Eph. 6:10 Finally,
my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
Eph. 6:11 Put on the
whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the
devil.
Eph. 6:12 For we do
not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts
of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Eph. 6:13 Therefore
take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil
day, and having done all, to stand.
Are you
trying to make it through this life on your strength? If we try to deal with
the things of this life on our own strength, we are not going to be partakers
of what God has available for us as His children. This week I want to share
with you about the powerful and awesome armor of God that we have available to
us once we are born again. Through revelation of this armor we go beyond our
strength and we begin to draw supernatural strength from the Lord. This is the
emphasis of what Paul is saying in verse 10 above. Be strong in the Lord and in
the power of His might, not your own.
We need
God’s strength to deal with the wiles of the devil. This word “wiles” means the
schemes or trickery of the devil. You cannot discern the schemes of satan by
natural human ability, but by God’s ability. Satan has two primary works,
deception and seduction. Even if you know this don’t think you cannot fall prey
to these works of our enemy. One of the things that Christians don’t often
relate deception to is how satan will work to deceive us by getting us to
believe a lie about God, or about ourselves. If the devil can convince you of a
lie about God or about yourself, he can take advantage of you. This is what the
primary use of the armor of God as you will see helps us to defeat and
overcome.
As verse 11
states we need to put on the whole armor of God so that we will be able to
stand up to and not fall for these tricks and schemes of satan. In other words
we need revelation on every element of this armor. Realize that just going
through and quoting the armor of God and acting as if you are putting it on
does you no good. It is when you have revelation of what this armor is that you
will walk in God’s power over satan’s deception and seduction. Don’t just see
this as putting on something in your mind, but instead get the heart of what
each element is and how that applies to you. It is then you will walk through
life fully armed. So let’s take a look at the armor we have been given through
what Christ has done for us.
Eph. 6:14 Stand
therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate
of righteousness,
Eph. 6:15 and having
shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
Eph. 6:16 above all,
taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery
darts of the wicked one.
Eph. 6:17 And take
the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;…
THE BELT OF TRUTH
The key to
the armor is not focusing so much on the natural part of what Paul relates that
armor to, as much as what that specific piece of armor is. The first is the
belt of truth. The best way to define the armor is let God’s Word define these
different elements. We know clearly that the Bible teaches us that the Word of
God is truth (John 17:17).
In John
17:17 Jesus is praying for His disciples, and for all who would come to know
Him through the preaching of the gospel, so we are included in that prayer.
Jesus in praying to the Father declares that we are not of the world. He goes
on to request of the Father that we be sanctified from the world by His truth
and then declares that God’s Word is truth. Jesus also stated in John 8:31-32
that if we abide in His Word that we would be His disciples indeed. We would
know the truth and the truth would set us free. To put on the belt of truth one
must live in and live out God’s Word. God’s Word reveals truth and therefore if
we know God’s Word then when satan tries to deceive us about God or about our
rightful place in Christ we will not fall for this deception.
Far to
often many good believers fall for things that cause them to be taken advantage
of simply because they don’t know the Word of God. You hear of many things that
happen to people for which believers then say that God is the one that did this
to them or allowed it to happen for their own good. This then undermines
people’s faith in God for healing and other things. If you believe God allows
for example disease to come on people or is even the One who brings that upon
people you are not going to have faith for Him to heal you.
The reason
satan works so hard at convincing people that God is the one responsible for
these types of works is because if man does not take responsibility for his
actions then he cannot change his situation. But the Word of God teaches us the
truth and reveals how we through faith in God can overcome the works of our
enemy.
BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
This is a
vital part of our armor. As Paul states in Romans 5:17 we have been given the
gift of righteousness so that we can reign in this life through Jesus Christ.
This means we have right standing with God. It is not something we earn; it is
a gift that we have received when we become born again. Scripture clearly
teaches us the importance of right living, but to receive right standing with
God that is done by faith and faith alone in Jesus Christ. When you don’t have
revelation of this then the enemy will try to convince you that you don’t have
a right to what God has provided for you. But the blood of Jesus gave you the right
to what scripture reveals is yours in Christ. All the promises of God in Christ
Jesus are yes, to which we are to say “Amen” (2 Cor. 1:20).
GOSPEL OF PEACE
Rom. 10:15 And how
shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are
the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of
good things!”
I wanted
you to see this verse, as this would be the obvious reference to which Paul
speaks of in having our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.
As a soldier of Jesus Christ every believer should be prepared to share the
good news of Christ. This is a powerful weapon. When we are not prepared to do
so we become complacent as Christians and can then be taken advantage of.
If we are
prepared to share the gospel then we are going to have opportunity to see
people added to the body of Christ. The more we see this happening the stronger
the body of Christ becomes. This is an area that far too many believers are
weak in and they don’t realize that by not being prepared to share their faith
they are looking only at themselves and not thinking of the welfare of others.
This “looking to self” is another way satan can take advantage of us by keeping
us selfish and fleshly.
SHIELD OF FAITH
Romans
10:17 tells us that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.
Jesus tells us in Matthew 4:4 that man does not live by bread alone, but by every
Word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Faith as Paul describes in Ephesians
6:16 will quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. These are described as
flaming missiles, which are thoughts that are contrary to God’s Word. It is our
faith in God that 1 John 5:4 tells us overcomes the world. Faith believes in
what only God can do in and through your life, and our faith is based on the
Word of God.
To develop
that faith you must hear God’s Word preached and you must feed on the Word of
God by meditating on it continually. We need to know the truth as we have already
talked about in relationship to the belt of truth, but we must also develop our
faith in God through His Word to defeat these fiery darts as well.
HELMET OF SALVATION
In 1
Thessalonians 5:8 we are told in a parallel verse to put on as a helmet the
hope of salvation. Simply put you need to know what you have a right to hope
for because of the salvation Christ has given you. We need to think “saved”
thoughts based on what we know scripture reveals we have available to us. Faith
gives substance to things hoped for. Hope is an expectation in what we know God
has said is ours. If you know what you have an expectation of, then faith can
be built upon that hope and turn it into a reality. We must also never lose our
hope in our eternal salvation. Jesus is coming back soon!
SWORD OF THE SPIRIT
Last but
certainly not least is the sword of the Spirit which Paul tells us clearly here
is the Word of God. This is the only part of this armor that is offensive in it’s
nature. We need to be using this weapon daily. It doesn’t take a scholar to
figure out that this only works for us when we have God’s Word consistently on
our lips. Hebrews 4:14 declares we are to hold fast to our confession of faith.
That is a confession based on the Word of God. James chapter 3 tells us of the
power of our words that determine the path our life takes. Start declaring
daily what God’s Word says.
I pray this
has helped you to better understand the armor of God. The Lord wants us to rely
on His strength and that is made available to us through revelation of what He
has given us through His death, burial, and resurrection. Make sure you
understand each and every part of this armor, then walk in the revelation of
these truths and you will be able to withstand in this evil day and be
victorious as a soldier of Jesus Christ.
See You Again
Next Week For More “Weekly Wisdom”
May God’s Best
Be Yours!
Pastor Darryl
Baker
