The Dress Code:
- Having loins girt about with truth
- having on the breastplate of righteousness
- having your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace
- taking the shield of faith
- taking the helmet of salvation
- taking the sword of the Spirit
- praying always.
The loins girth about with truth (Eph. 6:14)
Truth of God’s word and truthfulness of the believer is likened to the military belt that holds the soldier’s uniform to his body. The army of the Lord has been commanded to put on the whole armour of God. (Eph. 6:11, 13). The truth of God’s word is what holds every other armour in place. The Lord who is the captain of the army is the God of truth and truthfulness and would want His army to have truth and be truthful (Eph. 6:14; Jn. 8:32). This is the way the militant army of the Lord can pull down all lies and errors practised and believed by many so called Christians and plant truth in their stead (Prov. 12:19; Mal. 2:6; Zech. 8:16)
The breastplate of righteousness (Eph. 6:14; Isa. 59:17; 2 Cor. 6:7)
The breastplate of righteousness is likened to the breastplate worn by soldiers to protect the chest during battle. It is for defense. The young militant army of the Lord for the end-time warfare must possess the righteousness of Christ (as a result of being born again) and daily right living (Rom. 10:4; Phil. 3:9; Matt. 5:20; 1 Cor. 15:34; Phil. 1:11). By righteousness and right living they are exalted (Prov. 14:34). With this appearance the young and militant soldier is known forming the basis of other people’s relationship with and trust in him of others relating to him. This mans that he must be conscious of right-living, how he relates with others; watching his words, thoughts, actions, etc, and be mindful of what others (believers and unbelievers) say about him (Acts 24:16; 1 Tim. 1:5). He must never be a stumbling block to those he is preparing for the coming of the Lord (Rom. 14:13; 1 Cor. 8:9).
Feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace (Eph. 6:15)
Because the nature of battle and journey soldiers are involved in, their shoes are made to protect their feet from danger and avoid being hindered from marching on. The gospel of peace and its benefits serve as protection to their spiritual feet that they be not wounded or stopped by obstacles from the devil on their way.
For the fact that every volunteer into the squad has an encounter with the gospel of peace and has the benefits from it (Eph. 1:12, 13), he should be ready and resolved to take same (the gospel) everywhere, over come all odds, temptations , oppositions and persecution. (Isa. 52:7; Matt. 4:1-11; Acts 4:17-31).
The shield of faith (Eph. 6:16)
A shield serves as a protection to the body in a battle against arrows from the opponent. In the battle being talked about, the darts and machinations of the enemy represent all the troubles that the Christian youth’s encounter; ill-health, failures, business, career, etc abound and would take the wielding of the shield of faith to stop them. (Eph. 6:16). The wielding of the shield of faith establishes the believers and brings him to his goals (Heb. 11:6; Isa. 7:9). It gives him the privilege of belonging to the elders forum (made up of people of great exploits) (Heb. 11:1-2).
The helmet of salvation (Eph. 6:17; 1 Thess. 5:8; Isa. 59:17)
Helmets are worn on the head by officers for protection.
The salvation of the army is an indisputable and non-negotiable part of the army’s dressing. It is what qualifies members in the first place into the squad (cons. Rom. 8:9) as a result of repentance from dead works, saving faith in the death of Jesus, receiving of forgiveness of sin and obtaining the Spirit of God (Acts 3:19; 2 Cor. 5:5). They have genuine experience of salvation, it is not a mental acceptance of Jesus or just believing that God exists and does miracles or by being religious.
The individual members of the army have this genuine experience now and on daily basis live to ensure that they are saved in the end.
The sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:17; Heb. 4:12)
Swords can serve both defensive and offensive purposes. The word of God is the sword that the Spirit of God uses as the Sons of God declare it in faith (Eph. 6:17). Again it is the Spiritual (non-man-made and unseen) sword that the young militant soldier uses to defend himself, ward-off the fiery darts of the enemy and bring God’s blessings to himself (Eph. 6:17; Matt. 4:4-11). The army is so filled with the drink and food of the word that his senses are charged with the spiritual current in the word (Co. 3:16; Deut. 6:6; 11:18; Jn. 6:63). This word becomes available for both defense and attack.
Praying always in the Spirit with all perseverance (Eph. 6:18)
Soldiers are known for vigilance and readiness to act. The young militant end time army cannot be complete without being dressed with prayerfulness and watchfulness seeing it is faced with the surging end time waves of evils, ungodliness, opposition, oppression, etc. The Lord, knowing this, has poured forth His Spirit of supplication (Zech. 12:10; cons. Acts 1:14) making prayer and intercession easy and sweet. Their watchword is watchfulness and ceaseless prayer like their Master, the Captain of the army (Mark 1:35; Lk. 6:12; 11:1; Jn. 8:1-2)
This appearance or dressing of the young militant end-time army reflects the nature of their captain (Matt. 10:25; 11:29; 1 Pet. 2:21) and His beauty. The Lord is not compromising this. This is the dress code and that it must be (cons. Matt. 22:11-14).