I was thinking about Ephesians 6:13-18 about the armor of God recently. You know the verses, but I’ll just quote them again.
13 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.14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; (Ephesians 6:13-18)
Others have talked about how the particular piece of armor corresponds very nicely with its spiritual counterpart, so I want to ask this question – What do these pieces of godly armor protect us against?
I think there are particular evils they help us withstand, so I’ll list them.
Truth protects us from lies and deception that would lull us into carnal security and cause us to waste our days of probation.
Righteousness, when it is a deep part of our nature, makes wickedness ugly and gross so that we want nothing to do with it. If when we come into contact with wickedness and our reaction is “Bleah” and avoidance rather than fascination, we’ve got this bit of armor in place.
Preparation of the gospel protects us from impulsive offers to sin. Preparation fills our time with good which crowds evil out and helps us realize that sin would make our preparation for naught. We don’t like to discover our time and effort was a waste, so it is good to avoid whatever makes it ineffective.
Faith protects us from fear, uncertainty, and doubt. Yes, we may deal with uncertainty, but faith prevents uncertainty from crippling and paralyzing us. Faith’s factor of trust in God protects us from fear.
Salvation protects us from the damnation and burden of guilt.
The Spirit protects us with the power to disperse evil when it tries to smother our souls, and it helps us rise from the Fall. It protects us from Satan-sent feelings of apathy, depression, discouragement, and so much more. (Some of those feelings may be from chemical imbalances in our body, but Satan also tries to use them, and the Spirit can dissipate those feelings when we pray.)
So, in summary, the armor of God protects us from
--lies
--the natural man’s attraction to evil
--impulsive offers to sin
--fear, uncertainty, and doubt
--guilt and damnation
--smothering negative feelings from Satan
That’s a lot of stuff the armor of God protects us from! Today let’s be alert to notice when we’re being attack by Satan and use the armor of God to quench those fiery darts.
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