Pastor Jon's blog: Combat

Pastor Jon writes good stuff

The call to stand against the devil.
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.
Paul’s exhortation to be
strong in the Lord and in the power of His might is rightly prefaced by
“Finally.” We can only walk in the glory of Ephesians 1 through 3 and live
in the integrity of Ephesians 4 through 6 by doing it all in the God’s
strength.
Literally, Paul says strengthen yourselves in the Lord. He
probably takes the idea from 1 Samuel 30:6, where it is said that David
strengthened himself in the Lord his God. We will find strength, as David did,
in the Bible and prayer. This is the source of our strength in the Lord.
That
you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil: We express the strength
we have in God by standing against the wiles of the devil. Satan’s schemes
against us come to nothing when we stand against them in the power of God. We
must live in light of the fact that just as much as “God loves you and has a
wonderful plan for your life,” so it is true that “Satan hates you and has a
terrible plan for your life.” We have a spiritual enemy who wishes us
nothing but evil.
The armor of God will be explained for fully as we
continue; but notice the emphasis on the whole armor of God. God gives the
believer a full set of equipment, and He sends us out into battle with
everything we need at our disposal. However, none of the whole armor of God
provides protection for our back. God expects us to face our foe!
This armor
is of God both is the sense that it is from Him, and in the sense that it is His
actual armor. In the Old Testament, it is the Lord who wears the armor
(Isaiah 59:17). He now shares that armor with us - no wonder we are more
than conquerors! (Romans 8:37)