THE UNIFORM OF GOD'S SOLDIER

Biblical Text: Ephesians 6: 13-18

Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

By it’s simplest definition, Christianity is a battle against Sin and Satan. God has made certain preparations for His army, and so has Satan. Each has hand-picked their soldiers carefully, and outfitted them for war.

When God prepares a leader for His army, He declares, “I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.” The Christian church has established its own criteria for God’s Chosen Man. We search for a pastor with the meekness of a lamb, the strength of an Ox, the vision of an eagle, the daring of a lion, the patience of a donkey, and the tenacity of a bull dog, though we draw no conscious parallel between our congregation and the N.C. zoo. What we fail to realize is that the preacher is only flesh and blood. He is just a human, like all other men. He is subject to the same hopes, ambitions, aspirations, temptations, and disappointments.

Almighty God is most concerned with His chosen soldier’s preparation before He thrust him into battle. The Apostle Paul says, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” The man of God must be well prepared to face the wiles of the devil in all his cunning disguises.

Today and everyday day we are thankful for the people God has chosen to lead us into war. God has prepared us for the battle. Let’s take a look at the uniform God has issued us for this lifelong battle against Satan.

THE UNIFORM OF GOD'S SOLDIER

The Believers Armour is the defensive and offensive uniform worn by soldiers in spiritual warfare. The Commander in Chief issued these garments to us at the time of our conversion, knowing that we would soon rely on their effectiveness against Satan and his imps. God issued us a helmet, a shield, a breastplate, a girdle, a pair of boots, and a sword. The effectiveness of a our ministry is largely determined by the condition of this equipment. If we keep this uniform in good order, and take the necessary care to see that it does not become tattered or worn out, we can be assured that no fiery darts will make contact with our physical, emotional or spiritual being.

Each of these heavenly-issued garments and equipment has special properties that can only be manufactured by God Himself, and each has a specific purpose.

Let’s take first, the helmet of salvation.

The helmet goes on the head. Now that may seem a bit oversimplified to sophisticated Believers, but you’d be surprised at how many of us are running around with our helmets across our chest, making great boast of our salvation, poking out our chests so others can get a clear view.

Your head is your operations-unit for this spiritual battle. The head controls all the functions of your spiritual body. Your salvation helmet is intended to protect the most vital part of the entire spiritual kingdom building operation. The helmet of salvation is intended to prevent Satan from getting into your thoughts to impact your deeds. If you wonder why your brain won’t let you rest at night, take your helmet off your chest and put it ON YOUR HEAD. That’s where strong Believers wear theirs! The helmet of salvation.

The second part of this uniform is the breastplate of righteousness.

Now, that’s what goes on your chest! We should know that we must BE RIGHT before we can DO RIGHT. The heart must be protected from corruption. Jesus taught that, “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit; neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.” You can’t help others to GET RIGHT until you are right yourself. Those in the congregation who have skeletons in their closet would do well to let them out now. No sense harboring something that is contrary to the will of God. Clean out your closet and put on a robe of righteousness for this spiritual journey.

The breastplate of righteousness.

Next, we cover our feet with special boots that protect against the serpent’s teeth.

With these boots we can tread on scorpions unscathed. In the gospel ministry, we do a lot of walking. To have an effective ministry you can’t always wait for others to come to you; you must walk….walk to the homeless….walk to the sick….walk to the sinner….walk to the distressed….walk to the disappointed….walk to the discouraged. These boots are made for walking. They’re made with a special gospel preparation known as peace. They will open doors that will conquer your enemies; they will provide sustenance for your journey and make peace out of confusion. And everywhere a soldier of God walks, he seeks after peace. Most important, these “preparation of the gospel” boots will not follow Satan. They guide your feet only in the path of righteousness. We cover our feet with special boots that protect against the serpent’s teeth.

Then we have put on the girdle of truth.

A girdle is worn across the loin. At first I thought that was a strange place to put truth, until I realized that there is alarming rate of divorce and infidelity in our nation. If men and women would have “their loins girt about with truth”, they might not have to come home and lie about where they’ve been all night. You and I know the value of a good reputation and a good marriage. We wear the girdle of truth proudly. We have put on the girdle of truth.

Now that the vital parts of your spiritual body are protected, there are some additional heavenly issued pieces of equipment that are essential for survival in battle.

Now we will look at the shield of faith.

Now the shield has the unique feature of being interchangeable. By that I mean, the shield can be used to cover whatever part of your spiritual being is most at risk. It’s considered EXTRA protection, for the head, the heart or the loins. This shield is constructed purely from FAITH, a desired substance whose evidence is never visual, but is stronger than any metal known to man. If your head has taken a battering and feels weak, lift your shield to provide COVER until you RECOVER. Likewise, if your chest or loins are weakened by Satan’s attacks, drop your shield to cover the affected area until recovery is evident. Believers use the shield of FAITH for a variety of ailments….from loin attacks to heart attacks to brain attacks. You may never see the evidence of this Faith Shield’s effectiveness because Faith is the “evidence of things not seen”. But, you will certainly feel it’s presence.

The shield of faith is interchangeable.

The second external piece of equipment is the sword.

Now, it’s a spiritual sword, but don’t let that fool you. It’s sharpened on two sides, and it cuts coming and going! This sword is the Word of God; the same Word that gave His own life on Calvary to redeem mankind from sin. It’s the same Word that was with God from the beginning. All things were made by this Word sword; in fact, without this Word Sword, nothing could be made. The life that’s in this sword is the light of all men. That ought to give you some idea just how powerful this sword is! And to coin a popular marketing phrase, I would suggest that you “don’t leave home without it!” Let’s just check to see how many can draw their swords this morning. Hold up your bibles! The sword.

With all this equipment, and such a well-designed uniform, even the average Believer should be victorious in battle. So why is there so much defeat at the hand of Satan? I’ll tell you why!

A soldier is only as strong as his prayer life!

Ephesians 6: 18(NKJV) says that we should be praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints. Some of you may say “I already do that!”, you’d better look up the word supplication. To make sure that you know how to supplicate.

Supplication is the act of begging humbly and earnestly. That’s right….BEGGING. But not just begging. Children beg for what they want. Some adults beg for what they want. But supplication means begging, knowing that you don’t deserve it, and haven’t earned it. Sometimes our prayers don’t get through to God because we are just too cocky in our attitude. Humility is what makes begging supplication. You should know how to supplicate! The next time someone gets puffed up in your face, tell them to go supplicate!

Beleivers, wear your armour well! Stand fast, therefore…..do not be tossed about by every wind of doctrine…., even if you go into the valley of the shadow of death, knowing that the Lord is with you. The battlefield is ablaze with sin. Go ye, therefore, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Keeping the commandments of God. And remember, the Father is with you always…even unto the end!

Just keep on standing…Cause when you’re

……hungry, He is your Bread

……lonely, He is your Comfort

……stressed, He is your Peace

……weary, He is your Rest

……sad, He is your Joy

……weak, He is your Strength

……afraid, He is your Courage

……thirsty, He is your Living Waters

……poor, He is your Wealth

……empty, He is your Supply

……storm-tossed, He is your Anchor

……staggering, He is your Rock

……lost, He is your Guide

……restless, He is your Trust

……in need, He is your Help THE UNIFORM OF GOD'S SOLDIER