Part II
While it’s true that we do have an enemy who is out to devour us, to destroy us, to discredit us, and to handicap us any way he can, it is also true that we have been given everything we need to be victorious over our enemy. We must be prepared for him; we can’t be ignorant or undiscerning. But when we’re prepared for the enemy, he shakes his head when we wake up each day and says, “Oh, no, she’s awake!”
In the sixth chapter of Ephesians we find very explicit instructions on how to fight this enemy of ours. I want to read verses 10 through 17, using Phillips translation:
In conclusion be strong – not in yourselves but in the Lord, in the power of his boundless resource. Put on God’s complete armor so that you can successfully resist all the devil’s methods of attack. For our fight is not against any physical enemy: it is against organizations and powers that are spiritual. We are up against the unseen power that controls this dark world, and spiritual agents from the very headquarters of evil. Therefore you must wear the whole armor of God that you may be able to resist evil in its day of power, and that even when you have fought to a standstill you may still stand your ground. Take your stand then with truth as your belt, righteousness your breastplate, the gospel of peace firmly on your feet, salvation as your helmet and in your hand the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. Above all be sure you take faith as your shield, for it can quench every burning missile the enemy hurls at you. Pray at all times with every kind of spiritual prayer, keeping alert and persistent as you pray for all Christ’s men and women.
Paul clearly tells us that if we put on God’s complete armor, we can successfully resist all the devil’s methods of attack. Have you ever learned how to put on the armor of God? Do you do it on a daily basis? If you don’t you are going to war completely unprepared, totally vulnerable, headed for defeat.
I want to share with you as clearly as I can how to put that armor on daily. So, let’s look at each piece.
THE BELT OF TRUTH
The first part of our armor is a protective belt called truth. This is not a decorative accessory, as we think of a belt, or even something worn to hold up your pants. This belt was worn for protection against blows to the middle. Only a ruthless opponent aims for a punch around the loins and the middle. But that’s the kind of enemy we have.
You will remember that Jesus said that the devil is a liar and the father of lies. He is an expert liar. You must wear the belt of truth to protect yourself against his lies. Putting on the belt of truth means that you consciously look for Satan’s lies, asking God daily to help you see his deceptions. He will lie to you in your thought life, placing deceptive and false thoughts and ideas in your head. He will lie to you through what you hear and believe from other people, and through what you read and see.
Many times his lies will sound perfectly plausible and reasonable to us. Furthermore, his lies will be attractive to our human natures; they will be alluring. The Word of God must become our testing station whereby we determine what is true and what is a lie from Satan. Therefore, the more time you spend in the Word of God, reading it and memorizing it, the better you will be able to wear the belt of truth.
We cannot wear the belt of truth if we do not speak and live truth in our everyday dealings with others. Lack of truthfulness on our part gives Satan a strong foothold and opportunity to defeat us. Examine your life today: Have you told or done anything untruthful which needs to be set right? Do it right away so that you can wear the belt of truth and not leave yourself wide open to the enemy’s low blows.
THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
The breastplate is designed to protect an area of extreme vulnerability—your heart. How does Satan attempt to destroy the heart? By convincing us that we are such total failures, without any redeeming virtues, and with nothing good to offer, that we can never be anything to God and we can never do anything in his service. We know from Revelation 12:10 that Satan is our accuser. He accuses Christians day and night, and many times he succeeds in convincing Christians that they have no protection for their heart because they are so unrighteous and unworthy.
It is true that we have no righteousness of our own to wear as protection. But what Satan does not want us to discover is that we have the righteousness of Jesus Christ available to us to wear as our breastplate.
When Satan starts to accuse you, you stand straight up to him, and say, out loud if you can, “Satan, wait a minute. I know that I have no righteousness of my own, and your accusations about me may be true. But look here, Satan, I’m wearing the righteousness of Jesus Christ, and you have no power against it. Therefore, you must stop accusing me, for I will not succumb to your accusations.”
This breastplate has to be the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Our self-righteousness will never protect us. If you think Satan is intimidated by the “good things” you’ve done, or the “good life” you lead, forget it. Only the righteousness of Jesus Christ will avail.
THE SHOES OF PEACE.
The next piece of our armor is the shoes of peace. Why would we be told to put the Gospel of peace on our feet? Well, you see when you have peace on your feet, then nothing can stop you. You can keep going no matter what the circumstances are. When you are peaceful, you are not vulnerable to the conditions of the path on which you are walking—to the surroundings or the environment. Fear debilitates us, incapacitates us, handicaps us, but peace frees us to keep on keepin’ on.
When you and I accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior, we were given peace with God. But in addition to peace with God, we need to have the peace of God, and this is the peace that is missing in the lives of many Christians. When you have the peace of God ruling in your life, Satan is very frustrated because no matter what he throws at you, you don’t get riled. This is peace which passes all understanding, even your own. Satan hates to see it in a Christian, because those sandals of peace on our feet make us strong and give us endurance.
How do you get the peace of God on your feet? Listen to Philippians 4:6-7:
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
The peace of God comes through prayer. The next time you sense a lack of inner peace, try prayer. Have you learned to find a place at work where you can snatch five minutes of prayer when you need it? A consistent prayer life is essential in order to wear peace on your feet, but we should also pray at those moments when we know that our peace is being threatened.
THE SHIELD OF FAITH
The next piece of armor in Ephesians 6 is the shield of faith. The Scripture says with this shield we can extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one. All of them! What are those missiles? Doubt. Wondering if God really will keep his promise. Questioning whether God truly cares for us. Doubting that he is trustworthy.
When you see one of those missiles headed your way, hold up your shield of faith. Now, faith comes by the Word of God, so use Scripture to generate and bolster your faith. Say out loud with the Apostle Paul: “I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.” (2 Tim. 1:12) Quote from Isaiah 54:17: “No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord.” Recite David’s words from Psalm 56:3-4: “When I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?”
THE HELMET OF SALVATION
Next we come to the helmet of salvation. Satan makes his greatest effort to control our thinking. Without the helmet of salvation every day as our protection against Satan’s onslaught against our minds, we are defenseless. Philippians 4:8 tells us what our thought life should be like: true, noble, right, pure, lovely, good report. When our thoughts don’t fit that description, we are told to bring them into captivity.
Who is in control of your mind today? Does Satan have some or all of it? You must put on the helmet of salvation by determining to guard closely what goes into your mind, and constantly bringing all of your thoughts into captivity.
THE WORD OF GOD
All of the armor we’ve discussed so far has been defensive armor, to protect us from Satan’s attacks against us. Well, we have one offensive weapon in our arsenal, and it is totally sufficient for any battle you may encounter. The Word of God is our sword. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 10:3-4 “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.” We have power to demolish Satan’s strongholds with the weapon given to us, God’s Word.
God’s Word will defeat Satan. Remember how Jesus defeated him when he was tempted in the wilderness. Satan tried to trick Jesus by using scripture inappropriately and out of context.
But Jesus knew the Word of God far too well for that. He quoted scripture back to Satan, and though Satan tried three times to trick Jesus, he finally had to give up because the Word of God is far too powerful for him.
If we regularly and faithfully put on that armor, by faith, and learn more and more exactly how to do that, we are going to be totally prepared for our enemy. James tells us to “resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). That means just stand up to him and boldly tell him he has no authority over you and you are not afraid of him. He will flee.
Dear friends, let’s make it our ambition to frustrate the enemy and give him a few headaches for a change. Let’s hit the road each day causing the enemy problems because we are praising, joyful people, filled with God’s Word and wearing his armor. Satan doesn’t have a chance when you do that, and I believe every morning when you wake you he’ll say, “Oh, no, she’s awake!”