The Whole Armour of God Part 1

I. Christians must fight an ongoing battle with the world, the flesh and the devil. A. Paul prescribes proper equipment for this battle. EPH 6:10-18; 1TH 5:8. B. All of the equipment is needed. The partially equipped warrior is likely to be overcome. 1. The lack of a defensive piece provides a target for the enemy to exploit. 2. Not having a true sword, or not being convinced that the true sword is true, leaves one without the power that the Holy Spirit has invested in Scripture. This is “spork” Christian warfare. 3. The whole armour of God is needed to stand against the wiles of the devil (v. 11), and to withstand in the evil day (v. 13). You will have to defend yourself against Satan’s cunning head/heart games (2CO 11:3) and also against the troubles he uses to oppress you, per 2CO 12:7. C. Resistance is not futile; it is required: “...having done all...” (v. 13). JAM 4:7; 1PE 5:9. D. Victory is achievable, albeit with scrambling and scars, unto a good finish. 1CO 10:13; 2TI 4:7. II. The armour is needed for spiritual warfare. v. 12 c/w 2CO 10:4. A. These are the unseen forces behind lies, ignorance and lust. B. These forces had their fullest expression in the crucifixion of Christ. LUK 22:53. C. The work of God’s mighty power in Christ has delivered us from the power of darkness. EPH 1:19-21 c/w COL 1:12-14. D. These forces continue to work in the children of disobedience. EPH 2:1-3. E. These forces sometimes are manifested in children of light who through ignorance or lust are doing their bidding. MAT 16:21-23; ACT 5:3. F. It is helpful to remember that opposition to the truth is owing to the spiritual forces animating them. GAL 3:1; 1TI 4:1-4. 1. Depersonalizing error helps us avoid the pitfalls of hatred. 2. We can rather pray for, and witness to such in love to convert them. JAM 5:19-20. 3. We can even let them go their own way if unrepentant. MAT 15:14; 1CO 5:11-13. III. First, we are exhorted to be “...strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might” (v. 10). A. This is a reliance upon the grace of God. 2TI 2:1. 1. The power of grace that renewed us inwardly fits us for battle. PHIL 2:12-13. 2. The knowledge of grace strengthens us against false schemes of eternal salvation and from false charges of condemnation. ROM 11:5-6; 8:1-2. 3. The accessibility of more grace promises mercy and help in down times. HEB 4:16; JAM 4:5-6. B. God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness. 2CO 12:9-10. C. Our spiritual weapons are “...mighty through God...” (2CO 10:4), light sabers of truth which He energizes. PSA 119:130; ROM 13:12. IV. There is an emphasis on standing. A. “...stand against the wiles of the devil” (v. 11). B. “...able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” (v. 13). C. “...stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong” (1CO 16:13). D. “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free...” (GAL 5:1). E. “...stand fast in one spirit...” (PHIL 1:27). F. “Stand therefore...” (v. 14). G. This is not a battle to be fought lying down, nor won by falling down, nor avoided by turning tail and running (for there is no armour for the backside). PSA 78:9. H. Of uncertainties and troubles, Paul said, “But none of these things move me...” (ACT 20:22-24). IV. “Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth...” (v. 14). A. Mind that Paul does not say, “Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with tradition/philosophy/emotion/sensationalism/pageantry/loaves and fishes, etc.” 1. It is truth that begins to outfit the saint for successful contention and victory. 2. Truth is the beginning point of Christian salvation. EPH 1:13-14. 3. Truth produces fruit for the harvest of victory. COL 1:5-6. 4. Truth renders our worship acceptable. JOH 4:23-24. B. Peter commands, “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind...” (1PE 1:13). 1. This is a directive to correct thinking. 2. The gospel’s great work is “...bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2CO 10:5). 3. The first mind to capture is our own. ROM 2:21. 4. Pray for wisdom and understanding in earnest and God will reward. PSA 119:34; JAM 1:5-6. 5. We should long to neither be deceived, nor to deceive others. C. gird: To surround, encircle (the waist, a person about the waist) with a belt or girdle, esp. for the purpose of confining the garments and allowing freer action to the body. 1. Girding embraces the concept of freedom through restraint. 2. Spiritual agility is enhanced by the restraining confines of the truth. 3. “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (JOH 8:32). 4. “None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.” (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe) D. loin: In the living body. Chiefly, pl. The part or parts of a human being or quadraped, situated on both sides of the vertebral column, between the false ribs and the hip bone. 2. Chiefly Biblical and poet., This part of the body, regarded as the part of the body that should be covered with clothing and about which the clothes are bound; so, to gird (up) the loins (lit. & fig.) to prepare for strenuous action. 1. Striving against temptation and sin is strenuous, and moreso when hindered by ignorance, falsehoods or heresy. 2TI 2:15-18. a. Without the truth, our strenuous action is so much wild thrashing about and wasted time. b. Without the truth, our strenuous action may actually be working against our own salvation rather than for it. ACT 26:9. 2. The other articles of Christian armour cover parts of the body which have tough bone beneath them. a. But the loins are a soft spot, very susceptible to fiery darts. b. Without the truth we are easy marks. ROM 16:17-18. E. Consider truth’s relationship to the other pieces of armour/armament. 1. Truth is not independent of righteousness. JAM 4:17; ROM 1:18. a. Truth without righteousness is hypocrisy and self-condemning. b. Truth without righteousness is like holding the blade of the sword in battle. 2. Truth is not independent of the gospel of peace. a. Truth should generate and accord with peace. PSA 119:165; 2CO 5:18-20; COL 3:15. b. Truth without peace is like marriage without love: dry, unsatisfying, stressful. c. “Let the truths of God rule in your heads, and let the peace of God rule in your hearts.” (Matthew Henry) 3. Truth is not independent of faith. a. Truth is a chosen means to salvation only when believed (and put into practice). 2TI 2:13. b. Truth without faith is ineffectual to save. HEB 4:2. c. The truth about the upcoming flood would have worked no salvation for Noah without faith. HEB 11:7. d. Truth without faith is like real fruit to a famished man who is not persuaded that it isn’t just a plastic ornament. 4. Truth is not independent of (hope of) salvation. a. If there is no hope within us of a blessed future state, what great purpose is there in the truth? b. Without salvation, we might as well scrap the truth. 1CO 15:13-14, 32. 5. Truth is not independent of Scripture. a. Truth must ever be measured by Scripture. PSA 119:142, 151; ISA 8:20. b. Science, history and philosophy books change regularly and present only partial truth. c. God’s word is constant and is all truth. PSA 119:151; PRO 8:8. d. Truth without Scripture may be nothing more than paganism. ACT 17:28-30.