Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. -Eph 6:10-17
Ask yourself this question. Is this pandemic virus God’s doing, or satan’s? God performs no evil. God invents no evil force to send against his people. Satan twists and corrupts God’s creation in order to use it against us, just as he originally twisted and corrupted God’s Word to use against Adam and Eve. We are locked in a spiritual battle as much as a physical/medical/economic battle.
God calls us to be strong in the Lod and in his mighty power. We are to
– Put on the armor or God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.
– Remember that our struggle is not really against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
– Put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground
– Stand firm therefore
– With the belt of truth buckled around your waist. The belt of the truth is the Gospel of Christ. It is the truth that eclipses every other truth in the universe.
– With the breastplate of righteousness in place. We wear Christ’s perfect righteousness as his gift to us. We are righteous in God’s sight through faith in Christ- through confidence in what he has done for us on the cross and in his resurrections.
– With your feet fitted with the ….. gospel of peace. We are to be an active, moving people. Not content to sit on the Gospel treasure, but to move it forward to the nations as if our feet were equipped with the very Gospel of Jesus Christ.
– Take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. The fiery missiles of the evil one have no effect against faith. It is like firing burning arrows into a pool. They are extinguished immediately. So the fiery darts of temptation and evil fired at us from Satan are extinguished by faith in Christ. Let Christ be on your mind, in your heart, and on your lips continually.
– Take the Helmet of salvation. The sure knowledge of salvation in Jesus Christ defends our heads, our minds, against all the tricks of Satan. His final goal is to get us to doubt Christ’s salvation for us on the cross. But we wear His salvation as an iron helmet. Heavy, impenetrable, unmovable. Do whatever you choose to do against me, but you cannot penetrate the Helmut of salvation, which holds the cross of Christ before my eyes every minute of every day.
– And take the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of the God. All the other bits of equipment mentioned were defensive. The Sword of the Spirit alone is our offensive weapon. It is the Word of God. It moves mountains, calms the troubled breast, brings God’s defense, converts the stone hearted, and establishes god’s kingdom of grace where it before has not existed. What a magnificent privilege to wield the Sword of the Spirit. Let the nations be baptized and let them be taught everything whatsoever Jesus taught. Let every argument pf the atheist or doubter be quieted. Do you have the Sword of the Spirit? Do you know God’s Word? What can you do to learn and know it better? How can you wield a mighty weapon you’re not familiar with? If you we are weak spiritually; it is because you have chosen to be weak. We have not sufficiently fortified ourselves with knowledge of the Word of God. Now is the time to seize the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.
Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for equipping us for the constant fight against the evil One. Help us to strap on every bit of equipment you provide. Lastly. Teach us your Word, that we might take up the Sword of the Spirit and lay waste to Satan’s kingdom of lies and unbelief. Amen.
-Pastor Anderson