There is a spirit world just as truly as a material world of sense and flesh. We Christians are engaged in a warfare that is spiritual, but none the less a real conflict in the realm of thought, and feelings, and desires, and the choices of the will. The Holy Spirit tells us that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of the strongholds of Satan. There is a spiritual armor that is adapted to our inner life just as truly as the armor to the outward body, and this is described by St. Paul in Ephesians 6:13-17. "˜Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day. Stand therefore, having your loins girded about with truth, and having the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace; and above all the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God."�

This is called the armor of God because it is exactly the armor that Christ put on by the Jordan when He was anointed with the Holy Spirit, and in that armor He went at once into the wilderness for the forty days' conflict with Satan. When Jesus ascended He left His armor behind Him, and just as Elisha caught the mantle of Elijah as he ascended, and with that mantle wrought the same miracles that Elijah had wrought, so we are to put on the mantle of spiritual warfare which Jesus dropped from the skies, and fight the same battles He fought, with the same enemies, and pray the same prayers, think the same thoughts, endure the same trials, and fight in the same way that He fought, and gain the same kind of victory that He gained, that we may be one with Him in all things.

The expression "to stand in the evil day,"� indicates that every true Christian has some period in his life which is the crisis of his whole spiritual character, some period of trial, or temptation, or sorrow, or calamity, which is in a special sense called "the evil day."� These various pieces of armor are as exactly appropriate for the soul as the ancient pieces of armor were adapted to the body.

1. The Girdle of Truth. A girdle was a strong leather belt around the loins to brace the small of the back, and to keep in place the garments of the body on long marches. This is precisely the part that perfect truth has to do in our Christian lives. Sound Bible doctrine is the very thing that braces up the soul, that strengthens our decisions, that prevents us from wabbling, that enables us to stand erect and walk firmly in the path of faith. You will find that unless people are perfectly orthodox in Bible truth, they will flop over this way or that way, and be easily influenced by every wind of doctrine. Perfect Bible truth on all points is the most complete brace that a soul can have in this life, and is the belt that we all need for our march through this state of trial.

2. The Breastplate of Righteousness. The breastplate of the ancient soldier was made of iron or steel, to cover the front part of the body from the neck down to the loins, extending half way around the body, to protect the vital spots of the heart, the lungs and the bowels. Perfect righteousness is the very thing that is needed to protect the affections and sympathies of the soul from being pierced by evil. The heart is the center of the affections, and the bowels are spoken of in Scripture to represent the sympathies and emotions of the soul. Now you see how easy it is for people to be tempted and led astray through their affections and sympathies, and here is where multitudes are ruined, because they lack the principle of perfect integrity, cast-iron righteousness, to cover over the finer feelings and susceptible sympathies of their nature. Parents will refuse to correct their children, or restrain them from the paths of sin through foolish fleshly sympathies or false affection, whereas if they had perfect righteousness in connection with their love nature they would lead their children in the way of truth. Our feelings and sympathies have no good sense in themselves, and must be sheltered by something as firm as a breastplate of iron. Hence you see the hard breastplate was needed to cover the soft parts of the body, and in the same way we need invincible righteousness to protect the delicate sensibilities and finer feelings from the assaults of temptation.

3. The Shoes of Peace. Though we are in battle we are to stand on the ground of peace, on God's territory, and not allow ourselves to be dragged over on the devil's ground. We are not to fight for the sake of fighting. In our very conflicts we are to stand on a peaceful foundation, and to seek peace, not by compromise or cowardice, but seek that peace which is a result of righteousness, for the work of righteousness shall be peace.

4. The Shield of Faith. The shield was made of iron or brass, somewhat in the shape of the half of an eggshell, and long enough to protect the head and legs, and buckled firmly to the left arm so as to be moved any way to protect the body, and hence it is said, "above all, taking the shield of faith,"� because it could be so held as to cover the body. This shield in the outward armor corresponds exactly with faith in the spiritual life. The Greeks often shot arrows that were tipped with a burning substance by which they would set fire to the enemies' ships, or houses, or stacks of grain, and also these flaming arrows, hitting a person, would severely burn him or set his clothing on fire. The shield being made of a non-combustible metal, when the flaming arrows struck it, having nothing to ignite, the arrows would fall to the ground. In the spiritual life faith is like that shield, because it is not made of emotions and sentiments, but is a principle of perfect conviction of divine truth, and is like the non-combustible substance of a brazen shield, which cannot be set on fire by the flaming darts from evil spirits. There are evil spirits that shoot darting suggestions just like a flame of fire at the mind or imagination or desires or some of the tendencies of the soul, with the intention of producing sudden and powerful feeling, or wrong imaginations, and unless the believer is armed with deliberate and firm faith in Jesus and His promises, there is great danger of those fierce assaults setting the soul on fire with wrong passions or feelings. There are instances where Christians have been suddenly assailed with fiery temptations, in which they felt a strange, wild, and almost overwhelming impulse to commit some sin, to speak some word, to take some rash step, and it has only been their firm, iron-like faith in Jesus that has warded off the arrow of Satan's fire and prevented a conflagration.

5. The Helmet of Salvation. The helmet was the metallic hat that covered the head, and was so formed that when the enemy struck the head with his sword it would glance off. This head-piece is called the hat of salvation, that is, the baptism of the Spirit, like the tongue of flame on the head of the disciples at Pentecost, to protect the reason and all the thinking faculties, as well as the eyes and ears and mouth. Now it is a singular fact that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is the only thing that will preserve the perfect orthodoxy of the believer, and protect him from a wrong theology, and also protect his ears to hear the voice of God, protect his eyes to see the right, and protect his mouth to speak as a true witness for Jesus Christ. Hence we need the divine fire-hat on our heads for the safety of our five spiritual senses.

6. The Sword of the Spirit, Which is the Word of God. There are five pieces of armor to defend the warrior, and only one piece to fight with. You notice that there is no armor for the back, because the Apostle, like a true soldier, never contemplated a retreat. The Word of God is in reality a spirit sword, just as truly a sharp sword in the realm of the Spirit as a Damascus blade in material warfare. It is under the sharp sword of Scripture truth that men are cut to the heart, and yield to God. It is' by this sword that error is cut open and exposed. It is by this sword that moral disease is amputated. When the Word of God is spoken under the Holy Ghost to Satan or demons, it pierces them as truly as a sharp knife can pierce flesh and blood, and they feel its cutting power and writhe under it as when an animal is struck with a knife. Jesus never reasoned with the devil, but simply pierced him with quotations of Scripture from the writing of Moses. If you undertake to argue with an evil spirit, he will soon lay you low, and your only safety is to quote the Word of God to all assaults of evil spirits, whether they come as suggestions to the mind or through some heretic that is led by a demon. To all the people who disbelieve in Hell, we are simply to insist that God says the wicked shall be turned into Hell with all nations that forget God. It is by the Word of God we are to attack human souls and the fortress of sin. The actual battle, so far as we are concerned, is to be fought out in prayer, and hence Paul says, right in connection with putting on the whole armor, we are to pray always, with all prayer and supplication, for all saints. We are to-day fighting the battles of faith that the saints have fought in all past generations, and there is no new patent on any modern armor, and we are to fight in the same way, with the same instruments, and in the same spirit in which they gained their victories.