Third Sunday of Lent
Supernatural Warfare – part three
You can watch this message on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFI3M17cMjk
Two
weeks ago, we looked at the evidence of the growing supernatural evil all
around us. Last week we began our look at the supernatural armor God has
provided for our protection in this deadly spiritual battle. We also reminded ourselves
that God never, ever leaves us alone in this battle.
The
first piece of armor St Paul addresses in Ephesians six is the belt of truth. When
Paul used that illustration, he was telling his readers that if we don’t hold
truth close to ourselves, if we compromise or dilute God’s truth, then we open
ourselves to mortal attack by that enemy – which is likely the reason we are
seeing so much demonic activity in our culture.
In
so many of our churches, God’s eternal truth has been terribly diluted and
compromised, so much so that it is nearly unrecognizable. I have even had
pastors tell me in private conversation that they do not talk about certain
social issues in their homilies so as to not offend people in the pew.
That is one reason we spent
so much time last week talking about that belt of truth. But now, on this third
Sunday of Lent, as we continue to journey toward Resurrection Sunday, let’s look
again at this text in Ephesians 6. Today we pick up at verse 13.
“Therefore, take up the full armor
of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done
everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your
loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and
having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition
to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish
all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” (Eph 6:13-16)
Let’s look now at two more elements of the
spiritual armor: The breastplate of righteousness, and the shield of faith. We
will look at the feet covered with the preparation of the gospel next time.
The word ‘righteousness,’ as used by the
writers of Scripture, often carried the idea of thinking and acting according
to God’s commandments. Virtue, virtue, integrity, moral purity, are godly principles.
The equation seems simple enough. Obey God’s
laws – the more scrupulous the better – and you’ve got nothing to worry about.
But God has something deeper in mind when it comes to Biblical
righteousness.
The scribes and
Pharisees were meticulous in their observances of the Law of Moses, as
well as in their multiple oral interpretations of those laws by their
scholars. In fact, the two major theological schools of Hillel and Shemmai both
taught that oral traditions were as authoritative as the written laws handed
down by Moses and the prophets. Their oral traditions informed them that if
they followed those traditions and interpretations of the Law, God would
consider them ‘righteous.’
Yet the Lord Jesus said during His sermon on
the mount to the crowd of disciples, curious onlookers, and some religious
leaders. “For I say to you that unless your righteousness
surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees,
you will not enter the kingdom.” (Matthew
5:20)
I can imagine what the crowd thought to
themselves: If even the holy men around us will not enter heaven, then WHO can
ever be saved?
Who, indeed?
Here is what the apostle Paul wrote to the
church at Philippi:
“. . . I
count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ
Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them
but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not
having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is
through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of
faith . . . (Philippians 3:8-9)
The New
Testament repeatedly informs us, Biblical righteousness is not defined so much
by what we DO, but by what we ARE. And please pay attention to this follow-on
comment: It is what we ARE that must translate into what we do.
That’s why
anyone who claims to be a follower of Christ but still acts like he or she did
before allegedly becoming a follower of Christ, then that person is a liar.
Here is this word from John’s first epistle: (1 John 2:3-5) “This is how we know that we know him: if we keep his commandments. The one who claims, “I know
him,” while not keeping his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in
this person. But the love of God is truly perfected in whoever keeps his word.
This is how we know we are in him.”
Painstaking
observance of the law or of tradition alone saves no one. Why? Because sin is
part of our inherited nature, written like some genetic
code into our spirits that invariably lead us away from the Savior.
That was the lament of that
great apostle, St. Paul. Feel this man’s passion as he cries out in Romans 7 regarding
his sin nature: “For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing
what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. . . . For the
good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want
. . . I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants
to do good . . . Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of
this death? (Romans 7:15-24)
But thanks be to God, Paul didn’t stop at the
end of chapter seven with the bad news. He moved on to the next verses we find in
chapter eight. It is there that Paul shouts the good news about the
righteousness that God imputes to us – the righteousness God credits
to us – solely on the basis of our baptismal faith: “Therefore there is now
no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus – which mirrors what he
wrote a few chapters earlier: But now apart from the Law,
the righteousness of God has been manifested . . . even the righteousness of
God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe . . ..” (Romans
3:21-22).
The faith
in God’s promise related to our imputed righteousness is vital to the integrity
of our spiritual breastplate – and to our shield of faith. Again, it is “By [God’s] doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us
wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption
. . . .” (1 Corinthians 1:30-31)
But if Satan can create doubt in your mind about God’s truth concerning what
we already ARE in Christ, if he can insinuate uncertainty in the unalterable
promises of God, then he will have created a critical chink in your breastplate
and shield – and he will go in for the kill.
That is why
girding ourselves securely with Biblical TRUTH is so important to the Christian.
God’s truth produces a steadfast trust in Christ. God’s truth sets us
FREE from fear that God has lied to us about any of His promises, or that His
promises do not apply to us because of our past sins.
Which brings us now to that shield of faith.
The Roman soldier’s shield was often made of
tough animal hide. It stood approximately 4.5 feet high and 2.5 feet wide.
Before battle, soldiers soaked their shield with water which helped extinguish any
flaming arrows fired at them by the enemy. The soldiers also formed parallel
ranks as they marched toward the battle line, their shields protecting them
from the oncoming army. But when a volley of arrows arced toward them in the
sky, the first rank kept its shield in front of their body, while the second and
subsequent ranks lifted their shields above the heads of the soldiers in front
– forming something like a tortoise shell.
That is analogous to how YOUR shield of faith
can protect those you love. Wetted by faith in God’s truth, your shield will
extinguish the fiery arrows of doubts and fears and confusions and temptations
sent against you from the enemy. At the same time, when you share God’s truths
with those who are temporarily – shall we say – on the front lines, your words
of Scripture, reinforced with prayer, will encourage, cover, and protect
those who are under attack.
Now a word here about faith and truth and
righteousness and what is often called new-age spiritism – which is really not
at all ‘New Age’ but it is as old as the Garden of Eden.
I do not believe anyone here even glances at
the horoscopes in the paper or online. But perhaps some of your children or
grandchildren are so involved.
I do not believe anyone here – but perhaps your
children or grandchildren are – I do not believe anyone here is even curious
about new-age spirituality, such as talking to the dead, seeking spiritists to
guide them, using horoscopes to inform their decisions, playing with Tarot
cards or Ouija boards, keeping crystals for spiritual help, and other
paraphernalia – all of which are of the occult, all of which are
directly related to demonic activity, and all those who play with that kind of
fire WILL be burned.
God expressively forbad Israel in the Old
Testament and Christians in the New Testament from being involved in even the
most peripheral way with such things. Dabbling in or using those dark things is
nothing less than a slap in the face of our heavenly God and Father. It is
nothing less than swinging the whip once again at the back of the Lord Jesus.
We are in a spiritual war. A supernatural
war. Dabbling with or utilizing any of those New Age ideas and practices places
us into the talons of the devil whose sole purpose is our destruction.
Participating in ANY of those activities,
whether horoscopes, Tarot cards, or anything else of New Age practices REQUIRES
repentance and a refusal to ever again participate in them.
That is why God gave us instruction about the
Armor of God in this chapter of Ephesians – for our protection. Don’t
leave any of that armor on the ground.
None of the Roman soldier’s armor was
superfluous. Each piece was vital to his safety and the safety of his comrades,
as well as to his ability to successfully wage battle against the enemy. In the
same way, none of our supernatural armor is superfluous. Each piece Paul
mentions in this sixth chapter of Ephesians is rooted in God’s truth and is vital
to our safety – and the safety of others. Our armor, all of it, is also vital
to our ability to successfully wage battle against our supernatural enemy.
We will look next at the other pieces of the
Christian’s supernatural armor.
No comments:
Post a Comment