By William Oldham

“…Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.” Ephesians 6:10-13

As I typed this Scripture, four things popped out at me. First, every child of God is going to face ongoing attacks from the devil; next, in our own strength we are no match for these attacks; then, we are instructed as to how to protect ourselves from the attacks; and finally, the goal is that we may stand firm in the midst of the attacks.

The three main areas of life that the children of God find themselves in are: home, church, and business. These are the God-ordained places that we live out our lives and serve and honor God: family, Christian family, and fellow-workers. It is then no small wonder that in this very arena of life is where the devil seeks to carry out his plans to destroy the Christian.

Did not Jesus warn that a, “…A man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.” Matthew 10:36 Regardless of how close family members may be, if some are born again and some are not, the devil can easily use the unbelievers to work against those who do believe. And if we’re not alert and vigilant, they can easily destroy our witness and service to the Lord.

The same truth applies to the church family. We may assume that because someone is the pastor, elder, deacon, Sunday school teacher, song leader and etc., that they are believers, but they may very well not be. Jesus gave a parable of wheat and tares growing together in a field until harvest time. He identified the wheat as the sons of the kingdom, and the tares as the sons of the evil one. Matthew 13:38 Just because someone professes to be a Christian doesn’t mean they are; Jesus warned of,  “wolves in sheep’s clothing.”

In and of ourselves, we are no match for the never-ending, relentless attacks of the devil. Child of God, don’t think it strange with what you encounter that tries your soul and seeks to discourage you. The devil is at work in your home and your church, and then your workplace. But I won’t elaborate on the work place because it is mostly unbelievers who will say and do most anything contrary to your faith: consider it a mission field—Be a light for Jesus there.

In all of this, the child of God is to understand that it is in the strength of the Lord that we are able to stand: “…Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.” 1 John 4:4 It is through, “Praying, with all prayer and petition at all times in the Spirit…” that the Lord steps in and fights for us. It is our daily feeding on God’s word that provides the armor we must wear at all times.

God’s word girds us up with His truth; our very lives are protected by the righteousness we have in Christ; we have none of our own. Our witness is protected by the solid truth of the eternal salvation we have in Christ. God has given us a measure of faith whereby we can quench the fiery darts of Satan. All of these are protective; the only weapon we are given is the word of God, the very same one Jesus used on the devil when He was tempted.

If we would stand firm in the evil day, we must understand this: we are soldiers of the cross, Jesus is the Captain of our salvation, and we must fight to hold Jesus Christ up to a lost and dying world.

Brother Bill is a Bible teacher and can be contacted at bboldham@sbcglobal.net