The Full Armor of the Spirit

Throughout history, there have been many instances where a group of people came to know God or Jesus. For example, there is the story of the man who visited an Indian village about 50 years ago as a missionary. When he mentioned Jesus, an old man in the village excitedly brought the missionary into his home, where he pointed to a small crucifix, a brass cross with Jesus on it, in a place of honor on a shelf in the corner. The missionary was very pleased – he had found a Christian in the village. But then, the man walked him around a corner in the home, and there, sitting on another shelf, obviously in a place of honor, was a photo of John F. Kennedy, along with a half dozen other small idols. For in the Hindu religion, it is not difficult to worship many different gods.

In the early Middle Ages, as Christianity began to spread throughout Northern Europe, much the same thing happened. The Risen Christ was celebrated in March or April, appropriately. But offerings were made to other gods and goddesses on the first of May, and other rituals were held at Midsummer, at the end of October, and at midwinter. It was difficult for the people to focus solely on Christ – they felt they still needed to appease the gods their parents and grandparents had worshipped before Christ came to their villages.

This idea of covering all bets as far as gods and goddesses goes was even found in ancient Israel. After Moses died, Joshua took over leadership of the Israelites in the desert and led them, with God’s blessing and strength, into the Promised Land we now know as Israel. After years of conquest, Joshua called them all together in a central place, a village known as Shechem. He told them that God had a message for them. God said, “Long ago your ancestors… lived beyond the Euphrates River and worshiped other gods.” He then repeated the history of the escape from Egypt, the time in the wilderness, and the conquest of the land, always following God’s leading.

Then, Joshua said, “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped…and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, the choose…whom you will serve, the gods of your ancestors or the local gods of the Amorites. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Joshua had led them to the point where they had to make a choice. Serve the old gods – or serve the God who had led them from Egypt into the Promised Land. And Joshua made it clear that he and his household would serve the Lord, Yahweh, God.

The people answered that they too, would serve the God because “He is our God”.

There are times, even today, when we fall back into the old ways. The old gods of America, the alternative gods of Americans rarely have names and images and statues sitting in our homes, but many Americans serve those gods regardless. For the God the Father, the Christian God, has said that He is a jealous God, and will not tolerate the worship of other gods. What are some of those old gods that, even today, American Christians serve?

I’ve seen people who claim to be Christians, but still worship older gods. They worship the American god of the acquisition of wealth. Today that worship is often seen in the growth and protection of the retirement account. I have a Christian friend who had paid off his home, his vehicles, he had zero debt, he had about a million dollars in his retirement account when, in his late forties, he lost his job. He panicked, went into depression, all because his retirement account was now shrinking instead of growing. Of course, a bit of simple math showed that he could live comfortably for forty more years even without his social security and pension. But in his fear, he began taking temporary jobs out of town, which ultimately meant his wife left him. He did not trust in Jesus, but felt he had to give regular offerings to his true god, his retirement account, and so he lost much more.

I’ve also seen Christians who worship their children more than Jesus. This worship shows itself at a younger age when the children are put onto sports teams. Their child will be the soccer or baseball or volleyball or football star of the future. Dance, swim, gymnastics, wrestling… it seems that there is always a new activity, and those activities are more important than Sunday morning church or midweek youth groups. This child-god is worshiped by bringing offerings of equipment, offerings of time, offerings of registration fees and entry fees and fund-raising events. I have seen so many parents complain that their grown children don’t attend church – and, of course, their children don’t. For they are worshipping their children in the same way their parents did – just the activities are different. And then, when grown, these parents worship their children by traveling all over the country, worshiping Jesus once a month, but their children two or three times a month. Do they go to church with their grown children? No. For time with the grandchildren is more important. Of course, if they would spend their time teaching their grandchildren about Christ, and taking them to a local church when they visit them, perhaps they would be able to look forward to a time with their children, their grandchildren, and even more generations spending time in Heaven. But Heaven doesn’t seem as real as those times watching the grandchildren learning to hit a ball.

I’ve seen Christians who worship their collections. I knew a man who hit every garage sale and yard sale and thrift store in town looking for Hummel figurines for his collection. He bragged that his collection was worth $40,000. He spent hours dusting them and worshiping them. He had spent countless hours shopping for them, another form of worship. Then, at my age, he was diagnosed with an aggressive leukemia and died. He accepted Christ on his deathbed, thankfully. His widow sold the collection for a thousand dollars, just to get rid of them. She had no interest in that false god.

I have Christian friends who worship sports teams. Now, there are those who spend a couple hours a week watching their team on television, a sort of casual worship – and there are those who are into true worship, traveling across the country to every game, buying thousands of dollars of tickets and hotel rooms, collecting t-shirts and stadium seats and hats and such. They have their own worship rituals – they call them “pre-game” ceremonies and “tailgating”. If you ask them, they might say they are a Christian, but don’t have time to attend church during “the season”. So who are they worshiping?

And over the last twenty years, I’ve seen the great increase of the worship of the political party or political leader. Germany saw this once. It ended badly. I have friends who claim to be Christians – but their Facebook postings are much more concerned with politics than with people’s souls, than with Christ.

I think it is true that you can tell which gods a person worships by their Facebook or Instagram or Tik-Tok postings. I have one friend who worships her face. I have another who appears to worship the restaurant meals the couple eats. Still another worships a few cats.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with a mix of postings, or a mix of hobbies. The problem occurs when a person who claims to be worshiping Jesus actually spends much more time and obsession on someone or something else. There is a point where any activity or focus can turn into the worship of that activity or focus. This is what Joshua was getting at when he said to throw away the old gods and serve the Lord.

Why the insistence upon throwing away the old gods? After all, what is wrong with a collecting hobby, or following politics, or following a sports team?

The problem is a question of what we consider real. Today, I want you to ask yourself – is Jesus real? Or is Jesus a nice idea, a quaint concept, a story from your youth? Or do you believe that Jesus walked upon the earth about 2000 years ago, died upon a cross, and rose again? Is Jesus Son of God – or not?

If you answered yes to the reality of Jesus, Son of God, then that reality should spread deeply into your soul.

Jesus said that:

“This is the bread that came down from heaven.” And pointed at Himself.
⁶⁰ On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”
⁶¹ Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? ⁶² Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! ⁶³ The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. ⁶⁴ Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. …
⁶⁶ From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
At this time, there were far more than the 12 who were following Him.
⁶⁷ “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.
⁶⁸ Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. ⁶⁹ We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

You see, Jesus had just asked his followers to decide – would they worship in the old way, or would they truly believe that Jesus was the Son of God, and therefore, would they take His word for truth.

Peter chose to follow. So did most of the others. But Judas…not so much. Thomas … not so much. What about you? What have you decided?

George Barna, who does many surveys on these issues, says that most of the people in America who claim to be Christians don’t really believe Jesus is the Son of God – and they surely don’t act like they believe. In fact, Barna says most so-called Christians actually have a religion of “mildly therapeutic theism”. Theism is the belief in a god. The “mildly therapeutic” part comes in because people who have a belief in a god let that belief make them feel a bit better. But most people don’t speak of Jesus nor explain what the purpose of Jesus’ death and resurrection were.

So let’s be clear. Jesus claimed to be part of God walking upon the earth with a tight, Father/Son connection to the rest of God, whom Jesus called “the Father”. Jesus performed miracles which led to healing and better life for those around Him. He was eventually arrested and executed for the crime of claiming to be close with God. Three days later, He arose from the dead, and was seen and heard by over five hundred people. This proved that what He had claimed was true – He was close to God the Father. Jesus was God the Son. And soon after Jesus left for Heaven, God the Holy Spirit arrived for Jesus’ followers.

And so the Apostle Paul, years later, writing to the church at Ephesus in what is today western Turkey, sent the following message in Chapter 6 of his letter to urge the Ephesians to serve Jesus:

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 

In Paul’s letter, the armor of God is eternal spiritual armor, not metal which can rust and fall apart. Paul says:

¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ 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 have done everything, to stand. 

We have to stand up to evil, and it isn’t something that happens just because we want to. We will need specific spiritual tools, which come from study and faith in Jesus. This is how we serve Jesus and not collapse into following the other gods of this world. Paul continues with specifics:

¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 

Do you know the truth of the Gospel to keep everything in place? Are you protecting your heart by doing the right actions at all times? Are you able to stand on firm ground because your understanding of the Gospel gives you great peace and bravery? These are the basics of the spiritual armor. Paul continues:

¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 

You see, nothing can hurt us when we hold our faith in Jesus in front of us, unwavering, steady, for with our faith we remember that Jesus, who is Wisdom, has thought of all the attacks on us and can protect us. Paul adds:

¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

We protect our mind, our head, we stay sane with the knowledge that we are saved by Jesus, and then we go on the spiritual attack by listening to the words of the Holy Spirit, which acts as a sword, the word of God, to defeat the enemy. Paul directs us to another weapon:

¹⁸ And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. 

“Pray in the Spirit”. Don’t pray just your ideas. Ask the Spirit to guide your prayers. Pray for everyone, pray for everything, pray constantly – and be alert to what is happening around us.

Paul finishes with this:

¹⁹ Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰ for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

And I would add – pray for me in the same way. Pray for all who would make known the mystery of the gospel.

What difference does all this make? Let me speak of events of the past week.

As we know, Afghanistan has fallen to the Taliban. The news media and social media are full of stories about how America has let down the people of Afghanistan. I have a couple of comments about this.

First of all, it appears to me that a very large number of the people in Afghanistan support the Taliban – and did not support the recent government of Afghanistan. Otherwise, the army would not have surrendered so quickly. In fact, the history of Afghanistan is a history of a dislike of a central government with continuous change of governments every few decades as various groups alternatively take power and lose it. The only constant is they don’t like governments supported by outside powers.

But be that as it may – we are never to put our faith in governments, for governments are made of imperfect men and women. Instead, we are to put our faith in God and Jesus and Holy Spirit.

In Afghanistan, there are a few thousand Christians – some who have become Christians in the last twenty years. In fact, we knew a family that was planning to move to Afghanistan as missionaries in the fall of 2001 – and then the attack on 9/11 happened.

The Gospel has been spreading in Afghanistan, quietly, under the radar. Pray for those Christians, but do not be fearful for them. Pray that they will continue to declare the Gospel fearlessly, just as Paul did. For they are putting their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ – and He will protect them just as He has protected Christians in difficult places throughout the centuries.

And pray for each other, that we all may declare the Gospel fearlessly as Paul did, as we should.

Amen.

Now, as we sing this song, each of you come forward to the altar rail to pray for your peace, your rest, your healing, to express your gratitude for what Jesus has done for you – and pray for the peace, the rest, the healing of another person, a friend, a relative, a neighbor. Come forward to support another person and help them with their burdens. Set an example for others in your family. Come to the altar rail as we sing.

Amen!

Response Hymn – What a Friend we have in Jesus 526

Benediction: May God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit become more real to you than your own family! May God be with you throughout this week. Go forth and spread joy to the world!

Closing Song – StandUp, Stand up for Jesus 514

Go and Praise God all week long!