ARMOR OF GOD
I know we have all seen pictures of the Roman Soldiers in their Armor and as they must have appeared to Paul, for as Paul wrote this letter he was in prison or under guard at all times. Indications are that he may have been under house arrest so he may have been chained to a soldier even as he wrote and preached.
So as he described the different pieces of the Armor, it would not have been difficult for him to do.
One thing that he does not mention is that there is no Armor, no protection of any kind for the back of a soldier.
There was a reason for that, no retreat, if you turned to run you were exposed. That was supposed to keep the soldiers facing the enemy.
I preached a Sermon on this same scripture some time ago, and it included a Children’s Sermon. I took a picture of a Knight in full Armor and showed it to the kids and of course they recognized it as a Knight. Then I showed them a Bible and tried to explain to them that the word of god is the Christian’s Armor. It was rather simplistic and I am not sure that they understood just how the words from the Bible could protect people from an attack.
But that is just what Paul is telling us as he says to put on the Whole Armor of God. In order to put on the Whole Armor we need to fully understand just what that armor is, not just a simplistic understanding, but a complete knowledge of Gods word.
Preachers often speak about the spiritual things of the Bible and fail to mention that God is not a Magician, he doesn’t do magic tricks or pull rabbits out of a hat.
Our Battle that Paul speaks of is a spiritual Battle against the prince of darkness. That is real. It is not an illusion.
If you read the paper this morning you know what I am talking about, people are doing bad stuff and there are consequences.
Drugs, alcohol, robbery, burglary, shootings, people being stupid.
I would bet that if you asked, these same people would say they believe in Jesus Christ, and many would say they are Christian.
They were obviously not wearing the Armor; they were felled by the prince of darkness.
We like to think that we are prepared, but we are not. Most of the time our guard is down. At any given time we are vulnerable. Many times we would rather sit at home and watch a ball game instead of going to Church. Every way we turn there are things that get our attention, things that may take us in the wrong direction, and of course it is easy to rationalize and think we are not doing any thing wrong, besides every body else is doing it.
We don’t sit around and think about Jesus like Paul did, we live in a world where we have to work, go to school, worry about bills,
Pay taxes.
Paul wrote to people just like us, and his reason for writing then is the same as if he were writing today. Be prepared, stay ready and pray. If we are in prayer mode it is awful hard to do anything else.
It’s like driving and talking on the cell phone, one or the other has most of our attention.
Paul said study to show yourself approved, the more we understand the word of God, the better we are prepared to withstand an assault against our faith.
Each piece of Armor that Paul describes is a key ingredient of Christian character development. With the exception of the “sword” which is the word of God, they are all part of our being, a part of what makes us what we are. Paul uses this imagery to demonstrate to us the elements of Christian character building that are necessary to stay faithful and to stay alive in Jesus Christ.
All of the pieces of armor mentioned served a particular purpose, the breastplate to protect the heart, the belt to protect the stomach and to help keep the other pieces in place and to carry the scabbard with the sword. The helmet to protect the head from blows, and heavy leather leg coverings, and shoes that had pieces of copper or brass to protect the feet from spikes and traps. And of course the shield to protect from arrows and thrust from spear and sword. All of this is to do battle with a physical opponent, some one who probably has the same armor and the same intent as any soldier, to defeat the enemy and survive.
Paul alludes to Gods Armor as armor of light shining in the darkness, shining against the prince of darkness. When a light shines at night those are set to do wrong fade back into the darkness where their evil will not be seen.
Some that come to mind are “moon shiners”. Ever wonder how they got that label.
Most burglaries are committed at night. Isn’t that why we lock ourselves in at night? Notice that I said, “lock ourselves in”; we don’t always successfully lock the bad guys out. Which, of course, is why some people sleep with a weapon close by, just in case.
Think about that for a minute, we arm ourselves against a possible physical attack, yet we leave ourselves vulnerable to spiritual attack. It is the Spiritual attack we should fear most, this is what Paul is warning us about! Don’t lower your shield even for a second; if you do one of Satan’s arrows is sure to get through.
Do you remember the story of David and Goliath? We have heard it since our first Sunday School class. It is one of the first bible stories we learn. But unless we really read it we miss a lot of the details.
Read the story some time in detail, its found in 1st Samuel 17.
Goliath was a huge man, some say over nine feet tall, and others say as much as Eleven feet, four inches. Either way he was a big man. Even though he was the biggest, baddest, hired gun the Philistines could find he still wore Armor.
He knew he could easily be killed without it. For forty days he would march down the hill and shout at Saul’s army and challenge them to send their best man out to fight him, winner take all.
King Saul and all his army were so afraid of Goliath they would hide in their tents. It is said that his Armor was so highly polished that when the sunlight struck it, he appeared as, like an “angel of light”. He was fully prepared for battle against a single opponent. But he had a Shield Bearer go ahead of him to carry his shield, leaving his hands free to do battle.
Then here comes David and he ask’s why the army is afraid of this loudmouth when the Almighty God is in their side. Then he is taken before the King and he volunteers to fight this giant. I’m sure this caused a lot of laughs, after all David is just a boy, not old enough to join the Army. But he tells King Saul that he has fought the Lion and the Bear with only a knife and killed them both, and this Goliath is not near as fierce as they were!
King Saul accepts his offer and gives David his own Armor, which he puts on and tries to walk, but he finds it to heavy and restrictive to be of any use, plus he was used to fighting without it.
So he takes his Shepherds Staff and his slingshot, picks up a few carefully selected rocks from the stream and marches out to face this man nearly three times his size.
Goliath was furious, first they have sent a boy to face him, with no visible weapons, no armor, and he says to David, am I a dog that you come to fight me with a stick? And he cursed David and said come here and I will give your carcass to the birds and the beast to feed on!
1 Sam 17:45-47
45 David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
46 This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.
47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands."
NIV
David wore the Armor of Faith, he believed that God was on his side, and if God be for us who can stand against us?
So listen carefully to the words of Paul, study the word of God, carry it in your heart, wear it like armor, defensively, attack the prince of darkness, be prepared against the enemy that attacks the spirit and destroys the soul from within. Stand tall in faith, be assured that God is on your side and you will win over evil.
AMEN
