Good News, Bad News
Years ago I was invited to lead an event at a major church in the Washington DC area. This was a prominent church. It was the church where George W. Bush and Barak Obama both attended and spoke from on the annual Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. And it was a very formal African American church. The folks there dressed impeccably.
So, I got out my big suitcase, packed my best outfits, and caught a plane to DC. I arrived at the Baltimore/Washington airport just before midnight. Unfortunately, my bag didn’t arrive. I was informed that there was some sort of mix-up with my connecting flight, but hopefully, they could deliver my luggage to my hotel room in the morning.
The hotel gave me a toothbrush and toothpaste, but that was it. The next morning? No bag. I showed up at this prim and proper gathering to see everyone else dressed in their Easter Sunday best. I was sporting the grunge look, wearing the ratty jeans and green sweatshirt I had flown in. I looked like I had slept in my clothes. Because… I had. Hey, I get cold at night, I need pajamas!
My friend, the pastor, was very gracious - he did make a tongue-in-cheek comment about how this white guy dressed. Everyone else was kind and courteous to me, but I felt incredibly uncomfortable and ill-prepared all day.
Have you ever been severely underdressed? Have you ever shown up at a formal event in not-so-formal attire?
I live in a very informal area - Elk Grove, California. Our pastor, Tim Pearring, has proven that in our city it is acceptable to wear shorts and a T-shirt 360+ days a year. But even in our town, we can be underdressed.
I maintain that all of us have been extremely underdressed at times. In Ephesians 6, the Apostle Paul tells us that there actually is a dress code in the spiritual world and most of us, most of the time, are not living up to it.
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For 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. Therefore 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.
Ephesians 6:10-13 (NIV)
Paul warns against being underdressed. He essentially says, “Don’t just bring fists to a knife fight!” We are in a battle, a spiritual battle. and we have to dress properly. Otherwise. we will feel uncomfortable and ill-prepared every day.
What are we supposed to wear as we battle?
Paul lists garb that would make sense to a first-century person: belt, breastplate, shoes, shield, helmet, and sword.
I see these a kind of catcher’s gear of the spiritual realm.
I played catcher as a kid, every year from age nine through my junior year of high school. Many a time a baseball would ricochet off my chest protector and I would not be fazed.
But toward the end of my junior year, when I was playing for De La Salle High School, I took a foul ball off of a sensitive part of my body not covered by the “breastplate” and I went down. One week later, the same thing happened again. I was down and out. I never played catcher again.
The devil and his demons are playing hardball. Verse 16 talks about the…
“the flaming darts of the evil one…”
Ephesians 6:16 (ESV)
Satan is throwing fastballs and if you aren’t protected you can be down and out.
How can we protect ourselves?
Before we get to that question, let me pause to mention two of the devil’s most powerful pitches, two of his fiery arrows:
1. Temptations
The devil is consistently throwing temptations our way. W may not be able to stop them, but we can contain them. We can keep temptations from penetrating.
John reveals Stan’s temptations:
“…the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life…”
1 John 2:16 (NIV)
Is it just me or does it seem like we have more temptations these days?
2. Accusations
“For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.”
Revelation 12:10 (NIV)
In the Book of Revelation, the devil is called the accuser. He is constantly accusing us.
I suspect the devil has been working overtime in our culture recently. Haven’t you been accused lately? “You’re a racist!” “I’m not a racist, you’re a racist.” “No, I’m not, I’m an anti-racist!” “Anti-racism is racism!”
I’m sorry, too soon?
How about, “You’re a science denier!” “I’m not a science-denier, you’re the science-denier!” “No, I’m not, I trust the science.” “How can you trust the science when the scientists don’t even trust the science?”
And “Cancel Culture.” People are being accused because of tweets they posted ten years ago or a joke they told in the nineties!
We’re all confused! Where are all these accusations coming from?
To quote Dana Carvey and the church lady, “Oh, I don’t know, could it be, Satan!”
Yes it could! And it is! He is the tempter and the accuser. And if we’re not prepared, we will be down and out.
So, how do we protect ourselves?
Paul says we need to put on the full armor. But we have two problems:
1. We don’t understand what putting on the armor entails.
The armor is not legalism. Its not keeping a bunch of rules and regulations to show how good we are. No drinking allowed, women can’t wear pants, no one is allowed to go to an R-rated movie, kids can’t go to public schools.
The armor is not moralism. Its not bargaining with God, saying, “Hey God, I made it to church today, so how about getting me that promotion.”
The armor is not being self-righteous. It’s not thinking I’m better than other people because I’ve earned my way by being good.
The armor is not virtue signaling. Virtue signaling is when someone flaunts their views to make themselves look good in front of people they want to impress. Virtue signaling is wearing a mask (or not wearing a mask) to make yourself look good, rather than to serve others.
2. We think our armor will work.
Our own armor is papier-mache. It is paper-thin, It will not hold up under Satan’s pitches.
The armor comes from God alone. We cannot somehow create the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, or the helmet of salvation, from our own volition. We need to receive Jesus’ gift and stand behind that.
In his book The Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan describes a battle between the accuser, Christian. One of the devil’s strategies is to recite a laundry list of Christian’s sins, and so he lists them for Christian.
Christian’s response to the accuser is amazing, it is full of humility and faith: “All this is true, and much more which thou hast left out: but the Prince whom I serve and honour is merciful and ready to forgive…. I have groaned under them, been sorry for them, and have obtained pardon of my Prince.” At the mention of Christ’s forgiveness, the demon flies into a rage; Satan the accuser cannot stand the fact that his accusations are overcome by the grace of God in Christ.
Satan says, “Look at your sin.” God says, “look at My Son.”
When Satan throws his darts at us, we need to protect ourselves with Jesus’ righteousness toward the devil’s temptations and accusations.
I want to end with three theological terms: Justification, Sanctification, and Glorification (all the fications!).
Justification is the idea, the doctrine that says when you commit your life to Jesus, you are justified—forgiven forever. God treats us just as if we never sinned. We are clean and righteous in His sight.
Glorification is what will happen to us when we get to heave. Our sin nature will pass, we’ll get a new perfect body, we will actually be sinless.
Sanctification is what happens in between. It is thew hard part. We have become a Christian, we are righteous in God’s eyes. And one day we will be with Him in heaven. But today and tomorrow we have to live here, to face the temptations and darts of the evil one. Our life is not one of earning our way to heaven, it is one of growing to be more and more like Jesus.
We can’t do that on our own, but we can if we pick up his armor.