March 1, 2026
Havasu Christian Church
Are you Battle ready?
Ephesians 6:10–20
“Putting on the FULL ARMOR”
INTRO: We’ve spent the last 8 Sundays looking at the Armor of God. We’re going to take one more look, but this time, we’re going to answer the question “how does this all work together?” Every week we’ve looked at the idea that you wear the armor… all the armor! Let’s take one more look!
Ephesians 6:10–20 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.
11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.
14 Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS,
15 and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE;
16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
17 And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,
19 and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel,
20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
- Let’s talk about the parts of the armor again.
- The belt of Truth is the foundation!
- Without truth, we are lost….
We’ve probably all seen video of guys trying to run from the law while trying to hold up their saggy pants! It never works well!
- If your life is built on falsehood, it has no foundation.
- “My truth, Your truth” is no truth at all!
- The Breastplate of Righteousness comes next because;
- We are covered by Jesus’ righteousness.
- Without His righteousness, we have no hope.
- Our own righteousness is worthless.
Philippians 3:7–11 But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,
9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith,
10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;
11 in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
- Jesus’ Righteousness is applied to us!
- We are expected to do our best to live a righteous life.
- Not to earn salvation, but in gratitude for the gift!
- Having the “combat sandals” of Peace allows us to live in this life without fear.
- We WILL be attacked!
- We need the sure footing of knowing that “God has this!”
- Much of that attack will be from the Spiritual realm.
- But whatever is sent our way, our “combat sandals” give us traction to hang in there!
- Having peace happens when I trust God for the future.
- The Shield of Faith protects us from internal struggle caused by Satan’s forces.
- Our faith in Jesus is a refuge.
- It stops the “fiery darts” of the evil one.
- The enemy will do their best to fill us with doubts, fear, hatred, envy, greed.
- We don’t have to fall prey!
- Humans will attack as well.
- Even when people attack us, being angry with them and hating them isn’t a proper response.
- They are just “following the orders of their rulers.”
- The Helmet of Salvation protects us from internal struggle caused by my own mind and from not believing I’m saved.
- “My head is protected!”
- Knowing I am saved as long as I continue to follow Jesus protects our thinking!
- The Sword of the Spirit (the Word of God) gives me a weapon to fight with!
- Keep it within reach.
- Keep it in your head!
- How does the armor work together?
It protects best when integrated together!
- A football player who didn’t wear his cleats or his helmet, or his pads would be in trouble.
- A Christian who doesn’t wear all of his armor makes themself vulnerable!
- The armor protects us from Lies.
- The armor protects us from the Evil forces.
- b. The armor protects us from worry and fear.
- The armor protects us from loss of faith.
- The armor protects us from eternal damnation.
- The sword, the Word of God, protects us from ignorance of God’s commands.
- The armor even protects us while we share the Gospel with those around us!
- For all this armor to really work, you have to TRUST YOUR ARMOR!
Story about the guy who tightrope walked over Niagara falls… Everyone cheers.
He grabs a wheelbarrow!
“Who thinks I can push this wheelbarrow across?” Everyone cheers.
“Who thinks I can push this across with someone riding in it?” Everyone Cheers!
“Ok, I need a volunteer….”
- If you don’t trust your armor, you’ll be afraid to go into battle!
- You need to believe that the armor God has provided for you will protect you!
During the short time I was a fireman, I wasn’t afraid of much when I was wearing my bunker gear!
- You need to learn to use your armor!
- Following Jesus takes time to learn!
- But God won’t let us get into a situation that He hasn’t prepared us for.
1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.
- Trust the Might of Jesus, not your own “strength!”
Ephesians 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.
- It’s not all about you!
- You can’t hope to win on your own!
- It’s not all about me either!
- I most certainly cannot win on my own!
- It IS ALL ABOUT HIM!
- The One who said “Let there Be” and there was, is on your side.
- More accurately, we are on HIS side!
- The more we “lean in” on that idea, the better off we will be.
- HE has all the POWER!
- The Glory is all HIS!
- HE is the SAVIOR!
- HE is the LORD!
- HE is the KING!
- I am not! Neither are you!
- When I try to fight on my own, I am planning to fail!
- We need Jesus.
- We need brothers & sisters!
- We cannot give up or give in!
