Donning Man's Armor | The Gospel Armor

We all know the story of David and Goliath and many of us know that it is an ensample of the end-time battle that will fulfill the first prophecy given to us way back in the book of Genesis:

Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Satan bruised the heel the of our Savior when he had him nailed to the cross, but God will ensure that Satan’s head will receive a death blow.

Today, however I just want to look at what happens just prior to David taking the field.

1 Samuel 17:34-36 And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: (35) And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. (36) Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.

This fixes the time frame for the end. I do not want to focus on that aspect as it is outside the scope of this post, but for those of you that are interested you can look at Daniel 7:4 and Revelation 13:2 for more on that.

What I want to focus on is this armor.

1 Samuel 17:37 David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee.

Here Saul says to go, but David doesn’t go just yet.

1 Samuel 17:38-39 And Saul armed David with his armour, and he put an helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail. (39) And David girded his sword upon his armour, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him.

Saul was a crappy king there is no doubt, but he was still the king and the people are still Israel meaning they are God’s people and they are at least trying to do what is right. Saul wants David to succeed and is doing what he thinks is the best thing he can do to help David win, but man’s ways are not God’s ways.

BE CAREFUL YOU DO NOT ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN TO YOU. There are many things in this world that seem like a good way to get a job done. I mean what better way to fight a giant than with a big sword right?

If you find ourself suddenly protected by man’s protection take it off. Even David allowed them to put on this nonsense. Remember our armor is the Gospel Armor

Ephesians 6:11-13 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.

Don’t kid yourself and think that this wont happen again and don’t think it wont be something that doesn’t seem like a good idea.

How do you take off man’s armor when you find yourself suddenly clothed in it? Follow David’s example.

1 Samuel 17:40 And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.

So what do you do? You get down to the brook, which is to say, the Living Water. Five is the number of grace, which is why David pulled five stones from the water. We get our grace from Christ. It is also why David used that grace to slay the giant.

Revelation 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.