takes to have a great marriage. There is just one thing that I m not going to do. I m not going to forgive my spouse when they screw up. I m the kind of person that if someone crosses a line with me, if you mess up, I 2014 Rich Nathan VineyardColumbus.org 4
don t forgive and I don t forget. And so if my spouse does something that really bugs me, they re going to be in the doghouse for months. But I do want a great marriage! Or we say, I want to have a successful life and I m willing to do everything that it takes to have a successful life other than this one thing. I m not particularly into working hard. I just don t like to push myself to do things that are unpleasant for me. Everything but hard work. We know that we won t have a successful marriage, or live a successful life unless we say, I m not going to pick and choose. There are certain essential ingredients for success and I need all of the ingredients just like you need all the ingredients to successfully bake a cake. I need all the ingredients to live a successful life. And listen, doing our human best is not enough in a spiritual war. Samson was the strongest man who ever lived and he fell. David was the most devoted and he fell. Solomon was the wisest and he fell. Doing our best is not good enough! We need to put on the full armor of God, all seven pieces of equipment if I m going to be prepared for war. What are the weapons that we need to take up? Let s look at v. 14: Ephesians 6:14 (NIV) 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, Put on the belt of truth Paul is drawing a picture of the seven weapons from the Roman Army of his day. I believe there was a Roman soldier in the jail cell when Paul wrote this. A Roman soldier would get dressed first by putting on a leather apron under his armor. This would secure his clothing. It is really not a belt. It is more like a leather apron that would be put over your head and would tie down your clothes. Paul starts with truth. There is an order here. He doesn t move from head to toe, from the helmet to the shoes. He says if you want to prepare for war each day you must start with the foundation of truth. Another way to put it is if you want to prepare for war, the lens you look at life through has to be the lens of truth. The truth about who God is and the truth about who you are, the truth about the world and sin and salvation. In the Book of Isaiah, God asks the question repeatedly: To whom will you compare me? And then he goes on and says that the nations are like a drop in the bucket to me. I am the one who called the stars by name. I m the one who called them into existence. You 2014 Rich Nathan VineyardColumbus.org 5
can t think of God in a way that would be too great or too lofty. If you think of the biggest and greatest thing, God is bigger than that. If you think of the most powerful thing, God is more powerful than that. No idea, no thought, or ideology compares with God. So each day we start with this Big God, little me. Big God, little people. So often we reverse it. It is what people are doing; people are so big. My boss is huge and I have a little God. My professor is enormous and I have a tiny God. My husband, my mother-inlaw, this person who is attacking me is just so big. We idolize people. We deify people. We over-focus on people and we don t see God at all. He s too small. Do you see yourself doing this? Someone else what they re saying is right. What they re doing is massive to you. And God? Not so much. We start with the truth. Paul is saying before you walk out the door to work, before you head off to class, before you go to the grocery store, you start with the truth. What is your starting point? What base are you working from? What s the lens through which you look at life? Let me make this really practical. Let s say you are facing a decision, a decision about a relationship, a decision about a major item of spending, a decision about what job to take, or where to live. How do you approach it? How do you think about it? Well, you could take as your starting point your feelings. Many people do that. Many people have as their final authority their feelings. We can say, Well, I know what the Bible says about who God is and that God is infinitely big, that he s omnipotent, and that nothing can stop the Lord. God is capable and God is competent. God is caring and God is consistent. That the same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in me because I ve received Christ into my life. But I just feel like I can fight any more. I feel like I m all by myself. What you are saying is that your feelings are the final authority - your bad feelings, your feelings of defeat, and your anxious feelings. Sometimes its not our bad feelings that control us, but our good feelings. I can t see how this could be wrong when I m so happy. My boyfriend, my girlfriend and I are sleeping together and we re in love and really happy. How could it be wrong when I m in love and happy? You know, I think what would make me happy is buying a new sports car. I don t know if that s a wise purchase. And I haven t prayed about it. I feel so good when I m in a great car. Feeling happy must be the way to determine whether I m making a good decision or not. How do you approach life? Do you operate out of a feelings base? 2014 Rich Nathan VineyardColumbus.org 6
Maybe the final authority for your decisions is your reason. You say, The way that I approach life is whether I can understand something or not. So if you face a problem or difficulty, or someone you love faces a problem or difficulty, you say, Well, I can t understand why God would allow this. And because you can t understand why something is happening, you decide that you have to go it alone independent of God. That its not worth praying about; that its not worth waiting for God to work. You have to go it alone because you don t understand. And so the final authority for your life is not the truth about God, the truth of what God said in his Word. It is what you can understand in the moment. And for many, many people their understanding, not the truth, but their understanding becomes the starting point for all decisions. It is totally appropriate to say, I don t understand, so I need wisdom from God. I need understanding. I need revelation. Remember, people in their own independent wisdom and understanding crucified Jesus Christ. What people understood was that Christ needed to be gotten rid of. By the wisdom, by the understanding, by the reasoning of people we hung Jesus on a cross. Proverbs 3.5-6 says this: Proverbs 3:5 6 (NIV) 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Sometimes our starting point is not our understanding, its not our feelings, it is the intellectual fashions of our day. There are so many ideas that sweep in that are popular for a season. For a little while, everyone jumps on board. In the 20 th century for a season, Marxism was the rage. Jesus was a Marxist. And then the Berlin Wall fell and all the horrors of how communism actually worked in Eastern Europe were revealed the state-run prisons, the torture, the way that human life and human liberty was crushed. I m old enough to have lived through all the different intellectual fashions that sweep through from time to time that many people take as their authority for their starting point for life. I can remember back in the 1980 s when all the experts said that the foundation for healthy living was positive self-esteem. One Christian writer wrote a book titled Self- Esteem the New Reformation. The discovery of the importance of self-esteem was like Luther s discovery of the doctrine of justification by faith. He said that sin essentially was having low self-esteem and salvation was having positive self-esteem. In the 1990 s different researchers began to examine the link between self-esteem and success. They discovered that very many successful people don t think that much of themselves and that many other people including sociopaths in prison have a huge and expansive view of themselves and have really high self-esteem. 2014 Rich Nathan VineyardColumbus.org 7
What s going to be your starting point for doing life, friends? Paul says start with the truth every day. Start with who God is. Today, I m living my day with my perfect Father, who is completely wise and full of good counsel. He is my protector and provider. He is committed. He is consistent. He is caring and compassionate. He is slow to anger. He is generous and genuine. My Father in heaven loves to spend time with me. but he is not to be messed with. He always wants my good and he always hates my sin. Nothing is too hard for him. Nothing is impossible with God. Start with truth. Second, Paul says: Put on the breastplate of righteousness Ephesians 6:14 (NIV) 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, You say, OK, I want to look at life through the lens of truth. I want to start with the truth not my feelings, not my understanding, not the intellectual fashions of this age now what? We need righteousness. What do you rely on to feel OK with the God who really exists? Some people rely on their experience of God. Oh, I had an extraordinary experience of God a week ago, a month ago, 20 years ago and I became a Christian. And I rely on that experience to let me know that I m OK with God. Here is the problem with relying on your experience of God. What happens when your experience dries up, when you go through what some people have called a dark night of the soul when it feels like your prayers are wooden and heaven is brass? What do you do then? Are you still OK with God? Some of us rely on our service, on our ministry, on our usefulness. I must be OK with God because look at the way I m being used to help other people, to have an impact on this world for good and for God. But if you are relying on your usefulness to say that you are OK with God, what happens when you stop being useful? When you are laid up in the hospital? When you lose your position of ministry? When you retire from your job? When you get overlooked? When you are elderly and infirm? I know I m OK with God because my kids are doing great. What happens when your kids are not doing great? When one or more of them makes some really bad choices? Are you still OK with God even when your kids are not OK? Or maybe its your ability to make things happen; you ve always been an achiever, always able to succeed, to figure out a way forward. 2014 Rich Nathan VineyardColumbus.org 8
So many Christians crash and burn at this point. I know there is a God, but what is it today that makes me OK with the God who is? Paul says to put on the breastplate of righteousness. Cover your heart and everything that s vital inside you with Christ s righteousness. We can never attain to God s standard of righteousness. God is absolutely perfect in all that he does. The reason that God sent his Son into the world was to give us his righteousness. Jesus came to be the spotless sinless Lamb of God, who took on his own body our sins. And in exchange, God gives us Christ s righteousness. That s the breastplate, Christ s righteousness. What an exchange! Every day we give God our sins and every day God gives us his righteousness. Here is what it says in 2 Cor 5.21, a verse that we read during communion today: 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NIV) 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. What else do we put on? Put on the shoes that make us ready to share the gospel The idea of putting on shoes of readiness to share the gospel seems to be this. We put on shoes in order to move somewhere. Paul is saying that we re always available, we re always ready to bring to other people good news of peace. The gospel message of Jesus life, death and resurrection, that if it is received will bring about peace with God inner peace inside, and peace in our homes. Readiness to share the gospel. There is a parallel verse in 1 Peter 3.15 that reads this way: 1 Peter 3:15 (NIV) 15 But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, Why is the readiness to share the gospel a weapon of spiritual warfare? I think it works this way. As you share the gospel, as you talk with someone else about Jesus, as you say, You know, God loves you so much that he sent his Son into the world to die for you; God loves you so much that he wants to enter a relationship with you that will change your life for the good forever, as you communicate the gospel you confirm yourself in the gospel. You find yourself rooted more in these gospel truths. Have you found that as you share your faith, your faith gets more real for you? And it is especially true that as you see a friend or a loved on changed by the gospel, it underlines the truth that the gospel of peace is the power that changes lives. It is not just my nice little philosophy; it is God s message for you and for the whole world. 2014 Rich Nathan VineyardColumbus.org 9
What else? Paul says: Take up the shield of faith Ephesians 6:16 (NIV) 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. What is it? The shield of faith was a large, almost door-shaped shield about 4 high and 2 ½ wide, made of two layers of laminated wood, covered with an animal skin and sometimes covered with thick tar so that when a Roman soldier went out to battle, they would carry this shield over their heads. The enemy would often shoot flaming arrows up into the air. As the Roman Army went forward, these flaming arrows would be extinguished by these huge shields. Paul says that as we re battling in war, the enemy launches repeated volleys of flaming arrows temptations, lies, deceptions, discouragements. But up comes our shield of faith. We lay hold of who God is. We lay hold of his promises. And the arrows are put out. The flaming arrow comes to ignite something inside of you for example, lust. It just needs the tiniest flame and lust flames to light in your heart. But you put up the shield of faith. God, your Word says in 1 Cor 10.13: 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NIV) 13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. God, you promise that there is a way out. And that s absolutely true. Right now, I m going to shut off my computer. I m going to walk away from this situation. I m going to leave this apartment. Sometimes the arrows come from those closest to us members of the church, members of our families and members of your small group. Here is what we read in Psalm 64.3-4: Psalm 64:3 4 (NIV) 3 They sharpen their tongues like swords and aim cruel words like deadly arrows. 4 They shoot from ambush at the innocent; they shoot suddenly, without fear. But as those arrows come, we lift up the shield of faith and say, Lord, you say in your Word that you are my defender and my protector. Defend me. Do what is right in this 2014 Rich Nathan VineyardColumbus.org 10
situation; expose the lies, Lord. You say that you have forgiven my sin even though you and I know that my sin against you reaches to the heavens. So I m going to believe that you will empower me to forgive this person who hurt me. Step by step we prepare for battle. Ephesians 6:17 (NIV) 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Put on the helmet of salvation One of the ways the enemy attacks us is through what the Apostle Paul calls in the book of Galatians weariness in well-doing. Sometimes we ve been under attack for so long that we feel like giving up. Do you ever feel like you are under siege it keeps coming and coming, wave after wave? We say, Why fight at all? I m just going to give up. Nothing I do is stopping the attack. Paul says, Put on the helmet of salvation. 1 Thessalonians 5.8 puts it this way: 1 Thessalonians 5:8 (NIV) 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. It s the hope that protects us when the enemy exaggerates failure. If we think everyone s marriage fails, everyone gives in to temptation, then we won t fight. But if we say, lots of couples go through hard times, but they ve pulled through and with God s help have turned things around. If they could do it, I can do it too with God s help. Lots of people have gone through job loss. Martyn Lloyd Jones, who was an English preacher from the last century, in his brilliant book on the armor of God, helpfully points out that salvation has three tenses. We were saved when we put our trust in Christ. We re being saved day by day; we re being changed. And we will be saved; ultimately we will be delivered from all the sorrows of this world, from all the trials, from all the pain in our bodies, from all the pain in our hearts, and all the pain in our families. We will be saved. One of the necessary pieces of equipment in doing spiritual warfare is hope. This thing I m going through will not last forever. Put on the sword of the Spirit Ephesians 6:17 (NIV) 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 2014 Rich Nathan VineyardColumbus.org 11
Paul says that there is a way to drive the enemy back on his heels. You don t only have to take it and defend yourself. There is a way to take ground from the enemy that you ve maybe given up in your marriage, or take ground from the enemy that you ve given up in your personal life. Take ground back from the enemy what s happened between you and your kids. The Christian life is not just pray a little prayer and accept Jesus into your life. There is a growth edge to it. There s an expansion and forward movement as well. The sword of the Spirit that Paul is thinking of is the short sword that the Roman soldier used in close hand-to-hand combat. Again, Paul is emphasizing the closeness of the struggle. Our movement forward is inch by inch, step by step. As I always say, left foot, right foot, left foot. We need to reclaim some of this ground. We see Jesus using the sword of the Spirit when he was tempted. Every temptation was met with God s Word. That s why if we re going to be prepared for war every day, we need to drink in God s Word. Especially drink in who God is big God, little us. Competent, capable, considerate, covenant-keeping God, a God who gives and forgives. And finally, Paul says this in v. 18: Ephesians 6:18 (NIV) 18 And 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 Lord s people. Take up prayer We start with truth and we end with prayer. Is there anything in your life, friend, that wouldn t work better, if you prayed a little more, if you had more of God involved? If God was more involved in your finances than he presently is? If God was invited to work in your work, or in your family? Prayer is opening the door to Jesus. Letting Jesus into your angry feelings. Letting Jesus into your guilt. Letting Jesus into your anxiety. Prayer is opening the door to Jesus. When you hear Jesus knocking through some place of stress in your life I feel so stressed out here, Lord; I m under attack prayer is opening the door to Jesus. Is there any place in your life, friend, that having more of Jesus in that area wouldn t be a good thing? We re in a war. Every day there is an attack on our emotions, on our thoughts, on our ambitions, on our loved ones, and on our work, on our ministries. Prepare yourself for war. Let s pray. 2014 Rich Nathan VineyardColumbus.org 12
Prepared for War Rich Nathan October 11-12, 2014 The Story of the Kingdom Series Ephesians 6:10-18 I. Prepared for our real enemy II. Put on the full armor of God A. Put on the belt of truth B. Put on the breastplate of righteousness C. Put on the shoes that make us ready to share the gospel D. Take up the shield of faith E. Put on the helmet of salvation F. Take up the sword of the Spirit G. Take up prayer 2014 Rich Nathan VineyardColumbus.org 13