We read daily of the war in Ukraine in the news but there is an unseen battle going on daily in our lives. The Spiritual Warfare of the believer was emphasised by Paul in Ephesians 6 as it is as relevant and real a concern then and today. The book of Ephesians, written by Paul during his 1st imprisonment in Rome at around AD62, deals with three main concepts:

 

Chapters 1-2  → Calling of a Christian (Predestination)

Chapters 3-4 → Conduct of a Christian (Walking worthy of our vocation)

Chapters 5-6 → Combat/Conflict that Christians face

 

All believers are in constant spiritual warfare, a profound invisible spiritual form of conflict with the diabolical seductions of Satan and the world daily. To fight well we need to be well equipped for this war. There are 4 pertinent points we need to consider.

 

1. Be Strong and Put on the Complete Armour of God (v11)

▪ The Romans were masters of the battlefield and defeated the Greeks under Alexander which controlled a greater part of the known world and later the Roman empire reigned for a few hundred years. The great Romans empire disintegrated on its own in the 5th century. All its soldiers were well-trained in combat and warfare.

▪ Paul would have had such a Roman soldier stationed next to him to guard him during his house arrest, whom he could have looked to for inspiration to write about the armour of God. Turn you scars into stars and your trials into triumphs. The average Roman soldier’s full battle order weighed over 10kg. It was not an easy or convenient garment to put on. Similarly, we must be sure we are fit enough to wear the amour of God, or it may just crush some of us. Although we are oftentimes unwilling to put on the whole armour (the panoply) because it is uncomfortable and cumbersome, we know that every piece counts, and every piece helps us to stand up to the deceptive wiles of the evil one.

▪ It is important in any war to know who we are fighting for and against: we are fighting for God, not for self, nor just for the sake of it, but against the devil. The first part of verse 11 is written in a possessive form and in an imperative mood, which may be likened to instructions given by a commander to his men, and we submit to him. It is not a suggestion or a proposal. It is God commanding us to obey Him and let us do so daily.

 

2. Be Aware of our Enemy (v12).

▪ Verse 12 talks about the hierarchy of the fallen angelic world (Rom 8:37-39) We need to put on the whole armour of God because there is a devil (diabolos, i.e., slanderer), together with his army of fallen angels, constantly attacking us (v16: “fiery darts”).

• Sun Tzu in his renowned book, The Art of War famously said that we must know both our enemy and ourselves as well.
• The Bible contains a wealth of information about Satan:
  • 1 Peter 5:8-9 → Satan is described as a roaring lion. He is constantly waiting for an opportunity to attack, which means there is no place for complacency in the Christian. We are all to be sober and vigilant for the constant warfare is real.
  • Job 1:7 → Satan is very diligent (going to and fro in the earth…walking up and down in it). He never ceases and has with him an army of fallen angels to send destruction and devastation to God's children.
  • John 8:44 → Satan is the master deceiver/serpent/ father of lies. Christians must resist and remain steadfast in the faith.

▪ There are 2 common misconceptions about the devil:

• Overconfidence in our ability to overcome the devil
• Extreme phobia of the devil → 2 Timothy 1:7 God hath not given us the spirit of fear

▪ Both misconceptions are, of course, inappropriate. The Bible is where we should look to gain an understanding of how best we might fight the devil:

• James 4:1 → Submit to God first before all else. Then, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. This is like going to a military commander for orders before rushing headlong into battle.
• Jude 9 → Like Michael the archangel, instead of relying on his own strength to fight the devil, we must first depend on God and His Word.

▪ The correct position is therefore, according to verse 13, to withstand first, and then to stand. We cannot stand unless we withstand in the “evil day”, when the devil finds our Achilles’ heel and tries to attack it.

To be continued…

 

With permission from Rev Jack Sin
(reproduced from Sovereign Hope Bible-Presbyterian Church Weekly published 10 July 2022)

 

 

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