The Weapons of our Warfare – Tactics 7 – Our Armour
Read Rom. 13:11-14
The Lord is a man of war
He has His own armour! Ex. 15:3; Rev. 19:11-16
- Girdle of righteousness and faithfulness Isa. 11:5
- Breastplate of righteousness Isa. 59:17
- Helmet of salvation Isa. 59:17
- Sword of judgement Deut. 32:41; Psa. 45:3
He has fought and overcome the enemy Isa. 63:1,3,5; Psa. 98:1; Prov. 21:31; John 16:33; Col. 2:15;
He teaches His people to do battle Psa. 18:34-35; 144:1-2; 149:6
Who is the enemy and what is the battle?
Reminder from week 3 Feb. 16th 2022)
- NOT Flesh and Blood (Eph. 6:12; 2 Cor. 10:3-5) Illustrated 2 Kings 6:14-23
- NOT Textbook theory (1 Cor. 15:30-32; 2 Cor. 4:7-10, 16-18)
- NOT Fighting to gain the Victory (1 Cor. 15:57; Rom 7:24-25; 8:37)
We already occupy the High ground! (Eph. 2:6; Rom. 8:37) Knowing who you are IN CHRIST is absolutely vital. Knowing what HE HAS DONE is also vital.
Three levels of engagement
- Personal (2 Sam. 23:9-12; Gal. 2:4-5) – mainly individual
- Defensive (Eph. 6:11, 13-14; 1 Thess. 5:8) } mainly
- Offensive (Matt. 10:7-8; 2 Cor. 6:3-10) } corporate
Three arenas
- The World
- The Flesh
- The Devil
Our Armour
We need armour for the fight! It’s all Christ! And it’s all in His might. But equally, it’s our Spiritual Warfare and our discipleship – daily discipline, like good soldiers!
Eph. 6:10-18/1 Thess. 5:8; (not just armour, Paul also speaks of Weapons of righteousness 2 Cor.6:7 – we have been considering these for the last few months.)
- Belt of Truth (Shield and buckler Psa. 35:2; 91:4) Gird up 1 Pet. 1:13;truthfulness – transparent, nothing hidden
- Breastplate of righteousness – imputed righteousness, confirming our salvation and standing in Christ, but also our right living
- Shoes of the Gospel of peace – the Gospel brings peace with God and that gives us sure ground on which to stand Psa. 40:2
- Shield of faith (Psa 18:30; 35 He is a shield, a shield of salvation) – complete trust in God’s revealed Word and promises; also faithfulness to that Word
- Helmet of salvation – the Renewed Mind
- The Sword of the Spirit – The written Word (‘logos’) covered in earlier sessions, but this is rhema – used especially of the spoken word, so we might say this is the proclaimed Word
- Praying in the Spirit – vital communication with HQ! And it’s 2-way e.g. Psa. 25:9, 14
Form and function = purpose!
- So that we can stand – be established v.10
- So that we can withstand – resist v.13
- Not just to protect the individual, but also to protect the group (it’s all in the plural)
- Note function of individual pieces:
| What for | Description | Form | Function |
| To Stand: | Truth | Belt | Readies for action |
| Righteousness | Breastplate | Protects chest and vital organs | |
| Peace with God | Shoes | Steadies our feet to stand | |
| To Oppose: | Faith | Shield | Protects whole body |
| Salvation | Helmet | Protects head | |
| Word of God | Sword of the Spirit | For defence and attack | |
| Communion with God | Praying in the Spirit | Orders from HQ |
Basically, this is a description of the believer’s life of discipleship – just like Spiritual Warfare. And like spiritual gifts, it is designed by the Lord to be used by us for the benefit of others.
Note tenses belt, breastplate, shoes – ‘having put on’ or ‘having taken up’. These are not items that we take off, but we live in them! Then we can ‘take up’ the shield, helmet and sword when we go into action. The first three are things that establish us and help us resist – the world, the flesh and the devil. The second group are things that we can take up when we need to be on the attack.