(Before we put on any more of God's armor - postings about armor of God from March 20 through April 17, we need to backtrack and understand who we are fighting against. If we are aware of the forces against us, then our fighting can be focused, enabling us to stand firm.)
Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:11-12 (NKJV)
Against is a word that seems to echo negativity; it’s a stong word and causes one to choose sides. Read the many synonyms that a thesaurus includes for the word against: opposed to, in opposition to, hostile to, averse to, antagonistic toward, inimical (meaning harmful) to, unsympathetic to, resistant to, at odds with, in disagreement with, dead set against, counter to, contrary to, in the opposite direction to. Glancing at all those synonyms seems to make the word against enormous. It begins to generate fear, anxiety, distress, unease, and worry. The enemy forces gain ground and Defeat binds and confines. BUT WE MUST POSITIVELY STAND AGAINST!
The first step in our spiritual battle is to know our enemy; until we know and understand our enemy, we will not be able to defeat him. Jesus knew the enemy that troubled Him in the wilderness and He said, “Get out of here, Satan, for the Scriptures say ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’” Matthew 4:10 (NKJV) General Douglas McArthur said, “The greater the knowledge of the enemy, the greater the victory.” Knowing what we fight against will assist us in our battle strategy and help us to gain victory. Let’s discover what stands against us.
The two verses (above) in Ephesian 6 mention against six times. It tells us that we fight not against flesh and blood, but against the devil and his minions. Ezekiel 28:11-19 and Isaiah 14:9-15 tell us about a beautiful angel named Lucifer who was appointed as a guardian cherub. Evil entered him and pride filled him. He rebelled against God by claiming, “I will be like the Most High!” Because of his sIn (see that big “I” in the middle of sin), God sent him to the place of the dead to reign forever. But Lucifer/Satan (Satan literally means “an adversary”) wants revenge against God and God’s children, so he disguises himself as an angel of light and comes to earth to deceive and destroy. He is called the “father of lies”. Read the following references and make sure that you know your enemy: Genesis 3:13, Job 15:21, John 8:36-47, 2 Corinthians 6:15, 11:1-14, 1 Thessalonians 3:5, 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 1 Peter 5:8, 2 John 7, Revelation 12:10.
All that fights against us is sandwiched between the words stand and stand firm (reread Ephesians 6:10-14). Hear the words spoken to us by our Commander. He says.....
I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith. 1 Timothy 1:18-19 (NIV)
Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 1 Timothy 6:12 (NIV)
And we should not fear because He says.....For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV)
“The fear of the devil is most likely from the devil himself,” said Corrie ten Boom. She definitely overcame fear and trusted in her Lord and Savior. She was a Dutch Christian who helped to hide Jews from the Germans during World War II. She and her sister Betsy were eventually captured by the Nazis and put in a concentration camp. While others were being searched, they managed (with God’s help) to get a Bible into the camp. They proclaimed their faith daily to all the prisoners. Betsy died in the camp and Corrie survived to tell her story to the world. VICTORY in Jesus!
SO do not fear; remember we wrestle a defeated foe. It appeared that Satan had won when Jesus died on the cross. But Jesus Christ arose victorious and we now live in His victory. The battle is won. Watch over God’s Word and fight those skirmishes like a winner. Stand firm against the powers of darkness, believing the Word of the Lord from Romans 8:31-39 (NKJV).
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written:
“ For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
AMEN. YOUR KINGDOM COME, YOUR WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.