Ephesians 6:11-1711Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 15And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: (Ephesians 6:11‑17)
We read of the “armor” God gives each one who believes the Lord Jesus, to protect from the “wiles” of Satan: the girdle of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, shoes of the gospel of peace, and the helmet of salvation; then he is to take the shield of faith.
All those are things we cannot see, yet if we “put them on” we find they fully protect. In our every day life there are things we do not see of greater force and use than many things we see, as air, wind, waves of sound, eleric current, etc. So truth, righteouess, peace, faith have wonderful power.
Most soldiers have more than one weapon, but only one is given the Christian, and not like any other; it is “the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.” That means the words of God written in the Bible are as a sword against Satan; they were told to men by the Holy Spirit, and it is the Spirit that teaches their meaning, and how to use them.
If a soldier knows what weapons, and plan his enemy will use, he can more promptly resist him: the plans and weapons of Satan are told in the Bible, so “we are not ignorant of his devices” (2 Cor. 2;11). It was written that he spoke through a serpent to Eve, the first woman, to cause her to doubt God’s words and His goodness, and that is shown to be his plan, although he uses different ways.
Satan’s first words to Eve were with ridicule and doubt, “Yea, hath God said?” Genesis 3:11Now the serpent was more subtile than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? (Genesis 3:1). He was doubting God’s command to Adam that they should not eat of the one tree of the garden (Gen.. 2:16,17). He wanted her to think God was not good to do that. God had said, “In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die (or, dying thou shalt die); Satan told Eve, “Thou shalt not surely die.” Yet Eve died.
All that God had said and done for Adam and Eve was for good; all Satan said was for harm, and all that is told of him afterward shows the same deceit and falseness; even to the Lord Jesus he spoke in doubt of God’s words that Jesus was His Son, and with deceit; when he quoted the scriptures he did so wrongly (Matt. 4:66And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. (Matthew 4:6)).
So the Word of God warns against Satan, as well as being the “sword” to use against his doubts and deceit; it was the “weapon” which the Lord Jesus used to send him away. We do not know it as He, yet it is what each believer is to use; boys and girls as well as older ones hear Satan’s doubts, they are even printed in many books; doubts of the creation as written, and of many parts of the Bible, and in dishonor to Christ.
To keep such doubts from harming ourselves or others, we must know the true accounts of God’s Word, and meet them with that as a “sword.” We cannot always have the Bible in our hands; the truths are to be in our minds and hearts. Do we not need to read it more, that we may be more skilful as the Lord’s soldiers?
ML 12/03/1944