The evening message was brought by Daniel Osborne.
Ephesians 6:10 “finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: 18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; 19 And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.”
The lost person has no battle with the devil. He still has him. However, as a Christian we have battles every day. We face battles of discouragement, fear, depression, and sin. We are to be strong, but how can we overcome?
We have to be enlisted in God’s army. His love was extended to all. Everyone has been given the call, but not all have received it. Paul gives the command to be strong. Here in verse 10 he says “be strong in the Lord.” The word strong means dynamo in the Greek language. We get our word dynamite from it. From the time I was saved at 12 years old until I was 18 I was not a dynamo for the Lord. I struggled. I wondered if I really got saved. Satan was there, and he was my enemy. Ever since we were saved Satan has been after us. Paul says “we wrestle not against flesh and blood.” This is a spiritual battle, and it is with our enemy. Verse 11 points out plainly that the opposing force is the devil and his wiles-his snares. He’s a trickster. Some of the words given to him in the Bible are adversary, accuser, tempter, murderer, liar and father of lies, roaring lion, serpent, and angel of light. He does not have a pointed tail and a pitch fork. He makes it look good. From creation he made things look good. That’s the trick he used on Eve. The devil is not good.
There is a power chain. God is first. Satan is second. We are third. We are no match for the devil, but he does have flaws. He does not know it all. He is not all powerful. He is not everywhere present. God, and God alone, has this power; God is above the devil. Even with the power that Satan does have, in temptation we have a way out. Paul says in I Corinthians 10: 13 “there hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” God provides the way; we have to take it.
We have spiritual equipment to wear. Before he ever tells us to wear it, four times Paul says we are to stand. We can’t stand within ourselves. We need to wear our spiritual armor. Are we spiritual “streakers?” Paul says put on the whole armor of God. Girt our loins. In the ancient world, the girdle held everything in place. Are you girt with truth? If people can’t trust you, God can’t trust you. The Bible is the only way to truth. We need to girt ourselves with it. We must be a people of honesty. We need to wear the breastplate of righteousness. Our righteousness is filthy rags. Only with his righteousness can we stand. The only way we can do it is to trust Christ. We need our feet shod with the gospel of peace. Our foundation is Christ. Without this foundation we cannot stand. We must carry the shield of faith. Without it we cannot trust God; we cannot wear the righteousness of God. In those days a shield covered the whole body of a soldier. When the battle was on, he planted his shield firmly in the ground and stood behind it for protection. God will protect our soul and we can stand. By moving away from the shield we open ourselves to the fiery darts of Satan. They hurt. Could it be that you’ve laid down your shield? Faith is not a leap in the dark; it is a leap into the light. The light is the Lord.
All of the above are defensive weapons. Now we have the offensive ones. Verse 7 says for us to take the word of God, the sword of the Spirit. Hebrews 4:12 says “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Jesus gave us the example in his temptation. Each time the devil tempted him his response was “it is written.” The word of God is our offensive armor. Verse 18 says to pray always. Every soldier must have communication with his leader to be effective or he’ll lose the battle. Prayer is the communication line with God. We must have a good connection with him. There is expectancy. Verses 19-20 say “19 And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.” God wants us to speak for him. Who can we show God to? When we say nothing, sometimes we are not speaking for him as we are expected to do.
In another place Paul said he had fought a good fight; he had kept the faith; he had finished to course. He crossed the finish line. Only faith got him there, and it’s faith that will take us there too. When we’ve lost faith, that’s it; we’ve lost it all. Can you say you’ve kept the faith? When Jesus said “it is finished” he became the anointed one who could save us from our sins. If he can finish we can. Wear our armor for him and finish the fight.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 