God's Armor

Put on the armor of God against wickedness. The great missionary Apostle, Saul of Tarsus, declares the reality of this individual spiritual warfare and urges us to arm for the conflict. Here are his words: " Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 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. 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." (Ephesians 6:11-13.) Note carefully that his declaration implies that our real contest in life is not with human agencies that come with guns and tanks and bombing planes to destroy us but that our eternal struggle is with enemies that come in the darkness and that cannot be perceived by the human senses. Unless we put on the "whole armour of God" to battle against this "spiritual wickedness in high places" we shall not be able to withstand "the wiles of the devil." (42-02, p. 5) The armor of God protects us where we are vulnerable. [The] great missionary Apostle and a valiant defender of the faith [Paul] points out the principle parts of an armed warrior that are most vulnerable to the attacks of these enemies which strike in the night or in the darkness and which are not seen usually by the light of day. Four parts of the warrior are spoken of. The loins were to be "girt about with truth." (The loins, of course, are defined as that part of the human body between the hip bone and the false ribs, in biblical diction the loins denoting the location or seat of the organs of procreation, where human life is generated.) "The breastplate of righteousness," which would be placed over the heart which again in biblical language is regarded as the center or the seat of the spiritual or the conscience or the conduct of men. You will remember the Master had said, "[From] out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh" (Matthew 12:34). The next part to be armored was the feet, which were to be "shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace," the feet denoting one's course in life, or the way of travel in his journey through life. And, finally, the warrior was to have a "helmet of salvation," which of course speaks of the intellect. (See Ephesians 6:14-17.) Thus the four parts most vulnerable to the attacks of the forces of Satan or the master of darkness are, first, one's virtue or chastity, which must be safeguarded by teaching the truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our conduct must be as a breastplate over our hearts, to be guarded by righteousness that our lives may be kept clean and pure. Our feet are to be shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, with the injunction to keep our eyes ever fixed upon that eternal goal of eternal life, which is life in that place where God and Christ dwell. The helmet of salvation is to guide the intellect, the head being the guiding center of our minds which controls our lives, "for as [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he" (Proverbs 23:7). No man, said the Master, committed a murder unless he first became angry. No one committed adultery unless he had an evil or immoral thought. Just so, one does not steal unless he covets. So the evil act must he conceived in the mind before the act. (73-26) (Harold B. Lee, The Teachings of Harold B. Lee, edited by Clyde J. Williams, p.167-168)