The Armor of God - SERMON NOTES

Below are Pastor Ben's sermon notes from this past Sunday, in case they may be helpful for further study. To listen to the sermon, click the link above.

Intro: (1) series recap (2) spiritual warfare — painting golden gate bridge (3) read passage

Our Enemy (12)

1. He is spiritual: (1) “devil” in v.11 — minions in v.12 (2) origins in 2 Peter 2:4, Jude 6 (cf. Isaiah 14) (3) they occupy the “heavenly places” (cf. 1 John 5:19, Jesus’ temptation) (4) imitation of omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience (5) answer to why there is evil in the world, why we experience temptation, why life feels so hard (6) need to remember they have already been defeated (cf. Col. 2:15) (7) rejecting unhealthy curiosity/dismissiveness

2. He is powerful: (1) “wrestle . . . rulers/authorities/powers/forces” (cf. Daniel 4, sons of Sceva in Acts 19) (2) v.11 — he has “schemes” he has been perfecting for millennia (cf. 10,000 hour rule) (3) only God’s power can combat them (cf. demoniac in Mt. 8) (4) examples of enemy’s tactics — list on peabody p.40 (5) his schemes grow stronger when we live consistently live apart from God’s word and God’s people

Our God (10-11)

1. His strength: (1) God is strong , offers his strength to us (cf. Joshua 1, exiles in Zech. 10) — passive form of verb (2) the Lord creates weakness in us so that we rely on his strength (cf. Paul, Gideon) (3) examples of the Lord’s strength that combat the devil — list on peabody p.41 (4) though he is our strength, we must choose to strengthen ourselves in him (cf. 1 Samuel 30:6) (5) v.11 describes how we are to do this

2. His armor: (1) picture of armor that protects — read v.14-17 (2) picture — sermon on each one (3) intended result is stability (i.e. “stand”) — wobbly head (4) an echo of 4:24 (4) this is God’s own armor that he supplies to his people — messianic OT background (cf. Isaiah 11:5, 52:7, 59:17) (5) we are never alone in struggle with sin/shame (6) the focus here is not on our actions, but on what God provides — “child” imagery (cf. opening cereal)

Conclusion: handouts (The Armor of God)