“Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against all the wiles of the devil.” (Ephesians 6:11KJV)
We are at war. Even though our LORD Jesus has conquered hell and stripped its inhabitants of every form of spiritual power, we are still solemnly warned: “Put on the whole armour of God…” We are not to brag about the whole armour. We are not to have an intellectual or theological knowledge of it. We are not to stroll around, telling everyone who cares to know that “we Christians have a full armour…” NO. Instead, we are to “…put on…” this armour.
God’s word further clarified this ‘putting on’. We are to put on “…the whole armour of God…” Amplified Bible rendered it as “…the armour of a heavenly armed soldier which God supplies…” It is noteworthy to mention that immediately we receive Jesus, we are recruited into His army as soldiers. Now, if Jesus has conquered satan and his host of hell and has stripped them of all power, why then must we compulsorily put on our WHOLE ARMOUR?
The reason is not far-fetched. While satan and the hordes of hell are completely powerless as far as the Christian is concerned, they however possess one type of power (or ability) – the art of deception.
Satan is so grounded in error that, if we are not careful, he will make a lie look like the truth to us and whenever we are not standing where God is standing, we will be powerless to keep him at bay. This is why God’s word says “Put on the whole armour of God that ye may be able to stand…” Without the WHOLE armour, it is certain we will fall into deception and error. If God says “…that ye may be able to stand…”, then we ought to be certain that without putting on God’s complete armour, we can’t withstand satan’s lies.
Satan is left with only one power: the art of deception
Since God is instructing us to put on the WHOLE armour, we must understand in detail the purpose and importance of every piece of God’s armour that is provided for our proper equipping.
“Use every piece of God’s armour to resist the enemy in the time of evil, so that after the battle, you will still be standing firm.” Ephesians 6:13 (NLT)
For most of us, every encounter with the devil in temptations and trials leaves us more defeated and weaker than we formally were.
Since this defeat is quiet and in secret, other brethren think, most of the time, that all is well with us; whereas, we know very well where the shoe pinches. We know that after each battle, after each “…time of evil…” our quiet testimony is far from personal victory.
Thus, disillusion sets in, just because we do not understand the nature, purpose, and importance of the whole equipment designed by God for our victorious defense and offense in every spiritual battle.
It is imperative, therefore, if we will “…still be standing firm…” after each battle that will surely come, that we study, analyse, observe and understand every part of the armour that we should be putting on EVEN NOW. The weapons we are unfamiliar with in time of peace will be useless in time of war.
Without putting on the whole armour of God, we cannot withstand satan’s deception. *2 Corinthians 10:4-5
“Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”
What God is expecting us to stand against is not the ‘power’ of the devil; since we have affirmed earlier that he and his army are completely powerless. We are to stand against his ‘wiles’.
By wile, we mean the different methods, means, strategies, plans, schemes, and tricks satan uses in deceiving, entrapping, enslaving, and ruining the souls of men.
Let me repeat once again that we are at war and satan has studied you long enough to know what method, means, strategy, schemes, and tricks you will fall for. This is why each of us needs to put on God’s armour.
As far as error is concerned, satan is a master strategist and without God’s complete armour, we cannot withstand his methods. This is because, he discovered, from studying each of us, what time will be convenient for him to catch us sleeping. Even our Master Jesus, Who lived in complete obedience and never sinned once, was severally tempted and tried by satan.
“And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.” Luke 4:13 (KJV)
“And when the devil had ended every [the complete cycle of] temptation, he [temporarily] left Him [that is, stood off from him] until another more opportune time.” (AMP)
“The devil finished tempting Jesus in every way and went away to wait until a better time.” (ERV)
“When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him until the next opportunity came.” (NLT)
“When the devil had ended all the temptations, he left Jesus for a while and went away.” (TLB)
You see what he did with Jesus, since my Master won’t yield, the devil withdraw. He retreated, trying to understudy our Lord and probe where his weakness lies. He stood not too far away, watching and waiting for a more opportune, favourable, [and] better time. But his better time never came because our Lord, as a soldier, was always at alert.
The weapon we are unfamiliar with in time of peace will be useless in time of war. *Isaiah 5:13, Hosea 4:6
We must pick wisdom from His words today so that we can constantly live in a realm of victory. The Master declared about satan:
“For the prince of this world cometh and he hath nothing in me.” John 14:30B
Jesus was not in possession of anything owned by the devil. You and I can confidently state these same words from the Master (while we are insulated in Him), if we put on the whole armour of God.
Now, let us with humility, follow the Spirit of God as He leads us into a personal study of our Christian armour…
To be continued.
This article is an excerpt from “The Disciple” category in the tracts series. Discover the seven other categories in this tract series and how you can register to receive them for free every month….by clicking here.
