Are You Equipped For Battle?

2nd Timothy 2:3-4: NIV says, “Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer.”  You cannot be a soldier of Christ and abandon Him and entangle yourself in the world. Strength comes from God and we must abide in Christ to live in his strength. The Bible says, “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.”(1 Corinthians 10:12) Your strength will only stand as long as your opposition is weak or temptation is small. When the battle rages, those who stand on the rock of Christ have the power to stand even when their own strength fails.

Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-13

          Before we can accurately understand Satan’s power, we have to look at his limitations. Many people view Satan as being the evil opposite of God.  Satan will never be on the same level with God. Satan once known as Lucifer which means “Morning Star” is no longer the shining angel.  As of Isaiah 14:12-13 he is now merely a fallen angel.  He has to have clearance from God before he can do anything.  ALL POWER belongs to God.

Satan also knows his time is limited. Satan and those who fell with him know that there is an appointed time and they have a limit to what they can do and a short time in which to do it. Satan may hate God, but he also knows God has boundaries he absolutely cannot cross. Satan is never referred to as having power in the Bible beyond the ability to deceive those who are willing to believe his lies and the limited power to perform a specific task that he has permission from God to do.

      Now that we have looked at the limitations of Satan, lets look at his power. To understand Satan’s powers, let’s take a closer look at Ephesians 6:11-12. We are told to defend ourselves with God’s armor and stand by God’s strength so that we can ‘stand against the wiles of the devil’. The definition of ‘wiles’ is cunning arts, deceit and trickery. It is very important that we grasp this principle. Deceit, seduction and lies are the powers of Satan. No more, no less. Satan does not have the power to physically harm you, force you to act nor does he wield any power over you. Satan is a caged lion that seeks to devour. To seek means to search.  Satan goes about looking for a weakness.  He looks for an entrance to entangle us.     He can only devour those he can convince to come into his territory by submitting to him. There is no such thing as ‘the devil made me do it’. Satan and demonic forces only have the power that God allows to them or that a man or woman submits to them. That is why Satan is the master of lies. We are deceived into unknowingly submitting our desires to Satan in hopes of having our selfish desires met. That is why we should seek the wisdom in the children’s song oh be careful little eyes what you see, oh be careful little ears what you hear, oh be careful little hands what you touch, oh be careful little nose what you smell, oh be careful little tongue what you say, for the Father is looking down with love but the devil has a trap that he wants to entangle us in if we take our focus off Christ. 

Verse 12 says, “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against powers, rulers, darkness, and spiritual wickedness”. Those who are not “flesh and blood” are demons over which Satan has control.  They are real.  We face a powerful army whose goal is to defeat us.  When we are saved and join Christ Church (the body of Christ) they become our enemies.  Their job is to turn away from Christ and back to sin.  We already have the victory because of the war Christ won at Calvery, but we still must battle against the enemy until Christ comes again.   Don’t forget that we are the temple of God. We indeed are in a spiritual war and are called and equipped to stand against an enemy we cannot see. The war may be between heaven and the forces of hell, but it is played out in the lives of each individual man and woman. Throughout scripture we are warned over and over to both equip ourselves for the battle and to not be ignorant of Satan’s schemes. The power of Satan is his ability to convince us to act contrary to God’s will. If you can recognize his deceptions and choose to surrender yourselves to God, Satan’s powers are completely deflated.

Verse 13 says to take up the whole armor of God. God does not give us a pick-and-choose relationship with Him where we can pick what we like about being a Christian and leave what we don’t like.  He gives us a choice of a lifestyle according to His will. We cannot arm ourselves for this warfare with a weak, half-armed defense. Satan knows our weaknesses and anyone who does not follow God will suffer the loss.