“The Christian’s armour is made to be worn; no laying down, or putting off our armour, till we have done our warfare, and finished our course. Our armour and our garment of flesh go off together. In heaven we shall appear, not in armour, but in robes of glory.”
̶̶̶ The Christian in Complete Armour, William Gurnall (1617-1679)
In the last post, we saw that in any spiritual conflict the believer’s first response is to draw his/her strength from the Lord himself. The post did generate some traffic in terms of comments and encouragement. Thanks for that. I believe that there is an adequate awareness of spiritual conflict. But whether everyone has a right perspective of the daily spiritual conflict that we engage in is something which remains to be seen. Most people do not like the terms of warfare much less medieval instruments of battle like the sword and shield. The reality is that there is indeed a great conflict in the life of a believer. It can be at a personal level for most. For the rest, especially those who are engaged in shepherding and teaching in a fellowship, it can be at different levels. There are very few Christians who engage in that battle wholeheartedly and according to the Lord’s commands. I hope this post will increase their kind. Consider the perspective of the apostle in 2 Tim. 2:3-4 and let’s get our priorities straight.
In this post we will see the preparation that is needed before you get into the conflict. There is a saying in the army – “The more you sweat during peace, the less you will bleed during war”. Preparation for war is not something which can be done overnight. It takes time to get a fighting force ready. It takes large resources to arm vast columns of troops. And if that is not challenging, a soldier who is equipped is no good in the battle field if he has not seen action. That is what happened during the Second World War. As soldiers died on the battlefield they had to replace them with able bodied men. So all nations in the conflict recruited younger inexperienced men. Most of the men who stormed the beaches of France during D-Day were hardly soldiers. They were men engaged in some other professions while they were drafted into the army, sometimes against their will.
The operative words in Eph. 6: 10-19 are really just these little words – put or take, resist and stand. Many times in our Christian life, we rush to put on the armor without having the preparation that is so much needed. Of course most of us know what the meaning of the elements of warfare are! But it’s the method of warfare that is important than knowing the weapons themselves. The significance of these words is found by the fact that some of them are repeated more than once.
Firstly, notice the apostle telling us what must be put on and what must be taken up. In v. 11 & 13, he says that the Christian must be arrayed with all the panoply (armor). This is a very important instruction that he gives us. No armor is significant or insignificant. We Christians sometimes take up some elements of the armor that suits us or the ones we are most comfortable in. Some only take up the shield and are unable to resist because they do not have an assault weapon. Some only take up the sword thinking they know their bibles but forget that there is a girdle of truth which is the doctrine that constitutes the word. The warrior prepared for the battle is the one who is armored from head to toe. Even neglecting one of these pieces will make us ineffective in the conflict. You cannot take a combination of weapons based on circumstance either. It is all the armor of God or none of it. David was unable to wear Saul’s armor, because he was not used to it. But once he became a trained warrior, David had to fight his battles not with his slingshot, but with the armor befitting that of a King. In fact his weapon of choice was the sword of Goliath himself! (1 Sam. 21:9). This stage of putting on or taking up the armor of God is the most important. This is the sweat part of the preparation for war. This is where 90% of our efforts should be put. A familiarity with all the graces of God is what this implies. Our foundations must be firmly girded with the truths of the word of God. We must be aware of the basis of our righteousness. The daily application of the gospel in our lives, a life of constant faith in God, assurance of salvation and familiarity with the word of God thru right division & application is what the panoply implies.
Secondly, comes the part of the conflict called resistance. If we are adequately prepared in the first stage, then when the time comes to the actual conflict, we will be able to resist and stand firm. Every day is not a day to resist. There are some days when the Lord gives us respite from our warfare. During the First World War, both sides of the conflict stopped all hostilities on Christmas Day. They even played football against each other! Such breaks from regular warfare, that God gives us must be a time for us evaluate where we have failed in using the armor of God improperly. We must take time out to think about those situations in which you fell into temptation; where you did not mortify your flesh; decisions that you took without consulting the Lord which led to failures. So the next time the evil day approaches, and it will, we must be ready to resist better than before.
Finally, the last stage in the conflict is taking a stand. In the original, resist and stand come from the same group of words. In fact resist (withstand) is a military term used in the Greek. It is said that the Roman legionnaire had spikes in his shoes. This would give him a strong footing in the battlefield. Similarly, only when the Christian is able to stand up in the heavy armor is he really prepared for battle. If he is unused to the armor because of lack of training in it, then he will not be able to win his battles. The word in the original has also a sense of anticipation. The warrior of Christ is not one who lazes around and indulges in mirth and gladness of heart. He is similar to an ancient Spartan warrior, who’s only profession was that of a soldier and best interest was to die honorably in battle. All Christian’s must anticipate conflict. They must not be happy when one conflict is over. The Israelites must have rejoiced when the walls of Jericho had fallen and when Ai had been conquered. While they were taking a breather, the stratagem of Gibeon was forming to counter their invasion. Always be alert, always be ready to take a stand (1Pt. 5:8). Even if it is your last stand.
I wish Paul would have told us one important instruction. That of whether I can remove some of my armor and lay it aside for a brief period. The lack of instruction in this area forces me to think, that when the great apostle told us to take up the entire armor he also meant that we must also not take it off. At least Paul did not take if off for a moment. Unfortunately many of us do. Many great warriors fight the battle in their Christian life well and honorably. And then suddenly, as if because of a lack of focus or loss of heart they lose a small skirmish here or there. Paul was not of that kind. He fought his battle well and he could say with confidence that his was a good fight. Let us therefore take up the whole armor, stand firmly in anticipation of any conflict and provide the best resistance possible.
In the final post next week we will see the implements of warfare. There is a surprising weapon in our panoply, which we will see next time.
(I know that some of my readers may be thinking of v. 12 the enemies of the Christian. Perhaps I will dwell on that some other time since it needs to be treated separately)
Stand up, stand up for Jesus,
stand in his strength alone;
the arm of flesh will fail you,
ye dare not trust your own.
Put on the gospel armour,
each piece put on with prayer;
when duty calls or danger
be never wanting there.
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