S.W. In The Armor! Part One “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:10-12 (ESV)
Alright!! The holiday season is history and I guess the Giants won the Super Bowl…so what now? Well there still is the everyday spiritual warfare that needs to be dealt with. As an Eagles fan I have had to endure all the fiery arrows of Giant fans, Cowboy Fans and even do I dare say it…Jets fans. When it is football season I arm myself with the same South Philly banter I was born with and go forward into yet another season where we Eagles fans say “This Is Our Year, Man”. I repeat this, like the insane fan I am, year after year. Yeppers, that is what I do (heavy sigh)…Anyway onward to warfare I mentioned earlier.
Like an offensive line, I believe spiritual warfare is a going forward to the end zone process. When we seriously look at the armor, it is all put on so that the Christian can go forward into battle. If the Book of Romans is meant to guide us into transformation and renewing, the Book of Ephesians is meant to go into battle with. When we wake up in the morning with a renewed and transformed spirit, chapter 6 of Ephesians gets us dress before we even get to the breakfast table. Not that I suggest you eat your Cheerios out of the helmet of salvation with the sword of the Spirit, but you understand what I mean.
This passage of Scripture has been the source root of strength since the early Church. When it seems as if the bowels of Hell had unleashed the warriors of doom and gloom, every theologian and lay Christian will turn to this chapter of Ephesians for guidance from above. Clinton Arnold, author of Ephesians: Power and Magic, says that this Ephesians 6 is “Paul’s call to acquire divine strengthening for the purpose of engaging the spirit-forces of evil (Ephesians 6:10-20). It is not an irrelevant appendix to the Epistle. It is a crucial part of the parenthesis to which the rest of the Epistle has been pointing.” Pretty fancy way of saying Ephesian 6 ain’t no doxology!!
When taking a gander at Acts chapter 19-20, I can see the need for the best armor that Jehovah-jireh can supply. Two years of Nay-Sayers in the synagogue, a riot that broke out in the theater because of some silly silver statue, the shenanigans of those seven sons of Sceva and the giving of the final instructions on defending the Cross to the Ephesian Elders. Paul was at war with the idolatry that had planted itself so deep in the heart of the citizens of Ephesus. The real kicker of it all is that Paul wrote this infamous Epistle from his first Roman imprisonment.
Over the next few Freedom Fighters I would like to share with you some things to consider from verses 10-20 in the six the chapter of Ephesians. We need to be battle ready in these present times and to understand what “The Armor” is meant to do. Hopefully we all will be able to get ourselves together in the morning and go out in the world fitted with what is necessary hold off the prince of the world. In the meantime consider this fact about “The Armor”. It has nothing to cover your back with; all you have is meant to go forward with. – Chris Hughes is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy and serves on the Freedom Fighter writing team.
Team YOU: Joshua 1-3; Proverbs 19; Mark 16
Motivations: “The Word of God is not a dead word or an in effective word. It has life in it. And because it has life in it, it produces effects.”---John Piper
Practice to Remember: Level 1:Ephesians 4:11-12; Level 2: Ephesians 4:1-6
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