“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

“Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit...” Eph. 6:10 -18.

Jesus came to destroy the works of darkness. I Jn 3:8 ... “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.”

We are called to resist the devil, to cooperate with the Lords purpose and to war against the kingdom of darkness. We have been given weapons for the effective defeating of our adversary. But there are two adversaries that appose the purposes of God. The devil is our adversary. The other adversary is within us. It is none other than un-Christlike character.

Character is a MAJOR weapon in this warfare. A survey of the armor that is described in these verses reveals that our protection from the adversary is none other than the character of Christ. As we become like HIM we take on His character. And that character is protection from the enemy.

Unity is a MAJOR weapon in the warfare as well. Unity is of vital importance during engagement in battle with the adversary. An interesting nuance is discovered from this section of scripture by examining the original Greek that tells us the word “you” is not singular, but rather plural. So a more revealing version of the statement in Verse 13 could read like this.

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might…. Put on the whole armor of God, that you (together) may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” Eph 6:10-13.

Character and unity are essential during times of conflict with the enemy. So whether we recognize it or not, there is a dual thing going on during times of warfare.

1. Our defeat of the enemy of God

2. God’s defeat of anything in us that does not look like His Son

“Pressed” into His image

“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed — always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body ... knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” 2 Cor 4:7-10; 14-18.

Question: Why does God allow us to be pressed by life’s circumstances? Sometimes being pressed into a place you don’t want to be, becomes the thing in God’s hand to press you toward WHAT He wants you to be. God may allow you to be in a place you really don’t want to be for a season to put something in you that wasn’t there before.

EVEN IF IT IS THE DEVIL, (of course we like to — and I believe we ought to — rebuke the devil) — BUT, even if it is the devil that brings bad things, the Lord is able to take advantage of it to put something into you that will enable you to neutralize the devil’s work. Trials are inevitable. The mark of maturity is not that we have no trials, but how we stand, and what we do during our trials. God gave us armor to fight with, realizing the putting on of this armor is nothing less than the putting on of the Character of Christ, as we are being conformed into His image AND defeating our adversary.

Jim Weis This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

www.extremeprophetic.com  

March 28, 2008