Stand Against the Devil with the Armor of God

1. Introduction

“Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.” “If you know yourself and you know your enemy, then you have nothing to fear in a hundred battles.” What are these quotes getting at? Why should we know our enemies? Why does a quarterback look at the defense before he snaps the ball? Why do sports teams spend millions of dollars to scout opposing teams? Why would a surgeon want to be familiar with your body and the disease that you have before they start cutting you open? Because, in order to succeed in the midst of conflict and opposition, you must know what you are getting yourself into. You must know the situation. You must know your enemy.

Now, I want you to think of some of the problems in your life. We’ve all got some. Life is difficult. Following Jesus isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Maybe you’re having problems with your family. Maybe its your classmates or teachers. Maybe you’re upset with the mess going on in our society. More and more mass shootings. More and more young black men and women being killed by police. There’s sexism. Racism. Greed. The exploitation and commodification (the selling) of sex. The poverty. Maybe you’re struggling with anxiety or depression or urges to do things that you know are wrong. But why? Why is life this way?

I contend that our world is so broken and difficult, at least in part, because of the spiritual forces at work in our world. Do you remember what Paul said in chapter 2? “You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.” Why do people do corrupt, evil, sinful things? Why do they harm each other? Because they are following the spiritual forces that are opposed to God. Why is life so hard? Because the devil and his forces want to destroy God’s creation and hinder the progress and fruitfulness of the Gospel. He wants to destroy you. This is not to suggest that people don’t willingly choose to do bad things. This doesn’t mean that there’s no natural causes, and we need to explain every natural phenomenon in terms of supernatural forces. I’d not think we need to oppose the natural to the supernatural. They can go together. We simply need to recognize that the devil seeks every opportunity and uses each one he finds to turn people against God and to destroy us.

2. Series of Commands Aiming at the Same Thing

So, Paul issues a series of commands, a bunch of instructions, and they are all related to this matter. They have the same purpose. He even repeats himself many times. What is the goal of this section? What is Paul so concerned about? Verse 10. “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” This is the overarching statement of this passage. Paul wants us to stand against our spiritual enemies, so he wants us to be strengthened and properly equipped with our divine resources. He wants us to be able to stand firm in the face of evil and temptation, but he knows we can’t do that on our own. We need God’s strength and we need the resources that only God can provide.

In your fight against the devil and his schemes, you do not stand much of a chance on your own. So, you will need the Lord’s strength. In fact, in verse ten, “be strong” is actually a passive verb, meaning that it could be translated “be strengthened” by the Lord. The Lord is the one doing the strengthening. He is the one equipping you. God doesn’t just give you a mission, or a bunch of commands without equipping you and strengthening you for it. Sometimes people say, “God won’t give you more than you can handle.” I want you to notice how that is NOT what this passage is saying. This passage isn’t saying that God won’t give you more than YOU can handle, but that he won’t give you more than HE can handle. He will get you through with his strength and his resources.

This is like Space Jam. The little aliens were not good basketball players. They were small. Uncoordinated. Pathetic. So what did they do? They stole the skills and powers of professional basketball players. By using the abilities of someone else, they were able to stand a chance against Michael Jordan. We, too, need another’s strength, if we are to stand against our opponent. We need God’s resources, but before we get to what those resources are, the armor of God, let’s actually talk a bit about what we’re up against.

3. Know Thy Enemy

Who is our opponent? Verse twelve: For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities (and rulers and authorities are special words referring to spiritual demonic forces, not mayors or presidents or the like), -we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rules, against the authorities- against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Like we saw earlier in chapter two: our enemy is the prince of the power of the air, the spirit at work in sinful people (Eph. 2:2). The problems with evil in our world and in our life is not fundamentally physical, flesh and blood people. When our society opposes our Christian message and teaching, our ultimate opponent is not the person mocking us or imprisoning our brothers and sisters around the world, but the devil manipulating that person. When our society is racist and hateful, it is not ultimately about laws or education or systems, but about the cosmic powers over this present darkness, leading people to hate each other. That’s who we are up against. Not flesh and blood. Not other people. Not laws and governments. No. We are in a spiritual war. So, as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10, “we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.” When the crowd came to arrest Jesus, he taught his disciples not to fight with the sword, because if Jesus wanted to, he could just call down legions of angels. No. The Christian fight isn’t physical. It is spiritual. So, we have no business raiding the capital with our Christian symbols. No business bombing abortion clinics. This is a spiritual fight. Not a physical one.

So that was who our opponent is. What is our opponent doing? In verse eleven, we saw that Paul wants us to stand against the schemes of the devil (6:11). The devil is scheming. Plotting against us. This is primarily referring to the devil’s lies that he uses against us in order to hinder the progress of the Gospel and lead us into sin and unfruitfulness. The devil is a liar. In fact, Jesus called him the father of lies (John 8:44). In Revelation, he is called “the deceiver of the whole world.” The devil opposes us principally through his lies.

Why does he do this? He lies so that he can lead us into sin and destroy us. In 1 Peter 5:8 = Devil is a roaring lion, prowling around, seeking someone to devour. In John 10:10 = The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. The devil wants to hinder the progress of the Gospel and lead us into sin and unfruitfulness. He wants to harden the world against the Gospel. He wants to get people off track, believing all sorts of lies. He wants us to fall into sin, dishonoring Christ and becoming unfruitful. And he has plans, schemes, methods to do so.

4. Know Thy Equipment

And you won’t be able to resist him on your own. You won’t make yourself impervious to lust by installing a filter on your phone or computer or by getting married. You won’t make yourself less anxious about money just by making more of it. Our little tips and tricks to try to stand up against the devil, while they might be helpful, they simply do not provide the strength necessary to stand against the devil. We need the armor of God.

Now, don’t get too caught up with the various pieces of armor. The emphasis is on the characteristic with which each piece of armor is associated. The emphasis is more on “truth” than on “the belt.” It is more on “righteousness” than on “the breastplate.” You can see that in the fact that Paul wrote to the Thessalonians to put on spiritual armor, but the list there is different. There it is the breastplate of faith and love. So, the metaphor is meant to focus on the characteristics of truth, righteousness, etc. Rather than the actual instrument.

a. Belt of Truth

First up is the “belt of truth” in verse 14. Truth. When the devil comes at us with his lies, we can stand against him with truth. This is the truth that Paul calls us to speak to each other in love in 4:15. The truth of the gospel, as we saw in chapter 4, helps us to grow up into maturity, into Christ-likeness. When human cunning and craftiness and every sort of false doctrine threatens to throw us off course and lead us astray, we need to be prepared and ready to stand against it with the truth. Just today, while I was at home working on this sermon, the devil was tempting me to look at things I shouldn’t look at. The lie was “oh, it’ll be fun. Oh, it’ll make you feel better. God’s going to forgive you, anyway, right?” But I knew the truth and I clung to the truth! And God delivered me out of the jaws of that temptation. That’s what this truth is for. It helps us to grow into maturity and to stand against temptation. I don’t give a rip how much bible trivia you know. I don’t care about how perfectly precise your doctrinal statement is, if that truth hasn’t led you to maturity and holiness and Christ-likeness. By fastening on the belt of truth, the truth will help us to hold fast against the devil’s lies.

b. Breastplate of Righteousness

Next, we have the breastplate of righteousness. Now, this could mean Christ’s perfect, spotless, righteousness, which God gives to us, considering us to be righteous before him. Not because we actually are righteous, but because when God judges us, he does so on the basis of Christ’s righteous life. We call that the “imputed righteousness of Christ.” That could be what Paul means here. Thus, when the devil accuses you and slanders you, beating you up with guilt and shame because you’re a sinner, you can look to the righteousness of Christ and know that you stand righteous before your God. However, based on how Paul has used the word “righteousness” elsewhere in this letter, it is most likely that Paul is referring to our own ethical righteousness. Doing the right thing. When the devil tries to lead you into sin, do the right thing. Unrighteous living gives the devil an “opportunity” to destroy us. Like Paul said in Eph. 4:27, sinful anger gives the devil a foothold. A bad situation can be made much worse, if we lash out in anger. But, if we live righteously (such as rightly handling our anger), we can thwart the devil’s strategies.

c. Shoes of preparation of the gospel of peace

Next, we have the shoes of the readiness given by the gospel of peace. Would you wear track spikes on a volleyball court? Would you wear hiking boots to a ballet recital? Would you wear sandals while walking through a pit of scorpions and snakes? Wouldn’t you rather have durable, protective boots to shield you from the danger? The right shoes are crucial for preparing for the task at hand. We are to put on the shoes of the preparation of the gospel of peace. Or said another way, the good news about the peace that we have with God and with each other will prepare us to do battle against the enemy. Remember: The devil wants to thwart God’s plan to unite all things in Christ, making peace between him and all of humanity, and peace between all the different, divided groups of people. That’s what he wants to destroy, but if we have fully embraced God’s gospel of peace, and we are well-acquainted with it, then we will understand what the devil’s target is. This will help us to stand against his assault.

Does that make sense? If you know what your opponent’s objective is, then you can better stop him or her from achieving it. When I was a kid, I had some “spy” toys. One was this laser sensor, that was basically like a trip wire. Once it was set up, it would sound an alarm if someone walked through the laser. Let’s say that I knew my brother wanted to sneak into my room, would it make sense for me to put that sensor in a hallway closet? No. I would put it near my bedroom door, because I know that’s where he wants to go. My preparation would be shaped by my knowledge of the enemy’s objective. The devil wants to steal the peace that we have with each other and with God. He’s going to want to divide us. He’s going to want to lead people away from the church. You know what, he’s done a pretty good job at it, too. So, we must be prepared to stand firmly in God’s peace and protect it.

d. Shield of Faith

Next, we have the shield of faith, the ultimate piece of protection. Just think about what Paul has taught us about faith in this letter. We are saved through faith (Eph. 2:8). We have access to God through faith (Eph. 3:12). Christ dwells in our hearts through faith (Eph. 3:17). We are bound together as the church through our common faith in God (Eph. 4:5). Now, he teaches us that faith will protect us from every fiery projectile which the devil will throw at us. A barrage of arrows would be bad enough, imagine they are lit on fire. Your surroundings could suddenly go up in flames. When your life seems to be descending into chaos, metaphorically going up in flames, we must hold on to God by faith to protect from the devil’s attacks. Faith is like an anchor for the soul. Storms will come. They will rock you. But the anchor of faith will be able to keep you steady. Paul lived that. In 2 Timothy 4, Paul talks about his imprisonment and trials.

Example is Paul in 2 Timothy 4. “At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me . . . But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me . . . so I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. Paul is chained up in prison. He’s facing another trial. He knows that he is nearing the end of his life. He realizes that he’s probably going to be executed. But he said that the Lord would rescue him and bring him safely into the heavenly kingdom, not because he thought that he wouldn’t be executed- but because he had faith that his death wouldn’t be the end. Because he had faith that God would bring him into his heavenly kingdom. He wasn’t afraid of what the Roman empire could do to him, because he was confident that God could deliver him through it. They could kill his body, but God had saved his soul and would give him a new, resurrected body one day. That takes faith to believe. It takes faith to live like that. That’s the faith that Paul had, and it’s the faith that will shield us from the devil’s fiery arrows.

e. Helmet of Salvation

The next piece of armor is the helmet of salvation. The helmet, which would protect the head and neck, is associated with salvation. Of course, this is the saving work of God. The reality of God saving us should guard us from the devil, who will try to get you to doubt the salvation that is yours in Jesus Christ.

How does the devil assault us regarding our salvation? He might try to make you doubt that you are saved, or can even be saved. “Why would God save you after you had premarital sex or took drugs? Or God won’t forgive you for gossiping again, or lusting again, or getting angry AGAIN. You’re out of chances.” Those are lies of the devil meant to drive you to despair and unfruitfulness. The reality is, God’s Grace abounds even to the worst sinners. If you repent and turn back to Christ Jesus for forgiveness, there is nothing that he won’t forgive. When the devil tries to get you to doubt God’s mercy, put on the helmet of salvation.

And I wonder, though, if there is another way that the devil might try to deceive us about salvation. My coworker, Jake, told me a few weeks ago, “Yeah, I still consider myself a Christian, but I think all religions are basically trying to worship the same god.” Friends, this is not the faith that Christians have believed for thousands of years! Our scriptures teach that there is one true god. They teach that the only way that we can be reconciled to God is through the means which God provided: Jesus Christ. He is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through him. Moreover, God will not settle for just a part of you. This is, I think, the driving theme of James, but you’ll need to wait twenty years for me to write my book on it. God isn’t cool with getting you half the week, while you chill with Artemis, or Allah, or Buddha, or Vishnu the rest of the time. He isn’t cool with just getting you on Sunday mornings or Wednesday nights, while you live for yourself the rest of the week. The devil has deceived the world into treating the gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ like an item in a buffet line. “Take a little if you want, but why limit yourself.” The truth about salvation is that it can always be found, but only be found in Jesus Christ.

f. Sword of the Spirit

Next up is the sword of the Spirit. Now Paul tells us what this is: it is the word of God. This likely refers to the Scripture, but it is possible that Paul is specifically thinking of the Gospel message, the word of God through which we may be saved. Regardless, it is the divine message, the true and powerful word of God that can help us to fend off the attacks of the devil. This is like what Jesus did when Satan was tempting him in the wilderness. Jesus did what? He quoted the Scriptures. He used the word to demolish Satan’s temptations.

But you must learn to use this sword rightly. I’m a proponent of gun safety training for people that want to buy firearms. Why? Because when people are running around with deadly weapons that they don’t know how to handle, they are more likely to injure or kill themselves or others. A powerful weapon must be used rightly. The word of God is powerful, and it is authoritative for us as Christians, so if someone is misusing it, then it can devastate the church. Satan knows that. So many of the devil’s schemes use the Bible. He loves to twist the Scriptures, so he can lure unsuspecting believers astray. This is the history of the church, from NT times until now. People will misread, misinterpret, and twist the Scriptures to come up with bad beliefs about God. We call this heresy. The most significant heretics in the history of the church, believed in the Bible. Sure, there have been a few that rejected the Bible or at least parts of it, but many believed the Bible was God’s authoritative word. The problem wasn’t that they used the Bible. The problem was that they used it wrongly.

So, how can we use it rightly? A few quick points: First, read the Bible in the power of the Spirit. This is the Sword of the SPIRIT. The Spirit that inspired the authors to write it is the same Spirit that lives in you to help you understand it. Second, read it in community. That is, let others help you understand it. You’ve got each other. You’ve got us leaders. You’ve got pastors, books, etc. You also have the whole history of the church. If you’ve come up with an interpretation of the Bible that the church has never thought of OR has consistently rejected for 2,000 years, you should be very nervous. Third, read Scripture in light of Scripture. Let clear, simple passages illuminate and explain confusing passages. If you’re reading the book of Hebrews, and you come across some confusing stuff, it’s possible that other passages can help you to make sense of it. Fourth, keep the main things the main things. Don’t get bogged down in arguments about whether the Covid vaccine is the mark of the beast. Don’t be obsessed with trying to figure out who the anti-Christ is. Spend most of your time with the Word reflecting on and rejoicing in the big truths of the Gospel.

5. Prayer

Lastly, Paul talks about prayer. We’re just going to touch on this briefly. First, note the constancy of this prayer “praying at all times.” Second, note the objects of the prayer “for all the saints, and also for me.” Third, note the end of this prayer “that words would be given to Paul to proclaim the gospel as he ought.” This section on prayer ties back to the previous one on the armor of God in these ways. All saints are always under spiritual threat, so they always need prayer. Since our spiritual enemies wish to hinder the advance of the gospel and our obedience to God, we must pray also specifically for the advance of the gospel.

Let us be strengthened in the Lord by putting on the full armor of God, so that we can stand against our spiritual enemies who attack us with lies and temptations in order to hinder the gospel and make us unfruitful. Let us stand.

6. Review of the Book