KingdomCity is one of the most vibrant and fastest-growing churches in our nation. Since its birth in 2006 in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, our capital city, it now encompasses up to 25 locations across 14 countries, including Malaysia, Australia, Cambodia, Singapore, Botswana, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Indonesia, Zambia, Sri Lanka, India, South Africa, New Zealand, and Mexico. The church has grown from strength to strength in that 16 years. Today, it has a weekly congregation of 30,000 people of all ages, many young people from the next generation who are excited for Christ and God.
On the 14th of August 2022, Pr Jemima Varughese shared the second part of her message on Unleashing the War Cry, focusing on the Dress Code of Spiritual Warfare. She conveyed that in these last days, the devil will unleash all his forces like never before because he knows his time is short, and he is furious about it.
We are part of God’s kingdom, and soldiers in His army called to battle against Satan’s forces of darkness. In this warfare, our enemies are not flesh and blood like our bosses, government, or mother-in-law. Ephesians 6:12 inspires and reminds us that our struggle is against the rulers, authorities, powers, and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
We are soldiers in God’s kingdom, and we must be prepared. Part of that preparation is equipping ourselves with the appropriate dress code for warfare.
‘We don’t go into battle, and we don’t fight a war without the right uniform. If you turn up in a war in a black tie, it just wouldn’t work. You would get crushed no matter how muscly or fit you are. You would not have anything to protect you. These days, with what the enemy is doing, we have to have the right dress code to survive,’ said Pr Jemima. ‘We have to make sure that to survive the upcoming days, we are putting on the right things on us.’
Paul tells us how to do this. In Ephesians 6:14, he wrote:
Stand firm, therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Stand firm, Paul is telling us. ‘We can stand, but we may not be firm,’ Pr Jemima stated. ‘Remember, our warfare is not against flesh and blood.’ When Paul was writing this letter to the Ephesian Christians, he was in prison by the Romans. The Romans at that time had the most powerful army in the world. They subjugated a massive part of the world with it. ‘Watching the Roman soldiers, I can imagine the Holy Spirit teaching Paul about the spiritual armour.’
The order the Roman soldiers put on their armour was important. It is likewise with the order in which Paul outlined his description of the spiritual armour. There are six items in all.
Balteus/Belt of Truth
The first was the belt, known to the Romans as the Balteus or Cingulum. It was the first thing the Roman soldiers would put on after their tunic, and they would wear it all the time, even when they were off-duty. It kept the tunic in place so they wouldn’t get in the way during battle. The balteus also kept the sword in place and the breastplate tight. The belt was the foundation of the armor. As Christians, God’s truth has to be our foundation. His truth holds all our armor together.
The Christian context: The Belt of Truth – We need to know the truth and teachings of Jesus. We don’t just come on Sunday in a week. We need to study the truth of Jesus, the context, and what it means and really understand what Jesus was teaching about. It must remain with us at all times. The belt of truth keeps us from straying away in a world that’s becoming greyer every day.
Lorica Segmentata/Breastplate of Righteousness
The second item was the breastplate, known to the Romans as the Lorica Segmentata. The breastplate guarded the heart and vital organs, which was why it’s also described as the heart guard.
The Christian context: The Breastplate of Righteousness – Paul tells us that we must be in the right standing with God. Sin separates us from God. When sin remains in us, the breastplate is weakened. The enemy can come in. This is why we must be careful that our activities, hobbies, social hangtime, or the late-night movies we watch on Netflix do not lead us into putting our spiritual breastplate down. We need to keep our guard up, protect our hearts, and be careful who we listen to and our conversations. We need to guard our hearts.
Calceus/Sandals of Gospel of Peace
The third item the soldiers would put on was their shoes, known as Calceus. The calceus was lightweight but sturdy. They also had studs that helped them stand on firm ground, no matter the terrain. Additionally, the studs could be used as weapons on fallen enemies’ heads.
The Christian context: The Gospel of Peace – Paul likens the gospel of peace to the state-of-the-art calceus. Like the calceus, the gospel of peace should be super-functional in our lives. When we share the gospel of peace with people, we are on the offensive against the enemy. We need to walk and share the gospel of peace with those who do not know Christ. This is the responsibility of every Christian, not just the pastors or the evangelists. We need to carry peace into our environments.
Scutum/Shield of Faith
The fourth thing was the shield, also known as the Scutum. The scutum was designed in a curved shape to deflect incoming arrows. This curved shape also helped them to form a tightly packed iron wall that was hard to infiltrate. At the center of the shield, there was an iron shield boss which could be used for offensive purposes. The scutum was the first part of the armor that needed to be picked and held up.
The Christian context: The Shield of Faith – We must hold on to faith to be protected. We cannot let the shield of faith go. Like the size of the scutum, the size of our faith determines the size of the protection from the enemy. Faith doesn’t just shield us, it attacks the enemy. We can speak the words of faith against the enemy. The Lord can increase the capacities and measure of our faith.
Galea/Helmet of Salvation
The fifth thing was the helmet, known as the Galea. The galea protected one of the most vital parts of the human body, extending that protection to almost the entire head. It also had a crest so that the soldiers could recognise who was wearing the helmet.
The Christian context: The Helmet of Salvation – In the spiritual armour, this is analogous to the protection of our minds. One of the ways the enemy can attack is to cause us to remove our helmet and doubt our salvation so that he can shoot his spiritual arrows into our mind. He attempts to sow lies and doubts into our mind and get us to question our salvation.
Pr Jemima conveyed that it is so important that we protect our minds. The enemy can’t steal our salvation, but he can fill our minds so much with overthinking that we begin to question our salvation and what we have been taught. And that will lead us down a road that will be very hard to come back from.
Gladius/Sword of the Spirit and word of God
The last item the Roman soldiers picked up was the sword, known as the Gladius. The gladius was flexible and double-edged, making it very dangerous in close combat. The soldiers would use this in coordination with the shield, thrusting them in alternation.
The Christian context: The Sword of the Spirit which is the word of God – Paul gave an analogy of the sword (the only piece of armor purely designed to attack the enemy; all the other pieces of armor has a primarily defensive function) with the Sword of the Spirit and the word of God. When we use the word of God over our situations, families, and nation, the enemy has to shrink back. It makes the most impossible situations possible. The word of God, the promises of Jesus, and the wisdom of the Holy Spirit are all combined into one weapon against the enemy. And Jesus promises and has given us all authority against all the powers of the enemy. The Holy Spirit guides us in how to sharpen our swords daily so that our prayers and declarations are on point.
When we know how to equip ourselves with the complete armour of God, the enemy cannot stand against us.
Note: Because of the nature of a blog, Pr Jemima’s message was heavily abbreviated in the above article. Pr Jemima’s messsage was an in-depth and extensive explication of the subject. For the full message, you may view it on Kingdomcity’s YouTube page at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEYNzYp_5bM This article was written through the lens of impartation the writer has received from the message. It is not affiliated with Kingdomcity.
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