The Armour Of Light — Keith Malcomson

The Christian’s Armor and Spiritual Warfare

We're turning to Ephesians chapter six, reading from verse 10 in our message. This morning is the armor of light. Ephesians chapter six, verse 10. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.

Put on the whole armor 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 the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Wherefore, take on to you the whole armor of God that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day. And having done all to stand, stand therefore having your loins gird about with truth and having on the breastplate of righteousness and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.

Above all, take in the shield of faith wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. Here in this third part on our series, spiritual warfare, we're gonna look at the armor of the Christian, that he must be dressed correctly if he is to fight correctly.

Let's pray together and ask for God's grace, his help as we come and look at the armor of the Christian soldier. Father, we do pray in the mighty name of Jesus that you open up the scriptures here this morning, that you would teach us, that you'd instruct us, that you'd give us wisdom, that you would stir our hearts within us, that we would take onto us the armor of God, that having done all, that we would stand against every attack of the devil, every while, every lie, every false teaching, every opposition, every attack against our minds, our physical bodies, our emotions, and our spirit.

My God, I pray even here this morning, we plead the covering of the precious blood of the lamb. We proclaim the authority that is in Jesus' name. We remind ourself, the greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world.

Lord God, we stand on the promises of God. We stand on the faith, the body of doctrine, resisting the evil one and knowing that if we resist them on that basis, submitted to Jesus Christ, he must flee from us.

Lord God, we are soldiers. You've chosen us to be in this warfare. Lord God, you saved us by your grace. You washed us, made us clean, and you brought us into the army of God. Help us to fight good. Help us to fight well.

Lord God, help us to fight in this battle because the day is coming when we'll hang up our sword and shield and the battle will be over and we'll enter into our reward and rest. What a day that'll be when my Jesus I shall see.

Thank you, God. Bless this word to our hearts in Jesus' mighty name. Amen, amen. God bless you here this morning as we look at the word of God. Our message, the armor of light. What we have just read here in Ephesians chapter six is concerning the Christian's armor.

Remember what we said about this chapter in Ephesians chapter six. We always think of this about the individual Christian and it's not wrong to do that. But I wanna give you a bigger perspective that Ephesians chapter six, just like the previous chapters, are specifically concerning the local church at Ephesus.

I actually believe the armor of God isn't just about the individual Christian putting on his armor, but the entire local church realizing that we as a church are in a warfare. Our families are in a warfare.

The men and the women, the young and the old, we are in a warfare together, not alone, not isolated. Many of the attacks that come against us come against us as a church. We are one people. We have one head and his name is Jesus Christ.

We are gathering in one place at one time together around the Lord Jesus Christ to remember his death. And as we consider this, I'd just like you to think of this armor, not only individually, but that we are equipped as a church, that the armor of God is upon us as the body of Christ or the local church.

This is how a church stands in the fight. This is how believers stand together in the fight, shoulder to shoulder, marching in step together to one drumbeat. This is the army of God. And you know what?

When the church begins to realize this, what an army it is, what a tear to the powers of darkness it can be. A small church can be a mighty church when it realizes what I'm gonna tell you here this morning.

We are looking at the armor of light and Ephesians 6 and 11, where we read, it says, put on the whole armor of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. In other words, if you're ignorant of this armor, if you don't put on the armor of God, if you don't put on the whole armor of God, you will not be able to stand against the wiles of the attack of the devil.

It says here, the whole armor. That Greek word for a whole means the complete armor or the individual pieces of the entire armor. It is the panoply of the armor. So we're talking about the complete armor.

Don't leave anything out. It calls it the armor of God. Notice it's not your armor. It's not the church's armor. You know, when I was in the army, I soon found out that everything I wore belonged to the army.

It didn't really belong to me. I had a sign for it. I had to look after it. I had to wash it and iron it. I wore it, but none of that stuff belonged to me. It always belonged to the queen. That's what we were told and we were informed when I was leaving.

They said, we've got a list here of everything that belongs to us. Can I tell you, this armor is God's armor. It doesn't belong to you. You better look after it. You are accountable for it. You carry it, you use it, but please remember, it is God's armor.

It is him that originated it. It is him that gives it. He is the author of this armor. Believe me, he knows a lot better than you. This is not just theological. It's not just a doctrine in the Bible. The armor of God, or taking the whole armor of God, or putting on the whole armor of God, is not a theology in the Bible.

It is an experience. It is a life and death issue. It is a thing of your Christian walk. It's not something you can afford to be ignorant about. It'll affect your daily life. It'll affect your Christian life.

It'll affect how you operate in a local church if you treat it as a theology, or a doctrine, or merely something to be learned. I want to assure you, the armor of God is a practical reality, not dead theology.

We're told to put on the whole armor of God. It literally means to mantle yourself, or to endure yourself with it. It is your responsibility. And we're told to put on the whole armor of God. Don't miss one bit of the armor.

If you think five bits are fine and one bit doesn't matter, you'd be terribly ignorant. Somewhere, you're gonna suffer because of that. You'll remember when young David, just a young shepherd boy of 17 years old, was going to go out on the battlefield to fight the great giant Goliath.

The king Saul, that old soldier, actually said, here, take my armor. And he tried to get the young small David dressed in his large armor. And of course, it couldn't work. Do you know what? This old backslidden king had been backslidden for years, had got away from God, didn't know God, didn't walk with God.

And do you know what? He thought it was all in this physical armor. I wanna show you, I do not wanna be dressed in Saul's armor. I don't want this church to be dressed in the armor of religion. If it can't help Saul to kill Goliath, how will it help us?

The great denominations of this hour, I mean the ones with all the money, all the numbers, all the big buildings, they have not brought revival. They have not destroyed the enemies of God. They have been stuck in the trenches, scared of Goliath.

Why would we try to use their armor and use their weapons? Do you know what their armor and weapons are? It is the youth culture, the new style of worship, a new strategy of evangelism. No, I just wanna stick with the old tried weapons of God.

I don't want Saul's armor. I don't need it. And I certainly don't wanna mix it with the real, half Saul's armor and half the armor of God. I want the full armor of God. And here this morning, we are gonna cover the six bits of the armor.

We're only touching on them briefly. We have taught on this more fully a few years ago in this church. We went through every individual part of the armor and spent an entire night on it. But here this morning, I wanna remind you, I wanna stir you.

I wanna encourage you concerning the full armor of God, six bits in total. And I want you to be reminded of them. I pray that by spiritually in your Christian life, as soon as I deal with them, you reach out and touch that part of the armor.

It is that real sense to make sure it's functioning in your life. You understand it, you know it, you know how it operates. Let's look at this just closely. A moment before we come to these points. You see, I believe that these six parts of the armor are not just things or doctrines or teachings.

They're more than that. I know that people in the churches often said, how do you put on the armor? And first thing in the morning, they woke up and they would say, I put on my helmet, I put on my breastplate.

And they said, I do it as a prayer. I do it in faith. And I'm sure God blessed them many times. He honored their faith and their desire, but that isn't how you put the armor on. And we're gonna look more closely.

How do you put the armor on? It actually is a command, put on the armor. And we're gonna look at what the armor is completely. We have called it here, the complete thing, the armor of God. The whole armor of God is the armor of light.

That's what it is. But do you know what? I believe it's more than that. I believe this armor, it's six parts, are more than just armory. Listen, in Romans chapter 13 and 12, it says the night is far spent, the day is at hand.

Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness. And listen to this, let us put on the armor of light. Now notice what Paul says here. It's a dark hour. Let us put on the armor of light. You want to cast off the works of darkness.

In other words, they're works. And we wanna put on the armor of light. What is this armor of light? Two verses later in verse 14, it says, put on the Lord Jesus Christ. Make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof.

So if you put on the armor of light, you are putting on the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you know, I believe this armor of light, this armor of God is the person of Jesus Christ. I don't believe it's just things, but it is a person that you're clothed with.

Christ is the armor. I believe that Christ is manifest in each part of this armor. When we put on the Lord Jesus Christ, live in him, dwell in him, apply the full provision of Christ, walk out this life of Christ, we are actually putting on the armor of God.

Here, let us look at these vital parts of the armor of the Christian soldier. And six in number. Number one, the belt of truth. This is the first one mentioned in verse 14 here. Stand therefore having your loins gird about with truth.

It is the belt of truth. And if you were a Roman soldier and each part of the armor here is what the Roman soldier in Paul's day actually wore. You know, when Paul wrote the letter to Ephesus, he is sitting in a house chained to a Roman soldier.

That's how he wrote Ephesians chapter six. He is chained to a soldier. He is looking at the Roman soldiers around him. And as he looks at their armor, he begins to get inspired of the Holy Spirit, saying, I see their belt.

What their belt is naturally is what truth is to you as a Christian. Now, the Roman belt was a belt about six or eight inches thick. It was made of a single bit of material made of leather. And on it, it had brass plates, especially to the front, hanging down.

That belt was the first thing a Roman soldier put in place. You don't put anything else in place on your armor until the belt is there. This is how important the belt of truth is to the Christian. Do you know what the Roman soldiers done?

As that belt surrounded them, they would gather up their garments when they were in the fight or they were running. They would gather up their garments and they would tuck it inside that belt that they wouldn't get hindered or obstructed by it.

That's what the belt done. It held everything in tightly together. It also kept every other part of the armor in its right place. That's why you put the belt on first because truth always keeps everything else in its correct place.

That's why it's so vital, this first part of the armor in the fight. It kept everything tight and around you. That belt was also the badge of office. In other words, on the belt, decorating it was your rank and your awards and any emblem of who you were.

It was worn at all times. A Roman soldier even wore his belt when he was off duty. It was a status symbol. It spoke of who he was of his entire life. I wish every Christian wore the belt of truth at all times.

Whether you're at play or at war, whether you're on the high street or at work or in your home or with your family or with friends, it's the belt of truth there. You may not be on the front line of the battle, but I assure you, you've always got to keep that belt on.

It actually sets you apart. The belt of truth, truth itself sets you apart. It defines who you are. That's what a real Christian soldier is. He is never off duty. Now, this belt is not a decoration. It's for warfare.

It's practical. Even when you're off duty, you wear it to say, I'm a soldier ready for battle. I'm always ready. This is what I am. I'm not a part-time soldier. It's not on Sunday mornings or Wednesday nights or a Friday night or a prayer meeting.

I am always on duty as a soldier. You know, when the Roman soldiers marched, that belt of theirs with the metal bits hanging down the front, it made a noise. There was a beat that come out of that belt of truth.

You cannot wear the belt of truth without making a noise. I can assure you, the belt of truth, as you march doing your duty for Jesus Christ, there is a beat, there is a noise, there is a sound that truth makes as it beats against the body of a soldier.

The belt was the first of six parts. And note the order. This has to be in place. Do you realize many churches are broken up because the belt of truth was not in its right place? Individual Christians, their life has been damaged.

Other parts of the armor have been ineffectual because the belt of truth has not been in its right place. What does it say here about the belt of truth in verse 14? Stand therefore, if you want to stand, I mean, if you want to stand, you need the belt of truth.

You see, having the belt of truth on affects whether you stand against the enemy, whether you stay in the same place. You know, when I see Christians move, it's an issue of truth. When I see them compromise, it's an issue of truth.

When I see them go back to the world, it's an issue of truth. Why didn't they stand? You may look at a strong Christian. You think they're very strong. Why didn't they stand? Because they lacked the belt of truth.

It says, stand therefore, having your loin skirt about with truth. Stand, be established, stay where you are. How do you do that? Wear the belt of truth. That's how you stand. It's not by your strength.

That belt of truth around you will make you stand. Notice that it says, having your loin skirt about with truth. Do you know what the loins are? It's the actual middle part of your entire body. Do you realize the fact of standing depends on that middle portion of your body?

If you're weak and around your waist, you won't be able to stand. I could knock you over. But if you are very strong on that waist portion of your body, it's very hard to knock a man like that over. It's that part of you, your hips or your lower back region, that is your loins.

In other words, that's the very core of your strength. That's where your power really is. Do you know what the Lord is telling us here? Make sure the truth surrounds you. It's not in your strength that you stand.

It's by truth. Truth makes you to stand strong. It actually puts a strength in your Christian life to make you stand. If you see a Christian, they go through hell and high water. They walk through storms.

Everything is thrown at them, and they're still standing. It's not because they are strong. It's because they are girded round about by the belt of truth. This word gird means to gird all around the middle, to fasten tightly, to have everything close in.

And I assure you, I don't know whether you've had back problems before, but if you have any problems with your back, you want a tight, thick belt. Those weightlifters always have a thick belt around their waist.

Why? Because it gives strength to their entire body. It's not just their muscles. You see, that waist area could be weak. It could be a point where the enemy attacks you. The point of your strength can be your greatest weakness.

Peter found that out. I'll never deny you, Lord. All the rest, Mike, I will never deny you. Who denied the master? Peter denied him thrice. It was Peter. Do you realize your strongest part of your life could be your weakest point?

Make sure your girt around are surrounded by the belt of truth. Surround yourself. Tighten yourself in with the truth of God. And having girded your loins, you do it. Oh, I'm waiting on the Lord doing it.

You do it. I'm waiting on the preacher to do it. You do it. Tighten your belt here this morning. Will you do that as we're looking at this? Tighten your belt this morning. Make sure it is in place. Make sure truth is your strength.

Don't put your strength anywhere else. As strong as you are in truth, you are strong. If you're not strong in truth, I promise you this morning, you are not strong. It is you that must put on this belt.

Notice that truth is symbolized as a belt. Truth is the belt. You know what? It's not a belt of darkness or of shadow or of obscurity. This is a belt of light. Truth is light. That's what truth is. Truth shines a great light on anything.

And this belt is a belt of truth. It's also Christ, this belt. What is truth? Christ is truth. The word of God is truth. Do you remember Pilate speaking to Christ? And he said, he looked him in the eye and he said, what is truth?

He didn't realize he's looking truth in the eye. Christ is truth. He embodies truth. He is the person filled with truth. Now this word truth in the Greek, it means unclosedness or unconcealedness. In other words, there's nothing hidden.

Everything is opened up. Everything is revealed. This is what this belt of truth is. Everything is shining forth. Everything of Christ is evident. It's in the public. It is factual. It is a reality. It is sincere.

And it is true. Saints, make sure that belt of truth is in its place. Unless truth is in its place in your life, nothing else is gonna be in its right place. Over in 1 Peter 1 and 13, Peter writes, wherefore gird up the loins of your mind.

In other words, this belt of truth has to be wrapped around your belief, your knowledge, and your experience. You know that truth surrounds you as a Christian. It encompasses you. It masters you. It holds you.

It holds you together. And it keeps you on your feet. It is truth that puts you on your feet in a day of error, false teaching, compromise, apathy. Truth will keep you standing when others run from the field.

The truth, as it is revealed in Christ, must govern our attitudes, our thoughts, our convictions, our decisions, everything that we do. Can I ask you this morning, is the belt of truth on? Oh, I put it on this morning by faith.

Lord, I put the belt of truth on. No, let me ask you, is your decisions governed by truth? Is your mind saturated by truth? That is the belt of truth, not a little prayer first thing in the morning. Do you understand where I'm going here?

The truth isn't just a little prayer. The armor isn't a little prayer that you put on against the devil. But it's, is your mind saturated with the truth of God? Then you have the belt of truth on. Is truth your strength to make you stand?

The Breastplate of Righteousness

Then you have the belt on. Second of all, the breastplate of righteousness. A Roman soldier always had a breastplate on. It was the second most important thing. The breastplate was made of many pieces of laminated iron, all bound together with leather straps and little metal hooks, forming a very flexible and strong protection.

That's what it was made out of. It extended from the base of the neck right down to the top of their thighs. And it was, it covered all the vital organs of the body. It was very expensive to make. But you could not send a soldier into the war without a breastplate.

They had to have it. All through the first century of the church, every Roman soldier had a breastplate on. Why did he have a breastplate? What did it cover? It covered his shoulders that have to carry the burden and responsibility.

It covered his heart that keeps his whole body functioning. It covered all of his internal vital organs. It protected his lungs to keep him breathing on the battlefield. And it also covered his back to stop anyone stabbing him in the back.

Let's look at it a bit closer here. There in the middle of his body, all the vital organs. This breastplate of righteousness is vital for all of these areas, since I can afford to have an arm injured and a leg injured, but not all these vital organs.

In other words, the breastplate of righteousness is the most vital thing to protect the most vital areas of your body. You cannot function without this. You cannot go to war. And when you look inside your body, you've got your kidneys.

You've got your bowels. You've got your various organs. And in fact, that generation used to believe that here in these areas were the very seat of your affections, your feelings, your desires, your emotions.

All of these vital things were in this part of the body and make up who you are as a human, as a person. Do you know Satan wants to hit that area of your Christian life? He wants to hit all of those vital areas from responsibility down to basic human function.

Satan wants to attack it. God wants to use it. But how do you stand in the battle? What a vulnerable area of your Christian life. All the vulnerable areas. It says in verse 14, standing therefore having on the breastplate of righteousness.

What the breastplate was to the Roman soldier. Righteousness is to the Christian. It's exactly the same. Have it in your mind. What was the breastplate to the Roman soldier? The righteousness is to you as a Christian.

It will protect the area of responsibility, of breathing, functioning, all of your vital organs. Righteousness covers it. And that makes you to stand. Since I'm talking about something that operates in your Christian life.

Over in 2 Corinthians 6 and 4, Paul says again about the armor of righteousness. Not just the breastplate of righteousness, but he calls the entire armor, the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left hand.

Isn't it beautiful to know our entire armor is not only an armor of life, it's an armor of righteousness. If you find someone in the church and they don't speak right, don't live right, don't believe right, they needn't tell me they have the armor of God on and that they can stand against the devil.

You're already defeated. You're already defeated. Long ago, like King Saul in the Old Testament, all it took was the right arrow to hit him and he was a dead man. He was gone, but he was already spiritually dead.

Since we need the breastplate of righteousness on. What is this breastplate of righteousness that'll affect your heart and your shoulders and your lungs and all of your internal organs spiritually? What is the breastplate of righteousness?

What does it mean? It is the imputed righteousness of Christ. It's not your holiness. It's not your righteousness. It's not you obeying God. That won't protect you. This is the most important bit of armor to have in place.

Do you know what it is? It is Christ's righteousness. Remember what I said, each part of the armor is Christ. The breastplate is Christ. It is the person of Christ. It's what he provides for you. It is the armor of God.

You are to put on something that isn't of yourself. What is this righteousness? It is the righteousness of Christ given to you once for all, freely at the point of salvation. Listen, in Romans 5, verse 18, by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men to justification of life.

In other words, Christ, one man provided righteousness as a free gift to every Christian, that when they believe on him, they are justified, are made righteous. Do you know what happened to you when you got born again?

When you got saved, God forgave all of your sin and according to the Bible, he made you perfectly righteous. Do you hear me? I'm talking about putting on the breastplate a righteousness, his righteousness as a free gift.

You didn't earn it. You need it as a soldier. You need it day one. You need the perfect righteousness of Christ. You see, I know you're not perfect. I know you're not finished yet, but this is the gift of his righteousness.

I am perfect in him. I am made righteous in him. Again, in Romans 5, it says in verse 19, so by the obedience of one. Who is that? Jesus. By his obedience. See, some of you think you're gonna be righteous enough or good enough.

You've got to work hard as a Christian. I've got to do everything right to be accepted by God. No, that's religion. The Christian starts right day one. You are made right by the righteousness of Christ.

Oh, I know there's a lot of work to do in you. That's why you need this breastplate on. The devil will kill you. He'll play games with you. He'll actually attack your righteousness. Your righteousness will not stand against him.

You need the righteousness of one. By the obedience of one, many are made righteous. How were you made righteous this morning? Were you made righteous by the obedience of one or by your own obedience?

The Bible says, by the obedience of Jesus Christ, by his obedience, his righteousness, many were made righteous. I am righteous because I believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. It says in Romans 4 -3, for what saith the scripture, Abraham believed God, and it was counted or imputed or put in his bank account for him for righteousness.

Do you hear what I said? How did Abraham become righteous? He believed. He believed God, and he was made righteous by faith. It was an act of faith. I am righteous by faith, forgiven by faith, justified by faith on the first day, since I'm not trying to become completely perfect.

I am righteous in Christ. Now, because I have this breastplate of righteousness, I want to live right. I want to serve right. I want to walk right. And you know what? I'm not perfect in myself. I can get annoyed.

I have to ask God to forgive me. I'm looking for the Holy Spirit to work in my heart. I am being made more and more like Jesus, but I'm not there yet. I'm not finished yet. I'm still looking unto Jesus.

The Gospel Shoes of Peace

But you know what? I have a breastplate of righteousness to help me in this battle. Third of all, the gospel shoes. In verse 15, it says, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.

What are these Roman soldiers' shoes like? They're not sandals for the beach to go and sunbathe. I want to show you that. They're not that type of sandal. The Roman shoes were very lightweight. You would hardly notice you're wearing them.

They're very practical. They are ventilated and they are very simple. There's only two or three bits of thick layer were laid down together, all made out of one piece of material. Even the laces were made out of that one piece of material.

The gospel shoe is one single gospel shoe. These two layers of leather, underneath them were nailed with a hundred iron hubs or studs or nails. And the entire bottom of your shoe, though it's very light, the entire bottom is covered with iron studs.

When you march, you're walking on iron, literally. It looks like a lightweight, soft, open, airy. I love to have the air at my feet. It's beautiful in that hot weather. When the sun is beaten down at you, but I assure you, you're walking on iron.

That's how the Roman army triumphed against their enemies. These gospel shoes resemble modern sandals, but they were actually military fighting and marching boots. They might look like something relaxed, but I want to show you, these boots were made for marching.

They're made for fighting. They'll make you to stand. You know, when you're standing, a lot depends on the shoes that you are wearing. As a Roman soldier and as a Christian, what those shoes were to the Roman soldier, they could never have marched across continents.

They could never have triumphed against the enemies that they fought. If those shoes had been wrong, everything would have been wrong. You know, again, when I was in the army, we looked after our feet better than any other part of our body.

It didn't matter about anything else, but those feet, I washed my feet every day. I powdered them, looked after them. Every soldier looks after those feet. Those feet are gonna, if anything happens to your feet, you're not marching.

You won't face the enemy. You're no good to God in this army unless your feet are healthy and they're right. It says in verse 15, your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. What does it mean to have these gospel shoes on?

They're gonna be on your feet. The feet are the part of your body that stands, walks, and goes. It has to be that part of you that stands, walks, and goes that actually has these gospel shoes on. And in standing, you've got to have the gospel of God upon you.

In going, you've gotta have the gospel. In walking, you've gotta have the gospel operating in your life. You see, you don't put these shoes on with a prayer in the morning. You literally function standing, walking, moving, going, obeying.

That's how you function as a Christian. Your feet are always on the ground, and you've always gotta make sure you're walking on the iron of these shoes. They are for battles and for wars, and you've gotta have your feet prepared for them.

It says your feet shod. In other words, your feet get bound with these shoes. This leather has to be on your shoes. What does it represent? The preparation of the gospel of peace. The shoes represent the preparation of the gospel of peace.

The word preparation there actually means to be prepared, ready, equipped. Are you ready with the gospel? If you have the gospel and you're ready to preach at any moment, you're ready to give your testimony.

You know some Christians, a sinner comes, but they're too discouraged to talk to them that day. They're depressed. They're fighting their flesh. They're running after some secret sin. They're in a fight with some family member.

They're not even in a place to preach the gospel. Do you know what? You need your feet prepared. You're ready. Are you ready this morning to go share the gospel with someone, to tell your neighbor, to tell your friend?

Do you snatch a 30-second window of opportunity? Do you give a gospel tract? Do you say something in an email or a Facebook post? Are you ready? Are you prepared? Are you equipped? Do you know how to share the gospel?