Ephesians 6:13-18

¹³ 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. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

¹⁸ 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.

SPIRIT-FILLED WARFARE

Some individuals feel that everything is alright and peaceful while others are depressed and have little hope.

It is easy to forget that we are a people at war. In verse 12, we are reminded that we have a very powerful and insistent enemy Satan who is doing everything in his power to defeat, dismantle and destroy the kingdom of “God”.

It is so sad that some of us have lost our direction and have no fear of “God”. We give in to Satan rather than putting on the armor of “God”. We are his warriors.

It is unfortunate that many believers do not see the need for the armor of “God”. 

 We rejoice when we experience small victories here and there. When we make it through the month with enough money, we count that a spiritual victory. When there is no conflict in our lives, we think that is a victory as well.

While those things are important in our day to day lives, they are really victories without battles. They are conflicts without enemies. They are moments enjoyed by people who are really not fighting a war. People who think such moments in life represent spiritual victory are not interested in armor, because they don’t recognize this truth: if they are saved, they are at war! There’s far more to spiritual warfare than being able to pay your bills on time.

The truth is every child of God is at war. In God’s army, there are no deferments, and no one is exempted from service. The saints are at war with Satan and his army, and we will be until the Lord calls us home to glory. Thus, we need to heed what the Spirit of God is saying to us in these verses.

 When Paul says “take unto you the whole armor of God,” it literally means “to take up the whole armor of God.” It is the image of a soldier being presented with everything he needs to wage the battle. The armor is there before him. All he need do is pick it up and put it on.

As Donnie McClurkin says “After You’ve Done All You Can You Just Stand”. But, is it really possible to stand against the devil? Yes it is possible to stand against Satan’s attacks.

A soldier has to be equipped if that soldier expects to fight well and if he expects to survive the conflict.

We are in a spiritual warfare and physical weapons just will not work.

“God” has laid before our feet the armor of Truth, Righteousness, Peace, Faithfulness, Salvation and Prayer.

Truth: Don’t lie because Satan hates it when you tell the truth.

Righteousness: Secures our inner most being from Satan’s attacks.

Peace: March into Satan’s territory and win souls for Christ. He will hate you for it.

Faith: Don’t doubt “God’s” faithfulness. He means it when he says he will never leave you or forsake you.

Salvation: Protection for the head. Don’t be Deceived, Don’t have negative thoughts. Don’t be fearful.

Prayer: Don’t forget to pray without ceasing all day every day.

We will come under attack by the enemy and his forces and we better be prepared with the armor “God” has given us. There will be no rest in this war. There will be no cease fire.  One day of battle will flow into the next, and it will continue until we die, and the Lord comes to take us home. There will always be days of battle, conflict, warfare, and casualties. 

When we follow the instructions faithfully we will be able to stand and have victory regardless of Satan’s tactics.

The way we ensure that we “have done all to stand” is to obey His command to “take up” and “put on the whole armor of God.” When we do that, God, by His power will cause us to be “able to withstand the attacks of Satan and his army.”