Ephesians 6:10-12. 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 authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (NIV).
Finally my brethren, be strong in the Lord and the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you might be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of this dark world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (KJV).
First, a couple of observations. The NIV Bible translation speaks of the “schemes” of the devil.
“Scheme” is defined in the dictionary as “a carefully arranged and systematic plan”.
The KJV Bible uses the word “wiles”, a clever trick or words intended to lure or deceive.
( I believe that the word “wiles” is more consistent with the overall tense of Scripture.)
II Chronicles 20:15 says that the battle is not ours, but the Lord’s and I Cor. 15:57 says this: Thanks be to God who GIVES us the victory THROUGH our Lord Jesus Christ.
Or in Isaiah 30:15, “For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: In returning and rest shall you be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength…..”.
All this clearly indicates that Jesus the Lord is the one who fights our battles and he would have us receive victory, rather than that we would achieve victory by our efforts.
Which brings us to the all important question: “Would we, God’s children allow him to actually fight our battles and rest in his almighty ability”?
First, we will attempt to define the enemy from this Scripture passage, then define our spiritual armor and then how to use this armor in order to “receive” the victory.
The “enemy”, principalities, powers and rulers of this dark world are generally believed to be demonic forces controlled by the devil.
Few of us have met and wrestled with demonic entities in the heavenly realms, so let us in this study focus on powers and rulers of this dark world.
Anyone who has been faced with depression, covert or overt rejection, un-forgiveness, anger, insecurity, the hurts of loosing a parent or child or spouse through death, the lasting effects of having been abused as a child, marriage or business failure, (to name a few), knows that these emotional wounds are powers and rulers in our lives that many sincere believers desperately wish to be free from, but they do not know how.
It is true that time heals many wounds, we also know that time makes other wounds worse. The cycle of un-forgiveness leads to being delivered to tormentors, according to Matt.18:34.
We must recognize that these wounds are the result of sin, sometimes our own sins, sometimes the sins of others who have victimized us and sometimes just living in a sin-scarred world. Whatever the origin of these rulers , it is all the result of sin.
Eph.6:13 “…..therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that, when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand, (take it, without being overwhelmed).
The day of evil: those days when we tend to be overwhelmed by our hurts, guilt feelings, bitterness, sense of loss, etc.
Therefore, this passage tells us, be prepared for those days by being clothed with the full armor of God all the time, preparedness is not a part-time occupation.
Preparation takes place during the times when all is well. It is too late to buy fire insurance when the house is going up in flames.
Our armor consists of the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, shoes of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit.
Everything taken from the metaphor of a Roman soldier’s armor.
It is a metaphor, nothing more, a figure of speech.
What then, is the real message?
Jesus said in John 14:6 “ I am the Way, the TRUTH and the Life”. I Cor. 1:30 “…..But of Him (God) are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and RIGHTEOUSNESS and sanctification”.
Or Gal.2:20..”…..it is no longer I that live, but Christ, who lives in me…..”.
Our spiritual armor is a PERSON, his name is JESUS.
That is that way because He is our LIFE, He is our TRUTH, He is our RIGHTEOUSNESS, He is our PEACE (Eph.2:14) , He is our SHIELD (Ps.3:3), He is the Author and Finisher of our faith (Hebr.12:2), He is our salvation and also our SWORD of the Spirit (Hebr.4:12).
And the way to “put on” our spiritual armor is to be conciously aware at all times, even moment by moment that Jesus is all of these attributes in each one of us at all times.
The term “spiritual warfare”, as it is mostly understood, focuses on sin and the devil.
The Word of God teaches us to keep our eyes focussed on Jesus at ALL times.
There was a time when the apostle Peter was actually walking on water, when suddenly he became aware of his circumstances and in so doing he took his eyes off Jesus.
And at that moment he began to sink, which caused him to re-focus his attention almost instantly to where it should have remained in the first place: on Jesus.
Christians have a tendency to adopt the “whiles” of the devil by letting circumstances overwhelm them, take their eyes off Jesus and “take charge” of the situation.
The schemes or the wiles of the devil that our human nature (flesh) would adopt and use against ourselves is to doubt that Jesus is really trustworthy in every circumstance.
Eph. 6:12 also says that we wrestle against spiritual wickedness in high (or heavenly) places. Wickedness is sinfulness, or more specific when a believer is living after the flesh. When a believer is trusting in his own wisdom, craftiness and ability to live his (or her) life as a Christian.
And even though believers are spiritually seated with Christ in heavenly (high) places, such behavior will have a profound effect on their fellowship with Jesus when they prefer to try to live this life from the basis of their own resources and abilities, rather than trusting Jesus to live this life through them.
We believers constantly wrestle with self and it’s propensity to do our own thing, do what we think works best and we will make it work, somehow.
That, I believe is spiritual wickedness in high or heavenly places.
Eph. 2:6 says that God’s children are seated with him in heavenly places.
Consider Hebr. 12:2, Looking unto Jesus, who is not only the Authort and the Finisher of our faith, he is our very life and the source of living a life that pleases God.
“Being strong in the Lord and the power of his might” and not be trusting in our own abilities for being obedient.
A Christian displayes great wisdom when he/she gives up on themselves and admit to their Father in heaven that they are a failure at trying to please him and would he take over from this day on and cause them to live the Christian life by his supreme ability.
Becoming strong in trusting the Lord and depending on his ability.
Phil 2:13, “For it is God who works in you to will and to do of his good pleasure”.
Again the question: “Are we willing to let him take over?”
Do we trust him sufficiently?
And how do we find healing for the wounds we mentioned earlier?
Sadly, churches usually refer hurting Christians to professionals who seldom deal with the root problem which is sin.
And Jesus is God’s answer for sin and sinfulness.
When Jesus says: “Seek and you will find, ask and it shall be done unto you”, He is always referring to the abundant life that He promises in John 10:10.
When we ask our Father to give us spiritual and emotional healing of wounds, it also means that we surrender, yes, abandon ourselves to his mercy.
Something like: “Lord do with me whatever you desire and let me find grace to accept my circumstances”.
He may also ask from us a willingness to forgive others. Willingness is a necessary choice, but that is all He will ask. The rest He will do in us.
Believing is trusting, trusting in Father’s supreme willingness and ability to do as we ask.
And the day will come when the memory of the hurt will come back to us, like untold other times, but the pain of it will not be there any more.
That is what it means to be strong in the Lord and His mighty power, vs.10.
Always being aware of Phil. 1: 6 “Being confident of this very thing that he that began a good work in you, will perform (or complete) it until the day of Jesus Christ.
That is the day when we shall see him face to face, when our faith turns to reality.
What a day of rejoycing that will be!!
St.Thomas, Dec.2007.
Revied November 2009. Simon VanderKooy.
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