The Armour of God (2)
Ephesians 6:14-16 |
Introduction:
In C.S. Lewis’s Screwtape Letters, the senior devil wrote to his
junior devil, “The fact that ‘devils’ are predominantly comic
figures in the modern imagination will help you. If any faint suspicion of
your existence begins to arise in his mind, suggest to him a picture of
something in red tights, and persuade him that since he cannot believe in
that he therefore cannot believe in you.”
Today, we may not deny the devil’s existence; instead we take the
agnostic position. When we think of devil, we often associate it with
superstition, or mystery, or certain character in a movie. Then we brush
it aside not take it seriously.
In our past study of the book of Ephesians, we have learned how God
brings his children together to form a new community, a new society. In
this community, we are all equal and we are meant to live in harmony with
each other. There is harmony in the Christian fellowship, harmony between
husbands and wives, parents and children. This is how we are meant to live
in this New Society. This is how we are to restore God's glory in our
lives.
However, on the other hand, we also know how difficult it is in
practice. Instead of a loving and nurturing environment, we engage in
power struggles at church and in the privacy of our families. Often we
contribute such failures to human weaknesses. Certainly our sinful nature
is not conducive to harmony with others. Our pride and selfishness always
come in the way. Instead of a self-giving love, we are constantly grabbing
for ourselves. As Paul concludes this letter, he emphatically reminds his reader that besides human weakness and sinfulness, there is also the devil that is working feverishly to destroy what God has built and intended. He is evil, powerful and cunning. Paul opens our eyes to the equipment God has prepared for us. In this passage is a simple truth. That is, because God has given us his armor, therefore we can stand firm against the devil’s attack. In our last sermon, we studied the belt of truth. Today, we’ll look at the breastplate of righteousness, sandals of peace and shield of faith. I.
We are to equip ourselves with the breastplate of righteousness to
stand firm against the devil’s attack. A breastplate is part of the clothing a Roman soldier
wears to protect his chest area. To the Christians, it is the breastplate
of righteousness. Paul often uses this word, righteousness, in terms of
justification, meaning being right with God. What does this protect us
from? Satan is also called the adversary and Devil, the
accuser. In the book of Job we read about the devil coming into God's
presence and accusing Job. In Romans 8:33, “Who will bring any charges
(accuse) against those whom God has chosen?” The devil is the one who
brings charges against us. What kind of charges? I think of a college student coming to the pastor’s
office for counseling. He held a big black bible tightly to make him feel
secure with God. Another more mature
Christian tells the pastor that because of his failures in life,
and lack of spiritual vitality, he is wondering if he is really a
Christian. Another person struggling with long term depression asks,
“Can a true Christian feel so hopeless for so long?” Or being told by
someone that because of our mode of baptism, we may not be truly saved.
The devil accuses and questions our relationship with God, if we are truly
his children. How are we to stand firm against such accusations?
Righteousness. Let me explain this. No one can be righteous before God. We
are separated from God because of our sins. Then God sent his son Jesus
Christ into the world. He kept all the laws therefore, he was perfect and
righteous. When he was on the cross, God placed our sins on him. When we
believe in Jesus Christ, God places his righteousness upon us. John 1:12,
“凡接待他的、就是信他名的人、他就賜他們權柄、作 神的兒女”,
Romans 10:10, “因為人心裡相信、就可以稱義.口裡承認、就可以得救.”,
Romans 5:1, “我們既因信稱義、就藉著我們的主耶穌基督、得與 神相和”.
You see, by faith in Jesus Christ, we become righteous before God. When we are attacked, our response is: I am a child
of God, not because of how I feel or because of my merit (which I have
none), but because of my faith in Jesus Christ. No one can accuse or
condemn me anymore. This word ‘righteousness’, also carries the meaning of moral
righteousness. In the OT it is referred to as God's righteousness. We are
to treat others righteously; that is with respect, dignity and equality.
The book of Proverbs is full of instructions on the characteristics of a
righteous person. Eph4:24, “並且穿上新人.這新人是照著 神的形像造的、有真理的仁義、和聖潔。”,
5:9, “光明所結的果子、就是一切良善、公義、誠實.”
Our world does not have a good track record on this. We had the awful
slave trade in the 18th century. The abuse of laborers in the
19th century leads to the rise of communism. In the 20th
and 21st century, we have the killing of unborn infants. In
recent years in China, many young girls from the rural villages were
deceived and brought to the big cities to be sold as prostitutes. Then
there are those infamous snakeheads bringing people from coastal cities in
china to US through extortion of money. Then, in many families, we see
spouses being treated like second-class citizens, without any dignity and
respect. Yes, whenever we see such unrighteous acts around us, it reminds us of
our human capacity to wrong another person. Yet lurking behind such human
cruelty, we also see the fingerprint of the evil one. When we put on the breastplate of righteousness, we are to stand up and
speak against such injustice and inequality around us. In 1787, a
27-year-old William Wilberforce of England vowed that God had given him
two tasks: the suppression of the Slave Trade and the reformation of
manners. He was known as a man with a deeply held, personal faith in Jesus
Christ. Throughout his entire life, he gave himself to this task of
suppression of Slave Trade. Finally 46 years later and only three days
before his death, the bill for the abolition of Slavery was passed in the
House of Commons. When we have the breastplate of righteousness, we are to stand up and
protect those innocent lives that are being killed before birth. We are to
speak out against the inhumane treatment of the young and innocent both
here and back home. We are to protect our loved homes from being
mistreated, abused, physically and verbally, from those who may be in our
own family. Faith is not just something in our mind. It must not be
compartmentalized to certain area of life. Our faith in God must permeate
every aspect of our lives. Our righteousness before God goes hand in hand
with moral righteousness before men. Forgiveness of sin cannot be
separated from the integrity of conduct. II. We
are to equip ourselves with the sandals of peace to stand firm against the
devil’s attack The next piece of armor is the shoes. We all know how important shoes
are to us. There are shoes for running, walking, basketball, soccer,
football, tennis, dancing and you name it. Not only the right kind for the
right occasion, but also the right comfort. The best shoes are the ones
you don’t even notice you are wearing them, yet giving you the support
you need for the task. Here we read about the gospel of peace as shoes.
There are two possible meanings to it. 1.
Gospel of peace provides us with a firm foundation.
The gospel of peace means the good news that we can be at peace
with God. Resulting from this, we can also be at peace with ourselves and
with others. When I am at peace with God, I will be more effective in
resisting those temptations to pull me away from God. When I am at peace
with myself, I am more capable of making the right decisions. Dr. Xu once
said, “When you are confused (心神不定),
the best thing is not to make any decisions.”
When I am at peace with my spouse, then we will be able to
withstand those external negative forces that tend to pull us apart. The gospel of peace enables us to stand firm in an uncertain world. 2.
Messenger of the gospel of peace.
In several other bibles, this verse is also translated as “ready
to announce the gospel of peace.” Isaiah 52:7, “那報佳音、傳平安、報好信、傳救恩的、對錫安說、你的 神作王了.這人的腳登山何等佳美,”.
Eph 2:14-15, “因他使我們和睦、〔原文作因他是我們的和睦〕將兩下合而為一、拆毀了中間隔斷的牆.而且以自己的身體、廢掉冤仇、就是那記在律法上的規條.為要將兩下、藉著自己造成一個新人、如此便成就了和睦.”;
Eph2:17, “並且來傳和平的福音給你們遠處的人、也給那近處的人.”
And then in a parallel passage, Col 4:5-6, “你們的言語要常常帶著和氣、好像用鹽調和、就可知道該怎樣回答各人,”
These verses suggest that we are to be ready to bring the gospel of peace
to wherever we go.
Sharing the gospel of peace is not limited to certain individuals.
It is a part of the Christians armor. No matter where we are, we are to be
ready to share with others this gospel of peace. This is not just a
defensive weapon, but an offensive one. III. We
are to equip ourselves with an unswerving faith inGod to stand firm
against the devil’s attack. Rev. William Hsueh Sep.09, 2001 Houston Chinese Church, Houston, Texas |