Spiritual Warfare

For this article I am using the Epistle lesson for the upcoming Sunday, August 23, 2009. The lesson is Ephesians 6:10-20.

We are admonished by Paul to be strong in the Lord, to put on the whole armor of God, that we might be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, i.e., human armies, but against evil in high places, spiritual evil, even in heavenly places. Therefore we are to take up the whole armor of God in this warfare.

1) Who is the enemy? It is our old adversary, the devil. He is a spirit, and as such, has power to disrupt our lives on a spiritual level. It is disturbing to note that he can even be in heavenly places. The book of Job depicts him as Ha Satan (Hebrew), The Satan, the courtroom prosecuting attorney, who accuses us before God himself. Paul talks elsewhere about the "Prince of the air", meaning Satan has power over the earth, even in the air. I find these pictures of the devil having access to high places, even to God's heaven, to be a little scary. He is not confined to hell. He can be anywhere, causing trouble. His chief pleasure seems to be the disruption of human lives, winning us over to his evil where he can.

2) Therefore, we are called to put on the whole armor of God, to use every resource. The military uses everything at its disposal. They use "shock and awe", clean bombs, the F-22 raptor and other air power, pilotless drones, ships at sea, and armies on the ground, with tanks, rocket launchers, and troop carriers. They infiltrate the enemy behind the lines, and use spies and secret codes to confuse the enemy. Paul calls on the disciple of Christ to use everything at his/her disposal.

3) There are two types of weapons for the Christian to use, defensive and offensive weapons. Of the defensive type there are four: The belt of truth to be fastened around the waist; this will protect us from Satan's lies, and give us the power of Jesus to confront the enemy. Next is the breastplate of righteousness; if we are holy and act like people of love, we shall be protected by the power of God. Then use the shield of faith, to ward off the flaming arrows of Satan; He hurls his worst at us, but our faith will help us to stand our ground. Then there is the helmet of salvation; it is almost like a crown, to be worn with pride and knowledge that we belong to Christ Jesus. Finally we come to the offensive weapons. Interestingly, both have to do with proclaiming the Word. First there are the shoes which we put on to proclaim the gospel of Peace. These take us to where we need to go. "Blessed are the feet of them that carry good news." The last offensive weapon is the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With this we can slay the enemy and convince the fence-sitter of the truth of God's word.

4) Finally, we are asked to pray. Prayer has much power in it. Paul advises us to "pray in the Spirit", so we will be equipped with the power of God. Keep alert and persevere for all the saints. Pray also for Paul, that he might speak with all boldness. Pray for one another, that we shall be able to stand when our time comes to carry on the gospel that has been handed down to us by the previous generation. Pray for the complete and final victory of God in Christ, who will come one day to set up his earthly kingdom.

In the meantime, keep the faith! Stand tall! Put on the whole armor of God!