The Armor of God. B.S. 23 Jun 05

What a message. *smile* Preached by Deaconess Lian, her first I believe!=)
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The armor of god.

Ephesians 6
10Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,[c] against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

14Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints--

Wow. Paul speaks on putting on the armor of God! Imagine that! Putting on that armor would mean invincibility wouldn't it? =) Let's check out the 6 components of this armor:

1. Belt of Truth (Girded your waist with truth)
2. Breastplate of Righteousness
3. Shoes of Peace (Gospel of peace)
4. Shield of Faith
5. Helmet of Salvation
6. Sword of the Spirit

D. Lian then goes on to show and prove us that these 6 components of armor refer to our dear Lord Jesus. Using Scripture,

1. Belt of Truth
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

2. Breastplate of Righteousness
1 Cor 1:30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God--and righteousness and sanctification and redemption-- 31that, as it is written, "He who glories, let him glory in the LORD."

3. Shoes of Peace
Eph 2:14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation

4. Shield of Faith
Gen 15:1 After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward."

5. Helmet of Salvation
Psalms 27:1 The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?

6. Sword of the Spirit. Self-explanatory from the above Scripture. *wink*

Further confirmation that this armor of God that Paul speaks of, is actually Jesus!

Rom 13
12The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. 13Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. 14But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.

Wow, ever wondered what it's like to put on Jesus? You're putting on the armor of God! That's God's one and only answer to all our problems. That is, showing us more of Jesus! When it's crunchtime, we only have to look to Jesus for our answers.

D. Lian then shared her testimony on the healing of colon cancer that one of her friends experienced. Which was good. Which was really faith-bo osting, praise God :)

Truth is our belt. It holds everything up! It holds the breastplate, the scabbard (which holds the sword) etc. And truth is called truth because... *drum roll* it's meant to be BELIEVED! Nothing surprising ya? :) The law was given through Moses but Grace and Truth came through Jesus Christ!

Eph1:13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14who[b] is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

D. Lian then gave her testimony on her students results during her last year of her teaching career. Well, she apparently spotted questions that didn't come out for her students' O Level history paper. Worse still, topics that she told them not to study came out! D. Lian freaked out, and she did the only thing she could. That was, to pray. To cut the long story short, that same batch of students achieved 90% passes and 60% distinctions (approximately). Wow. Many of them didn't even complete half the paper!=) Cool huh.

Isa 59
14Justice is turned back, And righteousness stands afar off; For truth is fallen in the street, And equity cannot enter.
15So truth fails, And he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. Then the LORD saw it, and it displeased Him That there was no justice.
16He saw that there was no man, And wondered that there was no intercessor; Therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him; And His own righteousness, it sustained Him. 17For He put on righteousness as a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head; He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, And was clad with zeal as a cloak.18According to their deeds, accordingly He will repay, Fury to His adversaries, Recompense to His enemies; The coastlands He will fully repay. 19So shall they fear The name of the LORD from the west, And His glory from the rising of the sun; When the enemy comes in like a flood, The Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him.

This was God's grand plan of salvation. Note that 'he who departs from evil makes himself a prey'. A prey for what? A prey for the tactics of the devil, making you think that you have to work to earn your blessings. The Lord, displeased at the devil and the resultant injustice that Man was suffering, saved us with His own arm! and His own righteousness! (meaning His own son, Jesus..! -sweet-) God gave Jesus as the solution. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.