Big Idea: Each piece of armour that we are asked to put on is directed to one of the ways in which Satan attacks Christians. Satan accuses, strikes like a snake, tempts and deceives. There are six pieces of armour and these five protect us. They stand for truth, righteousness, the peace that comes from the Good News, faith and salvation. If we are going to be battle ready, we better suit up!
Ephesians 6:13-17 13 Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armour so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle, you will still be standing firm. 14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armour of God’s righteousness. 15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.[a] 16 In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.[b] 17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
God’s Armour - victory in spiritual warfare is not automatic, which is why Paul tells us to put on the full Armour of God and stand our ground against Satan. It’s not that God gives us this Armour, Armour which he supplies. Rather it is God’s own Armour, the Armour that he himself wears.
Where did the apostle Paul get his ideas from regarding using Armour as a metaphor for spiritual warfare? It could be that he got it by looking at a Roman Guards Armour, given that he was in prison, but more likely he got the idea from Scripture. Isaiah 59:17 & 52:7
Isaiah 59:17 (NLT) 17 He put on righteousness as his body armour and placed the helmet of salvation on his head.
Isaiah 52:7 (NLT) 7 How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news, the good news of peace and salvation, the news that the God of Israel[a] reigns!
it is after all suggested to us that it’s not “our Armour” or “the Armour” but rather “God’s Armour”.
13 Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armour so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.
“Then after the battle you will still be standing firm”
- I can’t help but think about the prophet Elisha at Dothan. The northern kingdom of Israel was under attack from the Syrians. Israel was the weaker of the two nations. Whenever Benhadad would set a trap for Israel, God would reveal it to Elisha, Elisha would tell the king of Israel, the plans would be changed, and Israel would escape unhurt.
Benhadad thought there was a traitor among his officers. His officers tell him the truth: “It’s not us, my lord the king,” one of the officers replied. “Elisha, the prophet in Israel, tells the king of Israel even the words you speak in the privacy of your bedroom!” 2 Kings 6:12
The king issues in order to capture Elisha who was living in Dothan. Benhadad’s troops got together and marched to Dothan and surrounded the city by night. Imagine… Enough military men to surround the city to capture one man, Elisha.
2 Kings 6 (NLT)
15 When the servant of the man of God got up early the next morning and went outside, there were troops, horses, and chariots everywhere. “Oh, sir, what will we do now?” the young man cried to Elisha.
16 “Don’t be afraid!” Elisha told him. “For there are more on our side than on theirs!” 17 Then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes and let him see!” The Lord opened the young man’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire.
On the one hand, it says that the enemy we face is greater even than the enemy we see. When we only see things from a human perspective, we may feel overwhelmed. But when the spiritual forces are taken into account, God’s servants are stronger.
Stand firm - stand your ground, stand firm, stand.
This is a call to commitment. The first four pieces of Armour explain how we can stand. The last two (the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit) are the means by which we are equipped to stand.
When is a guard at their weakest? When they are distracted (by the enemy, laziness, boredom) and they are weakest because of a lack of training (be aware of the enemy and put on the Armour).
The five defensive pieces of Armour
1. The belt of truth - it can mean the truth of God or truthfulness, sincerity of heart.
I don’t think we need to choose between these alternatives.
The officers in the Roman army wore short skirts very much like Scottish kilts. Belting one's waist (or, as many older translations put it, "girding the loins") was always a symbol of readiness to fight. That is why Paul mentions this item of armour first. You cannot do battle until you have surrounded yourself with the belt of truth.
What does this mean in practical, everyday terms? Simply this: When you are threatened by discouragement, depression, spiritual apathy and coldness, and similar moods, you fight back by remembering that you first became a Christian by surrounding yourself with the truth. You remind yourself that in coming to Jesus Christ you found the truth behind all things, you found the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, the secret of the universe, the final reality!
You find the truth used in that sense earlier in this same letter:
Ephesians 4:20-21 (NLT)20 But that isn’t what you learned about Christ. 21 Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him,
Jesus is the truth, He is real, He is the key to life,
Colossians 2:3 (NLT) 3 In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
The distinctive thing about Christianity is that Jesus Christ has more clearly demonstrated the right to be accepted as that authority than anyone else or any other principle. The Christian, therefore, bets his life, in a sense, that Jesus Christ is the real authority, the true revelation of things as they really are. He has objectively demonstrated it and subjectively confirmed it to you as a Christian.
Paul puts truth first. It suggests that successful spiritual warfare begins with fixing Christianity’s great doctrines firmly in our minds. It’s dangerous to rush into battle without having the great doctrines of faith fixed firmly in our understanding.
First comes truth, then action follows.
Without the knowledge of who God is, who we are, what we have become in Christ, and what we have been called to do - without this we really don’t know what kind of activity to engage in it as a result will be vulnerable to the devil’s attacks.
Scottish preacher who tried to serve his congregation by teaching some of the illiterate members to read. He gave an older Scotsman a number of lessons, helping him through some easy portions of the Bible. The pastor was called away. A few months later he came back and visited the man. He was not there, but his wife was. The preacher asked how he was doing with his reading.
“Is he getting through the Bible?” He asked.
“Oh, no! He’s got out of the Bible and into the newspaper long ago,” she answered.
2. The body Armour of God's righteousness - this can refer to imputed righteousness (the righteousness of Jesus Christ credited to a Christian that allows him to stand before God). Or it can refer to personal holiness.
One naturally flows into the other. Because we are given so much (the righteousness of Christ), we live a life that is pleasing to God (a life of holiness).
The breastplate of righteousness is nothing more nor less than your righteous standing before God through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. If you have accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior, then you already have the breastplate of righteousness on. You can rest secure that your heart and your emotions are perfectly guarded and adequately protected against attack.
Jesus said: John 14:30 “for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me,"
Satan could find no sin in Christ on which to take hold.
Satan can latch onto plenty in us. We are sinful.
We should not give Satan handles to grasp easily.
Christians, through one circumstance or another, often lack assurance. They feel unworthy before God. They feel they are a failure in the Christian life and that God is certain to reject them, and He is no longer interested in them. As Christians, we are constantly aware of our failures and shortcomings. Growth seems to take place so slowly. The first joy of faith has faded, and people often come to doubt God's presence with them, love for them, or forgiveness of their sin. There is a nagging sense of guilt. Their conscience needles them, making them feel unhappy and miserable. They feel God blames them. This is simply a satanic attack, a crafty and devilish accusation, a lie designed to undermine what God is doing in your life.
3. The shoes of peace that come from the good news, so you will be prepared. -
Three words are used here. Peace, good news, prepared.
Paul links the gospel to a soldier’s boots or sandals. Shoes carry us from place to place, and it is as we go from place to place that we are to be ready to speak about Jesus (the good news)
We must put on our armour in the right order. We start with the belt of truth; then the breastplate of righteousness; then we shoe our feet with the readiness of the gospel of peace. It is a mistake to start with peace. Yet that is the error most of us instantly fall into. When troubled or upset, when attacks come, our tendency is to first try to put our hearts at peace. That is a big mistake! Don't try to conjure up some kind of feeling of peace within if you do, you will succeed only in upsetting yourself even more! So start with the truth. Work your way through truth, then righteousness--and as a result, you will achieve peace. That is the proper order of the armour of God.
4. The shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil - this is the Roman shield that covered the soldier’s body completely. It was usually a wooden shield wrapped in leather with steel tips. When the shields were placed side-by-side in Rose the Romans were able to build a solid wall of shields. These advancing columns were called “phalanxes”
Paul is describing how our faith should be like these shields.
It should do three things:
1. it should cover us so that we are not exposed,
2. it should link up with the faith of others to prevent a solid wall of defence,
3. it should then be able to strike down whatever fiery arrows the enemy hurls at us.
Paul describes it as the “shield of faith” not the “shield of the faith”.
This kind of faith is a general confidence in God’s ability to be trusted. When God says, He is able to keep us from falling and present us before his presence with exceeding joy, he means exactly that and will do it.
Quenching the fiery arrows
Now, what are we to do? How are we to combat these attacks successfully? Notice that he does not say "the shield of belief." We have already reminded ourselves of our belief when we have put on the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, and the shoe-leather readiness of the gospel of peace. That is our belief in what Christ is to us.
Faith is decision, action, and resolution based on the belief we have already accepted in those three realms. Let's examine each one:
1. Truth. Faith is saying, "Yes, I believe Christ is the truth. He is my righteousness, He is my peace and on that basis, I now act out my beliefs in the realm of my decisions and behaviour." Faith is working out the implications of belief. Believing is generalizing. Faith is particularizing. By faith, we take a general truth and apply it to a specific situation. We say, "Because I believe this is true, these actions must follow." That is the shield of faith.
Have you learned how to take the shield of faith when doubts come? Do you say, "Christ is the truth! He is the basic revelation of reality. He has demonstrated the truth. As a result of my belief in the truth, I cannot accept the thought that Christianity is a hoax. As a result of my belief in the truth, I must reject this insinuation from the devil"
Do you reason from the premise that Christ is the truth? Is this the way you think it through? Our problem is that we have become so accustomed to believing our feelings as though they were facts, we never examine and question those feelings. We never take them and look at them and ask, "Is this true?" We simply say, "I feel this way, so it must be true." This is why so many Christians are constantly defeated they accept their feelings as facts. Instead, we must accept God's truth as fact, and regard our feelings as unreliable, because feelings come and go.
2. Righteousness. Instead of operating on the basis of our feelings, we are to operate on the premise that says, "Christ is my righteousness. I am linked with Him. I am one with Him. His life is my life and my life is His life. Because He and I are linked together, these evil thoughts cannot possibly be my thoughts. They are not my thoughts at all. They are thoughts that come because of another outside force. It is the devil trying to undermine and defeat me. I do not want these thoughts, so I reject them. They are the spawn of the devil, and I order them back to where they came from and where they belong!"
Using the shield of faith means refusing to feel condemned, ashamed, or guilty. It means that instead of marinating in self-hate, we bask in God's love. We operate on the fact, as stated in God's Word, that nothing can ever separate us from the love of Christ. We say, "I believe in the fact of God's love, not in the lie of the devil" Doubts and satanic accusations cannot co-exist with the glowing reality of God's love in our lives. We cannot entertain both. thoughts at the same time. When we choose to focus and meditate on the love of God in our lives, the devil's lies and accusations have to flee from us.
3. Peace. We must operate on this premise: "Christ is the ground of my peace. Therefore, it is His responsibility to take me through every situation. So, I absolutely will not believe this fear, this sudden anxiety that grips my heart. I will not believe that it is from me. It is simply sent from the enemy to shake my confidence in Christ. It is an attempt to destroy my peace and undermines my effectiveness for God. Christ is my peace, and He is able to sustain me, even through bouts of unsettling emotions and thoughts that are sent to me as fiery arrows from the enemy."
We need not fear. God will go with us.
HISTORY REVERES THE GREAT FRENCH GENERAL and emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte, as one of the greatest conquerors of all time. He conquered nearly three-quarters of a million square miles of territory for France. Adolf Hitler a name that has become synonymous with bloodthirsty tyranny was also an infamous conqueror, taking over some 1.3 million square miles of territory from neighbouring countries before his defeat in 1945. The great conqueror Attila the Hun was a greater conqueror than Hitler, claiming 1.4 million square miles of land at the height of his reign of terror. Cyrus the Great, Tamerlane, and Alexander the Great each conquered over 2 million square miles of territory. But the greatest conqueror of all, claiming 4.86 million square miles of land, was the ruthless Chinese warlord, Genghis Khan.
Yet God tells us that he has equipped us to accomplish greater things than any of these great conquerors of history. "In all these things," Paul tells us in Romans 8:37, "we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." We have nothing to fear from even such a terrible enemy as Satan, because the shield of faith alone enables us to overcome anything our enemy might throw at us. The shield of faith will extinguish all of Satan's flaming missiles of doubt, confusion, disillusionment, and fear.
Earlier we saw that the breastplate was the protection of our emotional life, the heart. When you figuratively put on Christ as your breastplate of righteousness, you are assuming a position in Him that protects you from the sense of guilt and unforgiveness--the most common source of disturbance to the emotions. It is because we feel guilty that we get emotionally upset and depressed--and God has given us the breastplate of righteousness to protect us right at this point of attack. The shoes, as we have already seen, protect us in the area of our will. The shoes of the gospel of peace (Christ is our peace) create a readiness and willingness within us. It is our motivations which are dealt with here. Christ as our peace motivates us and makes us ready to face the struggles of life.
5. The helmet of salvation - it could mean simply that we are saved. More likely it is a reflection of one Thessalonians 5:8 “the hope of salvation is a helmet," and if this is what Paul is referring to then the helmet of salvation is about our destiny rather than our present state. We have salvation both present and future to rely on. To clarify when things get messy.
But the helmet is designed for the head, for the intelligence, the mind. If we follow through consistently in our application of these pieces of armour, we will discover that the helmet represents something Christ is doing in us and through us in the world. This helmet can keep our thinking straight and preserve us from mental confusion and darkness.
In the heat of battle, we need to look to our hope of salvation to remind us why we are here and what we are asked to do for God.
Isaiah 59:17 (NLT) 17 He put on righteousness as his body armour and placed the helmet of salvation on his head.
