Tyler’s Weblog

The next piece of armor the knight would put on would be a mail skirt. And it is just what it sounds like. A little skirt made from chain mail. It would go around the waist to protect the groin, and it was mail so that it would be easier to bend, move, and sit.

I will refer to this as the belt of truth, but there is more than just the skirt that would be considered the belt of truth. There are also the outer straps that the knight would put on. One to hold his breast plates together, and the other to hold his weapons.

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,

-Ephesians 6:14

Truth has been all but forgotten in our day and age. This world thinks that truth is in the eyes of the beholder. They say that truth is subject. “What you may think as true, may not be true for me.” Well I’m here to say that is totally bunk. There is and has always been a constant truth, and that my friends is Jesus Christ. 

Noticed that even your sword (His Word) hangs on the Belt of Truth. You must look at it in that way. People can always manipulate the bible to say what they want it to say, but when looked at through the truth (that is God and His will) the bible is very clear on the things that matter.

Here’s the point. Truth is not subjective, and it is not passive eaither. You must live by the truth and seek the truth.

Don’t go into battle with your pants down.

The knight’s shoes were covered with armor called a sabaton. Right above the sabaton was the greave covering the shins, followed by the poleyn (over the knee), which was then attached to the cuisse (over the calf). The leg pieces went all the way from the feet up to the waist.

A paladin was trained to negotiate first, and attack only when necessary. We need to remember that our fight is not against flesh and blood, it is against demons and spiritual things. These are not what we usually think of as demons. These creatures can manifest themselves in something as innocent as a thought. We are at war against the bad behaviors, and impure thoughts of the human flesh. We must always come into battle on the heels of peace. We need to make peace with our fellow man, and war with Satin. We do not show the devil peace, but we must show our fellow man peace. We cannot attack the person, we attack the behavior and impurities within.

Always walk into battle peacefully.

Also, as I told you before, a knight would have his squire help him dress. We can’t fight alone. We MUST have the help of others in this battle against evil.

Before one can become a knight there are a few pre-requisites. First you must be of noble birth. Sadly the majority of us are not. Even sadder is the fact that no matter how noble you are, it would not be enough for God.

But again there is good news. Jesus is noble, and worthy of God’s favor. So he did what we could not. He came to the earth becoming what he wasn’t without ever forsaking what he was. He became human (what he wasn’t) without un-becoming God (what he was). He took our sin, and our failures as his and he took the punishment for us. Since then, we now take the status that he had. All who believe and obey God now are of his lineage and so we can now claim noble birth.

Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (that done in the body by the hands of men)— remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.

Eph 2:11-13 (NIV)

Now to perfect our knight hood, it will take years of training. In the middle ages, a young boy who was going to be trained to be a knight was sent to be a squire under a knight around the age of 6 or 7, and he himself wasn’t deemed a knight until about the age of 21. So becoming a knight is no easy task. You must deny your original family and live with your master. You must train under him 24-7. You must be physically fit, as well as mentally, and spiritually.

So I give the challenge again, are you ready to become a knight? Are you ready for fierce training, grueling nights, and harsh days? The enemy will do all in his power to make you want to quit, but if you want to receive the crown promised to those he loves, you must keep up your training, and never quit.

There is a battle raging for your soul. This battle does not cease. The enemy does not sleep. This is not some small conflict that you can shrug off. The enemy has declared full out war against everything you believe.

We kid ourselves this day and age. We rely on fact and evidence, so when it comes to things of the spiritual realm we shrug it off. We think, “Because I cannot see it, or touch it, it doesn’t have sway over what happens to me.” Unfortunately the complete opposite is true. What happens in the spiritual world is more real than anything that can happen to you on earth.

But make sure that you don’t get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God. The night is about over, dawn is about to break. Be up and awake to what God is doing! God is putting the finishing touches on the salvation work he began when we first believed. We can’t afford to waste a minute, must not squander these precious daylight hours in frivolity and indulgence, in sleeping around and dissipation, in bickering and grabbing everything in sight. Get out of bed and get dressed! Don’t loiter and linger, waiting until the very last minute. Dress yourselves in Christ, and be up and about!

Rom 13:11-14 (MSG)

The bad news…

You can’t win a battle directly with this enemy. No matter what you do, if you go against the devil straight on you will loose. The human cannot fight evil by himself. It is written in the laws of spirituality that the human will automatically side with the devil. It is in our nature.

The good news…

You don’t have to fight him. It is our job to go to our knees in prayer. To ask for help from God and from our comrades is the only way to win a battle against evil. God will, and has already sleighed the devil for us. All we have to do is join the winning side.

So why put on armor? If we aren’t going to the battlefield, why would we want to dress in such heavy “cumbersome” clothes? Let’s just sit back at home while the King fights the battle.

Well, the truth is, the King has already fought the battle. He did his part, now he needs to know if you, the troops, the Knights of his kingdom will do your part. Will you stand in the battle? Will you do what it takes to hold your ground against the enemy’s constant attacks? Because if you don’t stand with Him you stand against Him.

In the coming blogs I will be sharing some thoughts and research I’ve done about the armor of God, and of spiritual warfare. Also I will be comparing the armor to that worn by medieval knights. I want to show how we can be knights for God’s Kingdom.