The Armour of God: Prepare for Battle!

Ephesians 6:11-18 - “ Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. ¹² 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. ¹³ 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. ¹⁴ Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; ¹⁵ And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; ¹⁶ Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 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, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;”

Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening. I must admit that I am pretty excited about this topic! There is so much scripture that talks about spiritual warfare, and this is a very important topic for Christians to be aware of. Every breath that you take is an offense to Satan, and he will stop at nothing until you are defeated. But do not despair, do not lose hope, for God is a powerful God and he has given us everything we need to defeat Satan and his demons!

Everyday we face struggles, temptations, spiritual and emotional battles. God, through the apostle Paul, shows us how we can combat these issues and gives us all of the tools that are required to do so. The Bible tells us that we are to put on the whole armour of God. Picture this, if you will: You are sitting in your encampment, preparing for the enemy to attack. The sun is stifling, and the sweat is pouring from your brow. You take off your helmet and set it to the side and enjoy the cool breeze as it gently blows against your face. There is still no sign of the enemy, so lay your sword and shield down because they are becoming heavy and cumbersome. You spy a small stream just outside the encampment and you make your way to it for a drink. As you are enjoying the refreshing taste of the cool water, the ground around you and your comrades explodes, and hordes of demons pour out. You instantly find yourself cut off from your men and are left to fight the demons alone. You reach for your sword, only to remember that you left it back in the encampment along with your helmet and shield. Desperately you grab for something to use as a weapon, and you feel you fingers close around a large stone. Wildly, you swing at the demons, but the stone has little to no effect against them. You dodge and weave around their attacks, but take a glancing blow to the head. You fall to the ground, certain that the end has come, when through the midst of battle you see someone fighting their way towards you. Through the wall of demons in front of you, a two men burst through. You spy a parcel on their side, which they throw to you. You open it, and inside you find your helmet, sword and shield. Now, fully equipped, you begin to slaughter the demons, side by side with your two companions; and not long after, they have been defeated!

This illustration shows the importance of always being equipped with the whole armour of God. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 also demonstrates how important it is to have the help of other believers. The two men in this story that fought their way to you knew that if they went alone, they would stand little chance of saving you, much less even reaching you. They knew that they had to work together. When you train with someone for any length of time, you begin to understand how they think. You know how they will react in certain situations. You know their weaknesses, their strengths. You know how to compensate where they lack with where you are strong. The longer you train with this person, the deeper the connection becomes, and you even get to the point where simply a look, an exp

Without the full armour, you leave yourself vulnerable to the devastating assaults of the devil. For if we are wearing the full armour of God, we will be able to withstand the wiles (schemes) of the devil. The devil is a very crafty individual, who is not to be underestimated. Satan knows all of your weaknesses and is constantly looking for ways to exploit them. Perhaps you struggle with pride. The devil will undoubtedly put people around you who tell you things that you want to hear, thus puffing up your ego. In addition to knowing your weaknesses, Satan also knows when you are most vulnerable. Whenever, whatever, wherever, you must always be prepared to resist temptations and wear the whole armour of God.

Take a look, if you will, at verse number 12. The first three words point out a very important piece of information regarding our spiritual battle: “For we wrestle...” Wrestling is a one on one match. Mano y Mano. Hand to hand combat. “For we wrestle” is used to illustrate and to emphasize the personal nature of our battle against the forces of darkness and evil. Satan is not concerned about attacking the church as a whole, because he knows that if he can defeat the individual, the church will be soon to follow. This is evident in the majority (if not all) of church splits. Satan defeated an individual, perhaps even the preacher, and as a result a church was destroyed. That church is no longer producing fruit, and the people in the area are no longer reached with the Gospel. Chalk a victory up to Satan. Satan's goal is to defeat (hinder) the effectiveness of the local church and will attempt to accomplish his task one member at a time.

“Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God,” Not a piece here, not a piece there, not this piece and that piece, but the whole armour of God. Equip yourself in the full regalia of God's armour. A soldier who is fully prepared for battle is a soldier who is more likely to return victorious. Not only should you take unto you the whole armour of God, but you should also take care to maintain it. What good is an iron sword that is left out in the rain for days at a time, exposed to the elements. Rust will form on the blade, causing it to become brittle and ineffective, likely to shatter into little pieces at the first strike of the blade.

You are placing the armour of God on yourself to protect you from Satan and his demons, but you are also wearing it so that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day. God gave us his armour, his protection, so that we may be able to withstand the onslaught in the evil day. The Bible is not speaking about a day in the singular sense of the word. Every day is to be considered the 'evil day' because it is every day that we face temptations. There will not be a single day of your life where you do not face temptations, and if you think you are having a temptation-free day, I strongly encourage you to evaluate your stance with God and get right with Him. Satan is a tireless, cunning, wily individual who daily stands before God and accuses the brethren. He is the Great Accuser of the brethren and will do everything in his power to trip us up.

“that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” And having done all. And having resisted Satan. And having resisted temptation. And having resisted demons. And having daily put on the whole armour of God. And having maintained the armour of God. And having done all, so that you may stand, flying in the face of the devil as a symbol of out-right defiance. Defiant of falling into temptation, defiant of succumbing to the lusts of the flesh, and defiant of conforming to the sinful ways of this world.

Okay, Preacher. I get it. I need to wear the whole armour of God, but where do I get it? Do I go down to the local Christian retailer and pick up a set there? The answer is much simpler than that. The Bible tells us in verse number 14 to Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth. To girt something about your loins is just an old-fashioned way of saying to put on a belt. In ancient times, soldiers would girt their waists with a belt because it was critical in keeping most of the other parts of his armour in place. In modern times, we wear a belt to keep our pants from falling down. How embarrassing would it be if we did not wear our belt and as we are walking our pants fall down? How frightening would it be for us to be in the middle of battle and our armour fell to the ground because our belt failed? The belt of truth is crucial for combating temptation and sin. It holds the rest of our armour together and keeps it from failing. The truth has been timelessly tested and has never, and will never, fail. Without having the truth, what good is your testimony? Would it even be valid? Paul put the belt, the truth, first because the rest of the armour would be pointless without it.

“and having on the breastplate of righteousness.” It is called the armour of God for a reason. It is called the armour of God because it was God himself that first wore it. The Bible tells us in the book of Isaiah that the Lord clad himself in the armour after having OBserved the lack of judgment happening in Israel. Isaiah 59:17 tells us “For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak.” How about that! God cares about our welfare in our spiritual battle so much, that he gives us the very armour that He wore! And having on the breastplate of righteousness. To 'put on' righteousness. To present a holy character and moral conduct. When we OBey the teachings of the Bible, the word of God, the TRUTH, we can produce a godly lifestyle. Righteousness. The breastplate in those days protected the wearer from slashing attacks. We could equate these attacks with those that others try to use and defame Christianity in just a general sense. For example: Saying that all Christians are hypocrites because they say one thing and live another. By living a life that is full of righteousness, you are negating that attack with your armour. The slash is simply sliding off.

“And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;” Every saved person should be able to share the Gospel at any moment. They should not only be able to share it, but prepared to share it under any circumstance. Preparation means that effort was put into it. In order to prepare the gospel of peace, one must first study it and understand it. Some one once told me that unless you are able to teach what you are learning to others, you've haven't truly learned. In the battlefields of life, you will be stepping through much debris. Debris that can hurt your testimony if you haven't shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. How many times have you had the opportunity to share the Gospel with some one, only to either miss that chance or to botch it? The Boy Scout motto can be applied here: “Be prepared.” But God had it down way before the Boy Scouts ever came about. Don't get caught with your pants down. Be prepared to share the Gospel at any moment. That is part of what being a Christian is all about.

“Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.” Faith. The foundation of what we believe in. It is our faith in Christ Jesus that saves us. Paul recognizes that faith is a key piece of armour. It is a great defensive and offensive weapon. Wait, did I just weapon and offensive while talking about a shield? That's right! Ancient fighters would use their shields as an offensive weapon to supplement their sword. The Roman's designed their shields in such a manner as to make them the ultimate defensive and offensive weapon. It was a curved, rectangular shape that was approximately 4 feet tall. They could overlap their shields in the phalanx to provide 360 degree protection against arrow volleys. Also, the edges of their shields were sharpened so that they could finish off enemies that they had beaten down. The ancient Greeks had a similar idea. Instead of rectangular, their shields were circular. They would reach out with their shields in a slashing motion and cut their enemies. In this war with the Devil, don't get caught limiting your options due to lack of knowledge. Study out each piece of your armour, and figure out ways to improve each piece.

“And take the helmet of salvation,” It would be foolish indeed to step out into battle without a helmet. Sadly, there have been far too many that have tried. They spent their entire lives being religious, but not living by faith. They went out and spread the Gospel. They lived as righteously as they could. But it was all in vain because they never picked up their shield of faith and their helmet of salvation. Is that even possible? Could someone know about Jesus and not be saved? Plenty of people “know” about Jesus, yet they never invited Him into their hearts. Is it possible for someone to believe in Jesus and not be saved? Yes. Judas Iscariot believed in Jesus, but he never surrendered his life to Him. In fact, he betrayed Jesus. Knowing everything he did about Jesus. Knowing that He was the Son of God. That wasn't enough to save him. He had to put his faith in Christ in order to be saved. Without your shield you will never get your helmet, and you will be out their fighting without either. That's down right scary in my book. I would NOT want to be out there on the battlefield without a shield and helmet. That would be like putting a big bulls-eye on your chest saying, “Here I am!”

“and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:” The sword of the Spirit. The Bible. Did you know that God esteems His Word above even His name? Ps 138:2 I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. Your sword needs to be sharp. You do not want to be caught in the midst of battle with a sword that is not sharp and made of poor material. You are going to want to have the right kind of sword, too. There are hundreds, maybe even thousands, of different Bible versions floating around. There's just one prOBlem. They may say Bible on the cover, but if it's not a King James Bible, it is not the Word of God. God is not the author of confusion, yet every single modern version contains contradictions in it. Blatant falsehoods. How can it be the Word of God if it contains even one mistake? You would be choosing to take a brass sword into war in the middle of the iron age. A steel sword will absolutely destroy a brass sword any day of the week, hands down! The King James Bible can be likened to a sword made out of the purest steel, so sharp that it can cut through anything. The other different versions are like a sword made from brass, and full of impurities. With pressure applied, it bends and molds to the shape of whatever is pressing against it. Make sure your sword is the right one. Sharpen it daily through reading and study of the Bible. That is the only way to ensure that you have an offensive weapon that can block an attack, and then counter with the Truth for the kill.

“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;” Once clothed in the full armour of God, you must then be ready to pray. Pray with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit. We already defined that as the Word of God. Use memory verses to give honor and glory to God. To praise Him for His wonderful bountifulness. Once you've prayed, then watch for results. Don't give up after you pray and think that was all you had to do. Look for God to answer your prayers, and then repeat the process by giving thanks for answered prayers. Look at 1 Peter 5:8. There is a lion about us, looking for any opportunity to strike. If you keep your armour on, you will always be ready. But beware, if you take any of it off, you leave yourself vulnerable.