(Audio version; Music: "Touch The Sky" by: Hillsong United and "Great I AM" by: WorshipMob)
Introduction
Silence and solitude are not necessarily prized in our
culture. Silence and solitude are an odd paradox that most people just can’t
seem to grasp. In our fast-paced world of constant connectivity, we tend to
forget that we hear best when we are in the midst of silence. Our lives are
filled with noise of some sort both auditory and visual. Over a period of time
we don’t even realize that we can no longer hear God’s voice. Additionally,
when we are constantly surrounded by people, we tend to see primarily the
faults of others and become blind to our own. However, we have a tendency to
see and examine ourselves more clearly
in the mirror of solitude. The practice of silence and solitude was once a
crucial discipline in the spiritual health and growth of Christians. I’d like
to introduce you to the discipline as a practice that is now a regular part of
my daily life. Before I begin my lesson, I want to share a short story with you
written in 1889 by Anton Chekhov titled “The Bet.” The story illustrates the
dramatic and transformational power of silence and solitude. Faced with
ourselves, what will we learn? Will we allow silence and solitude to change us?
Will it change our perspective?
“The Bet” by Anton Chekhov, a Russian
writer of the last half of the nineteenth century, involves a wager between two
educated men regarding solitary confinement. A wealthy, middle-aged banker
believed that the death penalty was a more humane penalty than solitary
confinement because, “An executioner kills at once, solitary confinement kills
gradually.” One of his guests at a party, a young lawyer of twenty-five
disagreed, saying, “To live under any conditions is better than not to live at
all.”
Angered, the banker
impulsively responded with a bet of two million rubles that the younger man
could not last five years in solitary confinement. The lawyer was so convinced
of his endurance that he announced he would stay fifteen years alone instead of
only five.
The arrangements were
made and the young man moved into a separate building on the grounds of the
banker’s large estate. He was allowed no visitors or newspapers. He could write
letters but receive none. There were guards watching to make sure he never
violated the agreement, but they were placed so that he could never see another
human being from his windows. He received his food in silence through a small
opening where he could not see those who served him. Everything else he
wanted—books, certain foods, musical instruments, etc.—was granted by special
written request.
The story develops
with a description of the things the lawyer asked for through the years and the
observations of the guards who occasionally stole a glance through a window.
During the first year the piano could be heard at almost any hour and he asked
for many books, mostly novels and other light reading. The next year the music
ceased and the works of various classical authors were requested. In the sixth
year of his isolation he began to study languages and soon had mastered six.
After the tenth year of his confinement, the prisoner sat motionless at the
table and read the New Testament. After more than a year’s saturation of the
Bible he began to study the history of religion and works on theology. During
the last two years his reading broadened to cover many subjects in addition to
theology.
The second half of the
story focuses on the night before the noon deadline when the lawyer will win
the bet. The banker is now at the end of his career. His risky speculations and
impetuosity had gradually undermined his business. The once self-confident
millionaire was now a second-rate banker and to pay off the wager would destroy
him. Angry at his foolishness and jealous of the soon-to-be-wealthy man who was
now only forty, the old banker determines to kill his opponent and frame the
guard with the murder. Slipping into the man’s room he finds him asleep at the
table and notices a letter the lawyer has written to him. He picked it up and
read the following:
“Tomorrow at twelve o'clock I shall be free, but before leaving this
room, I find it necessary to say a few words to you. With a clear conscience,
and before God, who sees me, I declare to you that I despise freedom and life
and health and all that your books call the joys of this world. For fifteen
years I have studied attentively the life of this world. It is true that I
neither saw the earth nor its peoples, but in your books I lived. I sang songs,
I hunted the deer and the wild boar in the forests. In your books I climbed to
the summit of Elburz and Mont Blanc, and I saw from those heights the sun rise
in the morning, and at night it shed its purple glow over the sky and the ocean
and the mountain-tops. I saw beneath me the flashing lightning cut through the
clouds. I saw green fields, forests, rivers, lakes and towns. I heard the song
of the sirens and the music of the shepherd's reed-pipes. I felt the touch of
the wings of beautiful angels who had flown to me to talk about God. Your books
gave me wisdom. All that had been achieved by the untiring brain of man during
long centuries is stored in my brain in a small compressed mass. I know I am
wiser than you all. And I despise all your books, I despise all earthly
blessings and wisdom. All is worthless and false, hollow and deceiving like the
mirage. You may be proud, wise and beautiful, but death will wipe you away from
the face of the earth, as it does the mice that live beneath your floor; and
your heirs, your history, your immortal geniuses will freeze or burn with the
destruction of the earth. You have gone mad and are not following the right
path. You take falsehood for truth, and deformity for beauty. To prove to you
how I despise all that you value I renounce the two millions on which I looked,
at one time, as the opening of paradise for me, and which I now scorn. To
deprive myself of the right to receive them, I will leave my prison five hours
before the appointed time, and by so doing break the terms of our compact.”
The banker read these
lines, replaced the paper on the table, kissed the strange, sleeping man and
with tears in his eyes quietly left the house. Never before, not even after
sustaining serious losses on change, had he despised himself as he did at that
moment. His tears kept him awake the rest of the night. And at seven the next
morning he was informed by the watchman that they had seen the man crawl
through a window, go to the gate, and then disappear.
Silence and Solitude Defined
The discipline of
silence is the temporary and voluntary abstention from speaking.
Sometimes it is practiced in order to read, write, pray, etc. Although there is
no audible speaking, there is internal dialogue with God and with self. Sometimes
silence is maintained not only outwardly but also inwardly in a more meditative
state to allow God’s voice to be heard more clearly.
Solitude is the discipline
of temporarily withdrawing or
separating oneself to a place of privacy. The duration depends on the intended
purpose and can last for only a few moments or for very long periods of time.
It should, however, be a temporary and completely voluntary practice.
Essentially, solitude is sought in order to participate without interruption in
other Spiritual Disciplines or to be alone with God.
Naturally, silence
and solitude are often practiced together. It is often recorded in the Gospels
how Jesus went off by himself to pray. In his book, A Center of Quiet-Hearing God When Life is Noisy, David Runcorn
writes, “Punctuation is a helpful way of thinking about Jesus’ relationship
with silence and solitude. Jesus punctuated his life with silence and solitude.
His times alone were the commas, pauses and full stops in the story of his
life. They gave the rest of his life its structure, direction and balance. His
words and his works were born out of those hours of silent waiting upon God.”[1]
Biblical Support
There
are, of course, many reasons for making the discipline of silence and solitude
a normative practice. Below are two such important reasons:
Reason #1: To follow Jesus’ example.
Part of what it means to “follow”
Jesus is to imitate Him—How He related to people and how He related to the
Father. If you think you’re life is busy, imagine how busy Jesus must have been
as the Savior of the world! There was much to do and He only had three short
years to do it. There were so many misconceptions about God that He had to
correct. So many people were desperate for the coming of the Messiah and He had
to convince them that He was the one they were waiting for. In order to do
that, He taught relentlessly and performed countless miracles for all to
witness. He had to constantly confront the religious leaders of His day in
order to expose their hypocrisy. There was always something to do or somewhere
to go but Jesus never neglected the most important thing in His life—the
intimate connection He had with the Father. And taking time out of our lives to
remember the intimate connection we have with Jesus should be one of the most
important things for us to practice as well.
vMatthew 4:1—“Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit,
returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for
forty days he was tempted by the devil.” The Holy
Spirit led Jesus into this lengthy period of fasting and solitude. Paul says
that the battles in our lives are not against flesh and blood but against the
principalities and powers of this dark world. Often in the midst of silence and
solitude is where we engage that dark world on a spiritual level.
vMatthew 14:23—“After he had dismissed them, he went
up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there
alone.” He sent both the multitudes and His disciples away so He could be
alone with the Father. Popularity can be intoxicating. However, at some point
our main priority must be time alone with Jesus.
vMark 1:35—“Very early in the morning, while it was
still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place,
where he prayed.” The previous verses tell us that
after dark “the whole city” gathered at the door of the house where Jesus was staying.
There He healed many people and cast out demons. But before it was daylight
again, He went to spend time alone. It can be hard to find the time to be
attentive to all the things that are screaming for our attention. Nevertheless,
our time alone with Jesus must be intentional.
vLuke 4:42—“At daybreak Jesus went out to a solitary
place. The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they
tried to keep him from leaving them.” We love to feel
needed—the sense of importance/power/indispensability, that comes from doing something
no one else can do. Jesus, however, did not succumb to those temptations. He
knew the importance of disciplining Himself to be alone.
Reason #2: To hear the voice of God better.
Wayne Oates in his
book, Nurturing Silence in a Noisy Heart,
writes, “Some very important silences are indications that serious trouble is
approaching, very near, or right upon you. You cannot afford to ignore these
silences. You can ignore them; many
people do so; no one does so safely. These silences are prophetic silences—they
are filled with messages from God about critical conditions in your present,
unlearned lessons from your past, and the shape of things to come for your
future.”[2]
Sometimes it is necessary to get away from earthly noise in order to hear from
God more clearly. For example, Elijah fled to Mt. Horeb where he heard the “gentle
whisper” of God's voice (1 Kings 19:11-13). Habakkuk stood guard at his post and
kept watch to see what God would say to him (Habakkuk 2:1). When we are alone
and silent, we can do exactly what Habakkuk was doing—listen! Richard Foster in
his book, Celebration of Discipline-The
Path to Spiritual Growth, writes, “Without silence there is no solitude.
Though silence sometimes involves the absence of speech, it always involves the
act of listening.”[3]
Part One Conclusion
There are so many
other reasons to practice the discipline of silence and solitude including,
physical, mental and emotional restoration, worship, intercession, confession
and most importantly to experience and enjoy the connectedness we have with
Jesus. It isn’t absolutely necessary to get far away from noises and people in
order to hear God speak to us or to make an accurate self-examination. There
are, however, times to eliminate the voices of the world around us in order to
hear the voice of God and see ourselves more clearly.
Part Two Preview
In
next week’s lesson we’ll take a look at the historical uses and abuses of the
practice of silence and solitude and some suggestions for how you can
incorporate the practice into your lives on a consistent basis.
[1] David
Runcorn, A Center of Quiet-Hearing God
When Life is Noisy, (Downers Grove, IL, InterVarsity Press, 1990), pp. 5-6.
[2] Wayne E.
Oates, Nurturing Silence in a Noisy Heart,
(Garden City, NY, Doubleday & Company, 1979), p. 83.
[3] Richard
Foster, Celebration of Discipline-The
Path to Spiritual Growth, (HarperCollins Publishers, New York, NY, 1998),
p. 98.
(Audio version; Music: "Same Power" by: Jeremy Camp and "From The Inside Out" by Hillsong)
Introduction
You
have to admit that we live some strange and dangerous times. Nevertheless, most
people blithely go about their daily business seemingly without a care in the
world. With a shrug of the shoulder they brush aside blatant greed, corruption,
lawlessness, brutality, and even murder as though they are an inevitable
reality. However, if you’re anything like me, you can’t help but wonder what in
the world is going on. At times it feels like every day is a battle against one
more obscenity that assaults a biblical worldview. Muslims in the middle-east
continue their murderous onslaught against Jews and Christians. Muslim rape
gangs have made parts of Europe virtually uninhabitable for indigenous
residents. Muslims in America continue their insidious plan to introduce Sharia
Law in bits and pieces. And all the while, leaders here in America and abroad continue
to desperately defend Islam as a religion of peace even with all the historical
and contemporary evidence to the contrary.
Here
in America we have a national administration that has abandoned any attempt at
trying to shake hands with the truth. Instead of upholding the laws on which
our country was founded, they expend precious resources devising new and better
ways of skirting the laws they were elected to uphold. Normally, our unique
system of government provides hope for change every four years and this year
brings an end to one of, if not the most, lawless and divisive administrations
in American history. Unfortunately, the impending change offers little hope as
the leading candidate from one party is an arrogant and bombastic narcissist
whose speech and behavior is nothing short of nauseating. And one of the two
leading candidates of the opposing party is desperately trying to keep from
being indicted on federal charges for failing to secure national secrets while
the other leading candidate of the same party can’t wait to destroy the few
real freedoms we have left in our country by imposing his devoutly socialistic
worldview on the rest of us.
We
watched as a courageous group of activists exposed the gruesome practices of
the baby killing industry only to see many of our national leaders quickly race
to the defense of the murderers and condemn those who exposed their practice of
selling dismembered baby parts. We watched in horror as the killers being taped
with hidden cameras boasted over dinner and drinks about how much money they
were making selling baby parts. They bragged about the fancy cars and luxurious
lifestyles it afforded them. And for true Christians, it is all the more
painful when we realize that it is our tax dollars that make it all possible as
the abortion industry receives hundreds of millions of dollars every year in
tax subsidies and grants. However, the horrifying images captured on film
seemed to have little affect on forcing any change whatsoever. In fact, in an
effort to further embolden the baby killing industry, those who captured the
admission of evil on tape for the whole world to witness have themselves been
indicted on criminal charges because they publicized confessions of the abortionists
who didn’t know they were being filmed or taped. I guess we aren’t supposed to
know how our tax dollars are being used.
From
the opening pages of the Bible, it is clear that marriage was supposed to be
between a man and a woman. For thousands of years, Christians have taken for
granted that homosexuality is a sin. The Bible is very clear that God abhors
homosexuality. However, in recent years, the insidious nature of homosexuality
has taken root even in the Church with some denominations readily accepting it
as an acceptable alternative lifestyle! Can you image that? Even in the face of
all biblical admonitions against all forms of sexual impurity including
homosexuality, homosexuality has suddenly been deemed acceptable. And all this
is driven by activists that have, for some time now, tried to impose this same
immorality on the culture at large. Not only is it no longer acceptable to
declare homosexuality as sinful, Christian businesses have been successfully
sued for refusing to participate in homosexual marriage celebrations. In short,
Christians are being fined and have even gone to jail for agreeing with God!
For
many of us, every day feels like a battle against all the forces warring
against God. And in many respects, that’s exactly what it is—a battle. But not
the kind you fight with bullets and bombs. It’s the kind you fight with truth
and righteousness. And it is a battle that is far more ferocious than even the
bloodiest battles in our world’s history. This battle is a battle not for land,
or freedom, or even ideals. This is a battle for souls and it is fought on a
different battlefield; it is fought on a spiritual battlefield. On the
spiritual battlefield Kevlar, bullets, and bombs won’t help us. On the
spiritual battlefield our only hope of survival is to wear The Armor of God.
Subject Text
Ephesians 6:10-18
10Finally,
be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full
armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12For
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. 13Therefore 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. 14Stand
firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the
breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted
with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In
addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can
extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet
of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18And
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.
Context
Paul’s
letter to the Ephesians wasn’t written to address any specific issue. Instead, it
was written to encourage the Church in Ephesus in the way they should face and
present themselves to the unbelieving world around them. Paul reminded them who
they were as Christians and the new life they now had through Christ. More
importantly, the letter to the Ephesians explained how husbands and wives were
supposed to relate to one another, how children were supposed to relate to
their parents, and how employers and employees should treat each other. Paul
implored the Ephesians to be imitators of God because they had become children
of light. And as children of light they should no longer walk in the darkness
as they had done before they became Christians. And finally, Paul understood
that the only way the Ephesians could withstand the daily barrage of immorality
from the unbelieving world that surrounded them was by being united—by being of
one mind as the body of Christ. Paul knew that the Church would be an
unstoppable force if it was unified in its commitment to one another and its
devotion to Jesus Christ. Paul knew the Church would face opposition in the
same way that he constantly faced opposition. In fact, Paul wrote this letter
while under arrest in a Roman prison for preaching the gospel. In the same way
a military regiment must be united in purpose in order to stand firm and
successfully oppose its enemy so the Church must remain united in purpose in
order to strand firm and oppose its enemy—Satan.
Text Analysis
10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
I
wonder if Christians often feel over-matched because they are trying to fight
the battle all on their own. I think Christians don’t realize just how strong
they are. I wonder if that’s because they’ve forgotten that God is not in some
far-off land watching the battle as a spectator would. Instead, God is right
here in the battle with us. When we became believers, the Holy Spirit of God
came to live within us. Stop and think about that for just a minute. When you
have to stand your ground against those who oppose your biblical worldview, it
is God who is standing with you and God is an immovable force. God is the Rock
upon which unbelievers and those who are unfaithful will smash their lives.
That Rock resides in you! According to v.
10, you are strong because God is your strength. I’d like you to do a
simple exercise for me tonight or some other night when the skies are clear and
look up at the stars in the sky. God created every one of them and placed them
in the sky as a reminder to you and me of just how mighty He really is. This
same God who placed each star in the sky faces and engages the world through
you.
“The
words ‘be strong’ describe continual empowering of the Christian community.
God’s strength and power are part of the Kingdom blessings available to God’s people.
The power that raised Christ from the dead empowers God’s people as they
prepare for the spiritual battle they must face on this earth.”[1]
11Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take
your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12For 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. 13Therefore 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.
Paul’s
imagery of wearing armor in vv. 11-13
is strange to many, even most of us. But you have to remember that Ephesus was
part of Rome’s conquered territory. In order to maintain the pax romana, the Roman Peace, soldiers
were stationed in the larger, influential cities within the various Roman
provinces. Ephesus was such an influential city as one of the major centers for
travel and commerce within Rome’s vast empire. Consequently, armed Roman
soldiers walking the streets would have been a common sight and Paul’s audience
would have easily understood the imagery.
I
want you to pay close attention to something Paul is communicating in these
verses. Paul’s letter to the Church in Ephesus was written right around 60 A.
D. when persecution against Christians was starting to pick up steam. Nero was
the Roman Emperor from 54 A. D. to 68 A. D. He is renown as spearheading one of
the worst persecution campaigns the early Church experienced. In 64 A. D. he
set fire to seventy-five percent of Rome and blamed Christians. While he didn’t
need an excuse to persecute Christians, having the public’s support certainly
helped and a devastating fire blamed on Christians gave him all the support he
needed to brutalize Christians. Christians were sown into animal skins and then
put in the coliseum where they were killed by hungry lions. Christians were
killed in every possible fashion including crucifixion and dismemberment. To
demonstrate his disdain for Christians, Nero had Christians impaled on long poles
and set on fire to light the streets leading to the palace and to light the
palace gardens. So what’s my point of telling you this? Because look where Paul
is placing the blame. Wherever there is evil we will find Satan’s fingerprints.
Presidents may be lawless, doctors may kill babies, people may distort God’s
definition of marriage but behind it all are the devil’s schemes. This is very
important because until we know the enemy then all our efforts in the battle
will be useless. Once we know who the enemy is then we can devise an
appropriate battle plan. Our battle is not against Presidents or doctors or any
other person in this world. Our battle is against Satan and that battle rages
in the spiritual realm and that’s where we must be prepared to make our stand.
Satan
has one goal in mind, to prevent those who don’t know Jesus from ever getting
to know Him and to discourage those who do know and believe in Jesus in the
hopes of turning them away from Jesus’ saving grace. “The evil one is committed
to hindering the progress of the gospel and the fulfillment of the divine plan
of summing up all things in Christ. He will attempt by his ‘insidious wiles’ to
turn believers aside from pursuing the cause of Christ and achieving this goal.
Mention
of the ‘schemes’ of the devil reminds us of the trickery and subterfuge by
which evil and temptation present themselves in our lives. Evil rarely looks
evil until it accomplishes its goal; it gains entrance by appearing attractive,
desirable, and perfectly legitimate. It is a baited and camouflaged trap.
The
apostle’s intention, however, in urging his readers to put on God’s armour is
that they might prevail against the stratagems and tactics of this enemy. Paul
wants to see Christians strong, stable, and robust so that they remain firm
against the devil’s wiles. The notion of doing battle with Satan and the powers
of darkness ‘may seem a frightening prospect’, and indeed to take on such formidable
foes simply with ‘one’s own resources would be to court disaster’. Believers
would be fatally unprotected and exposed. But this paragraph ‘does not foster
an attitude of fear. The entire passage is suffused with a spirit of confidence
and hope and the reader is left, not with a feeling of despair, but with a
sense that Satan can be defeated’.”[2]
14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around
your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,
Beginning
in v. 14 Paul moves from the general
imagery of armor to the more specific components of that armor beginning with
the belt and the breastplate. Paul refers to the belt as the belt of truth. A
belt worn by a soldier kept his clothing tightly bound to his body so that
loose clothing wouldn’t become an obstacle during battle. Truth functions in
much the same way. Biblical truth allows us to engage the world confidently.
Christians are not burdened with relative truth like the unbelieving world
around us. First of all, truth is represented by the person of Jesus Christ who
called Himself the Way, the Truth,
and the Life. Secondly, we are convinced of God’s truth because we have
received the Holy Spirit who reminds us of all the things Jesus taught. And
finally, God has given us His written word which represents divine truth that
we must use to guide our lives.
Paul
refers to the breastplate as the breastplate of righteousness. The breastplate
was used by soldiers to protect their vital organs—specifically the heart. The
breastplate of righteousness works in much the same way by protecting the
Christian’s heart from the temptations they face from a sinful,
self-prioritizing world. A Christian’s righteousness falls in the already/not
yet category. We were made righteous when we became believers because Jesus
gave us His righteousness. We are also being made righteous every day as we
consistently surrender our way of doing life to God’s way of doing life.
“When
the belt was fastened, the soldier was ‘on duty,’ ready to fight. A slackened
belt meant ‘off duty.’ Christians, however, must face each day with a fastened
belt, ready to fight the battle when needed. As the belt formed the foundation
of the soldier’s armor, the truth is the foundation of the Christian life. When
the enemy, the father of lies (Jn 8:44), attacks with his lies, half truths,
and distortions, we believers can stand firm in the truth…
Next,
the soldier must put on the body armor of God’s righteousness…Righteousness
provides a significant defense, it gives the evidence that we have been made
right with God and that this righteousness has been given us by the Holy
Spirit. Satan seeks to thwart righteous living. When the enemy, the accuser
(Rev 12:10), tries to convince us that we are not really saved, that we just
keep on disappointing God, and that we’re ‘poor excuses’ for Christians, we can
stand up to him because of the righteousness we have been promised through our
faith in Jesus Christ.”[3]
15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that
comes from the gospel of peace.
Paul
doesn’t miss a detail when he get’s to a soldier’s footwear in v. 15. You have to remember that Paul
isn’t describing modern military movement with troop movement vehicles.
Nowadays we can move military personnel thousands of miles in hours using ground
and air transport vehicles. During Paul’s day, troops moved around primarily on
foot. Some parts of troop movement was by horseback but most was done on foot.
Considering the size of Rome’s vast empire, large scale troop movement to the
farthest regions could have taken many days or weeks. Consequently, quality
footwear was essential because it also needed to survive the rigors of battle
in addition to what could be long travel distances.
For
the Christian, wearing quality footwear is the equivalent of being ready to
carry the gospel of peace to whomever God may direct. “At the center of the
gospel stands the death of Christ on the cross, the peace that this death
brings between rebellious humanity and its Creator, and the peace that it
brings to the various competing factions within humanity itself. The message of
this multifaceted reconciliation is the subject of the church’s proclamation to
‘the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places’. Fully embracing the gospel
of peace in faith, then, is necessary preparation for doing battle with the
forces of evil, which stands against the believer and against God’s plan to
unite all things in heaven and on earth in Christ.”[4]
16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith,
with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
We
imagine Paul’s description of a shield in v.
16 as being made of bronze or some other metal like we see in the movies
used by gladiators. While gladiators and other warriors did use metal shields
in battle, the regular Roman soldier was issued a Scutum. It was rectangular
and curved so as to wrap around the soldier during battle. It was made of
laminated wood and covered in canvas and leather. In order to extinguish the
enemy’s flaming arrows, soldiers would soak their shields in water.
For
the Christian, our faith is our shield against Satan’s flaming arrows. Flaming
arrows like: “Why would God save someone like you? Look at the mess you’ve made
of your life.” Or, “You’re useless. God could never use a screw-up like you.” I
could give you a dozen more because I’ve had to use my shield to extinguish
those arrows when they were fired at me by Satan. It wasn’t easy and I’ll admit
that some of those arrows got through. However over time, as my faith grew stronger,
I got better at using my faith as a shield to extinguish Satan’s flaming
arrows.
“Faith
is mentioned throughout the letter, and in this context it is the confident
trust in and receptiveness to Christ and his power that protects the whole
person. Faith takes hold of God’s resources in the midst of the onslaughts of
evil and produces the firm resolve which douses anything the enemy throws at
the believer. Faith will enable the believer ‘to extinguish all the burning
arrows of the evil one’…Here the burning arrows represent every type of assault
devised by the evil one, not just temptation to impure or unloving conduct but
also false teaching, persecution, doubt, and despair. Faith is the power which
enables believers to resist and triumph over such attacks.”[5]
17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the
Spirit, which is the word of God.
Finally
Paul gets to the last two pieces of a soldier’s equipment in v. 17. The first is a helmet and the
second a sword. The value of a helmet in battle is immediately obvious for
protection against head injuries. Soldiers continue to wear helmets as part of
their combat gear to this day. For the Christian, the soldier’s helmet
represents our salvation. With the protection of the helmet that is our
salvation, we can stand our ground without fear. Because regardless of what
might happen to our mortal bodies, God’s salvation has already signaled our
victory over death. “[The] believers’ salvation, already accomplished, will be
consummated when Christ comes to claim his own. With the assurance of salvation
protecting their minds, Christians can stand against Satan’s attacks. As a blow
to the head often means death, so a person without hope of salvation will be
easily defeated by the enemy. When the enemy, the Devil (1 Pet 5:8), seeks to
devour and destroy God’s people with empty or evil thoughts, trying to get us
to doubt our salvation, we can trust in the protection of the helmet. Our
salvation will be accomplished, for God has promised it.”[6]
To
this point, Paul has described the defensive elements of a soldier’s
armament—how a soldier protects himself against attack. He now comes to a
soldier’s primary weapon which was a sword. Although the spear and bow and
arrow were weapons used by specialized regiments during the period of the Roman
Empire, the sword was standard issue for every soldier. The sword is also the
standard issue weapon for the Christian. However, Paul describes the
Christian’s sword as the Spirit of God’s word. There are other weapons as well
at the disposal of Christians—teaching, preaching, evangelism, etc. But the
standard weapon issued to every Christian is God’s word. Too many Christians
insist that Christians are supposed to be doormats; they’re supposed to take
the abuses heaped on them because that’s what Jesus did. When they came to
arrest Him, He didn’t fight back. However, what these Christians fail to
realize is that we have not be called to give our lives for the salvation of
the world the way Jesus was call to give His life. Additionally, these same
Christians conveniently forget how Jesus got in trouble with the ruling
authorities in the first place—by constantly confronting and combating their
oppressive and manipulative interpretation of the scriptures by speaking the
truth of God’s word and demonstrating the Spirit of that word through His
actions and attitudes toward those who needed to know the real truth of God.
The sword of God’s
word is an offensive weapon not a defensive weapon. It is a signal to the
Christian that their task is not only to stand firm but to advance the truth of
God’s word in an unbelieving world; it means Christians are to take the battle
to the enemy. “The gospel is closely aligned with ‘truth’, ‘salvation’, and
‘peace’ in Ephesians, whereas the devil stands behind the ignorance,
estrangement from God, and enmity that characterizes the rebellious,
unbelieving world. The gospel, with its proclamation of peace between God and
humanity and between warring factions within humanity itself, and with its
accompanying implications for day-to-dayliving in ‘the righteousness and holiness of the truth’ (4:24), is the
sword that will successfully answer every attack of the evil one. It does this,
however, not merely because it provides reliable information and outlines a sensible
way of life but also because it is the word of God and therefore carries with
it the effective power of God.”[7]
18And 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.
Paul
finishes this section of verses with an interesting admonition in v. 18 to pray—pray in general and
specifically to pray for all Christians. Prayer is as much an element of a
Christian’s armament as is a shield or a sword for a soldier of war. Prayer is
a shield to protect the Christian against the devil’s schemes and a sword to
fight against those schemes. Praying in the Spirit implies prayer that is
consistent with God’s will, and in this case God’s will is that Christians must
stand firm in the security of their salvation and take the fight to the devil
with the truth of the gospel. Praying in the Spirit brings the entire weight of
God to bear on the Christian’s particular circumstance in the battle against
Satan.
“
‘Praying in the Spirit’ does not refer to speaking in tongues…The Spirit
communicates God to us, and through him we receive all gifts and empowering
from God...No sharp distinction is intended between ‘prayers’ and ‘requests’.
By using both words Paul only sought to emphasize prayer. The word translated
‘requests’ is used again in the second half of verse 18 but translated
‘praying’. Prayer is the focal point of this verse, mentioned four times; the
word ‘all’ is also used four times, one of which the NIV translates as
‘always’. With this repetition Paul underscores how important prayer is for all
of life. The believer’s entire life is one large prayer to God.”[8]
Application
I
love soldiers—I always have. Mind you, I don’t love war but I love the soldiers
who are prepared to give their lives in war. I admire them because they have
something I don’t always have much of—courage. Growing up with an abusive
alcoholic father, I was afraid all the time and I carried much of that fear
into my adulthood. Every decision I made came from a place of fear. Every
decision I made was an effort at self-preservation and to avoid conflict. But
soldiers are different. Soldiers stand their ground when they’re ordered to
stand their ground; even in the face of insurmountable odds. When the time
comes and the battle is at its fiercest, a soldier won’t retreat unless ordered
to do so. Instead, a soldier will race headlong into the teeth of the battle
because that’s what soldiers do and that’s what makes them so special.
It
seems so unlikely that God would call me to be a pastor and place me directly
into the crosshairs of a world that hates the gospel that I’ve been called to
preach. But once I made the commitment to be a faithful follower of Christ
instead of pretending to be one, God spent the last thirty years preparing me
even though at times I still manage to stumble over the obstacle of my fear.
That’s why this lesson has always been so important for me and I hope it will
be helpful for you as well. I want to remind you in the same way that I have to
remind myself. If you are a faithful follower of Christ, you are stronger and
more courageous than you realize when you face the devil’s schemes that attempt
to derail your faithfulness. Like a soldier preparing for battle, you too must
prepare for battle with the belt of God’s truth wrapped around your waist, with
the breastplate of righteousness protecting your heart, and with footwear that
will carry the gospel message wherever God may be leading you. You’ll also need
a shield to deflect the constant onslaught from Satan who will throw everything
at you in order to try and discourage you and destroy your faith. Be sure to
remember the helmet that is the hope of your salvation and as a reminder that
even if Satan’s schemes lead to the death of your body, your eternal life is
beyond his reach. And now that you are fitted to defend yourself, you can take
up the Spirit’s sword which is God’s word and race headlong into the teeth of
the battle if necessary because you have been outfitted with The Armor of God.
[1]
Bruce Barton, Philip Comfort, Grant Osborne, Linda K. Taylor, and Dave Veerman,
Life Application New Testament Commentary,
(Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001), p. 832.
[2]
Peter T. O’Brien, The Letter to the
Ephesians—The Pillar New Testament Commentary, (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B.
Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1999), p. 464.
[3]
Bruce Barton, et al., Life Application
New Testament Commentary, p. 833.
[4]
Frank Thielman, Ephesians—Baker
Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic,
2010), p. 426.
[5]
Andrew T. Lincoln, Ephesians—Word
Biblical Commentary, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1990), pp. 449-450.
[6]
Bruce Barton, et al., Life Application New Testament Commentary, p. 833.
