The Armour of God for the believer


The Armour of God for the believer
After three blogs on sexuality and the church, there was a need to write how to fight sin. The allure of sexual sin is powerful and many have been caught in it. Christians have a weaponry available to them that can shift their lives dramatically for the better. The weaponry is applicable for all kinds of sinful habits. After the previous blog, Lust and the City, we said we would look into the armour of God. Take a read first.
Image courtesy of www.popartdecoration.com/
Ephesians 6:10-18. 
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For 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. 13 Therefore 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. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and 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 Lord’s people.
Principles!
Be of good courage!
V10- Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Stand strong and courageous! The battle is the Lord’s. Your struggle against sin is not faced alone. The power of God and his presence is with you to overcome it. He even says in 1st Corinthians 10:13, no temptation is stronger than the “temptee.”
You have available weaponry!
V11- Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.
Every scheme of the devil, every opportunity to fall can be overcome with this special combat gear.
You’re at war with dark forces
V12- For 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.
Do not underestimate the power sin has over you. It can breed spiritual oppression. There is a very strong demonic presence at work that’s making sure the believer doesn’t rise.
It is important that you stand!
V13- Therefore 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.
Evil is all around us and we need the armour to withstand the pressure and power over us.
The armour
The Belt
V14 a 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist,
A belt is very practical to ensure that you are not caught with your pants down! That belt is truth. That truth is the Bible. The Bible is God’s very own words written to you because he loves you. If you are not imbibing truth, you are a fallen soldier in the spiritual war. You may be well armoured in all other areas but you keep pulling your pants up whenever they fall. Without truth, every opinion will sound sacred. Without truth you have no belt in the battle. You received the belt of truth the day you accepted Jesus into your life. Now that you received the belt, you need to put it on.
Application


The Breastplate
V14b with the breastplate of righteousness in place,
All your good deeds and righteous works cannot save you from sin. Our best deeds are like filthy rags before God (Isaiah 64:6). However, you still need righteousness to fight sin, just not your own. You need Christ’s righteousness. To acquire Christ’s righteousness you need humility. You need to be humble and admit that only Christ’s power can truly protect your heart. The breastplate covers the heart you know. You also need to repent of any pride that you can be good on your own merit. Our most decent deeds are but filthy rags before God (Isaiah 64:6). Is He that mean? No, He is that holy. You need his forgiveness and you need His righteousness.
However God’s righteousness for the armour is not based only from the righteousness that comes from salvation. The righteousness from salvation is the one that seals us for heaven. The righteousness Paul means here is the one to keep us clean and upright from the sinful world as we await Jesus’ return. We know this because Paul tells us in Titus 2:11-14:
Titus 2:11-14 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
The righteousness needed to arm ourselves with the body of Christ is therefore not only righteousness from salvation but also righteousness from obedience of God’s word and saying “no” to sin. It is based on obeying his word. Jesus said in John 13:17 “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” We will be blessed not if we preach them or speak them but if we DO them. We know that righteousness attracts God’s blessings. Therefore being blessed by doing is the same as being righteous by doing. However this kind of righteousness does not save our souls, it only blesses us. We are saved by God’s righteousness and His righteousness alone, not by our works. Are you doing what the Bible says? Are you applying what you hear and read or are you just jotting it down for show?
Action plan


The Shoes
V15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
Your feet need to keep you going. They can only keep you going if they aren’t getting pricked. You need shoes. The shoes are the gospel. Do you share the gospel? When was the last time you did? Did the person give their lives to Christ? When we share the gospel we acknowledge that we are Christians. However, there’s something else that we also do when we share the gospel that is so powerful to fight the battle against sin. We keep ourselves accountable. Every time you share the gospel, you are more conscious to live a life worthy of that gospel. Don’t fear! Like Paul in Romans 1:16 declare today. “I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for the salvation of those who believe; first for the Jew and then for the gentile.”
Action Plan


The Shield
V16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
Is your shield held surely or full of doubt? Is your faith weak? In 1 Peter 1:5, we are told that faith shields us until the day of God’s return.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. (Emphasis my own)
As we follow Christ we are shielded by faith in Him. A shield gives the soldier the confidence that he is protected from whatever is coming his way. The shield will deflect it. At times, the soldier does not see the front because the shield is protecting him/her. He still advances even when he doesn’t see because the shield will keep him/her safe. Our faith is similar. We do not see the road ahead but we advance for we walk by faith and not by sight. If we were to walk by sight, we wouldn’t be protected from the oncoming arrows. Don’t lower your faith to “see”. Raise it to believe. Faith is assurance even when the shield covers our view.
Hebrews 11:1 “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.”(NLT)
Paul gives the analogy of the believer’s spiritual fight using a Roman soldier’s war attire. In light of that, we assume a Roman war shield.
A Roman soldier's shield was called a scutum (pronounced |ˈsk(y)oōtəm|) The scutum was oblong in shape and curved to fit and protect the body down to the knees. It covered the whole body. The shield was made of lightweight wood, then covered with leather or linen material and held together with metal. If you were a soldier in a Roman legion you would hold your sword in one hand to attack the enemy and your shield in your other hand to protect your body. The shield would also be used to push back the enemy. There was a single handle at the back of the shield and an iron shield stud protected the soldier’s hand at the front of the shield. The stud was in the centre of the shield and would help to make the shield stronger.
Note the verse in Ephesians 6:16 says the shield is to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Not some. All. It extinguishes all because all the body is covered by the scutum of faith. The scutum was designed in such a way that it protected the legionaries completely. You faith if exercised will do the same. All the arrows of lust and sin fired by the evil one will be put out by your faith. Your faith begins the moment you believe that God exists.
Hebrews 11:6a “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists”
Your faith is then perfected when you earnestly seek God.
Hebrews 11:6b “and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
Therefore: “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
Your faith is also built up by hearing the word of God. Romans 10:17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.
Two things: Earnestly seek God and hear the word of God.
How do we earnestly seek God?
We do this by obeying what he tells in the word even if it costs our comfort, our time and our resources.  Is your daily activity, a hunger and thirst to know the man who died for your sins or is it a desire to get your schedule done? Do you sacrifice sleep and movies to spend time in the Word of God? Do you wake up to pray? Do you seek the counsel of God in all your decisions? Do you pursue fellowship? Do you work daily to kill the desires of the flesh and satisfy the spirit? Do you await the glorious return of Christ or is it becoming hogwash to you since you got a college degree? Do you exercise your faith? If not, you’re a soldier in the field without a scutum.
How do we hear the word of God?
We hear the word of God when we meet as believers. When one believer shares his faith, we become encouraged and our faith is strengthened. In John 8:39 when the Samaritan woman shared her faith to the townspeople, they all believed in Jesus. Sharing our stories of God’s great power helps us have faith and strengthen our scutum grip.
We also hear the word of God through books. There is a lot of Christian literature out there that can inspire your faith greatly. After reading Joel Osteen’s Your Best Life Now, my faith in God’s promise to do what he says was strengthened. After reading The Shack, by William Paul Young, my faith in God through dark times was strengthened. The Christian literature out there is vast. I believe God used those men and women who write to strengthen our scutum.
Another way to hear the word is through sermons and podcasts. They’re free on iTunes and YouTube. Some churches sell their sermons every Sunday. If you like it, buy it. Don’t complain about the money. Save for it! Walk and use the money to buy the sermon. Find a part-time job. Earn the money and save up for an Mp3 player or an iPod. You buy KFC to feed your body. Why wouldn’t you want to buy a 40-minute sermon to feed your soul? I always listen to Tim Keller on iTunes. In one weekend, I listened to four of his sermons!(He's a really good teacher). Every time I listen to the word of God, my faith is built. I am rebuked, corrected, instructed and trained in righteousness.  Every time I share it, I empty myself to receive more. And every time I hear I place it as my duty to practice it. Exercise your faith because without exercising it, it is dead beloved.
Action Plan


The Helmet
V17a Take the helmet of salvation
Your salvation is your insurance and it never expires. Believers fear that they will lose their salvation but the word of God assures us that we are sealed for eternity.
John 5:24  “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.”
1st John 5:11-13 “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.  He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”
Do not ever doubt your salvation! A lot of time can be wasted not growing because of doubt sown in your heart by the devil. Christ died for your sin and it is enough! We doubt our salvation when our minds are tampered with. We take sin for granted. We elevate our culture above the word of God and justify the sinful nature because our forefathers made it tradition. You need to change your mind.
2 Corinthians 10: 3-5 “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.”
Your old mind got you into sin. The same mind can’t get you out of it. You need to change it. The following verses tell us how to win the mind battle:
Isaiah 26:3 “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” (NKJV)
Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”
Colossians 3:2 “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”
Whatever your mind focuses on should build on your assurance of salvation not destroy it. Jesus said that if we love Him, we would do what he says. Saying, “I love God” is hogwash if not backed up by action.
Books
There are novels and books that will corrupt your mind if you’re slack about the books you read. The language used and the themes in some of these books only serve to destroy your mind. Do away with them and invest in good literature.
Music
What kind of music do you listen to in order to prepare your mind for battle? You can’t overcome a sin like lust if you’re listening to songs that insinuate lust. You’re shooting yourself in the foot. Invest in Christian music.
Movies and TV Series
There’s a horribly huge and scary reservoir of sin in today’s movies. Ratings are nothing. If you are watching careless entertainment you’ve lost this war. Give the devil and inch and he will become a ruler. Invest in positive entertainment. If a 5-year old shouldn’t watch it, you shouldn’t either. Go farther and stock Christian movies like Facing the Giants, Fireproof, Faith Like Potatoes, Courageous, The Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of the Rings
Application

The Sword
V17b and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
The sword is the only offensive gear in the armour. If you do not have it, you will never destroy your attacker. The sword is the word of God. Do not think that because you have the Bible in your shelf you have a sword. The sword must be carried by your spirit man. How? Read:
Psalm 119:9-11 “How can a young person stay pure? By obeying your word. I have tried hard to find you—
don’t let me wander from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” (NLT)

If the word of God is not in your heart, you have no sword. What do I mean by in your heart? I mean memorized. If you do not have scripture meditated and memorized, you have no sword. Many men I've met get too egoistic about this. They say scripture memory is for Sunday school children and women. Well, Sunday school children and women will win the fight against lust as you rust in your rut. The Navigators have a great scripture memory program called Topical Memory System (TMS). When you know scripture, it helps you pray the promises and truths of God as He said them himself. Jesus won the fight in the wilderness against the devil because he referred to memorized scripture. If our own God memorized scripture, who are we not to?

Application

 Pray
V18 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 Lord’s people.
The praying believer is the most dangerous weapon on the planet. There is power in corporate prayer. However, no amount of corporate prayer can substitute personal prayer. You need to pray! Not your pastor but you! There’s a powerful testimony from a converted Satanist concerning the importance of prayer. It reveals the true struggle that goes on in the spirit and the importance of the armour of God.  Visit this link to read the testimony www.DivineRevelations.info/combat
Kindly take time to fill the short survey below for a book we are working on
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/67MY8FC