Paul saved the best for last in his letter to the Ephesians. As we begin the second half of the final chapter of this letter, we arrive at my favorite portion of it. This is where we learn how to protect ourselves by wearing the armor our God has provided for us. We need armor because as long as we live in this world we are on a spiritual battleground, and because our battle is spiritual we must arm ourselves with spiritual weapons.
"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power." (Ephesians 6:10) We can't win the battles of this world in our own strength; we win by depending on the Lord's power. We are on very shaky ground when we start thinking we can fight the devil on our own. That's when we're most likely to stumble and fall headlong into sin.
"Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 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 6:11-12) The evil things done in this world are perpetrated by human beings, but their wicked deeds were instigated by the spiritual forces of darkness. This doesn't mean each person isn't responsible for choosing to sin. But it does mean that the temptation to sin and the opportunity to carry out the sin was provided by Satan and the angels who followed him in his rebellion against God.
Because we never know where the next dart of the enemy is going to come from, we have to be attired in God's armor from head to toe. "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) We can't leave off a single piece of armor. If we wear everything but the helmet, Satan is going to aim his attacks at our minds. If we wear everything but the breastplate, Satan will aim his attacks at our hearts. It's very important that we stop here a minute to take note that we are supposed to already be dressed in the armor before temptation comes, for Paul says that in wearing it we will be ready to stand firm "when the day of evil comes". Imagine you are a soldier going into battle. Do you wait until the fighting gets hot and heavy before you put your armor on? Of course not, not unless you want to be seriously maimed or even killed. You aren't going to stand very long in battle if you go into it without any armor. You put your armor on before the battle starts.
"Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace." (Ephesians 6:14-15) In ancient times when everyone wore long robes, a man would "gird his loins" when about to perform manual labor, or when he needed to run swiftly, or when he was about to engage in a fight. This involved lifting the hemline of his robes to about knee length, pulling all the material tightly to the front of his body, passing the material between his legs to the rear of his body, then taking half the material in each hand and drawing it back around the waist to the front of the body where he would either tuck the ends of the material into his belt or tie the material in a knot around his belt. If we leave off the belt of truth, how are we going to keep from tripping and falling as we do our work in this world or as we engage the enemy in battle?
After telling us to put on the belt of truth, Paul tells us we must put on the breastplate of righteousness. This is the righteousness that has been imputed to us for our faith in Christ. We aren't righteous, but He is. So since we belong to Him, we have been given His righteousness, and we wear it over the center of our bodies to protect our vital organs. Soldiers are taught to shoot to kill, and that means aiming for the center of the body. You can be certain Satan is shooting to kill, for the Lord said that Satan's only desire is "steal and kill and destroy". (John 10:10) We are going to be destroyed if we try to fight Satan without the righteousness of Christ. The only way to win the battle is to belong to Christ, so our defeat is certain if we engage the enemy without Christ on our side.
Roman soldiers wore shoes into battle that were similar to cleats that professional athletes of our day wear on the field. They had spikes driven through the soles so that their feet could dig into the ground....or so they could "stand firm" as Paul puts it. If we don't hold firm to the gospel we aren't going to stand firm on the battlefield; in fact, we won't stand long at all. Our enemy will push us over and pin us onto our backs where he can deliver the killing blow, or he will shove us off a cliff to our doom, or he will hurl us into a pit so deep that we may never be able to climb out of it. This is why Paul says our feet are to be shod with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. If we are standing firm on the gospel of Christ we will be mighty soldiers ready to charge into battle, climb over a wall, storm the gates, or leap over obstacles.
God, our commanding general, has given us shields for extra protection. "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) Roman soldiers carried large oblong shields that were capable of protecting their whole bodies. When under attack, the soldiers could stand together and join their shields to form an impenetrable wall. Paul's words demonstrate to us not only that we are to carry our own shield of faith, but that there is safety in numbers when we band together with other believers. This shield of faith is an invaluable piece of equipment. There is no way to fend off the fiery arrows of doubt that Satan sends our way if we don't hold the shield of faith. Paul isn't the only man who understood the importance of faith in the heat of battle, for King Solomon and the prophet Isaiah said things like this,:"If you faint in the day of adversity, your faith is small," (Proverbs 24:10, and, "If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all." (Isaiah 7:9)
We also have a protective covering for our head and a sword to wield. "Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." (Ephesians 6:17) If Satan can't deliver the kill shot to our hearts he will aim for our minds. We have to remain focused in our minds on the fact that we are saved to the uttermost by the blood of Christ our Lord. We have to always remember that our identity and our worth is proven by the fact that our Lord died for us. Keeping these encouraging and faith-building thoughts in our heads will help to deflect doubt and discouragement.
The sword we fight with is the word of God. This is the same sword Jesus fought with during His forty days of temptation in the wilderness. He successfully fought Satan with the word of God, causing Satan to leave Him until "an opportune time". (Luke 4:13) With Jesus fending off every arrow Satan shot at Him, the devil had to slink away to rethink his strategy. We need to use Jesus as an example for how to fight the enemy, because if we don't know the word of God we are standing on the battlefield without a weapon. That leaves us with no option than to run away from the battle, probably with our enemy pursuing us. But if we have committed the word of God to heart, we can be like Jesus and send the devil running instead. The Lord's brother James learned from Jesus' own life and from his own experiences that it's possible to send the devil running, for he assures us, "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." (James 4:7)
Satan declared war on the human race when he enticed Adam and Eve to fall from grace. We've been at war ever since. We can never forget this even for a second, because our enemy is waiting for "an opportune time" to attack. But our faithful God has equipped us to win every battle. Let's make full use of all the armor and shields and weapons He has supplied us with and we will be victorious.
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