Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for our NHS and care workers is in hot demand; however there is deep concern over the lack of suitable PPE being distributed to these workers.
Doctors, nurses and care workers are voicing their deep concern about fighting the Covid-19 pandemic whilst keeping themselves safe in the process and rightly so. These people are deeply aware that their lives are in great danger being exposed to the evil of this virus without appropriate clothing and equipment and they may as well be wearing PJ's and fluffy slippers for all their current uniform is worth!
Wish that all Christians were just as aware of the dangers that they face through not being suitably dressed albeit it for a very different kind of battle, i.e. with the evil one—the devil! Christians have absolutely no excuse however; our full and necessary PPE has already been provided, we just need to put it on!
The Armour of God
Ephesians 6:10-18
Copyright W McCallum (March 2009)
Doctors, nurses and care workers are voicing their deep concern about fighting the Covid-19 pandemic whilst keeping themselves safe in the process and rightly so. These people are deeply aware that their lives are in great danger being exposed to the evil of this virus without appropriate clothing and equipment and they may as well be wearing PJ's and fluffy slippers for all their current uniform is worth!
Wish that all Christians were just as aware of the dangers that they face through not being suitably dressed albeit it for a very different kind of battle, i.e. with the evil one—the devil! Christians have absolutely no excuse however; our full and necessary PPE has already been provided, we just need to put it on!
The Armour of God
Ephesians 6:10-18
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10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
Too many Christians fail to realise that we are in a spiritual battle. However, this battle is like no other because Ephesians 6:12 teaches us that "our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” It therefore stands to reason that our weapons are also unlike any other!
Ephesians Chapter 6 teaches about the weapons of our warfare. It is important that we know what the 'spiritual application' is concerning these weapons.
When I first tried to grasp what the passage in Ephesians 6:10-18 had to teach, I was totally bewildered. I wasn't sure what each part of armour represented. I was so naive and thought applying the spiritual armour meant repeating a set of words like some kind of ritual; however as I prayed and studied this passage of Scripture, I began to realise that the spiritual armour teaches us how to live the Christian life day by day. Also, unlike any 'normal' armour, the spiritual armour of God is not something we should ever lay down or remove. Rather, the armour of God is to be worn—or perhaps I should say "lived out"—continually.
Ephesians Chapter 6 teaches about the weapons of our warfare. It is important that we know what the 'spiritual application' is concerning these weapons.
When I first tried to grasp what the passage in Ephesians 6:10-18 had to teach, I was totally bewildered. I wasn't sure what each part of armour represented. I was so naive and thought applying the spiritual armour meant repeating a set of words like some kind of ritual; however as I prayed and studied this passage of Scripture, I began to realise that the spiritual armour teaches us how to live the Christian life day by day. Also, unlike any 'normal' armour, the spiritual armour of God is not something we should ever lay down or remove. Rather, the armour of God is to be worn—or perhaps I should say "lived out"—continually.
THE ARMOUR OF GOD (Ephesians 6: 10-18)
LIVE it – the 'Belt of Truth' (v 14a) – love truth and live honestly - don't lie; hate lies and every falsehood.
The belt on a soldier’s armour was used to keep his garments up. If he needed to run, he would tuck his robes under his belt so that they would not trip him up. In the same way, we need to learn what God’s Word teaches so that we will know the truth and not be tripped up through lies and false teaching which the enemy tries to use to make us stumble in our faith.
LEAN on it – the 'Breastplate of Righteousness' (v 14b) - don't depend on your own self-righteousness and works of the flesh (which is pride) but rather lean, i.e. depend upon Christ’s righteousness alone. Jesus is our righteousness and His Holy Spirit will help us to live righteously if we humble ourselves according to His will.
LOVE it – the 'Sandals of Peace' (v 15) - love peace; seek peace; live peacefully with all wherever possible; and spread the Gospel of peace wherever you go. When the peace of God rules in our hearts, we know we are on the right path. The enemy seeks to ruin our peace and get us off track with God. We need to be careful not to allow anything to ruin our peace so that we remain in step with the Lord. When we lose our peace, we need to backtrack until we find where we left its path, repent and start walking on the right path again.
LIFT it – the 'Shield of Faith' (v 16) - the enemy wants to destroy our faith by discouraging us and bringing us down in our spirits; he wants to have us depend on our 'feelings' rather than our 'faith'. When feelings are overwhelming, we are encouraged through God's Word to lift up our praises to God in faith (which the Bible describes as being a sacrifice of praise). When we praise God in difficult circumstances, we obey God and show Him our confidence is in Him. This is pleasing to God, however our enemy and his minions HATE to hear us praise God 'in Spirit and in Truth' and they tend to flee during such times.
LEAD WITH IT – the 'Helmet of Salvation' (v 17a) - through Christ's salvation we are no longer conquered by sin and circumstances but conquerors through Him who loves us. We are the 'head' and no longer the 'tail' - victors and not victims. We need to learn this Biblical mentality and allow the mind of Christ to lead us so that we can take every wrong thought captive and cast it down in His Name. In other words, we are to be renewed in our mind by the Word of God. What we focus on in our minds has a major impact on our lives. If we want God's Word to impact our lives, we need to meditate, pray and read the Scriptures in order to get them deep down into our minds.
Our enemy will do everything in his power to keep us from God's Word because he knows the impact it has in our lives through the renewing of our minds. Therefore, it stands to reason that our enemy will do everything to keep us being renewed in our minds through God's Word. This is why our mind is so often the place where he aims to attack us with unbelief and lies.
Protect your mind by prayerfully reading God's Word and allow it to renew your thoughts daily.
LIVE it – the 'Belt of Truth' (v 14a) – love truth and live honestly - don't lie; hate lies and every falsehood.
The belt on a soldier’s armour was used to keep his garments up. If he needed to run, he would tuck his robes under his belt so that they would not trip him up. In the same way, we need to learn what God’s Word teaches so that we will know the truth and not be tripped up through lies and false teaching which the enemy tries to use to make us stumble in our faith.
LEAN on it – the 'Breastplate of Righteousness' (v 14b) - don't depend on your own self-righteousness and works of the flesh (which is pride) but rather lean, i.e. depend upon Christ’s righteousness alone. Jesus is our righteousness and His Holy Spirit will help us to live righteously if we humble ourselves according to His will.
LOVE it – the 'Sandals of Peace' (v 15) - love peace; seek peace; live peacefully with all wherever possible; and spread the Gospel of peace wherever you go. When the peace of God rules in our hearts, we know we are on the right path. The enemy seeks to ruin our peace and get us off track with God. We need to be careful not to allow anything to ruin our peace so that we remain in step with the Lord. When we lose our peace, we need to backtrack until we find where we left its path, repent and start walking on the right path again.
LIFT it – the 'Shield of Faith' (v 16) - the enemy wants to destroy our faith by discouraging us and bringing us down in our spirits; he wants to have us depend on our 'feelings' rather than our 'faith'. When feelings are overwhelming, we are encouraged through God's Word to lift up our praises to God in faith (which the Bible describes as being a sacrifice of praise). When we praise God in difficult circumstances, we obey God and show Him our confidence is in Him. This is pleasing to God, however our enemy and his minions HATE to hear us praise God 'in Spirit and in Truth' and they tend to flee during such times.
LEAD WITH IT – the 'Helmet of Salvation' (v 17a) - through Christ's salvation we are no longer conquered by sin and circumstances but conquerors through Him who loves us. We are the 'head' and no longer the 'tail' - victors and not victims. We need to learn this Biblical mentality and allow the mind of Christ to lead us so that we can take every wrong thought captive and cast it down in His Name. In other words, we are to be renewed in our mind by the Word of God. What we focus on in our minds has a major impact on our lives. If we want God's Word to impact our lives, we need to meditate, pray and read the Scriptures in order to get them deep down into our minds.
Our enemy will do everything in his power to keep us from God's Word because he knows the impact it has in our lives through the renewing of our minds. Therefore, it stands to reason that our enemy will do everything to keep us being renewed in our minds through God's Word. This is why our mind is so often the place where he aims to attack us with unbelief and lies.
Protect your mind by prayerfully reading God's Word and allow it to renew your thoughts daily.
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LEARN TO LUNGE IT - the 'Sword of the Spirit' (v 17b) i.e. the Word of God. The better we know God's Word (i.e. learn it), the better we will be able to do battle against the enemy with it (i.e. lunge it). God's Word is alive and active and sharper than any double-edged sword (2 Timothy 3:15). Jesus teaches us how to use this particular weapon in Luke 4:1-13.
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Not only is the Word of God sharp and swift when used correctly against our enemy but it also speaks of Satan and his minions' downfall! Satan will do everything to discourage us from learning how to use God's Word and it stands to reason why.
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Also:.
LABOUR IN IT – i.e. 'Prayer in the Spirit' (v 18a) – pray all kinds of prayer; at all times; also pray for the one another. Prayer is our communication with the Father. Communication is vital in any battle between the Commander in charge and his soldiers. The enemy knows this and seeks to sever our communication with Our Commander in the hope that we will go through the battle alone (which of course spells disaster in any battle).
Also:.
LABOUR IN IT – i.e. 'Prayer in the Spirit' (v 18a) – pray all kinds of prayer; at all times; also pray for the one another. Prayer is our communication with the Father. Communication is vital in any battle between the Commander in charge and his soldiers. The enemy knows this and seeks to sever our communication with Our Commander in the hope that we will go through the battle alone (which of course spells disaster in any battle).
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LOOK OUT! – Be alert! (v 18b) - don't become complacent - we have an enemy whose subtle ways have been described above but thankfully we also have armour for each of his subtle tactics. Always keep in mind that Satan is looking for ways to:.
LOOK OUT! – Be alert! (v 18b) - don't become complacent - we have an enemy whose subtle ways have been described above but thankfully we also have armour for each of his subtle tactics. Always keep in mind that Satan is looking for ways to:.
- Trip us up with his lies
- Pander to our own self-righteousness (pride) rather than rely on Christ's righteousness
- Get us off God's path of peace as well as prevent us from spreading the Gospel of peace
- Encourage us to be led by our feelings rather than by faith
- Discourage us from being renewed with the mind of Christ through the Word of God
- Keep us from meditating and studying God’s Word so that we will not learn how to use the Word of God effectively against him and his minions
- Sever our communication with the Father which has disastrous results
Conclusion
I hope this study has helped us to realise how vitally important it is to be suitably dressed for battle against our enemy—the devil—and that we would understand how to apply our spiritual armour to do battle with his evil forces. C'mon girls, you wouldn't go into battle wearing PJ's and fluffy slippers, so if you haven't already done so, suit up and put on the armour of God!
Remember the outline:
Live it (v 14a) - Belt of Truth
Lean on it (v 14b) – Breastplate of Righteousness
Love it (v 15) – Sandals of Peace
Lift it (v 16) – Shield of Faith
Lead with it (v 17a) – Helmet of Salvation
Lunge it (v 17b) – Sword of the Spirit
Labour in it (v 18a) – Prayer in the Spirit
Look out (v 18b) – Be alert!.
I hope this study has helped us to realise how vitally important it is to be suitably dressed for battle against our enemy—the devil—and that we would understand how to apply our spiritual armour to do battle with his evil forces. C'mon girls, you wouldn't go into battle wearing PJ's and fluffy slippers, so if you haven't already done so, suit up and put on the armour of God!
Remember the outline:
Live it (v 14a) - Belt of Truth
Lean on it (v 14b) – Breastplate of Righteousness
Love it (v 15) – Sandals of Peace
Lift it (v 16) – Shield of Faith
Lead with it (v 17a) – Helmet of Salvation
Lunge it (v 17b) – Sword of the Spirit
Labour in it (v 18a) – Prayer in the Spirit
Look out (v 18b) – Be alert!.
Copyright W McCallum (March 2009)
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