Greetings,
When going to war it only
makes sense to wear the best armor. Armor protects soldiers from the inevitable violence that they will
endure. In the old days, armor was for the purpose of protecting soldiers from
swords, spears, and arrows. Today, armor is also for the purpose of stopping or
reducing the impact of bullets and other weapons of modern warfare. If one goes
into a warzone without armor, their chances of survival decrease drastically.
Not
all people realize this. When I was in college a movie was released called The 300, which was based on the battle of Thermopylae. It
depicted soldiers with no shirts or armor on their bodies. Sure enough, the
dramatized battle scenes bore out the ridiculous notion that true soldiers
don't need armor.
While
Hollywood may glorify a soldier's exposed six-pack, you can bet that the real
men that fought in this battle were well armored. Real men of war will never
discard or neglect to wear their armor. It could be the difference between life
and death. If this is true in the natural, how much more regarding spiritual
things? Just like there is armor for the natural body, God has provided us with
armor for the spirit. Unfortunately, like Hollywood dramatizations, some
Christians don't see the need for spiritual armor.
The
irrefutable fact of the matter is that that we are at war. Every day, no matter
where we are in the world, there is a war being waged between the kingdom of
darkness and the kingdom of light. Until Jesus returns there will be no escape
from this reality. As Christians, we are participating in a spiritual battle
field whether we like it or not. It we are not using the armor that God has
given us, we are like sitting ducks. We will have little defense against the
pain that the kingdom of darkness will vault against us.
For
the next seven weeks I am going to spend time introducing the armor of the God.
The armor of God is defined in the following passage from the book of
Ephesians.
"For
we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual
wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God,
that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to
stand. Stand therefore, [1] having your loins girt about with truth, and [2]
having on the breastplate of righteousness; And [3] your feet shod with the
preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, [4] taking the shield of faith,
wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And
take the [5] helmet of salvation, and the [6] sword of the Spirit, which is the
word of God: [7] Praying always with all
prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all
perseverance and supplication for all saints" (Ephesians 6:12-18)
The
first thing that needs to be pointed out is that we have been given the armor
of God because we are at war. Notice
also that the apostle exhorts us saying, "take unto you the whole
armor." The armor of God is something we must spiritually take up, or more
simply stated—put
on. When I speak of putting on the armor of God I mean praying out loud according
to this passage.
What
I have realized in my own life is that this is something that I have to do
daily. If I don't consciously take the time to speak the armor of God over
myself I will often find myself getting blindsided by the enemy at some point
during my day. This is not unique to my walk with Christ. If you have been
getting blindsided by the enemy regularly it may be time for you to begin
speaking the armor of God over yourself daily as well. In practice, this technique works every time.
It is a proven method of defending ourselves against the inevitable attacks of
the enemy.
Another
important point to understand is that spiritual armor is not merely allegorical.
Although we learn some great lessons by studying out the meaning of the armor,
make no mistake—in
the spirit realm it literally exists. When someone has on the armor of God,
their spirit man is literally wearing armor.
When
I speak of the spirit man I am talking about the spirit that is in your body.
It is the eternal part of the human condition that participates in the spirit
realm and experiences life after death (either heaven or hell). While we are on
earth, it is our connection point to God according to 1 Corinthians 6:17. This
is the aspect of you that wears the spiritual armor because it is interacting
in the spirit realm at all times, whether you are consciously aware of it or
not.
This
week we are going to focus on girding up our loins with truth.
"Stand
therefore, having your loins girt about with truth..." (Ephesians 6:14)
When
the apostle speaks of girding our loins, a question may arise as to how loins
have any relevance to spiritual armor. Our loins are an extremely sensitive
part of our body that, if wounded, will impale the individual. According to
Vine's Expository Dictionary the word "girt" comes from the Greek
word perizonnumi which means to gird around
or about for service. In the East this dealt with tying down long garments with
a belt so that the garments couldn't get in the way. This is why this part of
the armor of God is referred to as the belt of truth. The belt allowed for
protection, balance, and increased mobility. In the same way that a literal
belt allowed for these things, the spiritual belt of truth has parallels
regarding its purpose. It enables us to be girt about for service.
"
Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind,
be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at
the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:13)
Interestingly
enough, our spiritual loins are actually found in our minds. The fact of the
matter is that truth must be in our minds. This goes beyond the notion that
Jesus is the truth. This actually deals with the amount of truth that our mind
has been renewed to. The more truth we have received regarding the nature of
God, the truth of His Word, the truth about our identity in Him , and the truth
about the world in general, the more effective we will be in His service. This
also means that it will be less likely that lies will slow us down in our walk
with Christ. In order to enhance the level of truth we are operating in, we
must renew our minds to the truth of God's word.
"And
be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by
the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is
that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God" (Romans 12:2)
Truth
allows us to be protected against lies. The enemy is constantly trying to
destroy our lives by feeding us lies like "we're not good enough", "God
isn't able", and "things will never work out". Truth makes us
immune to the impact of these lies thereby protecting us. Truth also allows for
balance. It allows us to lead a balanced life, embrace balanced relationships,
and take a balanced approach to spiritual matters. Without truth, deception can
lead a devoted Christian into error, heresy, or outright sin. Truth also
increases our mobility. The enemy is constantly setting up spiritual snares in
order to entangle us and get us off track. Truth helps us to not get caught up
in the enemies snares, thereby keeping us in a place of forward motion
regarding God's plan for our lives.
