In this first installment of The Whole Armor of God, Pastor Carl explores Ephesians 6, revealing how believers can stand firm against spiritual opposition through the armor Christ has already provided. Drawing parallels between Roman military equipment and spiritual warfare, he examines the belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, and shoes of the gospel of peace. Discover why integrity, right standing with God, and supernatural peace are essential to victorious Christian living. Join Carl now for an exciting word to offset spiritual attack and overcome condemnation…
Here is a complete transcript of the broadcast (below)…
Friend, we’re beginning a new series here, live on the topic of the whole armor of God. Now, we need to have all of our pieces of armor on, friend, if we are going to be a good ambassador for Christ in these last days. Amen. The Apostle Paul provided a wonderful illustration, enabling us to understand the different aspects of God’s armor that we need to have on us daily. But the question is, do we put it on every morning? Do we take it off at night? How do we know when our armor is on? We’re going to discuss this shortly and more when you join me now live… Tonight, the whole armor of God, all right? It’s a very popular topic. It’s something that has been taught from many different angles. The armor of God has no pants. That’s when you realize if you go through it. But anyway, putting on the whole armor of God is key. Amen? Not just part of it. Is that all right? Are you right, brother? Okay, so the Apostle Paul utilizes a powerful illustration in the book of Ephesians chapter 6. It’s the full armor, okay? And when you have the full armor of God, you can go to battle, but you can’t go when you’re missing something. The armor of God is not a metaphor, okay? It’s an actual physical thing in the Spirit. It is a spiritual armor that you already have. You’re not going out to try and get the armor of God. You put it in the closet every night. You put it back on. You forgot to put it in the morning. People have done that, okay? Guys, the armor of God is already on you to the measure that you know each one of the truths, okay? And we’re going to go individually through each facet of the armor of God. We’re going to study it, amen?
As an engineer, I like to keep boring on the details, amen? It’s not boring. I just like to bore on the details, because we have so much information at our disposal today, whether it’s through references, through the internet. You can really study God’s Word to the hilt. But notice that there are two offensive weapons at our disposal. The majority is armor that is protecting us, but we have two weapons, all right? And are you ready to learn about the armor? Can we get an amen in the house tonight? Hallelujah, amen. So, here’s an outline of a typical legionnaire back in the Roman times. The shield of faith, helmet of salvation, you know it. If you have Ephesians 6, turn to it now. The breastplate of righteousness, the belt of truth, the sword of the spirit, and as you notice, there is a belt, but there’s also some armor in the front region and armor to the sides and to the back. And Paul most likely came to this illustration while he was viewing the many legionnaires that he would see walking around. And God gave him this revelation in the church at Ephesus, that this armor is something that we need to put on. But if we’re lacking in one area, we will be hindered in our Christian walk, all right? And some people may be stronger in some places than others.For example, righteousness is a right standing that Christ gave us. But then if we sin, we can lose confidence towards God, right? And 1st John 1:9 talks about confessing our sin with the blood of Jesus Christ and cleansing us from all unrighteousness. Did you hear that? Unrighteousness. You’re not made unrighteous by sin, but it’s the feeling that you’re unrighteous because the guilt and the shame come with it. How many have done that? When you sin, it’s like, man, I don’t even feel saved anymore. Sometimes it’s that bad, you know, you have this feeling inside that you may have grieved the Holy Spirit or you just don’t feel right. And then it’s, what do you do? You don’t stay on the mat so Satan can jump on you 20 times.
You get straight back up and say, Father, I messed up. Cleanse me again, amen? That’s our attitude. We don’t stay on the mat, right? That’s where people get messed up, okay? They get into condemnation and they are struggling. God forgives, I say it a lot, 70 times 7, that’s 490 times a day. He wouldn’t ask you to do something that he wouldn’t do himself, amen? Thank you for a merciful God.The weapons of our warfare are not carnal. We’re not having fistfights with folk, all right? I had a friend and he was in prison for a while and then he began a prison ministry and then I would preach with him in the prisons in Colorado. And he was a fighter, man. He would get into fistfights when he was younger and he was quite a violent guy. But when he got saved, you know, sometimes you wanted to go and beat somebody up. And he got spirit-filled. And some guy walked past his car and smashed the headlight. And he said, Lord, I’m going to go and beat that guy up. I know who it is. I’m going to take care of it myself. He said, no, you’re not. No, you’re not. And there was this struggle internally of what am I going to do? Am I going to act in the physical? Am I going to physically retaliate against this guy? Or am I going to cast my care, pray about it, and the Lord will sort it out, amen? Because some people really want to get into the physical. But the truth is the conflict is in the spirit, right? And we’re not wrestling against flesh and blood. We’re wrestling against the spirits in the demonic realm.If there is a stratagem against us, we can have that revealed by the Holy Spirit and we can combat that through prayer, amen? And, you know, many times people can be passive, as I’ve said before. You know, they think everything is from God. Well, if I’m struggling and I have this obstacle, it must be God’s will. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have occurred. No, friend.
Sometimes we have to press on through in prayer. Sometimes we have to stand and above all stand, amen? That’s the spirit we need. If you want to get anywhere in life and in the Christian walk, we need to have a little bit of a feisty spirit about us, amen? Feisty. Everybody knows what feisty is? Not willing to quit. Not willing to give up. Not willing to say, to accept no as an answer rather, but press in. We don’t want to bring a knife to a gunfight.And that’s what some people do, you know? They bring in the physical weapons and it’s a spiritual war. And, you know, even in the physical, if there’s an issue with Korea right now, North Korea, how many think that maybe there’s a spiritual battle going on as well before it gets into the natural realm? And a lot of those conflicts can be prevented by prayer before it even gets to the natural. You know, many people, even with hurricanes, have said, you know, I’m going to pray against this hurricane and believe that it’s going to go from a category 5 to 1 and believe God’s going to do something about it, amen? How many have even prayed like that? We have someone who’s doing it right here, amen? And they say, oh, that hurricane was blown out of all proportion.It was nothing in the end. Ah, but if we hadn’t prayed, would it be something? See, that’s what, we don’t get the after update from CNN saying, well, the Christians prayed and that’s why it went down from a 5 to a 1. We don’t get that update, right? We don’t get it. Belt of truth. The leather belt was tied around a wool tunic, connected bronze, all right?
It supports the sword and the dagger. Everything stands on truth, friend. If you have no truth, you’re going to fall over in an argument, in a debate, in a court of law. If you’re not on the side of truth in politics, hmm, it’s not going to be good for you. We need to be on the side of truth always. It’s the belt that holds up our pants, amen? There’s embarrassment. If we’re lying, we’re going to be ashamed. We’re going to be shamed by that, all right? So everything starts with truth, right? It begins here. If we don’t walk in truth on a daily basis, there is a shame that comes with it.It’s called girding up the loins. The belt is the first piece of equipment and holds all other pieces together in place. Truth holds everything together so we may walk in integrity, amen? God said, I will withhold no good thing from a man who walks uprightly before me. That’s a powerful verse. You need to have integrity in every aspect of your life, or at least that’s our aim, amen? And when we do so, God will honor it. So, the belt of truth. Notice that weapons are tied to it. It’s supporting other weapons. When it’s not being used, it would go straight back in the belt. And so, that is the importance of having and standing on truth, amen? Now, the breastplate of righteousness. There would be an undergirding of a leather vest which would have lots of different plates sewn on of metal. So, it would be protective, but it would be lightweight. So, you’d have mobility because each one of these were separated and they would have their own ability to move and have range of motion.
The lorica segmentata, just for you Latin people out there, all right, in case you were wondering what it was, the lorica segmentata, yes. So, the breastplate of righteousness, what does it guard? Vital organs, it guards the heart, right? Very important. Out of the heart come all the issues of life, but Jesus put his breastplate over your heart so you have right standing with him and therefore you should always have peace. If that feeling of peace leaves, that’s when that breastplate is being attacked or you, you know, it’s being vulnerable, okay? Right standing with God is everything because, like I said, if you get into sin, you feel like you’ve lost standing with God, you lose confidence, you then need to get right with him. Once you’ve gone through that barrier, peace returns, amen? The breastplate in Greek is the word thorax, which literally means heart protector. It was made to be mobile in battle, not rigid. Hmm, there’s another illustration there. We need to be mobile, friend. We don’t need to be rigid. We don’t need to be stiff-necked in life. We need to go the way that the Father wants us to go, amen? We need to be flexible. We need to be, well, whatever word you want to throw in there, we just need to bend with the Lord, amen? And the bottom of the breastplate is tied to the belt of truth, so that would be tucked in and the belt would go around it. Therefore, righteousness must be tied to truth because there’s no righteousness unless we receive the word of God in the first place. That’s how we are made righteous, amen? If we’re self-righteous, we’ll never feel protected, right? I’m standing in my own self-righteousness, praise God. Well, what are you standing on? My family, my family background, my family standing. I do good works.
I have a lot of money in the bank. I buy Girl Scout cookies, you know, whatever, what other self-righteousness you want to display. But our righteousness is in the word, amen? And that’s how we experience peace on a daily basis. In 2 Corinthians 6:7, Paul referred to the armor of righteousness, which is interesting. And Isaiah also said, in Isaiah 59:17, put on the armor of righteousness. To have three different references is extremely important, alright? Whenever we build doctrine in the Bible, we look for two or three references. We don’t just go on one. So that means that the righteousness and the belt of truth are pivotal to our armor, amen? And it’s also not based on your feelings. The armor is on whether you feel like it’s there or not, alright? And we’re going to get into whether the armor is on or not and how do we perceive that shortly. But don’t be thinking every day when you get up, I got to put my armor on. Just know that it’s already there, okay? Now, there can be risks of vulnerability in certain areas, okay? If we get into lying or we get into sin, we may not feel like our armor is on. But the truth is then, once again, we need to be restored to the Father, amen? So, the sandals of the gospel of peace. It had leather straps, so you’d have great traction. It had metal spikes for grip and gouging, so you’d have short spikes and long spikes. So, how many of you knows that if someone did this to you, that would hurt with those spikes on, right? So, it was a weapon in itself, just as peace can be a weapon. Jesus is fast asleep in the boat. Lord, do you just not care whether we perish? Oh, I’ll just rebuke the storm. I mean, he was like almost angry that they he was woken up. He had such peace friend. You can have peace in the midst of the storm, right? Peace isn’t dependent on all circumstances lining up. Our peace is inherent. It is innate inside of us, so that we can have it when we go through the trials. That’s the difference. That’s true peace. Some people have peace when everything’s working out. Hunky-dory, great. I have peace right now.
No, peace is a gift given so that you can traverse the difficult times, amen? How many have peace in this room right now? One person, amen. It’s a powerful offensive weapon and a defensive weapon. Now, someone said if we make peace with God, then we can experience the peace of God. Check that out. We got to make peace with him first and then we can experience his peace. Remember, Jesus said, take your peace to the household. Bring the gospel, you know, dust off your feet if it’s not received and walk off, but peace was something that he was bringing to every household. We should be bringing peace when we visit houses, amen? When we visit the workplace. Oh, there’s sister so-and-so. She’s always stressed out. Man, she’s in fear all the time and flipping out. She’s a good Christian sister, amen? You know, that’s not the testimony we want. We want someone who’s going to be an anchor, okay? Someone who’s going to bring peace to that situation. Friend, I hope you’re enjoying our first session on the whole armor of God. It is requisite. It is imperative that we understand each aspect of our armor and then apply it in our everyday lives. Until tomorrow, good night, God bless, and remember to spread the good news.
https://carljosephministries.com/the-whole-armor-of-god/
https://connectusfund.org/7-pieces-of-the-armor-of-god
Title: The Whole Armor of God: Part 1 (LIVE)
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Christian Warfare and Weapons
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Spiritual Warfare and Prayer
Six Frequently Asked Questions:
1. What does it mean to “put on the whole armor of God”?
Putting on the whole armor of God means actively embracing and applying each piece of spiritual protection and weaponry outlined in Ephesians 6:10-18. These pieces of armor—such as the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, and the shield of faith—are not just metaphors but represent the spiritual tools we need to protect ourselves and stand firm against spiritual attacks. While the armor is already provided to us through Christ, it’s essential to “put it on” daily through prayer, faith, and living out God’s Word.
2. Why is the armor of God described as spiritual, and not physical?
The armor of God is spiritual because it protects us in the unseen, spiritual battles we face as believers. While we may not wear physical armor in the way Roman soldiers did, the armor represents spiritual truths that guard us against temptations, attacks, and deceptions in our walk with God. These spiritual defenses allow us to stand firm against spiritual forces, including the devil and his schemes. The battle is not against people but against spiritual powers, as Ephesians 6:12 teaches.
3. Do I need to “put on” the armor every day, or is it always on me?
While the armor of God is provided to every believer as part of our new identity in Christ, we must actively choose to “put it on” every day. This means intentionally applying the truths of God’s Word—such as righteousness, peace, truth, and faith—into our daily lives. The armor is always available to us, but we need to remind ourselves of it daily through prayer and by living in alignment with God’s Word.
4. What are the two offensive weapons mentioned in the armor of God, and how do they help us in spiritual warfare?
The two offensive weapons in the armor of God are:
- The Sword of the Spirit (God’s Word) – This is the weapon we use to attack and defend in spiritual battles. By knowing and speaking God’s Word, we can resist the enemy’s lies, rebuke demonic attacks, and declare God’s truth.
- Prayer – While not always explicitly listed as an “offensive weapon,” prayer is a powerful tool in spiritual warfare. Through prayer, we engage with God, seek His guidance, and confront the enemy with spiritual authority. Prayer can reveal the strategies of the enemy and empower us to act in accordance with God’s will.
5. What should I do if I don’t feel like my armor is on?
If you feel like your armor isn’t on, it’s important to remember that the armor is tied to spiritual truth, righteousness, and peace, regardless of how we feel in the moment. The key is to recognize when you’re vulnerable—such as when you’re struggling with sin or feeling defeated—and take steps to restore your peace with God. Confession, prayer, and standing on the truth of God’s Word will “re-arm” you and restore your sense of protection and confidence. The armor isn’t based on feelings but on the truths of who we are in Christ.
6. How do the pieces of armor relate to each other, and why can’t we leave any part out?
Each piece of the armor is interconnected, working together to provide full spiritual protection. For example, the belt of truth supports everything else, holding the other pieces of armor in place. Without truth, the rest of the armor wouldn’t stand firm. Similarly, the breastplate of righteousness protects the heart, ensuring we maintain peace and confidence in our right standing with God. Every piece is essential; if we neglect one, we risk vulnerability in that area. By putting on each part, we ensure we are fully equipped to stand firm in faith and resist the enemy’s attacks.
