Introduction: Have you ever looked closely at the armor used by
knights of the middle ages? It looks a bit dangerous to the person
wearing it! Sure, it might keep an arrow from going through you, but
it would not help when you wanted to move fast to dodge arrows.
Mercedes Benz makes the “Smart” car. That little car “armors” the
passenger compartment so it is difficult to break into the
compartment. Like the armor of the knights, you have to ask yourself
some questions about the practicality of this. What happens to your
body when the armored passenger compartment starts bouncing around in
a crash? The last two weeks we have noted the texts in Ephesians 6
about armoring for spiritual warfare, but we have not gone into
detail about the nature of our armor. Let’s jump into the Bible to
see what armor is good and what attitudes towards armor might be a
little dangerous!
- Battle Armor
- Read 1 Samuel 17:32 and 1 Samuel 17:38-39. You know the
story about young David volunteering to fight the giant
Goliath who was insulting the Lord. What was wrong with
David’s armor? (It was made for someone else. He was not
used to it.) - Read 1 Samuel 17:34-37 and 1 Samuel 17:40. What kind of
armor does David choose? (Spiritual armor. God being with
him. He also has some offensive weapons: a sling, stones
and a staff.) - Read 1 Samuel 17:41-43. What did Goliath think of David’s
armor and weapons? (He despised them, they were an insult
to his power and weapons.) - Read 1 Samuel 17:45-50. What errors did Goliath make in
his assessment of David’s weapons? (He completely
discounted the spiritual aspect of David’s approach. He
never considered that a small stone and a sling were
dangerous.) - Let’s consider this from David’s point of view. He decided
( 1 Samuel 17:39) not to use traditional armor because he
was not experienced with it. What do you think would have
happened if he had been experienced with traditional
armor? - If you look again at 1 Samuel 17:49, you will see
that it was a real sling and a real stone, not a
spiritual sling or stone that killed Goliath. What
does this suggest about David’s rejection of
traditional armor? (If David had been experienced
with it, he should have used it, just like he used
the weapons with which he was familiar.) - Why did David choose only five stones? How many would
you have loaded in your bag? - Contemplate this story. What role did the spiritual play
and what role did real weapons play? (Re-read 1 Samuel
17:47. David used his common sense. He used his skill and
experience with real weapons. He rejected real weapons
with which he was not experienced. But, David realized
that God was in charge of the outcome. It was not a
battle of “real” weapons, it was a spiritual battle.) - Re-read 1 Samuel 17:37. What would have been the outcome
if King Saul had simply prayed about the Goliath problem? - What do these last two texts teach us about the
battles that we face? (God partners with us in
dealing with the forces of evil. We need to ask if
more than prayer is required of us for a good
outcome. We are not permitted to turn off our common
sense. We should use all of our experience and
wisdom. But, we must realize that all of our common
sense and physical weapons will not win the battle.
The battle is in God’s hands.) - Battle Zone
- Read Ephesians 6:10-12. My father spent 33 months in a
combat zone in World War II. I was old enough to fight in
Vietnam, and my children old enough to fight in Iraq.
Would a soldier prepare the same way for those three
combat situations? - What does our text in Ephesians teach us about the
nature of our battle today? Does this suggest a
specific kind of preparation? (The strategist on the
other side is Satan. The battle is mostly
institutional and spiritual.) - Think about this a minute. Does it seem correct
that most of our battles are spiritual? What do
you think a “spiritual” battle means? - Read Proverbs 4:23 and Matthew 5:27-28. Where
do these texts suggest the battle between good
and evil takes place? (It is not our actions,
it is our mind. That fits perfectly with the
idea that we are in a spiritual battle.) - The Purpose Driven Life is a book that reminds us
that life is not about us. When we decided that the
spiritual battle takes place in our minds, have we
violated the “it’s not about me” rule? If we have,
is that rule correct? (That rule is right when it
comes to advancing the Kingdom of God, but that rule
is wrong when it comes to spiritual warfare – for the
battle is very much about you and me as we will see
next.) - Battle Weapons
- Read Ephesians 6:13. What are our territorial goals in
this battle? (Just hold the ground you are standing on!) - Doesn’t that seem to be a very limited vision? (It
reinforces the idea that the primary battle is about
us.) - Read Ephesians 6:14. Why is truth the first weapon
mentioned? (This is why Bible study is so important. How
can you know where to stand if you are not informed by the
truth? I regularly run into people who take a stand for
nonsense. Often this is the nonsense of the world, but
sometimes it is religious nonsense.) - How important is the idea that our breastplate of
righteousness is something strapped on? (Read Romans
5:18-19. Jesus makes us righteous. It is a gift,
which we put on.) - Read Ephesians 6:15. What do new shoes do for you? Most
mornings I walk the beach for a couple of miles. My shoes
are “deck shoes,” the kind worn on sailboats, and they are
very well-worn. Last week I bought a replacement pair.
These are supposed to be some of the most comfortable
shoes, but the new shoes made the back of my foot bleed.
How do shoes and the “gospel of peace” relate to each
other? (You don’t have peace if your shoes hurt you! We
need to be “well-worn” in our knowledge of the gospel. Our
Bible study needs to start now, and not wait until the
battle is upon us. That will give us peace.) - Read Ephesians 6:16. Why would Paul write that a shield
of faith would “extinguish” flaming arrows? Why not say,
“the hose of faith?” (I love this word picture. Faith not
only keeps the Devil’s arrows from puncturing you, it
stops the burning. It takes away the hurt.) - Read Ephesians 6:17. Why is “salvation” the armor for the
head? (This is why I keep pushing grace. Do you want to
protect your mind when you are in the midst of a terrible
spiritual battle? Then recognize you are saved by grace
alone – it is not about your works.) - The only offensive weapon in this list is the sword.
Why is the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the Bible,
a sword? (Bible truth cuts through the nonsense of
the world. A member of my family just wrote favorably
about “marriage equality.” This assumes all views
are equal. Eve wanted to be “like God” ( Genesis 3:5-6), and apparently considered Satan’s views to be the
equal of God’s views. Jesus, on the other hand, did
not consider equality something to be grasped
( Philippians 2:6), rather He sought to do God’s will.
Equality is not the standard for our judgment. God’s
word is the standard.) - Read Ephesians 6:18. What is our final weapon? (Prayer.)
- Notice a very important phrase, “pray in the Spirit.”
What does that mean? - Read Romans 8:26-27. Twice the word “intercedes” is
used in these texts. We think of Jesus as our
Intercessor. What does this suggest about the role of
the Holy Spirit and prayer? (The Holy Spirit is also
an Intercessor, for He helps us in the composition
and expression of our prayers.) - Is this a weapon that is part of your arsenal?
- Let’s go back to the beginning of our study. What weapons
did David use? (Those with which he was experienced. Those
which fit him.) - What lesson in David’s actions do we learn when it
comes to the spiritual weapons in Ephesians 6? (We
need to become familiar with these weapons. We need
to use them now. They need to be like the “old
shoes” in our life.) - Friend, will you ask the Holy Spirit right now to teach
you how to use these spiritual weapons now and in the
future? - Next week: The Church: In Service to Humanity.
