‘…and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.’

Ephesians 6:17b

The Scripture is the touchstone of truth.  When Satan tempted Christ, Christ answered each assault with, ‘It is written.’  God has ‘magnified His Word above all His Name.’  God sets great store beside His Word.  Our text describes the Word of God as ‘the sword of the Spirit.’  What we understand from that is that the Holy Spirit makes use of the word of God to advance the Kingdom of God.  He will use it in our hands both offensively and defensively.  The rest of the ‘armor’ of the Christian is oriented toward defense.  The ‘sword’ serves both offensive and defensive purposes.  Christ came to ‘destroy the works of the devil.’  He does so, in part, by what use the Holy Spirit makes of the ‘sword of the Spirit’ in the hands of the Body of Christ, the people of God.  Over the course of centuries, the word of God has transformed lives as the Holy Spirit has applied it to nations, kingdoms, and tribes.  Faith has come by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.  Christ is the Living Word of which the written word speaks continually.  What we know of redemption, we know from the word of God.  Therefore, we continually return to this Book, which is the ‘sword of the Spirit.’  Like David of old said of another sword, ‘There is none like it.  Give it to me.’

Our Good and Wise God,
we praise You that You have given to us Your Word
that we might understand You.
We rejoice that, day by day, the Scripture ever leads us more to Christ.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.

Ephesians 6:15

Different tasks require different boots.  In construction, the concrete worker is often in rubber wellingtons.  The ironworker wears high top leather boots with flat soles.  The soldier wears boots especially designed for the challenges of rough terrain.  The firefighter wears boots around the station that will slip off easily in order to transition into the bunker gear boots designed for firefighting.  In the occupation in which we engage as the soldiers of Christ, we have our feet ‘fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.’  Christ sent His disciples ‘into all the world’ to ‘preach the Gospel.’  He has enabled generations of the people of God to go ‘into all the world.’  We are the spiritual inheritors of that commission.  Therefore, wherever we go in all the earth, on whatever errand that takes us there, we go with our ‘feet girded with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.’  Christ is using us in our own day and generation to take the Gospel everywhere we go.  He has given us the right boots for the paths we will travel and the work in which He has prepared for us to engage.  We are here to follow King Jesus and to go where He sends us, wearing the boots which are designed to enable us to take the gospel message with us.  We have good boots for this good work.

Our Wise and Wonderful God,
we praise You that You have prepared us in every way,
to advance Your Kingdom,
according to Your Divine plan.
We rejoice, that You have granted unto us the high privilege
of preaching Christ.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness.

Ephesians 6:14

Our text for today brings us to consider two parts of the armor of the Christian.  Taken together, these two pieces of armor protect the upper and lower portions of the torso.  These are the portions of the body in which reside the vital organs.  If we are to succeed in the Christian life, we must protect that which is most vital.  The only way for us to do that is with, ‘truth’ and ‘righteousness.’  Christ is the source of ‘truth,’ and ‘righteousness.’  All our understanding of ‘truth’ comes through Him.  All our understanding of ‘righteousness’ is what we see in Him.  Our ‘armor’ is inextricably connected to Christ.  If we are to ‘stand’ against all the ‘wiles of the devil’ we must stand in the ‘armor’ that Christ Himself provides.  Christ said, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life….’  He is the only way we have the ‘righteousness’ of which we stand in need.  If we are to have our ‘loins girt about with truth.’ it will be the truth of Christ.  If we are to wear the ‘breastplate of righteousness’ it will be the breastplate of Christ’s righteousness.  Here is our high ground and our sure defense.  We stake our claim for time and eternity upon the truth that Christ is, and upon the righteousness that He provides. This is the substance of our armor.

High King of Heaven,
we rejoice that You have shown us Christ, the Truth.
We praise You that we are clad in His Righteousness.
In our desire to glorify You, enable us daily,
to make use of these things, for Your Glory.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Ephesians 6:13

No one understands the nature of spiritual warfare more thoroughly and experientially than Christ.  He has battled the forces of evil and darkness to a greater degree than any other person born of woman.  Because He is the Great Defender of His people, He understands what we need to face the world, the flesh and the devil.  For this reason, Paul, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, tells us to ‘take…the whole armor of God.’  As we have already considered, we dwell in an environment which is hostile to grace and to God.  The opponents of Christ surround us, intending to defeat and destroy us.  The ‘evil day’ has arrived.  While we recognize that Christ is the Victor, and that all His will shall come to pass, He has placed us in the spiritual war zone to accomplish His purpose in the advancement of His Kingdom.  Because we are Christ’s people, laboring for the advancement of His cause, we are the targets of the ‘rulers of the darkness of this world.’  Therefore, we hear what Christ instructs us to do through the pen of His Apostle.  We are engaged in serious business, to liberate souls held in darkness by the power of all that is unholy.  Against those powers we stand, in spiritual armor, and ‘strong in the Lord.’  Today, let us dwell upon our need of Christ and of His armor in this evil day.

O, Christ, our Great Defender,
we rejoice that You have provided for us this complete armor.
We praise You that just as You have given us this gift,
so You will enable us to make full use of it for our good and Your Glory.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Ephesians 6:12

As we pass through this world, it is important for us to be realistic about our environment, and what we should expect.  The Apostle Paul has already set the stage in the previous verses which we have considered.  He has declared that we need to prepare ourselves to face spiritual opposition and aggression.  In our text for today he delineates, in very specific terms, the sources of this aggression.  He defines this opposition as ‘not…flesh and blood, but…rulers…authorities, the powers of this dark world and…the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.’  These are real forces, consisting of real personalities, with real histories, who engage in real spiritual activity.  The Scripture everywhere supports this.  We see multiple references to Satan, his minions, and their activities in both the Old and New Testaments.  Christ encounters them from Genesis 3 to Revelation 20.  This leads us to consider that Christ’s enemies are our enemies, and our enemies are His.  Because He is in heaven, and untouchable by them, they direct their venom against us, the Body of Christ.  Hence, Christ has provided for us the spiritual armor to which this passage refers.  Christ both forewarns and forearms us.  Today, let us be aware of the nature of the warfare in which we find ourselves and look to Our Captain to lead us in the fight.

O, Captain of our Salvation,
we rejoice in You, our All-Victorious Christ.
We praise You, that while we are here on earth,
You protect us in the ways that please You most.