Big Healing Book - Ephesians 6:10-18

Ephesians 6:10-18:

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

Notes on Ephesians 6:10-18:

God’s armor is not designed to enable you to stand against the power of the devil. Read the verses carefully. God’s armor is provided to protect you from the wiles (lies) of the devil, NOT the power of the devil! Satan lost his power over you the day you exited his kingdom, which was when you gave your life to Jesus (Colossians 1:13). Now he can’t overcome you with spiritual power – he doesn’t have any over you. His weapon now is deception. Just as he deceived Eve into disbelieving God’s words, he tries to deceive you into thinking that God’s Word really isn’t true, or that at least it doesn’t really apply to you personally.

God’s armor is defensive because you don’t use it to attack Satan; you use it to defend what God already gave you. The armor is given to help you stand, not conquer. You do not use it to “storm the gates of hell.” There isn’t anything in hell you can get anyway. The unbelievers who are there will never get out. The devil is not even IN hell, despite video depictions that were definitely not filmed on-site. The devil walks to and fro on the earth seeking people to devour (1 Peter 5:8). As far as where he hung out when not walking all over, his throne was apparently in Pergamos in the days of the book of Revelation (Revelation 2:12-13), NOT in hell. Hell was created as a place of punishment and torment for the devil and his angels (Mathew 25:41), so there would be no reason for Satan to want to hang out there!

Some people have suggested that we are to attack hell because “the gates of hell shall not prevail” against the church (Matthew 16:18). Hell’s gates are definitely not in motion and they are not on the earth. However, there is an easier explanation for what Jesus met that is somewhat obvious from the Old Testament. The gates of a city are where the leaders gathered. Jesus meant that all the wisdom of the devil’s crowd would not be able to prevail against the church. He certainly did not mean that the church would literally visit hell and smash the gates. Why would anyone want to smash hell’s gates and let all the bad beings there out through the hole left where the gates used to be?

The armor all revolves around the Word in one way or another. Just as Jesus repelled Satan by quoting what was written, you repel him when you quote what is written to him. Of course, you have to read your Bible so that you know what’s written before you can do that.

You aren’t commanded to be strong in yourself, to just be a man and suck it up when things go wrong. You are to tap into GOD’S might and be strong in that. You could be very weak from a fleshly perspective, but when you tap into God’s might, you’re more than a match for any situation.

Many are confused into thinking that they are fighting a spiritual war in the atmosphere somewhere. But Paul said that we wrestle, which denotes hand-to-hand combat, not launching prayer missiles up at demons in the sky. The principalities try to promote deception. They want you to do the wrong thing. That’s why you need God’s armor – so that you know the Word and are not deceived.

You don’t see anyone in the Bible engaged in the modern false concept of spiritual warfare, trying to “battle” demons over cities. If the people in the Bible didn’t need to do it, neither do you. The verses in question prove that the armor of God was given to you explicitly to withstand and stand, not to conquer Satan, who is already defeated.

The armor of God is obviously a metaphor for knowing the Word. It is NOT a spiritual force field that you must “put on” every morning. Paul said to put the armor on. He never said to take it off. If you don’t take it off, you don’t need to put it on again. So you can ignore well-intentioned but ignorant advice from people who insist that you must put on the full armor of God every day to be safe from Satan!