THE WHOLE ARMOUR OF GOD
“Put
on the whole armour of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of
the devil.
For we
wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness
in the high places”.
Ephesians
6: 11 – 12
There is an
ongoing battle of which you are involved whether you are aware of it or not as
a child of God. Satan’s ultimate objective is to make you a miserable
Christian. He intends to move you to a place where God’s provisions will not
make meaning to you. However, your knowledge and understanding of this warfare
and an insight into the whole armour of God with you will always actualize the
victory of Jesus over Satan in your life.
If your
understanding of the “wrestle” does not line up with the whole counsel of God’s
Word, you will give the devil an advantage over you.
The whole
armour, which God has provided, is to stand against the wiles of the devil”
WILES OF THE DEVIL
The personalities we are involved with in
this wrestle are not as important as the wiles they are coming against us with.
“Lest
Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices”
2Corinthians
2:11
Wiles are
methods of persuasion that cleverly tricks you into acting in a certain way.
This is all the devil has. The accuser will use very cleverly mapped up tricks
that should successfully persuade you into thinking and accepting that you are
not right with God. His wiles are his devices, schemes, strategies and
deceptions.
Satan’s agents have Satan’s wiles, we as
God’s children have God’s whole complete armour.
The whole armour of God will give you the
ability to stand against the wiles of the devil.
“Wherefore
take unto you the whole armour of God that ye may be able to withstand in the
evil day, and having done all, to stand”.
Ephesians
6: 13
Taking unto
you the whole armour of God is what will engrace you to withstand in the evil
day.
THE ACCUSER
“And,
I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and
the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our
brethren is not cast down, which accused them before our God day and night”
Revelation
12: 10
He is “the”
accuser not “an” accuser. Any other personality that accuses is under the
influence of the accuser.
An accuser
is one who blames another for a wrong done or finding and pointing out the
faults of others. That is who the devil is and that is what he does.
“And
he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and
Satan standing at his right hand to resist him”.
And
the LORD said unto Satan. The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that
hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?
Now
Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and stood before the angel.
And he
answered and spoke unto those that stood before him, saying, take ay the filthy
garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold I have caused your iniquity to
pass from thee and I will clothe thee with a change of raiment”
Zechariah
3: 1 – 4
Joshua the High Priest stood before the Lord with a filthy garment on, Satan, the accuser
was there to resist him. The Lord said unto Joshua, I have forgiven you of your
wrong. This means that Satan was there to accuse him of the wrong but the Lord
rebuked him.
Accusations
always have to do with wrongs or faults. It could be a true or false
accusation. It has only one source, the devil. His purpose is to resist you by
throwing you out of your right standing with God.
“Then
Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?”
Job
1:9
You may be
wondering why the devil does not mind his business. But the truth is, that is
his business, picking on people one after the other.
Heaven was
glad when the accuser was thrown out of there. The accuser is now here with us.
He may not necessarily have to go to heaven to accuse you before the Lord as he
did with Joshua and Job; he’ll come to you directly and accuse you to your
face.
That is his
name, as his name is, so is he. Remember, the devil is a professional accuser
he does not play around with his work; he will execute it with skill and
precision.
No matter
how real the voice of the accuser may sound to you, know that it is a wile, and
it was meant to persuade you out of God’s presence, it is a clever TRICK
specially designed for you by the devil.
Every time
you feel disqualified from God’s love, failure, spiritual weakness filthy, a
strong sense of guilt, even after you have confessed your sins to God, know
that the devil is strongly at work and is about to win this battle. These are
the wiles of the accuser, what you feel is exactly what the clever tricks were
meant to accomplish in you.
When I was
very young in the faith, I made a pledge to God to live a pure moral life. I
got out of my sleep one day realized I had a wet dream. I felt very unclean,
touching my bible was a terrible thing for me to do let alone going to church.
You see, these were wiles of the devil to move me out of my position in Christ
to a very miserable state.
Has there
ever been a time in your life where you wanted to do something worthwhile for
God but you felt disqualified and thought: “If only I had been very righteous
from Monday to yesterday Saturday, I would have been more qualified to do this
thing successfully today Sunday”. That was the wile of the devil; he rubbed you
out of the result your faith would have commanded for you. Don’t give in to his
wiles, put on the whole amour of God to be able to stand against them.
THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
“Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil …and having on the breastplate of righteousness”
Ephesians 6: 11, 13
The whole
armour is the only provision God has provided for the believer to stand against
the wiles of the devil. Any other thing will not prevail. By the armour, we can
detect the cleverly tricky methods of the devil and also stand our grounds.
As the
accuser, he operates by clever accusing tricks against the believer. I think
the devil is too subtle to accuse you falsely. His accusations against you may
have footholds on you, but you know what? It is the LORD who has caused your
iniquity to pass away from you like Joshua.
It is the
breastplate of righteousness that enables no prevail against his fierce
condemnation. There is no spiritual metallic breastplate we put on during times
of prayers. Paul only uses the term “breastplate” for them to understand and
comprehend the essence of their righteousness in Christ. The audience of Paul
in Ephesus was familiar with the breastplate of the military and therefore
understood it better. When the military man puts on the breastplate for battle,
he walks chest out, he can’t be bent, and by this stature, he appears bold and
confident in battle. The Bible relates the righteousness of a believer to the
breastplate because righteousness is connected to the boldness of a lion.
“…But
the righteous are bold as a lion”
Proverbs
28: 1
As a
believer, you are a righteous man. This does not mean you are perfect. It means
that you have trusted in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. A
sinner is any human being who does not believe in the finished work of Christ.
You are not a righteous man because you are trying to stay away from sin. It’s
a good thing to do but that is not what makes you a righteous person before
God.
When Paul
said; “…having on the breastplate of
righteousness”, he was implying that let the knowledge, awareness and
consciousness of your right standing with God fill and possess you all day.
HOW TO PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
1)
Know that you are righteous, it is not
blasphemy.
2)
Be aware of your right standing with God
for Christ’s sake.
3)
Be conscious; don’t be absent-minded of
where you stand before God.
4)
Declare audibly always: ‘I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus’
It is the
only thing that can enable you to resist the wiles of the accuser. Put it on
always.
‘For
if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things.
Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then
have we confidence toward God’.
1John
3:20-21
Beloved, if
our heart condemns us not, then our confidence towards God is retained. The
accuser's wiles are therefore targeted at causing unrest and uneasiness in our
hearts. Your breastplate covers your chest that is where your heart is.
“For
he put on righteousness as a breastplate…”
Isaiah.
59: 17
Your
knowledge, awareness and consciousness of your right standing will keep your
heart at rest despite whatever the devil accuses you of. Put it on always.
This
provision and many others will be made available and accessible to children of
God. Will like to give your life to God today by accepting Jesus Christ as your
Lord and saviour? Then pray this prayer after me:
Father, I
come to you today just as I am, I have found my greatest challenge today i.e. I
have no right standing with you because of the condemnation that passed unto
all human beings. Save me as I open my heart and accept Jesus today as my Lord
and Saviour. Thank you for saving me and giving a right standing in your
presence today. Amen.
As simple
as it may seem to you, you are saved or born again by this prayer of faith. You
have been restored to the right place before God. Get a bible if you don’t have
one yet and start reading it for yourself. May the Holy Spirit also be your
guide.
Please leave a comment below for me to know how this has
helped you. Be at liberty too to connect with me if you have any personal
spiritual concerns. I’ll be more than interested to be of help in any way the
Lord makes possible.
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