The Armor of God

"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the WHOLE armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 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. Stand therefore, having gird your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit." Eph 6:10-18

The weapons that we have to wage war against the devil come from God. They are only ours by virtue of our relationship with God. Without Him, we are truly nothing! We can get up every morning and go through the "imaginary exercise" of putting on our armor with all of it's weapons, but to truly walk in this position and to see them really work in our life means that we must live in the presence of God. Just as we draw our power from Him, our nature from Him, so we draw our weaponry from Him.

The sixth chapter of Ephesians talks about putting on the whole armor of God. The chapters preceding this one talk about how a believer should walk, talk, and live. For the weapons of God to work properly in a believer's life the person must be fully surrendered to God. As Paul said in Romans 13:14 "But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts." A house divided against itself cannot stand, so if we are going to see victory in our lives it will only come when we are walking in total submission to God. We are soldiers in His army; He is the commander and chief.

Let's look at the armor, which Paul described in Ephesians 6 and see how it equips us to stand against the wiles of the devil. And let me say that I am thankful for the Holy Spirit's explicitness and how He made sure the writer of this passage did not leave out one single detail. Moreover, I am thankful that God has so graciously supplied us with everything we need to maintain a stand against satan who is already our defeated foe! I find it truly amazing!

When Paul was writing this particular passage he was thinking of a Roman soldier dressed in armor. If anyone had first hand knowledge of Roman weaponry it was Paul because of his frequent imprisonments. He had viewed many Roman soldiers fully equipped from head to toe.

He describes seven (7) pieces of armor:

Three were considered offensive weapons: shoes, sword, & lance
Three were considered defensive weapons: breastplate, shield, and helmet
One was considered neutral: loinbelt (girdle)

Let us look at each of these weapons and see how they work in our lives.

First we have the GIRDLE OR LOINGBELT OF TRUTH

Notice that this is the first piece the writer mentioned. That is not by accident. Though it was the most common, ugly piece of weaponry it was the most important because it held all the other armor together. Kind of the same way a person's belt holds up their pants.

If you were going to describe a person's outfit you probably wouldn't start with their belt. Actually, it is probably the last thing you would notice because it seems so insignificant. Yet if the person did not have the belt on they might have trouble keeping their pants up, their shirts would come un-tucked and they would look like a mess. They wouldn't be able to move around very much or very quickly either. They would be busy just trying to keep themselves together. That is the same way it would be with a Roman soldier. If he did not have his loinbelt in place everything else would fall apart. It held his shield, his sword, and his lances. He had to have his loinbelt.

We have a loinbelt, which is described as truth, and it is the written Word of God. Of all the weapons, it's the most important one we possess. Just as the soldier had his loinbelt on every day to keep his armor together, so we must apply the Word of God to our lives on a daily basis or we will come apart at the seams. We can't function as a believer without the Word of God being central in our life. If we lay it aside we lay aside our righteousness, our peace, our joy.

But put on the loinbelt and it all comes together. For example, righteousness. Spend time in the Word studying about your God-given righteousness, start meditating and praying about it and soon it will become a part of you and a part of your thought life. You will have on your breastplate of righteousness by first putting on your loinbelt of truth. And it will work that way with every other weapon...the peace, the salvation, the faith. It all comes from the Word...our loinbelt of truth.

Next we have the  BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

The breastplate was the shiniest, most glamorous piece of weaponry that the Roman soldier possessed. It was the first thing noticed. Running from the top of his neck all the way down to the knees it was composed of two different pieces of metal. One piece went down the front, the other down the back. It was usually made of bronze or brass and covered with scale-like pieces of metal similar to the scales of a fish. These pieces of metal rubbed together when the breastplate was worn and this process caused each piece to have a beautiful luster. When the sun would shine on it, it was a dazzling sight.

The more the soldier walked in it and used it, the more beautiful it became. Walking down the road in the afternoon sunlight it gave off the colors of the rainbow. When a whole army walked out in the sunlight it was blinding.

Just as their breastplate was a defensive weapon to protect them from the blows of the enemy, so is our breastplate of righteousness. The enemy wants to make you think that you are not righteous. He wants you to think that you are the worst believer there is and that God is never going to do anything with you.

II Cor 5:21 says that we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.
Romans 5:17 talks of the gift of righteousness bestowed on the believer.
Isaiah 51:7-8 says His righteousness will be forever.

When you walk in the righteousness of God, it is a weapon of defense against all those slanderous accusations, and outrageous strategies of the devil. The Bible is full of God's promises to the righteous and we need to know these promises and use them as a defense against the lies that come to us.

As we walk in righteousness, just as the Roman soldiers breastplate became more beautiful with each step, we become more beautiful and we also become more and more dangerously blinding to the eye of the enemy.

The  SHOES OF PEACE are the next weapon mentioned.

The Roman soldier's shoes came in two pieces. One part covered the leg, and the other part was the shoe itself. The shoe was extremely dangerous. The greaves or upper part of the shoe protected the soldier against bruises, cuts, scrapes, or breaks. It protected them against the kicks of the opponent because often times their enemy would try to kick them and get them down so they were defenseless and then cut off their head.

The shoes on the other hand had 1 to 3 inch long spikes on the bottom so that the soldier could keep his balance during a confrontation and stand his ground. He also could use them to stomp on his enemy if necessary.

In relating that to us our peace is both an offensive and defensive weapon. It will protect us when we walk through the rough places. And it will keep our spiritual foes where they belong...under our feet.

The Bible says "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds" Phil 4:7 It will keep, guard, protect, stand watch over. It will keep out fretfulness, anxiety, worry.

Where does the peace come from? Jesus promised it to us in John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

Col 3:15 says "let the peace of God rule in your hearts." Defensively this peace will not let any circumstance or situation harm you.

Offensively this peace will help you to stand with your feet planted firmly on the Word of God and stay there, unmoved by the devil's threats and lies.

Has God ever spoken to you concerning a particular verse that you should stand on? Doesn't the devil come along and try to tell you that it will never come to pass that you will fall. Well, when you have peace on the bottom of your feet you can't be moved. Not by what you see, or by what you hear.

Romans 16:20 says "The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet." That is not you, but that is God using His peace and your feet.

Did you know that when Roman soldiers marched in formation down a street you could hear those spikes clicking for miles? They did not stop for anything or anyone. They just kept right on marching.

There will be times when the devil will stand in front of you and try to oppose you and God. Don't stop and ask him to move. Just keep walking. Just keep on stomping and pounding as you move forward in God's plan for your life. Oh, and be sure to do as much damage to him as possible--he deserves it!

Now we have the SHIELD OF FAITH

Let me start by saying that the shield was always inseparably linked to the soldier's loinbelt and our faith likewise is attached to our loinbelt of truth, the Word of God.

Romans 10:17 says "So faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." If we fail to give God's Word a place of high priority in our lives it is only a matter of time before our faith begins to dwindle.

The Roman soldier had two different shields. One was for public parades and ceremonies. It was small. The other one was the battle shield. It was door shaped and completely covered the soldier. Romans 12:3 says God has dealt each one of us a measure of faith. He has given us each enough faith to make sure we are completely covered. Our problem is that we often forget to take up that faith. Or we lay it down.

The Roman's shield was made of thick animal hide. It was usually about six layers thick and woven together. We are talking about something that is tough and durable. But it required oiling every day so it would not crack under pressure or fall apart.

And so it is with our faith. It requires frequent anointings of the Holy Spirit so we don't crack of fall apart under pressure. We cannot live on past experiences with God. We need every day experiences growing, developing, and keeping our faith alive and active.

The other thing about the shield was that it had to be saturated in water so it could extinguish the fiery arrows of the enemy. We saturate our faith in the "water of the Word."

You see, the enemy of that day had many types of arrows, but the fiery ones were the worst. They contained combustible fluids that burst into flames upon impact. Kind of like a bomb. If the enemy came upon a fortified place that they could not easily break or destroy they would shot these arrows of fire over the walls of the encampment. The soldiers were able to use the watered shield to extinguish the arrows before they burst into flames.

When the enemy doesn't find easy access into your life He may try shooting a fiery dart into your emotions. This can throw your emotions into rage, anger, anxiety, unbelief, or worry. These arrows are deadly and come to do tremendous damage to us.

That is why we continue to press the importance of living our lives in the presence of God and giving His Word top place in our daily schedule. We must keep our shields in good shape so we can extinguish those darts.

Remember, the water causes the fiery darts to be extinguished.
The oil causes them to slip off or even richote back at the enemy.
We must DAILY care for our faith.

And speaking of faith, what about corporate faith. One shield is not large enough to take on an entire army.

When threatened by mass opposition, the Roman soldiers would walk very close to one another in a long line side by side. They had hinges on the sides of their shields and they would fasten them all together to form a massive wall of protection that allowed them to march right up to their enemy.

Similarly, when the church marches in unison as a mighty wall, we can make advances against enemy territory that has never been made before. We can be aggressive and pressing because we are walking together in faith. And we can tear down the enemy's lies and accusations and schemes without fear of being hurt. We can get our children back, we can break down the walls, and we can do so much when we fasten our faith together and walk in unison. The devil hates it. There is power in faith and there is power in unison. The two combined are deadly to his devices.

Now we move on to the  HELMET OF SALVATION

The soldiers helmet was very ornate. It looked more like a piece of art then a helmet. It was decorated with all kinds of engravings and etchings. On top was a plume of bright colors made of feathers or horsehair. Usually it was made of bronze and designed specifically to protect the cheeks and jaws. It was very heavy and the inside was filled with sponge to make it more comfortable for the soldier to wear.

Nothing could pierce this helmet. And they wore it at all times because their enemies carried a short-handled battle-ax. If they didn't have their helmet on, they would literally lose their head.

Our salvation, like their helmet, is the most beautiful, ornate, intricate gift that God has ever given us. When a believer has on their helmet of salvation you can't help but notice it. It is so beautiful.

We must wear our helmet so the devil cannot chop away at our minds and try to steal away the benefits of our salvation. He will try. He will hack away and tell you that healing, deliverance, and soundness of mind were not really part of what Jesus did at the cross.

We must have full knowledge of our salvation or else we will be vulnerable to his lies. We must study our salvation and all it includes. We have to know what Jesus' death and resurrection has purchased for us. Then it won't matter how hard the devil hits us with his lies because we will know God's truth.

When speaking of the  SWORD OF THE SPIRIT

Paul spoke of one of five different types of Roman swords. This one was a two-edged sword with the end turned upward. It inflicted much more damage than the other swords. Not only was it intended to kill, but also it could rip the enemy's insides to shreds. It only needed to penetrate the enemy two inches to mortally wound.

Our sword of the Spirit is the word of God, the RHEMA word of God. This is a quickened word that the Holy Spirit supernaturally drops into our heart and mind and it comes alive so that we know, really know that we have heard from the Lord. It is quickened to our heart and mind at a specific time for a special purpose. One expositor said "the sword that the Spirit yields, as He draws forth a special word from God."

In John 14:26 Jesus made the promise of the Comforter who would "bring all things to remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you." When the Holy Spirit reminds us of a verse or promises it floods our entire being with faith. It is His rebuff to the devil's attempt to penetrate the mind with slanderous lies and accusations.

Hebrews 4:12 says that the Word is a "two-edged sword" that cuts two ways doing double damage. It cuts through the muck and mire of your mind and emotions and gets to the heart of the matter.

Have you been cut up by God’s Word lately?

Meditating on the Word of God allows it to do its work in us. Ignoring it leaves us in a position where our wrong thinking and bondages from the past continue to have authority over us. If we allow the Word to do it's work in us, we are changed.

The reason people have no results when they confess the Word of God is that they speak it before it has personally done a work of transformation in them. That is merely mimicking instead of letting it take root in the heart and mind. It must become a part of our inner being and not just be merely words.

Get it in your heart, then speak it out of your mouth and watch those devils flee!

We will conclude our study on weapons by discussing prayer and supplication, which Paul likened to the lances of the Roman soldiers. Lances varied greatly in size, shape, and length. The average soldier carried five short lances and one long one.

Paul said "praying always with all prayer and supplication." Pray with all kinds of prayer. Pray with all the kinds of prayers that are available for you to use. None are better then others. Each serves a different purpose.

Praying with all kinds of prayer. In Scripture we see many forms of prayer. We see the prayer of faith, intercession, supplication, petition, thanksgiving and others. Prayer is indispensable to us. Regardless of how skilled we think we are, we can not maintain a victorious position apart from a life of prayer. We must seek God's direction, God's will, and God's power for our lives on a daily basis.

Eph 6:18 Praying always-"at each and every occasion, at every opportunity, every time you get a chance, at every season, or at each and every possible moment."

Prayer...the simplest act a creature of God can perform. It is divine communion with our Heavenly Father. Prayer does not require advanced education. Knowledge is not a prerequisite to engage in it. Only an act of the will is required to pray.

(Dick Eastman-The Hour That Changed The World.)

Prayer of Petition-prayer that expresses basic needs which must be met in order for a person to continue his/her existence. It is a cry for help. Asking God to intervene on behalf or the believer recognizing their utter dependence on God and their inability to meet their own need. This cry for God's help exposes our own insufficiency to meet our own needs. Heb 5:7, James 5:17

Prayer of Authority-a person praying authoritatively almost demanding something from God. The person knows what they need and is not afraid to ask boldly to receive it. John 15:7

The Word says "If you permanently and habitually lodge, dwell, abide, and remain continually in Me, and if my words permanently and habitually lodge, dwell, abide, and remain continually in you, strongly ask for whatever you wish for, and it will happen to you."

If you are dwelling in Him and His Word dwells in you, you will pray in God’s will. And from I John 5:14,15 we have this promise "And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He heareth us; and if we know that He hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petition that we have asked of Him."

Prayer of Thanksgiving-"We give thanks to God the Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you." Col 1:3; "We give thanks to God for you all, making mention of you in our prayers." I Thes 1:2 Stopping to reflect on what God has already done in our lives and in the lives of others.

Prayer of Supplication-supplicate means to spend intimate time where we come before God in child-like faith, expressing our desires, and ourselves enjoying His presence. Supplication is freely enjoying fellowship in the presence of God.

Prayer of Intercession-(only mentioned once) not in reference to us but to the Holy Spirit. When the Spirit Himself supernaturally joins us in our circumstances, shares our emotional frustrations and begins working a plan to get us out of the mess. This occurs when we are at a loss for words and don't know how to pray. Romans 8:26

We can not pray enough! We can not spend enough time in God’s Word and God’s presence.

What Situations & Conditions are Conducive to his attack?

He attacks while the camp feels secure. Judges 8:11
He attacks when we are vigorously doing God's will. Ezra 3:3, 4:4-6
He attacks in our times of success. II Sam 24:2
He attacks in our times of wilderness. Matt 4:1-11
He attacks in our times of weakness. II Cor 12:7-10
He attacks a church in unity to bring strife & discord & ultimately confusion and every evil work. James 3:16
He attacks a church on the verge of fulfilling it's mission. Mark 4:35-41

Please remember that you are not alone in your attacks. "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man." (I Cor 10:13)

Also remember that a fight nearly always follows illumination..."in which after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of affliction."(Heb 10:32)

Regardless of what he has done to you in the past, or what he is doing to you now, in the end his attacks will utterly fail if you continue to stand in faith.

Is 54:17 No weapon formed against you shall prosper.

Romans 8:28 God will take each attack and end up making it work for your good.

"And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set our for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we'll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels. Be prepared. You're up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it's all over but the shouting you'll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You'll need them throughout your life. God's Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other's spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out." Eph 6:10-18.

Source: http://www.caroljacksonministries.org/armor.htm