“Finally, my brethren, be strong IN THE LORD, and in the power of HIS MIGHT. Put on the WHOLE ARMOUR OF GOD, that ye may be able to STAND AGAINST THE WILES of the devil. 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. 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. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the FIERY DARTS of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;”
(Ephesians 6: 10-14 KJV)
In Ephesians 6, Paul is teaching the Ephesians, and also all believers today, a few things. A few VERY IMPORTANT things!
There Is A Real Devil And His Fallen Angels.
We tend to think that people we vote into office, or politicians, or even dictators, are the rulers of this world we live in. However, the Bible clearly states that ‘flesh and blood’ (humans) are not the real rulers and that it is the hidden principalities in high places directing the whole show. Satan is a real being and the Bible says he and his fallen angels are the real ‘rulers of this world’ and have been given a certain amount of influence and power in the ruling of this world we live in. There are many names describing this angel in the Bible. Some of the names are Satan, the devil, the adversary, the ruler of this present world, son of the morning, Abaddon (means the destroyer), the accuser, angel of light, the anointed Cherub, the beast, the dragon, the son of perdition, the tempter, the king of Tyre, the Antichrist, the god of this age, deceiver, the father of lies, Beelzebub, the prince of the power of the air and many more. Satan is a very REAL being and he hates us humans! Yes, God ultimately is in full control but Satan has been allowed a certain amount of power to run the world as we know it today. Satan’s rule will not be forever though and it is soon coming to a close.
Satan Wants To Blind Humans From The Only Way To Be Saved.
Satan has one main purpose since he turned against God, and in pride sought to become as God. Many do not know but the Bible tells us that Satan was once the closest angel to the throne of God! In Ezekiel 28:14, Lucifer is described as “…the anointed cherub who covers;…”. We also find in this passage that he was guardian of the very throne of God where it states, “…I established you; You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.”
No other created being was given the intelligence that God gave Lucifer. The very name of this Cherub angel is ‘Lucifer’ which means the “shining one” or “son of the morning” (Isaiah 14:12 ). The Bible tells us that Lucifer was a very beautiful angel and was wise as well, (Ezekiel 28:12). In fact, he was a well respected angel as one of the top angels in the entire angelic creation. But all of that was going to change and in his own beauty he allowed the sin of PRIDE to overcome him.
“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.” (Isaiah 14:12-14 KJV)
Since his fall from Lucifer to Satan (which means our advisory) Satan now has one task and he has been scheming and working his evil ways towards this very goal. What is the goal of Satan? To stop the Gospel of Jesus Christ from reaching the hearts of humankind!
“In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” (2 Corinthians 4:4 KJV)
This is the whole goal of Satan and he using many ‘wiles’ and schemes to deceive unbelievers into not finding the truth of the Gospel of Christ in which people may be saved. And basically, Satan does this through getting people involved and thinking about ANYTHING other than their Salvation. Because as we see in John 3:18,
“He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:18 KJV)
Without accepting the free gift of Salvation from our sin debts against God we stand ALREADY CONDEMNED and headed for the same judgement against Satan himself; the lake of fire and hell for eternity, because our sin debt has not been paid for by Christ when we do not believe in the only atonement for our sins against God; Jesus the Christ, God in the flesh, taking the punishment for our sins on the cross. So all the devil is doing is deceiving and keeping people too busy to see the Gospel. He is blinding unbelievers.
Satan Deceives Unbelievers And Attacks Believers!
Therefore, if Satan’s main goal is to blind men from knowing the truth of Salvation by the Gospel of Christ, who do you think he is mainly focused on attacking? Unbelievers who are already blinded to the truth? Or believers who are telling others the truth of Salvation? Right! BELIEVERS are the main focus of his ‘wiles’ and ‘attacks’ because as Paul wrote,
“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
(Romans 10:17 KJV)
Satan deceives the unbelievers and attacks, and tries to deceive believers, on all fronts to prevent people from hearing the Word of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ unto Salvation.
In Ephesians 6, BELIEVERS are told by Paul to put on the whole armour of God so that we could STAND against the WILES of the devil. The Greek in which the New Testament was penned for the word ‘wiles’ is the Greek word ‘methodeia’ and it’s meaning is ‘to lie in wait, cunning arts, deceit, craft, trickery’. Satan uses many methods to DECEIVE people. Satan has been ruling this world system we live in for thousands and thousands of years now. He has observed every human nature that there is. He has developed many many schemes and evil plans for the one main goal he is working to achieve; spiritual blindness of people from the one way to be set free and saved for eternity and that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
What Is The Purpose Of The Armour Of God?
This may seem an easy question to answer but do you answer this question correctly? You see, there are many pulpits and TV evangelists that are teaching the answer to this question FALSELY! Be sure you use the Word of God in context to base your answer on this question.
Ephesians 6 reads, “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the FIERY DARTS of the wicked.”
Because of this one line of Ephesians 6, many pulpits and Bible teachers have taught that this is all about being able to withstand the troubles of life that the devil throws at believers and that it is all about living a good and happy life of ease since God loves us. Is this true though? Or is that another lie of the devil to deceive believers and prevent them from telling others the message of the Gospel of Christ? I can tell you that this is NOT what Paul is talking about in Ephesians 6!
Think about it a moment. This is called the ARMOUR of God. If a soldier puts on his helmet and his rifle and grenades and army boots, why is he doing that? Is it to go live a life of ease? NO! It means he is preparing for a battle! He is preparing for all out war and he is fighting not just for himself. He is ultimately fighting for a purpose of his leader and for the love of others in his Country. Please get this folks. Paul wants you protected because as Christian believers in the Gospel of Grace, he knows that the devil and his fallen angels are going to attack you in many ways (fiery darts) to prevent you from sharing the Gospel to others. The answer to why we put on the full armour of God is NOT so that we can live a life of ease without troubles but so that we can STAND AGAINST the fiery darts of the devil and so we can boldly proclaim to others how to be saved from our sins.
Have you ever wondered why many believers, who are truly saved and truly love and truly want others to know the truth of Salvation, still freeze in fear in telling others the Gospel? It is FEAR! We see in the Bible that there is The Fear of God that leads to all understanding but that is a fear in respect of who God is and helps a person recognize God and how great He is for saving us through Christ crucified. But the other fear in the Bible is about fear verses love. And what does the Bible say about this fear?
“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” (1 John 4:18 KJV)
“For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.” (Romans 8:15 KJV)
This is where the devil attacks believers. We should be using our FAITH in love which is the opposite of the fear the devil tries to instill in us over many issues of life. And especially when it comes to sharing the Gospel with others. Satan knows this! Now the devil cannot read your mind to instill this fear but he can influence how you think others will react or give you questions about doing so such as, ‘what if I fail to bring them to Christ?’
Remember that even Paul had this same fear! You ask, “Paul had fear to share the Gospel?” Yes he did! Keep reading in Ephesians 6 and you will see that Paul writes,
“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; And for me, that UTTERENCE 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.” (Ephesians 6:19-20 KJV)
Do you see it now? Paul is asking for prayers from believers to give him boldness to preach the Gospel of Grace because he had fear in doing so. Because he did not believe? NO! Because he knew full well there would be opposition and persecution from unbelievers who will not believe the truth of God and in that day the opposition could be grave. Paul was beaten, stoned, jailed and the list goes on and on. He had fear just as you and I do for sharing the Gospel. But in love we need to press forth because the souls of humankind are hanging in the balance.
Put On The Whole Armour Of God So that….
- You are not deceived by the devil, even from pulpits and others who claim to be believers but base Salvation on their works and religious rituals which is a lie straight from the devil. Salvation and justification with God are not by our own efforts in self righteousness. Salvation is a FREE GIFT from God which we can never deserve or merit. (Ephesians 2:8-9 KJV)
- That you may STAND AGAINST the schemes of the devil and his fallen angels. Read the Word of God! It is the only truth we have in this world friend! And this world system is soon going to be replaced by Christ Himself ruling and reigning on the Earth! If you know the truth from the Word of God, the KJV Bible, it empowers us to recognize what the devil is trying to do. And as we read the words of Jesus and abide in them (John 15) we quicken the work of the Holy Spirit to RENEW OUR MINDS to God’s world view (John 17). We change from the inside and conform more and more into the very image of God within us as believers. And then this moves outwardly into good works God has set before us and to help others come to Christ for the FREE GIFT of Salvation.
“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (Romans 12:2 KJV)
