“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armour 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.” (Ephesians 6:11-12)
The fact that Christians are foot soldiers in God’s army cannot be overemphasized. There are many things to fight in this world. Many fight sickness, fatigue, death of loved ones, failure of plans and hopes, questions without answers, and pain without reason. There is also the fight in the spiritual world. Satan and his agents oppose us and seek to sift us and destroy our bodies and souls in the eternal blackness that will be his in the unending grave of torment. For these reasons, every Christian needs to be strong and well equipped with necessary things that will lead him to victory at all times.
There are many kinds of strength. Some people are emotionally strong. Many can handle a lot of pressure, work for long hours, day after day. But the most important one is the strength you need in the Lord. True Christian strength is not of the body. True Christian strength is of the spirit, measured in faithfulness, trust, and perseverance. No wonder Apostle Paul admonishes God’s people in Ephesus to be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. God wants us to be strong in Him because we are in a spiritual battle against the powerful forces of darkness. This is confirmed in verse 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”. These battles take many forms: sexual temptations, serious illness, the loss of a loved one, hatred of others and God, coveting, addictions to alcohol, drug and pornography and pride. All these and many more are planted all over the place by spiritual forces ready to weaken us, cause us to fall, and then trample us under their feet. Being strong in the Lord is the only way to be able to resist the devil and overcome.
How then can we be strong in the Lord? We become strong by relying on God and not on ourselves. We do this by putting on His whole armour as described in Ephesians chapter 6. We must gird our waist with truth. Truth is that revelation of God, found in Christ, and known in the scriptures. We must put on the breastplate of righteousness. If we do it right all the time, we will flourish! The gospel, which is the power of God for salvation to all who believe, must be part of us. We must not forget the shield of faith. Faith is that bond between man and God that pleases God, “For without faith it is impossible to please God,” (Heb. 11:6). With faith, we will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. The helmet of salvation is crucial. The Bible in 1 Corinthians 15: 19 says If you have been in this church for years and you are not sure that if you die today, Jesus will usher you into heaven, then you are to be pitied! There is no greater favour you can do to yourself than to be sure, while you still have the privilege of life, to avail yourself of the salvation which Jesus freely offers. To complete the fortification, you must also embrace the word of God and let it be your compass and constitution. When we take on the full armour, two things happen to us, we will not be exposed or naked and we will not rely on our own strength.
Beloved, having established the need to be well equipped, there is an unfortunate trend in our time and generation which many people in the Church have fallen for. This is the use of many man-made materials, equipments and skills to fight spiritual battles. Something related to this is found in 1 Samuel Chapter 17 verses 38& 39 “ Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armour on him and a bronze helmet on his head. David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them.”I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off” Many people today do not have the courage to reject what the world is offering them as sources of strength to fight the enemy. No wonder it seems God is not as powerful as in earlier times. He remains the All-Powerful God and nothing can reduce His powers but many people we thought and assumed are operating in the world with God’s power and strength, are on their own.
People of God, the strength of man or of the world cannot defeat the devil and his angels; we become victorious only through God’s strength. The Christian armour is made to be worn; and there is no putting off our armour till we have done our warfare, and finished our course. The combat is not against human enemies, nor against our own corrupt nature only; we are dealing with the diabolic (the diabolus) who has a thousand ways of beguiling unstable souls. The devil assaults us in the things that belong to our souls, and labour to deface the heavenly image in our hearts and lives. We must resolve by God’s grace, not to yield to Satan. Resist him, and he will flee. If we give way, he will get ground. If we distrust either our cause, or our Leader, or our armour, we give him advantage. All these can only be done through the strength of God. We are weak in ourselves, but in God these simple weapons — truth, righteousness, the good news, faith, salvation, the Word of God, and prayer — are more than we need to fend off an attack and remain standing at the end of the day. May God grant us the grace to put on these weapons daily and stand ready to fight.
Have a victorious week as you put to use the weapons of defence and attack God has kitted you with as you remain in Christ.
Your brother, Vicar & Archdeacon
S. Igein Isemede.