COLERAINE EVANGELICAL CHURCH
SERMON NOTES SUNDAY 4 OCTOBER 2026 – MR JASON CRUISE
EPHESIANS 6 VERSES 10 TO 19
When any country or nation sends its troops into the midst of a war they have an obligation to make sure that those in the army are suitably dressed for the battle. It would be detrimental to the outcome if they didn’t have the proper attire. The same can be said for you and I from the moment we give our lives to Christ. From that moment forward until Christ comes or calls we are involved in warfare with a very powerful enemy. Colossians 1 verse 13. What a blessing to be found in the family and fold of God. 1 John 3 verse 1. From that moment when we raised the flag of allegiance to Christ we are involved in a spiritual war and we have a great enemy. 1 Peter 5 verse 8. The devil is a great tactician. He is a great strategist. He is seeking to bring down the child of God. Ever since Eden he seeks the downfall of the child of God. But God has provided armour for you and I for the battle. To fail to apply that armour is to expect defeat before the battle has begun. The great Puritan John Owen who died in 1683 said “no one preaches his own sermon well to others if he does not preach it to himself first of all.” The apostle Paul speaking to believers at Ephesus and he is telling them to be empowered daily by the Lord.
Verse 10 To live a successful Christian life here on earth, relying on your own strength and ability or capabilities would be futile. We do rely on the Lord. “Stand strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.” We dare not step out to do a work for God relying upon our strength. We rely first and foremost on the Lord and his enabling power.
Verses 11 and 12 Notice that Paul doesn’t simply say “put on the armour of God” but rather in both verses 11 and 13 he emphasizes it is the “whole” armour. A few pieces of armour will not be sufficient for the task. You and I are in the spiritual battle today. We must put on the whole armour of God. This is the result of putting on the whole armour of God. We don’t want to be soldiers of the Lord who stand ashamed and embarrassed because of our paltry efforts. We want to stand strong and steadfast. In verse 13 we see the onus is on us to apply the armour. This is different than Isaiah 61 verse 10. God has covered us with the robe of imputed righteousness. Take unto you the whole armour of God. God has provided us with it and it is up to us to take it up day and daily. There are 6 items of armour to be considered.
The letter to the Ephesians is a prison epistle. It was written while Paul was in prison in Rome. Day and daily Paul would have seen the Roman soldiers as they walked about prepared for battle. He saw the garments they wore. He likens the armour we would put on to the armour the Roman soldier would have put on in preparation for battle. The tunic had space for head and arms. It was free flowing. The tunic was held in place by the belt. The belt helped the tunic from moving about. The soldier would be unencumbered. We can apply it to ourselves. The belt of truth. There is much false doctrine about today. Deception and many lies and half truths. Without the belt of truth so many can blow about after every doctrine. Ephesians 4 “that we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro carried about with every word of doctrine by the slight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive. The belt was applied to the soldier, it held the tunic in place. We must apply the belt of truth so we are unencumbered. Know the difference between false doctrine and lies and deception. “Having on the breastplate of righteousness”. The breastplate protected a vital part of the body. The upper part of the body from the neck to the torso. The thorax covering to put on the upper body and lower torso. Protecting the heart. We read of 3 types of righteousness – self-righteousness, imputed righteousness and practical righteousness. Self-righteousness means we believed we were good enough before we got saved, we could make our own way to heaven by our own efforts. Imputed righteousness was given at the moment of conversion, the day we put our faith and trust in Christ. 2 Corinthians 5 verse 21. We have received the imputed righteousness of God. The breastplate pictures 2 things – imputed and practical righteousness. John MacArthur once said “Imputed righteousness makes practical righteousness possible but only obedience to the Lord makes practical righteousness a reality.” Harry Ironside once said “If you want to win in this battle, you must practice righteousness. Your life must be clean. There must not be hidden sin or unholy thinking tolerated, no unrighteousness in your life covered up if you are to have victory in this conflict.” I wonder in our lives day and daily do we practice practical righteousness? Are we living right before God? When we are far from this assembly what is our testimony like before those we come into contact with? John 15 verses 10 and 11. The devil would want to take the joy we have through our salvation knowing we have been made right through the finished work of Christ. What a joy it is to know your sins forgiven. The devil would seek to take that joy away. The breastplate was the only one item to have received help from others to put it on. Every other piece would be put on by the soldier. To practice righteousness day and daily. To live a holy life in our community, families we need the help of the Holy Spirit to enable to demonstrate that practical righteousness, that holy living before those that we live among and before the Lord himself.
Verses 15 and 16 Have you got on your gospel boots today? I wonder in the week that lies ahead will our walk match the talk on a Sunday? The boots of the Roman soldier had spikes on the sole to enable the soldier to stand securely in the battle. Each and every day are we standing strong, steadfast and secure? Have we on our boots today? If a Roman soldier hadn’t these strong leather boots on and laced up around the shin to the knee he could have become hurt with the thorns and stones from the rough ground. If that happened of course it would affect his walk. It would affect his walk. The last thing any believer wants is to have their walk with God affected. Think of Enoch in Genesis 5 verse 24 “and Enoch walked with God.” Hebrews 10 verse 5 before his translation he had this testimony that he pleased God. Does our walk with God please God? How is your testimony today? Have we the boots on today? Are we standing secure in the battle? Are we swift to spread the gospel? Maybe never stand in the pulpit but walk among people tomorrow that the preacher will never see. Are you swift to spread the gospel among those you move among in the week ahead?
Verse 16 Shield of faith. The Roman soldier had 2 shields. A small shield of 2 feet in diameter which was strapped to his arm and used on close combat. Then there was the larger shield which was 2 and a half foot wide and 4 foot high. It was carried by the Roman soldier at the front of the battle. It was made of wood covered by leather and pieces of metal. It protected the soldier and those behind from the arrows. As they came toward the soldier the shield would have been put in place, each one lined up together. These shields were dipped in residue so that whenever the fiery arrows hit the shield, they were immediately extinguished. Think of the shield of faith. Paul talked about the shield that is able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. Doubt, fear and discouragement that the devil would fire at us each and every day. When we come under attack we can take refuge behind the shield of faith. John Patton the missionary to the South Sea Island preached the gospel to tribes but when he was translating the bible he could not find a word for faith. One of the tribesmen came into his home one day and sat down in a chair. He said “it is good to rest my whole weight upon this chair.” “That’s it” John Paton said. I translate faith like this. It’s just like resting your whole weight upon God. You and I shelter and take refuge behind the shield of faith. Today, we're simply not trusting in our faith, but rather we're trusting in the one in whom our faith has been put. You and I today are trusting in the Lord. The one who will never leave us nor forsake us. The one who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. My dear friends, the one that you and I rest or wait upon, he is infinitely powerful and he is absolutely dependable.
Verse 17 Paul says, "And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit which is the word of God." This is the fifth piece of the armour. The purpose of the helmet was to protect the soldier's head in the battle. Whenever you and I think about the helmet of salvation, I think of how the devil would come at times and he would say to the believer, he would say, "Are you really saved at all?" He would say, "Are you really even a Christian at all?" He would seek to come and to plant those seeds of doubt about your salvation. We're thankful today for the helmet of salvation that protects against those seeds of doubt and discouragement. The devil comes along and he seeks to distract and distort and take away your confidence and make you doubt. You and I can take comfort from the words of the Lord himself in John chapter 10 verses 28 and 29 "I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. My Father and I are one.” You're held securely today not only in the hand of the Lord himself but in the hand of the Lord. The apostle here finally he mentions the sword of the spirit which is the word of God. That word in verse 17 that is translated here “word” in the original is not as some people would think as they would translate it as being “logos” which is the written word but rather it is the word “remma” which means the spoken word the spoken word. Out of the six pieces of armour that the Apostle Paul mentions, five of them are defensive and one of them is offensive - the sword of the spirit. Whenever the Lord was in the wilderness and the devil comes along to tempt the Lord, you'll recall that Christ didn't quote the words of a hymn. He didn't quote the words of some Jewish rabbi and he didn't quote the words of some Greek scholar. He quoted the word of God. He quoted the inherent, infallible, indestructible, and inspired word of God. It's not simply enough to have the Bible in your hand but may it be absorbed into our very being so that whenever you and I would come under attack that we can quote the word of God. I wonder are you ready to wield the word of God? Do we have it in our very being? Have you set time aside not only to read the word of God but to study the word of God? Remember the words of Peter in 1 Peter 2 verse 2 “as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby.” Did you set time aside to read the word of God to absorb it into your very being today? In the week that lies ahead, will each of us take time to come aside with the Lord, leaving aside all the cares and the worries of life and spend a little time with him and in his word to absorb his word into your very being. These six pieces of spiritual armour enable the believer to stand strong when under attack. They enable us to stand strong each and every day. Do you and I have on the whole armour of God today?
Finally, verse 18, Paul says, "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit and watching there unto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints." Are we men and women of prayer? Do we set time aside not only to read and to study the word of God, but do we set time aside for prayer? Have you came already to the Lord this morning and poured out your heart before him? Have you committed the day to him? Before we lift our feet off the floor in the evening to go to our bed, do we come again to the Lord in prayer, simply thanking him for who he is and for what he has done? You know, we're thankful whenever we come to him in prayer. We're not simply coming to one who hears us, but we're coming to one who hears and has the power to answer.
Have you on the whole armour of God? And are you men and
woman of prayer?
