A Study of Ephesians

The Relationship of God and His Saints

Many folks who read this lesson from the blog or email will miss a great deal of context simply because time does not allow me to fill in a lot of the material I will be discussing during our class. If you have questions please let me know I will be glad to answer you via email. Jesse

Putting on God's Armor – Part 2

Lesson #13

Ephesians 6:14-20 and Ephesians 6:23-24

Goal of the Lesson:

• To see that the armor we are to put on is the LORD Jesus Christ and His Word.

• To explain each individual piece of our armor in Christ.

• To show that Jesus Christ as LORD of our life is sufficient over the attack of the enemy.

• To show the importance of continual prayer in the battle and without ceasing.

   

This Lesson will help us:

• To turn away from self-dependence to live as a saint of God

• To depend upon the LORD Jesus Christ, His Word and the Holy Spirit to live as a Saint of God

• To increase our faith, improve our blessed hope and be confident in battle that the battle is the LORD's

If you've been around the ministry that the LORD allows me to do you know that I have used many illustrations of being in a battle. Having a military background the LORD has graciously allowed me to parallel the events of my military life with the events of my walk as a “born again” believer in Jesus.

This has been good in the sense that I see the two battles clearly for example a warrior as he or she heads into battle must be prepared. The warrior must know how to use the armor and the weapons available to them. They must know how to put on the armor and then they must know how to use armor and the weapons for offensive and defensive skill. You cannot do battle with an enemy by just looking like a battle ready soldier, you must do your part. So lets take a look.

Ephesians 6:14 The first piece of armor is the belt of truth. Anything that an enemy does is considered untrustworthy, thus everything the enemy does is a lie. To overcome the enemy, truth is a weapon of choice to protect and correct. We must have the truth, know the truth and do the truth.

To have the truth one must have Jesus – John 14:6, we must know the truth – John 17:17 and to be living a victorious life in Christ we must do the Truth. John 8:32. Now if this does not help us understand the belt of truth, maybe this verse will. Ephesians 4:21-24.

Ephesians 6:14 This next piece of armor is similar to the belt of truth. The fact is that the belt supports the breastplate. Jesus Christ Himself is our breastplate of righteousness and this we must not forget. Our righteous efforts in the battle look good to the enemy because these resemble their righteous efforts. But to God when we express human righteousness we are actually looking filthy and used. Like a dirty bloody rag. Isaiah 64:6.

The Law of God condemns the righteous activity of man. Romans 3:19-24. Now this is important for us to understand so listen up. The Law of God condemns the works of mankind. God calls all the works of mankind SIN. The deeds of the flesh are not justified by God because the Law of God reveals to man that his deeds are fleshly.

We could also say that human righteousness is relative in that what might seem right to one human being is wrong in the sight of another, so in order for God to neutralize who is right and who is wrong He allows the Law to place all of man's righteous deeds under the judgment of sin. Romans 3:24.

Therefore, to utilize the absolute righteousness of God we must have on the Righteousness of Christ. See Romans 10:4; (Romans 7:1-4) and Matthew 5:17. Jesus Christ is the absolute Righteousness that God looks for in each of His saints because He fulfills the Law of God, therefore the breastplate of righteousness is: Faith in Christ working through the Grace of God and this breastplate blinds the eyes of the enemy with the Mercy of God's forgiveness in Jesus Christ as He leads as LORD.

Ephesians 6:15 The warrior must have on shoes that will eventually bring peace. Again this is important. Shoes are the anchor of the warrior to keep them from slipping, falling and perishing. A warrior must know that they have a sure footing, one cannot be worried about their foundation or platform while in the heat of the battle.

There are two shoes and each of the shoes represent two aspects of gospel peace. ONE: Through the gospel we have “peace” with God, and TWO: Through the gospel we have the peace of God.

Romans 5:1 We are justified at the moment we believe in the death, burial and resurrection of our LORD Jesus Christ. This is phase one salvation, it is all you need to be saved (faith, trust, believe) these are all the same Greek words in the Bible. This expression of our heart then is sufficient to give us one of the shoes of the gospel of peace. Peace with God.

Now Peace of God. Phase two of our salvation is learning to live with the people around us, the Bible calls this sanctification. The world cannot get to know Jesus Christ if the world cannot see the peace of God. Jesus Christ is our peace, we were once far away from the peace of God, but God through the gospel has brought us to Jesus and made us one in Him so that Jesus Christ is our peace with Him. The other shoe is the message to the enemy that God has reconciled and created in Christ a new man (you and me). Ephesians 2:13-18. Therefore we are walking in the gospel shod in the shoes of peace.

Ephesians 6:16 Here we see that we need a protective shield, the enemy is out to destroy you and me. We must keep Faith between us and the enemy at all times. We do not have to hid as some might say; you know, to hid behind the shield is to act cowardly.

But what do people see when they see you or me approaching them. Do they see a long haired sweet Jesus, or the pale faced Jesus who gushes out a false sense of hope and a love that is really a mask of hate that is going on inside of our pretentious heart. This is not the shield that God through Christ provides.

God is our shield, He is our great reward. When the enemy sees us, he or she must see that Jesus is our exceedingly great reward. Genesis 15:1 The enemy is to see that we are surrounded by God with protective help and confident hope. We express this shield because our heart is in a rejoicing mode, not a critical or false mode. Psalm 33:20-22.

Ephesians 6:17 All of the armor is a critical need for the soldier, but consider this; if the soldier does not wear his or her helmet or if they do not feel that the helmet is sufficient for battle then he or she will become an easy target for the enemy to destroy. Many saints have lost the battle because they simply took the helmet off in battle. Samson is an example of this. Judges 16:19 The seven locks of Samson's hair represent the sevenfold ministry of God the Holy Spirit. Isaiah 11:2.

Ephesians 6:18 We as saints have continual access to the throne room of God. God knows our every circumstance and He knows every circumstance of the enemy too. God is not blind, or blind sighted to any event. We must be willing to communicate with Him. Seeing the need to put on the armor of God is one essential event in the life of the soldier of God, but it really is only half the battle. The battle plan comes with communication with our Father. Examples of this are found throughout the gospel when Jesus would go off to a quiet place and pray to the Father. If we have properly put on Christ and are making no provision for the flesh to operate. Then we must need to know the plans of God in battle. Romans 8:26-27; 1 Thessalonians 5:17 and 1 Peter 5:7.

Ephesians 6:19-24 In closing we are reminded by the apostle to speak boldly to reveal the gospel, to be a faithful minister of the the things of God, to abide in faith, hope and love and to allow grace to govern our hearts in dealing with the enemy.

The Devotional

Papa “J” says

What if God called us, stretched out a helping hand, gave counsel and redirection. Yet we refuse to hear. Shall He not laugh at our calamities and mock when terror strikes? Does this mean that God is cruel? Not at all... He warned, we failed to heed His warning. Proverbs 1:22-27

Finally in December of 1968 the crew members of the USS Pueblo (AGER 2) were released from being held in North Korea. For eleven months Americans waited for bits and pieces of news about what was going on. The assignments of our operation at CincPac were at the bottom of the barrel compared to other government agencies that were involved but we had daily information about the events as these unfolded. The USS Pueblo is still a commissioned ship in the United States Navy even after forty two years. The ship itself is still held hostages and is a North Korean Museum on the Taedong River. Over the forty years of captivity it is said that 250,000 North Korean people have visited the ship. That is only 6,250 people per year. This does not seem to me to be a very large tourist attraction. There are on going efforts to have North Korea return the ship. So far as you know all effort of time talent and resources are wasted. Memorial Day is a holiday to remember such events as the Pueblo (AGER 2), the Liberty (AGTR-5) and another ship the Searcher (YAGR 4). All of these ships were spy ships of one sort or another. I served on the Searcher in 1959 as a young seaman.

The Gospel of John

John 6:22-71 The words of the LORD Jesus are absolute truth, we know this, we believe this and we call this knowing and believing FAITH. We do have trouble with faith, do we not? Our failure to be what God calls us to be is a failure to really feed on Jesus. Serious stuff here, I am as guilty as anyone when it comes to understanding this. Even pastors of churches struggle with this chapter, so how shall I say anything at all, I won't but I do want God to speak through these words to all of us.

We feed our bodies temporal foods and temporal intense feelings we call emotions. These foods and feelings reveal our temporal physical condition. Overweight, underweight, poor health, good health, a good physiological profile or a poor one. Temporal conditions that if you look at Americans today you can plainly see we are in every way, physically and mentally out of shape. We have no one to blame except ourselves. Comical on not, we blame the government or God. The truth is that neither of the two are guilty of our sick generation.

Failure then is boiled down to this common thought. It is your fault and my fault for this temporal condition. But there is hope! John 6:22-71 explains to you and me the answer to man's condition by saying that there is a third innate ability within the human being that needs to be nourished too. This third inborn attribute is spirituality. The nourishment needed is the body and blood of Jesus Christ to revive the soul and awaken our sleeping (dead) spirit. We will talk more on this after Memorial Day! God Bless your weekend and your day.

The Devotional

Papa “J” says

What if we were to listen to the enticement of evil doers? What would the world around us look like? Like yesterday; like today and like tomorrow! Huh!!! Proverbs 1:10 – 19. Need to make a change? Yea!!! Proverbs 1:20 – 23.

In those days of Camp Smith we did not have laptop or desk top computers. We had an electric typewriters, carbon paper, mimeograph machines, a lot of tabulating paper and calculators. All of these machines had ribbons and other items that collected data that could be used to gain information about what we were doing. Part of my responsibility was to ensure that all of these items were returned to a safe overnight or if these were used completely the ribbons and carbons were placed in a larger vault room with documents of paper to be destroyed. Once or twice a month depending on the work load I would go to a building at Pearl Harbor where classified material from the vault room was taken to be destroyed, a building where paper was turned into pulp. Sensitive papers were conveyed into large vats of water and chemicals that would dissolve the paper into pulp. People in charge of this building would sign a receipt for documents and when these items were destroyed I would sign the same document indicating that I visually witnessed the destruction of the documents. I know that this information is dry and probably under the radar as being interesting but I am leading up to something, so please bare with me.

The Gospel of John

John 6:22-71 The bible is all good, all scripture is given to us by inspiration and this inspiration comes from God in order that we may be perfectly fit for the good work that Jesus has called us to do. 2 Timothy 3:15-16. Don't just take my word for this, read it! We will be looking at this portion of John six for awhile. Some of the most serious things of life in Christ are recorded here for our edification in the wisdom and knowledge of God.

By now in the ministry of Jesus has a very large following so on the very next day of feeding over ten thousand, people are seeking to follow after Him. Potentially these folks are on the verge of giving up everything they own and their poor way of life to follow Jesus. In fact, we would say that this is very good. But let me say this, it is no different today... rescue missions all across this nation feed the hungry, say a little prayer over the meal and teach or evangelize the hungry. Yet the people only come to be fed the food that perishes, most are not interested in the food that leads to eternal life – Jesus!

So the world sees only one Jesus, they do not see the signs that lead to eternal life, they only see the results of the signs. They see the food that perishes, or the healed sick who will eventually perish too. The focus of mankind is on the temporal benefits of this life and not the benefits that endure to everlasting life. Jesus is fully aware of this sinful character of ours and this is why He calls this to our attention in John 6:26-27. Fix your eyes on Jesus and lean not on your own understanding. Proverbs 3:1-8 This is how one endures to everlasting life.

The Devotional

Papa “J” says

What if children heard the instruction of their father and observed the applied law of their mother? The child's head would be an ornament of parental praise and their visible attributes of grace would mark their future. Proverbs 1:8-9

I did not know the LORD Jesus during these years of my life at Camp Smith and I, along with a number of other objectionable bents was a smoker. The Japanese lady could not stand the smoke and would become ill if people smoked around her. She was also a believer in Jesus Christ and as I mentioned, God used her and others to point me to Him. She and I shared the same office and she always placed a verse of scripture and a personal note challenging me to stop smoking on my desk. I did not mind her doing this, and I would laugh or make some comment about the verse and continue on in my selfish way of life. She invited my family to her home and this was the first time that I was made to take my shoes off before entering into a home. We were given little white slippers to wear in her home. My children thought it was neat, I thought it was dumb and, “who had been in these slippers before me?” She assured me that the slippers had been washed since the previous person wore them, yet I remained selfishly unconvinced. She was such a wonderful servant of the LORD and I was such a fool. She was in her fifties in those days, oh that I might be able to say to her; Thank You! There is coming a day in glory when along with the others I will be able to do just that. What a reunion, I sometimes have a hard time waiting.

The Gospel of John

John 6:15-21 As we have said before the miracles of the LORD Jesus were not to draw attention to Jesus, but to His Father, John 5:36 and a future verse coming up in this chapter states clearly that no one can come to Jesus apart from the Father's will, John 6:44. This is a very important point for us to understand. God's purpose for Jesus His Son is reconciliation. We live in a time in God's economy when He is calling the world back to Him through works of His Son.

Jesus will later say to Thomas, because you have seen you belief, but blessed are those who have not seen, yet they believe. John 20:29 and later the apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:7 and 2 Corinthians 5:18 that we walk in reconciliation by faith and not by sight. Thus we become ministers of faith in Christ because it is the will of the Father who sent His Son. The first Adam failed, Jesus the Second Created being of God is victorious. 1 Corinthians 15:50-58.

The miracles of Jesus are awesome, I mean who walks on water, who calms the seas, who says; “it is I, do not be afraid” Who immediately puts the boat ashore? Only One can do this, His name is Jesus. He is the way, He is the Truth and He is the Life. Without Jesus life is not worth living, as the apostle Peter will say later in this chapter. To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. John 6:67-68.

The Devotional

Papa “J” says

What if God were just a man, or a woman? Some seek to believe this and have no awe of God, thus the fool has no understanding because he hates wisdom! Proverbs 1:7

The Army Sargent became a friend, he and I hung out together a lot. I think he would have made a decent sailor. Our work caused us to know various things about Vietnam, China, Korea, and Laos that normally did not make public news. Some films that came to our unit were films of the war going on in Vietnam, other films were activities generated in other nations that aided or supported the enemies of the U.S. We had very few visitors, but to an outsider we looked like a computer support center. In those days these centers were very large with big machines that made a lot of noise. Our computer room which the Sargent ran was very noisy and that is about all it generated – Noise. When we had incoming messages and film, we all went into a quiet conference room and digested the available information. The only information that we did not get to see was those messages that the colonel kept in “eyes only” status. He would determine the next step to down grade the “eyes only” message and we would all get to see it. For whatever reason, I seem prevented to go into detail on these subjects even though it has been forty plus years since I was involved.

The Gospel of John

John 6:1-14 Don't you just know it! There are people out there that say that the feeding of five thousand men on the side of hill with five barley loaves of bread and two small fish is impossible. Some have even gone so far as to say that the bread loaves were small and made from a poor grade of barley flour and that the fish were barely enough to feed the lad who had them.

Then there are the fragments that were picked up by the LORD's disciples, enough to fill twelve baskets. What? Where did they get the baskets some would say! Faith calls Jesus a prophet at this point, unbelief calls Him a liar. What do you call Him. Well the truth be known, he did not feed five thousand. He fed more, only the men are counted, the women and children who were with the men were also fed. Even the lad who still had his lunch is not counted, he is a child.

Baskets in those days were common, people carried their needed items in baskets, some had been with Jesus a long time, no doubt they had eaten everything in their baskets at an earlier time. I have a grand daughter, no doubt if she had been on this trip, she would have been out of food before the noon lunch bell sounded and I am sure you have relatives like her too. Empty baskets – not a problem. Empty faith – now that is a problem. You can believe that Jesus fed 10 to 13 thousand people that day with five small barley loaves and two small fish and had enough left over to fed his twelve disciples too.