Title: Congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ
Author: Andre Holtslag

9
“The Warrior’s Wardrobe – Part 1   Text – Ephesians 6:14-15       OT Reading –

Congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ,
If you were to ask me for my favourite sport, it would be cricket.  
I only played it competitively, in school, for one season, but I used to play cricket, with neighbourhood friends, and school mates, almost every day in Summer.  
And while having a whack with a tennis ball on the driveway was fine, nothing could compare with playing with a real cricket ball at the park.  
But as those of you who have played cricket with a real cricket ball will know well, you need quite a lot of protective gear if you are to avoid serious injury.  Cricket balls are very hard.  
Once, when I was fielding in the slips, the batsmen swung at the ball, and nicked it behind, straight to me, but on the bounce.  And when you nick a fast cricket ball, it actually increases speed.  And because the ball bounced, I didn’t quite judge its flight, and it hit me smack on the knee cap.  Well, I was down in a heap of agony very quickly.  My leg was dead for the rest of the weekend.  And I had the perfect impression of the cricket ball seam on my knee for quite a while afterwards!  

One of the things I liked most about cricket, though, was padding up to go and bat.  
I don’t know what this reveals about my psyche, but I used to take great joy in putting on all of the protective gear like gloves and pads and guards and helmets.  I really used to feel bullet proof going out to bat.  
Well, sadly, my batting ability was such that it often took longer to get padded up and go out to bat than my stay at the crease, but that’s another story!  

It is a well known fact though, that if you give a child a helmet of any sort, they will do things they would never do without one.  There is something about protective armour that increases courage.  

And clearly, as we come to vv14-17, the Apostle Paul knows this truth also.  

From vv10-13, and the opening words of v14, he wants to be able to stand against the attacks of the evil one.  He wants us to be able to resist his demonic aggression.  And he has already indicated that to do so we will need the full armour of God.  
So now, he will explain the elements of the warrior’s wardrobe that give the believer courage for this conflict.  

And this passage is one of the most well-known and loved passages, perhaps in the whole Bible.  And it is so, largely, because of this powerful armour imagery.  However, we need to be careful that we don’t get carried away with the image.  
You see, its possible to get so caught up in the armour imagery that we start finding things in the Apostle’s words that he most likely never even intended to be there.  
What the Apostle does is to make use of a visual picture to speak of things that are spiritual, exactly as Jesus did with His parables.  
And just as with the parables, we need to treat the image generally, and not let details cloud the picture, unhelpfully.

And perhaps if we think about Paul, himself, we might see why this is so.  
I think you would agree with me in calling Paul a ‘general’ in the Lord’s army?  
Well, when he wrote this epistle, this ‘general’ was chained to a soldier, in a prison cell, in Rome.  And that’s not the typical picture of a mighty general is it?  
Nevertheless, a mighty general is exactly what he is.  
General Paul is praying and writing letters to churches that will become part of the Bible!  
Because the Kingdom of God advances, spiritually, it can be fought in prison, at home, in the car, and even out shopping, etc.  It is fought everywhere.  

So, while we must make use of General Paul’s wonderful imagery, we must take care not to let it distract from or get in the way of his spiritual message.  
There are incredibly challenging words here, congregation, arresting words; words that reveal how we must live the Christian life.  

So let’s see here, then, that A General in God’s Army Describes the Warrior’s Wardrobe.  
And today, we are going to look at the first three elements from vv14-15.  
These are the elements that are to be worn.  
Next week, God willing, we will return to consider the last three, in vv16-17, that are to be wielded.

1.	And we separate them in this way, because that is how Paul separates them in these verses.  
a.	And while this is made clearer in the Greek through the voice of the verbs, we are helped in English by the opening words of v16.  
i.	Having discussed the first three elements of the wardrobe, Paul says, “In addition to all this, take up…”  

ii.	You see, as we shall discover, it is not until we have the first three on, that we are ready for the last three.  
1.	There is no point grabbing shield, helmet, and sword if your tunic is flapping about, you have no shoes on, and no body armour.  
a.	You will just be easy pickings for the enemy, that is if you even make it to the frontline!  

iii.	So, even though every element of the warrior’s wardrobe is necessary, the first three are so basic, so foundational, and so vital that without them we have little chance of success.

And this is why, from vv14-15, we see, firstly, that some of the Warrior’s Wardrobe is Worn.  It is to be considered as the warrior’s clothing.  Without these things, the warrior is virtually naked.

1.	And the first of these is “the belt of truth buckled around your waist.”  
a.	Now, historical commentators tell us that a Roman soldier wore a tunic that was his primary clothing.  
i.	It was a large piece of material that had one hole for the head and two for the arms, and it hung loosely around the soldier’s body.  
ii.	Now, as you can imagine, having this tunic flapping about while you tried to fight in battle was not a good idea.  
iii.	And so, in normal life, if you needed to move quickly, you could kind of gather it and hitch it up, for a short distance.  
iv.	But, clearly, this will not do in battle.  Your movements would be restricted and at least one hand would be occupied.  
v.	So, before battle, a heavy leather belt was fastened around the waist to which the tunic was gathered and held in place.  

b.	And there are a few things that we should note about this belt.  
i.	Firstly, it could only be put on by the soldier, himself.  Only he could makes sure that the tunic was in place, and that the belt was positioned correctly, and that it was tight enough.  
1.	Thus, it is the believer who must gird himself or herself with the belt of truth.  
a.	Brothers and sisters, truth will not fall gently from heaven like rain.
i.	Truth will not cling to you.
b.	You must wrap yourself in truth.  
i.	You must be an acquirer, or a hunter, or a student of truth.

ii.	Secondly, when this Greek phrase, or its Hebrew equivalent, is used in the Bible, it indicates readiness.  It signifies a physical and/or mental preparedness for whatever is about to happen.  
1.	And so, again, it is a deliberate act, or mindset, of alertness, knowledge, and understanding.  
a.	Romans 12:2 tells us that we are not to follow the pattern of the world.  
b.	So what’s the alternative?  “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
i.	In science, art, literature, history, philosophy, politics, etc, we need to renew our minds through the pursuit of truth.

iii.	And thirdly, the belt also had a fitting to which the breastplate was attached, and the scabbard that held the sword.  
1.	So we see just how important truth is.  Without this belt, the soldier was unprepared, and missing a vital linking component in their whole wardrobe.  

c.	Spiritually then, this belt is truth.  
i.	In other English versions of the Bible, most of these elements of the warrior’s wardrobe are in capital letters to show that they are quotes or references to OT passages.  If you have an NIV study Bible, you will note that each has a cross reference that points you to where these OT references are.  
1.	Well, with the belt, Paul borrows the image from Isaiah 11.  
a.	And there, in a prophecy about Jesus, we read in v5 that “Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.”  
2.	The spiritual belt that the believer is to put on, however, is summed up in the word “truth.”  

ii.	Now, whether you have lived a long time or a short time, you will probably know that truth is becoming, out there in the world, harder and harder to nail down.  
1.	The world’s mantra is, “What’s true for you, might not be true for me.”  
2.	Now, interestingly, this does not seem to be the case for things like red traffic lights!  Thankfully, the truth of red light equals stop is still universally agreed, even though it is occasionally ignored!  
3.	But on so many other things, truth is becoming increasingly flexible.  
a.	No longer does a council raise the cost of rates.  No, they heroically keep the necessary revenue gathering mechanism increase to below 4%.  
b.	The murder of unborn children becomes ‘freedom of choice.’  
c.	Engaging in homosexual perversion becomes a ‘gay lifestyle.’  
d.	Indeed, to tell lies is now ‘being economical with the truth’ or just ‘spin.’
iii.	So, what then is the “belt of truth,” if it is not our culture’s slippery version?  
1.	Well, first and foremost, think of what Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am … the truth.”  
a.	If you know Jesus, personally, you know the truth.  
2.	He stands at the centre of every thing that is true, which means He also defines what is false.  
a.	How?  Well, Jesus may only be known through His Word; the Bible.  
b.	And in John 17:17, Jesus prays to His Father, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.”  
i.	In this book, congregation, there is objective, concrete, unchangeable, timeless, and definitive truth.  
1.	There is truth about creation, about God, about ourselves, about morality, about law, about history, about justice, about relationships, about art, about the future, and everything else. 
a.	(Speak about Simon M’s talk)  
ii.	So, unless we have the truth to stand on, we are wide open to al of the devil’s attacks.
1.	What we read in the paper or magazines, what we see on T.V., what we hear in a lecture or podcast, all of it could send us off in this direction or that direction, because we have no foundation of truth.

iii.	In addition, unless we take the truth of this Word and bind it about ourselves, every other element of the warrior’s wardrobe is useless.  
1.	Righteousness, peace, salvation, etc, all of them derive their meaning from the Word.  
iv.	And this is why all of those that have been effective servants in the Lord’s army have been people of the Word.  

3.	Thus, to buckle the belt of truth about your waist means knowing Jesus Christ, who is the truth, and knowing His Word, which reveals the truth.

d.	But there is more to the belt than just this objective truth.  
i.	In chapter 4, when describing how God’s people live as children of the light, the very first virtue that Paul called believers to was truth.  
1.	In 4:25, he said, “Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor.”  
ii.	And so, to stand against the devil’s schemes, you need to be filled with the truth of God’s Word, and then determined to be a truth speaker, to be honest, and to be sincere.  
1.	For then, not only will you be armed with the answers of truth, but you will also be armed with the clear conscience that enables you to stand firm against the accusations of the evil one.

2.	But to the belt of truth must be added the “breastplate of righteousness.”
a.	And experts on Roman armour reveal to us that what Paul speaks of here is the armour that covered the front and back of the soldier.  
i.	It may have been made of either heavy leather with metal plates sewn in or molded metal that formed the shape of the body.  
ii.	It was sleeveless and was strapped in place, on one side, and was also fixed to the belt so that it stayed in place.  
iii.	Quite obviously, its purpose was to protect the body’s vital organs from sword or arrow.  
iv.	And once again, note that it was the soldier, himself, who had to don this armour.  

b.	Well, last week, we read from Isaiah 59 in the evening service.  
i.	And there we find the words that serve as Paul’s OT reference for the breastplate – this time a direct quote, although here, again, it speaks of God, Himself – Isaiah 59:17, “He put on righteousness as His breastplate.”  

c.	What then is this righteousness that Paul speaks of?  Where may we get it?  Well, really speaking, we need go no further than Ephesians to find our answer.  
i.	Turn back, again, to probably our most turned to verse in our whole study of Ephesians; Ephesians 1:4.  There, of God, we read the following, “For He chose us in Him (that is in Christ) before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight.”  
1.	Brothers and Sisters, ‘righteousness’ is what God chose you to be before the creation of the world.  
a.	Why?  Because He chose you in Jesus Christ.  
i.	God only sees you in Jesus Christ.  
ii.	And because Jesus Christ is holy and blameless, God sees you as holy and blameless.  
2.	So it is this alien, imputed, or given righteousness that is clearly in view here with the breastplate.  

ii.	But if I was to ask you for the shortest summary of Ephesians possible, hopefully, you might say something like, “In Christ, the believer is a holy and blameless child of God (ch’s 1-3).  So live like one! (ch’s 4-6) 
1.	And what this means, congregation, in connection with the breastplate of righteousness, is that while the front half is who we are in Christ; righteous, the back half is how we are to live for Christ; righteously.

iii.	You see, if you know yourself to be holy and blameless in Jesus, and you are striving to live a holy and blameless life, can the devil bring accusation against you?  Can the devil cause you to doubt that you are a child of God?  No he cannot.  His schemes are powerless.  
1.	His accusations and his suggestions of doubt will only work when you lose sight of the fact that you are holy and blameless in Jesus Christ, and live unrighteously.  

iv.	And this is why the author of Hebrews says, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith.”  Fill your eyes, constantly, with Jesus. 
1.	For it is as you look to Him and live for Him that you wear the breastplate of righteousness!

3.	Thirdly though, in terms of the elements of the warrior’s wardrobe that must be worn, Paul says in v15, “With your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.”  
a.	Literally translated, Paul’s words are “Having bound your feet with the gospel of peace.”  And so, we see that it is footwear, rather than bare feet that are in view.  
i.	Now, if your wardrobe is anything like mine, you will have at least a few pairs of shoes.  
1.	We all recognize that certain activities need certain shoes.  
a.	Jandals, for instance, are not suitable for ice hockey.  
b.	High heels are no help in the milking shed.  
c.	And ski boots will not enhance your ballet skills at all.  

ii.	Well, on the battle field, the right footwear could mean the difference between life and death.  And Roman soldiers wore footwear called caliga.  
1.	Caliga were an open-toed leather shoe that was strapped to the ankle to provide support.  
2.	And perhaps like today’s rugby or soccer boots, they had nail studs sticking out the bottom to provide traction.  
3.	Although it’s rather icky to think about, the combination of the mud, water, blood, and flesh of the battlefield made sturdy and grippy shoes essential.  

iii.	And so, regardless of the conditions underfoot, if the soldier was wearing his caliga, he was balanced, steady, and braced for battle.  

b.	And it is again from Isaiah that Paul gains his OT reference.  
i.	Isaiah 52:7 says, “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!"”  
1.	Now, while there the image is of the barefooted or sandaled runner who hurries through the land to tell as many people as possible about the gospel of peace, as we have seen, Paul is talking here, about the heavy studded boot of the soldier.  

c.	And the Greek word he uses, translated in our Bibles as ‘readiness,’ can mean exactly that, readiness; a preparedness that is produced by the gospel of peace; a mind that is informed by the gospel and that is always ready to proclaim the gospel; a kind of missionary readiness.  
i.	We may think of 1 Peter 3:15, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.”  
ii.	And so, what is in view here would be what we call apologetics; defending the faith.  
1.	When we are asked what we believe or why we behave as we do, we are ready, because of the gospel of peace, to give an answer.  
2.	When we encounter false doctrine or worldly notions, we are ready to defend the truth of the gospel of peace.  
3.	And we are ready because we know that the gospel is “the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes”; Romans 1:16.  

d.	But the Greek word also means “steadfastness.”  
i.	And Paul’s immediate concern here is not with evangelistic zeal but with standing against the attacks of the devil.  
1.	The person who does not know Jesus Christ, you see, has no peace.  
a.	At best, he can constantly push the fear of offending his Creator into the far corners of his mind and pretend that he has peace.  
b.	Or, he can cling to an absurd and illogical notion such as evolution or atheism to squeeze God out of his mind. 
i.	His peace comes, as Romans 1 describes, by suppressing the truth.  
ii.	And so, really, he has no real peace.  

2.	But what does God’s Word reveal about the believer?  
a.	Romans 5:1, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  
b.	Think of the opening and closing words of all the epistles, like these from Ephesians 1:2, “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”  
c.	Think also of perhaps the best description of peace in the Bible; Romans 8, “If God is for us, who can be against us? … Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? … Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? … No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  

With this peace, beloved, you can stand against the devil.  
With this peace, you can resist the devil.  
With this peace you are balanced, steady, and unshakeable against your foe.

I trust you can see, then, the link between these three elements of the warrior’s wardrobe that are to be worn.  Jesus Christ is the truth.  Jesus Christ is our righteousness.  And Jesus Christ is our peace.  

How may we put away the deeds of darkness, says Paul in Romans 13:14?  “Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ.”  
Why may we be certain that we are sons of God, says Paul in Galatians 3:27?  Because “all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”  

And if we are clothed with Jesus Christ, we will live truthfully, we will live a holy and blameless life, and we will live a life of gospel peace.

Praise God, our Father, who has given us every spiritual blessing in Jesus Christ!  Amen?  Amen.