Don't put on your own armor, it won't work.

Remember, we were discussing being humble, why? 

Because we are very far from being a humble people. Okay, I can't speak for you or anybody else really, but I don't believe I am anywhere near as humble as I could be, as I should be.

Mat_18:4  Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Jas 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 

Jas 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. 

Jas 4:9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. 

Jas 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up

Submit…  to GOD.

Resist…  the DEVIL.

Draw nigh… to GOD.

Cleanse… your hands.

Purify… your hearts.

Be… afflicted.

Mourn.

Weep.

Humble… yourself in the SIGHT of the LORD.

HE- the LORD- will lift us up!

We were talking about resisting the devil and how Jesus had to resist the devil. If Jesus had to resist the devil and his tempting why do we imagine we wouldn't have to?

Resisting the devil - this is a topic that could go much further. I do want to talk just a little more on this and then we'll go on …

Eph 6:10  Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

Eph 6:11  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Eph 6:12  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.

Eph 6:13  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.

Eph 6:14  Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

Eph 6:15  And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

Eph 6:16  Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

Eph 6:17  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

Eph 6:18  Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints

This mentions the wiles of the devil and he has A LOT of wiles to use against us.  To STAND AGAINST the wiles of the devil is in fact- RESISTING the devil. And we can do this- we are told we can do this. We have to put on the WHOLE ARMOR of God.

We are NOT ever to put on our own armor! Yet we try. We try so hard to manufacture our own armor and then wear it way too proudly believing it works effectively.  We like the fit of our own helmets, a bit more comfortable to wear, not too tight under the chin.  We want our own breastplate- it's a lot lighter and a bit more fancy to look at. And hey, how about the boots we are wearing, stylish yet mostly effective.  Not to forget our protective skirt and best of all, look at the incredible sword we are wielding!  Our armor, our plans on how we need to resist the devil. We carefully lay out our plan of action and a lot of time, a WHOLE lot of time, the devil lets us believe that our plan is working that our armor is amazingly effective against him. He wants us DECEIVED and so many of us desire to be deceived because it means we can continue on in our sinful, selfish, self-serving ways. We don't have to look too hard at our own lives so we don't have to witness the sin we are clothed heavily with, our deceptive armor hides a lot of that sin clothing we love to wear. 

We need to RESIST the devil, NOT SIDE with him, not take up his banner and root for him.  Resist the devil! Put on the whole armor of God so we can WITHSTAND the devil's evil, all his wiles need to be stood against!  There is SPIRITUAL WICKEDNESS surrounding us! 

We need the WHOLE armor of God! ALL OF THAT ARMOR!!!!

We need every bit of it if we hope to resist. And we get that armor FROM GOD and no other! Read this again…

Eph 6:13  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.

Eph 6:14  Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

Eph 6:15  And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

Eph 6:16  Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

Eph 6:17  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

Eph 6:18  Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints

TRUTH. RIGHTEOUSNESS. GOSPEL OF PEACE. FAITH. SALVATION. WORD OF GOD. PRAYING ALWAYS.

We need all of these pieces of armor and we will stand against the devil!

Please, Savior, please give us the armor, YOUR armor!  Help us! Save us!

More tomorrow ALL by the LOVE of our SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST our LORD NOW and FOREVER!!!!!!!