Notes:

Spiritual Warfare – Ephesians 6:10-18

• Jesus faced Satan under the same conditions as Adam. Where Adam failed, Jesus prevailed.
• During His life, Jesus only defeated Satan for Himself.
• But through His death on the cross He overcame him for us, (1 Jn.3:8).
• The word ‘destroy’ here is a translation of the Greek word This does not mean to make an end of but to loose, dissolve, sever, untie. We have been severed from Satan’s control, (Acts 26:18;  1 Jn.5:18-19).

We are exhorted to:

• Stand against the wiles of the devil. The only weapon Satan now has is deception. Every other influence that he brings to bear upon the children of God stems from this. He is the Father of lies and has seducing spirits, lying spirits. He deceives by: questioning God’s Word, denying God’s Word, sending false teachers, creating false doctrines,
• Be strong in the Lord. He causes us to triumph. He makes us more than conquerors. He gives us the victory. This is the victory- our faith. So, spiritual warfare is fighting the good fight of faith, (1 Tim.6:12).
• Put on the whole armour of God. It is the armour of God. It is the means by which we can be connected to His grace and power.
• Stand. Be clear about the nature of our warfare. We are not called to defeat Satan; He is defeated. We are facing an enemy who has no authority over us. We are just to stand in the finished work of Christ.

The Armour Of God

• The Belt of Truth. God’s Word is truth. If Satan can get you to believe a lie he can control that part of your life. To combat the deception of the enemy God has given us the belt (tunic) of truth. “Gird up the loins of your minds…” The Christian’s power is in the truth. The truth that sets us free. Regeneration is what God does. Renewing the mind is what we do.
• The Breastplate of Righteousness. Righteousness gives us standing before God. Rom. 10:3. It is HIS righteousness. Righteousness comes by believing in Jesus. It is imputed by faith.
• The Shoes of Grace. Repeatedly we are told to stand against the enemy. But what enables us to stand? The shoes .Rom. 5:1-2. Because of His righteousness we are at peace with Him. The consequence of this is that we have access into God’s grace in which we stand.
• The Shield of Faith. The fiery darts come from all directions. The fiery trial of the enemy. Taking the shield of faith means putting the Lord between me and my circumstances.
• The Helmet of the Hope of Salvation. Focus on the big picture. The final victory has already been assured. Paul says that our present sufferings are not worthy to be compared with our future hope, (v 18). We are not discouraged by the present because of the future, (e.g. Psa.73:1-5, 12-14, 16-18, 23-24;  2 Cor.4:8-10; Gal.6:9;  1 Cor.15:32).
• The Sword of the Spirit. It is the sword of the Spirit because it is His answer to the attack of the enemy we are facing at any given time. For example, Jesus in the wilderness. Satan has power to sow thoughts into the mind, but he does not know how we are responding to those thoughts until we speak out. He is not omniscient. Only God is. When we speak out, then he knows how we are handling his attack. That is why we must do what Jesus did. There are many Christians who are sincere yet are defeated by verbalising defeat, doubts, fears, etc. The secret to victory in any situation is to know what God says and then agree with Him. Don’t agree with the enemy, or even with your circumstances, (Joel 3:10 &  2 Cor.12:9-10).

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