WAGING WAR IN HEAVENLY PLACES WITH THE UNSEEN HOSTS OF DARKNESS (Suggested Reading: 6:10-24)
Paul tells us that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. That is, it is God breathed it comes from the Holy Spirit, is the imperishable written Word of God, and is for eternal service. But God also allowed it to be written by men like us, with distinctive styles of writing, whose thoughts, under God, were molded by impressions from their daily lives. These impressions came both from education and training in divine things and from their circumstances and experience of life. We see this in Paul, who wrote this letter to the Ephesians from his prison in Rome. One indelible impression was that of the Roman soldiers who guarded him constantly covered in armor which he vividly describes here. The other impression was his recollection of Israel's wars with the seven nations in Canaan, in Joshua's time. Both these impressions run into one another in the passage we are about to consider.
Carnal Warfare in Canaan and Spiritual Warfare in Heaven
The cause of war is the clash of opposing wills. And the great subject in Ephesians is the will of God*l which is vigorously resisted by Satan. The will of God for Israel His earthly people was to bring them into Canaan; the will of God for the Church His heavenly people is to bring us into the heavenly places where He already sees us.
But in divine wisdom God does not exert His will until He first teaches us His ways. When God saved Israel from the slavery of Egypt He could have brought them instantly into the promised land for such was His will for them; when God saved us He could have taken us to heaven at once, for that is His will for us too. But in His ways toward both Israel and the Church He chose to test His people in this world. This testing makes clear the poverty of our hearts toward Him and the richness of His heart toward us overflowing in grace. That is why He let Israel wander forty years in the desert, and why we have to pass through this world too. Wasn't the walk of the Christian the subject of the preceding chapters? Of course it is not wilderness experience there but rather the walk of the heavenly man on earth. Still, what figure can walking convey to our minds except going from one point to another? It is not the will of God that we should settle down in this world but rather that we should walk through it as Christ walked until we too reach the same destination as our Head. Again, when Israel entered the Promised Land their battles began. When Joshua was near Jericho he met a man with a drawn sword, who told him he had come as Captain of the Lord's army Josh. 5:13, 14. So with us. Ephesians finds us in heavenly places in Christ at the beginning where the will of God is unfolded. It is fitting that we should be found in heavenly places at the end too. We cannot lose our standing in heavenly places in Christ. At the beginning, though, we are before God in rest; at the end we are before the devil in combat. He opposed Israel's entrance into the land and he opposes us in the True Canaan the heavenly places.
There are important differences, however. First, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal as Joshua's were. Secondly, Israel drove out the original inhabitants of the land with the sword. But the original inhabitants of heaven are the angels, many of whom are fallen and, under Satan's leadership, in rebellion against God. We are not called upon to drive them out as Joshua did. Michael and the holy angels will do that for us some day Rev. 12:7-12. All God asks us to do is to stand to hold firm against them in this evil day when Satan accuses us before God day and night Rev. 12:10. Satan's hosts are against us but we are not to yield heavenly ground for it belongs to us "our struggle is not AGAINST blood and flesh, but AGAINST principalities, AGAINST authorities, AGAINST the universal lords of this darkness, 'AGAINST spiritual power of wickedness in the heavenlies." The mind of Christ is that we take the whole armor of God in our struggle against the powers of darkness.
If Paul reverted in his mind to Joshua's war in Canaan, surely his circumstances made another and equally strong impression. This would be the battle gear of the Roman soldiers who guarded him, the clank of their armor, the tramp of armed soldiers. But the thoughts which formed in his mind were not of these carnal weapons but of the spiritual ones God has given us. So he opens the subject of "the whole armor of God." This contains a sword an offensive weapon which might make us wonder why it is included as armor. But the expression is a wide ranging one just as soldiers today call tanks "the armor" or talk about "the first armored division" etc. even though tanks are really designed for attack, not defense. "The whole armor of God" in Ephesians then, is the spiritual counterpart of what a combat soldier would draw from Quartermaster stores if his regiment were mobilized his complete fighting kit. He would be responsible to maintain every item and carry it in its proper place. He would not be properly dressed, as soldiers say, if a single item were missing. With us the armor is all figurative, but it has deep moral teaching.
Our Struggle
The full armor of God speaks of the Christian's state of soul. This is what he must pit against the devil who may know him better than he knows himself. He only has to detect some piece of armor we have forgotten to put on and he is ready to probe the weak spot. The devil doesn't care how much truth you have as long as you don't practice it. We cannot fight the Lord's battles unless we are in communion with Him. What we really are before God shows up when we are in combat with Satan. If we are walking with God the Scripture will apply "resist the devil and he will flee from you" James 4:7. He flees because he has no armor to shield him from our great offensive weapon the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. That is the weapon the Lord used against Satan in the temptation. On the other hand if we do not resist him he will soon make us run away from him. Then he can wound us easily for God does not issue us armor for our backs. In other words Satan can only wound us if he can reach our flesh. He cannot harm us if our practical life clearly shows that we are in Christ.
To stand against an enemy a soldier must know something of his battle tactics. The Scripture briefs us about these. We are told that Satan always comes at us in one of two ways as an angel of light to deceive, to corrupt with guile or subtlety as he did to Eve in Eden see 2 Cor. 11:14 or if that tactic fails, as a roaring lion 1 Peter 5:8 attacking us and persecuting us violently. The whole armor of God is our only protection against either form of attack. We put it on to protect us from his angel of light character 6:11 and against his roaring lion character too 6:13, 16. His wiles are traps, lures, ambushes raising doubts in our minds as to the purpose of life or whether God cares for example when we see incomprehensible things happening like a promising young man killed accidentally and an apparently useless old man living on and on. Or it may be stirring up heresies and evil doctrines in the Church, or getting Christians to dissipate their strength by fighting one another on remote points of doctrine. He has his bait ready for the careless in the world too success, promotion, ambition, the love of money, carnal and mental allurements. These are only a few examples of the hidden traps he springs on the unwary. His fiery darts are more offensive weapons. He might raise up enemies against us, or tribulation in the flesh as in Job's case. How successful he was with Job's wife, whose advice to her husband was "curse God and die" Job 2:9, not understanding that Satan caused Job's troubles.
The devil also has innumerable evil spirits under his command in this spiritual warfare. Our struggle is not with men of flesh and blood. Hitler once wrote a book called "Mein Kampf" "my struggle" which became a Bible to his followers. But this is "our struggle" 6:12 and it has been written for Christ's soldiers. Our struggle is not against men we can see but against the devil's armies "against spiritual (power) of wickedness in the heavenlies." In God's eyes they are usurpers there for He sees us seated in heavenly places in Christ. Therefore we are not to give up the heavenly ground on which He sees us but to hold onto it against our diabolical enemies. They will try to coax us off it by subtlety or force us off it by open warfare. We are not ordered to advance against them that is take the offensive but to stand. This is because we are seated in heavenly places in Christ. It goes without saying that there can be no advance beyond that standing. So Paul commands us time and again TO STAND not to give up in practical life the standing in the heavenly places God has given us. This command TO STAND rings out time and again, as from a soldier's superior officer when his men are under fire. First it is that we may be able to stand verse 11 Then that we may be able to withstand verse 13 that is resist both appeals in connection with putting on the first three parts of our armor. Then having accomplished all things we are to stand verse 13. "Stand, therefore" says Paul.
The order in which the parts of the armor is put on is moral. It is unlikely that a Roman soldier would pick up his shield before putting on his helmet, for example. But this is divine armor, and the order of dress is arranged to teach us how to survive in spiritual warfare. Our battle orders begin with "be strong in the Lord, and in the might of His strength.*2 It is His armor we are to wear the armor of God not our armor. We are exhorted to put on the armor so we can stand against the devil. Then the devil's fighters are identified wicked spirits and this is given as an additional reason to take the armor of God "in the evil day." Finally Paul describes the armor of God.
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The Seven Parts of “The Full Armor of God" 6:14-18
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The four things which maintain our state of soul when attacked
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Stand, therefore, having girt about your loins with…….TRUTH
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And having put on the breastplate of …………RIGHTEOUSNESS
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And shod your feet with the preparation of the glad tidings of………PEACE
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Besides all these having taken the shield of……..FAITH
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The three things which help us repulse our foes
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Receive the helmet of……….SALVATION
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And the sword of the……..SPIRIT
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Praying at all seasons in the……….SPIRIT
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Paul first writes about those parts of the armor which morally strengthen the Christian soldier against the stratagems and assaults of the unseen enemy. The armor serves three purposes to protect us against the devil's cunning v.11 to protect us against his spiritual allies in evil, the wicked spirits vs. 12, 13, and to protect us against his outright attacks v.16.
Truth, Righteousness, Peace and Faith—the Things Which Maintain Our State of Soul When Tempted or Attacked
The girdle of truth. From ancient times men knew that they could amplify their physical strength for a task by girding their bodies "gird up now your loins like a man" Job 38:3. In modern times we strengthen sagging muscles with belts, trusses, corsets, braces, etc. and athletes brace their firm muscles with specially fitted girding devices. So did the Roman soldiers. When on duty they wore the engirdling belt to which Paul refers here, buckled around the waist.
The spiritual application is the heart aroused to attention and expectancy see Luke 12:35 or the mind kept sober 1 Peter 1:13. Our emotions and wills inner thoughts, feelings, affections, purposes whatever is circulating in the heart and mind, must be girded that is subjected to the Truth to the revelation of God to divine principles and precepts. This will produce practical godliness. Just as a belt around his waist strengthened the Roman soldier, so the application of the truth to our inner thoughts and emotions strengthens us in combat with Satan. What do I want of his world, for example, when my desire for it is bridled by a Scripture such as "love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him" 1 John 2:15.
If we do not control our thoughts and emotions we are like the soldier who neglects to buckle on his engirdling belt, and so cannot amplify his strength in battle. When Satan is expelled from heaven with his hosts Rev. 12:7-9 and we are in our Father's house we can un-gird ourselves like the Roman soldier at rest in his barracks. For then we will not have the flesh in us to contend with the inner enemy or Satan the outer enemy. Then our warfare will be over. But in the meantime the warning note sounds out "but be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if any man be a hearer of the Word, and not a doer, he is like a man observing his own face in a mirror who looks at himself and goes away, and immediately forgets what he looks like James 1:22-24.
The breastplate of righteousness. This is practical righteousness, not the righteousness of God we have in Christ. Conclusive proof of this is that we don't wear the armor before God but before Satan. The righteousness of God is the subject of Romans, not Ephesians, which does not consider the question of man's responsibility. In Romans we are told to put on the armor of light Rom. 13:12 needed in the night. Nothing is said about it, for the devil cannot touch those who are protected by the light of divine righteousness.
However Satan is quick to see failure in practical righteousness in a Christian's life. Here failure to put on the breastplate is more related to neglect of the exhortations in Chapters 4, 5, and the beginning of Chapter 6. But an attack can come even if our motives seem unclear to worldly people, who after all are only Satan's pawns although they do not know it. As a boy I recall a wealthy old Christian whom I will call 'Sam' here to prevent identifying him. In spite of his riches Sam dearly loved the Lord and liked to preach the gospel on the street. The regular crowd of trouble makers who came to the preaching tried to discourage him. Their tactic was to fill all their pockets with coins before they arrived. Then when Sam started to preach they would jingle the coins and chant "how about the money, Sam, how about the money?" Since Sam made his money honestly he did not let this opposition stop him. But the devil knows our weak spots. He wants to wound as many of Christ's soldiers as possible. We must wear the breastplate of righteousness. Note too that each piece of armor we put on is one step closer to the use of all the armor in open warfare... Army boots The Roman legions were famed for long, forced marches over rugged terrain. Their sturdy boots were built to take this punishment. Our feet are fitted with the preparation of the gospel of peace. We must have applied the girdle of truth and the breastplate of righteousness to ourselves before we are prepared to preach the gospel to others. Bruce says*3 that the Greek word we translate 'preparation' is used of a ship's tackling, is best rendered 'equipment' but may carry the abstract sense of readiness. But if a peaceful walk with God prepares us to carry the gospel of peace to others, open war is near, for Satan is opposed to the gospel. Up to this point we have been considering how to meet the wiles of the devil his 'angel of light' character. But as soon as we put our army boots on and are ready to march into Satan's territory, he changes from an angel of light to a roaring lion, and is now called "the wicked one." We face him in "the evil day" v. 13 his day.
The shield of faith- The weapons of the wicked one are inflamed darts which he hurls at us. In ancient warfare these darts were tipped with incendiary material. When masses of soldiers hurled them they filled the air like a shower of arrows, burning and wounding the unprotected. This form of warfare was the ancient equivalent of the modern flamethrower.
These inflamed darts of the wicked one speak of random, distant, harassing warfare. It is field warfare now, and these weapons are dangerous if they penetrate. They could represent any assault of Satan against the heavenly man. Trials now arise in the circles Paul wrote about the Christian circle, the family circle, the occupational circle. We are to meet them by lifting up the shield of faith with which we will be able to extinguish all the inflamed darts of the wicked one. The shield of faith as a piece of military equipment is distinct from the body armor. It speaks of confidence in God when Satan assails us, and we are having a hard time. We rely on what God has told us of Himself in the Bible. These things are invisible, but that is just the point. The fiery darts are visible faith, the guiding principle by which the just lives, is invisible. Faith counts on the ultimate triumph God has promised us and extinguishes the fiery trials of the moment.
The Assurance of Salvation, the Scriptures and Prayer—the Things Which Help Us Repel the Attacks of Our Foes
There has been a gradual progression in Satan's warfare. First he engaged in skirmishes guerrilla warfare traps and ambushes. This is implied in "the wiles of the devil" 6:11. When the whole armor of God foiled this he came into the open in field warfare. He was met once more with the whole armor of God 6:13. Now he prepares for close, hand-to-hand fighting. But we have the helmet of salvation to protect us the sword to drive him away. Satan has no sword. He is at a disadvantage if we know how to wield the Sword of the Spirit against him. His weapons are fiery darts, which speak of distant warfare. If he comes close to us as the imagery suggests he does, we have a weapon for hand-to-hand fighting, and he has none.
The helmet of salvation is linked with the last two pieces of armor the Sword of the Spirit and prayer. The helmet of salvation is confidence that we are secure. This assurance comes from reading the Bible the Sword of the Spirit. Here we receive battle orders from our superior officer and then report back to Him in prayer. We do not fight alone any more than the Roman soldier, who was in constant communication with his Centurion in battle. If we try warfare in our own strength we may share the sad fate of a Christian man whom my father-in-law found in a jail where he used to preach. Asked how he ever got into such a place he replied "lack of reading the Word of God and prayer.”
The helmet of salvation -Though the soldier holds his shield up and quenches the fiery darts, he still wants to know where they are coming from. To look out he must expose his head. But this is covered by the helmet of salvation, saving him from a serious wound. The helmet of salvation speaks of absolute confidence in our personal salvation in the finished work of Christ on the cross who died for our offenses but was raised again for our justification. We know that the blood of Christ has washed our sins away and so Satan has no real power over us now cannot deliver a vital blow. We are assured of victory, for Christ has met Satan before and overcame him, and we are in Christ. Note that this is the knowledge of these things not the things themselves, which are dealt with in Romans.
It is the knowledge that all is settled to God's satisfaction. My responsibility as a man is never the subject in Ephesians.
The Sword of the Spirit. The most feared of all weapons at close quarters was the Roman short sword in the strong trained hands of the legions. It was pointed at the end for a piercing thrust, and tapered to a cutting edge on both sides. It is this latter feature which the Scriptures draw to our attention "the Word of God is living, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" Heb. 4:12. It is two-edged because it can cut at our flesh as well as at our enemies. The Lord used the Sword of the Spirit against Satan in the temptation driving him away. We find Him judging the Church and smiting the nations with it in Rev. 1:16 and Rev. 19:15 respectively.*4
The Sword of the Spirit is not meant to be kept in its scabbard. From earliest youth our children are to be taught how to fight with this weapon -6:4. Parents must read the Bible to their children constantly, teach it to them, encourage them to memorize Scripture so they can quote it later. This may be compared to oiling and honing the sword. Then when our children are saved, the Scriptures they have imbibed from infancy will be explained to them by the Holy Spirit, who will then indwell their bodies. He is the real Teacher. It is His sword not ours. The Bible is the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God.
We also profit from those who give us instruction in the use of the Sword of the Spirit. The young soldier must learn swordsmanship, and honor those who have instructed him Heb. 13:7. Our fencing masters are to be counted worthy of double honor 1 Tim. 5:17. Diligence in studies brings God's approval 2 Tim. 2:15. Then the time comes when we leave the training barracks behind and go out with drawn sword on the battlefield to meet the wicked one and the evil spirits under his command. We tend to think of the battlefield as the world because in a practical sense that is where we meet conflict. But God looks at the source of the opposition to us the wicked one and his fallen angels in heavenly places. It is the heavenly places we now occupy in God's eye which Satan contests. He does not want man to stand on heavenly ground.
Prayer and supplication in the Spirit Prayer is our great unseen weapon against Satan. Paul stresses earnestness in prayer "praying at all seasons" "watching unto this very thing with all perseverance." It is the fervent supplication of the righteous man which has much power see James 5:16 for great is our adversary. The end of Ephesians finds us praying before God and armed before Satan. If we are to enjoy our standing at the beginning of Ephesians then our moral state at the end of Ephesians must correspond to it, or we cannot resist Satan. Satan will not allow us to enjoy heavenly things undisturbed. Christ, on the other hand, gives us His place (heaven) and His power (the Holy Spirit) to repel Satan's attacks. The Christian soldier arms himself for conflict, but it is Satan who launches the attacks on him. Why? There are several reasons but they really center on one our union with Christ in the heavenlies. Because of this we displace Satan and his fallen angels, in God's eyes, from the heavenly realms they now occupy. But morally we also displace them from the earth too, by obeying God's precepts in a world he still rules as god and prince. Morally, then, he finds the heavenly man displacing him in both heaven and earth that is universally. He knows that one day we will displace him actually from both places when we receive our inheritance 1:10. He will not willingly surrender his authority, which he wields not only over evil spirits but over the world and the flesh.
Victory Over the World, the Flesh, and the Devil
THE WILL OF GOD
1:4 according as He has chosen us in Him
5 according to the good pleasure of His will
7 according to the riches of His grace
9 according to His good pleasure
11 according to the purpose of Him who works all things
PAUL'S FIRST PRAYER
19 according to the working of the might of His strength
THE WORLD AND THE DEVIL
2:2 according to the age of this world
2:2 according to the ruler of the authority of the air
3:3 according as I have written before briefly
7 according to the gift of the grace of God 11 according to the purpose of the ages
PAUL'S SECOND PRAYER
16 according to the riches of His glory
20 according to the power which works in us
PAUL AND THE EPHESIANS
4:7 according to the measure of the gift
16 according to the working in its measure
21 according as the truth is in Jesus
THE FLESH
22 according to the former lifestyle
22 according to the deceitful lusts
24 according to God is created
6:5 according to the flesh
We have prepared a chart which makes this startlingly clear to the eye. Here the setting of the verses visually demonstrates the battle between prayer and Satan's efforts to nullify the power of prayer. The natural man thinks prayer is weakness but "My strength is made perfect in weakness" 2 Cor. 12:9. If it took a strong man to wield a Roman short sword, it takes a stronger man to wield the Sword of the Spirit. Prayer and the Sword of the Spirit go together. Prayer supplies the strength and energy to wield the Sword of the Spirit against Satan. Notice how the divine arrangement of the verses in the chart illuminate the battle between prayer and the devil's attempts to oppose it. What is of God and what is of the devil is in harmony with ("according as" or "according to") good or evil. The workings of God and the workings of Satan clash openly. Following the first apostolic prayer the world and Satan's authority over it is introduced in the text, showing him as the evil influence who would hinder the first prayer if possible. How? By offering the present world as an alternative to the heavenly places and our inheritance the very things Paul was praying that the Ephesians might understand. Paul's second prayer was that the Ephesians might be strengthened with power by the Holy Spirit in the inner man 3:16 our holy and spiritual nature. Satan counters this by offering the flesh instead the corrupt old man with his deceitful lusts. The world, the flesh and the devil, then, are the things which Satan offers to lure the Christian away from the understanding of Ephesian truth and the practical application of it in his life. The Apostle's prayers are still efficacious against these allurements.
Paul, As the General of the Lord's Armies, Longs to Besiege Satan's Fortifications in the World in Scripture the Battle Between David and Goliath Is a Distinct Foreshadowing of the Warfare Between Christ and Satan. David Stunned Goliath With One Stone, and He Fell a Figure of Christ Overcoming Satan at the Temptation. Then David Cut off Goliath's Head With His Own Sword a Figure of Satan's Power of Death Annulled at the Cross "That Through Death He Might Destroy Him Who Had the Power of Death, That Is the Devil, and Deliver Those Who Through Fear of Death Were All Their Lifetime Subject to Bondage" Heb. 2:14,15. That Is Why, As Ephesians Closes, the Christian Has a Sword but Satan Hasn't, and Must Fight From a Distance, Hurling Fiery Darts.
Paul exhorted the Ephesians to fight defensive warfare, holding their ground when attacked. He himself wanted to take the offensive. He wanted to be certain that the Ephesians wouldn't yield ground so he would be free to make further conquests. So he urges the Ephesians to pray for him to make war against Satan in the world "that utterance might be given to me, that I might open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of Christ, for which I am an ambassador in bonds. That therein I may speak boldly, as I aught to speak." The acts of the Apostles is the record of Paul's open warfare against a world ruled by Satan. It explains the siege warfare he wrote about in 2 Cor. 10:4 "for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds." The two church epistles, Ephesians and Corinthians, thus give us a picture of a militant Church in Ephesians standing against Satan's attacks in Corinthians attacking and demolishing his fortifications in the world. Our study here really ends with Paul, a prisoner of war, longing for combat as the chief soldier of Jesus Christ. So he asks the Ephesians to pray for him that he might speak boldly again in renewed warfare against Satan.