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1. Withstand the Devil
We are at war. This is not metaphorical. It is not symbolic. It is real. This war has extremely high stakes: our soul’s eternal salvation is on the line. This war is not a skirmish over political opinions or a clash of cultures. This is a cosmic contest between light and dark, between truth and deception, between life and death. God’s Call to Arms doubles as our battle cry: “Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.” Only at God’s side and with God’s strength will we stand a chance (and stand we must!) and even succeed in this battle. God has given us a battle plan via the Apostle Paul.
The battle plan, first of all, calls for us to beef up our defenses. But before we build any bulwarks, dig any trenches, or set up any defenses, we need to know just who the enemy is and where the enemy is. We can only withstand the devil when we know where the devil stands. Paul briefs us on the nature of our enemy: “Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” Schemes, not skirmishes. The devil is a formidable foe. He is a master tactician. A spiritual saboteur. A manipulator of minds and whisperer of lies. The devil is way out of our league. In fact, if we try to stand alone, we don’t stand a chance. Right off the bat, Paul reminds us: “Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.” Not ours, but His.
Paul then explains why. First of all, the devil doesn’t use conventional warfare. He doesn’t fight fair. We have an enemy that is literally hell-bent on our destruction, and he’ll do anything and use anything to accomplish his purpose. Paul uses the word “schemes” to describe the devil’s battle tactics. In other words, he’s got a whole bag full of dirty tricks.
The devil is not an honest adversary. He’s a conniving and contriving, sneaking and spying, lying enemy. He traffics in shadows and wields deception like a dagger. He lies in ambush, spies out our weak points, and then makes his assaults…secretly, stealthily, and suddenly. He doesn’t announce his intentions. He’s not going to hit us over the head with a Bible and say, ‘Don’t believe this.’ He’s not going to knock at our door and say: ‘I’m here to steal your soul.’ No, he’s much more subtle than that. He infiltrates. He impersonates. He insinuates his way into our heads through silver-tongued preachers, marauding moralizers, and false friends -- whose words sound so good but whose message is so deadly. Paul wrote: “Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness.”
If he can’t undermine or destroy our faith outright, he’ll try to erode it. He’ll try to get us to relax our moral standards. If he can’t overthrow our faith, he’ll try to wear it down gradually, to condition us to compromise, to inject a serum of self-doubt, and to twist the truth half a turn. If he can’t seduce us into sin, he’ll try to lead us to pharisaism -- sinful pride and a smug satisfaction in our own goodness. Keep in mind, Saints, the chilling truth is: It’s not Satan’s goal to get us to believe in him. His goal is to keep us from believing in Jesus.
Paul continues: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” This is not a war of nations. It’s a war of natures. It is not a battle of cultures, but of kingdoms. Not only do our opponents not use conventional warfare, they don’t use conventional weaponry. We don’t even have the weapons in our arsenal to wage war against the devil. That’s why Paul encourages us to “be strong in the Lord.” No cannon can crush a lustful thought. No missile can intercept a fleeting doubt. There’s no wall wide enough, no hurdle high enough, and no trench deep enough to ward off or escape the Adversary’s assaults. He even has an outpost in our own hearts: our sinful human natures. He’s got us surrounded inside and out. We need help to stand our ground, to withstand the devil. Paul warns us of the schemes of the devil, not to frighten us, but to fortify us and to remind us that we are not alone, that we are not defenseless or doomed. He reminds us that we can withstand the devil only if we…
2. Stand With The Lord
Paul has made it very clear that the devil is way out of our league, but here is the good news: we have an Ally who is way out of the devil’s league. Our battle is against those very forces of evil, which Christ already crushed and conquered on the cross. When we employ the defense system given to us by our divine Ally, we are guaranteed victory. We do not fight for victory. We fight from victory. The battle has already been won at the Resurrection. So Paul says, “Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.”
When all is said and done, when all the dust has settled and the smoke has cleared, we will be standing at our Savior’s side with the enemy lying vanquished at our feet: “Put on the full armor of God so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” This is not a metaphor. This is a mission. The Lord has a spiritual arsenal stocked and available for our use. Paul tells us to “be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Then he tells us how: Put on the full armor of God.”
When Paul was writing this letter, he was a prisoner in Rome, guarded by Roman soldiers. He compares the defenses God gives us to a soldier’s armor. The items are in the order a Roman soldier would strap them on: “Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist.” The soldier’s heavy belt held in place every other part of the armor of the soldier.
So, truth holds together all dogma, doctrine, and defense. And what is truth? The truth is the Word; the pure, unadulterated Word of God. Jesus said once: “If you hold to my teaching you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” In a world of spin and distortion, in a battlefield littered with lies, the truth of God’s Word is unchanging and unflinching.
How important it is to know the truth when our enemy is the ‘father of lies.’ The only thing that can expose his lies for what they are is the truth of God’s Word. The most important truth that trumps all other truths is that Christ has conquered the devil at the cross and that our sins are forever forgiven.
Paul continues the description of our defensive armor: “With the breastplate of righteousness in place.” Today, we might call it a bulletproof vest. The devil’s favorite tactic is despair, trying to convince us that we don’t measure up to God’s holiness and righteousness. And he’s right. We don’t. But Jesus did. Jesus lived the life we couldn’t live and died the death we deserved to die to rid us of our sins. He paid dearly for that breastplate of righteousness for us. None are His soldiers who don’t put it on in faith.
Paul goes on: “And with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the Gospel of peace.” While we may be at war with the world and the devilish underworld, we still enjoy peace with God, knowing that victory is assured. We are to be ready, willing, and eager to pass on this peace to others as well, to proclaim the Good News about our Ally, who has already won the war over sin, death, and the devil. Isaiah 52 reads: “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace.
The next item of defensive armor: “Take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” The devil doesn’t lob softballs at us. Instead, we’re constantly bombarded from all sides by his fiery darts and flaming arrows. The devil tries to embed in our inner being small beginnings of doubt or sinful desire, or vengeance, or pride, because he knows that they will work like leaven if they gain a foothold. Let faith shield you from those deadly darts. Meet them with the “mighty power” of God Himself, as well as the calm assurance of the forgiveness of sins.
Now the final piece of defensive armor: “Take the helmet of salvation.” Our head is the most vital and the most vulnerable part of our body. The devil will try to level some vicious death blows to our faith by toying with our minds. He’ll try to seduce us with sinful pleasures, corrosive doubts, and spiritual amnesia. He wants us to forget who we are and whose we are. Salvation is far too precious to trade for any lures with which the devil entices us. “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?” Don’t trade the eternal for the temporary.
Now Paul gives us our only offensive weapon, the one thing that stops the devil in his tracks: “(Take) the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.” We are not just to stand our ground; we are to gain ground. You see, the devil has something that we want: the souls of millions of lost brothers and sisters who don’t yet know and confess Jesus as their Savior. Even while we are deflecting the devil’s assaults and attacks, our swords will be slashing through enemy lines as we carry the Gospel forward to win new souls for Christ. Some of them may even be students at our school. The Word is no weak weapon; it is a powerful tool. “The Word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword.” It cuts through deception. It pierces the heart. It liberates the soul.
The Word is powerful enough to send Satan packing. James says, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” To handle such a potent weapon, we need to dig deeper into God’s Word and make it our own. We can’t use what we don’t own. Saints, make up your mind that you will spend time alone with God each day, reading or listening to His Word. Invite the Spirit to use that Word to strengthen your faith. Ask Him to help you share your faith. Do you realize that your faith is the only thing that actually grows as you share it? Let me repeat that: your faith is the only thing that grows as you share it! It is not divided; it is doubled. Grow in the Word and grow closer to Jesus. Use Sunday services, family devotions, and personal meditations to master this mighty weapon; it is the only one that can defeat the devil.
The final weapon in our arsenal to complete our armor is prayer: “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” Prayer is not a last resort. It is our lifeline. Prayer plugs us into our Power Source: God’s almighty power. During this whole devotion, we’ve been talking about standing: taking our stand, standing our ground, standing and fighting, and standing victorious in the end. Now Paul concludes by telling us that this really is a battle that can only be won on our knees…in prayer. Prayer is our posture of power.
Saints, this is war. Our Christianity doesn’t exempt us from the battle. Rather, it enlists us and immerses us in the battle. But it also equips us and arms us for the battle. Dear Saints, fight the good fight of faith. Happily, in the light of the cross of Christ, there is no doubt about the outcome. With each passing day, the final victory draws closer. We weary, war-worn soldiers will one day go Home to heaven, where there will be no more fighting, where we will be with our Savior forever. At His side, we will stand as conquerors. May God give you a victorious year ahead, wearing the armor of God, wielding the sword of the Lord (the Word), and walking in the peace of Christ. Amen.
Dear Lord, You have called us to stand, not in our strength, but in Yours. Clothe us in Your armor, shield us with Your truth, and steady our feet with Your peace. When the enemy schemes, remind us of Your victory. When we falter, lift us with Your grace. Make Your Word our sword and prayer our power. And when the battle is done, let us be found standing – faithful, forgiven, and forever Yours. In Jesus’ mighty name, Amen.
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