Weapons & Armor of Our Warfare

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints. Ephesians 6:10-18

In the dark age we live in today, we all must stand and fight. Every Christian will have to warfare at some point in his/her walk no matter if you are a leader in your home or church or not, you are still called to battle. We are soldiers in God’s army. Some of us specialize on the frontlines, some of us specialize in the communications area in the barracks, and some of us specialize in treating the wounded and dying. Whatever your talent is, it is used in warfare against our enemy, Satan. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds. The weapons we use in battle do not come from our own strength, our own reserves, or our own resources; they come from God! God is the one who gives us the gifts and talents we have. Whether you are on the frontlines interceding, preaching or ministering, behind the barracks teaching, writing books, or otherwise exhorting others the talents and gifts used to do these things are from God and they are weapons to fight the enemy. Apart from the gifts that Father gives us, He has also provided us with an armor that operates and functions through faith. This is why Paul says “take up the whole armor of God” (emphasis mine). You cannot put on the helmet and not take up the shield, or put on the breastplate and not take up the sword; each piece of the armor works together and not without the other.

Let’s talk about these different pieces of the armor. The helmet of salvation is used to protect the mind. The mind is the battlefield in which the enemy wages war against us by trying to perturb us, impart doubt, confuse us, and make us anxious. The bible says in Isaiah 26:3 that “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in You”. We have peace with God through Jesus Christ and when our minds are connected with Him and focused on Him, He will keep our minds in peace. The helmet helps us to “pull down strongholds”, “cast down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself above the knowledge of God”, and “bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ”. Strongholds begin in our minds and then get into our hearts. It starts with a thought and once it gets into your heart it becomes a fortress. God has given us the weapons to tear these down! The helmet works in conjunction with the shield of faith. “Taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one”. If you do not take up your shield to block the darts, your head as well as your body is exposed to the darts. The darts are poisonous, sharp, and very destructive. They are envy, lust, contention, jealousy, gossip, hatred, wrath, lies, doubt, confusion and many others that I cannot rattle off the top of my head right now. My point is that if you don’t have your shield to quench the fiery darts, they can hit you anywhere else and penetrate. You still need your helmet because while your shield is quenching the darts, your mind is at peace, and covered by God because your thoughts are on Him and any other thought cannot enter. Just as the helmet and shield work together, the breastplate of righteousness works with these two as well. We are made righteous before God through the blood of Jesus. The breastplate protects our heart and the upper part of our bodies. The belt of truth goes around your waist and it is the knowledge that every word that comes out of the mouth of God is true; staying founded in the word and applying it to your life daily as truth. The belt also keeps the breastplate in place as well as the sword. The sword of the Spirit is the word of God that cuts sharper than a two edged sword, dividing between the bone and the marrow and the soul and spirit and is the discerner of the thoughts of man. Speaking the word of God in any situation and applying it to the situation is how we use the sword of the Spirit. To use the sword we must know the word of God. Now if you have all this on and do not have on the shoes of the preparation of the Gospel of peace then you are not fully dressed. The shoes protect your feet. If you are in battle barefoot, then you cannot run,(when I say run, I don’t mean run away, I mean run OUT OF THE WAY) much less walk when the enemy attacks. Your shoes keep you ready to dodge the enemy’s attacks. Finally we must PRAY. We must pray in the spirit with all manner of supplication for the ALL the saints. Not just our families, but our church, our Pastors, the church in general all over the globe, Pastors all over the world, saints all over the world. When we do this we are standing in the gap as God spoke to Ezekiel about, fully dressed in our armor, warfaring for other soldiers in the battle that may be wounded or fallen at any given moment. This is the armor of our warfare!! THE WEAPONS OF OUR WARFARE ARE: PRAISE, PRAYER, FAITH, THE WORD OF GOD, UNITY, WORSHIP AND THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT. These are not CARNAL but MIGHTY IN GOD, to bring down STRONGHOLDS!!! You cannot praise if God has not revealed Himself to you. You cannot praise someone or something you don’t know. You cannot pray if you don’t believe that He is able to answer and do what He says He can do. Likewise you can’t have faith if you don’t believe that He is God! You cannot use the word of God effectively if you don’t believe that everything it says about God and you is true. You cannot stand united if you are not all on one accord about what you believe. You cannot worship God if you do not know God, believe God, or love God. You cannot have or operate in the gifts of the Spirit if you do not believe in the Spirit who gives them. Therefore these weapons are mighty in God because only God can give them! God gives every man a measure of faith with which to believe. He reveals Himself to us so that we can believe Him, praise Him, get to know Him, love Him, and worship Him. He gives us His word so that we can live the way He wants us to live, know everything about Him, and know His promises for us and what He thinks and says about us. HE GIVES US GIFTS so that we can edify His church and fight against the enemy!!! HIS WEAPONS ARE MIGHTY AND HE HAS GIVEN THEM TO US FREELY!! PRAISE GOD ALMIGHTY!!! So let’s kick some devil butt because though we live in this body of flesh, “we do not war according to the flesh”, “for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” that want to kill and destroy you!! Let’s stand against the wiles of the devil and fight with the weapons of our warfare; let’s take up the WHOLE armor of God so that we can withstand in the evil day! God has given us the weapons and He has given us an armor, let us be good soldiers fighting the good fight until that day when we will see Jesus face to face. God bless you.