The Whole Armor of God, Part 3

Today I continue my series of articles commenting on the concept and principles involved in the Armor of God, which the apostle Paul described in the New Testament. This is the topic of the Sunday school lesson I am currently teaching.

Getting Ready to Put On the Armor of God

What about you? Are you ready to put on the whole armor of God?

Before you can put on the armor of God you must first take off the works of darkness (Rom 13:12). How is this done?

1. The works of darkness is what you do, think, and say which is contrary to God’s will.

2. If you are unsaved then you must repent of your sins and invite Jesus into your heart. A sample prayer for this is, “Lord Jesus Christ forgive me of my evil and come into my heart.”

3. You must believe correctly who Jesus is:

a. Jesus is the only begotten Son of God (John 3:16).

b. Jesus is both human and divine (Hebrews 1:5, 6, 8; I Timothy 2:5).

c. Jesus was never created but He created all things (Colossians 1:16-17).

d. Jesus was born without sin and never sinned; God as His Father and Mary His mother (Matthew 1:18; Hebrews 4:15).

e. Jesus took your sins and that of the whole world in His own body on the cross (I Peter 2:24; Isaiah 53:6).

f. Jesus died on the cross (Matthew 27:50).

g. Jesus was buried (Matthew 27:57-60).

h. Jesus rose from the dead (Matthew 28:5, 60).

4. You must believe you are a sinner in need of a savior and want to be saved (John 7:37, 38).

5. If you are saved then you must repent of your sins and ask God for forgiveness. He is faithful and just to forgive you of your sins and cleanse you from all unrighteousness (I John 1:9). Memorize a verse or two relating to the particular problem you are facing. David wrote that he hid God’s word in his heart in order that he might not sin against God (Ps. 119:11). You can pray over the verse and ask God for help in obeying His word. You can ask God for deliverance. You can learn to think about God’s word at all times. This brings with it a blessing especially when God’s word is a delight to you (Ps. 1:1-6).

a. 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

b. Psalm 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

c. Psalm 1:1-6

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

6. Remember, this all works by the power of God (Zech. 4:6). The holy writ has contained within it the power of God’s Spirit to bring it about (Isa. 55:11). We are to pray. That is why Paul writes: Praying always with all prayer and supplication (Eph. 6:18).

a. Zechariah 4:6

Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.

b. Isaiah 55:11

So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

c. Ephesians 6:18

Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

In II Chronicles 20:1-30 we read of an instance where God intervened on the behalf of Judah when an army of three nations came to invade Judah.

2 Chronicles 20:1-30

1, 2: It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle. Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side Syria; and, behold, they be in Hazazontamar, which is Engedi.

3: And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.

4: And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the LORD: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD.

5: And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court,

6-9: And said, O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee? Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend forever? And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying, If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help.

10-12: And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir, whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them, and destroyed them not; Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit. O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee. 

13: And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children. 

14: Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the LORD in the midst of the congregation; 

15, 16: And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's. To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness 

17: Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you. 

18: And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshipping the LORD. 

19: And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with a loud voice on high. 

20, 21: And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper. And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever. 

22: And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten. 

23: For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another. 

24: And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped. 

25: And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much. 

26: And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Berachah; for there they blessed the LORD: therefore the name of the same place was called, The valley of Berachah, unto this day. 

27, 28: Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for the LORD had made them to rejoice over their enemies. And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and trumpets unto the house of the LORD. 

29: And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries, when they had heard that the LORD fought against the enemies of Israel. 

30: So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet: for his God gave him rest round about.