God’s Armor

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the prin­cipalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wick­edness in the heavenly places.” Verses 10-12.

Jesus saw Satan cast down like a bolt of lightning to the earth, the place where, down through time, he has used principalities and powers to tyrannize and torment people. The lords of this world have banded together and formed powerful alliances in the dark­ness of this age. The poor have been kept in their poverty through ignorance and hard labor. James writes about this in James 5:4-5: “Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.” These lords have always exploited the people so that they themselves could live according to their lusts. The Scrip­tures declare a “woe” to them in these end times.

It is against lords such as these that we have our battle, a great battle in the spirit. But we are not to fight against them according to the flesh, as some do. Warfare in the spirit is of so much greater value, because if these lords suffer defeat in their spirit, then all the rest will follow.

Spiritual warriors have done the world far more good than mighty armies. Those men who have cast God’s light into the world have helped the poor, promoted justice, and kept wickedness at bay. This is truly a blessed work; join in it! Bring light, and the powers of darkness will be forced to retreat. The lords of this world in the present darkness will lose their power, and the blessing will come of itself, because all evil and darkness must flee before the light. All the wiles of Satan will not help him on the day when the light shines and shows his schemes up for what they really are.

Satan has power over the one who is in darkness and lacks God’s light. When the oppression of the governing authorities be­comes too severe, these poor, wretched people have no other re­course than strikes and revolution. As a rule, God lets them succeed in their battle even though they are in darkness, and we see Satan and the lords of this world suffer one defeat after another.

But we are not to fight in this way. Rather, by the Spirit we shall stand in the Spirit and overcome everything in the flesh that moves. Those who are in the flesh are in darkness and in the power of Satan; but God has transferred us from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God, from the flesh to the Spirit. (Romans 8:9.) The one who is poor and in darkness wants prosperity according to the flesh; that’s why he contends by resorting to strikes and revolution. If he were to become rich in this world, he would become just as much a tyrant as any other lord of this world, because he doesn’t have God’s light.

However, everyone who has passed from the power of Satan to God doesn’t contend in order to indulge his flesh; he fights for God’s righteousness, which decrees that each one shall have what is rightfully his. During this battle he can, by the cross, endure suf­ferings according to the flesh. This makes him a far more dreaded opponent of the lords of this world than one who is merely op­pressed, whose only goal is to obtain more of this world’s goods. That’s why we see that the lords of this world usually wind up de­ceiving the leaders of these revolutions by allowing them to move up the career ladder. In this way they put a damper on the revolu­tion, and the worst of them thus obtain what they have actually wanted all along.

Jesus was offered all the glory of this world; He had only to wor­ship and admire it all (and thus worship and admire Satan). But He refused this temptation. Neither must we allow ourselves to be deceived by the glory of this world, lest we forget those who are suffering and are less well off. May God teach us to be on guard here! In order to retain God’s power, we must always be under pressure according to the flesh. Never seek relief from that. Dyna­mite never has an explosive effect in the open air, where it only burns like a match. But when it is under great pressure, it ex­plodes with tremendous force!

Christ, by the cross, made a public spectacle of principalities and powers, triumphing over them in Himself. Now we too—by the cross—are to overcome principalities and powers, as well as the lords of this world. Without the cross people are always in bondage of one sort or another. The course of this world, in the form of fash­ions and customs, takes their minds captive, minds that were meant to serve the law of God. By the cross we overcome what is “modern,” since we draw near to Him who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The cross liberates us from the fear of those who can kill our bodies but then can do no more. Here is where vic­tory is assured over the principalities and the lords of this world in the present darkness. The cross also liberates us from all anxiety about earning a living. Thus we are no longer slaves to a career, and there is less chance of the lords of this world again assuming control.