PUT ON THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD TO STAND AGAINST EVIL

PROCLAMATION

“Finally, be strong in The Lord and in His mighty power.  Put on the whole armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places.  Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand."  Ephesians 6:10-13 (NIV)

 

EXPLANATION

These words were written by the apostle Paul, under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God, to the believers in the church at Ephesus.  Paul begins this final chapter by offering advice to children, telling them to obey and honor their parents. (Ephesians 6:1-3)  The parents were also admonished not to provoke their children, but to educate and train them in the ways of The Lord. (Ephesians 6:4 and Proverbs 22:6)  Paul also offered advice for the behavior of workers and bosses. (Ephesians 6:5-9)  Finally, as he ended this letter, he offered this advice to the believers, telling them to be strong in The Lord.  Paul told them to protect themselves by putting on the armor of God.  He followed this with specific instructions regarding how to do that and included a rationale for why it should be done. (Ephesians 6:10-18)

 

APPLICATION

As believers today we should also prepare for battle against evil.  The devil and his army are well-positioned for their attack.  However, as the Old Testament believers were told, the battle is not ours to fight, but it is The Lord God’s. (1 Samuel 17:47 and 2 Chronicles 20:15)  We will be attacked, and we will need special weapons and protective “war clothes” in order to survive the battle, to stand our ground, and keep the faith. (Ephesians 6:11-13)  We will need the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the gospel of peace about our feet, the helmet of salvation, the shield of faith in one hand, the sword of The Spirit (The Word of God) in the other hand, and prayer in our mouth. (Ephesians 6:14-18)  We cannot overcome the devil on our own with our limited abilities and power.  As a Christian we will need the help of The Lord God in order to withstand and survive the devil’s attacks.  We have already been granted the victory through Jesus, The Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:57)  Stand firm with the help from God.

PUT ON THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD SO THAT YOU CAN STAND

Proclamation:

“Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”  Ephesians 6:11-12 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written by the Apostle Paul under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  Paul begins this final chapter of his letter to the believers in Ephesus by addressing the children.  They are told to obey and honor their parents. (Ephesians 6:1-3)  Then he tells the parents not to provoke their children but to bring them up in the training and instruction of The Lord. (Ephesians 6:4)  After this Paul provides directions to servants and masters, which applies to workers and supervisors. (Ephesians 6:5-9)  Then he encourages the believers to be strong in The Lord and to put on the whole armor of God so that they may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. (Ephesians 6:10-17)  He ends this chapter and the letter by encouraging them to pray on all occasions and asking them to pray for him. (Ephesians 6:18-20)

Application:

As believers we need to understand that we are constantly under attack by the forces of evil.  The only way that we can protect ourselves is by putting on the whole armor of God.  That is the only way that we can stand our ground when we are attacked.  We need to make sure that we are completely wrapped up in truth, righteousness, the gospel, faith, salvation, and The Word of God.  Additionally, we should always pray about everything. (Ephesians 6:10-18)

STAND UP AND FACE YOUR GIANTS

Proclamation:

"David said to the Philistine, 'You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of The LORD Almighty, The God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.  This day The LORD will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head..." 1 Samuel 17:45-46 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by the Prophet Samuel.  In chapter seventeen, Samuel records the account of David as a young man when he faced the giant named Goliath, the Philistine.  The armies of the Philistines and the armies of Israel were prepared for battle. (1 Samuel 17:1-3)  Goliath, the champion of the Philistines was a giant. (1 Samuel 17:4)  He approached the armies of Israel and told them to send out one man to fight him.  He said that if that man defeated him, his people would serve Israel, but if he defeated that man, then Israel would serve the Philistines. (1 Samuel 17:8-10)  David had only come to the camp of the army to bring food to his three brothers, who were in the army, and to inquire about their status for his father. (1 Samuel 17:17-18)  David heard Goliath's disrespectful challenge to the army of Israel and was upset. (1 Samuel 17:26)  David said that he would fight Goliath. (1 Samuel 17:32)  He refused to wear King Saul's armor, (1 Samuel 17:38-39), and he took five smooth stones and his sling as a weapon. (1 Samuel 17:40)  With the help of The Lord God, David defeated Goliath with one stone from his sling, then he cut off Goliath's head with his own sword. (1 Samuel 17:48-51)

Application:
David knew that The Lord God was with him when he fought the lion and the bear, and he knew that He would be with him against Goliath. (1 Samuel 17:34-37)  David faced his giant in the name of The Lord God Almighty, and he did it without fear.  He knew that God would be with him.  David stood up for God and faced the giant.  We also need to stand up for The Lord and His righteousness, even when we stand alone.  God did not give us the spirit of fear. (2 Timothy 1:7)  We are to be victorious conquerors. (Romans 8:37)  When we stand up for that which is Godly and right, The Lord God will help us. (Psalms 94:16-17)  He will fight our battles for us. (Deuteronomy 28:7, 2 Chronicles 20:15 and 20:17)  We must not only stand up, but we must speak up.  It is not good to keep silent when we should speak up for The Lord. (Psalms 39:2-3)  If we will not speak up for Him, He will not speak up for us. (Matthew 10:33)  However, if our giant is not an enemy but instead is a sinful habit, we still need to stand up and face it.  First we will have to go to The Lord in prayer, confess our sins and weaknesses, and ask for His help in fighting this giant.  There are some things which we cannot do alone.  But with the help of God, all things are possible. (Matthew 19:26)  

PUT ON THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD

Proclamation:

"Finally, be strong in The Lord, and in His mighty power.  Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Ephesians 6:10-12 (NIV)

Explanation:

In the Apostle Paul’s letter to the believers in Ephesus, he told them that The Lord God had already defeated Satan and his control over Christians through the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ.  However, Satan was still able to attack and battle them and seduce them with cleaver crafty and cunning methods of deception to lure Christians into sin, immoral practices, and depraved abominations to turn them away from God.  The only way they could defend against this was to put on the whole armor of God.

Application:
We should recognize that we are in a battle every day of our lives. We are not fighting against people but we are battling the forces of evil.  However, we cannot win if we are fighting this battle alone.  To fight this battle against the devil and his evil forces we must be prepared, and have God's help.  To put on the whole armor of God we must gird our waist and loins with truth, put on the breastplate of righteousness, shod our feet with the preparation of the gospel, take up the shield of faith, wear the helmet of salvation, use the sword of The Spirit, which is The Word of God, and frequent prayer. (Ephesians 6:14-18)  We need to protect our eyes (sight), our mind (thoughts), our heart (desires), our hands (actions), our feet (walk), and our being (soul) from evil.  The things we watch, think, want, do, and the places we go reflect our lifestyle and are subject to evil influences which are sinful and not consistent with good Christian behavior.  Make no mistake about it, we need God's help to win this battle.  We need to pray daily and pray often.

We Need God's Help To Stand

"Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand."  Ephesians 6:13 (NIV)

In his letter to the believers in Ephesus, the Apostle Paul told them that after they had done all that they could do, they were to just stand.  He told them that in order for them to stand firm in the faith against the attacks of the devil, they would need to put on the whole armor of God.

The Bible does not tell us to attack the devil or his demons, we are told to resist him, and not to give in to him when we are tempted.  The only way that we can resist the devil is to submit to The Lord God. (James 4:7)  We need His help stand up to the attacks of the devil.  That is why we are told to put on the whole armor of God. (Ephesians 6:10-18)  We are in a battle against a smart, cunning, and powerful enemy.  We need the all powerful God's help. (Matthew 28:18)

Put On The Whole Armor Of God Stand Firm And Pray

"Finally, be strong in The Lord and in His mighty power.  Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.  Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.  In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of The Spirit, which is The Word of God.  And pray in The Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.  With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints."  Ephesians 6:10-18 (NIV)

In his letter to the believers in The Church at Ephesus, the Apostle Paul told them to be strong and to arm themselves with the whole armor of God, so that they could stand against the devil's schemes, against evil rulers, authorities, powers, and against evil spiritual forces.  Paul told them that when evil attacks them, they should stand firm in the things of God and pray.  He advised them to pray, not only for themselves, but to pray for all of the saints because they would also be under attack.

We need to be aware of the fact that we are engaged in a battle against evil powers and evil spiritual forces, which we cannot stand up against without the help of The Lord God and His power.  Daily we struggle against evil.  The only protection we have from evil are The Truth, His righteousness, the gospel of His peace, faith in Him, and His salvation.  The only weapons that we have to fight against evil are The Word of God and prayer.  Without the help of The Lord God we could not stand against the evil schemes and power of the devil.  God knows that, which is why He said that the battle is not ours, it is His. (2 Chronicles 20:15)  Just as He did for Israel, He will fight our battles. (2 Chronicles 20:17)  We just need to believe, and pray, then stand and see the salvation of The Lord.