ARMOUR OF GOD
INTENTION:
We must recognise
that as we live on this earth, things are going to try and “steal, kill, or
destroy”. It is a battle out there in the world, but also in (and against) our
Spirit, Heart, Soul, Mind, and Body.
Let us “dress for
battle”. There is no reason to ever take off His Armour!
I.
TOPIC:
We want to look at the Armour of God.
Unlike Saul putting his armour on a young to-be-king David (1
Samuel 17:38-40), the Armour of God is specifically designed and created to
fit us comfortably and with every piece fitting as it should. When we feel
comfortable in what we wear, we become confident in doing what we do. This is
as David saying that he wasn’t comfortable in Saul’s armour, but was
comfortable in how he had done battle before—with a staff, shepherd’s bag, and
sling. And it was wearing what he was accustomed to that he slew the giant,
Goliath, before him (1
Samuel 17:45-51).
Does that mean David went into every battle without armour?
No. He developed his own armour that fit him for the right battle and weapons
used. The Lord trained him for each battle, for each weapon, and armour used (Psalms
18).
What armour are we wearing?
Even if the armour doesn’t fit or protect as it should,
sometimes we get used to it…that is our flesh and its perceived strength or
protection. We think (often unintentionally) we can handle the battle and the
attack in our own ability or by what we have built around us—relying maybe on
money, career, position, status, fame, a vice, or even people we have
surrounded ourselves with. They may hold up for a while, even deceiving us in
the process; but they will never compare to what the Lord can and does provide
you. You just have to put on HIS Armour (an instruction to us to do).
But how discomforting
would this armour be if we believed that the Lord is always out to “ruin” me...
would I “trust” putting on something (trusting in it) from a person that I
don’t inherently trust? The doubts that would constantly linger in me about this
“gift” if I don’t trust Him. Thus, what you wear comes from the type of
relationship you have with Him.
Hence why this series “Trusting the Father” breaks down
(away) those religious dogmas and misunderstandings taught to us in church or
our own perceptions. For when we trust the source, we trust what we are
wearing. And often what we are wearing naturally develops from that trust.
For, I have found for myself, that as I learn His
Love-Nature, and remove the error-programming in me, I become comfortable and
restful in Him, with a confidence of getting through any of life’s battles that
come my way from this world we live in—battles that defend (or reveal) who we
actually are as Christ Jesus (as He Created us as).
And this Armour we are gifted to wear, is the same Armour as
He Himself (God) wears. Jesus got to wear this exact same Armour too—not
because He was “His Special Son”, but because He gives it out to ALL His
children to wear!
The Lord designs this Armour to specifically fit you, no
matter what size, stature, ability, age, gender, identity, family-line, denomination,
etc. You actually get what works for God! Let’s read… and break down each piece
of it.
II.
READING: Ephesians
6:1-20 (NIV)
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. 19 Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words
may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel,
20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it
fearlessly, as I should.
III.
RELATED VERSES AND QUESTIONS:
A. The
“Belt of Truth”. This is something we have talked about in the context of
having the “correct knowledge” of God. Anything other than that is not the full
Truth. The first Truth and most valuable Truth is that of Jesus Christ—understanding
how much stress-free / worry-free / work-free freedom He brought and gifted us
(Galatians
5:1). When we hold onto (discover) what is His correct truth of who we are
and what He accomplishes for us, our whole Armour stays in place with this
belt, resting properly, distributing the weight of the full armour that it does
not feel as a burden—it feels freeing (John
8:32).
John
1:14-18 (NIV)
The Word became flesh and
made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and
only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 (John testified
concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I
said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) 16
Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.
17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus
Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself
God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
Acts
10:34-38 (NIV)
Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does
not show favouritism 35 but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and
does what is right. 36 You know the message God sent to the people of Israel,
announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. 37
You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in
Galilee after the baptism that John preached— 38 how God anointed Jesus of
Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and
healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.
Ephesians
4:21-24 (NIV) {PoG}
…when you heard about
Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22
You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old
self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in
the attitude {spirit} of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to
be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Question: What are you discovering is the Truth for
you? Is that Truth making areas of your life unburdened?
B. The
“Breastplate of Righteousness”. As we have learned before in a previous Bible Study
(Lesson 022), Righteousness is not what we do or don’t do, it is a state
of being—a title given to us (inherited from Him) upon believing in Christ
Jesus. When we have this ingrained surety that we cannot gain or lose our
Right-Standing with God (nor affect our relationship with Him), we can face the
battle with confidence. That even if we make a mistake, our Righteousness is
not in jeopardy; nor can anyone convince us that it is at risk (whether the
Devil or our own Flesh). That is, this Breastplate guards (keeping it from
getting hardened) our heart against our own mistakes (sin-conscience) and self-condemnation.
When it is guarded in Righteousness, we can let go of that pressure of feeling
we continually need to “please” or “appease” God—He is pleased with you!
Proverbs
4:20-23 (NIV)
20 My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear
to my words.
21 Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within
your heart;
22 for they are life to those who find them and health
to one’s whole body.
23 Above all else, guard
your heart, for everything you do flows from it.
Philippians
1:9-11 (NIV) {PoG}
And this is my prayer:
that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10
so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless {not
troubled by a consciousness of sin} for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the
fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise
of God.
1
John 3:19-24 (NIV) {PoG}
This is how we know that
we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: 20 If
our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he
knows everything. 21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have
confidence before God 22 and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep
his commands {of believing and loving} and do what pleases him. 23 And
this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to
love one another as he commanded us. 24 The one who keeps God’s commands {of
believing and loving} lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know
that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
Question: Do you struggle with the “unreturnable”
Gift of Christ’s Perpetual-Righteousness upon you as a believer? How do you
keep (guard) your heart from getting closed-off (hardened)?
C. Having
“your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the Gospel of Peace”. When
Moses approached the Burning Bush, the Lord spoke to Him to remove his sandals
(Exodus
3:5-6). This signified that not only was it a Holy Place, but that Moses
need not fear in the risk that he would need to run away. Thus, knowing we have
Peace with God, we do not have to fear God (Romans
5:1) and fear any punishment from Him (1
John 4:17-18). How joyous is it to know that this Gospel brings freedom,
healing, and favour—allowing us to stand in readiness for anything coming our
way. That when we have done all we can to stand our ground, we can stay
standing through Him—for He has overcome the world for us, while also bringing
good from all the things that happen to us (Romans
8:28).
Luke
4:16-19 (NIV)
He went to Nazareth, where
he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as
was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah
was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord
is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has
sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the
blind, to set the oppressed free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”
John
14:26-27; 16:33 (NIV)
But the Advocate, the Holy
Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and
will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my
peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your
hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
33 “I have told you these
things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble.
But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Question: What aspects of the Lord (of the
Gospel) bring you Peace?
D. “Take
up the Shield of Faith.” This faith is a Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians
5:22-23) which Jesus mastered and gifted us (Hebrews
12:2). Imagine Jesus Himself standing in front of you shielding you from
all those “fiery arrows”. For when we manifest God in our lives (what Faith
is), we overcome the world (the devil and anything against us).
Romans
12:2-3 (NIV)
Do not conform to the
pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then
you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and
perfect will. For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think
of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober
judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.
Galatians
2:16-22 (NIV) {PoG}
…know that a person is not
justified by the works of the law, but by {the Faith of} Jesus Christ. So we,
too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by {the Faith
of} Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no
one will be justified.
17 “But if, in seeking to
be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t
that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! 18 If I rebuild what I
destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker.
19 “For through the law I
died to the law so that I might live for God. 20 I have been crucified with
Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the
body, I live by {the Faith of the} Son of God, who loved me and gave himself
for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be
gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”
Ephesians
2:4-10 (NIV) {PoG}
But because of his great
love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when
we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God
raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ
Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches
of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by
grace you have been saved, through {His} faith—and this is not from
yourselves, {they are gifts} of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can
boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works,
which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Question: Do you rely on your own faith, or
Christ’s (Fruit-Gifted) Faith? Do you rely on your own Grace?
E. The
“Helmet of Salvation”. When we protect our mind from the error that is the
doubting of our Salvation, we can think clearly in battle. This Helmet is the
“Hope of Salvation” (1
Thessalonians 5:8). This Helmet of Hope is there to protect us from the
bombardment our mind faces each day living in this world. The world tries to
convince us that: Jesus Christ is not real, or God does not exist, or living by
His Faith can't be true, or I am “just a lowly sinner saved by grace”, or we
can’t undo our programming to be free. We are attacked against our belief in
Him; and attacked against our healing (saving / salvation) in the here-and-now.
This Helmet, because we have a Hopeful Expectation, protects us against that
unbelief—for we are Saved, being Saved, and will be Saved.
Acts
4:8-12 (NIV)
Then Peter, filled with
the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! 9 If we are
being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was
lame and are being asked how he was healed, 10 then know this, you and all the
people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you
crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you
healed. 11 Jesus is
“‘the
stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’
12 Salvation is found in
no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which
we must be saved.”
Philippians
2:12-13 (NIV)
Therefore, my dear
friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more
in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13
for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfil his good purpose.
1
Peter 1:3-9 (NIV) {PoG}
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. This inheritance
is 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. 6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may
have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 {These trails are a testing
and proving} of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even
though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ
is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you
do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and
glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the
salvation of your souls {emotional realm}.
Question: Are you convinced of this/your
Salvation (now and eternally) through Christ Jesus?
F. The
“Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God”. Jesus is the Word made flesh,
and it is He who pierces to the core of our being. We can use the Word for
ourselves (digging out any flaming arrows that get through the armour); or to use
the Word to strike down anything not of the Lord coming at us or in someone
else. It is so precise in it’s ability (like a fine scalpel or laser) that it
can help you distinguish the complexities of healing in your being—for often we
don’t know which and what areas are affected that do need healing (and how).
John
1:1-5 (NIV)
In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the
beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made
that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all
mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome
it.
Hebrews
4:12-13 (NIV)
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged
sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it
judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is
hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes
of him to whom we must give account.
Question: How can the Word of God get used to strike
down any opposition against you (or in you)?
G. “And
pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests”. We
have that ability to pray—in / through the: Spirit (in Tongues), our heart, our
soul (emotional realm), mind, and body. And it’s more than just a “prayer room”
time, but a continual awareness, communication, openness, transparency,
invitation, and more with the Lord—knowing He is always with you. Not only do
we build ourself up, but others.
1
Thessalonians 5:16-28 (NIV)
Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all
circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not treat prophecies with contempt
21 but test them all; hold on to what is good, 22 reject every kind of evil.
23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.
May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.
25 Brothers and sisters, pray for us. 26 Greet all God’s people with a
holy kiss. 27 I charge you before the Lord to have this letter read to all the
brothers and sisters.
28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
Jude
1:20-21 (NIV)
But you, dear friends, by
building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit,
21 keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus
Christ to bring you to eternal life.
Question: What does prayer mean to you? Is it
important?
IV.
FURTHER THOUGHT:
A. Ephesians
2:1-3 (NIV)
As for you, you were dead
in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed
the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit
who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among
them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its
desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.
Ephesians
4:17-24 (NIV) {PoG}
So I tell you this, and
insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in
the futility of their thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding and
separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to
the hardening of their hearts. 19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given
themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and
they are full of greed.
20 That, however, is not
the way of life you learned 21 when you heard about Christ and were taught in
him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 You were taught, with
regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being
corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the {spirit} of your
minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true
righteousness and holiness.
1
Peter 5:8-9 (NIV)
Be alert and of sober
mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for
someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know
that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind
of sufferings.
Thoughts: The spiritual forces at work wage
war on your mind. As radio frequencies flood the air from broadcast towers, so
does the devil flood the spiritual airwaves with his deceptions to try and
destroy us. It is only the sound of his roar that tries to devour us—this is
just intimidation tactics that cannot harm us. Our flesh hears this because of
this world we are born in; but we are Born-Again and hear a new voice. This is
why we can stand firm when we hear the lion’s roar and not fear, for his strength
and power is removed (Revelations
12:10-11).
V. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT & SUPPORT:
A thank you to Kelly and Joshua who are inspirational in this life-journey. And to all the family, friends, sponsors, and donors who have fed into this ministry and outreach.
If you would like to support this ministry and outreach, you may do so via our website or at:
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