EPHESIANS 6:10-18.
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might put on the whole armour of God, that you might be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, , against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand, stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, having shod your feet with the preparation of the Gospel of peace; above all taking the shield of faith with which you are 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, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.
This passage makes up part of Paul's final exaltation to the Church, there is a sense of urgency in what he is about to share with them, He says to them that they have to be strong in the Lord, and it is in the power of his might that they are to put on the whole armour of God. If we remember back in chapter 3 vs.16 Paul had prayed that they would be strengthened with all might in the inner man through the holy Spirit, it was in this power that we are to put on the armour of God. It is only as we put on the whole armour that we can stand against the wiles, or the deceptive devices of Satan. We see here that our battle is not against our fellow man, it is not against our neighbor or our workmates, or our family, it is not even against our enemies. Our fight is against Satan and his spiritual army that are arrayed against us and the body of Christ and that are keeping people in the world bound in deception and bondage. We must note that in vs.13 Paul again says that we must take up the whole armour of God if we are going to be able to stand in the evil day. We will all experience days of spiritual attack beyond the daily issues that we face, this is the evil day that Paul talks about here. The important thing here to note, that in these days we must stand our ground, don't give any bground to the enemy but continue to stand strong in the Lord. The first piece of armour that Paul mentions is the belt of truth. In Roman armour, which this is modeled on, the belt was the foundation piece of the armour. The breastplate was secured to it, the sword was hung of it, and when the soldier girded his loins in battle they were tucked into the belt. So truth is the very foundation of the armour we wear. Why is that, because the armour speaks of who we are in Christ and the authority we have in Him and His word. In John 14:6 Jesus said that He is the way, the truth, and the life. In James 1:17 it says that there is no variation or shadow of turning in God. So we can know that the word is totally dependable. Everything that the armour speaks of is true.
BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.
The breastplate protects our heart, our spirit. We are the righteousness of God in Christ, 2 Corinthians 5:17 says that if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation, the old has gone, all things have become new, Paul goes on in vs.22 to say that God made Him who knew no sin to be sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. So in Christ we are now made righteous. In Philippians 3:9 Paul says that our righteousness is not through the law but it comes through faith in Christ. In Romans 6:6 Paul says there that the old man has been crucified with Christ that we should no longer be slaves to sin. The old man, the old Adam has been crucified. When we came to Christ we accepted the finished work of the cross, we are no longer related to Adam spiritually, we are now in Christ. In 2 Peter 1:3-4 it says that God has given us all things that pertain to life and Godliness, and that through the promises of His word we are now partakers of His Divine nature, in other words we have the very nature of God living in our spirits through the Holy Spirit. Spiritually we are no longer old sinners, but new creations in Christ, the righteousness of God in Him. The nature of he mans spirit determines the nature of the man. It is now up to us to walk in that righteousness, as we do the breastplate will protect our spiritual integrity. Psalm 84:11, For the Lord God is a sun and shield, The Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly. The word uprightly there means spiritual integrity. When we walk uprightly before God, in His righteousness God will not withhold His blessing and His anointing from us. When the enemy comes against us we need to declare, "I am the righteousness of God in Christ, and I refuse to give way to this temptation" Revelation of this will give you victory over sin, Romans 6:13 says that we are not to yield ourselves to sin, but to know that we are now alive in Christ and that we yield ourselves to God as instruments of righteousness.
SHOES OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE.
Most people see these as the shoes that we wear when we are sharing the Gospel, while we should take our armour off, so to speak, and we will have them on at that time. These are our shoes so that we can walk in the peace of God, irrespective of our situation. In John 14:27 Jesus said that He would give us peace, His peace, His peace is not the same as the peace that the world tries to give us and so he says that we should not be afraid or troubled. Philippians 4:7 says that the peace that God gives us is beyond our natural thinking, and that it will protect our hearts and our minds, so it does not matter what situation we find ourselves in, if we continue to stand in the word of God, standing in the good news of what Christ has done for us, we can know His peace, and it will be beyond our natural thinking. In Matthew 14:22-31 we see the story of Peter walking on the water, the disciples are out on the sea of Galilee when a storm comes up, Jesus comes walking towards them on the water, Peter calls out and says that if it is Jesus, "Bid me come" so Jesus tells him to come to Him. Peter gets out of boat and begins to walk towards Jesus, but he takes his eyes off Jesus and looks at the storm raging around him, and he begins to sink. If Peter had kept his eyes on Jesus he would not have sunk, when we are facing the storms of life we must continue to walk in the word that Jesus has given us and not talk our eyes of Jesus, as it says in Hebrews 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and the finisher of our faith.
SHIELD OF FAITH.
The shield of faith is designed to quench all the fiery darts of the enemy. The opposite of faith is doubt and unbelief. Satan will come against us with accusation and lies to try and get us to doubt the word of God. We walk by faith, we live by faith. Faith is the vehicle by which we take hold of the promises of God and cause those things to manifest in the natural. Romans 10:17 says that faith comes by hearing the word of God. The whole purpose behind Satan coming against us with his lies and accusations is to steal the word from us. This is why it is so vitally important that we know what the word says about us because when Satan comes against us we can lift the shield of faith, through the word and quench his lies and accusations.
HELMET OF SALVATION.
The helmet protects our thinking. Romans 12:2 says that we are not to be conformed to the world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, that we may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Our minds have to be renewed to the word of God, our thinking must line up with what God's word says, if it doesn't then we will not be able to walk in the will of God for our lives. One of Satan's tactics is to come against us with doubt, he will deliberately question the word of God, like he did with Adam and Eve in the garden, "Did God really say that?" If Satan can control your thinking, he can control you. If you doubt God's word or His direction for your life you will not do what God is asking you to do and you will fall into the trap of Satan. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 talks about the fact that our weapons are not carnal or fleshly but that they are mighty in God, to the pulling down of strongholds. Satan's plan is to set up strongholds in your mind, that is why it goes on to say in that passage that we must take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. If our thoughts do not line up with the word of God we must cast them down, David said in Psalm 119:92 that if the law of God had not been his delight, he would have perished in his affliction. We need to make God's word our priority, to meditate in it, to align our thinking with it or Satan will be able to establish strongholds in our minds. It is as we allow our minds and our thinking to be renewed by the word of God, as we align our thoughts with Gods thoughts that we wear the helmet of salvation.
SWORD OF THE SPIRIT.
The sword of the Spirit is the word of God, it is our offensive weapon. When Satan comes against us with his lies, doubts and temptations we can use the word of God to repel him. When Jesus was in the wilderness and Satan came to tempt Him, Jesus quoted the Word of God back at him. We can do the same thing. Death and life is in the power of the tongue, our words will either produce death or life. If what we speak does not line up with the word of God we give Satan the opportunity to rob from us.David said, 'Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Your sight O Lord" It is vitally important that when we are under attack that we speak in accordance with the word of God. It is the only weapon by which we can defeat the enemy, all others weapons are defensive ones.
PRAYING AT ALL TIMES IN THE SPIRIT.
It is so important that our prayers are Spirit led. In James 5:16 it says that it is the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man that avails much. In our passage in verse 18 it says, "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit" Romans 8:26-28 shows us the importance of praying in the Spirit. Verse 26 shows us that when we don't know how to pray about a situation, we really do need to seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit, praying in the Spirit here includes praying in tongues, It says in that verse that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us, with groanings that cannot be uttered, in other words, we don't understand the words. Paul goes on to say that as the Spirit does this He intercedes for us according to the will of God, and as a result all things work out for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. We see there as God's will is established it works out for our good. In Matthew 6:10 Jesus said in the Lords prayer "Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" We pray for Gods will to be done on the earth. In Matthew 18:18-19 we see that prayer is warfare, Whatever we bind on earth, will be bound in heaven, and whatever we loose on earth will be loosed in heaven, and if two of us come into agreement on an issue it will be done by our Father. Prayer is such a vital part of our lives, in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 it simply says; Pray without ceasing. Our lives need to be one of continual prayer, continually being in contact with our Father through the Spirit.
So as we have seen our armour is not physical, it is not something that hangs in the wardrobe until we decide to get it out and put it on like any other suit, it is Spiritual, it is based on who we are in Christ and the authority that we have in Him. So what does it mean when it says to put it on. If it is Spiritual, then it is in the Holy Spirit, and seeing that we have the Holy Spirit living in us, we put it on as we walk in what it says about us, as we allow the Spirit to guide us through the Word of God in all we do. As we walk in His righteousness, as we stand in the Gospel, the Word of God, as we walk in faith, having our minds renewed by the Word of God, and yielding the sword of the Spirit to defeat the enemy. Remembering always to pray in the Spirit, with all perseverance for ourselves and all the saints. Knowing that as we do this Jesus will always lead us in triumph.
SHOES OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE.
Most people see these as the shoes that we wear when we are sharing the Gospel, while we should take our armour off, so to speak, and we will have them on at that time. These are our shoes so that we can walk in the peace of God, irrespective of our situation. In John 14:27 Jesus said that He would give us peace, His peace, His peace is not the same as the peace that the world tries to give us and so he says that we should not be afraid or troubled. Philippians 4:7 says that the peace that God gives us is beyond our natural thinking, and that it will protect our hearts and our minds, so it does not matter what situation we find ourselves in, if we continue to stand in the word of God, standing in the good news of what Christ has done for us, we can know His peace, and it will be beyond our natural thinking. In Matthew 14:22-31 we see the story of Peter walking on the water, the disciples are out on the sea of Galilee when a storm comes up, Jesus comes walking towards them on the water, Peter calls out and says that if it is Jesus, "Bid me come" so Jesus tells him to come to Him. Peter gets out of boat and begins to walk towards Jesus, but he takes his eyes off Jesus and looks at the storm raging around him, and he begins to sink. If Peter had kept his eyes on Jesus he would not have sunk, when we are facing the storms of life we must continue to walk in the word that Jesus has given us and not talk our eyes of Jesus, as it says in Hebrews 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and the finisher of our faith.
SHIELD OF FAITH.
The shield of faith is designed to quench all the fiery darts of the enemy. The opposite of faith is doubt and unbelief. Satan will come against us with accusation and lies to try and get us to doubt the word of God. We walk by faith, we live by faith. Faith is the vehicle by which we take hold of the promises of God and cause those things to manifest in the natural. Romans 10:17 says that faith comes by hearing the word of God. The whole purpose behind Satan coming against us with his lies and accusations is to steal the word from us. This is why it is so vitally important that we know what the word says about us because when Satan comes against us we can lift the shield of faith, through the word and quench his lies and accusations.
HELMET OF SALVATION.
The helmet protects our thinking. Romans 12:2 says that we are not to be conformed to the world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, that we may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Our minds have to be renewed to the word of God, our thinking must line up with what God's word says, if it doesn't then we will not be able to walk in the will of God for our lives. One of Satan's tactics is to come against us with doubt, he will deliberately question the word of God, like he did with Adam and Eve in the garden, "Did God really say that?" If Satan can control your thinking, he can control you. If you doubt God's word or His direction for your life you will not do what God is asking you to do and you will fall into the trap of Satan. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 talks about the fact that our weapons are not carnal or fleshly but that they are mighty in God, to the pulling down of strongholds. Satan's plan is to set up strongholds in your mind, that is why it goes on to say in that passage that we must take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. If our thoughts do not line up with the word of God we must cast them down, David said in Psalm 119:92 that if the law of God had not been his delight, he would have perished in his affliction. We need to make God's word our priority, to meditate in it, to align our thinking with it or Satan will be able to establish strongholds in our minds. It is as we allow our minds and our thinking to be renewed by the word of God, as we align our thoughts with Gods thoughts that we wear the helmet of salvation.
SWORD OF THE SPIRIT.
The sword of the Spirit is the word of God, it is our offensive weapon. When Satan comes against us with his lies, doubts and temptations we can use the word of God to repel him. When Jesus was in the wilderness and Satan came to tempt Him, Jesus quoted the Word of God back at him. We can do the same thing. Death and life is in the power of the tongue, our words will either produce death or life. If what we speak does not line up with the word of God we give Satan the opportunity to rob from us.David said, 'Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Your sight O Lord" It is vitally important that when we are under attack that we speak in accordance with the word of God. It is the only weapon by which we can defeat the enemy, all others weapons are defensive ones.
PRAYING AT ALL TIMES IN THE SPIRIT.
It is so important that our prayers are Spirit led. In James 5:16 it says that it is the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man that avails much. In our passage in verse 18 it says, "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit" Romans 8:26-28 shows us the importance of praying in the Spirit. Verse 26 shows us that when we don't know how to pray about a situation, we really do need to seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit, praying in the Spirit here includes praying in tongues, It says in that verse that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us, with groanings that cannot be uttered, in other words, we don't understand the words. Paul goes on to say that as the Spirit does this He intercedes for us according to the will of God, and as a result all things work out for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. We see there as God's will is established it works out for our good. In Matthew 6:10 Jesus said in the Lords prayer "Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" We pray for Gods will to be done on the earth. In Matthew 18:18-19 we see that prayer is warfare, Whatever we bind on earth, will be bound in heaven, and whatever we loose on earth will be loosed in heaven, and if two of us come into agreement on an issue it will be done by our Father. Prayer is such a vital part of our lives, in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 it simply says; Pray without ceasing. Our lives need to be one of continual prayer, continually being in contact with our Father through the Spirit.
So as we have seen our armour is not physical, it is not something that hangs in the wardrobe until we decide to get it out and put it on like any other suit, it is Spiritual, it is based on who we are in Christ and the authority that we have in Him. So what does it mean when it says to put it on. If it is Spiritual, then it is in the Holy Spirit, and seeing that we have the Holy Spirit living in us, we put it on as we walk in what it says about us, as we allow the Spirit to guide us through the Word of God in all we do. As we walk in His righteousness, as we stand in the Gospel, the Word of God, as we walk in faith, having our minds renewed by the Word of God, and yielding the sword of the Spirit to defeat the enemy. Remembering always to pray in the Spirit, with all perseverance for ourselves and all the saints. Knowing that as we do this Jesus will always lead us in triumph.
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