Attack
Armour
A soldier
needs his
panoply in order to be successful in battle. I had to look the word “panoply”
up too when we sang it tonight at the end of our discussion of the armor of
God. It means
complete set of armor
according to its definition. Growing up being the “good little church boy” I have
heard many a lesson on the armor of God and how he designed it and equipped us
with it for DEFENSE AGAINST EVIL in the spiritual warfare we face on a
day-to-day basis. This is a great idea
and an excellent way to look at it, but my spirit tonight challenged me to dig
a little deeper.
Here is the
passage of scripture in Ephesians about the Armor of God:
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his
mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand
against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and
blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of
this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly
realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil
comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done
everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around
your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your
feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In
addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can
extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of
salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions
with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always
keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. 19 Pray also for me, that whenever I
speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery
of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may
declare it fearlessly, as I should.
Read the
passage again, but this time change your mindset from “defense against evil” to
attacking in the heat of the battle field. Take the image of your favorite epic
battle in a move scene with you as you read.
Does that
change its meaning a little bit? What if God gave us this excellent and
perfectly designed set of armor for when we ride full speed into the middle of
the action? I am not saying the armor is not for our defense and protection.
But I am saying there is no use for the armor if we are hiding behind the
castle walls and waiting on the battle to end. Belts, breastplates, shields,
helmets, and swords are not something to be used defending the wall. They’re meant
for up close and personal hand-to-hand combat. God wants us to go face to face
with our adversary and destroy them.
There is no
mention of the camouflage of being a “church goer”. I also could not find the
binoculars of foresight or the map of preparation showing us the enemy that
lies ahead and exactly what to expect once we ride into battle. If God wanted
us to have those things, he would have designed them as part of the armor. It
is not our job to be able to see what the enemy is bringing to the fight or
know the outcome of the battle. And there is certainly no need to put on our
religious camouflage and hide behind it to avoid being seen or disturbed by the
enemy. Our God does not call us to be passive.
This brought
me great comfort because my approach to any situation is far from passive. It
brings me great joy to know that God has given me the tools to be aggressive and
attack every day.
WWII General
George Patton paints a graphic but accurate picture of the type of spiritual
warfare I think God calls us to wage against our enemy:
When we land against the enemy, don't forget
to hit him and hit him hard. When we meet the enemy we will kill him. We will
show him no mercy. He has killed thousands of your comrades and he must die. If
your company officers in leading your men against the enemy find him shooting
at you and when you get within two hundred yards of him he wishes to surrender
– oh no! That b*****d will die! You will kill him. Stick him between the third
and fourth ribs. You will tell your men that. They must have the killer
instinct. Tell them to stick him. Stick him in the liver. We will get the name
of killers and killers are immortal. When word reaches him that he is being
faced by a killer battalion he will fight less. We must build up that name as
killers.
Take such an
approach to your walk with Jesus. Destroy evil.
