The Armor Of God

OPEN YOUR BIBLES to EPH 6 & 2 COR 10

1. We learned in our last study that we are engaged in a battle.

a. The earth? It’s not a PLAYGROUND for Christian Games!

b. NO, it’s a BATTLEFIELD for Christian Soldiers.

We are in a fight, a warfare… but not with our hands or words…

· READ 2 Cor. 10:3-6

2. But it’s not just through our studies that we’ve learned this!

a. NO, everyday of our lives seems to be 1 fight after another.

b. There’s this temptation, that temptation…

c. This struggle and that one.

d. This weird, goofy thing and that dumb situation…

YOU MIGHT EVEN BEGIN TO THINK…

WHY DOES THIS ALWAYS HAPPEN TO ME!??

· BUT you’re not alone… You’re experiencing the same things that your brothers & sisters in the Lord are…

John 16.33 "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

2 Timothy 3.12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

1 Cor. 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

Spiritual Struggles, Fierce Fighting, Troubling Tribulations…

· They are common among the brethren, among Christians!

· I think we all agree with that… BUT here’s the issue:

Q: ARE WE ACTIVELY ENGAGED IN THE SPIRITUAL WARFARE USING ALL OF GOD’S SPIRITUAL STRENGTH & SPIRITUAL WEAPONS?

Eph. 6.13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

You see, you’re not going to be taken down. I won’t be taken out.

· We can stand in Him, be strong in Him, enjoy victories by Him!

· No matter where you work. No matter who you’re married to.

· No matter where you live, or what culture is doing…

· We can stand and be strong because we have been given the right equipment… the right fighting armor!

TRUE STORY…

A 50-year-old construction worker in Knoxville, Tenn., survived his Jan. 14 impalement by a 3-foot-long, 3-inch-thick metal rod that fell off of a bridge and which went point-first through the man’s skull and neck, coursed down his trunk, and stopped only when completely embedded in his body. He was semiconscious at the scene but talkative later at the University of Tennessee Medical Center. The man WAS NOT wearing the required hard hat. – OUCH!!!!

NOTE: Here’s a guy that had the right equipment, was given the right training, and decided they weren’t necessary… & paid a price.

· Through our time this morning, it’s my prayer that you don’t pay the price… that you put on the WHOLE ARMOR of God.

· You understand every piece & daily clothe yourself with them.

· When Paul says PUT ON, he’s saying hide yourself in the Lord.

· That you would daily seek refuge under His guidance & protection.

Psalm 32.7 You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah

I. (6.14-15) BE ARMED

1. (14) The BELT of TRUTH.

a. Here’s an important area, one that is unseen.

b. It’s that inward… private part of you. It’s your character.

c. Is that hidden part of you truthful or not?

Before we move on it’s worth remembering where Paul is…

· He’s in prison, chained to a Roman guard 24 hours a day!

· And as the Holy Spirit moves upon him to write these letters, the picture of the Roman Solider is right before him.

· He looked at the helmet, the breastplate, the sandals…

· This is a great illustration he must have thought!

A question I’m often asked is, “How does God speak to me?”

· ‘I hear other Christians say, “The Lord said this”, “God impressed this upon my heart…”’

· BUT ‘I’ NEVER HEAR HIM.

· I want to hear His voice, see His burning bushes, feel His presence! Oh… what a great desire to have.

Psalm 42.1-2 As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?

NOTE: God often speaks SUPERNATURALLY through the NATURAL.

· He’ll take our time in His Word… our time devoted to prayer.

· He’ll use the Bible studies on the radio, or a friend’s phone call.

· He’ll use our ordinary, everyday lives to speak to us personally.