God's Armour

DON  MacINTYRE - 1972 - God’s Armour - Glencoe,

We have just been singing about God’s armour. It is good to think about that. We are soldiers in a ‘warfare;’ we war against a ruthless enemy, a pitiless enemy, an astute enemy, and we therefore have very great need of this armor. 

Some people in some parts of the world seem to fear for their own personal safety, security and survival and feel they have to be armed. Some believe we carry weapons, and as a matter of fact, we have been actually asked if we have been armed. You will understand we are not armed in the sense they think of that matter, but in a far more important sense we are "armed." I am armed for my own personal safety spiritually, for my own survival spiritually, and for your safety and survival you must be armed. You cannot possibly go through this world unarmed and still survive spiritually. The enemy, the devil, is not afraid of us. That is, we, as human beings, he has no reason to be afraid of us. He is more than a match for any human beings, regardless of their character, capabilities or capacity. He is more than a match, but there is the armor supplied by God that makes us more than a match for him. 

Sometimes even the best soldiers undergo certain refresher courses, a kind of specialized course to make them even better, or equip them better or with more equipment, to face the enemy. These days together might be something like that. The weapons of God’s armor are available to you every day, but in these days together He would want to teach you a little better how to use them, and teach you more fully what weapons are available to you and make you feel that, equipped with the weapons of His armory, you can go out and be more than a match for the enemy. 

In II Corinthians 2 Paul spoke of the desire of Satan to get an advantage over them. That is what he wants to do, to find you and me undefended, defenseless, unarmed and thus get an advantage over us. I Peter 4:1, “Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind.”  This verse has impressed me. This matter of being armed has a tremendous lot to do with the manner in which I am thinking, the kind of thoughts I have. “Arm yourselves.” This is something you and I need to do for ourselves. Many times I have had problems, and you would have had them too. You will have lots more, and so will I. Many times I have said to the Lord, “What is the solution to this problem?” 

The solution to every problem I have to face is to find and have the mind of Christ. That is one of your chief weapons. It is perfectly obvious to us that, “If I am to be armed spiritually my flesh has to suffer; it has to be disciplined.” In Proverbs 25, the last verse says, “He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down and without walls.” That would be defenseless. To get rule over your own spirit, it is your flesh that has to suffer, has to be disciplined, and it does not like discipline. 

If the human in us does not suffer, we are defenseless and unarmed, “Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind.” It is good for us to make up our minds as Paul says, “I keep under my body and bring it into subjection, lest after I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” He also said, “So fight I, not as one that beateth the air.” He was not aiming blows at himself, and just beating the air, but hitting the mark, disciplining this human nature of his, the human in him, knowing that to be armed he had to do that. 

II Timothy 1:7, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love of a sound mind.” That means we have a sound, sensible, reasonable, practical way of thinking. The word ‘wisdom’ from the English Bible, in the Brazilian Bible means ‘good sense.’ People who have good sense, they are armed. I have often desired to have more ‘good sense.’ “God hath not given us the spirit of fear.”  One of the ways the enemy gets an advantage over us is by putting into us, if we give him an opportunity, the spirit of fear. The Lord did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, of love and a sound mind. 

I thought of the twelve spies Moses sent to spy out the land. All the twelve saw what the land produced, those tremendous bunches of grapes, and figs, but somehow the enemy was able to instill into ten of the twelve a spirit of fear, and they came back with an evil report. All they seemed to see and remember were the giants, the size of the people and the size of the difficulties, and they began to discourage the hearts of the people of God. But two did not have the spirit of fear; God had been able to give them that spirit of power, of love and a sound mind. Caleb said, “Let us go up and possess the land, for we are well able.” He was not afraid of the people of the land, or the difficulties. He had a sound mind. If you find a thought in your mind, “I can’t do it,” that is not a very sound mind, or sound thought. 

It is a thought the enemy of your soul puts there, wanting to get an advantage over you. Something else Paul feared was that the enemy might get an advantage in God’s people. In II Corinthians 2:1 he said, “Lest Satan should get an advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.” During the war we underestimated the Japanese fighter plane, the Zero, and we paid dearly for that. We thought the planes were shoddy like other things.  If nations are to overcome an enemy they need to understand their devices. God had not given us the spirit of fear, but nevertheless it is profitable for us to know some of his devices. 

II Corinthians, 11:2-3, “For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy; for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” This matter of putting on the armor of God has a great deal to do with our minds and with our hearts too, and with our manner of looking upon things. How was it that Eve’s mind was corrupted from the simplicity in Christ? She conversed with the serpent, and seemed to give her ear to the serpent, and it corrupted her mind and it had terrible consequences. Jesus said those simple words, but they were tremendously important, “Take heed what ye hear.” 

It would be very profitable to emphasize that today. It was because she listened to the voice of the serpent, and not being fully aware of its subtlety, that sin entered into the mind of Eve and her mind was corrupted. In I Timothy 6:3, Paul said, “If any man…,” and he meant any man, regardless of who he might be. He might be one of the greatest upon earth, but, “If any man consent not to wholesome words…” even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness he is proud, and how much does he know? Nothing. He knows nothing in the sight of God if he disagrees with the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. Regardless of how well educated he might be, or what experiences he might have had, he is proud and does not know anything; he is an imbecile, nothing more than a brute beast. “I fear,” Paul said. “Let us take heed to what we hear.” It is very important advice. 

I was asking myself the question, what were the weapons Jesus used to overthrow the enemy? The weapons in God’s armory are a very profitable study. In Matthew 4 Jesus went to the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. The enemy used the scriptures to try and overthrow Jesus. He used the most powerful weapons he had every time he tempted Jesus. He knew he had never been faced with an adversary, an opponent equal to the Son of God. With every other one, somehow or other, he had had the victory, but this time it was going to be different. When the tempter came to Jesus, He had been forty days and nights without eating. If He had an appetite like mine, he would have been thinking a good deal about bread. It would have been uppermost in His mind humanly, to satisfy the awful hunger He must have felt. Jesus replied, “It is written.” 

It is a wonderful thing to know how many times the very Son of God referred to the scriptures. It is wonderful to see the respect He had for the scriptures. It is wonderful to see the number of times He also said that the scriptures cannot be broken. Jesus knew, “If I break the scriptures, I will be unarmed. If I ever depart from the scriptures, there will be an opening in my armor for the enemy to corrupt.” So He said, “It is written...” It is good if we could reply to the tempter with weapons like that but sometimes we don’t. Jesus had a very good understanding of the scriptures, and it is a good wholesome thing for us to have a good understanding of the scriptures. Lots of folk in Brazil cannot read, but that does not mean they cannot get saved, and they do get saved, but one can see a tremendous difference when people can read. 

We need to be diligent in reading. Paul wrote to Timothy about reading, and meditating. The Brazilian Bible uses the word ‘persist’ in reading. Sometimes we don’t persist enough. Sometimes when we open our book it does not seem so fresh or easy to get something. You should persist in reading. It is very important that you understand the Scriptures. Jesus understood the scriptures, and it was one of the most wonderful weapons in his armory. Job said, “I have esteemed the words of Thy mouth more than my necessary food.” 

What do you think of first of all when you get out of bed? Is it drenching the sheep, rounding up the cattle? That is not unlawful, but it is a great thing when we esteem a knowledge of the scriptures, the words of God’s mouth, ever more than our daily bread. It does not mean we are to be slothful, but everything should be in its rightful place. 

Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” When the disciples had gone into the city to buy meat, and Jesus sat on the well, the woman of Samaria came out of the city to draw water. Later on the disciples came back and were surprised that he talked with the woman, she being a Samaritan.   Jesus said to them, “I have meat to eat that ye know not of.” They had not yet reached the stage where doing the will of God was their very meat, “I have meat to eat that ye know not of.” “You don’t understand yet.” Jesus said also, “My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me and to finish His work.” 

The devil tempted Jesus to get up on the pinnacle of the temple, and he might tempt you too sometimes, but let us go on, “Again the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them and said unto him, all these things will I give Thee, if Thou wilt fall down and worship me.”  Jesus said to Satan, “Get thee hence, Satan, for it is written, 'Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.'” Jesus Himself spoke of people who believed on Him, but they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. They did not confess Him. They knew He was the Son of God and they knew He was right; they knew what He was doing and preaching was right, but they loved the praise of men, the honor and glory of the world. 

The enemy offered Jesus all the riches, power and glory, but Jesus said, “It is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and Him only shalt thou serve.” Jesus was not interested in the praise of men, but he was interested in the praise of God. Happy are the people who are far more interested in the praise of God than of men, even the praise of your brethren. It is not wrong to have the praise of your brethren if you merit it. If you have the praise of God, you will have the praise of your brethren. Jacob could say of Judah in Genesis 49:8-11, “Thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise.” It is a wonderful weapon, the praise of God. 

Romans 12:16 says, “Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate.” The Portuguese (Brazilian) Bible says, “Don’t be ambitious for high things, accommodate yourselves to men of low estate.” Lowliness of mind is one of the best weapons in God’s armory. It is not very easy to be overcome by the enemy if you have lowliness of mind. I was thinking of this matter of Jesus referring to the Scriptures so often, and of the time in the garden when Peter drew a sword. In II Corinthians, 10:4, Paul said, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal,” then he said, “but mighty through God to the palling down of strongholds; casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God.” When the soldiers and others came to take Jesus, they brought staves and sticks and swords, carnal weapons, not spiritual weapons. Peter drew a sword and cut off the ear of the servant of the high priest. A sword used in that way is not one of our weapons. 

If you want to make yourself defenseless, you try and defend yourself like that. It tells us of Jesus in I Peter 2:23, “When He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously.” He never used a sword. He did not have one of that kind. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, they are spiritual.  When Peter drew that sword and cut off the ear, Jesus said, “Put up again thy sword into his place. Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and He shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?” That would be about 72,000. “The cup which my Father giveth Me shall I not drink it?” And if He had called those angels, how would the Scripture be fulfilled? Jesus was most anxious to fulfill the Scriptures. He had tremendous respect for them. “The cup which my Father giveth me shall I not drink it.” That is the answer to lots of our problems. Sometimes I have found myself up against something awfully humbling and painful to the human in me, and I have thought a little of that verse. His complete submission was one of his most wonderful and effective weapons he had in overcoming the tempter. 

Peter said, “Who is he that will harm you if ye be followers of that which is good.” It says of Joseph in Genesis 49:23, “The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him.” It seemed as though some of his own brothers were the archers. Maybe some of us have shot a few arrows at our brothers and sisters, maybe one or two in the meeting. Of Joseph it said, “But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob.” What were his weapons? Did he shoot back? He did not shoot back. He had a different kind of bow. Psalm 45:5, “Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies.” That is the place to put your arrows. Psalm 144:1, “He teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight.” God does not want us to war against our brethren. 

Some of Joseph’s brethren shot at him, but the day came when they had very good reason to bow their heads in shame, and if you shoot too many arrows you will find yourself bowing your head in shame, Peter said, “Who is he that will harm you if ye be followers of that which is good.” Joseph was a follower of that which is good. Who could harm him? Not the King of Egypt, or the things of Egypt, nor his own brothers; no one or nothing. Your best defense and mine is not to try and use the sword against others, or defend ourselves, but be followers of that which is good. 

Philippians 2:5, “Let this mind be in you which is also in Christ Jesus.” It is interesting to note that it begins with the word ‘let.’ It is up to you and me. It is not always so easy to let the mind of Christ be in us. Humanly we would prefer our own way of doing things, but it never gives good results. Verse 6, “Who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God.” I do not think Jesus was in any sense usurping authority when he considered Himself in Heavenly equal with God. The mind of Christ was to make himself of no reputation. It is not easy to let that mind be in us. 

In the world I wanted to have a reputation. It is one of the things my poor mother never got over when I accepted the truth and later went into the work. I was a preacher without a reputation. Had I been a preacher with a reputation, title, and other things that go with it, I think she would have been happier. Jesus made Himself of no reputation. It is not so easy to do, but it is a wonderfully effective weapon when we deal with the enemy. 

He “took upon him the form of a servant.” It does not say that God obliged Him to do it. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, “Ye have no need that I write unto you,” concerning this or that. Paul could say, “I have no need to ask you to do it. I know that you would do more than I ask.” I believe God could say that of His Son and so He took upon Himself the form of a servant. Humanly we would rather take the form of a captain, the one who gives the orders. “And was made in the likeness of men. And being found in the fashion of a man, He humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” 

I was thinking of a man who threw away his shield. In II Samuel 1:21 we read of David lamenting the death of Saul. That lamentation came from the depths of his heart. There was a man who had fought, had made use of the weapons of God, had a certain amount of victory, but the time came, through playing the fool, there were chinks in his armor, and finally he was slain by the enemy. But before he was slain he threw the shield away. “The shield of the mighty is vilely cast away,” David said. 

In Ephesians 6:16 we read of the shield of faith. “Taking the shield of faith wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.”  I hope we will never throw away our shield. James said the devils believe and tremble. God does not want you or me to leave this place too fearful, not over-confident, but like I read about a certain battalion of soldiers, that they were superbly equipped. 

I was reading about what we call the "free world," from the point of view of some nations. One of the true desires of the leaders of the free world is that they might maintain a gap between the effectiveness of their weapons and the effectiveness of the weapons of the enemy. Jesus proved there is a big gap between the effectiveness of God’s weapons and that of the enemy. Paul said we are not ignorant of the enemy’s devices. He knew the enemy had weapons, but he knew there was a big gap between the effectiveness of the enemy’s weapons and the effectiveness of God’s armory. 

Let us go out from here feeling that we don’t need to tremble because of the enemy. The devil himself trembles. The devils believe there is one God, and they tremble. The devil is afraid of the weapons you have. He knows what he has is no match for God’s weapons. Let us go out from here recognizing that we are superbly equipped. Never throw away any of the weapons, but learn how to use them. May God give us some special training and teach our hands to war, so that we will be able to say as Paul, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith, henceforth there is laid up for me a crown....”