The Word of God is filled with accounts of great battles fought by men and women who looked to God for the victory. As Christians, we have the promises throughout Scripture to get us through difficult times. When we see the faithfulness of God, we grow in faith. But 1 Samuel 17:52 speaks of the “wounded who fell down by the way.” The wounded are “cast down,” according to Proverbs 7:26. People who have been wounded may stop growing spiritually. The wounded soul is crying out in despair (Job 24:12). It cries out in need.
How does God heal a person who has wounds in his soul? In Jeremiah 30:17, He said, “I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds.” The hands of the Lord make a person whole (Job 5:18). God binds up the wounds and heals the broken heart (Psalm 147:3).
But God also provides spiritual protection—armor to keep us from being wounded further.
When we put it on daily by faith, this armor enables us to resist Satan; it causes him to flee. In this booklet, we will show how God’s armor enables the believer to stand his ground in any battle.
ENDURING THE BLOWS OF THE ENEMY
“Many were overthrown and wounded” (Judges 9:40).
"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might."
"Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil."
"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."
"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" (Ephesians 6:10-13).
Ephesians 6:12 speaks of the principalities, and powers, and rulers of darkness — the spiritual wickedness in high places, which we face every day in this world’s system. Then, Ephesians 6:13 says, "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." It is so crucial to have on this whole armor, because without it, we cannot stand.
To "withstand" means that when Satan comes with all the forces of evil against us, we must continue to stand. So many Christians are not able to do that. And, when they cannot stand, they get wounded. They get cast down.
They have sorrow. They are cast down by the way, and their countenance reveals their condition.
To "withstand" means to effectively block one blow after another. It is like a boxer who is facing a barrage of punches. He can’t do anything but defend and cover up so that he doesn’t get hit in the face or stomach. He just moves and defends himself against the aggressor. What is he doing? Withstanding. The reason some people get wounded and live in sin is because they have never learned how to withstand.
Inner Beauty That Withstands
Paul wrote to women in 1 Timothy 2:9-10, pertaining to apparel, saying, “Adorn yourselves in modest apparel…professing godliness.”
He was telling them to adorn themselves according to the beauty of their souls. The Greek word for “adorn” is kosmeo. It means that a lady is to organize her appearance in a manner that reflects God’s glory, represents His design for a lady, and fulfills His reflections. The Greek syntax of this passage indicates that these women were not fulfilling God’s purpose in dress because they were not fulfilling God’s purpose inwardly.
In other words, if a woman cannot afford certain clothing, then she still practices kosmeo by dressing the best that she can, reflecting her inner beauty. Her interior qualities determine her exterior decoration. She learns what it is like to be a lady, and then she lives like a lady. All of this relates to the armor of God.
In fact, Paul was instructing the entire Church to adorn herself inwardly in a godly fashion. Aperson who is adorned inwardly with a meek spirit (1 Peter 3:4) could have a very poor complexion and still look beautiful because of God. This is what Paul was talking about. He is dealing with the inner beauty of the soul being reflected outwardly.
Made Able to Stand: Seeing God’s Purpose The phrase “that you may be able to stand” means that we will stand because of the armor. Ephesians 6:11 means that we are able to receive something that will make us withstand. In fact, we may not even become engaged in a fight! “That you may be able” means that we have been given power and ability from God to go beyond standing — it means we are not even moved.
The Psalmist wrote, “I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved” (Psalm 16:8). 1 Corinthians 15:58 says we are to be “steadfast and immovable.”
We can do this because God gives us the divine ability through divine power for a divine capacity. The power of the Kingdom of God does the resisting through your soul and body. And when we are willing to receive His provision, we are made able to stand in the evil day.
“Evil” here in the Greek is poneros, which speaks of Satan’s government of evil affecting a small group who then attack someone because those in the group have been infected with evil.
This isn’t kakos — the intrinsic evil that is just evil in one person. This is not the communal (Proverbs 4:17) or conspiratorial evil that can also come against Christians and their ministries. This is the effect of the kingdom of darkness. Satan’s plan is to infect individuals who will then band into a small group to infect others against you.
In Ephesians 6:11, the Greek text reveals that at a critical time when we are under fire, we withstand. Satan may supernaturally attack through human agents — people who don’t even know that they are wrong. We may be violently and verbally assaulted. But we have been made able to withstand. We are mature and established and immovable in Christ.
The Totality of Our Victory
“Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” Every person will face an evil day, and we can face it because we are being “made able to stand.”
Some will face an evil day in their marriages and may have to go through a very painful divorce.
In an evil day, some party may become emotional and reactionary. Another may have his character attacked on the job, and that is an evil day coming against him. With pastors, it is usually a number of different attacks that can come against them and their wives.
Paul, however, is saying that the evil day will come against you personally and individually. He is telling us what to do when these days come. What do we do when these days come? We stand.
“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” (Ephesians 6:13).
“And having done all” means “to conquer” in totality. Forces come against us, but we have the armor on and we stand. “To stand” designates a victory-keeping party with God. The Finished Work still stands when we are in a fight.
The greatest battle ever fought was on the Cross at Calvary, nearly two thousand years ago. Jesus Christ struck the winning blow when He took back the keys to death and hell from Satan. He rose up from the grave by the power of the Holy Spirit. All the forces of hell could not even touch Him as He ascended into heaven.
When we receive the power of the Finished Work, we overcome the enemy just by holding our position. The devil can do nothing against the Finished Work. He can try to bring up our sin, but he cannot touch us because of Calvary.
We are rightly related to God. God will deal with us lovingly through chastisement if we continue in a pattern of sin, but Satan cannot touch us. Satan is rendered powerless, and he is limited by his defeat. It is so vital that we grasp this: He has been defeated — he cannot win! Because of the Finished Work, Satan cannot touch us and the conflict is over (Romans 8:37).
CEMENTED IN GOD’S PROVISION OF TRUTH
“Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness” (Ephesians 6:14).
Paul used the verb histemi which means “to stand” four times in four verses. Here, it means that we stand ready to face any new attack. We are still winning. We are going to win tomorrow. Whatever Satan does today, we will just keep standing in our victory.
Can you see how much unnecessary mental conflict people go through? Can you see how many wounds are self-inflicted? So many of our own thoughts presume our defeat when we cannot be defeated. The wicked one cannot touch us because of our position.
“Having your loins girt about” speaks of the long flowing robes the Romans wore that they had to gird up in order to walk around. Agirdle was used to brace their armor tight against their bodies, and it also held the daggers, the swords, and other weapons. The girdle held everything in its proper place so the soldier could defend himself.
Weapons on Every Side
The Christian soldier has spiritual weapons on every side. These weapons are held in place by “truth” — the divine, precise truth from the Word of God. We have the Word of God going in every direction in our lives through the fruit of virtue. Virtue implements what is necessary in doctrine for every situation. There is not a side of us that isn’t protected.
The girdle went all around the body and shoulders. The front part was connected to a back part. With it all, the loins were girded. Furthermore, Isaiah 30:21 says, “Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it.” The voice of God is behind us, protecting us with the Finished Work.
All of Ephesians 6 deals with Finished Work armor. There is no fighting mentioned here. All it talks about is standing.
Made Complete in His Righteousness
“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: “By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:1-2).
We are permanently standing in grace, cemented in the eternal aspect of our provision. This means that we can’t pull our feet out of our position. We may fall in that position, but our feet never come out of it. We are standing and we have access to His grace with joy and hope.
This is a beautiful picture because it is dealing with truth and righteousness. The Word of God says in Psalm 85:11, “Truth shall spring out of the earth, and righteousness shall look down from heaven.” Truth springs up out of us, and it is God’s righteousness that makes us complete.
Righteousness looks down and accepts the truth that Christ satisfied the justice of God by dying at Calvary for the sins of the world. Now we have a relative realistic righteousness given to us by God. This righteousness is an everlasting righteousness and the Law is truth (Psalm 119:142).
He who speaks forth truth shows forth righteousness, according to Proverbs 12:17. The Bible can only say this because God’s Word is established in the Finished Work. Now when we speak forth God’s truth and show it through our lives, we reveal that the work is finished.
The Lord lives in truth and righteousness (Jeremiah 4:2). For this reason, we live “by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left” (2 Corinthians 6:7).
We have our loins girded about with truth — categorical doctrine. This is the first part mentioned in the armor. Everything starts with doctrine. Jesus Himself asked the Father to “sanctify [My disciples] through thy truth: thy word is truth” (John 17:17).
We wouldn’t know that it is a Finished Work if we didn’t have categorical doctrine from the Word of God. We wouldn’t know that we are more than conquerors if we didn’t have doctrine.
Because we know that Jesus has conquered, we also know that we are conquerors, for we are inside the Conqueror. If we are hid in Him, then the enemy cannot find us because Satan cannot get inside of Christ.
AN ARMOR THAT FULLY PROTECTS
“And having on the breastplate of righteousness” (Ephesians 6:14) means to clothe yourself as you are becoming like Christ. “The breastplate of righteousness” had two pieces, one for the front and one for the back, like a shell. One covered the whole region of the breast from the neck to the midsection of the body in which the principle of life is contained. The other part covered the back.
This breastplate was a mesh of metal rings interwoven, which made it flexible while guarding the body against the sword, the spear, or the arrow.
Walking with Beautiful Feet
“And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace” (Ephesians 6:15). The Roman soldiers had brazen boots. They had to walk with protection that came up high above the ankles because of the secret traps that enemies laid for them.
God has a very special armor for our feet — feet that should always be ready to walk, to go anywhere with the gospel of peace. But our special armor also guards us against the secret snares of the evil one. The believer discerns the traps of the enemy and does not go in that direction, so he avoids falling into those traps that are along the way.
Many people never have God’s full thought through the Word on the details of life, so problems develop in their emotions. They have never learned to enter into careful pursuit of the full thought of God.
Consider the full thought of God. When you were saved, the full thought of God said, “You can never be lost,” and, “You are forgiven forever.” God allows loving chastisement to come into a Christian’s life, and it is designed to bring in the peaceable fruit of righteousness, according to Hebrews 12:11.
When we were saved, we became a part of Jesus Christ forever. That is the full thought of God. We are heaven-bound, and nothing can change that. We have a destiny, and we have a new self-image, all because of the full thought that reveals our salvation. The Finished Work is God’s full thought of what Christ did for every person who accepts Jesus Christ.
According to the full thought of God, the Christian doesn’t walk the same way the average person walks. Their shoes may look alike, but they are not the same. The believer walks in different shoes, and he has a special kind of feet, prepared to preach the gospel of peace.
“How beautiful are the feet of those that preach the Good News” (see Isaiah 52:7 and Romans 10:15). Christians’ feet are beautiful because they preach the Gospel, and they are beautiful because they detect the devil’s snares.
Shielded from Satan’s Darts
“Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked” (Ephesians 6:16).
“Above all” speaks of having protection for the entire body. The shield described here was about four feet long and two-and-a-half feet wide. Because it could be turned around in every direction, the shield provided coverage for the whole person (see Psalm 35:2; Ezekiel 23:24). It was secured to the left arm by strong straps.
The outer surface was rounded from the center to the edge. It was polished and anointed with oil so that arrows and darts would either rebound off the shield or they would hit the oil and slide off.
We have doctrine that gives us the full thoughts of God, the breastplate of righteousness so that we are loving and motivated properly, and the shield of faith for our protection.
When Christians work but are not motivated to glorify God, they become sloppy in their workmanship and passive because of familiarity. When this is the case, a business cannot produce properly because God will not honor inefficiency, familiarity, or passivity, and the workers become discouraged. But behind the whole problem was a plan from Satan to disarm them, cause conflict, and bring in fear.
The greatest victory in any Christian business is to have order, motivation, wisdom, strength, and good habits to glorify God and bless people. Satan wants us to fail, but God wants us to be workers with Finished Work standards who receive Christ’s victory and stand our ground.
Functioning with a Living Faith
It is very important that we as believers put on our armor everyday.
Without God’s armor, every one of us will get wounded. We may display our wounds differently. Some may be able to cover them up better than most, but we will still get wounded.
Without the armor, the Finished Work is not enabling us to withstand, although we are still covered by the Finished Work of Calvary. Furthermore, we cannot enjoy the operation of the Kingdom of God to conquer and overcome in every direction we go. Also, without the armor, our prayer life cannot function with a living faith, so prayers may not be answered. In order for our prayer life to be effective, we have to put on the whole armor of God.
Having said this, remember that the Lord Jesus Christ heals the brokenhearted and binds their wounds. How does He do this? We may lose a round, but the fight has been won. That is God’s full thought. I lose a round and then another, then He puts a healing ointment on the wounds and binds them. Then, I go back out with my whole armor on. I put on the whole armor and I cannot be defeated.
“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 thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints” (Ephesians 6:17-18).
CONCLUSION
Ephesians 6 says that none of us can live and stand our ground in the Finished Work unless we put on the whole armor of God. Guaranteed, the last time you were depressed, the last time you were subjective, you didn’t have on your armor. You neglected putting it on by faith. The armor must be put on in order to protect us.
Did you put on your armor this morning? Are you wearing the helmet of salvation to protect your mind? Did you put on the breastplate so that your motives are correct? Are your loins girt about with doctrine? Are you walking with feet that are prepared to share the Gospel? Are you walking in love? Do you have the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God? Are you praying with supplication? That is the Finished Work armor that can never be defeated.
On some days, we just forget to put on our armor. Though we do it by faith, we have to put it on just as we put on our clothes and our shoes. And by faith, we must put on the whole armor of God. There is more to this than just standing and resisting. It is standing our ground with God and overcoming as we see the enemy flee.
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God Really Cares For You
Jesus loves you deeply. However, the fact that all have sinned separates us from God (Romans 3:23; 6:23). Still, God cares for you and He provides a way to share His love with you.
Jesus Christ’s love for man was so great that He came and died on the cross for all the sins of mankind. He shed His blood for you so you can be forgiven and have eternal life.
The only thing He requires of you is to come to Him in simple faith trusting His character and love for you, and accepting Him as your Savior. “Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21) . Simply pray, “Dear Jesus, I know I am a sinner. I receive you as my personal Savior. Thank you for loving me so much that you died for me so I can have eternal life with you. Amen.”
He promises that He will never stop loving you and that He will never leave nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). Develop your relationship with Him by reading the Bible, praying, and attending a good Bible-believing church.
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All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from the King James Version.
Grace Publications is a ministry of Greater Grace World Outreach, Inc. http://www.ggwo.org
Greater Grace Church in Ukraine http://www.ggwo.org.ua