EPH. 6:10-18 ARMOR OF GOD 2-12-11
I think it’s obvious to any person that will be realistic, that Satan and his demons are very busy these days, we’ve all seen on the news programs the trouble that Egypt is experiencing, but to the natural man, the man that’s never been born again, he just thinks that their having political problems and that it’ll all pass as time goes by, and may I say, that there’s babe’s in Christ that think the same.
And look at all the other neighboring countries over in that part of the world, ”IRAN-LEBANON- SYRIA- IRAQ- AFGHANISTAN – PAKISTAN- and now Egypt, that whole part of the world is in chaos, if they can’t kill us or the Jews they’ll kill each other, and we’re certainly having problems here as well, commercial Babylon is getting ready to collapse, the entire world is having jobs and financial problems.
The devil is busy laying the groundwork for the battle of Gog and Magog in the not to distant future.
This battle takes place at the middle of the tribulation, Russia will head up this suicidal crowd, they think their coming to destroy Israel and take a spoil, but God is fed up with the enemies of Israel, He draws them to the mountains of Israel for their destruction, God kills 5/6th of that coalition on the hills of Israel, there’s not a shot fired by any opposing army of the world, God does all the killing, we that are saved will not be here, and its going to happen, nothing can prevent it, its all in Gods plan, read Ezk.38:-39:.
Satan hates Israel because they are Gods chosen people, they penned down the “ORACLES”, (the Word of God)
Romans 3:3--unto them were committed the oracles of God.
Romans 9:4-5 Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; 5 Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
Satan hates any thing that God loves, he hates all people saved and not saved and would destroy it all if he possible could, he knows that he is defeated and that he’s on his way to the lake of fire according to Rev. 20:10, he knows that he can’t touch Gods children unless God allows it such as brother Job, but he’s not going to give up trying to cause us to slip and perhaps go to an early grave, he sends temptations our way trying to cause us not to be effective witnesses for Jesus, he knows our weaknesses and we all have them, the devil has over 6000 years in dealing with mankind so he knows all the tricks, its called the “wiles of the devil”.
The devil is a fallen angel, he is not all knowing as God is, he can’t be at but one place at a time, so he has other fallen angels to help him, we think of them as demons, and their just as real as you and I.
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But we’re also in a war right now as your listening to the broadcast, this battle is being waged all around us in the spiritual realm, and spiritual battles require spiritual strength, we’re soldiers in Gods army, are we always PRESENT or at times A-O-W-L-absent-without –leave in His service?
2 Timothy 2:4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
The devil’s demonic army has a rank structure like all armies have; there are some high-ranking demons that are in charge of certain territories, certain countries.
This is revealed in -- DANIEL10:12-13
Daniel had been praying to God and not receiving an answer to his prayer as yet-- the angel Gabriel came to Daniel and explained the delay in terms of spiritual warfare:
12Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. 13But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.
So there was an opposing demonic force to fight against Gabriel, to try and keep him from coming to Daniel with Gods answer to his pray.
Nothing has changed today, I believe that all Nations have a demon or demons over the affairs of that nation, their here to disrupt, tear down and destroy if possible that nation, Satan is trying to turn all nations against Israel, but the True Church loves Israel, what we need here in our nation is godly leaders, leaders that are truly saved instead of a bunch of pretenders that will say and do just about any thing to please the crowd, it seems that we have some that are trying purposely to tear this country to pieces, may God help us.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: 4(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God,----
That is why putting on the whole armor of God is most important. It is not Satan who is picking people off in the battle as he is one individual, but his low level demonic soldiers who press the battle against us, taking unprepared, and unarmed Christians captive along with those without the knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Let me remind us that the devil is not in hell, he’s never been in hell, he is as Peter tells us in
1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:--
He is the reason there are so many perversions of the Bible.
He is behind all this liberalism, ritualism, rationalism, and every other “ism schism and spasm” that’s out to tear down Christ. His aim is to substitute something else and something different for the grace and truth of Christ.
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God has equipped His Army with an armor to put on in order to fight this warfare, God has provided this armor but we must put it on.====
Ø Listen as I read today’s text found in EPH. 6:10-18
10Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
11Put on the whole armour of God, (notice, not just part of the armor, but the WHOLE armor, all of it, and then He tells us why.) that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. (the tricks ,lies and schemes of the devil)
Without God’s WHOLE armor we’ll not be able to stand.
12For 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.
(Principalities- powers) means any types of rule other than God Himself, demons in general, but we are victorious over them through Jesus Christ.
Colossians 2:15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, HE made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
When Jesus said on the cross, John 19:30 IT IS FINISHED, they were finished as far as damning Gods children. He is now seated at the right Hand of God, He’s seated because all His work is over, but you and I are still here so He gave us this armor to put on and prepare for the battles ahead, the war has been won but we still have battles.
13Wherefore 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.
As we’re reading what the armor is, I want us to be sure and notice that all of the armor is for the front of the soldier, there’s nothing said about protecting the back side, and the reason is, the army of God is going forward, we’re not going backward, we’re not in retreat, the CHURCH is not going down but going up.
Jesus said in Matthew 16:18--- I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. All of hells forces will never prevail over the Lords Church, I’m glad I’m on the winning side, ain,t you dear heart?
14Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
15And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: 18Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; ---
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The only way that we’ll be strong in the Lord is to put on all of God’s armor, and then we’ll be able to stand firm against all strategies and tricks of the Devil. For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against the powers of darkness who rule this world, and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms.
Ø LISTEN--There Is An Invisible World That Is Just As Real As The Visible World, beyond this world of our senses is the unseen world where all that is of a spiritual nature dwells -- both good and evil -- and it is in this invisible world that spiritual warfare takes place -- it is in this unseen world that we fight against the principalities and powers that are out to do us harm.
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Ø 14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth--
The first piece is the belt of truth. Back in the Roman soldiers days the soldiers wore a belt, which would hold his garments tight so he could maneuver freely, it also provided a means for the soldier to get to his sword with out his sword moving freely about.
So what all this pictures is that the girdle of truth holds together all other virtues, making them effective. Putting on God’s truth means living out his word, being honest and sincere in our faith. It refers to Christian character and integrity, a lifestyle that conforms to the Scripture.
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Ø Next we’re told in verse 14 to put on the breastplate of righteousness.
Without it we would be vulnerable, disgraced, and defeated.
The purpose of the breastplate is to guard the most vital organs of our body; it is the bulletproof vest we might say that protects the heart. Righteousness is the first gift of God that was given us through the Cross,- where the Blood of Jesus washed our sins away, His BLOOD don’t cover our sins but washes them away, and God sees us as righteous as His righteousness has been imputed to us.
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Ø 15And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace
The gospel gives us the stability for sure footing, allowing us the ability to march over the rough terrain of life and step over the stumbling blocks of the enemy. For firm footing, for sure steps, and for protection. Preparation indicates readiness; prepared to see duty, prepared to do God’s will, and prepared to proclaim the gospel of peace.
Isa. 52:7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!
We are to be prepared to tell the gospel of peace at any time, as we’re His ambassadors.
Zech 4:6 Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts-
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Ø 16-a Above all, taking the shield of faith, ---
Notice--- it is to be taken, we can’t lay aside our shied in slackness and carelessness, we must TAKE IT. Faith is utter dependence on God, upon His presence and His power. Faith puts God between the enemy and us. The shield of faith is the large oblong shield for full frontal protection, remember all of the armor is for the front of the soldier, nothing is mentioned for the back side because we’re going forward, we’re not in retreat.
---16-b wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
Not have a good possibility of quenching all the fiery darts of the wicked, but SHALL be able to.
When we stand firm for the truths of God Satan is going to attack us from any angle he can, perhaps by other church members, family members, business associates, health, and any other number of ways.
And our shield against these attacks is faith in the truths of God, the belief in God and in his ability to protect us, having confidence in His word. The shield will quench every one of these attacks; it will stop the missiles and put out the fire.
We find wounded Christians all along this pilgrimage of life that allowed their shield of Faith to drop down; their faith has become weak because of participating in ungodly worldly attractions, now their faith is not as strong as it should be, many seem to depended on their own moral strength and so called worldly wisdom.
Many have stumbled into these demonic forces without being suited up in the armor of God.
It gives them a false sense of security because they had won some battles along the way, they have even escaped some temptations, and they have overcome some sins, but then one day as their weak and vulnerable they are attacked by strong demonic forces that have been waiting for such a time as this.
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17-a And take the helmet of salvation,
The helmet protects the head, the seed of our thought life. Satan bombards us with fear, hatred, suspicion, depression, mistrust, false doctrines, and a host of other mental distractions, but no matter what may come our way, SALVATION in our Lord Jesus Christ is a solid foundation, for a person to truly understand just exactly the meaning of SALVATION will settled all fear of ever going to hell, we can certainly lose rewards by our conduct but we’ll never lose our salvation, salvation is of the Lord not of man.
NOTICE: we’re to TAKE THE HELMET of Salvation, take it and put it on and in your head and heart, never doubting that SALVATION is being saved for time and eternity, (take it and put it on)
17-b and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
This sword is used in close hand-to-hand conflict. It is the only offensive weapon. The Spirit provides it. When the church, or the Christian, uses the rotten sticks of culture, science, theories, traditions, or commands of men, defeat is inevitable. The sword must be unsheathed; the Bible must not lie idle. The OKJ is the Bible that will get the job done.
a soldier who had lost his helmet was in danger of receiving severe head wounds which would (at the least) disorient him and render him ineffective. Similarly, a Christian who has no assurance of salvation cannot be bold in resisting Satan,
The three witnesses to the believer concerning assurance are:
(1) 1 John 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
(2) The witness of the Holy Spirit
Romans 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
(3) The witness of good works as a result, not a cause, of salvation.
1 John 2:3-5 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. 4He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him
The word of God is said to be “sharper than any two-edged sword –
HEB.4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
The fact that the Roman soldiers sword was two-edged made it possible to strike on either side without changing its position in the hand, and its razor-sharp point could pierce armor.
Proper use of Scripture in spiritual warfare enables the Christian to stand fast “against the wiles of the devil”
