Tag Archives: armor of God

October 29, 2018 · 11:02 am

Dressed for Battle

Peninsula Community Church

Dressed for Battle

October 28, 2018

Ephesians 6:10-13 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil 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 firm.

In today’s world many professions have a dress code of sorts. Football players wear uniforms. These uniforms identity the team, the player’s number, and their name, usually. The uniform in essence serves to identity who they are, whose team they are on, and it provides a level of protection or security. A fire fighter wears turnout gear which includes a helmet, a jacket, pants, boots, gloves, and ID badge. These items are worn to identify who they are and for protection. A police office wears a uniform with a badge, a bulletin proof vest, a radio, and cameras. These items serve to identify who they are and the vest, camera, and radio serves to protect them. The same is true in regards to the spiritual armor Paul calls us to wear. By wearing the armor, we are identified by our Lord and people know what team we are on. By wearing the armor we are protected from the enemy’s schemes. To be effective we must wear it. It cannot stay in the closet.

It is noteworthy that in our passage, Paul instructs us to put on the whole armor of God. As I was preparing for this, I was struck by the fact that he exhorted us to put on the whole armor, the complete armor, all of the armor. The insinuation is that we are not to go into battle half dressed. Doing so makes us vulnerable and gives room for the enemy to attack the areas not covered by the armor. Without the whole armor of God we are in fact set up for defeat because the enemy is very aware of our weaknesses when we are not fully dressed. Our enemy is the master of distraction. He is the master of deception and falsehood. He is the master of distortion and he seems to know right where to attack because he knows the spots that are uncovered.

We are to put on the complete armor therefore we cannot pick and choose which part we will wear. We must put on the complete armor. Why is this? It is because we are less than effective when we pick and choose what pieces to wear. Paul exhorts us to stand in God’s strength and we do that best when we put on the whole armor of God. In doing so, we stand and do not give room to the enemy. We stand strong so he does not advance against us or the kingdom of God. As believers, we are to stand because God is the One who wins our battles.

In preparing for this, I was thinking about what Paul exhorted us to do. It was critical enough that he said it twice. I had an amazing thought in this regard. If this armor protects us from the schemes of the enemy, then we need the complete whole armor to fight against and counter those schemes. We cannot go into battle half dressed. For example, it is possible that we can put on the helmet of salvation but fail to put on the belt of truth. We are saved, or at least we believe we are, but our actions and thoughts are not founded in truth, because we do not have the belt of truth securely fastened. The result is that we become tormented by falsehoods, lies, and half truths presented to us. We begin to believe the lies and live as if the lies are true. The result is that we believe we need to work harder, strive more, and be more perfect. We can believe that we are never good enough or righteous enough for God. The result is that we are never satisfied with our relationship with Christ, with others, or our circumstances. We feel defeated because we have not settled the truth in our minds that we are believers who are saved by faith and through His grace.

Without the belt of truth, we will have a distorted view of God and of ourselves. From the beginning of time, the enemy has been at work to distort the truth and cause mankind to believe the lie about who God is and what He requires. It is for that reason, so many think that God is angry with them, and that they have done too much for God to redeem them or set them free. The helmet of Salvation along with the belt of truth leads to correct thinking.

It is also possible that we can have the helmet of salvation on but fail to strap on the gospel of peace. When this occurs, we tend to look to other sources rather than the gospel of Christ to bring us peace. In the end, this causes confusion about our identity and whose we are. In our world today there are so many voices that are speaking into our life. Media continues to tell us we are not good enough unless we drive a certain car. We are not beautiful unless we wear a certain makeup or drink a certain drink. We are not attractive unless we wear a certain aftershave or dress in a certain way. If we could only win the Mega Ball or the Power Ball drawing! These voices tend to give us a false identity. They cause us to strive to be something that God never created us to be.

When pastoring in New York, I had a lady call me to ask my advice about a very important subject but I had to chuckle because she prefaced the question with “I have talked to my psychiatrist, my psychologist, my counselor, my medical doctor, and my other pastor, and I was wondering what you thought.” One of her major issues was the confusion she had because too many people were speaking into her life and were giving her conflicting opinions. She was not looking for truth, she was looking for the answer she wanted to hear.

There are a lot of great people in the world with a lot of worldly wisdom and wise sayings. But, we need more than witty sayings, and worldly wisdom, we need the power of God at work in our life. We need the power of the gospel to guide and direct our steps. We need the wisdom of God to be at work in us. That wisdom only comes from the gospel of Christ. When our feet do not have the gospel strapped on we will be misdirected and misguided. That is why David stated so clearly that God’s word was a light unto his path. It was the source of his decision making and it was the source of his hope (Psalm 119:105). Without the Gospel of peace, we can roam aimlessly through life and never realize that we have been called to a greater purpose. That calling is to influence those around us. We are called to go where God leads and do what God calls us to do.

We can have on the helmet of salvation but fail to secure the breastplate of righteousness. Without the breastplate of righteousness we can believe that we have to work to be good enough. We try to live by the rules without grace. We try to tow the line without the power of God. We fail to remember that we are righteous by His righteousness. It is only through His shed blood on Calvary that we are righteous. It is imputed to us and not earned. That is truth.

We can have the helmet of salvation but forget to wear the sword of the Spirit. The sword is one of two offensive weapons we have. Without the sword of the spirit we are often more reactive than active. We are often misguided in our focus in terms of our enemy and who that is. Without the sword of the spirit we try to fight battles in a way that God never intended. We try to fight battles that have already been fought and won by our Lord. We become weary and tired because we are fighting with weapons God never intended for us to use. When we surrender to the Spirit, we will have His power to assist us and guide us.

We can also have on the helmet of salvation but not hold the shield of faith to extinguish the fiery darts that the enemy flings at us. Without the shield of faith we are susceptible to the darts and painful parts of life. Sometimes faith is all we have to make it through. We do not see the future very clearly, but faith keeps us going. We do not know how we will endure, but by faith we keep moving forward. After all faith is the assurance of things hoped for and confidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). The fiery darts seek to cloud our vision, but by faith we see through the darkness to the light of day.

Finally, we can have the helmet of salvation but miss out on the greatest offensive weapon we have and that is prayer. Without prayer we easily become discouraged and distraught. Prayer is the greatest weapon we have in our arsenal. Prayer is our connection with command central. It is our connection with God alone. It is the source of power.

As a soldier, you would never go to war without proper training, weapons, and protective gear. The Bible is our training guide. Our life experiences and our spiritual walk become our boot camp. The temptations, trials, and attacks we face are all a part of the warfare. As a Christian engaged in spiritual conflicts, you must never leave home without the armor of God! And let me tell you it is much better than American Express.

As we close, I came across this prayer in regard to the armor of God. Let me share it with you. Equip me, Lord with the belt of truth. May your truth rule in my heart and be in my mind and on my lips today. Equip me Lord with the breastplate of righteousness. Apart from You there is no righteousness, but through Jesus I have been “born again” and made righteous in Your sight. May I live as a righteous person. Equip me Lord with feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the Gospel of peace. May I reflect the Gospel in my words and actions, that through me, with my every encounter, others may be drawn one step closer to You. Equip me Lord with the shield of faith. May I take You at Your word concerning promises about the present and future—promises of everlasting love, abundant life, and so much more. Equip me Lord with the helmet of salvation. Remind me that nothing can separate me from Your love and that I’ve been saved by grace. In Your grace, help me to say “no” to all ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live a self-controlled, upright, and godly life (Titus 2:12,13). Equip me Lord with the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. May Your Holy Spirit reign in my life and bring to my mind just the right Bible verses to be in my heart and on my lips. May I be “filled with the Spirit” and ready with Scripture as You were, Jesus, when the devil tempted You. And, finally, keep me in an attitude of prayer. Remind me to “pray in the Spirit on all occasions.” Cause me to be alert and always praying for the saints; to be joyful and to give thanks in everything (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

For an audio of this message go to http://pccministry.org/messages.

Ephesians – Dressed for Success: Wearing the Whole Armor of God

Peninsula Community Church

Ephesians – Dressed for Success: Wearing the Whole Armor of God

May 10, 2015

Ephesians 6:13 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 firm.

I have entitled this message “Dressed for Success, Wearing the Whole Armor of God.” This may seem like a strange Mother’s Day message, but I hope you see where I am going with this before too long. Scientific studies have shown time and again that what one wears effects their attitude, how they respond to life, and how they respond to those around them. One study completed a number of years ago showed that one’s attitude about life and their personal concept of self is changed depending on the clothes they wear. For example, people were asked to wear white lab coats who normally did not wear such coats. What they found is that the subjects who wore the lab coats tended to speak more intelligently, carry themselves more professionally, and act as if they had something important to do. The only difference was what they wore. Spiritually, dressing for success in this world by wearing the whole armor of God is critical because it sets us apart and it positions us for greatness in the kingdom of God.

As we look at this passage this morning, let me, by way of reminder, review what we looked at last week as we focus our thoughts particularly on moms, today. First, as we noted last week, we must realize and moms today, specifically, must realize we have an enemy. He is a real foe and he has a real desire to take us out. As a mom, he desires to neutralize your role as a mother, a wife, and whatever other roles you may serve.

Secondly, we must remember that the battle we face is not against flesh and blood but against spiritual forces. These forces include but are not limited to mindsets about motherhood, thoughts that hinder our growth, reminders of our failures, regrets about decisions, missed opportunities, forgotten dreams and so on and so on. The enemy is good at reminding us of what we have done wrong and where we have failed. These schemes present a real and present danger, if we do not counter them with the whole armor of God.

Thirdly, Paul in our text, today, challenges us in verse 11 to take up the whole armor of God and in verse 13 to put on the whole armor of God. When we leave the house, none of us would leave half dressed, or at least any sane person would not do so. What Paul is saying is that we need to put all of the armor on before we begin our day. To forget to do so, sets us up for an unnecessary assault from the enemy. You see just wearing one part of the armor is insufficient to sustain the attacks of the enemy and it diminishes our ability to be victorious over his schemes.

The first thing to notice about the armor of God is that it is God’s armor which He has supplied for our use. As many of you know, I have joined the Selbyville Fire Department. I finally went on my first call with them on Tuesday. I must admit, I answered the call in part because I was curious about the call, as it was the house fire across the street from where we live. When I arrived at the station, my first assignment was to dress for the fire. I put on my gear before I got on the truck. I had on my boots, I had on the fire suit. I had my the helmet and gloves with me in case I was needed to pull a hose or help carry anything to assist the firefighters who where fighting the blaze. Without the suit, I would be setting myself up for injury. The second idea presented in this illustration was that I was assigned a set of gear by the fire department. It is not my gear, it belongs to the Selbyville Fire Department, but I have the privilege of using it. In fact, it is mandatory for me to be dressed for action when we respond to a fire or car accident. We too need to realize that the armor of God has been given to us by God for our use against the enemy. But unfortunately, the armor of God has been too underutilized to have any effect in our lives.

The second thing about the armor is that it has to be put on. God has given it to us but, we must utilize it for it to be effective. The armor does not do us any good unless we put it on. The fire suit would not help me if it were still at the fire station or on the truck. By the way, the way Paul words this means that putting on the armor of God is a choice we make. The armor does not just appear on us. We are not somehow magically clothed but the command is to take up and put on the armor. We must choose to be clothed in the armor God has provided. We can also choose not to be clothed, but we will suffer the consequences if we make such a choice.

So why is it necessary to put on the armor. To be honest, it is necessary because it is a matter of life and death spiritually. One of the things we learned last week is that the enemy loves to create an atmosphere where we are weakened and we begin to believe the lies that he has spoken to us. He also uses his schemes to attack us in other ways. Without the armor of God, we are more prone to an attack than without it. Let me give you some examples.

First of all, we are more prone to attack when we are tired. This is why I believe that after we are dressed for battle, Paul states that we are to stand firm. When we are tired, we can make bad choices and we can respond negatively to things that would not usually bother us. It is when we are tired that our minds often run amok. We begin to believe things and feel things that are not true. When we are tired, upset, or exasperated we are more easily offended. It is for that reason we must put on the helmet of salvation and the belt of truth. On a side note, sometimes the best spiritual warfare we can do is take a nap.

Second, we are prone to attack when we are alone or we experience loneliness. Note that we can be in a crowd and still feel lonely. The enemy loves to isolate us and separate us so that we feel alone. The enemy knows that we are more vulnerable when we are alone or the feeling of loneliness comes over us. In the wild, the predator knows that it must isolate its prey to kill it. Our enemy also loves to isolate us. So, when you are walking through a difficult season be careful and do not isolate yourself. The fact is we need each other. In this regard, remember that we are a part of an army of believers who make up God’s army.

Third, we are more prone to attack when our expectations have not been met. When this occurs, we can begin to feel that we are a failure and that we or the people in our life are not what they ought to be. The problem is that we begin to try harder and worker harder to be a success or to solve problems. It is not wrong to have expectations, but there is a problem when we allow unmet expectations to control how we respond to others and how we react to circumstances in our life. It is here that Paul commands us to have our feet shod with the gospel of peace. One aspect of peace is contentment. When we serve God and dress for success, we will live in contentment and we will have our hearts filled with gratitude.

Fourth, we are prone to attacks when we begin to compare ourselves to others. The fact is we will always find someone who is more beautiful, skinnier, more popular, more intelligent, richer, who have better kids, someone with a better husband and so on. If allowed, this will cause us to be ungrateful and to lack a heart of thanksgiving. We must understand that each of us are a creation of God. We have been formed and shaped in His image. I can guarantee you that many of those you compare your self too are also comparing themselves to others, as well. And if the truth be known, they are not as great as you think they are. For this reason, we put on the breastplate of righteousness that protects our heart and how we feel about ourselves.

Fifth, we are prone to own the lies and half-truths the enemy presents us. As we said last week, we believe the lies that we are not good enough or smart enough. We believe that God does not love us. We believe that we are not a good parent, a good spouse, or a good friend. We beat ourselves up without merit, but we must take these thoughts captive to the glory of God. That is why we put on the helmet of salvation and the belt of truth so that our thought life will be surrendered to God and that the basis of our decisions and our emotions are in truth and not half-truths or falsehoods.

Paul in 2 Corinthians 10:3-6 had this to say. For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete. So how does the armor of God play a role in all of this? To be dressed for spiritual success means that we are clothed with the armor of God which is truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, the word of God and the power of prayer. How powerful are these tools? They are mighty and powerful. They have the ability to counteract the forces that are at play against us. Rather than being neutralized, we in turn neutralize the effects of the enemy’s tactics, schemes and plans he has against us.

When we wear the whole armor of God, we can be assured that no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD and their vindication from me, declares the LORD” (Isaiah 54:17). But remember, it is our choice to be dressed for success. So today, take up and put on the whole armor of God and dress for success. It is worth it.

For an audio of this message go to http://pccministry.org/media.php?pageID=14

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Dressed for Battle

Ephesians – Dressed for Success: Wearing the Whole Armor of God

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