Dressed for the Battle to Come - The Believer's Armor - Part 2

Christ, our hope in life and death. Folks, we've got to live that. I love that phrase, "Christ, our hope in life and death." I want to call your attention to the previous song, "A Mighty Fortress." That's a rather old one. Some of you know that one from your growing up in church years. But I challenge you to do something, especially if you're new to the faith or maybe you really didn't grow up in the church and you might not know some of these things. Do a little research, read about some of the songs that we've seen. And what I mean by that is this. There's always a spiritual story behind these songs.

And sometimes the spiritual story behind these songs can be very edifying. They can be very encouraging. They can even be very convicting. And God can use these spiritual stories and these individuals to minister to us in a great way. And that's one of them. If you know why Martin Luther wrote "A Mighty Fortress" and when he wrote that and what he was going through, you'll understand why he wrote what he wrote. And I enjoyed that worship. Enjoy that worship as always. Well, let's take our Bible. Let's turn back to Ephesians chapter 6. Now, this morning we will primarily be in verse 16 and 17.

Like I said earlier, we'll be finishing up this portion of Scripture that deals with the believer's armor. Now, I'm going to mention a few other verses. And as always, I encourage you to write those down because we need to be good students of what the Lord gives us not just on Sunday morning but throughout the week. But the last time we were in our study in Ephesians, we were in this section of Scripture that had to do with the believer being dressed in the full or the whole armor of God. And we see this teaching in verse 14 on down to verse 17.

But this is a part of a larger section of Scripture that is all about the believer's battleground in war which is the daily Christian life. And listen again to how all of these verses fit together. We should know this, but it's been three weeks since we've been here. So we need some reminding. And look, I want you to understand. Understanding how Scripture comes together like this helps us understand the teaching more than you know. In verse 10, we see the command to be strong in the Lord. And we know that this is the main command in this portion of Scripture. And in verse 11, we see how the believer can be strong in the Lord.

We are made strong in the Lord by putting on the full armor of God which our Lord has provided. And in verse 12, we see why this strength is needed in our lives. That is because we have an enemy that is determined to destroy us in any way and every way. And then verse 13 is a repeat of verses 10 to 11. That's kind of a conclusion. But then starting in verse 14, we see an explanation of the believer putting on the whole armor of God. And this is more than an explanation of these things. Here we have a call for the believer to commit themselves to the battle and the war which is the Christian life. Now think about this.

God would not call us to put on the full armor of God if He did not expect us to be ready for the battle. He would not call us to put on the full armor of God if He did not expect us to commit to the battle. If He did not expect us to commit to the battle which is the true Christian life. Now I know I have said this numerous times, but church we have to get this. Because we belong to God as His blood-bought people we are thrown into this war whether we like it or not. Because Satan wages war against God, all that God created and all that God loves, Satan wages war against us. And he especially wages war against God's people.

That is His church. But notice folks, if you are a weak Christian, if you allow sin to linger in your life, well you are already defeated. You are already defeated. Let me give you an example of what that looks like. If you are a Christian that has this kind of a besetting sin, you just let this sin linger in your life. You know you should deal with it. At times you repent of it, but you don't fully repent of it. And it comes and goes, maybe it just lingers there and you have great conviction over it, but yet you allow that besetting sin in your life. To a great degree you are already defeated.

And if you are a new believer who struggles to get rid of their old life, you know that can be a problem. That was a problem for many of the Corinthians. If you are a new believer and you have come out of a lifestyle of sin and you struggle to get the old life out, well you are defeated. You are defeated. You do not have the victory that you should have. Now remember the bigger picture that we see in these verses. Verses 10-13 are all about standing strong in the strength of the Lord while being in the battle, in the war, that is the Christian life. Now maybe you do something. Maybe you write in your Bible out beside verses 10-13.

Maybe you write something like this, "I must stand strong in the Lord." Is it a sin to write in your Bible? Well, if it is a sin I am in trouble because I have certain Bibles I write in. But maybe out beside verses 10-13 you write, "I must stand strong in the Lord." And then verses 14-17 are all about standing strong and ready for the battle that is to come. These verses are all about expecting the battle that is coming and making sure to be ready. So maybe you write out by verses 14-17, "I must be ready for the battle." And how is the believer ready? We should know this.

By being strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might because we are fully dressed in the full armor of God. Therefore we can stand and stand firm in the battle when the battle comes. So to me verses 14-17 are all about the believer being dressed in the whole armor of God and ready for battle even anticipating these things. Well, that leads me to the title of our message. I call verses 14-17, "Dress for Battle, The Believer's Armor." "Dress for Battle, The Believer's Armor." And of course this morning is a part 2 because a few weeks ago we had a part 1. Now I'm not going to go back over what we studied in part 1.

But in part 1 we dealt with the belt of truth, we dealt with the breastplate of righteousness, and feet made ready by the shoes of the gospel of peace. And if you have not gotten that teaching I would strongly encourage you to do so. Why? Because all of this goes together. And we must get all of this together. To be honest with you it had been a few weeks. So I went back this week and I studied over all of that material as well because I want all of this together in my mind. Not just for preaching but for living. But this morning we're going to pick up right where we left off. So number 4, the shield of faith. And we see this in verse 16.

Number 4, the shield of faith. Now in addition to all that the soldier had to put on his body, that would be the belt, that would be the breastplate, that would be his boots. The soldier had to take up or receive his shield. Now scholars and historians tell us that Roman soldiers used different kinds of shields. But two were the most common. One was a small shield that they used more for one on one or hand to hand combat. The other was a large shield that was about 2 to 2.5 feet wide and about 4 to 4.5 feet tall. These shields were made of wood and they were covered over with leather or linen and sometimes they were covered with metal.

And if it was covered with linen or leather, it would have been soaked with oil to quench the fire tip arrows that were shot at them in battle. And the soldiers who carried these large shields were the front line foot soldiers. And when they closed in their ranks before an enemy, the soldiers in the front of the lines would lock their shields together to form an impenetrable wall that could extend up to a mile. And the soldiers behind could hold their shields above them, providing the same type of protection.

And scholars tell us with this type of protection from their shields, those front line soldiers could make a stand to defend themselves and they could even slowly advance, all while being protected against swords and spears and arrows and even flaming arrows that were coming from their enemies. And here in verse 16, Paul was using this illustration of this large front line shield. It is interesting if you go back to the original language, the word here for this large shield was similar to the word they used for door. Well, it's kind of obvious because the shield was about as big as a door. Now, let's look back at verse 16.

Paul says, "In all circumstances, take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all of the flaming darts or arrows of the evil one." Now, notice what Paul is saying here out of the verse. First he was calling these believers to take up the shield of faith. Now, the English standard says, "Take up the new American says, 'addition to all taking up.'" Now, here Paul shows us that the believer has the responsibility to take up the shield of faith. And responsibility is a major theme in this teaching, which speaks to the believer's readiness, even the believer's anticipation for the battle.

In verse 13, Paul starts off by calling the believer to take up the full armor of God. Again, this is all about readiness. This is all about preparation and readiness. And then second, he says, "Why this shield of faith is needed?" He says, "To take up this shield of faith so as to extinguish all of the flaming arrows of the evil one." But we have to ask, what are these flaming darts? What are these flaming arrows? These flaming arrows must be seen as the many temptations that Satan and his demonic forces can hurl and do hurl against the believer. And notice how Satan works here. Satan uses this evil world system to tempt the believer.

Isn't that right? We've learned that. And Satan preys upon and even exploits the believer's sinful nature that is very much alive. And look at how this applies to us right now. Satan has all sorts of schemes, all types of schemes, and he hurls those schemes at the believer just like flaming arrows. And these flaming arrows are meant to wound and even to destroy the believer. Now follow me here. How many believers are wounded by the flaming darts of sexual temptations? How many? How many believers are wounded by the flaming darts of sexual temptations? You know, that believer allows lust to be in their mind and in their heart.

They don't repent of that lust, and they allow that lust to smolder and even to grow. And then it turns into things like pornography, and then it turns into things like adultery. Well, pornography is adultery, but you know what I mean. What I'm showing you is this. Many believers are wounded by the flaming darts of sexual temptations. And if you look around in our culture, those flaming darts are coming from everywhere. How many believers are wounded by the flaming darts of unrighteous anger that leads to bitterness, animosity, and wrath? Yeah, believers can fall into that. Things don't go their way in family.

Things don't go their way in the workplace. And you know, this can even happen in the church. Something happens in the church, and a believer can allow the flaming dart of bitterness to strike them. And they can leave that alone, and that bitterness can turn into animosity, and then it can even turn into wrath. And you see it in families, you see it in the workplace, and you can even see it in church. I knew a church one time where two men wouldn't even speak to each other because of bitterness and anger and animosity all over a deer hunting lease. Yeah, one sat over here and one sat over there. Bitterness and animosity.

How many believers are wounded by the flaming darts of the love of money and possessions? You know, we live in an affluent society. There's nothing wrong with having things. I think I heard A.W. Tozer say that Abraham had all things, but all things didn't have Abraham. Abraham was very wealthy, but those possessions did not possess him. So it's nothing wrong with money. It's nothing wrong with possessions. The sin comes when we love those things, and those things have us. But how many Christians, real Christians, are wounded by the flaming arrows of the love of money and possessions?

How many believers are wounded by the sin of worry that leads to fear and anxiety and a lack of a trust in God? You know, when we look around in our society, things seem to be coming apart everywhere. They're not coming apart, folks. They're falling right into place. When we look at what's going on in the Ukraine and even now in Israel, we can be stricken with fear. This can lead us to worry and even anxiety. And look, folks, any worry, any anxiety, is a lack of trust in God. Either God is sovereign and in control, or He is not in control. And if He is not in control, we're in trouble, but we're not.

So we see that Paul calls believers to take up the shield of faith, so as to be protected and to extinguish the flaming arrows of the devil. All over the Amplified says, it says, "Above all, lift up the protective shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one." But a question, what is this shield of faith? If we are expected to take up the shield of faith, well, we must know what it is. First and foremost, before we can see what it is, we need to see what it's not. This shield of faith is not saving faith. Paul was not addressing unbelievers. These are believers. So this is not saving faith.

But also, this is not kind of a, this is not a type of hopes of faith. This is not a faith that is in the abstract. No. Warren Wiersby says that Paul is referring to a living faith. I like that. I'm going to take that and borrow that and build on that. Paul was referring to a living faith. This is a living faith. This is a personal faith. And this is a living and personal faith in the life of the believer. And because it is real in the life of the believer, it can be seen and it is even tangible. Now let me explain. This will make this more tangible. This is a faith in the person of God because the believer knows God.

This is a faith in the power of God because the power of God is at work in the believer's life. This is a faith in the perfections of God because the believer knows God's Word is perfectly sufficient for all things in life, all things in death, all things in eternity, so they live by God's Word. This is a faith in the promises of God because the believer knows that God keeps his promises, so they live by God's promises. This is a faith in the providence of God because the believer knows that even though they may be assaulted over and over and over by flaming darts, God is in total control of their lives.

The Bible scholar Leon Morris says, and I'm quoting, Paul's statements here should perhaps be put alongside his other words, "The just shall live by faith." That's Romans 1.17. Let me repeat that. Paul's statements here, talking about here in Ephesians, should perhaps be put alongside his other words, Romans 1.17, "The just shall live by faith." And Morris goes on to say, "For the apostle," this would be Paul, "Faith is central to the Christian life and something of this thought comes through this present passage." And I think Morris is right. He's on to something.

Infused in this passage is the fact that at the heart of the Christian life is faith, not a hope so faith, a personal faith, a lived out faith, and a faith that is seen and it becomes tangible in the life. So God through Paul was calling these believers, and he is calling us to take up the shield of faith. This is a personal living faith so as to protect ourselves and to extinguish all of the flaming darts that are shot at us by the evil one. And right here is where we must ask if we are in error. I've seen many believers throughout the years become entrapped in error here.

And these are mistakes that can latch a hold of our lives and take us down a road we do not want to go down. As we live in this world, we can't fall in the trap of running and retreating. We are called to be ready for the battle. We are called to be dressed in the full armor of God so as to stand, not to run, not to retreat, as we live in this world, we can't hunker down and bunker in. We are expected to be ready for war, dressed in the full armor of God so as to stand and stand firm, not hide. Let me test your Old Testament knowledge here. The great prophet and man of God, Elijah.

God used him in a mighty way, but what happened when he fell into this mindset? Elijah ran and he retreated, and he hunkered down and he bunkered himself in a cave, and it was sin, he was not trusting in God, he was living in defeat, and what happened? God called him out of that defeat, and look, I have seen believers make this mistake. They are always running and retreating, they are always hunkering down and bunkering in, but that is not the Christian life, folks, not the life we see here. So we have to ask, how do we view the Christian life? What is our approach to the Christian life? Are we running and retreating?

Are we hunkering down and bunkering in? And look, folks, that never works. It never works. It can't work. I will give you an example. I was having a conversation with a friend of mine the other day, and he was making a comment about finding a few Indian arrowheads on his property. He just said, "You know, I imagine what those people lived like, how they were." He said, "I just imagine who they were, when they lived, and what their lives were like." And he made the comment, "You know, they did not have to live with all the junk that we have to live with." No, they did not, but they did. Because they weren't immune.

You see, those people still dealt with sin. They still dealt with the flaming darts. And although they don't have or didn't have all of the sin and temptations we have, if you studied their lives, they were a bunch of pagans. You can't run. You can't retreat. You can't hunker down and bunker in. You can't escape it. And also, we can't use the wrong shield. So many genuine believers end up using the wrong shield to try to protect themselves from the flaming arrows of the enemy. Let me show you. Some try to use the shield of Republican politics. Back in the 80s, it was all about the moral majority. Isn't that right?

Oh, if we just had the moral majority, I'm showing you my age. Oh, if we just have Reagan and the moral majority, you know, we can be protected. And see, now it's Trump. Some try to use the shield of what I call Christian politics. If you turn your radio on to American Family Radio, that's what you're going to hear. It's about a mixture of Christianity and politics. That's going to protect us. That's going to protect us. That's going to protect us. I don't find that in the scripture. But you know, some try to use the shield of externals and rules and legalisms. Look, folks, you can build walls all around you. You can build those walls tall.

But inside those walls, what do you have? A dirty lowdown right and center, and Satan's going to be right there. You cannot run, retreat, hunker down and bunker in. It won't work. And our shield must be a real and a personal and a living faith. So number four, we take up the shield of faith. And number five, the helmet of salvation. Number five, the helmet of salvation. Now, at this point, two more items remain for the soldier. Obviously, the helmet and the sword. Let's look at verse 17. I'll read the two together.

"In all circumstances, take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts." Notice all the flaming darts of the evil one? "And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God." Now, the helmet that the Roman soldier wore was rather simple. The inner part of the helmet was made of thick leather that cushioned the head. And that was covered over by metal plates or molded metal that was formed into what we would see and call a helmet. And no matter how the helmet was made, they were usually protective plates that covered the cheeks and other parts of the face.

And the purpose of the helmet was obvious. The helmet was the most important part of the defensive armor because it was meant to protect the head of the soldier. And think about it. If the Roman soldier did not have the proper helmet or if his helmet was lost in battle, the most important part of his body was exposed. It was vulnerable. So, for the Roman soldier, the helmet defended the most important, the most vital part of the person that would be the head. So, for the believer, the helmet of salvation defends the most important, the most vital part of the person, the soul.

And seeing the believer's salvation as a helmet and as a part of the believer's armor helps us to understand that the believer is safe and sound against any attack by any enemy. Now, question. What enemies can attack the soul? We have already seen that the believer has three enemies. Our sinful flesh, that would be our old sinful nature, that's one of our enemies. The world or the evil world system, that's one of our enemies. And then Satan and his demonic forces, that's our enemy. And of course, Satan and his demonic forces pray against and use our sinful flesh in the world. But what are the enemies to our souls?

This is simple, sin and death. Sin and death. The enemy of sin, which always leads to the enemy of death. Look, folks, get this in your mind. Satan cannot condemn our souls, nor does he need to. Our own sin, in which we are born in and live in, that leads to spiritual and physical death. And that is what dooms and damns our souls. Think about it. If even Adam had not sinned, then sin and death would not have been an issue for them, nor their offspring. But because Adam did sin, Romans 5, 12 says, sin came into the world through one man, that's Adam, and death through sin. And so death spread to all men because all have sinned.

Death has spread to us. We are his offspring. But the salvation provided by Jesus' death on the cross destroyed the enemies of what? Sin and death. In 1 Corinthians 15, 54, Paul says, death is swallowed up in victory. Death is swallowed up in victory. And he continues by saying, "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory how? Through our Lord Jesus Christ. So the enemy of sin and death is defeated and was defeated by Jesus' death on the cross.

And seeing our salvation as a helmet and as a part of the armor of God helps us to understand that we are safe and sound against any attack by any enemy. I love what William McDonald says here about verse 55. He's commenting on Paul where he says, "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" And I like it because McDonald is using his imagination. McDonald says, "This verse may well be a taunt song which believers sing as they rise to meet the Lord in the air." Let me pause here. It's football season. You know when one of those fellows scores a touchdown? If they taunt the opposing players, what do they do?

They get a penalty for taunting. Taunting. Now I know McDonald is using his imagination, but listen. He says, "This verse may well be a taunt song which believers sing as they rise to meet the Lord in the air." And I'm continuing with a quote. "It is as if they mock death because for them it has lost its sting." They also mock Hades because for them it has lost a battle to keep them as its own. "Death holds no terror for them because they know their sins have been forgiven and they stand before God in all the acceptability of his beloved Son." So the most important part of the person, their soul, the enemy of that soul is sin and death.

But Jesus provided victory over sin and death by providing salvation on the cross for men and men. So the most important part of the armor of God is the helmet of salvation. For without the helmet of salvation, just like the Roman soldier without a helmet on the battlefield, the most important part of the person is left for defeat. A question. Do you have on the helmet of salvation? Or are you on the battlefield of life vulnerable and unprotected from the enemies of sin and death? It's one of the other folks. Another question. Do you have a helmet of salvation that you have provided for yourself?

In verse 17, the English Standard, the new American, and the King James used the verb "take." It's right there for you to see. Some of you have the Legacy Standard Bible. It's a good translation. The Legacy Standard Bible says "receive the helmet of salvation." Now why would the Legacy Standard Bible use that word "receive"? Should this cause us to step up and say, "Oh, one of them is in error"? No. That is because this word in the original carries with it the idea of receiving more than taking.

As one commentator said it, these items, the armor for the soldier, these items were laid out for the soldier to pick up, but the helmet and the sword, it had to be handed to them. They had to receive it from an attendant, an armor bearer. So my question for you is this. Have you received the helmet of salvation that God provides and that only God could give you? Or have you constructed some kind of a helmet of salvation on your own? Look, folks, the helmet of salvation provides victory over sin and death.

But so many professing Christians are living in the cesspool of sin and the destruction of death, therefore they are proving that they do not have the helmet of salvation that only God can give. Is that you? One of the wonderful things about our culture is this. We live in cultural Christianity. It provides some wonderful things, but it can be a curse because cultural Christianity does not save. And that's why so many people have to repent of religious pride and their external Christianity. So number five, we receive the helmet of salvation. And then last, number six, the sword of the spirit. The sword of the spirit.

Here we have the last part of the Roman soldier's armor. That is the sword. Now, the Roman soldier did use other offensive weapons. They used things like the bow. They used things like spears, battle axes, and other larger offensive weapons. If you do some study, you can come across that information. But here Paul speaks of the most important, the most used offensive weapon of the Roman foot soldier, and that was the sword. Now, the sword that Paul is referring to was called the gladeus, which was about 20 to 24 inches long, and it was used in close hand-to-hand combat.

And the gladeus was carried in a scabbard or a sheath that was attached to the belt, so it was available for use at any time. And this sword was a lethal two-edged weapon that could be used to cut and to thrust with great results by the heavily armed, well-trained Roman soldier. But what is the sword of the spirit? Well, the verse tells us. It's the word of God. Look back at verse 17. Paul says, "And take or receive the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit," here it is, "which is the word of God." And listen to what the writer of Hebrews says about the sword of the spirit.

Chapter 4, verse 12 says, "The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the faults and the intentions of the heart." And notice that the writer of Hebrews is using military language just like Paul here in Ephesians.

He says, "The word of God is like a two-edged sword, but sharper." And as a physical sword was able to pierce the physical body, Hebrews 4, 12 says, "The word of God is able to pierce and to divide the human soul, the human spirit, and even the thoughts and the meditations of the mind and in the heart." And notice Paul's purpose in verse 17. It is the same purpose of the writer of Hebrews. Paul's purpose was to point out the effectiveness of God's word. Paul is saying that just as a Roman soldier's sword was effective, so is the word of God. But the word of God is even more effective because there's really no fair comparison.

But to understand what Paul is saying here, we must ask, "What was and what is the sword of the spirit, the word of God? What was this used for? What was this up against?" Now think on that. It was used, or is to be used, in the battle and in the war that is the Christian life. The word of God was and is used against Satan and all of his flaming arrows. The word of God was and is used against the enemies that are coming against us as believers. The word of God was and is used against all that Satan and the world and even our own sinful flesh can throw against us. And take note of what Jesus did when he was tempted in the wilderness.

Matthew chapter 4 tells us that in all three of those temptations, Jesus did not argue with Satan. He did not rebuke Satan. I'm sorry, the Charismatics have got it wrong. He didn't argue with Satan. He didn't rebuke Satan. He simply quoted scripture at him and he quoted all of them from Deuteronomy. And not only did he quote them, he obeyed them. And notice all of those temptations against Jesus sought to pray upon what? The desires of the flesh, the desires of the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. But there is one specific that we need to see here in the language. The term that Paul uses here for word has specific meaning.

This term speaks of the specifics of God's word, not the general meaning of God's word. This term speaks of knowing the specifics of God's word, not just the general message or the general meaning of God's word. So Paul is saying that the sword of the spirit is not just God's word. He is saying that the sword of the spirit is each word, it is each phrase, it is each little specific meaning of God's word. Every little detail. And for us we have to ask, do we know God's word in its specific meaning? Do we know the words and the phrases of God's word and those specific meanings? Or do we simply have this general knowledge of God's word?

You know folks, you can grow up in our day and grow up in a home where you are taking to church. You can have a general knowledge of God's word. And my guess is most of you have a general knowledge. But let me ask you, do you have a specific knowledge of specific words and phrases and doctrines? Do you have that specific knowledge? And see folks, when you get into this, you realize this takes time, this takes discipline, this takes study, this takes self-control, this takes time. And this leads me to a question I ask us when we covered the belt of truth. How much truth do we need?

The more we get into this, the more we realize, or should realize we need a lot of truth. In our personal Bible study time, how much truth do we need? And then in the life of our church, how much truth do we need? Huh? We live in a time when so many churches are moving away from doctrinal preaching. You know doctrinal preaching will bore people to death. That's what they say. We live in a time when so many churches are moving away from expository preaching. You might not know what that term means. Expository preaching means I just exposit the text. I don't have to come up here with an idea. I don't have to write a message.

I just exposit the text. I explain the text. We live in a time when so many do not take the time or put in the Word to rightly divide the Word of God. Each phrase, each word, each chapter, each book, they do not put in the time to do that. Now look folks, I don't know if you've realized this. It takes a lot of work and time to do this. I'm going to make a confession to you. Brother Keith can attest to it. I can take a chapter. I can take a portion of scripture. My wife can attest to this. I can spend some time, read a couple of commentaries, and I can pull out a few truths and meditate over that and come up here and preach.

Just preach out of my mind. Preach out of my heart. Never look at my notes. And that doesn't take me a lot of time. Is it because I'm that gifted? No. But let me tell you, to get into a book like Ephesians and to take all of the resources I can get and to study and to meditate and to pray and to try to understand what these words and these phrases mean and to see how it all links together, that takes time. That takes a lot of effort. That takes spending time alone in the study and in the closet.

And to be honest with you, sometimes when I'm wrestling with these things, I have to just get up and go in prayer and say, "God, I can't get all this, and I can't." But when we know God's Word and we have God's Word, the sword of the Spirit, what is it used for? As believers, we are to use the sword of the Spirit. Yes, the sword of the Spirit, every little detail, to fight against these things, fight against all of the temptations that come from our flesh, to fight against all of the schemes of the devil, those schemes that he hurls against us, and to fight against all that the world brings against us, and understanding that it's the devil and his minions that use and pray upon our flesh and use the world to fire all of these darts at us.

And look, church, we have to ask the question, "How much truth do we need?" In our personal lives and in the life of the church, and I'll be honest with you, look at your pastor. We will have to ask ourselves this question, "As a church in the days and years to come, how much truth do we need?" So number six, we receive the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. Now as I move to close, I want to borrow some closing instruction from Warren Wiersby, and I think this wraps things up very well. This wraps up this teaching about being dressed for the battle that we're in and the battle that is to come.

And we need to see that in a way, the whole armor of God is simply a picture of Christ Jesus, our Lord. Christ Jesus is the truth, capital T, according to John chapter 14 verse 6. Christ Jesus is our righteousness, according to 2 Corinthians 5, 21. Christ Jesus is our peace as seen in Ephesians 2, 14. So I have to ask you folks, is it personal? Is it living in your life? Is Christ's truth in you? Is Christ's righteousness in you? Is Christ's peace in you? Is it a part of you? Is it a part of your active and living and tangible faith? His complete faithfulness makes our faith possible, according to Galatians 2, 20.

He is our salvation as seen in Luke 2, 30. He is the very Word of God, according to John 1, 1 and John 1, 14. And so my question here is this, is your faith personal? Is your faith living? Do you have a faith in you because of His complete faithfulness? Is His salvation your salvation and our salvation? And is Christ Jesus the Word of God being made real and alive in you? Is this a part of our daily lives? Is this a tangible real faith in us? So this means that as born again believers, when we trust it in Christ for our salvation, we actually receive the armor of God when we receive Christ.

That means we must see and understand that we have Christ Jesus. We must assume our responsibilities to take up and to put on the full armor of God. Why? So as to engage in the battle, in the war, that is the true Christian life. And with God's help, we can do these things. So let's pray, let's commit these things to the Lord, and let's look to the Lord to bring about results and let's roll up our sleeves to get busy in our responsibilities.