Spiritual Battles and How To Be Prepared and Fight Them! - Ephesians 6:10-17

 As Paul ends his letter to Ephesians he finishes with a call to stand strong as a soldier in battle.  All of the equipment he mentions to protect the believer is equipment used in battle.  He will introduce the nature of our battle which is spiritual and the nature of our enemy who has some power and authority in the spiritual realm.  "He says the walk of a Christian is not a walk in the park but a walk in the mine field.  And this battle will last your entire life." (verse by verse)

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Before we think about the battle with our enemy, we need to assess our current resources.  Most important as a believer we have the Lord on our side.  Might is inherent strength. Power is using that might.  God has given us both in Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit.

 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. Notice we have nothing in our natural strength to fight the devil.  Fortunately God has given us a full repertoire of protection and most of all it is "of God". 1 John 4 says, "Greater is he that is in you that he that is in the world."  Like the serpent in the garden, the devil is crafty.  He is a schemer and tries to deceive God's children if they are not aware of his strategies and arguments.

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. Paul now describes the nature of our enemy(s).  We often call this battle "spiritual warfare". The enemy we face is a form of real power in the spiritual realm. No human is as strong as one of these spiritual forces/authorities. Like "angels of light", there different types of dark angels and different levels of authority. Their ruler is "Satan".  "Paul is referring to the hierarchy of demons that serve Satan in an army opposed to God. The Bible says in Revelation 12 that a third of the angelic realm decided to follow after Satan when he fell into sin They elected to worship him as their leader rather than remain aligned to God Almighty" Verse by Verse Commentary The one goal of all these spiritual forces is to knock Christians off from where they stand. We also know that Jesus is more powerful than Satan or any of his demons. They all must answer to him. 

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. Notice the impetus is on each believer to "put on the full armor of God".  We can't be passive or expect God to do our work for us. We don't just need some of the armor God has given us, but all of it.  The "day of evil" refers to our life here on earth.  We will be tested every day, but our goal is not to escape the world  or hide, but to stand up under it.  We don't need to be afraid to stand in the face of our enemy. 

14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, The belt was the part of the outfit that held everything together, including the breastplate  The belt was not a weapon, but held the weapons in place.  The truth is God's Word as incarnated by Christ.  God's Word is the foundation for the battle because it contains the truth.  The devil hates the truth and is a liar from the beginning. 

The breastplace protected the most vital organ, a man's heart.  A Christian is given the righteousness of Christ through faith.  A Christian's righteousness,which has been imputed to us, protects our heart because the devil cannot affect anything regarding our salvation.  That is a done deal because of what Jesus has done for us defeating Satan once and for all on the cross.

15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. The sandals worn by Roman soldiers were extra tough. They were studded with sharp nails to increase traction. They made it possible for armies to march long distances to bring victory to any corner of the empire. (Verse by Verse) The idea Paul is getting across is that if you don't have solid shoes you won't go very far in battle.  The idea is readiness or preparedness.  1 Peter 3:15 uses very similar language, "But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have." As we seek to share the gospel with unbelievers, you can be sure the devil will do anything he can to disrupt us.  We need to be prepared in season and out of season to give a reason for this hope we have in Christ.  In my opinion many Christians are not prepared to share what they believe, and often don't look for opportunities to share their faith with others.  And yet, this the most important and meaningful thing we can do with our lives, and will leave the biggest impact on someone's life.   

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. "The shield Paul describes is not the small round one, but the large, oblong shield that could protect the whole body. In ancient warfare, these fiery darts were launched in great numbers at the beginning of an attack. The idea was not only to injure the enemy, but to shoot at him at all sides with a massive number of arrows, and thus to confuse and panic the enemy." (Guzik)

The faith talked about here is probably not "saving faith", but the ongoing faith/confidence we have in God's promises.  Satan is always trying to undermine our confidence in God's promises.  Even in the garden the first lie he fed Adam and Eve was, "Did God really say you cannot eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Surely you will not die!" Note this shield of faith will protect us again ALL the flaming arrows, not just some of them.

  

17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Like the sword, the helmet protects another vital part of the body, one's head. The helmet prepares us not to be afraid in battle.  Our salvation in Christ assures us that we will be in heaven one day no matter what happens here on earth.  Therefore, we don't have to be afraid of our enemy.  

The last piece of armor is the Sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  The sword was a short dagger like weapon that a soldier could wield in close battle situations.  It is the only offensive weapon mentioned in the armor of God, the rest are defensive.  But any soldier needed to practice to learn how to use it.  Likewise we need to learn the Word of God and be ready to use it in spiritual battle.  "Therefore, effectively using the sword takes practice. The great example of this was Jesus combating the temptation of Satan in the wilderness." (Guzik). Remember to defeat each temptation in Matthew 4, Jesus said, "It is written".  Knowing God's word protected him from buying into Satan's lies so he would trust in God alone.  

How often to you think about the truths Paul has laid out in this passage?  Where are you most vulnerable to the devil's attack?  What is the weakest part of your armor?  Do you use God's Word when you are being tempted to conform to this world and the buy into the enemy's lies?  You don't have to be afraid of the devil. Greater is He that is in you than He that is in the world.  But you to have to be aware and prepared for the battle.  Remember the BATTLE BELONGS TO THE LORD!!!