The Epistle to the Ephesians closes with a striking passage which sets forth the Christian conflict. This conflict is not the exercise of soul that we may pass through in seeking to lay hold of the truth. It supposes that we know and appreciate the wonderful truths of the epistle, and the conflict arises from seeking to retain and maintain these truths in the face of every opposing power.
In the course of the epistle the Apostle unfolds to us our heavenly calling, the inheritance of glory to which we are predestined, the mystery of the church, and the practical life consistent with these great truths. If, however, we are set to enter into our heavenly blessings and to walk in consistency with them, we shall at once find that all the power of Satan is arrayed against us. In his hatred of Christ, the devil will seek to rob us of the truth, or, failing to do this, he will seek to bring dishonor upon the Name of Christ and discredit the truth by bringing about moral breakdown amongst those who hold the truth. The more truth we have the greater the dishonor to Christ if we break down by the allowance of the flesh. We must therefore be prepared to face conflict, and the more truth we have the greater will be the conflict.
In view of this conflict, three things are brought before us: first, the source of our strength; secondly, the character of the enemy with whom we wrestle; thirdly, the armor with which we are provided to enable us to withstand the assaults of the enemy.
(1) the Power of the Lord.
(Eph. 6:1010Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. (Ephesians 6:10)). The Apostle first directs our thoughts to the power that is for us before he describes the power that is against us. To face this conflict we must ever remember that all our strength is in the Lord, therefore Paul says, " Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might." Our difficulty oftentimes is to realize that we have no strength in ourselves. Naturally we should like to be strong in numbers, strong in gifts, or strong in the power of some forceful leader, but our real and only strength is " in the Lord, and in the power of His might."
The prayer of the first chapter brings before us the power of God’s might. Christ has been raised from the dead and set at God’s right hand in heavenly places, " Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come." Now, says the Apostle, that is the " exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe." The power that is against us is far greater than our power, but the power that is toward us is a surpassing power-it surpasses all the power that is opposed to us. Moreover, the One that has supreme power is the One that possesses " unsearchable riches ", and loves us with a love that " passeth knowledge " (3: 8, 19).
In the days of old, Gideon was prepared for the conflict by first being told, The Lord is with thee"; then he was exhorted to " Go in this thy might." Gideon’s family might be the poorest in Manasseh, and he himself the least in his father’s house, but what did Gideon’s poverty, or his weakness matter if the Lord, who is rich and mighty, was for him and with him (Judg. 6:12-1512And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor. 13And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? but now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. 14And the Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee? 15And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house. (Judges 6:12‑15))? So, in a later day, Jonathan and his armor-bearer, could face a great host in the might of the Lord, for said Jonathan, " there is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few " (1 Sam. 14:66And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armor, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the Lord will work for us: for there is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few. (1 Samuel 14:6)).
So we, in our day, with failure behind us, weakness amongst us, and corruption all around us, need a fresh sense of the glory of the Lord, the power of the Lord, the riches of the Lord, the love of the Lord, and, with the Lord before us, to go forward " in the power of His might."
Apart from Christ we have no power. The Lord can say, " Without me ye can do nothing ", but, says the Apostle, " I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me " (Phil. 4:1313I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. (Philippians 4:13)). It is, then, only as our souls are kept in secret communion with Christ that we shall be able to avail ourselves of the power that is in Him. This being so, all Satan’s power will be directed to putting our souls out of touch with Christ, and seeking to keep us from feeding on Him and walking in communion with Him. It may be that he will seek to draw us out of communion with Christ by the cares and duties of every-day life, or by sickness and weakness of the body. He may seek to use the difficulties of the path, the contentions among the people of God, or the petty insults we have to meet, to depress the spirit and fret the soul. If, however, instead of allowing all these things to come between our souls and the Lord, we make them occasions for drawing near to the Lord, we shall learn what it is to be strong in the Lord, while realizing our own weakness; and we shall learn the blessedness of the word, " Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee " (Psa. 55:2222Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. (Psalm 55:22)).
2) the Power of the Enemy.
(Vv. 11, 12). First, we are exhorted to remember that it is not against flesh and blood that we wrestle. The devil may indeed use men and women to oppose the Christian and deny the truth, but we have to look beyond the instruments and discern the one that is using them. A woman, in flesh and blood, opposed Paul at Philippi, but Paul discerned the evil spirit that moved the woman, and in the power of the Name of Jesus Christ he entered into conflict with spiritual wickedness, commanding the evil spirit to come out of the woman (Acts 16:16-1816And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying: 17The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which show unto us the way of salvation. 18And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour. (Acts 16:16‑18)).
A true disciple, in flesh and blood, opposed the Lord when Peter said, in view of the Lord’s sufferings, " Be it far from Thee, Lord ", but the Lord, knowing the power of Satan behind the instrument, could say, " Get thee behind me, Satan " (Matt. 16:22,2322Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. 23But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savorest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. (Matthew 16:22‑23)).
The conflict, then, is against Satan and his hosts, whatever the instrument used. Principalities and powers are spiritual beings in a position of rule with power to carry out their will. They may be good or evil beings; here they are evil beings, and their wickedness would seem to take a twofold direction. In reference to the world they are the rulers of the darkness of this world; in reference to Christians they are the " spiritual power of wickedness in the heavenlies." The world is in darkness, in ignorance of God, and these spiritual beings rule and direct the darkness of paganism, philosophy, science falsely so-called, and infidelity, as well as the superstitions, corruptions and modernism of Christendom. The Christian is brought into the light and blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. The opposition to the Christian takes, then, a religious character by spiritual beings who seek to rob him of the truth of his heavenly calling, beguile him into a path that is a denial of the truth, or into conduct that is inconsistent with it.
Further, we are instructed as to the character of the opposition. It is not simply persecution, or a direct denial of the truth; it is the far more subtle and dangerous opposition described as " the wiles of the devil." A wile is something that looks fair and innocent, and yet beguiles the soul from the path of obedience. How often, in this day of confusion, the devil seeks to lead those who have the truth into some by-path, which at the beginning deviates so little from the true course that to raise any objection to it might seem fastidious. There is one simple question we can each ask ourselves by which every wile may be detected, " If I pursue this course, where will it lead me? "
When the devil suggested to the Lord that He should turn the stones into bread to meet His needs, it looked a very innocent thing to do, nevertheless it was a wile that would have led out of the path of obedience to God, and a denial of the word which said, " Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."
To turn the Galatian believers from the truth of the Gospel, the devil used the law as a wile to entrap them in legal self-importance. To turn the Corinthian saints from the truth of the assembly, the devil used the world as a wile to lead them into carnal self-indulgence. To turn the Colossian saints from the truth of the mystery, the devil used the wiles of " enticing words," " philosophy " and superstition to entrap them in religious exaltation. These are still the wiles we have to face.
(3) the Armor of God.
(V. 13). In this conflict human armor will not avail. We can only withstand the devil in the " armor of God." Human resources such as natural ability and natural strength of character will be of no avail in this conflict. Confidence in such armor may lead us to engage with the enemy, but only to suffer defeat. The Apostle Peter found this when, with confidence in his own strength, he entered into conflict, only to fail before a maid. God may indeed use human ability and scholarship in His service; here, however, it is not a question of what God uses in His service, but rather of what God has given us to use in conflict with the wiles of the enemy. The enemy we have to meet is not flesh and blood, and the weapons of our warfare are not carnal (2 Cor. 10:44(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) (2 Corinthians 10:4)).
Furthermore, in this conflict we require the " whole armor of God." If one piece is missing Satan will be quick enough to detect the lack and attack us in the vulnerable place.
Moreover, the armor has to be " put on." It by no means follows that because we are Christians we have put on the armor. The armor is provided for us as Christians, but it remains with us to put it on. It is not enough to look at the armor, or to admire it, or to be able to describe it, we must " put on the whole armor of God."
Then we learn that the armor is needed in view of the " evil day." In a general sense the whole period of the absence of Christ is for the believer an " evil day." There are, however, occasions when the enemy makes special attacks upon the people of God, seeking to rob them of special truths. Such attacks constitute for the people of God an evil day. To meet such we need to have on the whole armor of God. It is too late to be putting on the armor in the midst of the struggle.
We need the armor " to withstand " and " to stand." Having withstood in resisting the enemy’s offensive in any particular attack, we shall still need the armor to stand on the defensive. When we have "done all " we still need our armor in order " to stand." It is often when we have gained some signal victory that we are in the greatest danger, for it is easier to gain a point of vantage than to hold it. The armor having been " put on " cannot with safety be put off as long as spiritual wickedness is in heavenly places and we are in the scene of Satan’s wiles.
1. the Girdle of Truth.
(V 14). If we include the prayer as one of the pieces of armor, there are seven distinct pieces of armor. We are to stand with our loins girt about with truth. Spiritually this speaks of the thoughts and affections held in order by the truth. By applying the truth to ourselves, and thus judging all the thoughts and movements of the heart by the truth, we should not only be set free from the inward working of the flesh, but we should have our affections formed according to the truth, and thus have the lowly mind with our affections set on things above.
So the first piece of armor strengthens the inner man and regulates our thoughts and affections rather than our conduct, speech and ways. Oftentimes we make great efforts to preserve a correct outward demeanor towards one another while, at the same time, careless as to our thoughts and affections. If we are to withstand the wiles of the enemy we must commence by being right inwardly. The Preacher warns us as to what we say with our lips, as to what our eyes look upon, and as to the path our feet tread, but first of all he says, " Keep thy heart more than anything that is guarded " (Prov. 4:23-2723Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. 24Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. 25Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. 26Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. 27Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil. (Proverbs 4:23‑27)). James warns us that " If ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth" (James 3:1414But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. (James 3:14)). Strife amongst brethren commences in the heart, and has its root in " bitter envying." When the truth holds the affections, strife, bitter envying and other evils of the flesh will be judged, and when they are judged we shall be able to withstand the wiles of the devil in the evil day.
Alas! too often the evil day finds us unprepared. We have neglected to put on the girdle, and so in the presence of some sudden provocation we act in the flesh, and when reviled we revile again, and instead of patiently suffering we threaten. Let us seek to wear the girdle, and thus walk with the thoughts and affections habitually held in check by the truth.
2. the Breastplate of Righteousness.
With the second piece of armor we pass to our practical conduct. Practical righteousness is expressed in the Christian by a walk in consistency with the position and relationships in which he is set. We cannot stand before the enemy with a conscience that accuses us of unjudged evil in our ways and associations. We cannot stand for the truth which in practice we deny. Having put on the breastplate, and thus walking in practical righteousness, We shall be fearless when called to face the enemy in the evil day.
3. the Feet Shod
(V. 15) Practical righteousness leads to a walk in peace. The Gospel of peace that we have received prepares us to walk in peace amidst the world’s unrest. When the heart is governed by the truth, and our ways are practically in accord with the truth, we shall walk through this world with peace in the soul, and be able to meet the evil day in a spirit of peace and calm. We shall not be indifferent to the turmoil in the world, but we shall not be excited and filled with anxiety as to passing events. Of natural men the Scripture says, " the way of peace have they not known " (Rom. 3:1717And the way of peace have they not known: (Romans 3:17)), but those whose feet are shod with peace are marked by peace even when in conflict.
4. the Shield of Faith
(V. 16). However necessary it is to have the thoughts and affections held in order by the girdle of truth, and our conduct preserved in righteousness by the breastplate, and to be walking in peace through this world, something else is needed for the conflict. We need " above all ", or " over all ", the shield of faith to protect us from the fiery darts of the enemy. Here faith is not the reception of God’s testimony concerning Christ by which we are saved, but the daily faith and trust in God which gives us the assurance that God is for us. In the pressure of the manifold trials that come upon us, whether from circumstances, ill-health, bereavement, or in connection with the many difficulties that constantly arise among the people of God, the enemy may seek to cloud our souls with the horrible suggestion that after all God is indifferent and not for us. On that dark night when the disciples had to face the storm on the lake, and the waves beat into the ship, Jesus was with them, though asleep as one indifferent to their danger. This was a test for faith. Alas! unprotected by the shield of faith. a fiery dart pierced their armor, and the terrible thought arose that, after all, the Lord did not care for them, for they awoke Him and said, " Carest Thou not that we perish? " (Mark 4:37,3837And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. 38And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? (Mark 4:37‑38)).
A fiery dart is not a sudden desire to gratify some lust which arises from the flesh within; it is rather a diabolical suggestion from without that would raise a doubt as to the goodness of God. Satan hurled a fiery dart at Job when, in his terrible trial, his wife suggested that he should " curse God, and die." Job quenched this fiery dart with the shield of faith, for he said, " Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? " (Job 2:9,109Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die. 10But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips. (Job 2:9‑10)). The devil still uses the trying circumstances of life in his endeavor to shake our confidence in God and to drive us from God. Faith uses these very circumstances to draw near to God and thus triumphs over the devil. Again, Satan may seek to instill some abominable thought into the mind, some infidel suggestion that burns into the soul and darkens the mind. Such thoughts are not quenched by human reasonings, or by falling back on " feelings " or " experiences ", but by simple faith in God and His word.
5. the Helmet of Salvation
(V. 17). Having on the helmet will enable the believer to hold his head up boldly in the presence of the enemy. Resisting by faith the fiery darts of the devil, we find in our trying circumstances that God is for us, and that He saves us, not only from trials, but, like the disciples in the storm, through trials. We are thus enabled to go forward with courage and energy in the consciousness that, however weak we are in ourselves, God is the God of our salvation, and that Christ is able to save us to the uttermost (Heb. 7:2525Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. (Hebrews 7:25)).
6. The Sword of the Spirit.
We are definitely told that this piece of armor is the Word of God, and yet not only the Word, but the Word used in the power of the Spirit. This is the one great offensive weapon. Until we have put on the armor that regulates our inmost thoughts, our outward walk, and establishes us in confidence in God, we shall not be in a right condition to wield the sword of the Spirit. When the Word of God is used in the power of the Spirit against the enemy it is irresistible. When tempted by the wiles of the devil, the Lord on each occasion resisted the enemy with the Word of God used in the power of the Spirit. "It is written" exposed and defeated the devil. The Word of God abiding in us is our strength, for the Apostle John can say of the young men, "Ye Are Strong, and the Word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one " (1 John 2:1414I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one. (1 John 2:14)).
One has said, Our business is to act according to the word, come what may; the result will show that the wisdom of God was in it." The one using the word may be weak, and have little natural intelligence, but he will find that the word of God is quick and powerful, and that through it every wile of the enemy is exposed.
7. Prayer.
(Vv. 18-20). Having described the armor, and exhorted us to put it on, the Apostle closes with the exhortation to prayer. The armor, however perfect, is not given to make us independent of God. It can only be rightly used in the spirit of dependence upon the One by whom it has been provided.
The Lord exhorts us " always to pray, and not to faint " (Luke 18:11And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; (Luke 18:1)); and Paul exhorts "that men pray everywhere" (1 Tim. 2:88I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting. (1 Timothy 2:8)). Here we are exhorted to pray " at all seasons." Prayer is the constant attitude of dependence upon God. Under all circumstances, in all places, and at all times, we are to pray. Prayer however, may become a mere formal expression of need; it is therefore linked with " supplication ", which is the earnest cry of the soul conscious of its need. It is, moreover, to be under the guidance of the Spirit, and to be accompanied with the faith that watches for God’s answer. When Peter was in prison " prayer was made without ceasing unto God for him ", but apparently the church failed somewhat in " watchfulness, for when God answered their prayer it was only with difficulty that they believed that Peter was free. Further, prayer in the Spirit will embrace " all saints ", and yet come down to the need of a special servant. So the Apostle exhorts the Ephesian saints not only to pray for " all saints ", but also for himself.
Throughout the ages the saints have needed the armor of God, but in these closing days, when " the darkness of this world " deepens, the wiles of the devil " increase, and Christendom is returning to paganism and philosophy, how deeply important it is to put on the whole armor of God to " withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."
Let us then stand:
Having our loins girt about with truth, and thus be kept inwardly right in thought and affection;
Having on the breastplate of righteousness, so that we are consistent in all our practice;
Having our feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace, so that we walk in peace in the midst of a world of discord, strife and confusion;
Taking the shield of faith, so that we walk in daily confidence in God;
Taking the helmet of salvation, and thus realizing that God is making all things work together for our good and salvation;
Taking the sword of the Spirit, whereby we can meet every subtle attack of the enemy;
Lastly, " praying always ", so that we can use the armor in the spirit of constant dependence upon God.
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