...and having done everything, to stand firm.
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 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. 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. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
(Eph 6:10-18 NIV)
Let's break this down in sections.
"be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power" Not my strength. If it is something I can do then it is my
strength.
"Put on the full armor of God". Not some of man's armor and some of God's armor. The FULL armor of God. If you are only partially prepared it will not be good enough.
"the devil's schemes" 'schemes' in the Greek is similar to English 'ambush'. Satan is waiting in ambush for us. It is easy to fight an army, you can see them coming, recognize the maneuvers. But it is difficult to know where a terrorist will strike next. Satan is a terrorist, he does not follow the rules of war, he is not a signatory of the Hague Convention.
"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" Let's make certain that we
know who our enemy is. It's not people
around us, it is not our circumstances, it's not politicians, it's not
laws. It is a SPIRITUAL battle.
"the belt of truth buckled around your waist" Or in the King James, "having girded your loins with truth" 'Gird your loins' is now an archaic
usage. It would have been well
understood up until a few years ago.
When going into a fight, a person would tie their loose clothing tightly
about them so that the sword or knife wouldn't get tangled up in their clothes.
Today, we might say 'we roll up our sleeves' when we get to work, or 'take off
our tie'. The NIV says that we should buckle our belt. We don't want our pants falling down around our ankles, tripping us up. We want to be free to fight, without things getting in the way. And how do we do that? With TRUTH.
We need to immerse ourselves in, KNOW the TRUTH of GOD. We need to speak TRUTH in all our
dealings. We need to be TRUTHfull in all
of our dealings. If you do not KNOW the
TRUTH, if you do not ACT out of TRUTH, you will have all sorts of baggage
tripping you up along the way.
"put on the breastplate of righteousness" The "Breastplate" is that part of
the armor that covers the most sensitive parts of the body. You could get a cut to the leg or arm, even
lose a leg or arm, and under the proper conditions, you could survive. But a wound to the chest or abdomen can be
shortly fatal. Even today, people use
armor to cover the chest first, because it is the most susceptible to fatal
damage. In the Hebrew culture, the "path of righteousness" is the
only safe and true path. Back in
Abraham's day, one of the things required of a shepherd was that he know the paths from one green
pasture to another that were safe, that could be traversed safely by ewes with
lambs, that led to water and food and safety.
A false path might start out looking good, but would lead to danger for
the sheep. If you protect your vital
organs from danger, you have made a great start with your defensive gear. If you have learned how to recognize and stay
on the correct path in life; if you know the signposts along the Kings Highway,
then you will be protecting yourself from danger. This is knowledge, knowing which path is the safe path, the path of righteousness.
"feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace" Or KJV: "shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of
peace". Isaiah 52:7 says: How
beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who
proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to
Zion, "Your God reigns!" Protecting the foot from the stones and
thorns of the path is very important. If
you should bruise your heel or get a thorn in your foot how will you take the
good news of peace with God into every nation?
'Peace' means 'to make as one'. What is the Good News? When we
were yet in our sins, we were separated from God, but God has made a way to be one with
Him thru the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross.
"taking up the shield of faith". The shield was a flexible tool. It could protect any part of the body, or
even your neighbor. It could protect
your back, it could parry the stroke of a sword, defend against the spear,
provide cover from arrows. The word 'faith' comes from the Latin word for
'Trust'. It is our trust that shields
us, our trust that our God is greater than any person, our trust that our God
is greater than any institution, our trust that God is greater than any power
of Satan.
"the helmet of salvation". The helmet protects the
head. A very tempting but relatively
small target. Nearly any injury to the
head can result in death. But Salvation,
or 'deliverance', can protect our mind, our head. Knowing that whatever happens we have already
been saved from eternal punishment, we can continue the battle. Though I be slain, yet shall I live.
"the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of
God". The only offensive tool mentioned in the list, the Sword (which can
be used defensively as well) is the tool used to kill the enemy. Hebrews 4:12 says "For the word of God
is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing even to the
point of dividing soul from spirit, and joints from marrow; it is able to judge
the desires and thoughts of the heart." Knowing what God has said about a subject allows us to use that
knowledge to defeat the enemy. When
Messiah was tempted by Satan he didn’t use logic or emotion to defeat Satan. He used the word of God to defeat Satan.
"pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests". When we look back
at all of God's great leaders, they all spent large amounts of time in prayer
before God. Look at Abraham, Moses,
Joshua, Elijah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Messiah, Peter, John, Paul. A large portion of their lives were spent
before the throne of God, asking Him for direction, guidance, strength. We should do no less. Pray with and
thru the guidance of the Spirit. Not
just praying for ourselves and our physical needs, but also praying for the
advancement of the Kingdom by and in and thru ourselves.
"be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints" And besides praying
for ourselves, praying for the advancement of the Kingdom by and in and thru
all whom we come in contact with, including lifting up our fellow believers wherever they may be.
Back to my original question: What is 'everything'? It is putting on the FULL ARMOR. Have you studied the Scripture? Do you KNOW the truth? Is your TRUST in your Heavenly Father? Are you certain of your deliverance? Are you one in motive with God? Are you actively praying and seeking for the
Kingdom of Heaven in your life and in the lives of others?
Then STAND on that knowledge. It is a firm foundation, given to you by
God. Do not waver (as James says), blown
around by doubts and uncertainty. As you
take care of God's business, he will take care of your business. As you are a valuable servant of God, He will
take care to show how He values you and will take care to increase your value
to Him. While the storms of life are
howling all around us we can be secure in the knowledge that this not a
surprise to our God. He is still in
control, His throne is still secure in Heaven.
Even while Satan is throwing fiery arrows at us, even while things look
bad in the physical realm, God is still in control. He knows that you are sick. He knows that the
rent is due. He knows that the car is
not running, or out of gas. And if you
stand firm, He will take care of His servant.
Continue trusting in Him. Continue
studying His word. Stay in prayer.
