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FAITH
2Co 5:7 KJV - (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
Rom 10:17 KJV - So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
We cannot walk by faith if we don’t give faith (the word of God) what it needs for the journey.
This is not as much about the armor of God as it is about why we need it. In order for our armor to be effective, we must know what we’re fighting against.
Eph 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the WILES OF THE DEVIL.
Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Eph 6:16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the FIERY DARTS OF THE WICKED (used pre-eminently of the devil, the evil one causing evil things).
We need the armor of God for the wiles of the devil and the fiery darts of the wicked.
WILES OF THE DEVIL - cunning arts, deceit, trickery, a plan or scheme for deceiving.
Scripture teaches us the tactics Satan uses against believers.
Revelation 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which DECEIVETH the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Revelation 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the ACCUSER OF OUR BRETHREN is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
ACCUSATIONS: Acts 21:28 Crying out, Men of Israel, help: This is the man (Paul), that teacheth all men every where against the people, and the law, and this place: and further brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath polluted this holy place.
Luke 23:2 And they began to accuse him (Jesus), saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute (Matthew 17:27) to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ a King.
Perhaps, many of you may have been accused in these ways? Anyone ever accused you of only teaching out of Paul’s epistles, so you don’t teach the whole Bible. You don’t speak in tongues, so you don’t have the Holy Spirit. You can’t be saved because you haven’t been water baptized. These accusations come because people don’t rightly divide the word of truth.
DECEPTION: Gen 3:13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, THE SERPENT BEGUILED (deceived, to seduce) ME, and I did eat.
Gen 3:2-4 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, YE SHALL NOT SURELY DIE:
Galatians 3:1 O foolish Galatians, WHO HATH BEWITCHED (deceive, mislead) YOU, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?
FIERY DARTS - can be anything the devil uses to cause doubt, fear, guilt, despair or discouragement within the believer with the purpose of causing them to lose hope or be unproductive. Satan is a defeated foe. We have been sealed by the Holy Spirit and are eternally secure in Christ, never to be separated from him (Romans 8:31-39). So, all Satan can do is trouble us with the hope that we will be ineffective as ambassadors for Christ.
2 Corinthians 4:8-9 We are TROUBLED on every side, yet not distressed; we are PERPLEXED, but not in despair; PERSECUTED, but not forsaken; CAST DOWN, but not destroyed;
Paul was given the gospel of the grace of God according to the revelation of the mystery. Satan knew that Paul’s ministry was a threat to his policy of evil so he sought to hinder it.
1 Thessalonians 2:18 Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered (to stop; to interrupt; to obstruct; to impede or prevent from moving forward by any means) us. 1 Thessalonians 2:13-18
We must not be ignorant of Satan’s tactics. 2 Corinthians 2:11 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: FOR WE ARE NOT IGNORANT OF HIS DEVICES (thoughts, purposes, schemes). This is the context of this verse. In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he addressed the believers neglect to deal with a brother in fornication with his father’s wife. Paul had instructed them how the brother should be disciplined (1 Corinthians 5:1-13). Since that letter, the brother had repented of his sin, and Paul wanted to know if the church had forgiven him and received him back into their fellowship (2 Corinthians 2:1-11). If they had not, Paul would view their unforgiving spirit as an attack from Satan.
To believe that Satan caused our car trouble, or hid our car keys so we couldn’t go the church, is to be ignorant of what he is really doing. Faith in God’s word is the most powerful tool we have in understanding how the enemy works.
So, the wiles of the devil and the fiery darts of the wicked are designed:
1. To draw us away from the things of God onto ourselves (Romans 8:5; 1 Cor 2:14).
2. To keep us blinded from knowing our true identity and what we have in Christ (2 Cor 4:1-4; 1 Cor 1:30, 6:11).
3. To hinder us from being effective ambassadors for Christ (Galatians 5:7).
3. To corrupt the gospel and doctrine given to us by the apostle Paul (Rom 16:17; Galatians 3:1-3; 4:9-10; Eph 4:14; 1 Timothy 4:1).
Satan knows that our victory lies in knowing who we are in Christ and what has been given to us as a free gift of God’s grace by the finished work of Jesus death, burial and resurrection. If we don’t know Satan’s devices, how can we protect ourselves against them.
If you are questioning the truth of God’s word; if you are putting confidence in your flesh to live the Christian life; if you question your identity and salvation in Christ, you can be certain those thoughts originate with the sin nature and are the fiery darts of the wicked. But God’s Armor is designed to protect us from the enemies’ attacks.
ALL OF THESE PIECES OF ARMOR HAVE THEIR FOUNDATION IN GOD’S WORD.
Eph 6:14 KJV - Stand therefore, having your loins girt about WITH TRUTH, and having on the breastplate of RIGHTEOUSNESS;
Eph 6:15 KJV - And your feet shod with the preparation of the GOSPEL OF PEACE; (GOP refers to the good news that believers are at peace with God).
Eph 6:16 KJV - Above all, taking the shield of FAITH, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
Eph 6:17 KJV - And take the helmet of SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is THE WORD OF GOD:
Note that girting up the loins, the breastplate and footwear were armor the soldier was never to take off. The shield, the helmet and sword were to be taken up for battle when you were engaged in the fight against the enemy.
A lot of believers are not prepared for battle against the adversary. It is only in knowing God’s word rightly divided that prepares you for this battle.
Rom 7:23 KJV - But I see another law in my members, WARRING against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
2Co 10:4 KJV - (For the WEAPONS OF OUR WARFARE are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
1Ti 1:18 KJV - This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest WAR A GOOD WARFARE;
2Ti 2:3 KJV - Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good SOLDIER of Jesus Christ.
2Ti 2:4 KJV - No man that WARRETH entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a SOLDIER.
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