Armor of God

The Armor of God

February 16, 2012

Ok, last time I said I would tell you about my study of the armor of God from the book of Ephesians.  Let me start by giving you the passage.

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 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. 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.

14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— 19 and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.                         Ephesians 6:10-20 NKJV

Firstly, notice the following from verses 10-13 that I found very interesting.  We are told to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.  We are not told to try this method or that Scripture passage.  We are not told to pull ourselves up by the boot straps and “Git er done!”  We are to be strong in the Lord and He has given us all we need for life and godliness.  Greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world.  The joy of the Lord is my strength.

We are also told twice to simply stand.  I looked this up and guess what the word stand means?  It means to stand, to be established, to be firmly fixed, (this one I really liked) continue safe and sound, stand unharmed, to stand ready or prepared.  The reason I liked that last one is because it means to stay in place, not running around looking for an answer or the right weapon with which to fight the battle, but to stand unharmed, ready, and prepared.  When we stand in the power of the Lord’s might and strength we stand unharmed and prepared.  Can I get an “Amen!”

Now what are we to stand against?  The wiles of the devil and they are cunning arts, trickery, and deceit.  These are not physical things we will experience but things that are not seen.  This got me thinking, where would theses battles take place and it came to me:  the Mind!  The devil wants me to be tricked into thinking that I am an enemy of God (Col 1:21) and that is what I battle against most.  I thought for so long that I had to be “good” in order to be at peace with God, but I was at peace with God when His Son Jesus died on the cross for me so very long ago!

So, let me put it all together for everyone.  The strength of the Lord and the power of His might is where we need to run when the devil tries to lie to us that we are enemies of God.  Being able to understand this awesome truth gives us the courage to stand, firm, unharmed, and prepared.  Amazing, we really “do” nothing.

Secondly, in verses 14-20 Paul describes the different articles of the armor that we are to put on.  Last summer our pastor did a series on the armor of God and as I studied along with him I was struck by how they each are a symbol of Jesus.  Let me explain.

Eph. 6:14 “Stand (do nothing! ; }) therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness…”  The first thought I had was about how Jesus described himself as the Truth, The Way, and the Life and that no one comes to the Father except through Him.  So this is saying I am to gird my waist with Jesus.  Excellent!  Also, I am to put on the breastplate of righteousness.  In the book of Romans we are told we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.  Again I am putting on Jesus.  Again…excellent!

Eph. 6:15 “and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;”  We are to put of shoes that are the gospel of peace.  Who Jesus is, what He did, and who we are because of that is the essence of the gospel.  Jesus is the gospel, the good news for the whole world.   He came to so that we can have peace with Papa God.  So, we are again putting on Jesus. 

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.”  There is that word faith.  I love that word.  I use to be afraid that I did not have enough faith in Jesus to be able to do anything worthy in His kingdom.  Recently I was in a study with a group of women and we spent time looking at faith and found some interesting things.  The passage that really gave me clarity came from

Romans 3:21-22

“But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,

But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe….” When we were looking at this passage in the Greek we found that faith in Jesus was actually faith of Jesus.  That made all the difference for me.  It is not my faith but Jesus faith.  When I take up the shield of faith I am taking up the faith of Jesus that will quench the fiery darts of the devil.  Again, it is Jesus! Excellent! Eph. 6:17 “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;”  The helmet of salvation was easy for me-Jesus is our salvation.  I found it interesting that it is the helmet of salvation because a helmet protects the head.  Earlier I mentioned that it is in our minds that we were enemies of God.  The evil one wants me to think that I am God’s enemy and it is salvation from Jesus that protects me.  It is knowing that I am a daughter of the King, that Jesus finished it all on the Cross, that I seated in heaven with Christ and that nothing can separate me from the love of Papa God that changes my mind, transforms my mind. The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God got me really excited.  In John 1:1 it says that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the word was God.  Then later in verse 14 it says and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.  Jesus is the Word and He became flesh and dwelt among us.  When I am taking up the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God I am taking up Jesus.  So excellent! It is Jesus.  In the rest of the passage Paul is asking for pray in what he is enduring but Jesus is what got him through the struggles.  He let Jesus fight for him.  That is what the armor of God is: it is Jesus!  We are putting on Jesus and we are standing in Jesus and letting Jesus fight for us when we are attacked.  It thrills me!  I have fought for a long time to be righteous in my own power and even used these verses to prepare myself.  Then it hit me this summer.  All I need to do is know the truth of who I am in Jesus and let Him fight for me! I hope this encourages you as it encouraged me.  I hope you know the depths that you are loved and valued by Papa God and rest in that truth! Blessings y’all!