The Armor Of God - Transformed By Ephesians

The Armor Of God - Part 2 Transformed By Ephesians

Ephesians 6:13–20 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; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— 19 and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

Pray

Confession of Faith

I am not moved by what I see or by what I feel. I am moved by what I believe. I believe the WORD of God! The victory is mine! I have it now! I can see it through the eyes of my faith! In Jesus Name

Intro:

There was a time when someone suffering from a heart attack did not have a great chance to survive! Why? Because back then we didn’t know the symptons of a heart attack or when it was happening until it was too late

now, because of the advancements in medicine we can now identify common signs like discomfort and pressure in the middle or center of your chest, another one is feeling pain on one or both of your arms

another symptom could be shortness of breath. So we here medical professionals, doctors and health advocates sharing and spreading awareness of the warning signs and that has increased the survival rate greatly for heart attack victims.

Ok so hear me now, In a similar way, many Christ followers get blindsided by spiritual attacks.

So when the attack comes you can recognize!

Make it plain Pastor

How many of you realize the goal of the enemy is to turn you away from God

The goal to turn you away from what God wants to do in your life.

The first sign of a spiritual attack is your loss of desire to be around God, to go to church, to worship, to pray, to please God! When you no longer have a passion for serving God, not out of obligation , but because you desire too - you're under spiritual attack!

Put the Full Armor On

Another indication that you are under spiritual attack is physical fatigue

We are created being spirit, soul, and body. If my body is weak or tired , it allows things to get into my mind (soul), and that to negatively affects my spirit.

Some of us are going through spiritual attacks right now, this could be because God is about to bless you, or promote you and the enemy wants you to give up

Put on The Full Armor

I received a call the other day and the brother said I feel empty, all my resources are gone

That is what I call a “lack attack.” when it seems that all of your resources dry up at the same time. The enemy attacks in this area to get you to take your eyes off of God and put your eyes on money. If he can get you worrying rather than worshipping, you will start making decisions based on opportunity rather than anointing. Always remember there are two times in your life when you are especially vulnerable to temptation: when you have nothing and when you have everything. Stay close to God in both the good times and the bad times.

Put on the Full Armor

Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by circumstances?

That could be a sign that you are under attack.

The word circumstance comes from two words: circum (encircle) and stance (stand).

In other words, you are standing encircled by what’s going on in your life and your world.

Let me tell you - it won’t take long to feel overwhelmed and to start down the rabbit trail of hopelessness.

If the enemy can get you to lose hope, he can get you to stop living by faith.

Put On The Full Armor

Some folks don’t realize they are under spiritual attack and want to go back to doing old things and being around people that God has moved you away from

Old sins resurface in your life. Old habits that your soul wants to fall back on when things aren’t going your way Old sins that focus on your fleshly wants! If these begin to resurface it;s time to put on the

Put On The Full Armor

Ephesians 6:13 NLT

13 Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.

How did we get to this image of Armor that Paul is talking about that is so applicable to us today

Remember that Paul was in prison and under constant guard when he wrote the letter to the Ephesian church. So he was forced to stare at the soldier's armor all day long - day in and day out! So God blessed him with the ideal picture of the armor needed by the Christ follower - the Christian believer to fight the spiritual attacks and to stand against the forces of evil!

Ephesians 6:14 (NKJV)

14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth,

Ephesians 6:14 (NCV)

14 So stand strong, with the belt of truth tied around your waist

The belt of truth. The belt was used to hold the soldier's clothing next to his body. This kept his clothing from flapping about and allowed him freedom of movement. The belt was also used to strengthen and support the body.

Now for the Christ Follower the belt of truth...

• not truth individually or subjectively thought out.

• not truth as a man or a group of men see it.

• not truth that is found in a man's novel idea.

• not truth that is taught by religion.

So Pastor What specifically is the belt of truth? What is God's truth that the believer is to put on?

First Thing - Jesus Christ is the truth.

John 14:6 NKJV

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

John 1:14 NKJV

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Second Thing is -the Word of God is truth.

John 17:17 NLT

17 Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth.

Ephesians 5:26 NCV

26 to make it belong to God. Christ used the word to make the church clean by washing it with water.

Third Thing is speaking and living a life of truthfulness is the truth.

Ephesians 4:25 NCV

25 So you must stop telling lies. Tell each other the truth, because we all belong to each other in the same body.

1 Peter 1:22 NLT

22 You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart.

This is the belt of truth that We are reminded to put on before and to pull tightly during spiritual attacks to stand

When we put this truth on and It keeps us from flapping about from one thing to another, from being tossed to and fro by every attack of the enemy.

Ephesians 4:14 NKJV

14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,

When we put this truth on - It also keeps us from becoming entangled with the affairs of this life.

2 Timothy 2:3–4 NKJV

3 You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 4 No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.

When we put this truth on -It supports us in the battles and trials of life.

Heb 2:17-18

Hebrews 2:17–18 NLT

17 Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people. 18 Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested.

There is 6 pieces to this armor

The first thing Paul tells us is to put on the Belt Of Truth which is Jesus Christ

Jesus is the Way

Jesus Is The Life

Jesus Is The Truth

We have to have Jesus if we are to have victory of spiritual attacks in our life!

Paul in prison - surround by Roman Guards - looking at the things that they wore physically to protect themselves during times of war or unexpected attack! First saw the belt and the Holy Spirit says that’s the belt of truth which is Jesu Christ that we need to wear for protection and strength

make sure you wear your belt!

God Bless You and God keep you