Christian Warfare - Pt. 1
The Apostle Paul is ready to close his letter to the Ephesian congregation.
He began the letter, in the first three Chapters, reminding them of their privileged position in Christ and His Church.
In Chapter Four, he taught them how they can grow to spiritual maturity as individuals and as a congregation. How that they need to use their God-given talents to minister to each other’s needs and preserve unity.
In the same Chapter and into Chapter Five, Paul taught of the necessity of laying-aside our old way of life so as to pursue a life in imitation of God. Then, Paul turned their attention to family relationships. He explained how the Lord wants husbands and wives to conduct themselves toward each other.
In the beginning of Chapter Six, the Apostle instructs how Christian fathers are to raise godly children. He laid down the necessity of children honoring and obeying their Christian parents in all things. And, Paul went on to address the mutual obligations of Christian masters/slaves or employers/employees.
To put all these instructions into practice would be a real challenge in the best of circumstances. But, Paul, now concludes this letter by reminding his dear Ephesian brethren that they are to put these instructions into practice in very adverse circumstances.
There are going to be forces within us and outside of us that will try to undermine our every effort to do the Lord’s Will. To attempt to obey the Lord’s commands in all these areas under these trying circumstances will be nothing less than a war. Obeying each command - whether it relates to our beliefs, our thinking, our attitudes, our feelings or emotions, our words or our actions - will be a battle in itself. Winning each battle must be our one focus
Paul, now, tells the Ephesians and us how we can win our battles.
Verse 10 - "Be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might."
The phrase "be strong" is better translated "be strengthened". If we are going to win battles, we need strength. This is obvious. To overcome and conquer anything in our lives, we must be stronger than that which we wish to overcome and conquer. Even though that is a basic truth, we seem to forget that principle in our Christian battles. To win our battles, we must have greater strength than does our foe or foes. That being true, Paul exhorts us to be strengthened with the Lord’s might.
Why is it essential that our strength be actually the Lord’s might?
1. We cannot rely on human, fleshly strength because our foes are spiritual It must be spiritual strength.
You can possess great physical strength. You can have a strong constitution. However, all your physical strength and health will not avail you in our Christian war because our enemies are not physical in nature. Verse 12, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places." Our enemy is the powerful and invisible kingdom of Satan. Its demonic influence is to be seen everywhere in this world. The Wicked One may work in and through people; however, we must not see the person as our enemy as much as the spiritual influence working in and through them.
Getting back to our point. You cannot combat spiritual enemies through physical strength and physical means. To overcome spiritual enemies, one must employ spiritual means
A case in point is Sampson. Sampson was, physically speaking, the strongest man of his generation if not in the history of Mankind. Yet, it was his lack of spiritual strength that brought his humiliation and downfall. His physical strength enabled him to rip a wild lion to shreds and kill a thousand Philistines at one time with a jawbone but his physical strength couldn‘t subdue his lust for ungodly women. To overcome such temptations required spiritual strength. So it is for us today.
2 Another reason why we need the Lord’s might is that we lack the necessary might in ourselves. Jesus told Peter, in Matthew 26:41, that when it comes to overcoming temptation "the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." You may want to fight against temptation but your spiritual strength is lacking and will-power alone is insufficient. Let me repeat that - Will-power alone is insufficient. If will-power alone could conquer our fleshly natures and demonic influences, surely the Apostle Paul would have lived a perfect life while he was Saul the Pharisee.
In Romans 7:12, 14-24, Paul discusses the frustration he experienced prior to becoming a Christian when he sought to practice the Law of Moses - "So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.… For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!"
Through sheer will-power, you may be able to break some habits. However, sheer will-power will not enable you to live a fully consecrated life that the Lord desires and the Devil wants to prevent. Will power is very important but insufficient by itself We need the Lord’s strength or might.
Verse 11 - "Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the Devil."
The reason why Paul raises a word of thanksgiving to God about his relationship with Jesus Christ our Lord is that our Lord grants His might to those who are His. Christ Jesus does not send us on our own, unequipped, into enemy territory. He desires to give us mighty resources.
When Paul wrote this letter, we know that he was imprisoned in Rome. He was chained to a Roman soldier who acted as his prison guard (vs. 20 with Acts 28:16). The Apostle is going to compare the Lord’s mighty resources for our spiritual combat to the armor and weaponry used by the Roman soldier in his combat It seems fitting because the Roman soldier, at this time in history, was nearly invincible against his adversaries. The Roman soldier’s superior armor and weapons were largely responsible for his success.
Brethren, if we are going to be successful in combat, it will be due to the armor and weaponry that God has prepared for us to wear and use. The "armor of God" is effective… altogether sufficient… in protecting us from the tricky tactics or "schemes of the Devil".
The "armor of God" - the belt, breastplate, boots, shield, helmet and sword - will provide complete and perfect defense against temptation and error AND will enable us to invade the enemy’s territory and extend the border of the kingdom of Christ; that is, rescuing others from the snare of the Devil.
We will be looking at each part of the armor in future studies. But, before we examine each piece in detail, there are three crucial things we must first learn from this passage.
A. We must "take up" and "put on" the armor of God.
The Roman soldier was provided with his combat equipment and weapons; however, they were useless if he did not take them up and put them on. So, likewise, the Lord has provided us with the Divine armor. And, if we do not take up and put on the Divine armor, we shall fall.
When the Roman soldier was anywhere close to the front, it was not unusual for him to wear his armor day and night. They did not want to be found defenseless in a surprise assault by the enemy.
We need to understand and remember that, as long as we are in this world, we are in enemy territory. We are constantly at the front. We cannot afford to become lax and lay down our armor. We must be diligent to keep our armor on. Our situation is very much like that of the American and British soldiers currently in Iraq. They cannot afford to let their guard down. At any moment they can come under attack
We must never let our guard down. We must always be prepared for an enemy assault. We must always wear our "armor of God".
B. We must "take up" and "put on the FULL armor of God."
The Roman soldier, more often than not, engaged in close if not hand-to-hand combat They realized that every piece of armor was necessary. Neglecting one piece was tantamount to suicide because the enemy would seek and find that area of vulnerability and exploit it. That foolish, negligent soldier would not come back without serious injury if he came back alive at all.
So also, our enemy is constantly looking for areas of vulnerability in our lives with the intent of exploiting it. The Devil discovers our area of weakness and it is there that he attacks. We cannot and must not neglect one piece of God’s armor. We must take up and put on each piece. We cannot allow ourselves to be exposed in any area or we will suffer grievous injury or fall on the field of battle
C. We must face the enemy head-on, "stand firm", and never turn our backs and run.
As you consider the armor of the Roman soldier, you will note that it only protects the front of his body. His back was completely exposed. The Roman soldier was trained "to stand firm against" the enemy and never to turn back The moment a Roman soldier lost his cool and decided to run away from the enemy’s assault or charge, he became a casualty.
The armor of God and our Divine weapons are only effective as long as we engage the enemy head-on. Withdrawing from the field of battle is giving the Devil an easy victory.
Our spiritual war is not always easy. At times, it is intense and fearsome. That is the nature of combat.
We must remember the guarantees given us in this passage. If, says verse 11, we "put on the full armor of God", we will be "able to stand firm against the schemes of the Devil." If, says verse 13, we "take up the full armor of God," we will be "able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm" What is the "evil day"? It any day that we are tempted, that we are afflicted, that we undergo trials and/or persecuted. By that definition, every day is an "evil day". We can, by wearing and using God’s armor and weapons, stand victorious.
2 Thessalonians 3:3, "The Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the Evil One."
James 4:7, "Submit therefore to God. Resist the Devil and he will flee from you." Hebrews 10:35-39, "Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. ’For yet in a very little while, He Who is coming will come, and will not delay. But My righteous one shall live by faith; and if he shrinks back, My Soul has no pleasure in him.’ But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul."
