Ephesians 6:10-19.
It is of the utmost importance for the saints of God to be equipped and protected with the armour He has provided for them, if they would engage in the conflict of good and evil according to the will of God. This was never more necessary than at the present time, close to the end of the church's history on earth, when Satan is using every effort to wipe out the testimony committed to the people of God. The enemy thought he had finished God's testimony when he moved men to crucify the Son of God, but he soon found that the testimony of God was continued through the saints and servants of the Lord in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Those who have God's testimony in this world are the saints that Christ loves, and this also makes them the object of Satan's malice and enmity. During the past centuries many of the saints have passed through untold sufferings in faithfulness to the Name of the Lord Jesus, but now in these lands the wily foe has adopted different means in his opposition to Christ and those He loves. The roaring lion has transformed himself into an angel of light, and his endeavours are aimed at beguiling the people of God, so that they might be unfaithful to Christ. He entices them with worldly advantages through which they can gratify the flesh, and in this way their affections are drawn away from Christ. It is undeniable that the world has got into the church, and that the church is in the world.
Amidst all the departure of these last days God's resources for His saints are undiminished, and His armour is available for us. We have three outstanding Scriptures that bring before us this divine armour, the first in Romans 13:12, where we read, "The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light." We are passing through a world of darkness which is under the authority of Satan, and where men have not the knowledge of God. To protect us in such a world we need the true knowledge of God in our hearts. His "word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path" (Psalm 119:105). The powers of darkness are repelled by the light of the armour that God has provided for us in His word, if that word is livingly operative in our souls.
In 2 Corinthians 6:7, the Apostle Paul in speaking of how he and Timothy commended themselves as God's ministers, he mentions among many things, "the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left." No matter what the circumstances may be, nothing could ever excuse the servant of the Lord, or any saint of God, for acting unrighteously. Anything unrighteous would falsify the testimony of the righteous God Whom we serve, and bring that glorious testimony into disrepute before the world. Therefore at all times, and in all circumstances, righteousness must mark God's servant.
"The whole armour of God" is brought before us in Ephesians 6. It is given to the saints of this dispensation to protect them in conflict with the powers of darkness as they seek to stand firm for God in this evil day. God has richly blessed His saints with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, and Satan would fain hinder them from entering into this wonderful portion. We have been chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, and marked out for sonship, according to the good pleasure of God's will. The mystery of God's will has been made known to us, and according to His eternal purpose we have received an inheritance. At present we have access to the Father, and belong to the household of God. The church has been united to Christ as His body, and soon will be presented to Him as His bride. "The mystery," which unfolds to us the great secret of the ages, has been revealed in all its parts, and God desires that we should enter into this in its breadth, and length, and depth, and height.
Knowing Satan's malice and inveterate opposition to all that is of God, is it any wonder that he is set against those who have been so highly favoured with such amazing revelations, and who have been blessed with such wonderful blessings? The saints have become the objects of his assaults, and especially when they endeavour to hold fast the great truths connected with the counsels and purpose of God. The enemy presents many things to attract the minds and hearts of the saints, and will try to mar their testimony to Christ, but God has given to us His panoply to enable us to prevail in the conflict.
It is essential for us to realise that we have no strength of our own for such a conflict, for the arm of flesh cannot match principalities, powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world, and spiritual wickedness in high places. To meet such foes we must be "Strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might." The wiles of the devil can only be met by divine armour; we could never stand without it. Nor can we do without it even for a moment; not until we have left this world behind is the "evil day" over for us.
The first part of the armour is the girdle of truth; truth in the inward parts, the state formed in us through the Word of God learned in communion with Christ. When addressing the Father, the Lord Jesus prayed for His own, "Sanctify them by the truth: Thy word is truth" (John 17:17). It is as the truth enters into the soul by the word that the moral state is produced that sets us apart for God in this world, and that gives us power to resist all that is not according to truth.
The breastplate of righteousness protects the seat of the affections. Anything unrighteous in the life of the Christian will give him a bad conscience, and the enemy will not be slow to take advantage of it. We cannot have communion with God if the conscience is bad. No one could success-fully stand against evil with a defiled conscience: how different it is when conscience does not reproach, and when the heart rests in the enjoyment of divine love, and Christ dwells there by faith.
Our feet are to be shod with the peace that is proclaimed in the Gospel. How very inconsistent for anyone who speaks of the Gospel of peace to be marked by traits that bring unrest and disquiet among the saints of God. Those who cause division and strife have not their feet shod with peace. Such are not able to stand against the wiles of the devil. This does not mean that we should seek peace at any price, but that we should be marked by peace even when in conflict for the truth. One contending for the truth could not take up the sword in fleshly conflict, or strike a single blow with the arm of flesh; for our weapons are not carnal, but spiritual.
We need the shield of faith when the enemy suggests that God is not interested in us, or would present to the heart the least doubt regarding His unfailing care. Whatever the circumstances in which we are found, the shield of faith brings God in for our help and protection. There may be the need for "The trial of your faith," but those who have passed through such trials, and have proved the reality of God's help in them, can use the shield of faith in the conflict of the "evil day," "to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked."
For the head we have "The helmet of salvation," and this protects all our thoughts and mind. Salvation has come to us from God through grace, and not a doubt regarding this enters into the thoughts of those who have the helmet of salvation. If we had any doubts about our salvation how could we meet our wily adversary? If we are engaged with the truth brought out in chapter 2 of this epistle, we shall have taken the helmet of salvation. There we learn that we have been quickened with Christ, and even now sit in the heavenly places "That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus."
To wield the sword of the Spirit we must be acquainted with the word of God, and the word becomes the sword of the Spirit when it is used under the guidance and control of the Holy Spirit. How important then to feed upon the word of God, so that it becomes in us the engrafted word; and how essential that we should ever live in communion with the Lord, so that the Holy Spirit can use the word by which we have been formed after Christ.
The last part of the armour is prayer, and this "Prayer and supplication in the Spirit." We must ever remain in the attitude of dependence and confidence in God, being guided in all our prayers and supplications by the Holy Spirit, even as Jude exhorts, "Praying in the Holy Ghost " (verse 20). Our ever watchful foe will seek to keep us from prayer, but we are to be "watching thereunto with all perseverance." Many things come in to keep us from prayer, there is therefore the great need to be watchful lest our time becomes absorbed with present things.
Prayer is not to be confined to our own part in the conflict, or to the things that immediately engage us, but we have to think of all saints. The apostle Paul had a very special place in the conflict of good and evil, being set for the defence of the Gospel, and being "an ambassador bound with a chain" because he was minister of "the mystery of the Gospel." Desiring to continue with this precious ministry. Paul sought the prayers of the saints, well knowing that the enemy would fain silence the announcing of this wonderful truth. In these last days, when the truth of the mystery is so little known among the saints of God should there not be the constant prayer to God that this precious truth might be announced with boldness in the power of the Spirit?
J. Muckle.