The Armor Of God

Ephesians 6:16-17

Why Armor?

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

“Our Lord does not defer us from the battle, but He does make Himself responsible to equip us with His strength to fight.” Lehman Strauss

Why Armor?

• “By submitting to God and clothing ourselves with the divine armor, we are able to resist the devil. The only safe protection against Satan’s methods is God’s armor.” Lehman Strauss

Truth

It’s a Tightrope

Righteousness

• Justification• Right Choices

Shoes/Combat Boots

• The Readiness that comes from the Gospel of Peace

What Is The Gospel?

• Good News

It Is Our Hope

• The Influence Of Heaven While I live Here On Earth

The Readiness That Comes From The Gospel Of Peace

• “Bringing the good news of salvation to the sinner is a vital move in the warfare against evil.” Lehman Strauss

Outline

• Ephesians 6:16-17• Review• Power to Stand Firm• Schemes of the Devil• Truth• Righteousness• The Readiness that comes from the Gospel of Peace• Three More • The Shield of Faith• The Helmet of Salvation• The Sword of the Spirit/ The Word of God

The Shield Of Faith

• The shield in the Old Testament• “the Word of the Lord came to Abram in a

vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am your shield, and your exceeding great reward” (Gen. 15:1).

• In other words, God Himself is the shield of His people.

Tom Constable

• “The "faith" that provides such a defense for the Christian is two-fold: First, it is to trust in all that God has revealed, and secondly, the active application of that trust at the moment of spiritual attack.”

The Shield Of Faith

• “It is taking the general truth and applying it to the specific situation and saying, If this is true, then this must follow. That is the shield of Faith” Ray Stedman

Faith

• Put the body of truth into action• Belief + Action = Shield of Protection

Tom Constable

• “The second main verb in this long sentence is "take" or, better, "receive" or "accept" In addition to standing firm, having received and having already put on four pieces of armor, we also need to receive and put on two more.”

It is a Gift, Take it or Leave it

Take the Helmet of Salvation

• It is a Gift• Therein is our Hope 1 Thes. 5:8• “Deliverance = involves a mental choice,

namely, trust in God rather than self, and obedience to Him. Confidence in God becomes our "salvation," and thus protects our thinking while we are under attack.”

– Constable

Ray Stedman

• “It is not an automatic procedure which we experience, but an intelligent program we are expected to follow”

• “We are expected to give intelligent consideration to the process of overcoming and to learning how to counteract the attacks of Satan in our lies. It is the Helmet of Salvation which sets this forth”

Talk It Through

• Use words to put your argument together• Know the gospel• Recognize the hope of the gospel• Tell yourself the gospel story often and

especially at times of spiritual attack• Understand what John 14:20 means, “you in

me and I in you”• Think Straight

This Is Protection For The Mind

• This is present and future Salvation• Listen to the words of H.G Wells, and George

Bernard Shaw, giant philosophers of a previous century

• The helmet of salvation continually renews our faith

The Sword

Use the Sword

• The Word of God

John 1:1

• In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God

• Logos = word = the Lord Jesus

Not Logos

• “The sword here is not the Spirit but the Word spoken by the Spirit, the Bible” Strauss

• “The word of God here does not mean the whole Bible, but the particular portion of the Bible which best suits the occasion” William MacDonald

Know and Handle The Word

• Memorize portions to quote to the enemy when he attacks.

• In Matthew 4 Jesus always used the Word of God to refute the devil’s challenges.