S.W. In The Armor
Part Three
“In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.” Ephesians 6:16-18a (ESV)
I can hear this being shouted from the pulpit somewhere on St. Olave’s Street in Southwark, England (circa 1755) …“Stand therefore! Keep your ground! Do not desert the army, the Church of Christ, nor His cause; continue in the station in which you are placed, keep your post, be upon your watch, stand upon your guard!” says John Gill in a sermon concerning the process of putting on the armor of God. And so it begins with fastening the belt around your waist. In Isaiah 11:5 it is confirmed by God’s Word, “Righteousness shall be the belt of His waist, and faithfulness the belt of His loins.” But for us this is the belt of Truth or better yet, the Gospel and it is something that should gird us at all times.
Put on the breastplate of righteousness (is this the same the breastplate alluded to in Isaiah 59:17?) But not of the righteousness of men but that of righteous living and the righteousness provided by the Gospel. The breastplate repels the accusations and charges of Satan but is security from wrath and condemnation. After you have received a good foot washing (John 13:1-20) get yourself fitted with a special pair of shoes. Because when we go marching off into this spiritual battle we need to wear the Gospel of peace as like what we can find in Isaiah 52:7. (Now go look that up…no, seriously, go look that up!!)
It had measured about 4 foot in length and 2.5 foot in width and was part of the Roman panoplia (body armor) but when we use it, it becomes the shield of faith. This shield will extinguish the flaming arrows launched at us by our adversary. Abram had a shield (Gen 15:1), His Word is our shield (Pro 30:5) and the shield must match the breastplate. Since we are mentioning the breastplate again let us go back to Isaiah 59:17 and PUT A HELMET ON!!! (Thank you for that Brad Stine) The salvation that this piece of the armor provides will protect your head from some of the most fatal blows to the head that a child of God could take.
Take into your hand that which can cut the heart so that it bleeds conviction. Also understand that this offensive weapon can be used to slice down the righteousness of man because this weapon is received from God, Himself. The sword of the Spirit is one weapon that the Christian at any stage of their walk cannot be without. We should be grasping this weapon right after we have placed the helmet of salvation on our heads. These two pieces of armor are critical to the believer.
But the glue that hold this all together is prayer. After you wake up in the morning, pray on these pieces of God’s armor as you place them upon you. Pray that the stand you take while you walk forward through day dink’s the armor. (Dinked armor is used armor) Don’t fool yourself in thinking that the armor you wear in Christ Jesus is just meant for you to stand out in the crowd. Your armor should get dirty, scratched, scraped and have its share of wear. It will be when you get to the foot of the Cross with it on that it will regain its shine again. Be battle ready…Be In The Armor!!! – Chris Hughes is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy and a member of the Freedom Fighter writing team
Team YOU: Joshua 7-9; Proverbs 21; Luke 1:21-38
Motivations: “Give yourselves to this Word of God, the Bible. Use it to know yourself and confirm your own spiritual life. If there is life, there will be love and joy and a heart to obey the Word.. Give yourselves to this Word so that your words become the Word of God for others and reveal to them their own spiritual condition. Then in the wound of the Word, pour the balm of the Word.”---John Piper
Practice to Remember: Level 1:Ephesians 4:11-12; Level 2: Ephesians 4:1-6
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