If each of us were asked about your own spiritual life - our struggles with temptation and sin, our purity of heart, the love and charity which we exercise towards our neighbours, I imagine that most of us would admit that we still have some way to go. We might even be frustrated that after being a Christian for some years, we are no longer growing more like Jesus, that we have not become the people that we would like to be. Maybe we blame ourselves, or people close to us, or the pressures we experience in our daily lives, or maybe we blame spiritual forces outside ourselves. Paul’s discussion of spiritual warfare comes as the climax of a long and carefully planned letter. It began with a cosmic perspective on God’s plans for his people; then focussed on God’s saving grace, offered freely to both Jews and Gentiles; then looked at relationships in the church and wider society; then to the relationships between husband and wife, parents and children, masters and slaves. This final section of the letter tackles the internal spiritual struggles that touch all of us; approaching them from the perspective that these struggles result from the influence of spiritual powers beyond ourselves Modern readers might be reluctant to go along with such thoughts of dark forces, sceptical about anything that can’t be trapped in a test-tube or inspected with a spectrometer. Human beings seem capable of enough evil without having to invoke the forces of darkness. But if you want to deny supernatural evil that you can’t see, please don’t deny supernatural good that you can’t see either. Whether you think that the evils of the world come from the malevolence of men, or the deceits of demons, the evil is real enough and has to be resisted. Paul tells the Christians of Ephesus to tackle it using the strength and the armour that God provides. Let’s take it piece by piece. Some commentators speculate that Paul may have had a Roman soldier at hand when he wrote this chapter, and we can imagine him looking at the armour worn, and reflecting on spiritual links. He first names the belt of truth. We are constantly assaulted by lies and half-truths, both from commercial enterprises and from politicians.

• Use xyz deodorant, and 100s of semi-naked women will climb over each other to get to you. Not true!
• Vote for the abc party and our nation will enter an era of peace and prosperity. Not true!

Truth is seeing the world the way that God sees it. Back in ch 1 Paul prayed that his readers would have their eyes opened; and in ch 3 that they would be able to understand. In both instances he wanted them to see the world as God sees it.
Second item is the breastplate of righteousness. This is about honest behaviour - consistently doing the right thing, in spite of the shameless corruption in the world around us. Elsewhere in scripture we understand that no human is fully righteous - but through our faith God will count us righteous, and (as in Ephesians 4) we aspire to live up to God’s righteous standard.
The third item is footwear: shoes or sandals that represent a readiness to share the good news of peace with God. Again, we can come under attack if we try to share our faith, particularly today - people might think you are odd if you share with them the hope that you have in Christ, and in certain professions you can get into trouble for talking about your faith. Yet we are to be ready to do so.
The fourth is the shield of faith. There is a new militant atheism afoot, which is trying to ridicule and put down people of faith. People like Prof Dawkins are suggesting that faith is like a dangerous delusion, infectious like a disease; which sadly children can catch from their parents. But Dawkins and company have “faith” in their own precepts and methods; and we are called to trust in the one who created and redeemed us.
Fifth is the helmet of salvation. If we know that Christ has died for us, making peace between us and God, we each have a confidence in our personal future that others do not have. This is something that God has done for us - and we receive it as a gift.
Sixth is the sword, the word of God. Do you recall how Jesus, during his time in the wilderness, responded to the temptations of the devil, by using words of scripture? All scripture is God-breathed and useful to the man of God. We have Bibles in our homes, we have memories of Bible verses in our heads, from liturgies we have said and songs we have sung - these words are a sword that we can use in our spiritual battles.

The same is true of all the pieces of armour: God has given them to us, but to benefit from their protection we need to put them on. His power and protection are available to us. As we read in Isaiah earlier: and in Ephesians: It is not our own strength, but God’s strength. And this armour is not our armour, but the armour of God: both 6v11 and 6v13. But we need to put it on.
Imagine a Roman soldier who has all his equipment, but leaves it on the shelf when the enemy arrives; his chances of survival are much greater if he puts his armour on when he gets up each morning. So we should put on truth, righteousness, faith, salvation, and readiness both to share the Good News and wield the Word of God.