Don’t Go Into War Naked

Ephesians 6:13-18

“Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 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, and watching there unto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;”

In this passage is Paul speaking to the Church at Ephesus. He is telling them to prepare for battle. But not a physical battle, a spiritual battle. A war on the soul. Satan is going to shoot fiery darts at us in hopes that he can destroy our souls. That’s the one thing Satan desires more than anything else is the overthrow God. So, if he can overthrow God’s followers, then Satan believes that he can win this war. Satan can never win what is God’s, and what is God’s is us. We are God’s children and we have to be prepared to go into battle. However, we have to have some armor to do so. We don’t want to go into a spiritual battle spiritually naked. So what do we need to successfully battle Satan when he tries to shoot those fiery darts at us?

1.) Our Loins Girt With The Truth.

In ancient times, soldiers had a belt made out of leather that would hold the rest of the armor in place. The truth of God's word is the only way that the spiritual armor will be able to hold up. At the center of this armor is the truth of God’s word, which means we know what God‘s word says and we can battle Satan when he tries to fire those wicked darts into our minds. Even Satan tried to tempt Jesus by firing darts at Him and Matthew chapter 4, but Jesus was strong in the truth of God’s word and was able to withstand what Satan was trying to get Him to fall too. The same applies to us, we have to be strong in the truth of the word if we’re gonna successfully fight Satan. The spiritual belt of truth is what holds the rest of the armor in place.

2.) Put On The Breastplate of Righteousness.

Christians not only should be Biblically sound, but should also be morally sound. We should be able to represent who God is by the way that we live our lives. Our holy character and moral conduct are essential to our walk with Christ. Being successful in that walk of obedience to the truth as we previously talked about, produces a Godly life. Therefore in all that we do, our righteousness should be seen, even as we are being attacked. Satan is trying to get us to be as weak as we possibly can be, which is why in these moments our character of Christ, which is our lifestyle, should be seen at all times.

3.) Preparation of The Gospel Of Peace.

To be successful in combat you have to be eager and willing to advance to fight the enemy in hopes that you begin to gain the stronghold. Unfortunately when we begin to battle a sin, Satan is already trying to build a stronghold in our life. The only way that we can battle that stronghold and destroy it is if we are prepared to battle Satan. The Gospel gives peace to the believer and it frees him from the anxieties that hold him back from advancing. We have to be prepared to fight and we have to rely on the truth and the righteousness of God for the preparation of the battle so that we can stand toe to toe with Satan in battle. We are to be prepared with the Gospel that brings peace not only into our lives but also into the lives of others. Where we really fail is that there seems to be Less eagerness and less willingness to fight the temptations in our life. We have to be willing to go to war when Satan begins to fire these wicked darts and fiery darts at us. Be prepared.

4.) The Shield of Faith.

One of our greatest defenses is that of the shield of faith. At the center of a Christian’s life is saving faith in our Lord and Savior. This means we take God at His word and we believe in His promises. One of God’s greatest promises to us is that Satan can never possess us when we are a child of God. Our greatest defense weapon should be used to shield the fiery darts that Satan is trying to fire into our lives. Satan is trying to implant fear, hopelessness, joyless thoughts, anxieties, depressions, and the list could go on and on, into our lives. Satan cannot overthrow us, but we must stand firm on the truth of God’s word and know that our faith will push us beyond measure in battle and beyond what we thought we could do. It’s our greatest defense mechanism that we need to be using more more each and every day.

5.) The Helmet of Salvation.

One thing Satan will ultimately always try to do will be to get us to walk away and turn away from God. We have to stay strong and we have to know and remember our salvation experience, where Christ stepped into our life and changed who we are completely by setting us on the track towards heaven when we were destined for hell. The mind is the easiest place for Satan to try to deceive us and lead us astray, but the mind can also be a strong weapon against Satan if we remind him that we belong to the Lord and Savior of this world, not him. And I can almost promise you this, I bet there’s nothing that makes Satan more mad than you telling him that you are a child of God.

6.) The Sword of The Spirit Which Is The Word of God.

You’re gonna need to have a weapon to battle Satan, right? God gives us the greatest weapon, which is His word. Hebrews 4:12 tells us that God’s word is alive and it sharper than any two edge sword that pierces to the deepest asunder of the soul. What power in that verse. In Matthew 4:11 Jesus has been led out of the Judean wilderness to be tempted by Satan. As Satan is tempting Jesus, Jesus responds to every temptation with scripture from the word of God to defeat Satan. Jesus sets the example for us. We are to use the WHOLE Word of God as a weapon against Satan. This is our greatest piece of armor because it is the only piece that we use to attack! But is also is possibly the one that we use the least to fight. So take Jesus’ is example and use the word of God the battle when Satan is firing these wicked darts at you.

Of course we should always be in prayer and we should always be seeking freedom from the sins that we battle on a day-to-day basis.

I want you notice something though, there’s no protection for our backs. Why? Very simply this, when we go into war there is no turning back, and the reason there is no turning back is because God has our back’s. We don’t turn away from the battle but we press forward in the battle because God is the commander in chief that is leading this army to battle against its greatest foe in the form of Satan. Press on Christian Solider.