Armor Of God
Eph 6:10-17
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
Christians need to understand that Christ has already won the war. The only power satin has over us is what we give him. We as Christians belong to Christ nothing can change that. Christ conquered the power of sin and death when he rose 3 days after being crucified. Satin does not own Christians it can only annoy us. He can throw up temptations but Christ has already shown us we don’t have to fall in to these traps. Christ is our example, if we keep our eyes on him the worldly trials are minor problems.
11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Paul tells us to “put on the whole armor of God” this phrase in the Greek conveys the idea of permanence, put on and never taken off. A lifelong attire not as many preach to be put on when we see the enemy, have any of you ever seen the devil? Has he ever sent any of you a formal declaration of war? We have seen his traps mostly in hind site where it’s to late to put armor on. Paul uses the common roman solders armor to describe the Christians defenses.
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.
First rule of battle if you expect to win you need to know who you are fighting and what his normal tactics are. The word wrestle implies hand to hand combat, not standing off watching, a battle face to face. Not against people, although people will often be the pawns. Against satin and all his henchman. Against whom we have no power except what Christ has given us. If we are Christians we have everything we need to win the battle and it is the name of Jesus Christ and his seal upon us.
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.
Paul again emphasizes using the whole armor God has given us. Completely wrapped in Gods armor leaving nothing of ourselves exposed to the enemy.
A Roman soldier only wore the first three pieces mentioned all the time, The Girdle , Breastplate And Shoes, the last three the shield, helmet and sword were kept close and only put on when the actual fighting began. By paul telling us to put them on he is telling us whether we see it or not we are always in the battle.
14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
"Stand" the most important word here. As we go through the armor notice the back side is not covered. If you turn you are exposing yourself not standing behind what God has provided to protect you. This is why it bothers me so many Christians turn and run at the first sign of trouble. If Christ had run at the first sign of trouble he would have never made it to the cross and we would not have any hope of salvation. And we repay him by running when our feelings may be hurt. I’m glad he is bigger than us. I guess that’s why I like this church problems came some ran, but some stayed to represent Christ, some stayed to fight. Now lets find out how to win.
“having your loins girt about with truth” first time I studied this, I wondered why this was first in the list. The Greek always put the most important things first. They didn’t worry about sentence structure the way we do they were more concerned with order of importance. So why the girdle first?
To the roman solder the girdle was a belt to keep his robe tied out of the way during battle, when he needed to run the bottom of hit robe was brought up and tucked in the girdle to keep from tripping him. But most important all his armor hooked to the girdle with out the girdle the rest of the armor would fall off.
In the spiritual sense the girdle is “truth”
John 14:6
6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
(KJV)
The truth is Christ with out him the rest of the armor is useless and fake it would be as a roman solder went in to battle with the armor we buy our children at the toy store. Lots of people want to pretend to be Christians and the only reason their armor is holding is satin is not worried about them, their not in the battle there just playing army, but when it comes time for inspection their armor will not pass. They will be rejected for the lords army.
Next the Roman solder would put on the breastplate this was a metal piece that covered the torso, it was shined to reflect the sun, when the roman army was approaching the sun reflecting off the breastplate it was imposable to tell how many were in the ranks enemies were often frightened by the sight of what appeared as one large reflection of light. The solders would strike the breastplate every step to make it sound as a much larger army was approaching than actually was. In battle this breastplate protected the heart and all the vital organs.
In the spiritual army the breastplate is righteousness.
Righteousness is the positive result of a sound relationship God and a person.
It is a gift from God that we did not deserve that allows us to have a relationship with him and through that relationship we study and learn more about God as we mature as Christians this is what protects our heart from being mislead. This is what allows us to recognize unsound doctrine and unsound teachers before they destroy our lives. This is where Church comes in not only teaching but when we stand together shining for Christ making joyful noises is where we are the strongest and satin has a hard time figuring out what to do, see satin is not very smart if he was he would still be in heaven, and yet so many people will give up because they can’t see how to fight and don’t understand the war is won.
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
A roman solder wore thick leather boots he would take and drive nails through the soles to act as spikes like on a cleat or on a Golfing shoe to give more traction, a good foothold and a good foundation to stand and fight the enemy. This way no mater how the enemy pushed the solder could not be pushed back, he could not be moved.
In the spiritual army the solder is “shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace” the gospel of Christ is his foundation; he has studied it and knows that his foundation is secure because he is at peace with God. He knows who God is and his promises. He knows he is not in the battle alone.
16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
To a roman solder the shield was the first line of defense it was about 4’ tall and 3’ wide he would use it to push forward and form a line against the enemy. When the enemy fired darts or arrows at them they would get behind the shield and the second line would put their shield over their heads. The shields were covered in oil treated leather that would smother out fiery arrows or darts before they done any damage.
In the spiritual army the shield the shield is faith. This faith in Christ and our unshakeable belief that he is our savior protects us from believing the lies of satin. It is knowing that what God offers is better than any pleasure satin has to offer. It is knowing that when satin tries to tell us that we are not good enough or don’t deserve grace that Christ has already paid the price it is bought and paid for. The lies of satin are extinguished before they can even damage us if we stay behind the shield.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
The helmet was a metal headgear that protected the head in hand-to-hand combat the head was always a target for the enemy in a sword fight. The helmet would protect the head. While the enemy might ring your bell the helmet would protect the head from any permanent damage.
In the spiritual army the helmet is salvation this protects the Christians from the lies satin tries to fill his mind with your salvation is more solid than the metal the solders helmet is made of. While satin may ring your bell with doubt or lies about Christ’s love for you he cant penetrate the salvation that is ours because of our acceptance of Christ.
The sword was the roman foot solders only weapon. It is the only offence he had, everything else was defense. The roman solder would spend countless hours learning his sword and how to use it. He had to be better with it than the enemy or he would be defeated taken as a slave or killed. He would keep his sword sharp and shined up and ready for battle. The roman solder knew it was far easier to keep a sword ready than to try to get a rusty sword ready for battle. The sword was never an after thought it was always ready.
To the Christian solder the sword is the word of God. It is the only offence we have. It is the truth that we measure everything else against. It is the truth that we preach and teach to pull people from satins grasp and show them the way to Christ. It is the weapon we use to behead the lies satin tells. It is the truth we study and hide in our hearts, never letting it get dull but always honing our understanding sharpening our knowledge and staying prepared for the battle.
