Armor of Light Workshop

Today, I would like to speak about 'Becoming Righteous Warriors' and pursuing the Kingdom of Heaven.

Risk: The Battle for Life and Death Did you know that we are in a war? Yes, we. Each and every one of us ... whether we like it or not ... we are in a war. We have an adversary who wants to attack us. When life is attacked, either physically or spiritually, it must be defended from the enemy that would destroy, corrupt, or enslave. But of which war am I speaking? We read about it in Revelation chapter twelve starting in verse 7:

KJV Revelation 12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. ... 17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. And that is us. We are the objects of that dragon's wrath.

Now I will ask: What do you think of when I mention a knight in shining armor? Do you think of a hero saving a village? Or a champion saving the life of the princess? Who are the villains? Is it an enemy knight from a foreign land? Is it a large fire breathing dragon? Knights and dragons are not the terms we typically think of when we go through our daily routines in life, but, perhaps they ought to be ... because There is a war between the Kingdom of Light and the Kingdom of Darkness.

This war is not just a battle of life and death nor of eternal life and eternal death. It is a continual battle in this lifetime seeking what helps life and shunning what harms life. In seeking truth, the enemy comes as fiction. 'In seeking the Kingdom of Heaven, the enemy comes as sin and a fallen world. In seeking life, the enemy is death.' Each of these things must be faced and conquered if life is to improve.

In this war, we have an enemy who actively wants to deceive us regarding the truth of Scripture and the value of life, mislead us into doing evil, and cause every form of abomination, hate, and destruction of life possible. Like many villains, he does not care about life.

But in this war, we also have a hero who is fighting on our side and who gives us weapons of warfare to resist that Dragon. A hero who can do the things that we cannot do for ourselves. We need to be righteous warriors to be able to defend ourselves, our families, our friends, our brethren, ... and we need to follow in the footsteps of the One who is the Ultimate Righteous warrior.

Now, if we are to be warriors ... and if we are to follow our Master, what does that look like? Let us Read in Romans chapter 13 verse 12:

KJV Romans 13:12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. What is this Armor of Light? Paul elaborates further about this warfare, and about our enemies, and about what our armor is capable of doing and how it protects us in another passage ... let us turn to Ephesians chapter six starting in verse 10:

Ephesians 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 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. 13 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. 14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: 18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; Here we are introduced to the armor of light. It is actually a description of our walk with the Eternal. We cannot wear this armor if we have not entered covenant with Elohim. 'We cannot wear this armor if we have His word to tell us what these things look like.' (Confusing sentence! Do you mean if we don't have his word to tell us what they look like?) Wearing this armor is not just an academic exercise ... it requires a high standard of living out what each piece of armor represents and that is only possible through a close relationship with our Savior.

Now, in this message I will bring up something that is seldom talked about. Our enemy, the Adversary, is also willing to give people armor ... I will call it the Armor of Darkness. When the unbeliever picks it up and puts it on it will will stop a person from knowing Elohim. It will stop us from knowing our Heavenly Father's love. It will try to move us as far away from Heaven as the enemy can lead us and as close to death as he is capable.

So ... let us look at these pieces of armor in a little more detail.

Reac: The Kingdom Of Heaven

Role: The Knight Academy

Rela: Helmet of Salvation Helmet of Condemnation First, we look at the helmet. The first piece of the armor of darkness ... is the helmet of condemnation. This is an attempt to make you feel like you are a worthless and evil person. It is meant to leave you hopeless. It will obscure the fact that Elohim loves you and has prepared a way out of that evil and back into His majestic kingdom. This armor will hide and obscure how precious life is in the sight of our Creator.

Helmet of Salvation But the truth, Perhaps the most important and foundational truths of Scripture is that of salvation; the availability of forgiveness of sin and the opportunity to be a child of Yahveh in the Kingdom of Heaven throughout eternity. Elohim offers the Helmet of Salvation which shows you have an active relationship with the Eternal for it is He who is Creator, Lawgiver, and our REDEEMER. when you have the helmet of salvation, you know - in both your heart and your mind - you know you have life eternal and you need not be afraid of death. This can motivate us to withstand anything the enemy can throw at us from this world. And when you do not fear death, you can be bold and strong. And we have this because we have the promise and gift of eternal life that Comes through having Yahshuah as our Savior. ... I ask: Do you have this piece of armor?

Real: Belt of Truth Belt of Falsehood Third, we look at the Belt. Within the armor of darkness, there is the belt of falsehood. Do not underestimate the importance of this piece. The belt holds all the other piece of armor in place. And falsehood, also know as lies, is one of the Adversary's strongest weapons for he knows that if he can get us to believe a lie, he can get us to do almost anything. He has been lying since the garden of eden and he is still lying today. He has been lying for six thousand years and falsehood is so rampant and common in our world, in our society, and even in the church that we do not recognize it. Falsehood is his way of manipulating believers into doing his will and of doing evil. When we believe the lies it will weaken our faith in the Eternal's word, it will ruin our health, and it will hide or deny the existence of the spiritual beyond the physical.

Belt of Truth But when we have the belt of truth, we can defeat those lies. We will not be deceived by this lier. We will stay away from fantasies that our adversary will use to try and distract us. We will focus on the Kingdom of Heaven and on real life. To live life to the fullest, we must avoid what is false, what is imitation, and what is virtual. We must cling to what is true, and real, and actual. truth by itself does not give you eternal life, but it will lead you to the Savior by discerning good and evil and by exposing sin and righteousness while falsehood will lead you away from His caring protection towards death, disease, misery, and fear. ... I ask: do you have this piece of armor?

Resp: Shield of Faith Shield of Wealth Fifth, we look at the shield. in the Armor of Darkness, we typically have the shield of wealth. How do we protect ourselves? Money. Mammon. Abundance of possessions. We are wrongly taught and think that if we have enough money we can fix anything ... but we never seem to have enough money. And money cannot fix the important things in life ... and it certainly cannot buy eternal life or forgiveness of sins.

Shield of Faith But the Kingdom of Heaven offers us the Shield of Faith. And we desperately need this shield. The enemy is constantly on the attack. Do you remember in Isaiah chapter ????? that it says "no weapon formed against you shall prosper"? No weapon. The enemy has many weapons. We have already mentioned the Sword of Knowledge. He also has the Flaming Arrows of Gossip ... but these will not hurt us. He can try to bash us with the Mace of Philosophy ... but this will not touch us. He can even attempt to use the Battle Axe of So-called Secular Science ... but it will not harm us. Why? because we trust in Yahveh, because we trust in Yahshuah. [that is a good paragraph, Ms.]

But the Kingdom of Heaven offers us the Shield of Faith. We have our trust that our Elohim is stronger and more powerful than our enemy and that He will protect us where we lack. He will cover our inadequacies. He will make things work to our good. Why? Because our loving King has offered a series of promises and covenants to restore man kind's relationship to Himself and by accepting those promises and covenants, we enjoy the care that He gives much as the sheep enjoy the care and protection of their shepherd. I ask: do you have this piece of armor?

Righ: Breastplate of Righteousness Breastplate of Wickedness Second, we look at the breastplate. The next piece of the armor of darkness is the breastplate of wickedness. Oh, there are so many ways to be wicked. It does not require witchcraft. It does not require becoming a Buddhist. It simpy requires not following the Covenant commands given to us in His word. All it takes is following the philosophies of the world. All it takes is pursuing the lusts of the flesh. All it takes is accepting any of the many forms of corruption found in this world. Our Adversary will tempt us with all forms of sin and unrighteousness. He will come with things that brings curses into our lives.

Breastplate of Righteousness But in the Kingdom of Heaven, righteousness is the standard by which all things are measured. We need to have the breastplate of Righteousness. This righteousness can only be attained through the forgiveness of sin offered through Yahshuah, the Savior. But when you have the Breastplate of Righteousness you will do what is just and right. You will do what is good and honorable. Your obedience to the covenant will bring blessing and your righteousness will shine like a light to the world and possibly even like the noonday sun. You will know the logic and philosophies of this world, and any sense of morality or right and wrong they can produce, are far inferior and inadequate in their abilities to protect life compared to the righteousness, justice, and mercy of the Kingdom of Heaven.. ... and so I ask: do you have this piece of armor?

Resi: Sword of the Spirit Sword of Knowledge Sixth, we look at the sword. This piece of the armor of darkness is the sword of knowledge. Do you remember in the Garden of Eden there was the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil ... well, that tree is mostly evil. Our logic and our knowledge are insufficient to know what truly helps life or harms life. When we think we know better than our Creator ... better than the Eternal ... we are ripe for a fall.

Sword of the Spirit But our sword is the Sword of the Spirit and the word of Elohim. It is the scriptures that teach us about salvation, teach us about righteousness, teach us the truth, teach us humility ... and it is the Scriptures that teach us how to drive the dragon away. We must use His word to discern between righteousness and wickedness, between true and false, between good and evil. When we know ... when we really know the the Scriptures and are obedient to the words of our Master, the Lord of the Kingdom of Heaven, then our enemy can do little against us. ... I ask: do you have this piece of armor?

Reme: Shoes of Peace Shoes of Competition Fourth, we look at the shoes. In the armor of darkness, we have the shoes of competition. The path is in war. The path is to conquer. The path the enemy encourages is to fulfill our own selfish desires. He fell because of pride and he wants us to have pride as well. He wants us to walk on a path of our own choosing. He wants us to think that we know what is best for ourselves.

Shoes of Peace But when we have the shoes of peace ... the shoes of the good news of Yahshuah ... our testimony of getting on our knees and admitting we cannot save ourselves and asking for His help ... we defeat that pride and that selfishness with humility. And wherever we walk in those shoes we can spread the good news of salvation through our testimony which includes that same humility. Our testimony can encourage people, show them what life as a believer really looks like, and even draw people to becoming believers themselves.

Sharing our failures and His successes can be humbling, but it shows His honor and power and love. Having the shoes of peace shows we know the answers to the great questions of life and it allows us to value life, have peace within ourselves and with the world, to not be in competition with others, and able to freely share His love. ... I ask: do you have this piece of armor?

Read: Mantle of Zeal We are meant to be a kingdom of priests. We are supposed to be able to enter that Tabernacle. We are supposed to be able to do that work ... not the work of the High Priest because only Yahshuah can do that, but we are to share in the priestly duties.

We should also carry that mantle of zeal. We should go out in the world and stand for truth, righteousness, innocence, and purity in a world full of wickedness. We should stand up against the persecution that will come from the many people who love what is false, perverse, and evil because they will hate you for sharing the truth.

We are supposed to be there with Him in the Tabernacle. Do you know what that looks like?

A disciple is supposed to be like His master. We are supposed to know what He is doing. We are supposed to be like our High Priest. We are supposed to learn to be Holy, and special, and set-apart from this world ... and how do we do that? ... ... We come back over here and begin by standing on our salvation, by standing for righteousness in a wicked and perverse world, by seeking the truth and shunning all falsehood, by coming to people in peace and not competition, by learning His word, and by building our faith.

Listen to me warriors, how much time in the past year have you spent fighting evil ... not just sitting at home building your personal relationship with Elohim (which is very important) ... but actively sharing the good news, or helping the poor, or trying to decrease the darkness and the lies in the world? Do you know what He is calling you to do individually?

Life is precious ... and when we see how much people are destroyed by the many types of falsehoods and man made philosophies of the world, we should be motivated to share the truth with others and help build people up both now and eternally.

But all of these things are our choice. We can choose to wear the armor. We can choose to fight evil in our lives. We can chooose to defend our loved ones be it family, friends, or others. We can choose to fight the general evils of society or to help encourage the brethren to be stronger. We can chooose to be closer to Elohim. We can specifically choose to be close to our High Priest.

Rest: The Full Armor What does it look like to wear the entire suit of armor?

Fear When someone wears the armor of darkness ... it looks like fear. Fear is what motivates and drives people. They fear missing out on pleasure and it drives them to excess. The fear of death will drive people to make a name for themselves in this life, even if it means being remembered as a villain. The fear of being hurt will cause them to take control ... or to manipulate.

Love But when you wear the armor of Light ... it looks like love. Love of Elohim and love for other people is the motivation. And that comes because we know that Elohim loves us and has promised His love for eternity.

Rewa:

When we wear our armor, when we oppose evil in this world, persecution can come in many possible forms. It can become a test of courage and endurance. But to surrender ... or simply ignore ... evil is not an option because accepting a lie will bring the consequences of a lie just as fighting for truth will bring the consequences of truth.

And yet, in having said all that, we are relatively weak. There are enemies we cannot defeat. No matter how much armor we wear. No matter how much we train. No matter how much we fight. We will ultimately fail. We need a warrior who is stronger than we are. We need a hero who can defeat the villains once and for all. So, if you will excuse me for one moment, I need to go put on some stronger armor.

Conc: If we want to be warriors, we must frequently ask ourselves these many questions. Do I want to fight evil and help good? Do I support life and fight death? Am I confident in my salvation? Am I living in righteousness and do I hat and shun the evil and darkness around me? Do I love the truth and hate the falsehood in all it's forms? Do I walk in peace rather than in war and competition? Do I spend time in His written word and in prayer listening for His words spoken to me? Do I stand strong on my faith … trusting in His promises … such that mountains will move? Do I have zeal enough to sacrifice my time, my talent, my treasure, and even my life? Do I stay in communion with my High Priest to know where He is working and am I obedient and disciplined enough to help?

Believers will face many battles in this world ... I ask ... do you have your armor? In your walk towards the Kingdom of Heaven, do you have a greater warrior fighting on your behalf? Are you able to fight the dragons when they attack? If not, perhaps it is time to do something about it. Perhaps it is time to start wearing your armor. Get comfortable with it. It is a gift from Elohim to His people to raise us up and bring us closer to Him.