Ephesians 6:10-20 ESV
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
“Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.”
1. Do we have physical enemies, as well as the devil and his hordes?
2. What are some of the schemes of the devil against us?
3. What is the full armor of God? How do we put it on?
4. How can we stand against the forces of evil coming against us?
Because we are followers of Jesus Christ, if indeed we are, the devil (Satan) is our enemy, as are his demons, and as are other humans who are serving the devil, and who are doing his bidding. But this is not a physical battle going on here. This is spiritual warfare, and thus it must be fought with spiritual weapons of warfare and not with physical weapons. And so this passage of Scripture is written for us to teach us how that must be done.
So, what are some of the schemes of the devil being used against the church and against those professing the name of Jesus today? Fear is a big one! If you pay attention to the news at all, or if you are on social media, you might notice that there is much fear mongering going on in our world today. There is angst almost everywhere you look, and there are temptations galore to give in to this or to that thing to be afraid of, pretty much on a daily basis.
Another huge one is deception. And the devil has servants everywhere who are spreading his lies. And the masses appear to be buying into the lies while rejecting the truth, at least here in America. For what they largely do is that they misrepresent and they alter the character of God/Christ, and his gospel, and the whole biblical meaning of “church.” And they recreate the character of God and of his gospel and of the church to make them more appealing and acceptable to human flesh and to the ungodly of this world.
So, what they do is they remove Scriptures from their context, and they twist them to say what they want them to say, and which will appease human flesh. But the lies aren’t always big and bold and obvious. They utilize the art of misimpressions frequently, which are indirect lies. And indirect lies are much more difficult to prove, which is the object, so that they can manipulate the minds of more people while doing so in disguise. For the devil is very clever in the ways in which he deceives naïve minds.
Another one the devil likes to use is guilt and shame, but not guilt and shame over sin. He wants us to feel guilt and shame for not unifying with his institutional (of man) flesh-driven and market-driven “churches,” and with their false gospel, and with their altered Savior. So he convinces people to use Hebrews 10:25, out of context, to try to guilt-trip professing Christians into coming to their gatherings, even though most of those gatherings are not doing what Hebrews 10 teaches, especially in verses 24-25.
For the body of Christ, who is the church (the only one), is to gather together for the express purpose to stir up (to provoke) one another to (agape) love and good works (of God) and to encourage (exhort, urge) one another in our walks of faith in Christ Jesus. We are to use the Spiritual gifts we have each been given, and in the body parts assigned to us by God, for the spiritual encouragement and growth and maturity of the body in our walks of faith, and to lead them away from living in habitual and deliberate sin against our Lord, as each part does its work, according to the will of God.
[Romans 12:1-8; Romans 15:14; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; Galatians 6:1; Ephesians 2:10; Ephesians 4:1-16; Ephesians 5:15-21; Philippians 2:1-8; Colossians 3:16; Hebrews 3:13; Hebrews 10:23-25; James 5:19-20]
(To be continued in Part 2)
For Our Nation
An Original Work / September 11, 2012
Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.
Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Men deceiving: We’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.
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