Episode 301 - Armor of God

Ephesians 6:10-15 is the topic of today's podcast.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

I I love starting at the beginning because I think that's a good place to start.

SPEAKER_01 0:04

I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 0:05

Really? You don't think that's a good place to start as a beginning? You know, I haven't. And there's a reason why.

SPEAKER_01 0:12

Why?

SPEAKER_00 0:13

Because I don't know how.

unknown 0:17

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 0:17

Okay, so we'll go with that. Uh well, welcome to episode 301 uh to Two Brothers One Bible Podcast. I'm Robert Twaken. I'm Peter Seeds. And we are glad that you're here. Uh that we're from New Salem Baptist Church. We just celebrated our 300th episode, and the last episode, if you didn't get a chance to listen to that, it's really a lot of fun. It is. And it's got some great stuff in there from Ephesians chapter 6 as well. Absolutely. So uh uh have I introduced ourselves? Yeah, we did that at the beginning at the beginning. I never know. I do it in a different spot every time. I never know if it's the same or not. So today we're gonna be in uh chapter uh six again, and we're gonna go 10 through 15 in theory.

SPEAKER_01 0:58

Right, that's what we're talking about.

SPEAKER_00 1:00

And I say in theory because we may do 10 through 12. You just never know how it's gonna go. Let's try. Alright, let's give it a try.

SPEAKER_01 1:07

Alright, so I'm gonna read verses 10 through 15 uh Ephesians chapter six. It says, Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's scheme. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers and against the authorities and against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes you may be able to stand your ground, and after you've done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, with your feet fitted with a readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

SPEAKER_00 1:55

Alright, so that is the word of the Lord, and I'm just struck here in verse 10 that he starts off with finally. He was running out of paper. Yeah, he was Yes, he was running out of paper and and he had to but I uh I think he says finally because he's gonna wrap this thing up and what he's gonna do is he's gonna shift from household relationships uh and and he's gonna you know working relationships, he's gonna go to a cosmic battle. Oh yeah. So that finally I'm gonna show how all this fits together.

SPEAKER_01 2:32

Well, because everything he has said since chapter one, how am I gonna do this? You know, how can I be the the husband I'm meant to be? How am I supposed to be the wife I'm supposed to be? How am I supposed to be the child I'm supposed to be? How am I supposed to be the parent or the boss or or the worker? We can't do it in our own strength and our own power and our own resources. And so he's going to tell us uh in these verses and and and beyond 15 the this is the secret sauce. Oh, I just this is how it it's accomplished.

SPEAKER_00 3:04

There you go. That's exactly right. So he says finally, uh because he's shifting, and then he he talks about being strong. Uh we see that all through the Bible. Yeah. Uh I remember when um we were reading Joshua. Yep. How how many times, how many times did God say, be strong, be courageous. Yes. And so he's talking about being strong here and being strengthened. And the thing is, this power that he's talking about is not generated within ourselves. Yeah, it's coming from God.

SPEAKER_01 3:35

Well, and the word show reflects that because I I like a better translation for the word strong or courageous as empowered. Okay, I like that. Because when we talk about being strong, we get the sense of you know, we need to toughen up and we need to work harder and put an S on our chest and be Superman. Exactly. And so when when I hear the word empowered, I think about God's power being given to me, not me trying harder.

SPEAKER_00 4:05

Right. Well, it's it's it's kind of like the uh like if you had a a cordless drill. Right. Okay. Uh and your battery is dead. Right. Well, you snap in a charged battery, and that same tool becomes a powerful thing. Yeah. And it's the same thing with with what you're saying. When we snap in Jesus, we're we become powerful.

SPEAKER_01 4:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:28

And so I I think that's kind of what he's talking about.

SPEAKER_01 4:31

Well, and he reflects that in the in the rest of verse 10 because he says to be empowered or courageous or strong in the Lord and then in his mighty power. Right. He he doesn't he doesn't just say finally be strong.

SPEAKER_00 4:44

Okay, yeah. That's an important point.

SPEAKER_01 4:46

Or or work harder or or you know, be more like Jesus. Yeah. He do better. Yeah. He's this is how he you do it.

SPEAKER_00 4:54

Yeah, you do it in the in his mighty power. And this power that he's talking about, you know, all through Ephesians he's talking about power. Yeah. Uh from Ephesians 1 till now, he's used three Greek words for power. Are you ready? Go for it. Okay. I'm always a little nervous when I speak Greek to our Greek-speaking audience. Well, and there's a lot of people out there. Oh, there's a ton. Oh, yeah. All right. So he's all these power words, he's used three power words throughout Ephesians. All right. The first one was Kratos, which is a manifested strength. Okay, it's coming from someone else. Then IS, which is inherent might, which I don't even know what that means. And then dynamis, which is explosive power. Dynamos.

SPEAKER_01 5:39

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:39

Is it dynamos?

SPEAKER_01 5:40

Yeah. I think the first one is kryptonite. Kryptonite.

SPEAKER_00 5:45

But but thanks for sharing. Uh that's not what it is. So I wanted to show off just uh just some Greek words there about power that he's been talking to. Well, he's been talking about the power of Jesus ever since we started back in Ephesians 1.

SPEAKER_01 5:58

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 5:59

So then we transition that uh from his mighty power, and then he tells us to put on the full armor of God. And I I've always loved this illustration that Paul did. Right. Put on the full armor of God, not just part of it. Yeah. I mean, I think that's important.

SPEAKER_01 6:16

Well, we've talked about that throughout Ephesians. Right. Because he emphasizes everything and all, and you know, and so he's doing that again. Put on the full. You know, don't don't just, you know, I was thinking about that. We have a a firefighter captain that's a part of our church, and uh, I've talked to Will, and he says that all their equipment weighs about 75 pounds.

SPEAKER_00 6:37

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 6:38

So, I mean, you're not just talking, you know, you know, one or two things. I mean, that's it's the whole gear. And that's to you know, keep them safe, right? So they can do everything they need to do. And and so neither he nor anybody else that he works with should go into un a situation unprepared. Oh, yeah. And and so literally, Paul is handcuffed to a Roman soldier. So he's just looking over and goes, All right, they're wearing this and they've got this and they've got this.

SPEAKER_00 7:10

Right.

SPEAKER_01 7:11

And every time they come to my house, because he's under house arrest, they're wearing everything. They're not going out to battle, but it's part of their dress. Right. And they're always, you know, he doesn't say, Hey, how come you're not wearing that this time? Or we're, you know, they're in full armor. And so this whole image for us is why in the world, especially here's when we do it the most is when we're pressed for time.

SPEAKER_00 7:38

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:39

Well, I don't have time to put on the armor of God, I've got stuff to do. I I read a quote from Martin Luther who says, I have got so much to do today. I've got to start my day with three hours of prayer.

unknown 7:52

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 7:52

You know, which is which is the the flip of what we think. We think, oh, I gotta get that done, so I'm gonna pray later. And so Paul is stressing we have got to be prepared spiritually. And and he gives us the reasons why, and then he tells us what we need to wear.

SPEAKER_00 8:09

He does. Now, I love this guy wrote this, and I wanted your thoughts on this. He says, uh, the full armor means every piece, not selective spirituality. Yeah, yeah. Which is what we're guilty of. Yes, we are. Yeah. You know, I don't have to pray, I'll pray later. Yep. I'll I'll grab my breastplate and my sword, I'll be fine. Yep. You know, he's talking about the full armor of God. Sure. Yeah, and so and and he tells us the reason why, so you we can take our stand against the devil's uh uh schemes. I think it's important that take your stand. Because if if you're if you're wounded, you're not gonna be standing. And if the devil wounds you, you're not gonna be able to stand. But he's telling us with this full armor of God, we can take our stand. We can we can be ready, like you were talking about with wheel stuff. Um you've got to be ready for anything when you're going into a fire.

SPEAKER_01 9:03

Yeah, and that's why they have determined these are the things you're gonna need. You know, and so everything has a purpose and a function. You may not need it every time, but when you need it, you need it and you gotta have it. And that's where I think you're exactly right, Robert. We are so laxadaisical about, well, I'm gonna I'll want this today and I'll I'll get that one tomorrow. And you know, it's making sure that we are prepared for anything because the God knows. I mean, how many times do we see in the gospels the disciples say, Where's Jesus? Well, he's off praying. Right. What's he praying about? The stuff that's coming up in his day. What do you want me to do, Father? You know, and and how am I going to handle this? And and give me the words to and so we don't know what our day faces, but he does.

SPEAKER_00 9:51

He absolutely does.

SPEAKER_01 9:52

And that's part of putting on the armor.

SPEAKER_00 9:54

Right. So then in verse 12, uh boy, does it really take a turn in verse 12? Yeah. This is this to me, in some ways, is one of the scariest verses in the Bible because it says, for our struggle, uh, it's not against flesh and blood. Oh now, wait a minute. Yeah, and we're talking about a whole nother animal now. Yeah. It's not against flesh and blood. I I that's you know, it but it's against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world.

SPEAKER_01 10:25

Wow. And against the spiritual forces. And the spiritual forces of evil.

SPEAKER_00 10:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:29

So talk about verse 12 because this is really well. He's expounding about what he said in verse 11 when he talks about the devil's schemes. And so the the Greek word for schemes is methodica. And and so we get our word methods from it. Okay. And so, you know, part of knowing your adversary is knowing this is this is how he does things. And we we know the the devil loves you know, half truths. Uh, we know he's gonna hit us in our weak spot. I mean, because he's done it enough to us, it's like, oh, that's the devil. And how many times does the devil attack us and we go, I didn't see that coming. Right. And so what he really outlines here in verse 12 is what we're struggling with, not the stuff that we can see. It's these bigger things. And and really, when you talk about rulers and authorities and powers of darkness and all that, the bottom line is it's all things we can't control. Right. They're out of our our our wheelhouse, they're they're beyond our skill set. We can't, if there's rulers or authorities, we don't have any power over them. Yeah. And so it's every place we feel helpless and a victim. And so he says, look, this is the stuff we're battling with day in and day out. And sometimes we know we're gonna go and encounter it, and sometimes we don't. So that's the importance of being fully prepared, fully armed each day as we live our day.

SPEAKER_00 11:56

Yeah, you know, this uh this idea of struggle uh in the Greek refers to close combat wrestling. Yeah. And so that's what our struggle is. We're it's not just something that we're watching, we're involved with it. Yeah, we are in combat. Yeah, and and you know, it's just amazing that that he has just taken this. Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against these things that we can't even see. Yeah. Now that that that can get scary. Sure, scary. It can get really scary, especially if you don't have Jesus. That's right. Uh, if you don't have Jesus and you are experiencing these struggles, you it's like fighting with one hand behind your back. Yeah. You're already down. Yep. So uh I I don't know. I I think verse 12 is really a powerful, powerful verse of what he's talking about, which leads to verse 13, of course, therefore put on the full armor of God. Here he goes again. He says the same thing. Yep. Uh so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground. And after you've done everything to stand. So again, the standing again.

SPEAKER_01 13:03

Yeah, and he says when, not if. Oh, that's yeah. You know, it's so funny how you miss a word like that.

SPEAKER_00 13:10

He says when. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:12

It's coming. You know, and a good chance it's going to come every single day.

SPEAKER_00 13:16

Right.

SPEAKER_01 13:17

You know, the the Satan's going to do his best to mess us up, to get us off focus, to get us, you know, whining about the wrong thing, and it just happens. And then it's like, I didn't even see it coming. Right. You know, and so many times I see stupid in the rearview mirror. I do. Why did I do that? That was so dope. Well, you know, why did I act that way? And so having the armor on helps me as I engage in the things to be more spiritually mature about it.

SPEAKER_00 13:47

Right. And this guy wrote this, which I thought was really good. He says that the goal is not spectacular victory, it's faithful endurance, which I I thought that was really good. Uh, spiritual warfare is often less dramatic moments, or is less let me say that again. Spiritual warfare is often less about dramatic moments and more about daily resistance.

SPEAKER_01 14:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:10

Which I think that's really because we we live every day. So we have to resist the devil every day.

SPEAKER_01 14:17

Right.

SPEAKER_00 14:17

So that's part of putting on this armor every day. Yeah. And and you know, I love that we're reading through the Bible again. And I think part of putting on that armor every day is starting your day with God. Absolutely. In His word. Yeah. Listening to this podcast. Yep. Uh, you know, just things, things to arm yourself to protect yourself against these spiritual forces, we've got to have the protection of our Father.

SPEAKER_01 14:43

Yeah, you know, Paul said, think on these things, you know, whatever's pure. So, yeah, if you know, we know it's true with the computer, if you put garbage in, you get garbage out. Right. You know, it's only going to process whatever it has. And the same thing is true for us spiritually. You know, if if we're kind of like that battery power tool you talked about, if if if we're just draining it dry and not going to the source to charge it up, then that's on us. That is on us. And we think, man, I got this great cordless power tool. I'm gonna take it anywhere. We're not caring for it right. It needs to be ready and serviced to go when we need it, and that's by staying connected.

SPEAKER_00 15:23

Connected. Oh, I like that a lot. Uh, this guy uh made an illustration. Uh a lighthouse doesn't chase storms, it stands through them. There you go. And Paul says, be a lighthouse. I like that.

SPEAKER_01 15:34

Yeah, that word stand he uses here in verse 13 and in verse 14. You can also translate it as overcome. Okay. So it's it's going through the storm and getting to the other side.

SPEAKER_00 15:46

Right. So let's look at verse 14 again. Let's talk about uh uh with the belt of truth buckled around your waist. Yeah. Now this belt of truth uh this belt held everything together. Yeah. I mean, it really did. Yeah. And so uh and and that's what holds uh Christian life together. It's truth.

SPEAKER_01 16:06

Well, you know, the the outfits at this time for both the Gentiles and the Jews were pretty free-flowing, you know, a toga kind of a thing, or you know, an outer garment. And so this this belt just kind of keeps everything from getting tangled. Right. You know, and so it it's it's so that you're not people aren't able to grab you, or it's not gonna get caught on thorn bushes. And so the belt ties it together uh so that we're not just flowing everywhere.

SPEAKER_00 16:37

Right. I think you said this in a sermon that the belt of truth was what was next to the skin because it was closest to the heart. Yeah. So uh, you know, if you're gonna uh have the belt of truth buckled around your waist, it's gonna hold everything together. Exactly. So did didn't you say that?

SPEAKER_01 16:53

I think I did.

SPEAKER_00 16:54

I think you did. I did. You know, you don't think I listened to your lessons. No, I didn't think you did. Okay, I mean I do listen to him. I listen to him all the time. All right, then the second half is uh 14 says with the breastplace, uh breastplate of righteousness in place.

SPEAKER_01 17:10

Well, wait, wait a second. We've got to talk about the the truth part of the belt. Oh, okay, okay. I think he's talking about doctrines.

SPEAKER_00 17:18

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:19

You know, because again, like we did in other places in Ephesians, I I think about what's the opposite of truth. Well, it's falsehoods. We've got to know what we believe and why we believe it. Right. You know, it we we have to come to the the spiritual age where we know what we believe and why we believe it. We we've got to have a uh you know a firm foundation in scripture. We've got to be able to stand firm because there's going to be places where our faith is gonna be challenged. Right. You know, and so that's what's important about this belt. It ties it all together and it keeps us grounded in into the truth of God's word.

SPEAKER_00 17:58

Yeah, and that's why it's the belt, that's why it's the closest to your heart. Yeah, yeah. Uh I I think that's a great point. Uh we've got the breastplate of righteousness in place. Uh that that breastplate protects the vital organs. It goes from the neck down to the thighs. Yeah. So it's a it's a major part of your protection against uh any can any kind of enemy.

SPEAKER_01 18:20

Right. And for righteousness, I said it's your character, it's who you are as a person in Christ.

SPEAKER_00 18:25

Oh my goodness. Very important. That is so important. Uh let's see, verse 15. Uh with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

SPEAKER_01 18:35

You know, those the shoes that the Romans wore had spikes coming out of the front part where the toes are.

SPEAKER_00 18:42

They did?

SPEAKER_01 18:42

Yeah. So could they, if if they were engaged with that hand-to-hand battle, like you say, they could kick and pierce. Oh, okay. They also had spikes going down like cleats for athletes. Okay. So they there was no terrain they couldn't cross. And so what Paul is saying is we can take the gospel on the offense. That there's no place we cannot take the gospel of Jesus Christ.

SPEAKER_00 19:07

Oh, that is so good. Then we get to verse 16. Which we'll do next time. Oh, yeah, we'll do that next time. Yeah, we're we're gonna we're just gonna stop on 15. So, and with the feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. I love that thing, gospel of peace. Yes, because that's where our peace comes from.

SPEAKER_01 19:26

He just could have stopped with gospel. Yeah. But he said it's peace because what the gospel message is the answer for any conflict a person has. And so we live in a world that's just filled with conflict. All of the world fill of conflict. Right. And so when you come to Christ, you have a different approach to things that gives you peace.

SPEAKER_00 19:51

Fantastic. This is really a great section uh of Ephesians chapter six. So thank you so much for listening to Two Brothers One Bible Podcast. I'm Robert Wakefield. I'm Peter Stern. And join us on our next episode when we will maybe finish Ephesians. We'll certainly get to verse 16. Okay, well, that's where we'll actually start. But we'll get to that. Yeah, that sounds good. Thank you, Promise. Thanks so much for listening and God bless.