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Summary: A sermonette on the armour of God, whose armour it is, and why it has no back. Please note the correct English spelling of armour. :)

Why the armour of God, has no back covering. Ephesians 6:10-18

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

You will notice that the armour we are to put on is not our own, Paul describes it in this way. Remember that Paul is in Ephesus under roman imprisonment when he writes to the church at Corinth; Paul knows a thing or two about armour.

But here he says “be strong in the Lord and his mighty power.” Not be strong in your own name or in Colonel so and so’s teaching, or in the words of pastor thingy or even in your own strength. The power to be strong in is The Lord’s! Put on the full armour, so that the devil’s schemes don’t work.

Our battle is not against flesh and blood but against, spiritual forces here on earth and in the heavenly realms.

As Christians our battle is spiritual, if I have ever felt defeated and this may be quite different for you it is I was having one of those days, or more likely because I was not living in ways that are truthful, not living in right relationships with my fellow humans and God, was not ready for the conflicts because I was not living fully by the gospel of, the good news of Jesus Christ.

But on a positive note we can always dress ourselves as Paul describes, always accept the grace of God and engage in these right ways and actions. We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, there is our helmet of grace, there is our shield of faith.

We are to pray in the Spirit on all occasions, to be so connected with He who is Christ that we know an intense connection; alert, aware, praying for one another.

You will note in this list of armour there is no back plate; there is nothing to cover the back half of a Christian. In this battle God has our backs…I know this from personal experience. When I was going through a spiritual battle last year God reassured me of this, he had my back. What I thought was impossible happened to prove it. God has our backs.

The reason that he has our backs is because our role is to advance, his name, his kingdom taking the banner of Christ forward defeating the powers and principalities of darkness.

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Talk about it...

Zeni Zeni

commented on Aug 28, 2020

Pastor, without trying to sound disrespectful. I was taught to believe as you stated that the breastplate did not cover the back so as to encourage us to never retreat. When looking into ancient breastplates, yes there were some that only covered the front, but I found more that covered both back and front. What is the basis for your conclusion that the breastplate that Paul is referring to only covered the front?

Andrew Moffatt

commented on Aug 28, 2020

Hello Zeni Zeni, Thanks for your question. It's been a while since I wrote this sermon and it's good to see it's still being read. If you google Hebrew breastplate you will see those worn by the temple priests. In many situations it is relevant to use what a preacher after researching believes to be the fact of the time in reference to sermon illustration. At the time of writing it was and still is my understanding that this illustration is correct. God does not want us to retreat from our battle for souls for his kingdom. Later European armour covered front and back but came with mobility limitations. Keep up the good fight. Righteousness, being in a right relationship with God and your fellow men is your breastplate, Make sure you wear it daily. Vinaka Andrew.

Pst Aman

commented on Sep 15, 2020

(Isaiah 58:8) And the Glory of the Lord is my rear guard.

Martha Eaves

commented on Jun 16, 2021

I am sorry but this is nothing like what is in my Bible in Isaiah 58:8 . But I do believe that The armor has no back covering. As was said in the message we’re not intended to run or turn around our battle is “forward March”

Martha Eaves

commented on Jun 16, 2021

Please disregard this. Should have researched first. This has been a huge help , thank you so much

Martha Eaves

commented on Jun 16, 2021

Thank you pastor, I evangelized for 19 years and have been in this walk for God for 48years now and I also know from personal experience that when we go opposite of His direction we’re not covered. I have been and still am studying the armor of God.

Sandra Moody

commented on Jul 29, 2024

What you said is true but it's deeper than that. Jesus was wiped to cover our backs. 39 stripes for everything that would come against us in the natural realm and the spiritual realm. This is why we say we cover you with the blood of Jesus

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