Weapons of Warfare: Armor of God
Read Ephesians 6:10-18.
Understand Our Reality
We are spiritual beings living in flesh
Much of our western world has difficulty with spiritual warfare because we don’t have context for it. Since we have no context for it we don’t believe it is real nor do we live as if it is real.
In order to understand the armor of God, we must agree that there is a spiritual world. That we are spiritual beings, in flesh. Our flesh will pass away, but our soul will remain. We will either live in eternity with God or in hell. There is a real enemy at war for our soul.
There is a real spiritual conflict between, not against flesh and blood, but against:
Our enemy & his cohorts
Principalities
Powers
Rulers & Spiritual wickedness
His tactics
Method to his attacks
Plan of attack
Crafty attacks
Satan’s goal in heaven was to replace God with Himself and sit on the throne. The only other place in the universe where there is a throne where God sits in the human heart. That is why the battle is over your heart. The enemy doesn’t want Jesus on the throne of your heart. He wants to be seated there. The battle is for your heart: thoughts, feelings and desires.
Understanding what are the weapons of our warfare is crucial because it ensures that we do not become a causality of war.
Given an arsenal
Armor of God
To be used against the enemy, world and flesh
Finally be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. (v.10)
This is key to unlocking the arsenal!
Not be strong, in your own strength, but in His strength
The armor of God is a symbol of benefits & privileges of the gospel!
Each part represents something we can only find through Him!
We can only access it through His finished work!
It’s only through His truth, His righteousness, His peace, faith in Him, His salvation, His word THAT WE CAN STAND, FIGHT AND BE VICTORIOUS!
You can’t use your own weapons; they have to be God’s weapons.
Our will power won’t protect us
Our common sense
Our intuitions/gut
We NEED His arsenal (the finished work of Christ/the benefits and the privileges of the good news) to be protected & STAND!
The armor of God is walking in the finished work of Christ! It is His finished work that protects us and covers us from the attacks for the enemy and equips us with what we need to stand and fight!
Put on
“Finally be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the whole armor, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil” (v. 10-11)
Command
Order given with military snap
Christian is likened to a soldier
Military Term
Roman Armor
To be obeyed once and for all
Keep on during the entire course of life, not relaxing the discipline necessary for the constant use of such protection
FOL & Simple obedience is required here:
You have been given access to something. You have been commanded to do so. Will you cash in on it? Will you obey and put it on?
Or will we risk being destroyed because we refused to put it on?
How do we put it on and keep it on?
The Disciplines of our Faith!
Secret Place: When we set apart time and space to meet with God, Holy Spirit responds to our expectancy with His presence.
Word of God: Holy Scriptures are to be read individually, read and discussed corporately and walked out as a community.
Prayer: We seek the heart of the Father and partner with Him in faith, inquiry, intercession, supplication, petition, lament, and thanksgiving.
Engaging in these disciplines daily allows us to remain armored up.
“Relaxation of discipline and disuse of exercise rendered soldiers less willing and less able to support the fatigue of service. They complained of the weight of the armor and obtained permission to lay aside much of it.”
The Parts of the Armor
The Belt of Truth
The most essential part of the armor. It passes around the loins & through the end of the breastplate & supporting the sword.
Jesus is the truth
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6
Jesus is the most important part of the good news. Without Christ there would be no good news.
That is why truth is the first part of the armor because it is only through the truth of Christ that everything else can be supported.
All the benefits and privileges of the gospel require HIM!
You can’t have the breastplate of righteousness without Him, you can’t have the shield of faith without Him, you can’t have the sandals of the gospel of peace without Him, you can’t have the helmet of salvation without Him, you can’t have the shield of faith without Him.
“The believer tainted with deceit & falsehood forfeits the very things which hold the other pieces of his armor together.”
Spending time with Jesus daily is you putting on truth. It’s you securing yourself in Him. It’s you binding yourself to Him.
The Breastplate of Righteousness
For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21
We wear the righteousness of God! Not ours, earned by our good works. It is His righteousness that we get to wear thanks to His good and perfect works!
The righteousness of Christ is another part of the benefits and privileges of the gospel that we can put on.
Through what Christ did we can become the righteousness of God.
We can act rightly through and because of Christ. Its not by our strength or might, but His!
Notice the breastplate protects the heart; thoughts, feelings and desires so that we can act rightly. The righteousness of Christ protects us from the schemes of the enemy and the world that want to corrupt our heart; thoughts, feelings and desires with the enemy’s or the world’s thoughts, feelings and desires.
BUT because of the finished work of Jesus we put on HIS righteousness and we become the righteousness of God!
Through the study of the word. Through looking at the life of Jesus and how He lived, through looking at the lives of other men and women of faith we can imitate Jesus and Jesus in them! We learned how to live righteous lives because we imitate Christ and walk in His righteousness!
Unrighteous acts robs us of our vital protection and exposes our heart to Satan
19 This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: 20 If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God 22 and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him.1 John 3:19-22
Our hearts must remain protected, for if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God.
Protecting out heart, protects our confidence in Him
The Sandals of the Gospel of Peace
Gospel of peace=the good news of peace
The sandals were firmly strapped around the foot and ankle to give a warrior the ability to stand firm!
If we are firmly strapped in the gospel of peace, that means no new age movement, no false doctrine will be able to shake us or move us or compromise us because we are firmly tied to the good news of Jesus Christ.
“…so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.” Ep 4:14
This means when new arguments of the world come to confuse you or shake you or people question what you believe and why your footing will be firm and you will be prepared to make a defense! You will be complete with the READINESS OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE! This is a benefit and privilege of the gospel, that in Christ we can be found ready for whatever comes our way! He makes us ready!
“...always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 1 Peter 3:15
Daily reading of the Word keeps you strapped! Not someone else’s teaching of the word or someone else’s interpretation. It is you with your bible reading from cover to cover, every chapter, every book read over and over allowing His Spirit to make the Word come alive in you and transform you.
The reading of the Word is enough. The Holy Spirit is capable of teaching you! You can rely on His Spirit if you surrender to Him and choose to submit to Him!
The Shield of Faith
We are, by God’s power, being guarded through faith!
Who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 1 Peter 1:5
By simply believing the gospel is true, we benefit and get to experience the privilege of the gospel!
Oblong, curved inner side, large and heavy
Covers us head to foot!
By believing in God alone, we are protected by His power!
We don’t put our faith in man, the lottery, horoscopes, politicians, doctors we put our faith in GOD and as a result we are covered by His power!
Pointed prayers to God and God alone releases your faith!!!
Your prayers of faith release the SHIELD! Every time you pray in faith, you release the shield and it covers you head to foot with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one!
When you don’t know what to pray, PRAY IN THE SPIRIT!!! (praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication v.18)
Your prayers of faith guard you!
And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.” Mark 5:34
The Helmet of Salvation
You were saved by grace. You were bought with a price
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. Ep 2:8-9
It is nothing you did. It is a gift from God and He paid the ultimate price to save you.
You put on the Helmet of Salvation by remembering what He has done. In the Secret Place, take communion. Remember who you were daily, remember how He saved you daily, remember who are today because HE saved you! He came for you! He paid a debt you could never repay! Remember what He has done for you daily in the secret place and thank Him!
It is the gift of salvation that protect the head and brain (our mind) from:
False arguments that rise up against the truth of the gospel
Attacks meant to bring confusion
Depression
Fear
Anxiety
Worry
Stress
Doubt
Despair
4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, 6 being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete. 2 Cor 10:4-6
These things are fought by remembering His blood shed for you, how He saved you for a purpose and a good work found in Him.
The Sword of the Spirit
Only offensive weapon; all others are defensive (made to protect you)
a tool made, adapted or intended for the purpose of inflicting physical injury upon another person
Word of God
12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Heb 4:12
The only weapon we have been given to fight the enemy!
This is the only weapon we’ve got and what a beautiful weapon it is. What a treasure and gift we have.
When the enemy comes in with accusation, you fight back with the WORD. When the world comes tempting you to compromise, you fight back with the WORD. When the flesh comes to overtake you, you fight back with the WORD.
This explains the attack on the reading of the word in your life.
The enemy wants to rob you of your weapon, so you can’t fight back! Don’t let Him take it! It’s the only thing you’ve got and it’s the most valuable gift you’ve been given. It tells your story, how it began, how it came to be and how it will end. It is how you are able to stand unscarred!
Allow His Word to be your daily bread, allow this to be your portion.
Ministry Moment
Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. Rev 3:2
We must strengthen what remains and is about to die! What disciplines in your life are about to die?
Exercise them to be strengthened in Him.
“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!” Rev 16:15
Some of you are naked and exposed!
You must put your garments back on!
A disciplined life keeps you ARMED! It keeps you armored up in Him! ARMED with readiness. ARMED with His truth, ARMED with His righteous, ARMED with His peace, ARMED with Faith placed in Jesus, ARMED with His Salvation, ARMED with His sword!
