THE ARMOR OF GOD
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. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
Ephesians 6:10-18
*Our battle does not end at salvation; it begins at salvation. You do not have to fight against Satan when you belong to him.
*As Christians we are in a constant state of warfare (2 Cor 10:4; 1 Tim 1:18-19; Eph 6:12). This warfare will continue until we enter into the Kingdom of Heaven (2 Tim 4:7-8; Gal 5:17).
1. Our victory has been secured by Christ Himself through His death on the cross. Jesus disarmed the evil powers and authorities (Col 2:15; Matt 12:29; Lk10:18; Jn 12:31) and redeemed the believer from the power of Satan (Acts 26:18; Romans 3:24).
2. We are currently involved in warfare against the powers of darkness. Our warfare is waged through the power of Holy Spirit. Our fight is against:
a. The sinful desires within ourselves (1 Pet 2:11; Gal 5:17),
b. The ungodly pleasures of the world and every temptation (Matt 13:22; James 1:14-15), and
c. Satan and his forces.
3. We cannot wage war in our own power, but rather with spiritual weapons (the armor of God).
“All the pieces of the armor of God, listed in Ephesians 6, are different aspects of who Jesus is to us. To wear the whole armor of God is to focus on Jesus. Each piece helps us to defend ourselves against Satan’s wiles, while at the same time, advancing ourselves even further towards being more like Christ. We can also see some of the methods Satan will use to try to bring us down, and how each piece of armor will protect us from that.
So there’s no need to be bewildered about there being so many pieces of armor to keep track of. Once Jesus becomes our focus, they all become one. In fact, we’ll also see that it’s much easier to keep each individual piece on when we have our whole armor on. It’s only when we have just one or two pieces on that they’ll become difficult to maintain.”
*The number 1 enemy that Satan will often use against us is us.
A Look at the Armor—Piece by Piece
1. The Belt of Truth
*In the NT, “truth” has 3 different meanings:
a. the opposite of falsehood
b. in the heart as the opposite of hypocrisy
c. Ultimate Truth as found in God’s Word (John 14:6)
*The belt of truth refers to each of these three.
*WE CANNOT SIMPLY PUT ON THE BELT OF TRUTH WITHOUT GETTING TO KNOW THE TRUTH FOR OURSELVES!
--Reading and studying the Word
--Spending time in prayer
--Spending time with other believers
--Allowing God’s Spirit to speak to our hearts
*Truth is described as a belt by Paul because it provides protection from embarrassment (error or hypocrisy). Imagine standing before a crowd of people with your pants down. – Acts 19
2. Breastplate of Righteousness
*The design of the breastplate is to protect. Our natural form of protection is often found in our self-image.
*How many times have you heard someone say, “I am secure in myself so I don’t care what so and so has to say about me”?
--The breastplate of righteousness deals with us getting to the point of seeing ourselves from God’s perspective, and allowing His righteousness to be our protection.
*How much good can you come up with about yourself? How much armor would that make? How much of you would that protect?
**2 Corinthians 5:21** The great exchange
“We are protected by our breastplate to the extent that we accept ourselves as God sees us without adding anything of our own achievements to it, nor subtracting anything due to past or present failure. It’s a place of humility, to be sure, because we don’t get to show anything off except for what Jesus is in us.”
3. Shoes of the Gospel of Peace
*Everywhere you and I walk with and for God is an opportunity to bring Good News to those we come in contact with. Paul referred to the feet of those who bring good news as being beautiful.
*Your shoes are the spiritual gifts that God has given you.
*If someone goes into a place barefoot and gets injured in their feet, they will most likely not go there again.
*When you are fitted with your shoes and know where you are going, the enemy cannot distract or detour you to a place of injury.
4. Shield of Faith
--The first piece of armor mentioned that we actually hold in our hands rather than wear. Faith is oftentimes something that must be held onto and doesn’t necessarily fit you or your situation.
*”Fiery darts” represent the supernatural or spiritual element of the attacks of the enemy. Satan doesn’t just send attacks, but they are supported and/or backed by spirits with the intent to steal, kill and destroy.
*Shields were made of leather stretched over a frame and this leather would quench fiery arrows before they could fully penetrate.
*Again without a firm understanding of Truth we cannot fully utilize our shield. Our shield is oftentimes only as effective as our understanding of our own authority.
*Far too many try to only carry the shield of faith without being armed with any of the other pieces of the armor.
5. Helmet of Salvation (1 Thessalonians 5:8)
*This does not deal with salvation from hell only, but ultimately salvation from sin.
*The fear of the Lord motivates us to allow the grace of God to do a complete work in our lives, i.e. to complete what He began when we were saved.
*Our helmet is a sign of the ongoing work of Christ in our lives.
“What we are looking forward to here is the end result of all our labors here on earth. For that reason, we can be assured that everything we do in His strength, with His motivation, everything that results from our focus on Jesus, will bear fruit. That fruit, along with the whole church’s unified focus on Jesus is what will ultimately hasten and bring that day to pass. That’s the hope we have. That’s the ongoing process of salvation.”
Q: When a person has lost hope, what else does that person lose?
A: Joy. Hopelessness = Joylessness
*A helmet is placed on the head—as a protection against our minds and thoughts.
*As our minds are focused upon Christ and who He is making us to be, and as we look to the ultimate salvation, we know that the helmet is firmly in place.
6. Sword of the Spirit
*This refers to the “Rhema” or spoken Word of God. The prophetic word that often accompanies inspired preaching.
*Hebrews 4:12 deals with the “logos” or written Word of God which describes sound teaching or doctrine and contributes to our wearing of the belt of truth.
*The sword of the Spirit, therefore, is that Word of God that His Holy Spirit gives to us at the precise moment of need.
*This word does not lay a new foundation or doctrine, but rather meets a specific need or gives specific direction.
