Title: Spiritual Armament
Content br> Most of the Christians, as children of God, do not enjoy the joy and meaning of the abundant life that He gives to children, and live suffering in the chains of repeated sins. This is the bondage of wearyness of sinning, repenting, and forgiveness, and sinning, repenting, and receiving forgiveness. In this type of religious life, instead of enjoying the blessings of faith and the spiritual privileges of the believer, we have no choice but to live with the heavy burden of believing in Jesus and living in the guilt, fear and pain of sin for the rest of our lives. Clearly, Jesus, who died for our sins, said, “I came that they might have life, and have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).
Jesus also promised peace of mind to those who believe.
“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid” (John 14:27).
Of course, believers can and do sin. Even though all sins are forgiven through faith in Jesus, they commit sins again. However, there is a big problem with being so powerless, committing sins, and living in spiritual pain. Jesus, who has saved us from all our sins, doesn't want us to sin against the devil. The holy Lord wants His children to live holy lives without sinning.
“Because Christ has already suffered in the flesh, in the same spirit, put on your armor, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased to be a sinner, and thereafter the rest of the flesh is no longer pursued by the lusts of men, but according to the will of God. The time is enough for the time passed when you went after the will of the Gentiles, in your sexual immorality, lust, drunkenness, licentiousness, liaison, and lawless idolatry” (1 Peter 4:1-3).
In order for us to not sin as children of God and live the rest of our body, we must fight against Satan, who persistently tempts us to sin. And you have to win. What must we do to win this spiritual warfare? The Bible teaches us how to win the war against Satan.
First, we must understand the reality of spiritual warfare and the war that believers must fight.
Spiritual warfare is definitely there. The enemy of the saints in this war is Satan.
“To be able to resist the schemes of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11), “to be able to resist in the evil day” (Ephesians 6:13), “Our wrestling is not over flesh and blood, but principalities and powers” and against the rulers of this darkness, and against the spirits of evil in the heavens” (Ephesians 6:12).
If you do not know the reality of spiritual warfare, you cannot prepare for this war. We must admit that this war is clearly with believers. And we should also know that the enemy we will have to fight in this war is Satan and his hordes and evil spirits. The spirit of an unbeliever has no war with Satan. because they are on the same side. However, those who become children of God have become enemies of Satan and must fight against Satan. Therefore, this war is the mission and privilege of the saints. Satan deceives. They deceive themselves into believing that there is a spiritual warfare. They deceive themselves as friends, not enemies. Believe in Jesus, go to church, live in peace, and live as it is. I mean, you don't have to live like that. But the Bible commands Christians.
“Oppose the devil” (James 4:7), “Strengthen the faith, oppose him” (1 Peter 5:9), “Fight the good fight of the faith” (1 Tim. 6:12)
Second, we need to know what our enemy Satan is.
Knowing your enemy is essential to victory in war. If you know what weapons your enemy has, what their tactics are, and how strong your enemy is, you will win the war. To be victorious in our spiritual warfare, we must know our enemy, Satan.
Who is Satan? Satan is a deceiver. One of Satan's main weapons is deception. Satan deceived mankind from the Garden of Eden. He still deceives people.
“The serpent said to the woman, “You will never die, for God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:4-5).
“You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and cannot stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. became a father” (John 8:44).
“The great dragon was cast out, and the old serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world, was cast out to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him” (Revelation 12:9).
Satan is the tempter. Satan, who made even Jesus the Son of God the object of temptation, targets and tests everyone.
“At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (Matthew 4:1).
Satan is preying on human souls. Satan's food is not bread, meat, or alcohol. His prey is the soul of a man.
“Be sober and watchful, your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).
Satan destroys body and soul.
“When he came, the demon knocked him down and gave him severe convulsions.” (Luke 9:42)
Satan planted his sons in the congregation of saints and made them work for him.
“The field is the world, and the good seed are the sons of the kingdom, the weeds are the sons of the evil one, the enemy who sowed the weeds is the devil, the harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers are angels” (Matthew 13:38-39)
Satan is a tempter to sin.
“Of all the wild beasts that the Lord God had made, the serpent was the most cunning. The serpent asked the woman, “Did God really say to you, You must not eat from any tree in the garden?” (Genesis 3:1)
Satan is the one who gives people a heart to sin.
“The devil had already put in the heart of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon to betray Jesus” (John 13:2).
Satan is at work in the hearts of unbelievers.
“In those days you walked in them, following the customs of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2).
Satan is very good at pretending.
Satan is the one who blocks the work of God.
“Therefore, I, Paul, wanted to come to you once and twice, but Satan stopped us” (1 Thessalonians 2:18).
Satan blocks the power of the Word to unbelievers.
“If our gospel is obscured, it is hid from those who are perishing, among whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of those who do not believe, so that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ cannot shine on them, for Christ is the image of God.” 2 Corinthians 4:3-4)
Satan takes away the words that are sown in people's hearts.
“When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and takes away what was sown in his heart, which is the one sown by the wayside” (Matthew 13:19).
Satan deceives even those who believe.
“False christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect” (Matthew 24:24).
Satan is a powerful man.
“The coming of the evil one is according to the works of Satan, with all powers and signs and false miracles” (2 Thessalonians 2:9).
“They will open their eyes to turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive the forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me” (Acts 26:18).
“All this authority and its glory I will give to you, saying, ‘This has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I want’” (Luke 4:6).
“Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, the rulers of this world of darkness, and the evil spirits in the heavens” (Ephesians 6:12).
Satan is a man of tricks.
“Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist the schemes of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11).
“The trick” in this verse is “methodeia” in the original Greek New Testament text. The word is a compound word of the preposition “meta” (meta, with, with) and the noun “hodos” (hodos, way, way). Its meaning is “method”, “means”, “skill”, “craftsmanship”, “cunning technique”, “cunning”, “scheme”, etc. It is Satan, who has such great power, deceit, and cunning schemes, that we, as saints, must fight.
This enemy is not a good foe. It's never been sloppy. This is an enemy that should not be overlooked. You must fight this enemy. In Ephesians 6:12, the phrase “our wrestling” is recorded. The original New Testament text for “ssireum” is “pale”. This meaning is not a weak meaning of wrestling, but a “fight” or “blood battle” between gladiators in Roman times. Our spiritual warfare is not a game. Our spiritual warfare is literally “pale”.
Third, we must be strong in the Lord by the Lord's power.
“In the end you will be strengthened in the Lord and in the power of his might” (Ephesians 6:10).
In order to win a war, the soldiers who fight must be strong. A soldier cannot win a war if his health is weak and he cannot control his own body. So when recruiting soldiers, a weak person cannot become a soldier. At the time of Paul, the soldiers of the Roman Empire, who boasted powerful military power in the Mediterranean, were strong men. When Paul wrote these words, he may have been thinking of powerful Roman soldiers. Paul said that in order to win the spiritual war against Satan, we must be strong. But that strength can only be strengthened by the power of Jesus in Jesus. We receive important spiritual truths in these words. The fact is that we cannot fight Satan in our own strength.
We do not have the strength to fight and win the spiritual warfare. We cannot alone be enemies of Satan. If we fight only with our own strength, we will be defeated by Satan. Will you fight with your physical strength? Will you fight with philosophy? Will you fight the law? Degree