How does the armor of God relate to our every day lives? What harm can come from forgetting to put just one piece on?

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Therefore, put on every piece of God's armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. -- Ephesians 6: 13 (NLT)

Have you ever left your house but forgot to put on your pants? How about going to work without your shoes on? Go to church without a shirt? Of course not. We spend careful attention to make sure that we put on every piece of clothing before we dare step out of the house. Some even make sure everything matches! But when it comes to our spiritual clothing we tend to be more haphazard. We are either not as cautious or not as aware. When it comes to the temporal we can be so self-conscious but when it comes to the things of God we are not as spirit-conscious as we ought to be. And while mistakes on the former may lead to a fashion faux pas, errors in the latter carry much more significance.

There are three essential truths in the key verse today. First, we are in a battle. I know that this is not a popular preaching point because it grates against feel-good Christianity. We must realize that when the enemy of your soul comes against you all the pop-psychology and motivational speeches in the world will not help you. This battle is outlined in the verse just prior to the key verse:

For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. -- Ephesians 6: 13 (NLT)

I know sometimes it is easy to skip over verses like these in favor of more user-friendly Scripture but pause for a second and realize today that our battle is against evil rulers and authorities who possess mighty powers and against evil spirits. I say this not to frighten but to equip. For greater is He that is in you then those evil spirits you war against.

The second essential truth from the key verse is the goal we need to have as believers. We need to be striving to stand firm in our faith against the schemes of the enemy. The devil seeks to knock us down. To knock down our faith. To knock down our walk with God. To minimize the work God has set aside for us. Another church culture shock is that we were not saved to spend an hour and a half in a pew each week.

For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. -- Ephesians 2: 10 (NLT)

God has a plan for you beloved. It involves all sorts of good works. It will result in glory for His name and for the advancement of His kingdom. There will be people in heaven because of the good works He has set aside for you. But to complete those works you need to be outwardly focused on the world that is lost and desperately seeking a savior. We cannot be that if we are constantly inwardly focused on ourselves because we are losing the spiritual battles the enemy engages us in. We must stand firm.

That leaves the final essential truth from the key verse which I want to spend the majority of the time on today and that is that we must put on EVERY piece of God's armor if we expect to resist the devil. Singing the devil is under my feet on Sunday doesn't mean he actually is. Sundays may be where we hear the doctrine but Monday through Saturday is when we have to live it. What does James teach us?

But don't just listen to God's word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. -- James 1: 22 (NLT)

The devil is good at fooling us. At convincing us that we are doing better than we really are. The key verse implores us that it is essential that every piece of the armor be put on each day. And if we are honest with ourselves, we will find that we do not always do this. We can get spiritually lazy or deny the areas we have problems with. The result is always the same. Whatever piece of armor we forget, that is where the enemy will attack us.

The helmet of salvation protects us from the cares and worries of this world. Salvation is our assurance that we have been saved and been granted eternal life. That this is not our best life now. Jesus taught us:

I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world." -- John 16: 33 (NLT)

So often we seek peace through worldly solutions but they all come up empty. Fame, fortune, careers, alcohol, drugs, and lust are just some of the devices the world will offer up to us as a way of trying to find some peace; or at least some escapism from the trials and sorrows Jesus told us we would face. The Lord does not desire for us to seek to escape our lives but rather to live in them more abundantly. The promises the world sells us are always empty and shallow but the promises of God are always yes and amen! Jesus overcame the world by defeating death and destroying the veil that separated God and man since the creation began in the Garden of Eden. By doing so we too have the ability to overcome the world through Him. This is accomplished by always remembering to put on the helmet of salvation, which is our assurance. If we go out into the battles we will face every day without the helmet you can be confident that the enemy will use the worries of this life to attack you. You may have all of the other pieces secured tightly but without the assurance of your salvation, every little thing that comes against you will be weighed in your mind instead of in your spirit. Without the helmet, you leave your mind exposed.

The shoes of the Gospel of Peace prepares us for the works that we have been called to do. An often overlooked piece of the armor of God, the shoes are vitally important.   Imagine if you went off to war without shoes! Unfortunately we live in a me-centric society and that spirit infiltrates the church as well. The bless me theology that so permeates the modern church overlooks that we were saved for a reason and with a purpose:

For "Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved." But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, "How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!" -- Romans 10: 13-15 (NLT)

We are supposed to be salt and light to a dying world. We are supposed to bring the Gospel to the unsaved -- with our actions first and then with our words. But without the shoes of the Gospel of peace, the enemy will attack our witness. There are so many Christians who are living out their salvation in a bubble. There may be unsaved family members and friends. Unsaved co-workers. Sometimes we can fall into the trap of thinking that evangelism is the same as witnessing. They are not. Your mission field can be your office or your home. Remember that all of heaven rejoices when one single soul comes to Christ. Look at the authority we can walk in:

Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you. -- Luke 10: 19 (NLT)

Do you want to try and walk amongst snakes and scorpions without shoes on! Yet so many try every single day. And the enemy will attack you at that point. You may not experience personal trauma like when you forget the helmet but the work of God is denied. God will bring people into your path every day that He desires for you to show the Gospel to but without the shoes, you will not even recognize it. Your Christianity then becomes about you instead of about the lost.

The shield of faith quenches the fiery darts of the enemy. Remember this is a battle and the enemy is constantly firing his darts at you. We must realize that the shield, unlike the other pieces of armor is not just something to "put on." Strapping a shield on your arm and then not raising it renders it useless. We must hold up our faith in the face of the lies of the enemy. The shield is our first line of defense. It prevents the attacks from reaching our body or our mind. You wouldn't want to go into battle and deflect everything with your head simply because you are wearing a helmet! But there we can be in the middle of the battle with our shield dropped to our side. We know the truth from the belt. We have the righteousness from the breastplate. We can even be assured of our salvation by wearing the helmet. Despite all of this though, we can get tired in this walk. As we grow more and more weary, the shield can drop to our side. Rest assured that is when the enemy will send even more fiery darts into our lives to further erode our faith in God. Two quick examples showing the contrast of raising your shield and dropping it. The first statement is from the father of the demon possessed son and the second is from the story about the woman with the issue of blood:

"It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us." -- Mark 9: 22 (NIV)

When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed." -- Mark 5: 27-28 (NIV)

After over a decade of watching his son suffer, the father had dropped the shield to his side. His faith is eroding as we can see here in his weak prayer request which doubts the very power of the God he serves. The woman however, who also has dealt with her situation for over a decade, has her shield clearly raised and pressed on through her struggles with her faith. The enemy will always be firing his darts at us beloved. We must hold up our faith and keep our shield raised in defense.

The final two pieces of armor are related to each other. The breastplate of righteousness is the central piece of armor. It protects our vital organs such as our heart. Proverbs instructs us to protect our heart above all other things. Isaiah says that our own righteousness is no more than filthy rags. God knows what is best for us. His righteousness will protect us from ourselves and from the temptations the enemy loves to shower upon us. When we know that His righteousness says adultery is forbidden we know how to protect our marriage. When His righteousness says that murder is forbidden we avoid a lifetime in prison. The enemy is good at showing us options devoid of their consequences but the righteousness of God reminds us of both. But what holds our righteousness in place beloved? The belt of truth.

In Roman soldier equipment, it was the belt that held the breastplate in place. When Paul outlines the armor of God it is the belt that He instructs to put on first. Why? Because without the truth of God's Word the rest of the armor doesn't matter. Without the truth of God's Word everything else in our life begins to erode back into carnal thinking. Realize that when we choose to take the belt of truth off the first thing that falls to the ground is the breastplate of righteousness. There is no righteousness unless it is founded in, rooted by and secured with the truth. That is why you see so much compromise in these the end days.

How did we get to the point of Christian leaders pushing for the ecumenical movement to usher in a one world religion? They took off the belt! How did we get to the point where the prosperity gospel has turned Jesus Christ into an ATM for our whims? They took off the belt! How did we get to the point where emergent and seeker friendly church models deny the sufficiency of Christ? They took off the belt! Ordained homosexual pastors? They took off the belt! Purpose driven Chrislam? They took off the belt! When you take off the belt, the breastplate falls to the ground. When that happens you can compromise on what righteousness really is. You can make carnal arguments to support unscriptural undertakings. You can use the rationales and excuses of the world to explain spiritual problems. No matter where this writing finds you today -- don't take off the belt for anyone. Don't take it off for that unsaved boyfriend. Don't take it off for your pride or your lust. Don't take it off even for your church or your ministry. The danger if you do beloved is that the breastplate falls and you do not even realize it. You then begin to confuse your darkness for light. You then begin to recreate God in your own image. Heaven forbid.

Be careful each day to put on the whole armor of God. Every piece is relevant and necessary in the battles we will face as part of the war that we are in. The objective is to stand firm. We need the helmet to guard our mind and the breastplate to guard our heart. We need the shoes to spread the Gospel and the shield to ward off the fiery darts of the enemy. We need the belt as a defensive piece of armor because everything else is dependent upon that. Once properly fitted with the armor we can then use the sword of the Spirit to offensively attack the enemy and his schemes. We can carve up his lies and teach others to do the same. We can be assured that in the time of evil, we will stand firm. Praise God almighty!

March 20, 2012

Authors Bio:
Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.