Armor of God

I'll post a bit on this over the next couple weeks since that's our Sacrament speaking topic in two weeks. I think the most useful thing I could do is try to take this idea that can be somewhat abstract and make it as tangible as possible. How do we put it on? What are the results of putting it on? Or not putting it on?

Here's the verses in D.C. 27 (also in Ephesians 6)

15Wherefore, ^alift up your hearts and ^brejoice, and ^cgird up your loins, and take upon you my whole ^darmor, that ye may be able to withstand the evil day, having done all, that ye may be able to^estand.

16Stand, therefore, having your loins ^agirt about with ^btruth, having on the ^cbreastplate of ^drighteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the ^egospel of ^fpeace, which I have sent mine ^gangels to commit unto you;

17Taking the shield of faith wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the ^afiery darts of the wicked;

18And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of my ^aSpirit, which I will pour out upon you, and my word which I reveal unto you, and be agreed as touching all things whatsoever ye ask of me, and be faithful until I come, and ye shall be ^bcaught up, that where I am ye shall be ^calso. Amen.

I'm not sure how to work it in yet, but there's got to be a reason this comes in the same section that principally talks about the Sacrament including the Sacrament meeting that will be held with the Savior at Adam-ondi-Ahman.

Here's a good quote about the armor of God by N. Eldon Tanner.

“Examine your armor. Is there an unguarded or unprotected place? Determine now to add whatever part is missing. … Through the great principle of repentance you can turn your life about and begin now clothing yourself with the armor of God through study, prayer, and a determination to serve God and keep his commandments.

It comes from this Ensign article: it's got some good thoughts:http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=024644f8f206c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=588cb9b658f5e110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&hideNav=1

Repeating verse 15 again:

15Wherefore, ^alift up your hearts and ^brejoice, and ^cgird up your loins, and take upon you my whole ^darmor, that ye may be able to withstand the evil day, having done all, that ye may be able to^estand.

I think "whole armor" is an important word. How many people have we lost because they were unprotected in a couple of areas? My aunt's husband was a great guy in many areas but had a weakness for thinking about other women. My good friend from home was good at a lot of things, including serving in his callings and he was very sharp and easy to talk to, but he was not good at scripture reading or being with his wife and made a couple big mistakes. The kid one year older than me in my ward that I thought was most likely to serve a mission out of his family of all his brothers (i.e., bore his testimony a lot; really loved the church) did not because he had a long-time girlfriend and married her instead. Recently I noticed he got a tattoo.

Jesus talks about the whole armor in the sermon on the mount. Throughout Matthew 5 he mentions living what we often refer to as "the higher law". I don't know that I love that characterization. He's essentially helping people avoid the "larger mistakes" listed in the 10 commandments by saying, "don't do things that get you on the path to breaking these larger commandments."

Also, the whole armor of God is definitely necessary "that ye may be able to withstand the evil day, having done all, that ye may be able to^estand."

I'm not exactly sure what the "evil day" is. Perhaps it's these days in general b/c they're a time where wickedness is very easy to find. Or perhaps, it's the very last days in which evil will be so bad the Lord will decide to come to save the righteous from faltering. Or perhaps, it's referring to our specific, individual "evil days". We all have days where difficult or even evil things happen to us or around us and we need to be able to withstand on that particular day.

I think I'll try to mention the different aspects of life that we need to protect that are mentioned by the armor of God section, and how we protect them. Stories will be important to illustrate points. I think this topic in particular can easily be too abstract and not help an individual as much as it otherwise could.

Enjoy your Sunday.

LaDon