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THE PENTATEUCH

GENESIS ---EXODUS--- LEVITICUS 1.1-7.38 --- 8.1-11.47 --- 12.1-16.34--- 17.1-27.34--- NUMBERS 1-10--- 11-19--- 20-36--- DEUTERONOMY 1.1-4.44 --- 4.45-11.32 --- 12.1-29.1--- 29.2-34.12 --- THE BOOK OF JOSHUA --- THE BOOK OF JUDGES --- PSALMS 1-17--- ECCLESIASTES --- ISAIAH 1-5 --- 6-12 --- 13-23 --- 24-27 --- 28-35 --- 36-39 --- 40-48 --- 49-55--- 56-66--- EZEKIEL --- DANIEL 1-7 ---DANIEL 8-12 ---

NAHUM--- HABAKKUK---ZEPHANIAH ---ZECHARIAH --- THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW ---THE GOSPEL OF MARK--- THE GOSPEL OF LUKE --- THE GOSPEL OF JOHN --- THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES --- 1 CORINTHIANS 1-7 --- 8-16 --- 2 CORINTHIANS 1-7 --- 8-13 -- -GALATIANS --- EPHESIANS --- COLOSSIANS --- 1 THESSALONIANS --- 2 THESSALONIANS --- 1 TIMOTHY --- 2 TIMOTHY --- TITUS --- HEBREWS 1-6 --- 7-10 --- 11-13 --- JAMES --- JOHN'S LETTERS --- REVELATION

--- THE GOSPELS

Chapter 9 Putting On the Whole Armour of God (Ephesians 6.10-18).

This now leads us on to a further thought. One of the many important things that Paul stressed was that we should be strong and be clothed in the armour of God. When Satan comes against us in order to use his wiles against us, or seeks to hurl his darts of doubt and fear at us, we will need to be able to stand. And we will only be able to do this, says Paul, if we are strong and we are clothed in the armour of God. For, as Paul makes clear, our enemies are no mean foes. But the well taught Christian will have no fear for he will be wearing the armour of God.

Firstly we must consider wherein our strength lies. ‘Be strong’, says Paul, ‘in the Lord and in the power of His might.’ Here we are again. Our strength comes because we have the mighty risen Christ living within us in all the power of His resurrection. Once we have fully recognised this it will make us strong indeed.

‘It is important to note that the time for putting on that armour is now. Once the battle has begun and Satan is seeking to assail us it will be too late to start looking around for our armour. For he always comes when he is least expected, and we will be dead before we put it on. Far too many who call themselves Christians express hopes that they will be able to put it on in the future. They think that Satan will await their convenience. But that is folly. Let us repeat what we have said, the time for putting on that armour is now.

So we note that as well as the strength of Christ that we have been speaking about we need the whole armour of God (Ephesians 6.13). It is not enough to have one piece without the other. To depend on Christ when we disobey His command to armour ourselves is a sure recipe for defeat. He will certainly defend the young Christian who has only had time to put on light armour. But He will not make up for deficiencies that result from wholesale disobedience (unless there is true repentance and faith and a guarantee to be different in the future). Furthermore, a piece on here and there will be insufficient. We will need the whole armour, and that includes being clothed with truth, righteousness, faith, knowledge of His word, and assurance of salvation.

The first thing that we need is to have our bodies ‘belted about with truth’. The purpose of this belt is to hold our clothing together so that it does not flap and hinder us or get in the way. In the same way every soldier will ensure that his belt is in good order. How dreadful it would be if when running into battle his trousers fell down and he had to hold them up. We may laugh at the thought, but sadly that is precisely what many of us try to do. We try to fight falsehood and the Devil without being properly equipped. How then can we ensure that this does not happen? The Bible gives us the answer. It tells us that this can be accomplished in spiritual warfare by our having a good understanding of the truth, by having on the belt of truth. The truth will hold everything together, and it is the responsibility of every Christian to gain such a knowledge of the truth. We should seek to build up our understanding of Christian teaching from the Bible, and under wise teachers, and to let God make it real in our hearts, so that when any attack comes we are confident of the basis on which we stand.

For we need to be able to point Satan to the truth. We need to be able to say, ‘we know that this is what God has said, and we know that it is true’. Furthermore ‘truth’ here includes being true. If we are also honest and faithful, so that our lives can stand up to scrutiny in the full light of day, that also will stand us in good stead in the evil day that will at some time come on us suddenly. On the other hand, if we have been flirting with doubtful things, or if we have been less than honest in our lives, then that day will reveal it.

In Paul’s day no soldier would want to go into battle without wearing his breastplate. Or if you prefer modern parlance, his body armour. So the next thing that we need to make sure that we have on is the body armour, the ‘breastplate of righteousness’. This takes on two forms. The first is accomplished by being sure that we are covered in Christ’s righteousness. ‘Jesus Christ is made unto us righteousness’, says 1 Corinthians 1.30. ‘He was made sin for us, He Who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him’, says 2 Corinthians 5.21. Note what these say, Christ is made unto us righteousness, so that we are made the righteousness of God. What this means is that the Perfect One was ‘made sin’, that is, accounted as a sinner and punished for it, so that His righteousness could be put to our account. The hymnwriter had experienced this. That is why he could say, ‘Bold shall I stand in that great Day, for who aught to my charge shall lay?’ He knew that he was covered with the righteousness of Christ, and that therefore he could pass any examination.

And this same awareness that we are clothed in the righteousness of Christ because we have come to Christ and handed ourselves over to Him, will enable us to fight off any attack of Satan about our unworthiness or our sinfulness even now. We will simply turn round and say, ‘I have no righteousness of my own, but my Saviour Jesus Christ has clothed me in His own righteousness, I have been clothed in the righteousness of Christ’. And against that Satan will have no reply. That is why ‘those who receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life by One, even Jesus Christ’ (Romans 5.17), and why the result is that ‘by the obedience of One shall many be made righteous’ (Romans 5.19). Notice the word ‘reign’. It is God’s purpose that we should be triumphant and victorious through being clothed in the righteousness of Christ.

The second aspect of the breastplate of righteousness is that we live righteous lives. The two aspects go together. The Bible knows nothing of someone who seeks to be clothed in the righteousness of Christ, and then does not recognise that it puts him under an obligation to be righteous. That would be hypocrisy. And once someone is living such a righteous life through the indwelling of Christ within him, he will be proof against all accusations of Satan coming from people who live around him. They will have nothing genuine at which to point.

But note that the second righteousness can never be perfect, and our accusers can sometimes make things up. Thus it is of the most vital importance that we know that we are clothed in the righteousness of Christ, which is perfect and unspotted in any way. For it is only that righteousness that can be the final proof against the attacks of Satan.