"Be strong in the Lord." You have no strength and no wisdom, but Christ is made unto us of God wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption (1 Cor. 1:3030But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: (1 Corinthians 1:30)).
Satan works in two ways—to get us to confide in our own strength, or in our own wisdom. The first of these is seen at Ai (Josh. 7:3, 43And they returned to Joshua, and said unto him, Let not all the people go up; but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai; and make not all the people to labor thither; for they are but few. 4So there went up thither of the people about three thousand men: and they fled before the men of Ai. (Joshua 7:3‑4)). The spies said, It is only a little city; do not let all the people go wearying there; a few hundreds will do. The Gibeonites demonstrate the second ( Josh. 9:3-273And when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done unto Jericho and to Ai, 4They did work wilily, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks upon their asses, and wine bottles, old, and rent, and bound up; 5And old shoes and clouted upon their feet, and old garments upon them; and all the bread of their provision was dry and mouldy. 6And they went to Joshua unto the camp at Gilgal, and said unto him, and to the men of Israel, We be come from a far country: now therefore make ye a league with us. 7And the men of Israel said unto the Hivites, Peradventure ye dwell among us; and how shall we make a league with you? 8And they said unto Joshua, We are thy servants. And Joshua said unto them, Who are ye? and from whence come ye? 9And they said unto him, From a very far country thy servants are come because of the name of the Lord thy God: for we have heard the fame of him, and all that he did in Egypt, 10And all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites, that were beyond Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, which was at Ashtaroth. 11Wherefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spake to us, saying, Take victuals with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say unto them, We are your servants: therefore now make ye a league with us. 12This our bread we took hot for our provision out of our houses on the day we came forth to go unto you; but now, behold, it is dry, and it is mouldy: 13And these bottles of wine, which we filled, were new; and, behold, they be rent: and these our garments and our shoes are become old by reason of the very long journey. 14And the men took of their victuals, and asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lord. 15And Joshua made peace with them, and made a league with them, to let them live: and the princes of the congregation sware unto them. 16And it came to pass at the end of three days after they had made a league with them, that they heard that they were their neighbors, and that they dwelt among them. 17And the children of Israel journeyed, and came unto their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, and Chephirah, and Beeroth, and Kirjath-jearim. 18And the children of Israel smote them not, because the princes of the congregation had sworn unto them by the Lord God of Israel. And all the congregation murmured against the princes. 19But all the princes said unto all the congregation, We have sworn unto them by the Lord God of Israel: now therefore we may not touch them. 20This we will do to them; we will even let them live, lest wrath be upon us, because of the oath which we sware unto them. 21And the princes said unto them, Let them live; but let them be hewers of wood and drawers of water unto all the congregation; as the princes had promised them. 22And Joshua called for them, and he spake unto them, saying, Wherefore have ye beguiled us, saying, We are very far from you; when ye dwell among us? 23Now therefore ye are cursed, and there shall none of you be freed from being bondmen, and hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God. 24And they answered Joshua, and said, Because it was certainly told thy servants, how that the Lord thy God commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you, therefore we were sore afraid of our lives because of you, and have done this thing. 25And now, behold, we are in thine hand: as it seemeth good and right unto thee to do unto us, do. 26And so did he unto them, and delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel, that they slew them not. 27And Joshua made them that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation, and for the altar of the Lord, even unto this day, in the place which he should choose. (Joshua 9:3‑27)). "They did work wilily" -like it says in Ephesians 6, "the wiles of the devil." They came and spread their old garments and moldy bread before the princes, and they were deceived. Had they laid them before the common people, they might have said, Let us ask the Lord about it. But the princes believed them, and a source of mischief was introduced which lasted until the days of Saul.
We need to have on the whole armor of God that we may be able to stand (Eph. 6:1111Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. (Ephesians 6:11)), for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but our conflict is with the universal lords of the darkness of this world—against wicked spirits in heavenly places. Why do we often feel depressed? Why are we often cast down? It is the pressure of what is above. What are we thinking about all day? Satan is seeking to draw us off by occupying us with the things around us; but God did not mean our minds to be a playground for Satan. It is an evil day we live in—a sad, sorrowful day—whose special character is. "Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof."
The armor is not against God, but against Satan. The first thing in the armor is "Truth." The loins are the place of strength. The Truth is to be the girdle for the motives, the affections of the soul. "He that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one." Heb. 2:1111For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, (Hebrews 2:11). "As He is, so are we in this world." 1 John 4:1717Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. (1 John 4:17). Do you believe that the Father's love rests on you as it does on His Son?
"The breastplate of righteousness" is next. This is practical righteousness—a good conscience. Paul said, "Herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offense toward God, and toward men." Acts 24:1616And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men. (Acts 24:16). He could look up to heaven and say, "I know nothing against myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but He who judgeth me is the Lord." 1 Cor. 4:44For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord. (1 Corinthians 4:4); Revised Version. Beloved, we do not want to go on covering up sin. Have you little tricky ways in your business? If so, Satan will succeed in shutting your mouth. He will make a coward of you, and put you out of the conflict altogether.
"Having... your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace." We are to let the peace of Christ preside in our hearts, and to have the peace of God which passeth all understanding keeping our hearts and thoughts. If we look at Christ in His life down here we see Him always at peace, come what may. Should any one of us be a trial to our brethren? No; we should rather be full of graciousness and gentleness. We ought to be the best husbands and wives, the best parents and children, the best masters and servants.
When the Lord Jesus was on earth He was surrounded by a little company among whom were discontent and murmurings, envyings and strifes. On one well-known occasion they were walking by the way, and seemed to have lingered somewhat behind from following Him. I have no doubt He in His blessed grace waited for them, and when they came to Capernaum He said sweetly to them in the house, "What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way?" They were silent for they were ashamed; they had been disputing who was greatest among them, as they did afterward in Luke 22. And then He taught them such a blessed lesson—that the way to go up was to go down, even as He was doing Himself, going down to the darkness of the cross, and God has exalted Him.
"The shield of faith"—what is this? It is not the faith that saves; it is trust, confidence in God, which is one element of faith. The fiery darts are infidel thoughts, but falling on the shield of faith they are quenched. "And take the helmet of salvation."
Then there is one offensive weapon, "The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." The Word of God can only be wielded in the power of the Spirit. Cleverness will not do, nor intelligence. Satan will come to us with his "ifs" as he did to Eve in the garden of Eden. When Satan came to the Lord in the desert, and took Him up and set Him down on a high part of the temple, and said, "If Thou be the Son of God, cast Thyself down: for it is written, He shall give His angels charge concerning Thee," He said, "It is written... Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." What a lesson to us! How often souls twist that passage.
The last thing is prayer. Do we pray not only for individuals, or for meetings near us, but for all saints throughout the wide, wide world? Paul said he had great conflict for the saints—"agony" is the word. When we are in our agony, is it not generally about our own little troubles and trials?