Living the Christian life is like standing on a battlefield. There is a drastic difference between peacetime and wartime. In the original Perspectives Books Ralph Winter uses the illustration of the Queen Mary ship to illustrate this.
Here is his illustration:
The Queen Mary, lying in repose in the harbor at Long Beach, California is a fascinating museum of the past. Used both as a luxury liner in peacetime and a troop transport during the Second World War, its present status as a museum the length of three football fields affords a stunning contrast between the lifestyles appropriate in peace and war.
On one side of a partition, you see the dining room reconstructed to depict the peacetime table setting that was appropriate to the wealthy patrons of high culture for whom a dazzling array of knives and forks and spoons held no mysteries. On the other side of the partition the evidences of wartime austerities are in sharp contrast. One metal tray with indentations replaces fifteen plates and saucers. Bunks eight tiers high explain how the peacetime capacity of 3000 passengers gave way to 15,000 troops on board in wartime.
How repugnant to the peacetime masters this transformation must have been! To do it took a national emergency, of course. The survival of a nation depended upon it. The essence of the Great Commission today is that the survival of many millions of people depends on its fulfillment. (End of Winters illustration).
There is a call to a wartime transformation we find in Ephesians 6:10-20. We are to put on the whole armor of God. We are on a spiritual battlefield. You must be transformed to fight the good fight.
We need to know who our enemy is in the spiritual warfare. When Paul says, take up the armor of God he uses a command that has a military connotation.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:12)
Our enemy is a spiritual power. Our enemy the devil, is described as spiritual forces in heavenly places. Paul wants the believers in Ephesus to know that our enemy is the devil. There may be earthy leaders who oppose the gospel. Like Paul was when he was Saul. Ultimately Christ died for them. They are deceived by the enemy, who is the devil.
When Paul calls Ephesus believers and us, to take up the full armor of God, he uses a military command. He also is very clear about who the enemy is in verse 11, it is the devil.
Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. (Ephesians 6:11)
We need to know the schemes of the devil. Paul tells us why we should know the devil’s schemes in his letter to the Corinthians. In order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes. (2 Corinthians 2:11)
You have heard of the frog in the kettle syndrome. If the water is boiling the frog jumps out. If the water is heated slowly over time the frog does not perceive the danger and is boiled to death. We need to be aware of complacency.
As believers we may be conforming to the image of the world. We must be aware that we are not gradually and subtly squeezed to conform to the world. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:2)
Theis is one scheme of the devil to deceive us through our complacency. Watch out for the attitude of complacency. We might say everyone else is doing this worldly thing. We might go with the flow. This will deceive us into spiritual apathy when we need to make a stand for Christ.
Be on the alert for the scheme of deception. The devil will give you truth along with a lie. Some religious systems sound like sound Christian doctrines. It is not until a closer look is made that you find out there are good sounding outward appearance and a deceptive lie inside.
Jesus warns of deception. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. (Matthew 24:24)
We must also be aware that Satan will use temptation to destroy us. We will be tempted to be damaging our relationship with God through temptation. Something that looks so attractive yet causes such destruction. It was the scheme of Satan in the Garden of Eden.
Temptations will make you think, what will it hurt? Who will know? Of course God knows and it will hurt your relationship with God. Jesus was tempted in the wilderness. He was tempted to with possessions, pride and power.
To stand our ground in spiritual warfare we are instructed to put on the armor of God. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. (Ephesians 6:13)
The armor corresponds to the armor worn by the Roman soldier of Paul’s day.
The Belt of Truth. The belt is what hold everything together for the Roman soldier. That is the analogy of what truth is for us. It holds everything together for us. The Bible is referred to as truth. We must stay focused on the truth of God’s word.
Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist (Ephesians 6:14a)
Jesus said he was the truth (John 14:6). We must be Christ centered to keep everything in place. It holds everything together for us. We abide in Christ. We abide in the word of God and this truth we are able to stand in the spiritual battle.
Soldiers where a belt on the battlefield and off the battlefield. We need to always centered on the truth to stand firm.
The Breastplate of Righteousness. We need to remember that our standing with God is because of the righteousness of Christ. That is why Satan’s accusations can’t destroy us. We have the righteousness of Christ as our breastplate. If any believer does not realize that Christ’s righteousness is the basis of their security, they could lose their confidence in Christ.
With the breastplate of righteousness in place, (Ephesians 6:14b)
We also need to live our lives walking in Christ, living righteous. In the first chapter Paul contrasted what we were like as unbelievers following Satan. This was contrasted as believers seated with Christ in the heavenlies. We must continue to pursue righteousness to live worthy of our relationship with Christ.
We do not continue in sin that grace may abound. We confess our sin and surrender control of our lives to Christ. We have our righteousness of Christ to make a difference for Christ and at the same time protecting us from Satan’s schemes.
The Shoes of the gospel of Peace. There is a joy for the believer that shares the gospel. Every believer should be ready to give their simple testimony of how they became a believer in Christ. It is about having a readiness to share the good news.
With your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. (Ephesians 6:15)
We should be ready to share our story, our testimony in Christ and Christ’s story. We need to be ready to be ready. To share how the death burial and resurrection of Christ will bring forgiveness and eternal life.
We are not told to bring them to some place, or someone who will share the gospel with them. We are told to be ready. To share person to person when the situation arises. Sharing the gospel will require you to step out in faith. Sometimes we refer to sharing the gospel as sharing your faith. In fact, faith is the next spiritual armor mentioned.
Shield of Faith. Your faith is going to protect you from all the fiery darts that will be shot at you. If you have strong faith, if you trust in God, you have your shield in the spiritual warfare battle that is raging. God is on his throne and in control of your situation. Remembering that, trusting God with that is your shield.
In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. (Ephesians 6:16)
Paul has a spiritual attack he mentions and then he takes up the shield of faith. He puts his whole trust in God. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. (2 Corinthians 1:8-9)
That is what taking up the shield of faith means. The pressures come beyond your ability to endure; you rely completely on God.
The Helmet of Salvation. We have our initial salvation as our armor. We also have our future salvation. We already know the side of the Lord will win. We know that no matter what happens we are in the presence of our Lord. That is why in Christ death has lost its sting.
Take the helmet of salvation (Ephesians 6:17a)
Paul refers to the helmet again as a future hope believers have in Christ. This reference if the future hope that believers have in Christ. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. (1 Thessalonians 5:8)
The Sword of the Spirit. We need to become self-feeders on the Word of God. We need to get the scripture on our hearts and live it. Every group of believers need to feed corporately on the Word of God.
The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Ephesians 6:17a)
We call our inductive Bible studies the sword method. What does the passage say about God, about man, what sin to avoid, what promise to claim? We dig into the passage answering these questions until we have the main point and the application.
What is the primary use of the Word of God for us? To apply the scriptures to our lives. To survive the spiritual battle is not to become an intellectual regarding the Bible. It is to live out the applications. The Word of God will transform your life to the extent you live it and apply it.
Prayer. Prayer is the action of spiritual warfare.
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. 19 Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should. (Ephesians 6:18-20)
We are called to pray at all times. Paul is requesting prayer from the believers for his ministry to proclaim Christ. Prayer itself is part of the spiritual battle. We are called to pray in the spirit. We have our prayer times, and we pray as we go. In every way prayer is vital to our spiritual life, our being equipped in spiritual warfare.
Let us transform our lives to the wartime lifestyle. We are in spiritual warfare. We are called to put on the whole armor of God. We do not want to step on the battlefield without our helmet or shield or sword. Put on the whole armor of God.
