FBC Morning Light – June 28, 2022

Well, a

good Tuesday morning to you.

Hope your week got off to a good start yesterday and you're enjoying your workweek responsibilities or

your vacation time, whatever you find yourself this particular week.

Well, today we're focusing in Ephesians chapter 6 at the reality

of fighting a spiritual battle.

I hope we're well aware of the reality of that battle.

There was a time in our country when Christian morals, Christian

values were pretty much the mainstream thing.

We acknowledge there was a spiritual warfare, but it seemed to be all very personal.

I'm fighting with sin myself in a personal level.

We're becoming more and more acutely aware that that spiritual warfare is not just a personal

thing, that there is a spiritual warfare that's a cultural thing and it

can affect and does affect an entire nation.

So that's what's going on in our world today.

We could spend a lot of time talking about that national and cultural and global spiritual warfare,

but really in Ephesians 6, while that is all true and is going on, Paul

does emphasize the spiritual warfare that's going on personally.

He tells us as individuals that in fighting this battle against

the enemies of the world and the flesh and the devil,

that we need to put on the whole armor of God.

It is only as we put on the whole armor of God that, as he says in verse 10, we're able to stand

against the wiles or the craftiness of the devil, of the wicked one.

He goes on to enumerate those different pieces of armor in our spiritual

arsenal.

We can look at each one of these, and I'm not going to take the time to go through and explain all of them.

Some of them are pretty self -evident.

So let's do that, let's just look at each one.

He acknowledges, look, you and I are not fighting against flesh and blood, but against

spiritual wickedness, against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,

against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Therefore he says, take off the whole armor of God.

Again he repeats that, the whole armor of God.

You leave off any one piece of the whole armor of God, and you leave yourself vulnerable.

You open yourself up to a weak spot.

So look, for example, he says, take the

belt of truth, put on the belt of truth.

Well, if you put on the other things that you leave off truth, then you're vulnerable in the area of error and

falsehood, which will then infect you and undermine every aspect of your spiritual life.

So he says, put on the spiritual belt of truth, and then he says, put on the breastplate of

righteousness.

All right, so if you have truth, but you're not practicing that truth, practicing righteousness,

you're leaving yourself vulnerable.

So the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.

Oftentimes that's used in the sense of evangelism, and always being ready to share the gospel,

and I think there's certainly an application of that, but I think it's also applicable to say that

we need to be prepared, and we need to be actively preaching the gospel

to ourselves every day.

We need to remind ourselves of the gospel of peace.

Because here's one of the things that the wicked one does.

He attacks us with the notion that you have to be good enough, you have

to be good enough, you have to have accomplished enough for God really to be happy with you, to really save you, and to

really be one of his children.

And that works -oriented mindset can

not only affect how we perceive salvation, we can make the error of thinking that justification is

by faith and works, but it can also affect us in our everyday life,

so that we think that, well, in order to be right with God, I have to do enough good works, I

have to...

We need to preach the gospel to ourselves every day.

So have your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.

And then he says, above all, take the shield of faith.

Again, if you leave that out, and you're holding on to the truth, and you're trying to practice righteousness, and you're

telling yourself, I don't have to do enough to merit grace, to earn grace,

but I don't have faith that I'm going to not believe the things that I'm

holding on to.

I leave myself vulnerable in the area of doubt and unbelief.

And then he says, praying, praying, the weaponry of

prayer, after the helmet of salvation.

Take that helmet of salvation to guard your head, and then he says, praying always with all prayer.

What of these pieces of armor can you afford to leave off?

None, none.

Put on the whole armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the

deceits and the craftiness of the wicked one.

Our Father and our God, help us today to put on each piece with care,

thoughtfulness.

We need each one.

Oh, Father, help us by your grace to stand against the wicked one.

We pray in Jesus' name, amen.

All right, well have a good rest of your Tuesday.

I trust God will bless you richly in it.

Good day.