The Armor of God

Introduction

Last week we looked at “What to do when under attack”

Acknowledge the attack

Tell someone

Encourage yourself in the Lord

Win someone to Jesus - “Do the Great Commission”

Today we will look further at how to “Stand”

Due to our struggle not being with “flesh and blood” - Spiritual battle needs spiritual weapons/armor

Putting on these spiritual weapons and armor will result in success against the enemies tactics to deceive and destroy us. It will keep us from shrinking back from faith in God and we like Paul will say, “I have kept the faith.”

Scripture Reading

Ephesians 6:10–20 (NIV)

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 Lord’s people. Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

In the evil day, you will STAND

Concern for wobbly Christians - easy prey for the enemy.

In Ephesians 1:19 Paul prayed that they would know his mighty power, now he exhorts them to use this power.

This “be strong” is not instruction for a quick fix… Oh, I am under attack, I need to strengthen myself now... but rather this expresses a life spent continually drawing strength from Christ. It’s hard to build a boat in the middle of a storm.

How does Paul tell us to Stand? Put on the Armor “Put on God” - Each piece of armor reflects the character of God. Which is why Paul exhorts us in other places, to clothe ourselves with Christ, put on the new man, and here, put on His armor.

The armor is forged and furnished by God. (Isaiah 59:17 “He put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head; he put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak.”). The armor is still his but shares it with us.

In Heaven, no armor, robes of glory.

Here on earth, the armor is worn day and night, walking, working, sleeping in them as true soldiers of Christ. Never relax our vigilance

Thus to take up this armor is to take up God’s cause and do battle in God’s cosmic campaign to spread righteousness throughout the world. Doing so on God’s terms, wearing his own attributes. The battle is fought with peace as its goal and means… Christlike love.

Belt of Truth

Putting this on comprises of both us walking in sincerity as well as relying on the truth revealed in the Good News

The Christian must at all costs be honest and truthful. Why?

To be deceitful, to lapse into hypocrisy, to resort to scheming, this is to play the devil’s game

Remember: What he hates is truth and transparency. He loves darkness; light causes him to flee. For spiritual as for mental health honesty about oneself is indispensable.

Psalm 15:1–5 “Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain? The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart; whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbor, and casts no slur on others; who despises a vile person but honors those who fear the Lord; who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind; who lends money to the poor without interest; who does not accept a bribe against the innocent. Whoever does these things will never be shaken.”

And God’s truth revealed specifically in the Good News.

Ephesians 1:13 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,”

We do not need to choose between either of these but both go together, hand in hand.

God’s Word is Dependable

A true statement, the statement is dependable.

Psalm 119:160 “All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal.”

Psalm 19:9 “The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous.”

Isaiah 45:19 “I have not spoken in secret, from somewhere in a land of darkness; I have not said to Jacob’s descendants, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I, the Lord, speak the truth; I declare what is right.”

2 Thessalonians 2:13 “But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.”

The Concept of truth in the Old Testament that determines the New Testament usage: It denotes a reality that is firm, solid, binding, and hence true.

How do we see reality? Truth? (Left brain sucks at it)

Post enlightenment, we are much more left-brained.

Problem is that the left brain is notoriously bad at providing us with a true idea of reality and perspective.

The danger is not knowing what we don’t know.

The point of this: you can be persuaded to believe a reality that is not true at all.

We have collected data of our current reality and our fore-casted reality that isn’t even necessarily true! And this will lead to our daily decisions, attitudes, and responses.

How many of you have been wrong? How many of you have been loud and wrong?

God’s Word is the only accurate source of reality

His Word reveals reality, it pulls back the curtain and gives us an accurate state of affairs. It is truth that is utterly dependable and our perspectives/interpretations justly bow to it.

His Word provides the accurate data of who we are, and what our forecasted future looks like. NT authors always used the Hope of being with Jesus, the resurrection, seeing him face to face to influence our righteous holy living today.

And His reality reveals perspective of what we might be facing....

It reveals to us that the temptations we face are a bigger deal than just a simple weakness that is tolerable

We must understand the significance in the cosmic war, and the lusts of the flesh, that wants to dethrone God and obtain something only God can give through other means. We must fight temptation.

It is revealed that trials and sufferings are not to surprise us or seem strange but rather God uses these for a greater purpose

It is in the midst of difficulty that in our standing strong in faith (drawing strength from Christ) and perceiving reality with God’s perspective that we grow, where we wouldn’t grow without it.

James 1:2–4 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

2 Corinthians 1:8–11“We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.”

We can stare death in the face and sing anyway, because this difficulty, this trial will result in my growth in faith and love which is more precious than gold.

Having God’s Perspective

Putting on the belt of truth that holds all the other pieces together, involves having “God’s perspective of reality”. With His perspective we will stand strong.

Having God’s perspective makes all the difference between standing strong in the Lord and not standing.

Numbers 13-14 Spies in the land.

They all saw the same fruit of the land, the same walls, the same cities, the same giants.

Caleb said let’s go, we can take it.

The other 10 said we can’t they are more powerful.

Question: What data or information is giving you your perspective and interpretation of reality?

Question: What data or information is deciding how we respond to situations?

Bringing the truth of the Gospel into our everyday lives

Parenting

Marriage

Persecution

Rejection

Those who have wronged us.

2 Kings 6:17 “And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”

Numbers 13:26–33 (NIV) They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.” Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.” But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

Numbers 14:4–10 (NIV) And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.” Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there. Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes and said to the entire Israelite assembly, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will devour them. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.” But the whole assembly talked about stoning them. Then the glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting to all the Israelites.