The Armor Of God

Ephesians 6:13–17 NKJV

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. 14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;

Last week we looked at the enemy our great adversary Satan, and the principalities, powers, rulers of darkness, and spiritual host of wickedness. Although these enemies are not flesh and blood they are real spiritual entities, and they wield very real power in this world. So much so that Paul tells us that if we are to withstand their attacks then we must be empowered by the power of Christ’s almighty power. The question is how are we empowered? Paul said in vs 11

Ephesians 6:11 NKJV

11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

So today I would like to start looking at this armor. And my first observation is that it is God’s armor.

It’s God’s Armor

Many have made the assumption, myself included, That Paul’s inspiration for this analogy was all the Roman soldiers that he was perhaps seeing outside his window even as he was dictating this letter to his scribe.

However, i have recently come to another conclusion.

This armor to which Paul is referring was not some analogy that Paul thought up rather it was imagery which he drew on from the Old Testament Scriptures.

The Belt of Truth

The Breastplate of Righteousness

The Shoes of the Gospel of peace

The Shield of Faith

The Helmet of Salvation

Sword of the Spirit

So were do we find these mentioned in the Old Testament?

The Belt of Truth

Isaiah 11:1–5 NKJV

1 There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots. 2 The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. 3 His delight is in the fear of the Lord, And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, Nor decide by the hearing of His ears; 4 But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, And decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. 5 Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, And faithfulness the belt of His waist.

The word here for faithfulness is means truth verily

The Breastplate of Righteousness and the Helmet of Salvation

Isaiah 59:15–20 NKJV

15 So truth fails, And he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. Then the Lord saw it, and it displeased Him That there was no justice. 16 He saw that there was no man, And wondered that there was no intercessor; Therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him; And His own righteousness, it sustained Him. 17 For He put on righteousness as a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head; He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, And was clad with zeal as a cloak. 18 According to their deeds, accordingly He will repay, Fury to His adversaries, Recompense to His enemies; The coastlands He will fully repay. 19 So shall they fear The name of the Lord from the west, And His glory from the rising of the sun; When the enemy comes in like a flood, The Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him. 20 “The Redeemer will come to Zion, And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” Says the Lord.

The Shoes of the Gospel of Peace

Isaiah 52:7 NKJV

7 How beautiful upon the mountains Are the feet of him who brings good news, Who proclaims peace, Who brings glad tidings of good things, Who proclaims salvation, Who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”

Isaiah speaks here of watchmen who when they see the Lord bring back Israel from captivity they will sing and break forth into joy. They will go out upon the mountains proclaiming the good news of God’s salvation.

If this is the passage that Paul has in mind as he writes this then feet that are shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace would be feet that are ready to go proclaim the good news of God’s salvation to the nations.

Shield of Faith

In the Old Testament it is God himself who is described as our shield.

Genesis 15:1 NKJV

1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”

Proverbs 30:5 NKJV

5 Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.

So the shield of faith is not that faith in and of itself is our shield rather it is the faith and trust in God who is our shield and refuge.

Psalm 91:4–5 NKJV

4 He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. 5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day,

Faith is the protection of God is able to quench the the firey arrows of the wicked One.

The Sword of the Spirit The Word of God

Isaiah 49:1–7 NKJV

1 “Listen, O coastlands, to Me, And take heed, you peoples from afar! The Lord has called Me from the womb; From the matrix of My mother He has made mention of My name. 2 And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword; In the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me, And made Me a polished shaft; In His quiver He has hidden Me.” 3 “And He said to me, ‘You are My servant, O Israel, In whom I will be glorified.’ 4 Then I said, ‘I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain; Yet surely my just reward is with the Lord, And my work with my God.’ ” 5 “And now the Lord says, Who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, To bring Jacob back to Him, So that Israel is gathered to Him (For I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, And My God shall be My strength), 6 Indeed He says, ‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob, And to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ” 7 Thus says the Lord, The Redeemer of Israel, their Holy One, To Him whom man despises, To Him whom the nation abhors, To the Servant of rulers: “Kings shall see and arise, Princes also shall worship, Because of the Lord who is faithful, The Holy One of Israel; And He has chosen You.”

So it is the armor of God not just in that God gives us this armor, even though He does, but it is the armor of God in that it is the armor worn by Him to fight against our enemy of sin and death. It is the armor fo Christ our redeemer who has won the victory for us. Christ is the truth, He is our righteousness, our shield through faith. He is the Word made flesh and it is His beautiful feet that have proclaimed the good news that we have peace with God through faith in Christ. Christ wore the armor to be our champion and to win the victory and Christ is the armor. So to put on the armor of God is to Put on the Lord Jesus Christ

Romans 13:14 NKJV

14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.

In order to put on Christ we must put off the old man

Ephesians 4:20–24 NKJV

20 But you have not so learned Christ, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

In the coming weeks Lord willing, we will look at each piece of the armor in more detail but i believe that we can summarise putting on the whole armor of God and Put on the Lord Jesus Christ. By doing so we are empowered by the power of His might and able to withstand the wiles of the Satan.