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 The Armor of God Is a topic with many Christians have heard about—but it is vastly misunderstood. Wearing this armor is not an option and it is something that should be worn at all times. It is to be worn as one complete inter-connected item that is actually a very powerful weapon, not something to hide behind to protect us from enemy attack. The Armor of God is found in Ephesians 6:10-22. On most occasions it is read, people stop at verse 18 and miss something important. Paul wrote his letter to the Church at Ephesus, because of problems. The church was grieving the Holy Spirit with backbiting, malice, wrath, bitterness, resentment etcetera. By allowing the flesh to dominate, it gave the devil legal grounds to enter, so he wrote to tell them to stop these things. The book speaks chapter-by-chapter about the major Christian doctrines of:
After teaching on these matters, Paul summed up the most important message of all with a simple word—finally. It is as if he left the most important part to the last. He could have said, Now we come to the most important part of all and if there is anything I want you to remember, then this is what I want you to take to heart! The word used is loipon, with such meanings as besides, final, finally, moreover, now, it remains, furthermore, from henceforth etc. Paul was talking about being prepared for any contingency in life, especially in spiritual matters. Our battles are not with flesh and blood and the weapons of our warfare are thus not to be natural weapons, but spiritual, if we intend to win and win we shall, because Jesus has already achieved the victory. Isaiah 9:2-4 says- Isaiah 10:27 says- When steel rusts, it corrodes. The metal is eaten away until nothing remains. It cannot return, for it is gone forever! One of the major problems in the aircraft industry is this factor. Stress and corrosion will bring an aircraft down, so rigorous testing and inspections are inherent part of the industry. This aspect of corrosion is what God has done for our sin. Hallelujah! Jesus did away with the sin principle once and for all time and He has also destroyed the power of the enemy over us. Despite that, many Christians often live in defeat or fall short of the mark because they do not know the truth! After reading this, you will know the truth and what happens in your life after that will depend on you. The difference between Christians who live as God intends and those who do not has little to do with your education, life experience, family ties, culture, the state of the economy, your geographical location or other matters, but on what you do with Jesus and if you apply the word of God to your life. When Jesus said in John 8:32 we are able to know the truth that can be a liberating force in us, but it has to be applied. It has to be a working knowledge that stems from intimacy (the Greek word for know is Ginosko that talks about the deepest, most intense form of intimate knowledge we can experience). It makes us free. Knowing facts does not. Jesus was speaking to learned religious leaders that are like many modern day theologians and religious people. It is possible to have many facts about the bible, but miss out on what God has for us because of that lack of intimacy. Finally: As I said earlier, Paul summed up his teaching on various Christian doctrines with what may be the most important message of all with a simple word... Finally. It is as if he left the most important part to the last. He could have said, Now we come to the most important part of all and if there is anything I want you to remember, then this is what I want you to take to heart! The word used is Loipon, with such meanings as besides, final, finally, moreover, now, it remains, furthermore and from henceforth. Sometimes that person who seems to be an enemy might not be your enemy at all. We do not have to put up with foolishness and opposition of course, but it may be wise to remember that this person is not the enemy. He or she could be a puppet manipulated by the real enemy. Please notice the reference to casting down the strongholds of the mind. Often times this is where the strongest battles are waged.
If we intend to win and win we shall, because Jesus has already achieved the victory, we must function with such principles, that is, by using the tools God gave us. Despite how good other things may be, if we do not operate in this dimension of the spirit (because we are spirit beings and our foe is a spiritual foe), we will fail! There are many scripture to affirm that comment and illustrate that the devil is not as all-powerful as some people think. We can resist him you know. See 1 Peter 5:8-9; James 4:7; Romans 16:20; Ephesians 1:20-23. I would like to build on the foundation I have been laying and relate to Jesus before continuing. This is important because we need to see what he did and how he handled things so that we can do likewise. The enemy often tried to kill Jesus, starting from birth and continued during His ministry, but he could not even touch Him. Certainly he tempted the Lord, but he had no power or authority over Jesus until it was time for Calvary and even then, Jesus exercised his dominion. See John 10:18 and John 19:11. On many occasions, the devil suspected that something was going to happen but was not sure of the details and orchestrated the deaths of many innocent children trying to stop God’s plan. Innocent babies were killed to get Moses but he was spared. Joseph was warned in a dream to take the baby Jesus to safety to preserve His life. We must believe that the devil does not possess any of the faculties of God whatsoever. He is a created being—but we are Sons! God is all knowing, present everywhere and has all power and authority. The devil can only be in one place at a time. Why would he wander throughout the earth seeking those he might be able to afflict, if he could? As for power and authority, he has none. Jesus said that all power was given to him. Although he is a very powerful and intelligent being who hates us, the devil does not have revelation knowledge. If he did, he would not have orchestrated the execution of the Lord Jesus. Too many people give the devil credit far too many things and too many Christians do not realize the potential God has given us and hidden nothing from us, but for us if they could only grasp this fact. Paul said- Paul quoted Isaiah 64:4, which refers to the heathen—not to us! They are not in a covenant relationship with God as we are, so the things of God are of course a mystery to them. We however have the mind of Christ and by belonging to a completely different kingdom—the Kingdom of God, have free access to revelation knowledge and live under a completely different system. We have the bible and the Holy Spirit to bring illumination to us as Jesus promised in John 14:26, 15:15, 16:13-15. They are designed to teach us. Sickness, trials and tribulations in life may certainly give us some experience, but such conditions are not our teacher and are never to be our teacher. God is! Circumstances change and storms go, but the word of the Lord is constant at all times and the Spirit of God never changes. We have said that the devil tried to kill Jesus before His time, but was as always unable to thwart the plan of God! Look at an incident in the life of Jesus in Mark 4:35-41. The comments are mine. And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. Jesus fully intended getting there! He said it and He did it. And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. Jesus’ ship was not alone! And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. His ship—not the other ships! And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? And they feared exceedingly, and said one to an other, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him? Jesus had been teaching The Word and He expounded All Things to His Disciples! Everything He did was by the Word. He Is the word! Sadly, there is a lot of preaching around that has very little to do with the Word of God and the truth of God is thus shrouded in hearsay, religious mystery and tradition, pomp and ceremony and religious mumbo-jumbo. This sounds critical, but it is true nevertheless. God never wants us to be ignorant of truth and never hides it from us, but we do have to glean it for ourselves from the Word. He fully intended ministering to the man at Gadara and to open a branch of the Jesus of Nazareth Evangelistic Organization and the devil suspected something was going to happen. The devil is a schemer and a plotter, so, being a master at strategy, saw a golden opportunity to wipe them all out in one foul stroke. All the core members of this group were in one boat at the same time, so if he could kill them, he would stop Christianity before it even started! There are some key points to look at- ◦ When Jesus said, Let us pass over, He had no doubt that He was going to reach His destination. He was on an assignment that ultimately led to the salvation of a precious soul and the expansion of the Kingdom of God. The devil does not want either of those things to happen. The word Jesus used was Dierchomai, which relates to the act of travelling, but one meaning is to pierce. Jesus was in effect piercing into the devil’s territory and take over. Little wonder that storm rose up. ◦ The disciples Took Him as He was. The Greek word is Paralambano, which means association. They were in intimate association with the Son of God. Are you? ◦ The disciples who were professional fishermen accustomed to storms were afraid, because this was not a Natural Storm. It was demonic driven. ◦ The word used to describe this storm is Thyella, which means a hurricane or a cyclone, slay and wrath! ◦ The waves beat into the boat, being derived from the word Epiballo which is comprised of two other words. One is Epi, meaning cyclone, slay & wrath. This was a demoniacally driven force that was picking up waves and repeatedly hurling them At the boat with the intention of smashing it to pieces. It was like a cricket fielder grabbing the ball to throw at the bails and run the batter out, or a baseball pitcher winding up and pitching. ◦ Other little ships were also with Him but according to Mark, His was the only one affected. ◦ So much water filled the boat, it filled so much that it literally started to swell out or bulge at the seams. The Greek word used is Gemizo. Mark tells us that Jesus was sound asleep. If the boat was so full, as seen in the previous point, why didn’t Jesus get wet? Surely, that would wake anybody, but He was untouched. The waves that beat against that boat, merely rocked Him to sleep. He was at Peace! You can have Peace in a Storm and when you have such peace, all hell can be breaking loose around you and you will come through it! After all, didn’t He promise to give us His peace? See John 14:27. The point I wish to make is that we do not ignore the problems that beset us. That would be foolish, because they are real, but we can have His peace in the midst of the storms of life when we are in the will of God. Jesus was always living in complete and utter co-operation with the mind and will of God. That produces real peace! The disciples did not yet possess that peace so woke Him. When they woke Him, Jesus did two things- He rebuked the wind: When Jesus stood up in the boat and spoke, the word He first used was Epitamao, which simply means stop! It had an almost mocking tone about it, as if He was saying, Is that all you can do? Nothing can deflate a proud, vain and egotistical fool than mocking them like that. Once that ego had been dealt a blow, it lost its motivation, gave up and quit! Jesus simply told the wind, Quit your foolishness and stop it... now, dealing with the source of the problem first! Sometimes we neglect to deal with the root cause and merely fight against the results or the symptoms that follow. I remember the time we had a weekly prayer and worship meeting, when a woman came for healing of a headache. We prayed and she said the headache had immediately gone. She returned some time later with the same problem, received prayer and said she was healed. This continued several times and I started to think that something was wrong. Was she merely an attention getter, or was there some other thing? When I asked the Lord about it, He told me to stop praying for her and to tell her to start using her reading glasses! We had been praying for the results, but not addressing the cause. Jesus dealt with the source first! He spoke to the sea: Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. John 14:12. He gave us delegated authority that is backed up with His delegated ability. I encourage you to study the words power and authority in this regard. Start with Matthew 10:1; Mark 16:Luke 9:1, 10:19; Acts 1:8, 4:33 and look for key words like Dunamis and Exousia! In the midst of this noisy hurricane, Jesus was violently shaken awake by frightened followers, stood up in the boat, laughed at the wind and said, Stop that, then said to the waves, Now... Listen to Me! His next instructions were in the form of the word Siapao, which means hold your peace, silence, be quiet and be speechless, or as I would most likely say, Shut up! He then said Peace to the situation, followed by a command, Be Still. Jesus used the word Phimoo, which describes the action of muzzling something, or as some folk would say, gag something. His instructions were basically as if He said Be Silent and listen to this... Shhh. Think right now of a situation in your own life that is like a raging storm around you and say, Shush! Many people start shadow boxing, struggling and fighting, getting on all sorts of witch-hunts and yelling at stuff and really achieve very little. They have expended their energy, grown weary and frustrated and that storm is probably still blowing. All Jesus did was put his finger to his mouth and say Shhh and The Wind Ceased! The Greek word used to describe this is Kopazō, which simply means that it just grew tired and wore itself out! Mark says that there was a Great Peace… not just peace. There are two kinds of Peace. One is Peace With God, such as what we receive at salvation. The other is the Peace Of God that we enjoy in our relationship with God.
I used this story to illustrate that, although the devil is an already defeated foe, he has not yet given up, or give up easily. Think of a court of law in which the judge pronounces sentence on the person standing before him. He has been found guilty as charged and the sentence is given accordingly, but has not yet been carried out! The devil has already been tried and convicted of his crime, disarmed and defeated, but the full sentence has to yet be carried out. Now that I have established a foundation on which I can build, we shall turn our full attention to The Armour of God. It is not what you may think. Some teachings depict the armour as being defensive, almost like something to hide behind when the devil attacks, as if we are always being threatened and the underdogs. That isnottrue! According to Deuteronomy 28, we are the head, not the tail; Above and not beneath, lenders and not borrowers! 2 Corinthians 2:14 tells me we always triumph in Christ. Remember this
After his teachings in the preceding chapters, Paul summed everything up, saying something like, "If you cannot remember all the other things I have taught you, then please remember this!" This church was one of the largest in existence. It had everything going for it, with all the programs and facilities one would expect in a modern day church. They started well, born of the Spirit, enjoyed the manifest presence of God and were growing well until something started going wrong. I suspect that they got their eyes off the Lord Advocate General of the Church and started to lock the Holy Spirit out of their meetings and began concentrating on the peripherals. Many are now a social club that meets in a church building. I have seen this many times when those admirable and required elements seem to become the objective. The church becomes like such a well oiled machine that it may keep running under the inertia of its sheer size. Even if God were not there, it keeps running. On many occasions, manipulation, domination and control, faction fighting, and other problems set in and the downward spiral often begins. |
Paul's Conclusion & Summing up
Paul continues in Ephesians 6:13 with a conclusion. It is as if he said, “Having said all that, or In the light of these things—Analebete”. It means to Take Unto You! This is a compounded word derived from the words Ana and Labete, which comes from Lambano which means to do it right now! It relates to taking hold of and receiving a thing and keep using it. It is like saying now that you have started, keep going. In other words, Reach down and pick up the armour you were wearing, as if it had slipped down around your feet. Pick it up and put it back on in the way you first wore it—and keep on doing it. This is what had happened to the church at Ephesus. They had started well, but became disconnected from God and thus from the power of God. Instead of continuing to do what they started with, they were operating now out of tradition, history, intellectual knowledge or habit, but their armour had fallen off. Their experience with God was now mere religious observance and it is clearly evident that this is the state of far too many people today who call themselves Christians! Paul said that we are to do this so that we may be able to withstand in the evil day. If you wonder what this means, consider your evil day to be any day in which evil tries to get into your life— and having done all, to stand. See Ephesians 6:13. Tradition says, If faith does not work—stand; If prayer does not work—stand and if you have obeyed the Word—stand. Erroneous teaching has caused much hurt to people. For example, it is said that If those things have not worked, then standing on the word or whatever will not work. The devil will beat you more, because you have misunderstood what it really means. What it really means speaks of positional status in and with Christ. We can and must oppose the devil and maintain our stand or positional status and keep abiding there. Look at it like this: Having brought your battle to an ultimate conclusion... God is predicting the outcome before it starts, by telling us that at the end of the day to make sure that you are the one left standing. With this armour on, God is telling us that before the battle starts, We Will Always Be The One Left Standing! The next section is a detailed description of the armour itself
Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth. Ephesians 6:14. The Loin Belt was possibly the most important item of all, but it was rarely seen and was probably not very glamorous, but it was of vital importance because it held everything together. Without that, everything can fall apart. The loin belt held the breastplate together. The shield of faith which we shall look at shortly could be clipped to the loin belt. The breastplate was made of two separate pieces, one fitted to the front and one to the back and was held together and fastened by two brass rings at the shoulders. It supported the shield that was held by or fastened to the loin belt by a fitting on the side. When required, the soldier could slip it from its clasp. The breastplate (thorax) covered the vital organs and extended down over the knees so that it not only covered the vital organs, but also extended down like a skirt. It was fastened together at the waist to the loin belt. Often times it was made of brass chain mail. Whilst it provided protection, its appearance was enhanced—almost polished by the continual rubbing action each individual piece had because they rubbed against each other. We can also take on lustre by relating to each other and thus polishing each other as we walk together. The longer we walk in righteousness the better we become and the more beautiful we become. If their breastplates could shine in the sunlight, how more brilliant can we become as we radiate with the light of God in our lives? It is not just called a breastplate but the Breastplate of Righteousness. It covered the heart and deals with a Christian's right standing with God. Righteousness speaks about justification; our declaration of innocence by God; our cleanness of heart before him when we make Jesus the Lord of our lives. See Acts 13;39; Romans 5:1; 1 Corinthians 5:1; Colossians 2:10-15. The Shield refers to an often misunderstood item. It is often regarded as a defensive item, but this is far from the truth. Paul said- This is not saying that faith is the most important, but that faith has to be out in front. There is a faith that covers all. There were two kinds of shield. One is a chield called aspis. This was a small round shield used for ceremonial purposes only. It was highly decorated, engraved and polished, but due to its relative small size and shape, offered little protection in battle. The other is thurion which means a door. Please bear in mind that Jesus is the door (John 10:7-9). This now makes sense when we see that God has dealt to EACH man THE MEASURE of faith. You have enough. God has already given you all the faith you will ever have so asking for more is not actually correct. Use what you have. Increase in faith merely means that you start to use more of what God has already set aside for you. Your measure has been tailor made for you and the standard is of course, Jesus. Romans 10:17 says- We have often pictured soldiers with big heavy metal shields. Big brass shields were often used more for ceremonial purposes than for battle. Such shields were heavy and unwieldy. Another kind of shield was often used in close combat. Such shields were regularly oiled to make the leather supple and pliable. If a shield was dry it became brittle and was easily penetrated, so a soldier was obliged to regularly smear oil on his shield. Arrows dipped in burning oil could be not only deflected but the flames extinguished, especially if the soldiers soaked their shields in water just before battle. The fiery darts of the devil are not something to fear, causing people to want to cower behind their shield of faith as is too often purported, but things that could be deflected or extinguished without harm to the individual. Extinguishing something is an action, or an active force. Bible students should know that oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. Christians cannot do without a regular smearing and anointing of the Holy Spirit. Without that, we become dry and brittle, easily penetrated and damaged. I never cease to wonder why so many Christians deny the role of the Holy Spirit in their lives and refuse to use what he has given us to live effectively. The soldiers could easily manouevre their shields with military precision. They could interlock them to form a wall of armour on front, provided by the soldiers in the front lines, whilst others behind could hold their shields overhead for a protective covering. When Paul said ABOVE ALL, he described this wall both ahead and above the individual. Biblical terms like God being our SHIELD and Buckler now start to make sense. Quenching fiery darts refers to a special kind of arrow. There were two kinds of arrows that look alike externally. One was an ordinary kind, sometimes encased with oil soaked rags, but the other was hollow that was filled with an inflammable liquid. It “exploded” on impact. This latter one was very dangerous, because when this was in flight, it was almost impossible to tell any difference. Anyone who was not prepared would be taken by surprise. You did not know it was coming until it hit you. Before battle, the soldiers would soak their shields in water. When they took them out, they were dripping wet adding to the protection against any flaming arrow. This tells me that our faith is to be soaked in the water of the word. We now turn to the next item. There were many different kinds of helmets that ranged from the standard kinds of helmets worn by ordinary soldiers through to the elaborate and highly adorned versions worn by officers. High ranking officers in particular had elaborate finishes, ranging from carvings and images to plumes. Some of these officers had very elaborate plumes of feathers that were so long, they draped down their backs and they got much attention! This is like salvation. It is something noticeable. You can see a perfect stranger who “just happens” to be a Christian and “see something” in him. There is some kind of recognition within that is like “a knowing” that the other person is a born-again believer. It is a witness in the spirit that Paul describes in Romans 8:14-17. The believer’s helmet is invisible to the natural eye, but is seen spiritually. The Holy Spirit who dwells within a believer enables us to see each other as he sees us, namely, blood washed, redeemed saints. Often times, evil spirits can also see it. They know if a person is a real Spirit filled believer or not. In battle a formidable foe was someone who knew how to use a battle axe, not just to use it in close, but to throw it with great skill and force. If it hit someone on an unprotected head, it meant death. The devil wants to hit us a blow on the head to knock us into insensibility, or knock revelation knowledge out of us. Little by little he wants to knock spiritual truths out of us. He attacks our belief structures until we have few belief systems left in us. Once we have lost those things, all that remains is human generated religion. The word for helmet means something wrapped firmly and tightly around our head. The word used for salvation embraces everything from soundness of mind to fullness, peace and healing, completion and the like. We must have these things wrapped so tightly into our system by the Word of God that nothing will deter us, inflict permanent damage, cheat us out of believing what God has said or hinder us from moving into what God has told us to do. The Sword The Romans had an awesome arsenal of weaponry, that included a variety of swords and daggers. Paul spoke of what most people associate with the most widely used weapon, but there were more. The sword was placed in a sheath that was fastened on the other side to the loin belt. It also provided a fastening for the lance’s scabbard. The lance fitted into a sheath running down the middle of the back and was also fastened to the loin belt and we shall talk of this lance afterwards. Everything pivoted around the loin belt. Paul said to have our loins girt about with truth in Ephesians 6:14 and God’s word conveys this truth to us. Everything we are, do or have, depends on the Word of God or to be more correct, by revelation knowledge in the Word of God! Without this knowledge and experience, we are vulnerable. Little wonder that the devil has infiltrated some churches and educational systems to remove the bible. Anyone who does not know his or her covenant rights can be conned. Anyone who does not know the contents of the last will and testament could be cheated out of their inheritance. The dark ages ushered in a dangerous element. People were illiterate, so their priests had to read scriptures to them, but it devolved to interpreting what they wanted them to mean and discouraging the laity from reading for themselves. Bibles were few and far between, but when the printing press was invented, the written word became readily available. What has happened is that in many churches today, reading of the word of God as it should be read does not happen. This fact is easily verified by attending one of them. Test me and go. Paul clearly stated that the sword of the spirit is the word of God—but it is not “the bible as such”. Some Christians have heard of the Logos, but fewer have an understanding of the Rhema. Both can talk of the bible. The former is merely the paper and ink, for want of better description, but the latter is the living, revealed word. It is as if the Spirit of God reveals something to you, or opens up a passage to you. He gives understanding. Theologians often miss this wonderful and powerful element, focusing on the mere logos. It is not that they are in error. Their work is great, but often lacking life, because it is intellectually based. This is the kind of difference Paul spoke of in the first few chapters of his first letter to the church at Corinth. Anyone who has read the bible many times, can often open a passage and read it as if for the first time. A word or phrase seems to leap out of the page at them. It is as if the author points his finger to that section telling you, “Look at this.” That is the kind of thing I mean and it is amazing. Paul rightly called it The Sword of the Spirit. We could regaard it as the sword that the Spirit wields. Many kinds of swords used, but two main ones were used in the Roman Army. The first kind was a huge 2-handed sword that was too big and cumbersome to use single handed or use in battle. Its purpose was for training and exercise. It was used to develop yourself and get yourself fit. One trained by swinging it sideways to hit the target. This is not the sword that the Spirit wields. The type of sword Paul described here is machaira. It was a small, short sword used for close combat. The “bible” is the double handed sword. If you are in a battle, it is no good waving that big double handed sword against the enemy because it does not work! It is too cumbersome and heavy, dull on the edge and once you start swinging it, the enemy can duck the blow or cause you to lose your balance relatively easy. The Sword of the Spirit is a small personal sword that is designed for one-on-one close combat, so close you could see the enemy’s face, perhaps so close, you can smell his breath. Remember that the sword is held in the sheath that is held onto the Loin Belt. This means that when you draw your sword,you are drawing from every faculty of the spirit that the complete armor provides! The word Macharia is linked to other words that mean quarrel, dispute, striving etc and is linked to words that mean dagger. This makes is a close-in and very personal affair. Jesus did not quote the whole bible to the devil but specific words gained by intimate and personal relationship with the Father, prayer and the Rhema word that directly related to the issue at hand. Scriptures also speak of the 2-edged sword seen in scripture. For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Hebrews 4:12. The Logos is used here to state that the word of God is living and alive (zaō) and not some stuffy religious rendering. It is powerful or energēs that means it is energy in motion that is active, operational and effective. It is very sharp (tomos) which means that it is designed to be so decisive in operation that one single blow or strike is all that is required. The alternative is a series of hacking, chopping strikes, that might expose the soldier to a counter strike. I for one, do not want to keep on swinging ineffective blows and wear myself out in the process. I want a decisive strike. What is this two-edged sword? The Greek word used is distomos. It is derived from two other words, stomos and di. The former means mouth and the latter means two. This means that it comes from 2 mouths! In other words, the double edged sword is something that comes firstly from God to you; then it comes from you. This is the Rhema word in motion. Hebrews 10:23 states: Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) The Greek word for profession is homologia that means to say the same things that God says. God speaks it to you and you say it back and it then is the Sword of the Spirit, or the Sword that the Spirit Wields. Additional Information: The Romans possessed a large arsenal of weapons and one item that was commonly used was the lance, or spear. Whilst the sword was used in close, the lance was a weapon that was used for distant combat. The spear could be used first by hand or thrown to strike a distant enemy. We could liken the lance to prayer in the spirit. There are various kinds of prayer that co0ud be discussed, but there is “praying” and there is praying. We are talking about praying in the spirit and there is much to consider. Paul said that we can pray in the spirit—and we can pray with the understanding in 1 Corinthians 14:15, so there is a difference. Paul’s words flowed into each other in Ephesians 6:17-18 and there is a colon between God and praying. Say that passage without pausing and you will see what I mean. Please note my emphasis. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. It seems more practical and probably effective by winning a fight from a distance, rather than being in close where the enemy can inflict some damage. Paul was telling us to wear the armor continually and pray without ceasing. |
It takes a special kind of person to wear this armor. Goliath's armor weighed around 700 Kg or 1400 Lbs. He was trained from birth to be a warrior. When the Philistines attacked Israel, he was their champion, but David defeated him with one stone and without armor. To hit Goliath, David had to get past Goliath's armorbearer who was just as formidable a foe. The armor used to describe the Armor of God weighed in at around 80 Kg or 150-160 Lbs. When I said that it takes a special kind of person to wear this armor, I was not referring to natural talents, abilities, strength or faculties, but someone with a trust and confidence in the living God who has already won the victory. Wear it with honor. |
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