The Whole Armor

In August 1830 the Lord gave this instruction to the Prophet Joseph for all His Saints in the last days: “Wherefore, lift up your hearts and rejoice, and gird up your loins, and take upon you my whole armor, that ye may be able to withstand the evil day, having done all, that ye may be able to stand” (Doctrine and Covenants 27:15). The invitation for us is to put on the “whole armor” of God, which to me implies that only some of the armor will not do. If we want to “withstand the evil day”—which surely is an accurate description of the world today—we need the whole thing to protect us. If we were going into a real battle and had the opportunity to put on various pieces of armor, surely we wouldn’t say, “Oh, well I don’t need that part. A little shield will do.” No, we would want every piece of gear that we could get to keep us safe and protected going up against an enemy who was seeking our destruction. How much more then should we seek to use all of God’s armor that He has offered us to be able to stand in this day when wickedness reigns in the world.

                The Lord described six different pieces of armor that we can put on to spiritually protect us. First, we are to have “loins girt about with truth.” Perhaps the action associated with this is the sincere study of the scriptures and words of the living prophets. We must fill our minds with the truths of the gospel as taught by prophets, ancient and modern. If we understand things “as they really are, and of things as they really will be” then we will be prepared to see through the deceptions of the world that will try to deceive (Jacob 4:13). The second piece of armor is the breastplate of righteousness, which means that we must then live according to that truth. Perhaps nothing will protect us more than keeping the Lord’s commandments and living righteously. King Benjamin taught, “If ye shall keep the commandments of my son, or the commandments of God which shall be delivered unto you by him, ye shall prosper in the land, and your enemies shall have no power over you” (Mosiah 2:31). Third, we must have our “feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.” This is perhaps the hardest of the six to interpret, but I believe it is suggesting that to protect ourselves we must preach the gospel of peace to others. Paul, who also wrote of the pieces of the armor of God, said this to the Romans: “And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” (Romans 10:15) Here he connected feet with preaching the “gospel of peace”, and in this description of the armor of God it is our feet that we must equip with the gospel of peace. Another scripture suggests that as we take the gospel of peace to others, our own sins are forgiven which is indeed an important part of staying protected with the armor of God: “Nevertheless, ye are blessed, for the testimony which ye have borne is recorded in heaven for the angels to look upon; and they rejoice over you, and your sins are forgiven you” (Doctrine and Covenants 62:3).

                The final three pieces of armor are the “shield of faith,” the “helmet of salvation,” and the “sword of my Spirit.” Surely that shield of faith implies faith specifically in Jesus Christ, He who has overcome the world and can save us from it. He is our “advocate, who knoweth the weakness of man and how to succor them who are tempted” (Doctrine and Covenants 62:1). He will indeed help to shield us from evil if we truly put our faith and trust in Him. To me the helmet of salvation implies an effort to pray always. We must keep our heads and thoughts turned heavenward—towards the things of salvation—and to do that we must continually pray. We know from another scripture that this is indeed a great source of protection: “Pray always, that you may come off conqueror; yea, that you may conquer Satan, and that you may escape the hands of the servants of Satan that do uphold his work” (Doctrine and Covenants 10:5). And lastly, we must have the Spirit to guide us in all that we do. For Nephi it was the Spirit ultimately that protected him from Laban and allowed him protect himself against his enemy and accomplish the mission the Lord had for him: “And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do” (1 Nephi 4:6). And for him, the Spirit quite literally led him to make use of a sword. We must likewise be led by the Spirit to protect ourselves and our families from the evil day and lead us to salvation. Surely all six pieces of this armor are crucial as we seek to be prepared for the time when He shall come again so that we can see the fulfilment of this promise: “Be faithful until I come, and ye shall be caught up, that where I am ye shall be also” (Doctrine and Covenants 27:18).