Armor All

“Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground”
(Ephesians 6:13)

They say that the Battle of Saratoga may have very well been the turning point of the Revolutionary war, due to a group of men called Morgan’s Rifles, lead by Daniel Morgan a man who by all means was a great sharp shooter. It’s said that they did not miss what their sights were focused on.

During that battle Morgan & his men were fighting the British when it’s said that Morgan gave an odd command:

“Forget the poor fellow that fights for six pence a day, and concentrate your fire on the epaulets”.

An Epaulet is the shoulder decorations that the British commanders would normally wear on their jackets. What Morgan was saying was…take out the leaders. That’s what made the difference in the Battle of Saratoga & may have made the turn in the Revolutionary War…the loss of too many commanders. Now I find that to be a good thing & I am by no means comparing Daniel Morgan to Satan, but what was done in that battle is exactly what Satan does to the Church…focuses his fire on the leaders, the ones who take a stand, the ones who are doing something for Christ. Satan says, “We can’t shoot at all of them…shoot at the leaders, hit those who are taking a stand, those who are making a difference.”

There’s a saying that “The ferocity of Satan’s attacks on you are in direct proportion to your potential usefulness for Jesus Christ”. Are you leading, are you making a difference? Are Satan’s attacks becoming ferocious?

I was listening to a pastor the other day, who gave some tips on how to protect you from those attacks, by every day putting on the Full Armor of God that is listed in Ephesians 6.

“Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground…” We are told first to put on the armor of God, so that when Satan comes, we will be ready. What good would it do, to wait until your enemy got in your face for battle, to put on your armor? Don’t wait, put it on ever morning, be ready & stand firm.

Put on the “belt of truth”, this belt holds the whole thing together. Without it, the breast plate would flop around & there would be no place to hang your sword. When you put on the belt, say, “Lord only truth today, no deceit”. God wants us to be truthful. Live your life without lies, often it seems the easy way out of a tough situation that Satan brings your way, but Satan himself is called “The father of lies”. We need to live upright & honest.

Next put on “breastplate of righteousness”, this protects your vital organs…mainly your heart. Without it on a battle field, you would not last long. In putting it on every morning say, “Lord only what is pure today”. Only put into your mind that which is pure. Be careful what you take in…keep focused on what’s pure. David left off his righteousness for a day & fell hard with a lady named Bathsheba. If you go into battle with one piece missing, that will be were Satan will strike, your weakest point.

Then put on the sandals of “the gospel of peace”. These sandals are not your everyday flip flops with a strap. They were more like a wrap around shoe type sandal with cleats on the bottom, a lot like football cleats. If an offensive lineman had on slick bottom leather loafers while trying to block a defensive lineman from killing his quarterback, he would be pushed all over…the cleats help stabilize his stance. They were made to help the soldier to stand his ground. That’s exactly what the gospel does for us; it gives us the stability we need to stand on. The Holy Spirit living in me gives me the peace I need through troubling times in my life that Satan may throw at me. So in putting on the sandals of the “gospel of peace” say, “Lord only your peace today, not my worry”, let His peace guard your life.

The next item is the “shield of faith”. Roman soldier’s shields were almost as long as the soldier who carried it, it was a full body shield. During the wars they fought, they would often encounter flaming arrows. They were arrows that had been coated on the end with a flammable substance, set a blaze & shot at the enemy, this arrow would cause terrible damage to whoever it landed on. But the shields that the soldiers had protected them from these attacks, our shield of Faith will protect us as well. Just like the shield helped the soldier not to fear those flaming arrows, we have no need to fear the arrows that Satan shoots our way, we can rest in our faith in God. When you take up the shield of Faith say this, “Lord, only faith today not fear”, have faith in God, He loves you & will protect you.

Now take the “helmet of salvation”, the helmet in battle was a very important part of the armor, without it you could loose your mind…literally. To battle Satan, you must be in your right mind; the only way to do that is to be in Christ & have the mind of Christ…you must be saved. Salvation is the only way to be in your right mind. When putting on the “helmet of salvation” say this, “Only the cross no other power”, there is no other power that will work or that we need other than the power that Christ provided from the cross & resurrection.

The last piece of the armor the “sword of the Spirit” the Word of God…the Bible, is very important, it is the only offensive part that you have, the rest is to defend with. But it is the most neglected part of the armor in today’s society. J. Vernon McGee said that almost every home in America has a copy of the Bible, if you don’t have one, you can ask & someone will give you one. In most “Christian’s” homes there are at least four or more Bible…but who is reading them? We can not neglect God’s word & make it through this battle of life. We can put on all the armor we want, but when it comes time to fight…we will be seen as unarmed, when our enemy comes fully loaded, if we do not have our “sword of the Spirit”. When Jesus encountered Satan in the wilderness, He used God’s word to defeat him, we do too.

Without knowing God’s word we can get pulled into all sorts of false teachings. I had a guy send me a video the other day & that was trying to prove that Jesus was not God. In the video they used the book of Jude, written by the brother of Jesus, to say that he was warning about a group of people who had infiltrated the group of believers & these infiltrators had been teaching that Jesus was God & that Jude knowing Jesus so well was saying that Jesus was not God. Now this is the verse they used Jude 4 & this is how they quoted it, “For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality.” The Guy who was asking the question said, “Now I’m a Christian, but all they showed is really good evidence that Jesus was not God. How do I defend that?” I thought to myself, are you kidding me…lets actually look at what Jude 4 truly says, “For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality...” It does say that, but read the rest, “…and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.” If the guy would have picked up his Bible & actually read it, he would have had no reason to ask the question he did…he would have seen the attack of Satan & fended it off with God’s Word. When you are taking up the “sword of the Spirit” say this, “Lord, only what you say, not my feelings”, the guy asking the question about Jesus being God was going on how that video made him feel, not by God’s Word.

Now that we have on the “Full Armor of God”, it goes on to tell us, “…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”, be in pray at all times. Prayer meetings & things like that are fine, but we often feel as though when we leave one, that we are through praying. We need to be a people of prayer, people who pray at anytime & any place. We need to stay in constant contact with God. The soldier could put on the armor & hold his sword, but if he didn’t train, it would all be for nothing, much like trying to live the Christian life without prayer.

When asked, a Roman commander said that one of the reasons that Rome fell was due to laziness. Rome got comfortable & lazy, they stopped the military drills & the soldiers petitioned Cesar asking to be able to not wear the heavy, bulky armor. They hadn’t kept in shape, they hadn’t trained…they were weak & they couldn’t handle the extra weight of the armor. When they went to battle the Goths, without their protective armor…they were defeated. The sad part is that no one stood up & said, “Put the armor back on!”

When we face Satan day in & day out, without God’s armor…we too will be defeated. The Full Armor of God is one of the main things we are lacking in the church, so I’m saying now…”Put the armor back on!”

Print off the portion below & keep it with you, tape it in your Bible, put it in your wallet or purse & daily put on the armor of God:

“Lord only truth today, no deceit”
“Lord only what is pure today”
“Lord only your peace today, not my worry”
“Lord, only faith today not fear”
“Only the cross no other power”
“Lord, only what you say, not my feelings”
Pray at all times

Vern