| As a young kid in junior high, the behavior of one of | | | | The Armor of God is to be worn by the Body of |
| my friend's insane uncles fascinated me. The old man | | | | Christ. . . not simply an individual here or an individual |
| visited at unexpected times, totally unconcerned with | | | | there. When an individual Christian is overly focused on |
| how unwelcome he was. Explaining his uncle to me, | | | | whether or he or she is "wearing God's armor" (like |
| my friend whispered, "He's a Pentecostal," as though | | | | Uncle Weird), you lose the point of wearing the armor |
| he deemed that sufficient to explain the old man's | | | | anyway. We all are to be encouraging everyone -- the |
| eccentricities. | | | | whole Body of Christ -- into wearing the Armor of |
| I stayed away from their uncle, but one morning | | | | God. |
| happened to be in the house when the man got up. | | | | Point two: Who wields the sWord of the Spirit which is |
| Seeing me, he ordered me to accompany him into his | | | | the Word of God"? |
| bedroom. Looking to see if anyone else noticed the | | | | Why, we all do -- in unity, one with another! The entire |
| abduction, I followed him as he stripped off his shirt, | | | | Body of Christ wields the sWord of the Spirit which is |
| standing there in suspenders -- the first grown-up in | | | | the rhema ("Word") of God! Believers everywhere are |
| suspenders I'd ever seen. Then he began lecturing me: | | | | responsible, together, to focus on accurately and |
| in a level voice, but carrying within it a deep intensity, he | | | | profoundly hearing the Living Word of God every day. . |
| instructed me on the Dire Need Before God and the | | | | . becoming able to live prophetically in the Word AND |
| Demonic Realm to Put on one's Spiritual Armor at the | | | | the Spirit. This is because the sWord of the Spirit is to |
| Beginning of Every Day. And, taking his lines from | | | | be wielded by the Body of Christ . . . and not just an |
| Ephesians 6, he began making broad gestures -- | | | | occasional member of it here and there! |
| gestures so clear that no demonic spirit could ever | | | | But since we are the Body of Christ, as we wield the |
| mistake his movement for merely dressing -- "I gird my | | | | sWord, God wields it!Let's take this seriously. It's not a |
| loins with Truth", "I don the breastplate of | | | | trivial matter. Many people consider the Bible to be their |
| righteousness", "I shod my feet...", "...take the shield of | | | | "sword" and they use it according to their own |
| faith", ...the helmet of salvation...", "and the Sword of the | | | | inclinations. They use it to "slice and dice" their brothers |
| Spirit which is the Word of God!" | | | | and sisters in the Lord. Have you ever listened to a |
| And with that last piece of "spiritual clothing", he swept | | | | "christian" who quotes a Bible verse in order to lay |
| the Sword broadly through the air, side to side and | | | | some sort of judgment on another? "Well, you know |
| brought it fiercely down as though to cleave the skull | | | | the Bible says 'to avoid all appearance of evil'. . . and |
| of an invisible demon unlucky enough to stand still for a | | | | what you're doing sure looks evil to me!!!" |
| death blow. Peculiar as Uncle's behavior seemed to | | | | Ever meet other "christians" whose "Bible study" |
| me, it held a degree of fascination anyway. In fact, any | | | | consists of sitting around arguing with each other? Or |
| time I read that passage in Ephesians 6 for the next | | | | delightedly bringing up old proof texts about how the |
| few years, I couldn't shift my focus away from the | | | | congregation across town is following the doctrines of |
| bizarre instruction I'd received. | | | | demons? Many "christians" act as if the Bible in their |
| But then one day, I read the passage for my self. And | | | | hands is their own, personal possession -- to be used |
| it didn't say anything like what Uncle had told me. | | | | according to their private inclinations. In Peter"s second |
| Let's look at a couple of those things. | | | | letter (2.20), he said: |
| First off, who wears the Armor?One of the values of | | | | "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of |
| the King James Version of the Bible is that when it | | | | any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by |
| was translated from Greek and Hebrew, 400 years | | | | the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they |
| ago, English still had a plural "you". Nowadays, the word | | | | were moved by the Holy Spirit." |
| "you" can be singular ("I love you, dear") or plural ("I love | | | | The point here is simple: Prophecy is not the property |
| all of you"). In the KJV, whenever you run into the | | | | of human beings. . . it came from God and therefore is |
| word "ye", it's plural. That's fantastic! There are lots of | | | | still God"s. |
| passages familiar to us which we tend to think of as | | | | A true disciple of the Kingdom of Heaven never loses |
| applying to "me" in the singular which, in fact, are | | | | sight of the fact that the Word of God is God's. The |
| written to the Body of Christ in the plural. Like in 1Cor | | | | Scriptures came from God by the Wind of the Holy |
| 3.16: "Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God, | | | | Spirit, and when we look at it today, we have to look |
| and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" This verse | | | | at it in the Wind of the Holy Spirit. If we look at it with |
| often is interpreted as referring just to an | | | | mere, natural minds -- examine, analyze and |
| individualChristian but in fact addresses all Christians -- | | | | categorize it -- it's a dead letter that instead of bringing |
| "Don't you know that all of you are the Temple. . ." | | | | Life, it kills! [2 Corinthians 3.6] |
| Anyway, in Eph 6.11, Paul wrote, "Put on the whole | | | | When you open the Bible, what counts isn't how many |
| armour of God, that ye may be able to stand. . ." The | | | | degrees you have after your name nor how many |
| "armor of God" is not worn by this Christian or that | | | | books you've written about Jesus; it doesn't matter |
| Christian. . . it is worn by the Body of Christ: "Put on | | | | how many sermons you've preached or how many |
| God's armor so that you all can withstand. . . for we | | | | Sunday School classes you've sat through. When you |
| wrestle not against flesh and blood. . . take the whole | | | | open the Bible, what counts is whether or not the Wind |
| armor that ye (or, "you all") may be able to withstand. . | | | | of the Spirit blows the sWord of God into the |
| ." | | | | impenetrable and hidden depths of your heart, cutting |
| Point one: Who wears the Armor? | | | | apart the flesh from the spiritual! |