Ephesians 6:10-18
Finally, my
brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the
whole armor of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual
wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God that
ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the
breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the
gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be
able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of
salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: praying
always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto
with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
Introduction
I
believe what influences our childhood experiences have conditioned our belief
system, education, watching, hearing, reading from the mass media, and various
other external influences such as our politics and religion. As we get older,
the previously held belief system has become overly simplistic and lacked
depth, and we often change.
As
we acquire new information, we begin to question the established standard
seriously. The latest information is examined under the old paradigm. If it
disagrees with our belief system, it is discarded, even though it can be
verified as truth. This action is dangerous and places the believer in a
precarious situation.
There
comes a time in our life that all of us resist letting go of old beliefs. Then
there are times when we are excited to explore new ways of thinking. It should
be noted that I have no desire to make you believe anything. I am only
interested in challenging you to expand your belief system to accept what is
truth. To prepare you to engage an enemy that is seeking to destroy your soul
is my only intent.
There
are times when our belief system conflicts. As a child in Sunday school, we
were taught to love "everyone in the world." But as we grow older at
a general level, we may believe that all humanity is shown, love. Yet, on a
personal level, we may feel fully justified at times in being angry and upset
at individuals who are hateful and evil, and you have no love for these people.
Some may go so far as to justify killing, not that they would be guilty of the
act, but would condone others' actions. We have no problem making sense of what
may appear "illogical", even when it conflicts with our belief system.
By
choosing to be honest, the inconsistencies within us and the world become
increasingly apparent, allowing us to decide how we deal with them. We
naturally become more open and better able to understand and integrate
conflicting beliefs on various levels. Through choosing to identify,
understand, and transform the inconsistencies within ourselves, they can become
potent teachers inviting us to expand our awareness, if we allow them.
The
more soundly we believe those beliefs will shape something, the more likely our
lives. The
more deeply we know something to be accurate, the more likely we will see and
experience the world in terms of that truth. That is why it is essential to Study to show thyself approved—rightly dividing the word of God.
Yet
this does not necessarily mean that what is true for one person will be true
for others no matter how deeply it is experienced. Perception is reality.
Through their interpretation of what happens to them throughout life, each
person develops their version of reality, which has varying amounts of overlap
with what others believe to be the reality. We may believe something to be true
and real, but our emotional experience can be different. The more honest we are to ourselves and the spiritual world around
us, the more consciously we can make choices. And the more open we are in
expanding our knowledge and beliefs, the more powerfully we can face the enemy
of our soul.
Let's
then choose to be open, transparent, and honest both with ourselves and with
each other and offer support for the possibilities of spiritual growth that lie
within each one of us. This will only happen when we are aware of the spiritual
conflict in which we are engaged. Preparing ourselves for the battle is part of
the Christian journey.
Paul
is giving us the tools to fight the spiritual battles of life.
1.
Objectives of Spiritual Warfare- Wherefore
take unto you the whole armor of God that
ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
2.
Understanding Your Weapons-(For the
weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling
down of strongholds;)
3.
Mastering the Sword- All scripture
[is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for
reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
4.
Mastering the Shield- So then faith
[cometh] by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
5.
Mental Preparation for Battle-But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall
speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.
6.
The Importance of Practice-Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth
not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
7.
Facing the Enemy- Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a
roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:-There is nothing
loving about the enemy of your soul"
8.
Fighting the Good Fight of Faith- Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto
thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many
witnesses.
9.
Combat on the Battlefield-Think not
that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
10. Handling
Defeat- A righteous man falling down before the wicked [is as] a troubled
fountain and a corrupt spring.
11. Overcoming
the Enemy- In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I
have overcome the world.
12. Facing Death- Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day
long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.
OBJECTIVES OF SPIRITUAL WARFARE
Wherefore
take unto you the whole armor of God that ye may be able to withstand in the
evil day, and having done all, to stand.
The
believer must recognize that they are in a battle. Not knowing the spiritual
conflict around the believer is why there are so many defeated Christians. This
is the basic fact that allows one to prepare for battle and face an enemy that
can only be seen with spiritual eyes. Ignorance is a Christian's greatest
weakness. Keep Christians ignorant, and they will be no threat to Satan. One of
the other most important things to know is that two kingdoms conflict. This is
the source of all spiritual battles that we face. There is the kingdom of
darkness and the kingdom of Light. These are the kingdoms of Satan and the LORD,
respectively. In his letter to Rome's church, Paul admonishes the saints to put
on Light's armor. Christians are in a war against the kingdom of darkness, and
our weapons are spiritual.
This
study aims to encourage the Christian to understand the spiritual conflict in
which they are engaged thoroughly. It intends to provide discipline and
training in the art of skillfully using the sword of the Word of God. The
follower of the LORD has been admonished to, Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine
own understanding.
To
lean not unto our own understanding seems simple enough, but this is a journey
that is a life-long struggle and requires us to truth the LORD every day. Jesus
commanded us to seek ye first
the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Here we have been admonished to
"seek," which implies a continuous effort and a never-ending learning
process--it is a life-long study. The Word of God gives us the means to develop
the art of spiritual self-defense. The Christian is in a daily battle fighting
the enemy of the soul. The only protection against defeat is in knowing the
Word of God. It would be not very smart for someone to say they are not
interested in being thorough in understanding how to live a victorious life in
Christ Jesus. Being faced with an enemy experienced in spiritual conflict is
the challenge for us today is to master the Word of the LORD.
The
Battle Begins
The
moment a person accepts Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and receives
God's Holy Spirit, that person is instantly translated from the kingdom of
darkness of this world into the kingdom of God's Light by God's Holy Spirit of
truth. The Apostle Paul describes this process as the "mystery"
revealed, "Christ in you," the hope of glory.
Col
1:13 Who
hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the
kingdom of his dear Son:
Col 1:27 to
whom God was pleased to make known what is the riches of the glory of this
mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
The
believer is saved from the power and bondage of sin, the carnal nature, the
devil, and supernaturally empowered with the Holy Spirit. The power of darkness
is anything that blinds a person to the reality of sin. It is the power of
darkness that blinds a person to their need for salvation and from receiving
God's gift of the Holy Spirit. By the Holy Spirit's conviction, God draws the
sinner towards Him by the Light that
lightest everyone who comes into the world that leads to salvation in Christ by the
cross. The people of the world reject Christ's truth and are under the
control or deception of the god of this world, which is the devil. Scripture
states,
1
John 5:19 "We know that we are of God and the whole world lieth in the evil
one."
2Co 4:4 in whom the
god [devil] of this world hath blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the
Light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not
dawn upon them.
The
Art of War
"But
seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things
shall be added unto you." (Matt.
6:33)
"These
were nobler than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all
readiness of mind, and searched
the scriptures daily, whether those
things were so."
(Acts 17:11)
Without
trying to over-analyze, the command "seek" directly implies an
endeavor to find the knowledge that must be sought out by work and discipline.
In other words, it's a process, a path, a journey, a continual quest.
This
seems simple enough. But that's the whole trick. The keyword here is
"seek." It should be indisputable that this skill is not to be
approached lightly. But when do you know you understand the righteousness of
God? I don't think we ever truly do, which is why the "seek" part
implies a continuous effort and never-ending process. We must maintain an
open-ended approach to a life-long study of the righteousness of God. We should
never become conceited in thinking that we have learned all the skills to be
learned already. We are deceived if we think we understand all there is to know.
The
subject "Art" here focuses on self-development in a systematic
methodology of God's Word teachings. There is no questioning the depth of
wisdom and sophistication of fighting knowledge contained within the
scriptures. We need to explore. It is a matter of life and death, a road either
to victory or defeat. Therefore it is a subject of study which cannot be
neglected.
It's
long been an axiom of military science and martial arts that wisdom begins with
an honest evaluation of strength and weakness. There is nothing to gain by
self-deception and self-delusion when it comes to gauging our capabilities and
vulnerabilities.
Our
success is based on five conditions:
Personal
salvation, - "Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new
creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (2 Corinthians 517)
Yielding
to the Will of God, "Do not yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness
to sin, but yield yourselves to God, as one alive from the dead, and your
members as instruments of righteousness to God." (Romans 6:13)
Filled
with the Spirit, - "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be
that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of
Christ, he is none of his." (Romans
8:9)
Studying
to be approved, "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that
needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)
Applying
the Word of God, "Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in
them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee." (1 Timothy 4:16)
The
believer that applies and acts upon this knowledge will successfully defeat the
enemy of the soul. The believer that ignores this will suffer defeat. In
writing to Timothy, Paul advised him to take heed to his life and the
scriptures' doctrine or teachings; he learned how to apply spiritual warfare
principles. By working to prepare ourselves to fight the good fight of faith,
we can execute spiritual warfare principles.
The
Enemy of the Soul
The
enemy of our soul is Satan. Satan is the God of this world system and is called
"evil" in 1 John 5:19. Jesus faced the same enemy as we do when he
was led into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. We read,
Luke
4:5 - 8: And he [the devil] led him [Jesus] up, and showed him all the
kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, To thee
will I give all this authority, and the glory of them: for it hath been
delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou, therefore, wilt
worship before me, it shall all be thine. And Jesus answered and said unto him,
It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou
serve.
Satan's
power and world domination was acquired when both Adam and Eve ate of the fruit
of the knowledge of good and evil, being tempted of the devil in the Garden of
Eden. The lure of the temptation of Adam and Eve was to be like God. Satan
hates God and His creation and seeks to win humanity over for its destruction.
All dominion over the earth was initially given to Adam and Eve. Still, because
of their sin, all of humanity and nature itself fell under the destruction and
power of the devil. Wherefore,
as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed
upon all men, for that all have sinned: Rom. 5:12
The
enemy of the soul first appeared to man in the Garden of Eden when he deceived
Eve into disobeying the LORD. God had given a command not to eat from the tree
of knowledge of good and evil." But you must
not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from
it, you will certainly die." Gen
2:17 Eve being deceived disobeyed the LORD. "When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for
food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took
some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he
ate it." Gen 3:6
The
result of just one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people. By
yielding to the enemy of the soul, by one man's disobedience, everyone now born
into the world is born a sinner. So by the sin of Adam, death was passed upon
all mankind. All of us came into this world with a desire to gratify the
cravings of our carnal nature. James writes, "Then, after desire has
conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin when it is full-grown, gives birth to
death." This is how the enemy of our soul wages war against us through the
need to gratify the cravings of our carnal nature.
He
lost the battle to dethrone God and was cast back to his domain-Earth. He now
attacks God by making war on humanity. With this understanding of events, we
can see that our battles in this spiritual warfare come from principalities,
powers, rulers of darkness, and the spiritual host of wickedness in high
places. We are in a life and death struggle against evil. The enemy of the soul
is the God of this world—Satan.
From
the moment Adam disobeyed the LORD, commandment all of God's creation, the
plants, the animals, sea life, and of course, humanity itself began to suffer
and die. This account is found in the first three chapters of the book of
Genesis. The sins of Adam and Eve brought the curse of sin to all the earth, in
which we have our redemption only in Christ. It is only Christ, the Son of God,
Who suffered the penalty of this curse to set us free and bring us back to God;
therefore, Christ is the only way we can be saved.
Our
Weapons of Warfare
The
power of God is released, as we utilize every piece of the armor of God against
evil spirits, who are labeled by Paul as principalities, powers, rulers of
darkness, and spiritual wickedness on high. We are asked to prepare ourselves
as soldiers in spiritual warfare because, as a forbearer of God's truth and
power, Christians and God's work targets the devil for destruction. The intense
hate of the devil and his devil spirits against God's creation is unimaginable
but real. He is cruel and merciless; however, he cannot defeat God, and
therefore he uses trickery and deception to defeat believers or draw them into
vulnerable positions. Some of these positions are fear, doubt, confusion,
condemnation, temptation through pressure or pleasure, spiritual blindness,
pride, affliction or persecution, intended to frustrate the purposes of God
through His people. He is cunning and attempts to oppress us in our weakest
areas (through our thought life or other people and circumstances), in which
the "unaware" are led into chains of depression and other forms of
bondage.
We
have been commanded to "Put on the whole armor of God that ye may be able
to stand against the wiles of the devil." The armor consists of having
our, ". . . feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; the
helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: We
are to, "Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and
having on the breastplate of righteousness; which is also referred to as the
breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation. This is
the armor that will quench the fiery darts of the wicked-"Above all, taking
the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts
of the wicked." "The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us,
therefore, cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light."
When
we have equipped with God's armor the power, God protects us against evil
spirits, the principalities, powers, rulers of darkness, and spiritual
wickedness on high. We are asked to prepare ourselves as soldiers in spiritual
warfare because, as a witness of God's truth and power, Christians and God's
work targets the devil for destruction. The weapons of the devil are fear,
doubt, confusion, condemnation, temptation through pressure or pleasure,
spiritual blindness, pride, affliction or persecution, intended to frustrate
the purposes of God through His people. He is cunning and attempts to oppress
us in our weakest areas (through our thought life or other people and
circumstances), in which the "unaware" are led into chains of
depression and other forms of bondage.
If
we fail to use the protection that God has given us, we will find that we are
no more than the amusement of Satan. The conflict will vary; however, if we
rely on our strength, we will fall into an endless defeat pattern, being
victimized by the same snares or traps. Often, hostile situations may reoccur
because the spiritual forces behind a condition are left undetected. By relying
on our human wisdom and strength, we are left without a solution to our
problems. We must attempt to identify the area of the enemy's infiltration. We
need to keep in mind that we are never told to remove God's armor; it is a way
of life for the Christian.
The
Armor of Light
Theology
According to Truitt
Put
on the armor of Light. And do this, understanding the present time: The hour
has already come for you to wake up from your slumber because our salvation is
nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night
is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of
darkness and put on the armor of Light. 13 Let us behave decently, as in the
daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and
debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with
the Lord Jesus Christ and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the
flesh. Rom 13:11-14
While
preparing a series of messages on spiritual warfare, I ran across this passage
of scripture. I am sure that we are all familiar with the passage in Ephesians
6 that talks about the whole armor of God. You may have had a Sunday school
teacher who had you make all the armor from cardboard and remember the verse
that went with each armor piece. This passage in Roman is hidden in the message
of how we should conduct ourselves as Christians being people of the day and
not of the night.
What
started as reading a few commentaries on the 12th verse took me on a wild ride
of information jumping. You know where you are reading something, and a new
idea is presented, and you follow it, and another new idea is presented. Well,
this ride was exciting.
I
was waiting for a meeting to start, so I thought I would check out some more on
the "armor of light." I was trying to find how Light could be the
armor of the Christian. No luck. This got me to thinking about when Adam was
created-- how was he clothed? It has long been taught that he was clothed in
Light. So this started me on a new search. But before I get to the exciting
information, let's go back to the command.
Christians
are commanded to "put on the amour of light" and "to put on the
Lord Jesus." What does this mean? To be clothed with a person is a Greek
phrase, signifying to assume another's interests--to enter into his views,
imitate him, and be wholly on his side. Putting on the armor of Light is being
clothed with Jesus Christ, signifies I have put on Christ, and consequently
having the mind that was in Christ.
Christians
are soldiers in the midst of spiritual conflict and must have personal
protective armor that they may stand against the enemy of the soul. A Christian
undressed is unarmed. The graces of the Spirit are the armor, to secure the
soul from Satan's temptations and the assaults of this present evil world. Put
on the righteousness of Christ for justification; be found in him (Phil. 3:9 )
as a man is found in his clothes; put on the priestly garments of the elder
brother, that in them you may obtain the blessing. Put on the Spirit and grace
of Christ for sanctification; put on the new man (Eph
4:24); get the habit of grace confirmed, the acts of it quickened." Jesus
Christ is the best clothing for Christians to adorn themselves with, to arm
themselves with decent, distinguishing, dignifying, and defending ability
without Christ, we are naked, deformed, all other things are filthy rages,
fig-leaves, a sorry shelter. "Put him on as Lord to rule you, as Jesus to
save you, and in both as Christ, anointed and appointed by the Father to this
ruling saving work."
I
think we get the point of how important it is to identify with Christ. But what
is interesting is that Paul would use the expression "the armor of
light." The fact that God is light is essential to our study of putting on the
armor of Light. It includes a description of God's character as well as
implications for the life of Christian discipleship. The character of God as
Light and the Christian putting on Light's armor has its foundation in Adam's
creation. This is where I started down a long road of inquiry.
Adam
was created in God's image and likeness, which includes the appearance of God.
We can reason more of how Adam was before he fell into sin by understanding how
he was clothed in Light. Adam was covered with Light as with a garment, similar
to his God. Bless the
LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, You are very great; You are clothed with
splendor and majesty, covering Yourself with Light as with a cloak, Ps.104:2
We
know the Holy Spirit was indwelling in Adam when he was created. God breathed
into Adam, and he became a
living soul. God created
Adam in His image and likeness concerning his general shape (head, shoulders,
hands, and feet), plus Adam was emitting Light like God, and he was also filled
with the Spirit of God. The question that I had to ask myself was, where did
the Light come from?
This
question sidetracked me into searching for the answer. Here is what I found.
Fritz-Albert Popp thought he had discovered a cure for cancer. It was 1970, and
Popp, a theoretical biophysicist at the University of Marburg in Germany, had
been teaching radiology -- the interaction of electromagnetic (EM) radiation on
biological systems.
What
Popp discovered was that benzo[a]pyrene (cancer producing molecule) absorbed
the UV light, then reemitted it at a completely different frequency -- it was a
light "scrambler." The benzo[e]pyrene (harmless to humans) allowed
the UV light to pass through it unaltered.
Popp
was puzzled by this difference and continued to experiment with UV light and
other compounds. He performed his test on 37 different chemicals, some
cancer-causing, some not. After a while, he was able to predict which
substances could cause cancer. In every instance, the carcinogenic compounds
took the UV light, absorbed it, and changed or scrambled the frequency.
Popp
kept wondering why a cancer-causing substance would be a light scrambler. He
began reading the scientific literature about human biological reactions and
came across information about a phenomenon called 'photo repair'. The quick
summary of this phenomenon is that light aids in the healing process of the
cells. Well, this led me to another question, is there Light within the body?
What
enabled tens of thousands of different kinds of molecules in the organism to
recognize their specific targets? Photons (Light) control everything in the
cells of our body. Photons switch on the body's processes like an orchestra
conductor, bringing each instrument into the collective sound. At different
frequencies, they perform different functions. Popp found that molecules in the
cells responded to specific frequencies and that a range of vibrations from the
photons caused a variety of frequencies in other molecules of the body.
Remember,
in the Gospel of John, "That
was the true Light, which lights every man that comes into the world." If our body's cells repair themselves through
photo repair and Light controls every cell within our body, could light then
play a significant role in how man was designed? So I asked myself this
question, does Light play a part in our DNA?
To
save you from all the scientific language, let me cut to the chase. One of the
essential sources of light and biophoton emissions is DNA. DNA was like the
master tuning fork of the body. It would strike a particular frequency, and
specific molecules would follow. Our DNA not only emits Light but absorbs Light
as well. It would seem that our DNA is like an electric capacitor which can
store tiny amounts of electricity and then discharge it. Similarly, we can
speculate that the Light that was coming from Adam was not being produced from
his own self, but was first absorbed from God and then reemitted, very much
like how things glow in the dark. Glow-in-the-dark objects need to be exposed
to Light, or charged, to glow.
Adam
must have emitted large amounts of Light or photons from his DNA. When he
sinned, the Light that he received from God, the Light source, was presumably
extinguished. Proverbs 13:9 says: "The light of the righteous rejoices,
but the lamp of the wicked will be put out," Then Jesus spoke to them again: "I AM THE LIGHT of the world.
Anyone who follows Me will never walk in the Darkness but will have the LIGHT
OF LIFE." (John
8:12) In HIM WAS LIFE, and the LIFE WAS
THE LIGHT of men. (John
1:4 KJV)
The
conclusion of Dr. Popp's research was best summarized in his own words,
"We now know, today, that man is essentially a being of light."
When
Paul told the Christians at Rome to put on Light, he was telling them to become
a new creation. Our new man has been created in God's image – imagine that! We,
as new creations, are in the image of the One who made us! Paul states that
Jesus is the image of God: "He is the image of the invisible God, the
firstborn over all creation" (Colossians 1:15 NET).
Then
he states that we are in that image using the same Greek word "and have
been clothed with the new man that is being renewed in knowledge according to
the image of the one who created it," (Colossians 3:10 NET). We must not
forget, however, that Adam was created in the image of God. Thus, if we will be
like God (not be God in all of his glory, but like Him!),
then we must conclude that when God made Adam in His image or likeness and Adam
emitted Light in a way similar to God. As long as Adam was connected to the
source, he was protected from the enemy of his soul.
When
we put on the armor of Light, we connect to the source of Light and are
protected from the enemy of our soul. Have you put on the armor of Light?
If not, you are not ready for the battle that is coming. You need to armor up and face the battle like
a true solider of Jesus Christ.
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