Putting On the Armor of God

Spiritual Warfare

Put on the Armor of God

In our previous lessons we have learned two important truths that is giving us a clear understanding of what is going on in our day and age;

• The Lord Jesus Christ is gathering together His bride which consist of all those who truly love Him with all their heart.
• There is a spiritual warfare going on that is doing everything it possibly can to keep people from being part of this bride.

God’s Word puts it in the following words;

(Ephesians 6:11-18), Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness 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. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.

Everyone who loves Jesus is called to be a soldier and fight for what we hold dear to our hearts. We know the enemy wants to tear us away from the love and faith that we have in our Lord and His Word, but God’s Word teaches us how to fight and what to fight with to win the battles that we face every day.

There are seven “pieces” to our armor. Look at Ephesians 6:11-18 once again and name the seven pieces;

• loins girt about with TRUTH
• breastplate of RIGHTEOUSNESS
• feet shod with the preparation of THE GOSPEL OF PEACE
• shield of FAITH
• helmet of SALVATION
• sword of the Spirit, which is the WORD OF GOD
• PRAYING always

Now, let us look at each piece of the armor and see how we can use it to keep our love and faith strong each day in our Lord Jesus Christ and the Word of God, our Holy Bible.

Truth

When we make the decision to choose what is true and not accept things that are false, we win our spiritual battles. Let us go back to the garden of Eden and see an example of this.

(Genesis 2:15-17), Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Now, Let’s continue on reading and see what happens.

(Genesis 3:1-6), Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.

Check the following right answers;

• Was there a “spiritual” battle taking place at this moment in Adam and Eve’s heart to take their love and faith away from God and His Word;

o Yes

o No

• Which statement is the truth;

o “for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die”

o “You will not surely die”

• Which did Adam and eve choose;

o That which was the truth

o That which was false

• If Adam and Eve chose the truth, what would have happened;

o They would have won the battle

o They would have lost the battle

God wants us to learn the truth of all things so that we could make the right decisions to live happy lives and be blessed by the Lord.  By studying God’s Word and desire wisdom and knowledge, we learn what is true and what is false. Once we learn these things, it is then up to us to choose that which is truth and reject that which is false. This is how truth becomes part of our spiritual armor.

By using truth, check the following right answers

o It’s OK to steal. You deserve it.

o God’s Word says, “Thou shalt not steal.”

o It’s OK to get revenge on that bully at school.

o God’s Word tells us to love our enemies and pray for them.

o It’s OK to be angry and disrespect your parents.

o God’s Word teaches us to honor our parents.

o It’s OK to smoke, take drugs and get drunk. It feels good.

o Smoking, taking drugs and getting drunk causes cancer and other bad things to happen to the health of our bodies. They cause us to make wrong decisions and bring harm to ourselves and others and God is not pleased with these things.

Righteousness

God’s Word, along with wisdom and knowledge, not only teaches us what is truth and shows us what is false, but they also teach us what is righteous and what is sin. Sin is making the choice in our hearts to willfully disobey God and go against what He commanded us to do and not to do.

Let us go back to our example of what is truth and what is false. We know that it is true that God’s Word says, “Thou shalt not steal.”  Now, let’s say the temptation comes for you to steal. At that moment, you not only have the ability to choose what is truth and what is false, but you are also making the decision to choose righteousness or sin. You are well aware that God commanded you not to steal and so in your heart you make the choice to obey God and reject the temptation. This is what it means to be “wearing the breastplate of righteousness” and this is how it helps us to win our spiritual battles.

Always keep in mind really what is going on. Jesus is gathering a bride for Himself to be with Him forever and all eternity in heaven.  Like Adam and Eve, God’s enemy is trying to take our faith and love away from Him and His Word. Because we love Jesus and believe His Word, we choose not to sin against Him.

Feet shod with the preparation of The Gospel of Peace

When you truly love someone or something, no matter where you go, you are always willing and happy to talk about that thing that you love. Some people love fishing and are always excited to tell others the kind of fish they caught. Some people like baseball or football and enjoy talking to others about the sports and the players on their favorite teams. No matter where their feet bring them, they do not hesitate to talk to others about these things they love and enjoy.

One way that we win our daily spiritual battles is by feeling the same way about Jesus and what He did for us on the cross of Calvary when He died for our sins to save us and how He wonderfully rose from the dead. We love Him so much and are so thankful that no matter where our feet bring us, no matter where we go, we love telling others about Jesus. No matter where we are, we are ready to answer any questions that people might have about the Bible. We are so happy and willing to tell them of the wonderful peace that Jesus brings to our heart and mind knowing that He forgives us of all our sins and faults. By having thankfulness and joy in our hearts, it gives strength to our love and faith in Jesus. The more we talk about Jesus and God’s Word, the stronger we become to win over doubt, fear, and temptation.

Faith

Let’s go back to our example in the garden of Eden to see how faith could have protected Adam and Eve from the “fiery dart” of temptation and that the devil threw at them.

God warned Adam and Eve that they would surely die if they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

The serpent told them they would surely not die.

Adam and Eve chose to believe that they would surely not die. If Adam and Eve chose to believe God’s Word that they would surely die, would they have eaten of the forbidden fruit?

o Yes

o No

If Adam and Eve chose to have faith in God’s Word, if they really, truly believed that they would die, like a shield, their faith in God’s Word would have blocked the temptation and doubt that the devil threw at them. Like an arrow flying at them from their enemy, their shield would have protected them.

Our shield is very real.

• We have faith in God’s Word because of the power of its prophecies
• We have faith in God’s Word because of the power of its accuracy
• We have faith in God’s Word because of the power of its purity
• We have faith in God’s Word because of the power of its truthfulness
• We have faith in Jesus because He fulfilled over 200 prophecies
• We have faith in Jesus because His disciples would never have laid down their lives for Him if He was not the true Messiah
• We have faith that Jesus truly rose from the dead because His enemies could not show a dead body to try to prove false the message of His resurrection by his disciples

Our shield is very real and very strong! Our faith stops any fiery dart of doubt and unbelief and helps us win our daily spiritual battles.

Salvation

When we truly become saved because of our faith in Jesus Christ, we become very aware in our mind and heart that the reason why He had to suffer and die on the cross was because of our sins. Because we deeply and sincerely understand this now, we are not only eternally thankful, but we now have a strong desire to not sin anymore. We understand that it was because of our sins that those nails had to be driven through His hands and His feet. We understand that it is because of our sins that He had to painfully suffer, bleed, and die. And, because we now understand all this, we do not want to have any more part of sin that caused all this pain and suffering He had to go through.

Because true salvation makes us very aware of all of this, it gives us protection and strength against sin and temptation. This is what it means to “take the helmet of salvation” that we may win our daily spiritual battles.

The Word of God

In Matthew chapter four, the Lord Jesus Christ entered into a spiritual battle with Satan. See what gave Him the power to overcome temptation.

(Matthew 4:1-11), Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ” Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ” Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ” Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ” Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

Jesus used the Word of God to get victory over the temptation of the devil.

See how David got victory over his spiritual battles.

(Psalm 119:11), Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You!

In both cases, Jesus and David taught us that to win our daily spiritual battles, we must know God’s Word, truly believe it in our hearts, and choose to obey it when temptation comes. God’s word is like a sword to be used in fighting our battles. This is why it is important to not only study God’s Word, but to memorize it. Memorize verses that are needful for you at this time in your life to give you encouragement, help, and strength. When temptation comes, you will recall to memory the verses that you need to give you victory.

Prayer

By praying daily and often, you become more aware of God’s presence with you each step of the way. You will sense His promise that He will never leave you or forsake you. Because of this awareness of His presence, it gives you strength and power to choose your love for Him over temptation, sin, and disobedience. This is why prayer is also included in our spiritual armor that we are to take with us daily.

(James 5:16), … The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

These are your pieces of armor to protect you. Take them with you daily and do all that you can to win the battles for your love for Jesus and faith in His Word and may God richly bless you.