The Insufficient Armor
Our western society is gradually sliding toward moral destruction. We have abandoned the guiding principles of the Bible and have substituted a false version of love that leaves out God and his laws. Without the restraining laws of God, millions of people have been physically or mentally abused. It is survival of the strongest according to the doctrine of evolution which permeates our thinking. What has caused this abandonment of Christianity in favour of godless humanism? I believe the answer lies with the failure of individual Christians and Christian churches in our generation.
Christians are instructed to put on the whole armor of God to overcome the devil. Let us look at Ephesians chapter 6:13-18, and see if Christians of our generation have clothed themselves with God’s armor. “Wherefore take unto 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 girt about with truth,” Are we in the evil day? Yes! Have Christians put on truth? No! They have ignored the identity of the lost tribes of Israel and have pretended they don’t exist. They have ignored the truth about God’s Israel. Next, “and having on the breastplate of righteousness;” Failure again! They have ignored God’s laws and claimed we are not required to keep those laws and that they are done away with. Most Christians could not quote all Ten Commandments and many Christians do not live righteous lives. Continuing, “And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;” Where is the preaching of the Gospel of the Kingdom? Most Christians only hear the Gospel of personal salvation. They know nothing about the Kingdom Age. Failure again! “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.” Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God, but if they do ninety percent of their Bible reading from the New Testament they are missing the great promises of the Old Testa ment. Their faith is deficient. “And take the helmet of salvation,” Claiming salvation and continuing in a sinful lifestyle means a person only wants a Christ that is the Lamb of God, not the Lord. Therefore the person has not really accepted Christ and does not have salvation. Continuing, “and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:” If a person uses only the New Testament, his sword is only a quarter the length it should be. It is more like a knife than a sword, and not the best weapon to use against Satan.
If a person uses only the New Testament, his sword is only a quarter the length it should be.
Finally, “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;” In the nineteenth century, Charles Spurgeon had a church in England that had a mid-week prayer service every week. If he ever got less than three thousand people out to it he considered it a failure. Today Christians seldom have a mid week prayer service. I used to go to one at one church I attended a few years ago. It was cancelled if we got less than three people attending. We usually got three people and sometimes got up to seven people. In most churches the bulk of the praying is done in the Sunday morning service. Most of the prayers are for sick people. Time is limited for these prayers because the worship songs and the sermon take up a large portion of the service, and many people do not want the service to go too long because it cuts into their lunch hour and sometimes they have a tee time scheduled at the golf course. Are Christians praying enough? No! Failure again! It seems that Christians in our modern western civilization are not up to the task of taking on Satan. Their battle armor is insufficient.
Please do not think I consider myself above all of these shortcomings. I too am part of this sinful generation and have to continually come before the Lord in confession of my failures, but I hope this article shines some light on how desperate our situation is in the spiritual struggle we are in. I believe events will come in the next ten years that will drive us to our knees before God. We will learn how to wrestle with evil spiritual beings and some of us will even put on the whole armor of God.
