How to Protect Yourself from an Invisible Enemy
– the Unseen Supernatural Forces of Evil
Robert Rite (3/25/13) – With all the chaos, confusion and evil that we witness today, I wanted to focus this message on how we can be fully shielded from both the seen and unseen forces of evil that surround all of us.
Ephesians 6:10-12 tells us to: “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, authorities, and powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
This passage makes it succinctly clear that our enemy is not our fellow man, whom we are commanded to love. Our battle is not against mankind, but against the principalities and forces of Satan.
Our war is a spiritual war – a war for our very own soul. We are not just fighting for our life – but for eternal life. Our world is the battleground, against principalities and forces from another dimension.
This struggle is a persistent conflict with a relentless and unseen enemy, which requires special weaponry, since bullets and bombs are useless against this supernatural force.
Some of us do not realize that as Christians we have a dual function on earth. Just like our Messiah was both a suffering servant, and will soon return as a conquering king, we are to love and serve our fellow man, while fighting off the enemies attacks.
We are called to be a soldier, to fight the good fight. Read 1 Timothy 6;12, 2 Timothy 2:3, 2 Timothy 2:4, 1 Corinthians 16:13. 1 Timothy 1:18. These all teach that we are to be soldiers for God.
We are warriors for the Lord; warriors of the truth; equipped with words that neutralize the enemy. But to win this fight against these supernatural principalities, we must equip ourselves with certain heavenly garments of war. Since our enemy is invisible, this armor is specially equipped to defeat such a supernatural force.
What is the Full Armor of God?
There are 7 pieces of armor in our arsenal of which just 1 is offensive; all the others are defensive in nature.
The full armor is symbolic of the Roman soldier’s body gear of those days which of course was the best example of impregnable armor – that the apostles could provide. Let’s review each of these 7 pieces of armor:
1) THE GIRDLE OF TRUTH (Ephesians 6:14)
This is the Word of GOD – found in the Holy Bible. the bible consists of the truth. Jesus was and is the truth. Satan wants to destroy the testimony of all Christians, but we should all know as 1 John 4:4 teaches: “greater is he who is in us than he who is in the world!” As Christian warriors we are to fill our minds with the truth so that no person or evil entity can deceive us with false doctrines and lies. The girdle of truth signifies that we must “gird up the loins of our minds with God’s truth!”. we must therefore live a life of truthfulness. Why GIRDLE of truth? Remember that the sword which is the word of God, hangs from the belt – which is the girdle (the truth)!
2) The BREASTPLATE of RIGHTEOUSNESS (Ephesians 6:14)
Jesus is our Righteousness as we are declared Righteous in Christ (Romans 5:1) – 2 Corinthians 5:21
The breastplate protects that heart, and where our heart is dictates our lifestyles, our priorities, and where our mind is focused. Jesus death gave us his Righteousness. How do we put on this piece of armor? We must live the Christian life by walking in Righteousness (keeping the laws of God) – by the way we live. We need to have it on continually; 7 days a week!
3) The Shoes of the Gospel of Peace: (Eph. 6:15)
Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace; He is our peace.
Satan and the world in its present state – is the exact opposite of peace. Satan’s attacks are all based on chaos, panic, anxiety, turmoil, lawlessness, violent crimes, unrest, sickness and all the things that steal our inner peace – if we ALLOW it!
The Gospel of peace is Satan’s enemy since Satan is the destroyer of peace. Jesus said that in Him we will have peace, but in the world we will have tribulation
Even today the world is becoming more void of peace. Look at the following statistics:
40 million young adults ages 18 and older who have seeked medical help for anxiety disorders (why not the Bible) – 65% of North Americans take prescriptions daily – Paxal and Zolouf are7th and 8th of top 10 of meds sold in the US – totaling 5 billion in sales in last year – Like Jesus predicted anxiety now is at an all time hi! But Jesus provides us with the prescription to rid ourselves of worry, and we find it at Mathew Ch 6.
The shoe here signifies that without peace (the shoes of the Gospel of Peace) we become ungrateful, unprepared, unproductive, and we can’t focus on fighting the enemy….just like an army with shoes that are unfit for war and much foot travel.
Ask God to direct our decisions in all that we do. We will experience peace when we choose the path which God wants us to take.
Jesus had inner peace and he offers us the same when he said: ”My peace I leave with you…….” The only way for peace is Jesus Christ – he alone can keep us standing tall when all around us is collapsing.
4) The Shield of Faith
Faith in God is our Shield (Eph 6:16). Faith allows us to block and evade all the fiery darts that our enemy throws our way, before they penetrate our mind and heart. See also: Galatians 2:20; Psalm 18:30).
Satan uses many darts in his attacks against the children of God. The devil’s first dart that he shot at Eve was “the dart of DOUBT”. Then he shot her with the “dart of Denial”. Finally, he used the “dart of deception” to rob Adam and Eve of their inheritance and introduce sin and suffering upon mankind.
The shield of faith protects us from the darts of doubt and denial and deception. We gain faith by arming ourselves with the word of God (the Sword of the Spirit).
To have faith means resting your whole existence upon God. So let us focus on the source of our faith – Jesus. Faith in Jesus shields our mind and heart and it brings us inner peace.
5) The Helmet of Salvation
This helmet protects our MIND, with Godly Wisdom) (Eph 6:17)
Jesus Christ is our HELMET. Jesus is the wisdom of God. We must equip ourselves with the WISDOM of God. Wisdom is the skill of living, and it gives us the skill to act and speak wisely in all situations. We must protect our Minds with the helmet! Godly wisdom is produced by the reading of God’s word (read letter to Timothy). James 1:5 teaches us to ask God for wisdom, since that is how we can get the wisdom of God.
How do we use the helmet of salvation? As we learn in Mathew 10:18-20: God will provide us with the words to say in our moment of trial, attack, or persecution by the enemy.
6) The SWORD of the Spirit (Eph 6:17 )
The Word of GOD is the sword of the Spirit. In John 1:1 we learn that the bible consists of the sayings of GOD. The word of God is the ONLY true Weapon that we need to battle with the evil one Ephesians 1:6-17
The Bible is an armory full of swords. Hebrews 4:12 calls the bible the Living word. Jesus designed the sword of the spirit. He showed us how to use it when he was tempted (attacked) three times by Satan in Mathew 4:1-11
Recognize that Satan only has 3 ways to tempt us:
1) The lust of the eyes,
2) Lust of the Flesh,
3) The Pride of the Life
These are the 3 things he used against Adam and Eve, and these are the exact 3 things Satan used when he tempted Jesus. And these are exactly the 3 things he uses when he attacks us with temptation. The sword of the spirit is fully effective against the enemy when it has been sharpened with the word of God.
7) Praying Always with All Prayer: Ephesians 6:18
As food is essential for the warrior to build physical strength, Prayer sharpens our sword and strengthens our armor. Prayer is vital for the Christian to build spiritual strength. So we must always pray. Pray in all situations; in prosperity, adversity, sickness and health. Pray without ceasing, for all things. When you pray to God – you are in God’s presence. Knowing how powerful prayer is, Satan will use every device to keep us from praying. He will keep us busy with life’s challenges, pleasures, social media and all the technological gadgets of the present age.
We cannot win this war in our own strength. We need special protection because the enemy’s primary target is Christians; just like the leaders and officers are the enemy’s primary target in conventional warfare. Satan wants to take us out so that we cannot save souls for God.
Note that there is no protection for the back as we are not to flee from the enemy; that is his job! As soldiers of Almighty God, we are to be courageous and face the enemy. Courage demonstrates true faith.
With this supernatural armor of God, the enemy is no longer invisible; we can actually see the enemy and what he is up to in our life and behind the scene. Satan knows that we can easily defeat him once we are fully equipped – and he will flee from us!
So be strong and courageous, do not be afraid – God’s message to all of us from Moses to Joshua was and is to not fear, especially not the enemy. In this war God is our supreme commander and he equips us fully so that if we put on the whole armor of God – we cannot lose!
