God’s Armour

“Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”
The word of God here in our opening verse of Scripture describes the walk of the Christian as warfare, a deadly conflict in which he is engaged against the power of Satan and his hosts. Because this walk is warfare, as it is here described, a Christian must be prepared and equipped.

God shows us what wonderful provision He has made for His warriors. He is, in fact, even represented as a fully armoured warrior Himself. “The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man, He shall stir up jealousy like a man of war, He shall cry, yea, roar, He shall prevail against His enemies.” Isa. 43:13. God is fuiiner described in destroying the weapons of me. Ps. 40:9. Although the weapons He employs for the benefit of His children are spiritual and not material, “For He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon His head; and He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak.” Isa. 59:17. You can be assured, that, “He will cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust: His truth shall be thy shield and buckler.” Ps. 91:4. Further, “If He turn not, He will whet His sword, He hath bent His bow and made it ready. He hath also prepared for Him the instruments of death; He ordained His arrows against the persecutors.” Ps. 7:12, 13.

The Apostle Paul speaks to us of having a defensive armour. Armour is equipment worn to defend its wearer against offensive weapons. “My defense is of God, which saveth the upright in heart.” Ps. 7:10. Paul speaks further of this defensive armour, which he uses to good effect, “In truthful speech and in the power of God with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left.” 2 Cor. 6:7. He continues, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal,
but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; casting down imaginations, and eveiy high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” 2 Cor. 10:4.

So, Paul here encourages every Christian to put on this kind of armour. “The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying, but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.” Rom. 13:12-14.

“Let us bravely and cheerfully enter, however, this warfare against natural inclinations; pride, ambition, deceit, hatred, and selfishness,” (MYP 14, 5T 115) and diligently strive to “make virtue desirable, and vice hated.” 2T 238. Don’t learn Satan’s methods of warfare, (TM 248-9) for you will lose!

Paul is writing from prison; he knows all about the Roman soldiers, whose armour he is describing, naming the different parts of armour. It is descriptive of the heavy-armed soldiers, who had to sustain the fiercest assaults of the enemy; both of a defensive and offensive nature; an armour that is almost invulnerable and well-calculated to answer its purpose in any assault. Paul was bound to such soldiers by a single chain. Every six hours the guard was changed. He ministered to each one, in jail, “I am an ambassador in chains.” Eph. 6:20. Here he was in a repulsive prison, yet some of the world’s most famous literature originated in, of all places, in a prison cell, Paul Bunyan for one. Suppose you were put in such a prison. What kind of letter would you write?

To whom would you write? Think about it! Paul is not giving us a picture of how to fight, but of how “not to fight”. If you have not put on the armour, you will have to fight, but “having on the whole armour of God,” then, Paul says, “stand”! There are times when God’s servants are sent out to defend the truth, to defend the church and its principles, but Paul’s counsel here is how we are to hold the position, which has been already gained. God provides the armour, but the individual Christian has the responsibility of putting it on. That is, he must consciously take or appropriate the power Jesus Christ makes available to him. Without this armour of god, the Christian cannot stand. The Christian that is walking with Christ must now also take a stand against the wiles, the methods, the strategies of the devil, to “stiffly” stand, not “wobble-kneed” or fearful.

What is the reason, furthermore, that we need the whole armour of God? The Israelites under Joshua had to fight against real flesh and blood in order to conquer the land of Canaan. Ours is a spiritual warfare rather than a physical one. “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood”; if we do we are “out of it”, we’re lost! Our war is against the “spiritual lusts of wickedness”; which the world does not see! We can easily forget that the enemy is unseen, invisible, a power that is supernatural. There is a heavenly warfare human beings no very little about.

Angelic forces are fighting over your souls, a great controversy between loyal and disloyal angels; good angels and evil angels. Daniel in his prayers, said, “But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days.” Dan. 10:12,13. When prayers are unanswered for long periods, much more may be involved than we can ever dream. Those under God’s control will be able to discern or differentiate the crafty workings of the unseen powers of darkness. Those who desire to be in harmony with heaven should be intensely, and seriously in earnest to do God’s will, and not man’s. In addition, give no room whatsoever to Satan and his angels.

If only the curtain of heaven could be rolled back and each one see the constant activities, workings, goings on in the heavenly courts, and surroundings, to preserve and save the people of the earth from Satan’s seducing strategy, they would then lose their self-confidence, and self-assurance. The warfare continues in heaven for those who don’t sense their danger and are indifferent.

“Don’t make any mistake”, Paul says, “you’re not wrestling against flesh and blood, but against tremendous powers. You will not be able to understand, unless you put on the whole armour of God.” When you see people doing and saying terrible things, remember you are not wrestling against them; they are only the “cat’s paw”, the tools of the rulers of the darkness of the world. They have been duped!

They are doing the “dirty work”; the unlawful pursuits of Satan. We have a more difficult wrestling; against spiritual wickedness in heavenly places, which prevent us from seeing God, when no one understands the tricks, strategies, ploys of Satan but God. Where are these heavenly places that spiritual wickedness abounds? Why, any place the saints are gathered; be it the church, Sabbath school, Bible study, worship service, prayer time, fellowshipping, home and the family, witnessing, canvassing, and anywhere else God’s work is “in progress” or “in danger”.

Well, dear brethren and friends, at such times what do we do? Simply this, stand steadily, shoulder to shoulder for God, an undaunted front – a “line of battle”. How often the Spirit of God emphasizes the “togetherness” of the saints. God has honoured us by choosing us as His soldiers. Let us, then, fight bravely for Him, keeping whatever is right in everything we do and say in all things, for the good of the soul. “The wounds and scars of our warfare will be as trophies of victory (ML 326).

What, then, is the purpose of a soldier? To fight battles! And that is exactly what God is doing to us and through us right now. He has given us the great privilege of serving on the battlefield upon which His great victories are won. In a certain sense we can say we are the battlefield.

This is the essence of the story of Job. Here is a man that dearly loved God and was struck by a series of tragedies. All in one day he lost everything; everything that mattered to him, including his family, except his wife. He didn’t understand what was happening, but God used Job to be the battlefield for a war with Satan. Job was affected physically, mentally and materially. A mighty victory was won by God and Job against the invisible power of the heavenly realms. Job was a soldier in a spiritual battle, and so are we!

John, too, is telling his young friends, “you have learned how to fight in a spiritual war, how to avoid the confusion of the decaying world, and not be conformed to the age you live in. In so doing, you have overcome Satan and glorified God.” 1 John 2:14. Daniel, too, as a teenager was a prisoner in a foreign land, trapped in a pagan culture, and had to fight the battle day by day, counting only on God to defend him. The pressure on him and his friends were incredible, but they met the tests again and again. They won the battles and defeated Satan and gave God the glory. Daniel was a well-tried and faithful soldier.

;This is the spiritual battle God calls us to as our drowsy world is nearing the last real battle… Armageddon. This is the privilege of God’s calling us today in a world of unrest and increasing darkness. God is calling us to be soldiers, to walk in the steps of those who have won the battle before us. They have shown us how to remain faithful, even unto death.

The Lord is willing to do great things for us. There is a lesson for us in the story of Gideon’s army. Gideon felt inefficient for the great work before him. The Lord doesn’t always choose for his work, men of the greatest talents, but those whom He can best use. Before honour is humility. God uses those who recognize their unworthiness, and insufficiency. He will teach them to have the courage of faith and to be strong. But, what are they to be strong in? In their own might? No! “Be strong in the Lord and the power of His might.” “The good fight of faith is a lifelong warfare and conflict with Satan.” ML 313.

The Lord said to His frightened disciples on the stormy sea, “It is I; be not afraid.” John 6:20.
To Gideon, the Lord said, “Peace be unto you,” and he said the same to the sorrowing ones in the upper room. Gideon went out to fight the Midianites with an army of only 300, blowing trumpets and carrying empty pitchers in their hands, and shouting, “The sword of the Lord”.

The way of carrying on the warfare, in such an extreme way seemed utterly ridiculous and unreasonable. How unscientific, and inconsistent, too were thought the movements of Joshua and his army at the taking of Jericho.

It is essential to know the truth, for how else can meet its opponents? Study the Bible, not alone for the doctrines it teaches, but for the practical every-day lessons, “in a warfare in which there is no release, no rest, and we are individually responsible for its outcome.” MH 453. Remember, you should never be surprised!

You should never be without your whole armour of God on; “that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” Be prepared for any emergency and call of duty.

Paul encourages the Ephesiaa brethren to be “strong, not feeble, not wavering, tossed to and fro like waves of the sea.” Eph. 4:14, Jam. 1:6. The ground of the Spirit-filled warrior’s strength is in his position “in the Lord”. What is your position “in the Lord”‘? When the Christian takes a firm position in Christ and appropriates the provided armour, the Holy Spirit gives power to this “new life”, “yes, a new life” to resist Satanic attacks. “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” Jam. 4:7.

The believer’s have been described under the figure of a Roman soldier’s equipment in full battle dress. The believer’s secret of victory in spiritual battle is reckoning or counting by faith on those resources, which are actually his in Christ, the Victor. Col. 1:13, 2:15. “Take unto you the whole armour” emphasize? the responsibility of the believer to count on it. The Christian warrior is to use those resources in the spiritual conflict. “In every soul two powers are fighting for the victory in this ‘soul-war’. Unbelief marshals its forces, led by Satan, to cut us off from the Source of our strength. Faith marshals its forces, led by Christ, the author and finisher of our faith. Hour by hour, in the sight of the heavenly universe, the conflict goes forward. This is hand-to-hand combat, (street fighting at its worst) and the great question is, which shall obtain the mastery? This question each must decide for himself. In this warfare all must take a part, fighting on one side or the other.

From the conflict there is no release… We are urged to prepare for this conflict. Let us not talk of the great power of Satan, but of the great power of God.” SDG 328.

Prayer is the capstone of the believer’s armour in that it is to be his uninterrupted activity. It is in this particular realm that the armour Christ has provided is appropriated, set apart, exclusively possessed for the immediate conflict being ruthlessly waged. Remember, “the warfare against self is the greatest battle ever fought” (SC 43), for the conquest, too, “over self is a lifelong struggle”. 8T 3 13.

General Douglas MacArthur’s concluding address at the ceremony of the surrender of Japan, Sept. 2, 1945, stated, “A new era is upon us… We have had our last chance. If we do not now devise some greater and more equitable system, Armageddon will be at our door.”

“The church is to conduct aggressive warfare” (5T 395), and “must be advanced aggressively by God’s people” (6T 22) and “must be maintained extensively against the powers of darkness (3T 388). “The church is now engaged in a warfare that will increase in intensity.” MM 96.

In the final conflict the church will wear an armour of light. God has honoured us by calling us His soldiers, his warriors. What a calling! “Do not lay off your armour or leave the batttlefield (or church) until the victory is gained.” ML 103.
AMEN.

John Theodorou
Athens, Greece