The Whole Armour of God

How many of us, I wonder, really understand the Whole Armour of God. Now I am no theologian, but I confess that I have read a little bit about the weapons that the Lord has provided for us in our daily lives.

Ephesians 6:10-18 NIV

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full Armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 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. 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. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 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 saints.”

So what are these weapons then – what is all this Armour ?? Put simply, the ‘Whole Armour of God’ is our weapon of spiritual warfare. It is given to us through the Word of God (which is truth) for us to use against the spiritual powers of Satan in his efforts to stop us.

The Belt of Truth – the truth can never be defeated. It is possibly the greatest of all weapons. “The Word of God says ....” is such a powerful weapon. The enemy is the Prince of Lies – everything he says is based on lies. ‘Satan is a Liar’ is a great defence.

The Breastplate of Righteousness – do we lead righteous lives? Can the enemy accuse us? Oh brothers and sisters, if we were all a little bit more righteous in our day to day living, the world would soon be a better place as the devil cannot face either truth nor righteousness.

The Shoes of Readiness - Be ready to preach the gospel. Be ready to help a neighbour, to speak kindly to a stranger for in these things we surely do them as unto the Lord.

The Shield of Faith – When the enemy comes warring against Christians one of the first things he attacks is our faith. He will tell us that we can’t do this or that yet it is perfectly obvious that we can. “We can do ALL things in Christ . . . .” Our faith is a shield that protects us from anything the enemy can and does throw at us.

The Helmet of Salvation – this is our greatest weapon in that, above all other things, it is our salvation that so disturbs, so angers the enemy. Our salvation, our commitment to, and our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ automatically makes us the enemy of Satan and he will try everything he can to destroy that faith; to destroy that commitment.

The Sword of the Spirit – The Word of God is truth and the enemy hates truth. It is a sword that cuts through any argument, any lie that Satan me try to give us.

Pray in the Spirit – We are finally admonished to ‘pray in the Spirit on all occasions’. Why? Because when we pray in the Spirit, it is our spirit speaking directly to Gods Spirit in a heavenly language. If you do not have your prayer tongue yet, then I urge you to seek it with all your heart for Satan cannot understand it any more than we can and therefore our prayers are in secret – between us and the Lord Himself.

So – I hope you can see that the whole Armour of God is a wonderful set of weapons of spiritual warfare given to us by God to help us fight the good fight.