ARMOUR OF GOD. Some medical observations. Ephesians 6.

Every contestant must be equipped for the skirmish, so Paul advised ‘ that we put on the whole armour of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. ( v11 ).  When the Lord repeated it in the 13th verse, He emphasised that we would only get through with ‘therefore, take up all the armour’ in place.  How well are you prepared for the onslaught of the evil one?  It is a fierce battle – not a relaxed diversion.

Preceding this, Paul wrote, ‘ Finally, brethren be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. ( v10) The command to be ‘strong’ is associated with dynamic of the gospel, while the power of His might is the Greek word ‘ischus’, which is anatomically the hip bone, noted for its weight-bearing and strength.  God uses homely illustrations.

We must be physically fit to be able to stand. A babe cannot stand until, the brain and spinal cord and muscles have begun to develop.  When dear ones have had a stroke, they may not be able to stand, though they long to. Raised blood pressure and low blood sugar ( hypoglycaemia ) make one unstable Recently I suffered a middle ear condition in which my world was spinning out of control.  I could not confidently stand, and lost my balance, falling in the garden, lying alongside my favourite rose, dependent on my dear wife to rescue me.  Standing is a miracle, especially as gravitation pulls us down.  We must be spiritually mature and fit to be able to stand – especially in such warfare.

The armour of God must be preserved intact; that is, we cannot use a part here or there, and risk exposure to the flaming darts of the insidious one.  ‘The whole armour’.

The battle lines are drawn as Paul wrote, ‘ For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of darkness of this age, against spiritual wickedness in the heavenly places. ‘ (v12 ) In wrestling, every muscle is strained with one intent of bringing the combatant to his knees, and placing your hand in triumph on the neck of the opponent.  When the umpire counts ‘three ‘, the contest is won/and lost.  Our Lord cried ‘It is finished ‘ on the cross, when He triumphantly conquered all the hellish forces, and satan in particular. We rest in His achievement.

Spiritual warfare is wrestling with the fallen powers of hell and darkness. We must not relax or submit to the prince of darkness, who lies exhausted (licked ) when we lisp the powerful name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  ‘The Name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runs therein and is safe.’ Precious hiding place in the tangle of life.  We dare not compromise spiritual truths, lest we be a prey to the seductive, evil one.

‘Therefore, take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand.’ ( v13 ) God purposed that we resist and oppose the devil’s evil designs .  God has glorious victory- never crushing defeat- for HIS own.

Restating 0the truth, ‘ Stand, therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breast-plate of righteousness.’ ( v14 ) King James version used the term ’Loins’ referring to the area where the kidneys and the reproductive system and excretion systems function.  Don’t be surprised, for the Creator God of the astounding human body of ‘man and woman after His own image’ wrote the precious bible.  They harmonise, of course.  God does not conflict with His perfect creation and eternal word.

From ‘A doctor looks at the Bible ‘ ( author ) , ‘a million litres of blood, or quarter of a million imperial gallons , pump through our adult kidneys each year.  What hydraulic engineering.!  The kidney is the major filtering plant, which also excretes complex bile salts. The large kidney arteries powerfully pump about a quarter of the left ventricle’s blood with each heart beat.  Blood circulates through the renal system fifteen thousand times in one month,; or seventy two million litres of purifying blood sweep through the kidneys in the allotted 70 years.  The kidneys excrete all the waste products as urine , while the purified blood returns to the general circulation through the large renal vein. ‘ 

We understand better why our waist must be girded with truth.  How else can we be pure from all the poisonous products which assail our minds and inflame our senses?  Or how can we get rid of the toxic and destructive elements which impinge on our thoughts.  Here, the cleansing of the precious blood of the dear Saviour does to  our spiritual life what the blood does to our natural body.

Jon wrote in his letter, ‘ If we walk in the Light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s SON cleanses us from all sin. ( v7) The blood of Christ operates eternally in His spiritual body, the church,

( purchased only with His precious blood ) conveying life –giving virtue, distilling and refining and purifying every cell of the body.     ‘If we confess our sins, he continued, ‘HE will forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’  ( v9)

Physiology helps our understanding of this truth.

We do not feel the steady pounding of our kidney arteries, nor are we sensitive to the gentle purifying, filtering influences in the glomeruli of our kidney; but we know He  is continually working,  refining us inwardly.  Blessed be His holy Name. 

The old hymn is true, ‘What can wash away my sin.  Nothing but the blood of Jesus.  What can make me whole again?  Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

The waist includes our remarkable reproductive system of both men and women, which reveals the procreative power God has given us. Who will forget the boundless joy of gazing through tears at their first-born, ( or second or later child ), grasping clearly the creative power, entrusted to man and woman under God. My patients always agreed that I should thank God after the birth of a babe, even though some did not  acknowledge Jesus as their Saviour. Yet, without exception, they admitted the miracle of reproduction. The evidence was there, crying it’s head off or gently smooging into the mother’s breasts.  I then secretly prayed for this babe to be born again of God.    

The Holy Spirit preserves the christian in the tumultous days of courting when sexual desire is heightened, even though the love will be consummated only in christian marriage. ‘Gird about your loins with truth,’ means chastity pre-marriage, and faithfulness in marriage.  God’s truth keeps the saint during the fiery darts of seductive temptation from the other sex, during office, class room or factory life: or every branch of church activity. This chapter was written especially for this sexually-attuned generation – and for all from Pentecost until His rapture of the saints.

Knowing the wonder of procreation, no child of God would contemplate the disastrous abortion, whether pregnancy was unexpected, God’s overruling or offered with developmental changes, such as chromosome deficiencies.  

‘Your waist girded with truth’ included the digestive system.  Marvellously, our food is digested with a complex system of enzymes, the pancreas and liver contributing to this amazing practice.  Our designed body marshals the products of our eating so that protein, carbohydrates and fat are utilised in every cell of our body.  Admit the sheer marvel of our physiology, because of our text-book, partial, understanding of these facts.

Continue the analogy; to our profit, we absorb daily portions of heavenly food, to be dispersed to every part of our spiritual empire.  If we neglect to  digest, regurgitate,  or eat the word of God we become lethargic, anorexic , and limp in our Christian activity.

How is your spiritual digestion?  How is the divine nutrition? Are you in good shape?

Our Creator provided excretory systems for waste matter faeces and urine.

The spiritual implication is : ‘ Therefore,  having these promises, beloved, (That I will be a Father to you and you shall be My sons and daughters ) Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord. ( 2 Corinth 7:1 )

The following passages will be in ARMOUR 2 OF GOD. Some medical observations.