RECEIVING GOD'S PERSONAL
MIGHT AND ARMOUR

February 25, 2007
Mike Blume

  Scripture Text:

 
Ephesians 6:10-13 KJV  Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.  (11)  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  (12)  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.  (13)  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

  Message:


When we read of the power of God's might being our strength, we are to understand that it is not our power that sustains us.
  • It is actually HIS POWER upon our lives, or rather IN our lives.
  • This agrees with the following:

Zec 4:6 KJV  Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.
Zec 4:7 KJV  Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.

The mountains that stand before us to hinder us are brought down by God's power in us, and not our own fleshly power.

The armour of God is seen to stand in quite a different light when we read about it and reference it elsewhere in the bible.

Eph 6:14-17 KJV  Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;  (15)  And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;  (16)  Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.  (17)  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

There are two things listed here that are found in the Old Testament in speaking about God.
  • The helmet of salvation and the breastplate of righteousness.

Isa 59:16-17 KJV  And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him.  (17)  For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloke.

God, Himself, wore a breastplate of righteousness and a helmet of salvation.
  • So not only do we see we have God's MIGHT, but also the very armour God, Himself, wore is said to be our armour.
  • We are seeing here a sharing of what God, Himself, possesses.
  • His might and His armour.

So it is telling us to take the Armour God wore and wear it ourselves.
  • And this shows how much more effective we can be.

The helmet of salvation refers back to the salvation God came to bring.

The righteousness refers to the righteousness that sustained Him in His work to bring that salvation.

So this brings a whole new light on the issue of what the helmet of salvation is.

Isa 59:18-19 KJV  According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury to his adversaries, recompence to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompence.  (19)  So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.

When God saved us, our enemy, the devil, held us in captivity.
  • God had to battle against the enemy to save us.
  • And there was no man, informing us that He brought salvation when we could not save ourselves.

The same idea is mentioned a few chapters later in Isaiah.

Isa 63:1-6 KJV  Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.  (2)  Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat?  (3)  I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment.  (4)  For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.  (5)  And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld me.  (6)  And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth.

Bozrah was the capital city of Edom, the people who descended from Esau.
  • Edom actually means red.
  • And Bozrah means VINTAGE.
  • The idea is that Jesus Christ went to Bozrah, the capital city of the enemy and conquered the enemy single handedly, when no one else could do so.
  • And he went into the enemy's capital and conquered the headquarters of the devil.

Edom, meaning red, and its capital Bozrah, meaning vintage, was where Jesus died and shed His blood and tread the winepress of his wrath against the enemy.

That is why we read he trampled the enemy in his fury.

Verse 1 said that he spoke in righteousness, and was MIGHTY TO SAVE.
  • Again, these are the elements that are associated with the two pieces of armour, the helmet of salvation and the breastplate of righteousness.

Something very powerful is seen in all of this when considering other issues in the bible associated with Jesus' death.

The idea of God fighting the battle on His own, when no man was found, is seen in association with e cross of Jesus.

Rev 5:1-10 KJV  And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.  (2)  And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?  (3)  And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.  (4)  And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.  (5)  And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.  (6)  And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.  (7)  And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.  (8)  And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.  (9)  And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;  (10)  And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

Jesus took the book because he alone prevailed, when no man was found worthy to do so.
  • And taking this book had something to do with salvation, because when he took it, the 24 elders and 4 beasts praised Him saying he was worthy because he was slain and redeemed us to God by his blood.
  • So the picture of FIGHTING, or PREVAILING, in a battle by shedding his blood in death and redeeming us is seen in this vision of Rev 5.
  • Like Isaiah 59 and 63, no man was found there to help.

When Jesus died the veil in the temple ripped open.

Mat 27:50-51 KJV  Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.  (51)  And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;

This veil was the barrier that hid the most holy place from mankind.
  • This most holy place was where the ark of the covenant was placed in the tabernacle and temple.
  • And it was where God's presence manifested.
  • Being hid behind a veil represented the presence of God blocked from mankind.
  • And it was our sin that did it.

In fact the first two verses of Isa 59, where verse 16 said God came to fight for us, mention this issue of our separation from God.

Isa 59:1-2 KJV  Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:  (2)  But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.

So when Jesus died there is something about our alienation from His presence that was solved.
  • God's presence would not longer be hid from us.
  • So Isaiah 59 shows our exile from God's presence, and God's battle for us, Himself, to rescue us from the sinful state in which we were exiled from him by the enemy.

He PREVAILED, or fought a battle and won, according to Revelation 5.
  • He redeemed us by his blood.
  • And that is why we read he is covered in blood in Isaiah 63 and fought a battle to save us.

It is interesting that there are 6 pieces of armour mentioned in Ephesians 6.

And there are 6 pieces of furniture in the Tabernacle, where the veiled holiest of holies was situated.

Since Jesus fought the battle in HIS DEATH on the cross, you can picture Jesus on the cross with the pieces of ARMOUR.
  • He is the captain of our salvation, and He saved us and fought the battle through the cross.
  • So picture the six pieces of armour on the cross.
  • And correspond the six pieces of armour on the cross with the six pieces of tabernacle furniture.
  • The feet shod with the gospel correspond to the altar.
  • The loins girt with truth correspond to the laver.
  • The breastplate of righteousness correspond to the altar of incense.
  • The sword of the spirit with the seven golden candlesticks.
  • The shield of faith with the shewbread.
  • And the helmet of salvation with the ark of the covenant.

We are to take HIS ARMOUR that He wore and defeated the devil and fight the devil ourselves.
  • This armour is spiritually connected to the cross.
  • So if we wear the same armour Jesus spiritually wore when He fought and won through the cross, and we are to be strong in the power of HIS MIGHT in HIS ARMOUR, then we see a truth.
  • We are in union with Jesus Christ through the cross, since WE DIED WITH HIM WHEN HE DIED.
  • And we can take the same power of the cross which won Him the victory and use it to defeat the devil.
  • Wearing His armour, having His might, and claiming the powerful death on the cross as our own deaths is a threefold concept of UNION TO JESUS Christ IN HIS POWER AGAINST THE DEVIL.

This is telling us that we have the same power against the devil that Jesus Christ, Himself, had when he defeated the devil.
  • That means that if we go to war in THAT UNION, we will defeat the devil every time just as Jesus defeated Him.

What is even more connected to all of this is the following:

2Co 3:13-18 KJV  And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:  (14)  But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.  (15)  But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.  (16)  Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.  (17)  Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.  (18)  But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Moses veiled his face just as the veil was covering the ark corresponding the FACE on the cross being veiled when the cross is superimposed on the Tabernacle.
  • But when Jesus died, the VEIL IS REMOVED.
  • And Jesus face is unveiled compared to Moses' Old Testament face.
  • The removal of the veil when He died represents the difference between the Old Testament hiding God's glory and the New Testament showing God's glory.
  • AND WE ARE CHANGED INTO THE SAME IMAGE when we behold that glory!

This is  the same message.
  • We are in UNION with Jesus in His conquering death against the devil.
  • We are in the same image.
  • We fight the same enemy with Christ's same strength in which He fought the devil and won.
  • So WE WILL DEFEAT THE ENEMY every time!