114. Whole Armor!

The End Time Men
W.W. Fischer
Scriptures Referenced in This Chapter:
          (Follow the Scripture links if you want to study the Scriptures for yourself.)
Mt. 12:25 π Jn. 14:6 π Rom. 13:12 π Rom. 13:14 π 1 Cor. 1:30 π Gal. 2:20 π Eph. 6:10 π Eph. 6:11 π Eph. 6:12 π Eph. 6:13; 2nd π Eph. 6:14 π Eph. 6:15 π Eph. 6:16 π Eph. 6:17 π Eph. 6:18 π 1 Ths. 5:17

The whole armor of God, absolutely complete, without loopholes, compromises or crevices of any type, is God’s desire for His children in this evil day, and this day is evil, which also is the day of the Lord’s appearing. ( Eph. 6:13; top )

The whole armor of God is not something we verbally claim or agree to put on ourselves. It is a spiritual transaction that often takes years or a lifetime as we gain the likeness of Jesus via dying to the flesh-life. The peace, the righteousness, the truth, the faith, the salvation, the might all have to be totally of Jesus and the Father, or the armor will fail.

However, we have failed to totally surrender to the Lord, and thereby failed to gain the total appropriation of the whole armor of God; we are wearing the armor of Saul.

Verse 10 (top) says we are to be strong in His might, not ours. We have been told today that we have all the authority, yet Jesus said the Father has it all, and ultimately everything will take directions only from the Father. We have never totally understood the Scriptural advice of avoiding the traditions and commandments of men.

Verse 11 says to put on the whole armor of God. Paul says in Rom. 13:12 we are to “cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.” There is a requirement here, before putting on the armor of light. Rom. 13:14 (top) says to make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof. When we cast off the works of our darkness, then we are ready to put on the armor of light. However, the very best of Christians still have areas of flesh and darkness that need to be purged and cleansed.

Verse 12 : Here we are told to war against the forces of darkness and yet they cannot be totally overcome because we are a divided house and a divided house cannot stand. ( Mt. 12:25; top ) The necessary power cannot operate through us unless our personal darkness and fleshly lusts have been totally cast off.

In these end times, the army of the Lord, according to the book of Joel, is to be impervious to all evil forces.

Verse 13 (top): The whole armor means that there is nothing lacking, no fleshly loopholes.

Verse 14 : Our loins, the area of the abdomen and the area of our inner spirit, are to be girded about with truth. This implies the Spirit of truth, or Jesus Himself, who said He was the truth. ( Jn. 14:6 ) This also implies perfection or the total likeness of Jesus, which is the perfection of God’s righteousness in us. ( 1 Cor. 1:30; top )

Verse 15 (top): Our feet shod with that firm stability that only God Himself can dispense, to spread the gospel of total peace and rest in the Lord. However, our inner conflict between light and the flesh must be resolved.

Verse 16 : The most important is to take the shield of God’s faith. Paul said he lived by God’s faith ( Gal. 2:20; top ); it will take this kind of God faith to stop all the fiery darts of the wicked.

Verse 17 (top): The helmet of salvation and the sword of the Lord are next to be appropriated. We are to have the mind of Christ under our helmet and to have the two-edged sword of the Rhema word of God, when He directs, not using any Scripture anytime we please. This also demands our being able to hear His Rhema word.

Verse 18 : Praying with all prayer exposes us all being very far from praying without ceasing. ( 1 Ths. 5:17; top ) Supplication in the spirit implies a humble imploring of God to undertake via all prayer for all Christians. This spiritual accomplishment will cost more than most Christians are willing to invest.

Conclusion:

Obviously, the whole armor is available, but we have relied too often on our strength, not God’s. We have not totally cast off the works of darkness, therefore we are not capable nor ready to wrestle in complete victory over all principalities and evil powers. Nor do we totally accept God’s righteousness as we justify in our prideful areas, our own religious promotions. Pride was meant to die, however our dismal spiritual poverty at times is related to our covering up of our pride, which waters down our faith. Instead of faith being something that comes down from God, it’s something we work up.

Hearing and acting upon the Rhema word is many times a hit-and-miss situation, and obviously none of us pray enough.

If we had totally applied the armor of God to ourselves as God has desired, our present crime rate, immorality of all types, greed, violence, rebellion, promiscuity, etc. would be threatening our very existence. The Christian Church used to be a threat to tyranny, but no more.

Lord, be merciful to us and take the armor of Saul off of us.


113. Matthew 12:29 (Bind the Strong Man) π 115. Balaam’s Way
The End Time Men

I’d love to hear comments and/or questions from you! Email me!

Site Panel π Home π MNQs π New Posts π Songs π Books π Series π Articles π PDFs
Scriptures π Greek Dictionary π Top 25 Scriptures π Top 50 Writings π Twisted Scriptures π Bible Bullets
Authors π Subjects π Titles π Links π Donations