Saturday, September 8, 2012

The Armor of God

(Eph 6:10 [KJV])
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
(Eph 6:11 [KJV])
Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
(Eph 6:12 [KJV])
For 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.
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood. Our conflict is not with men, here denoted by "flesh and blood," which is usually a symbol of weakness, therefore denoting that our opponents are not weak mortals, but powers of a far more formidable order. But against the principalities, against the powers. The same words as in Eph 1:21; therefore the definite article is prefixed, as denoting what we are already familiar with: for though all of these, evil as well as good, have been put under Christ the Head, they have not been put under the members, but the evil among them are warring against these members with all the greater ferocity that they cannot assail the Head. Against the world-rulers of this state of) darkness. (comp. Eph 2:2) "World-rulers" denotes the extent of the dominion of these invisible foes the term is applied only to the rulers of the most widely extended tracts; there is no part of the globe to which their influence does not extend, and where their dark rule does not show itself. (comp. Luk 4:6) "This darkness" expressively denotes the element and the results of their rule. Observe contrast with Christ"s servants, who are children of light, equivalent to order, knowledge, purity, joy, peace, etc.; while the element of the devil and his servants is darkness, equivalent to confusion, ignorance, crime, terror, strife, and all misery. Against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. The natural meaning, though questioned by some, is, either that these hosts of wickedness have their residence in heavenly places, or, that these places are the scene of our conflict with them. The latter seems more agreeable to the context, for "in heavenly places" does not denote a geographical locality here any more than in Eph 1:3 and Eph 2:6. When it is said that "we have been seated with Christ in heavenly places," the allusion is to the spiritual experience of his people; in spirit they are at the gate of heaven, where their hearts are full of heavenly thoughts and feelings; the statement now before us is that, even in such places, amid their most fervent experiences or their most sublime services, they are subject to the attacks of the spirits of wickedness.
The foe.
The Christian life is a warfare. In order to wage this successfully we must understand the nature of the foes we have to contend with, because the weapons and armor will have to be selected according to the character of the attack that is made upon us. “
This is why it is so important to study God’s word and pray daily. We cannot fight this battle by our own strength, we need to allow God to prepare us for battle. This is a real battle and we have a real enemy!

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