February 22, 2015 ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON CLOTHED AND READY MINISTRY INVOCATION O God: We give thanks to You for the manifold blessings to us. You did not have to bless us but You did. We shall remain eternally grateful. Amen. WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW AND UNDERSTAND Putting on the whole armor of God teaches that in order to best serve God, Christians need to fortify themselves with truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, the Word of God, and prayer. THE APPLIED FULL GOSPEL DISTINCTIVE We believe in the indwelling of the Holy Ghost for all believers and that the Holy Ghost verifies and validates the Believer as part of the Body of Christ. TEXT: Background Scripture Ephesians 6:10-20 Key Verse Ephesians 6:11 Lesson Scripture Ephesians 6:10-20 (NKJV) The Whole Armor of God 10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints 19 and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. COMMENTARY Verse 10. Finally. Whereas in the preceding verses he had distributed the Ephesians into groups, giving an appropriate counsel to each, he now brings them again together, and has a concluding counsel for them all. Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. The ever-recurring formula, in the Lord, 1
indicates the relation to Christ in which alone the strength can be experienced. The might is Christ s, but by faith it becomes our strength. As the steam engine genders the dynamic force, which belts and wheels communicate to the inert machinery of the factory, so Christ is the source of that spiritual strength which through faith is communicated to all his people. To be strong is our duty; to be weak is our sin. Strong trust, strong courage, strong endurance, strong hope, strong love, may all be had from Him. Verse 11. Put on the entire armour of God. Chained to a soldier, the apostle s mind would go forth naturally to the subject of armor and warfare. put on the armour, for life is a battlefield; not a scene of soft enjoyment and ease, but of hard conflict, with foes within and without; Put on armor of God, provided by him for your protection and for aggression too, for it is good, well-adapted for your use, God has thought of you, and has sent his armor for you; armour of God the whole put on, for each part of you needs to be protected and you need suitable weapons for assailing all your foes. That ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Our chief enemy does not engage us in open warfare, but deals in wiles and stratagems, which need to be watched against and prepared for with peculiar care. Verse 12. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood. Our conflict is not with men, here denoted by flesh and blood, which is usually a symbol of weakness, therefore denoting that our opponents are not weak mortals, but powers of a far more formidable order. But against the principalities, against the powers. Though all of these, evil as well as good, have been put under Christ the Head, they have not been put under the members, but the evil among them are warring against these members with all the greater ferocity that they cannot assail the Head. Against the world-rulers of this [state of] darkness. Worldrulers denotes the extent of the dominion of these invisible foes the term is applied only to the rulers of the most widely extended tracts; there is no part of the globe to which their influence does not extend, and where their dark rule does not show itself. This darkness expressively denotes the element and the results of their rule. Contrast with Christ s servants, who are children of light, equivalent to order, knowledge, purity, joy, peace, etc.; while the element of the devil and his servants is darkness, equivalent to confusion, ignorance, crime, terror, strife, and all misery. Against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. The natural meaning is, either that these hosts of wickedness have their residence in heavenly places, or, that these places are the scene of our conflict with them. The latter seems more agreeable to the context, for in heavenly places does not denote a geographical locality here. The statement now is that, even in such places, amid their most fervent experiences or their most sublime services, they are subject to the attacks of the spirits of wickedness. 2
Verse 13. Wherefore take up the entire armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day. Some have tried to affix a specific time to the evil day of the apostle, as if it were one or other of the days specified in the Apocalypse; but more probably it is a general phrase, like the day of adversity, or the day of battle, indicating a day that comes often. In fact, any day when the evil one comes upon us in force is the evil day, and our ignorance of the time when such assault may be made is what makes it so necessary for us to be watchful. And having done all, to stand. Having done fully, or completed, is the literal import, having reference, not only to the preparation for the battle, but to the fighting. The command to be strong in the Lord is fitly associated with our having done all, because leaning on almighty strength implies the effort to put forth strength by our own instrumentality; when God s strength comes to us it constrains us to do all that can be done by us or through us. We are not called to do merely as well as our neighbors; nor even to do well on the whole, but to do all to leave nothing undone that can contribute to the success of the battle; then we shall be able to stand, or stand firm. Verse 14. Stand therefore, having girt about your loins with truth. The stand in verse 13 denotes the end of the conflict; this stand is at the beginning. Obviously, there must be a firm stand at the beginning if there is to be at the end. In order to this, we must fasten the girdle round our loins viz. truth, here used in a comprehensive sense, denoting honesty; sincerity of profession in opposition to all sham, levity, hypocrisy; and likewise the element of truth in Jesus, the substance of the gospel revelation. We are to gird ourselves in truth, establishing ourselves in that element, wrapping it round us, literally, girded in truth. And having put on the breastplate of righteousness. for at least one element of the righteousness righteousness wrought in us by the Holy Ghost after the image of Christ. But a more comprehensive use of the term is not excluded the whole righteousness that we derive from Christ righteousness imputed and righteousness infused. Verse 15. And having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. The metaphor becomes somewhat difficult to follow; the feet have to be shod or armed as with military sandals, and the sandal is the preparedness of or caused by, the gospel of peace. The idea seems to be that the mind is to be steadied, kept from fear and flutter, by means of the good news of peace the good news that we are at peace with God; and if God be for us, who can be against us? The Roman sandal was furnished with nails that gripped the ground firmly, even when it was sloping or slippery; so the good news of peace keeps us upright and firm. Verse 16. Withal taking up the shield of faith. The shield was a large oblong shield covering a great part of the body, not the smaller and more round. 3
Faith, in its widest sense, constitutes this shield faith in God as our Father, in Christ as our Redeemer, in the Spirit as our Sanctifier and Strengthener faith in all the promises. Wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. Fiery darts were weapons tipped with inflammable materials, firebrands, curiously constructed, adapted to set on fire. Metaphorically, considerations darted into the mind inflaming lust, pride, revenge, or other evil feelings, emanations from the great tempter, the evil one. That such considerations sometimes start up suddenly in the mind, against the deliberate desire, sometimes even in the middle of holy exercises, is the painful experience of every Christian, and must make him thankful for the shield on which they are quenched. An act of faith on Christ, placing the soul consciously in His Presence, recalling His atoning love and grace, and the promises of the Spirit, will extinguish these fiery temptations. Verse 17. And take the helmet of salvation. This is the head-covering. putting on for an helmet the hope of salvation. The glorious truth that we are saved appropriated, rested on, rejoiced in, will protect even so vital a part as the head, will keep us from intellectual surrender and rationalistic doubt. And the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. The sword supplied by the Spirit, the Word being inspired by him, and employed by the Spirit; for He enlightens us to know it, applies it to us, and teaches us to use it both defensively and offensively. Our Lord in his conflict with Satan, and also with the scribes and Pharisees, has taught us how this weapon is to be used, and with what wonderful effect. Paul, too, reasoning from the Scriptures and proving from them that this Jesus whom I preach unto you is the Christ, or (going back to the Old Testament) the author of the hundred and nineteenth psalm, showing us how the soul is to be fed, quickened, strengthened, and comforted out of God s Law, indicates the manifold use of the sword, and shows how earnestly we should study and practice this sword exercise, for our own good and the good of others. Verse 18. With all prayer and supplication praying. The metaphor of armor is now dropped, but not the idea of the conflict, for what is now insisted on is of the most vital importance for successful warfare. Though prayer is virtually comprehended in most of the previous exhortations, it is now specifically enjoined, and in a great variety of ways; all prayer and supplication, equivalent to every form of it, e.g. ejaculatory, secret, spoken, domestic, social, congregational. At all seasons. No period of life should be without it youth, middle life, old age, all demand it; no condition of life adversity, prosperity, sunshine, desolation, under sore temptation, under important duty, under heavy trial, under all the changing circumstances of life, personal, social, Christian. 4
In the Spirit; for true prayer is spiritual, and it is not true prayer unless by the Holy Spirit the heart is filled with heavenward longings and aspirations, changing our prayer from cold form to heartfelt realities. The ordinary habit of the soul should be prayerful, realizing the presence of God and looking for His grace and guidance. And watching thereunto; that is, towards spirituality, against formality, as also against forgetfulness and neglect of prayer. Perhaps also the idea of watching for the answer is involved, as you wait for an answer when you have dispatched a letter. In all perseverance; this being very specially needed to make prayer triumphant, as in the case of the Syro-phœnician mother. And prayer for all saints; this being one of the great objects for which saints are gathered into the one body the Church, that they may be upheld and carried on, in warfare and in work, by mutual prayer, kept from slips and infirmities, and from deadly sins, and enabled one and all to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith they are called. Verse 19. And for me. Mark the unpriestly idea; so far from Paul having a store of grace for all the Galatians, he needed their prayers that, out of the one living store, the needful grace might be given to him. That utterance may be given to me, in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel. With all his practice in preaching, he felt that every instance of right utterance was a gift may be given to me; especially when great matters were involved in the opening of my mouth. To open the mouth denotes an authoritative act of teaching; on such occasions he especially desired boldness, not stormy vehemence, but earnestness, fearlessness in making known the destination of the gospel, once secret, now designed for all. Boldness was needed because the message was so hateful to some and so contemptible to others. Verse.20. For which I am an ambassador in chains. Thereby not only physically helpless, but in danger of being subdued into tameness, the ordinary effect of captivity, and thus reduced to a spirit not befitting the bearer of a great message from the King of kings. That in it i.e. in the matter of it, of the gospel I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. RELATED DISCUSSION TOPICS CLOSING PRAYER O God: Equip us to stand against wiles of Satan and anything that he thrusts against us. Let out battlefields become our proving grounds for Kingdom purpose. Amen. 5