Armour Up...Step Up...And Get In The Fight!!!
Ephesians 6:10-18
There is a battle for our souls. It is as plain as the sun is at midday in the middle of summer. We are constantly being bombarded by distractions, the world tells us that we should just give in to our emotions, desires and heart without considering how that will affect others (or more importantly our relationship with God). The spiritual realm is opening up and becoming increasingly evident in people’s behaviours and attitudes. Evil…evil thoughts, evil actions, evil perceptions…are all becoming an accepted part of modern life (across the world).
In 2 Timothy 3:1-4 the Apostle Paul was talking to the young pastor he was mentoring (Timothy) and he said “You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God.” - this was a warning to both Timothy, and to us today.
Extreme evil is easy to spot…we see it on the nightly news in the horrific events we see perpetrated against members of our communities. But evil is insidious, it moves in the background and slinks along just out of sight until we get used to its presence, then it becomes accepted - then when we give it an inch, it takes a mile. What is permitted one day will be acceptable the next. This is how we are seeing such evil in our world today.
The prophet Isaiah warned us of this very thing several thousand years ago when he said “What sorrow for those who say that evil is good and good is evil, that dark is light and light is dark, that bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter.” (Isaiah 5:20).
Jesus said in Matthew 11:12 “And from the time John the Baptist began preaching until now, the Kingdom of Heaven has been forcefully advancing, and violent people are attacking it.” - We represent the Kingdom of God, so why shouldn’t we be attacked by the forces of evil and darkness. We should expect it, not be surprised by it.
So, what are we to do about it???
How can we do to stop all this darkness from consuming our communities???
The answer is simple…we stand and we fight…in both the physical realm in which we live, and in the spiritual realm. The Apostle Paul had a very clear concept of what that looks like. In part because of his extended stays as a prisoner, and being intimate with the equipment of a Roman soldier - which is the template for what he describes.
Ephesians 6:10-18 Paul informs us…
Verse 10: “A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.”
We cannot be Christians who hold onto a sense of being ‘victims’ because of what we have experienced. Soldiers go from one battle to another, just like we go from one problem and tough time to another.
Paul exhorts Timothy to “Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 2:3)
It takes courage and strength to suffer. The problem with western culture, and the western church is that it is soft, and people don’t like the effort and discomfort of having to struggle.
Those of us who have had to struggle for years and often for decades, we end up becoming strong, even though it seems like we are having problems on the outside. We are much like a tree that gets battered by storms, a few limbs break off, we look gnarly - but we have deep roots of faith despite our weaknesses and the problems we battle daily.
Job for all that he went through never gave up worshiping and acknowledging the authority of God. We should be just the same.
In order to do this we need to be strong and courageous. A soldier, even with all their high level training, is useless on the battlefield if they aren’t willing to get in the fight. Christians are no different. In fact, Satan loves it when Christians take a back seat and are willing to let others do the fighting.
It’s time for all of us to step up…and to armour up.
Verse 11-13: “Put on all of God’s armour so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.”
Paul exhorts the Christians in Philippi to armour up…to put on all of God’s armour - why? So that we can stand against all the strategies of the devil. That is our job as Christians - to stand against what the Devil is doing in our communities. We do it by loving people, helping people, sharing the gospel with them, feeding those that need feeding, housing those that need housing and speaking up against the vile lies that are getting spread around the world.
But here’s the thing - it is very easy to learn to hate a person, especially one who is committing evil deeds and pushing evil perspectives. But we aren’t fighting people, we aren’t even fighting their views (mainly because they didn’t come up with the ideas in the first place).
Rather we are fighting against the demonic forces of Satan.
In fact, Paul lists the different levels of spiritual forces that are arrayed against us. And it seems daunting - but we have God on our side.
It is because we are fighting these dark, demonic forces that we need to put on the armour and make our stand. But we can’t make our stand without our armour.
Verse 14: “Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness.”
Armour is pointless if we turn and run away. Armour is only effective if it is put to use. And putting to use means that we must at the very least, stand our ground.
One of the pieces of equipment that enables us to stand our ground is the ‘Belt of Truth’. Truth, godly, biblical truth should be the very foundation of all that we do, think and say. It certainly should be the foundation of the things we stand for. Anything that is built on less will fail.
The military belt is multi-purpose, it always has been. It is not like the normal belts that we wear that keep our clothes up. Military belts are valuable for the other pieces of equipment you can carry on them. In Paul’s time, soldiers would carry their sword, a dagger, water bottles/containers and the like on their belts.
We should be the same. The biblical, righteous truths that we hold to should enable us to hang multiple points of view, that enable us to fight effectively.
Verse 15: “For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.”
Not that I am a combat veteran or anything, but I am a teacher and student of history and I had family members serve in WW2. Every soldier is afraid on the battlefield, what differentiates them from each other is how they utilise and deal with that fear.
A Christian on the spiritual battlefield needs to set aside their fear and trepidation and make their stand knowing that we are wearing the gospel of Jesus Christ (the author of our peace). Knowing that Jesus is with us, and that no matter what happens we are grounded in HIM.
The other interesting thing to note is that military shoes, even the sandals that the Roman soldiers wore have tread or other mechanisms to give them grip. Wearing a pair of dress shoes is not going to cut it on the battlefield, having shoes that enable you to dig in with your feet and stand firm will.
Verse 16: “In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.”
Faith…Hebrews 11:1 defines faith as “ Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”
Faith does not need to know what we are going to be doing in a days time, or a months time, or in many years time. Faith ‘TRUSTS’…and if our fait is in God, then we need to trust HIM.
If we don’t trust HIM, then we don’t have a shield to protect us. If we trust HIM and place all our faith in HIM - then God will shield us against everything that the enemy hurled at us.
it doesn’t mean that the enemy won’t hurl things our way, and they do indeed hit - but they do not overcome us.
A shield - especially the Roman shield - is useful when standing beside another fellow soldier. The shields could be placed side by side - creating a shield wall. This shield wall could often be almost impenetrable. This means that while a shield is useful for a single soldier, it is also very useful in protecting others.
By taking our stand we are actually protecting those who are not in the fight yet, and those who are standing beside us in the fight. We cannot possibly do this alone. So by standing firm we strengthen those around us.
Verse 17: “Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
A helmet protects the face, and more importantly the head of the soldier. Blows to the head (especially back in the time of Paul - were almost always fatal, or it left a person crippled. So, helmets were a necessity for survival in combat, and staying in the fight.
Our minds, our brains are in our head. If we protect what we allow into our minds - be it images, words and events - we can protect our minds with the simple fact that if we believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God, and that he died and rose against for the forgiveness of our sins - we are saved. That knowledge should protect us from the lies of the Devil. If we protect our mind, then we are going to be much stranger, and much harder to bring down.
It is also with our minds that we learn and read the word of God. The word of God is known as the “sword of the Lord” - like a two edged sword mentioned in Hebrews 4.
With a sword a person can both defend themselves, and attack the enemy. But like every other piece of armour mentioned, a sword is useless unless it is wielded with intent. If you go into battle without a weapon all you are doing is making yourself a target. The Devil knows this - which is why at the moment the biblical illiteracy that is across the church (globally, but very evident in the western church) means that Christians are walking about their daily lives without the very thing that is there to protect them, and to help fight of attacks on loved ones.
We cannot hope to be able to fight for our own lives, our own minds if we do not deeply engage with the Word of God…and we certainly cannot protect those that we love without it.
Verse 18: “Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.”
Now, after putting on all that armour, we fight in the spiritual realm by praying…and not just soft, wimpy polite prayers, but real agonising, meaningful prayers like what David spoke in his psalms…but also we need to pray in the spirit. Because it is from the connection of our spirit with that of the Holy Spirit, that our true heart is expressed.
It doesn’t matter what situation you are in…pray….pray for yourself…pray for your family…and pray for your fellow believers - because you can guarantee that if you are being attacked by the enemy, so are they.
In Matthew 16:19 Jesus says “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” - if we pray in the Spirit then we can identify the things that are hindering us, that are attacking us, that are standing against us. When we do that we can protect ourselves and those around us.
You cannot ever be victorious in your life unless you first stand and fight a battle. You can never be victorious in your life if you turn your back and flee. Being victorious means standing in faith, and in peace knowing God is with you, and that you are fighting for truth.
There are steps to becoming victorious:
Armour Up - If you go into battle without any armour, you are bound to get mortally wounded, and at the very least wounded to a point of being ineffectual.
Resist Evil - You will be defeated each and every time if you don’t resist, if you don’t fight back. You have to fight back if you want to win and be victorious.
Stand Firm - In order to resist evil you need to take a stand. if you are running away, or are constantly moving between things so that you don’t get hurt by people or circumstances you will be useless and you will not be able to hold your ground at all.
I leave you with this scripture from Paul and his letter to the church in Rome, which was undergoing severe persecution. Romans 8:31-39 “What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns?No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Seriously, if God is for us…we are we afraid to step up and get into the battle. It’s time to armour up and step up people. The fight is raging all around us. This is your turning point…right now…in this moment as you read this post…are you willing to lose it all to gain it all.
Are you ready to set everything aside to fight against the evil that is pouring out in the world around us?