Eternity Daily Bible Study No. 256

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Living In Christ – 18

Ephesians 6:10-13
(10)  Finally, my brothers, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
(11)  Put on the whole armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
(12)  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the world's rulers, of the darkness of this age, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
(13)  Therefore take to yourselves the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

THE ARMOR OF GOD – PART 1

Today my cell-phone was snatched for the second time in a few months, two weeks ago my wallet was stolen on a bus, just before that all our personal documents were stolen including birth and marriage certificates. What am I fighting? Just thieves - or something more than thieves? 

Perhaps behind all the hassles of being a missionary lie malevolent spiritual powers that target servants of God to defeat, discourage and destroy them. Perhaps the one who comes to “Steal, kill and destroy” was in the mind or the heart of the person who snatched my cell-phone as I stepped out of the taxi today. Maybe…

In the verses we are looking at today Paul emphasizes concepts such as:  “be strong” , “be able to stand”, “be able to withstand”,  “in the power of His might”, and “wrestle”  - its warrior language, the language of conflict and combat where strength is the main virtue. 

Strength is very much a Christian virtue and it underlies the sustainability of all other virtues. The strong Christian holds to God’s will longer than the weak Christian. The strong Christian is not easily overthrown by temptation, or by suffering – or be thieves and robbers. Neither is the strong Christian easily discouraged in the work of God.

How we react “in the evil day” is critical. How do we react when we face corruption or theft or delay or mindless criticism? How do we react to threats to our selves, our property, our ministry or our reputation? Evil will attack and sometimes will succeed – so how will we handle it? At the moment I feel discouraged but I am fighting back that discouragement because I know it will do me no good. How do you react when things go wrong?

Armor is the stuff that makes us tough. The swords and shields and boots are all there to make us tough to deal with in battle. Christians are to be spiritually tough and resolute. We should be able to take a few hits – and dish them out as well! When evil strikes we are to strike back – but spiritually, not physically! 

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the world's rulers, of the darkness of this age, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” (Ephesians 6:12)  

In other words our main battle is in our spirit, in who we are as a person and for who we are as a person. The battle is also external to us in resistance to powers and principalities that dominate cities, districts and even entire nations. These spiritual beings create an atmosphere of entrenched evil and hopelessness and a feeling of defeat. The give the impression that nothing will ever change and that the evil will never lift and all that can be done is to accept it. 

But Paul says we are to fight. We are to wrestle the demons into the dust and pulverize them like a mighty gladiator at war.  We are not just to accept evil, but to wrestle it to earth, to pin its arms, to slam dunk it and leg-lock it and render it inoperative.

There is wickedness in high places – in some corporate boardrooms, in greedy, grasping finance houses, in the minds of dictators, in unjust economics, in the machinations of mullahs and the networks of terrorists, drug dealers, the sex trade, illegal arms trade, illegal wild-life trade and the like. The world is in the coils of a dragon and it is we the Church who must slay the beast.

Revelation 12:9-11
(9)  And the great dragon was cast out, the old serpent called Devil, and Satan, who deceives the whole world. He was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
(10)  And I heard a great voice saying in Heaven, Now has come the salvation and power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our brothers is cast down, who accused them before our God day and night.
(11)  And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony. And they did not love their soul until death.

The demonic ream is in layers from grubby little demons indwelling cell-phone snatchers to the cold deadly monsters behind the eyes of Osama Bin Laden.  They inspire a whole agenda of stealing, killing and destroying (John 10:10) and especially work on the deception of leaders and the production of idolatry. (Revelation 13)

Demons resist God – (that’s what “devil” means) and His will and His kingdom. They tempt accuse, sicken and kill. They steal, harass and hinder, they pollute and defile and deny the good at every turn. There is even some justification for the belief that they are assigned against Christian workers if 2 Corinthians 12:7 is translated literally  “an angel of Stan to torment me..”  

Ephesus was loaded with the demonic (see Acts 19:1-41) so Paul told the Ephesians be strong and get tough and put on God’s fighting equipment to deal with the occult powers in your city. Paul did not just sympathize – he energized. The Christians are to be the resistance force in a world dominated by evil powers, and we have no option but to be strong in the power that God provides. Tomorrow we shall look at the armor of God –piece by piece. 

Blessings,

John Edmiston johned@aibi.ph

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