Ephesians 6:10-18 teaches the Christian to resist the enemy and his schemes. Men and women easily confuse their fight against the devil with fighting against others and sometimes even fight against their own flesh.
The fight with the devil is unique. It takes the full armor of God to resist and stand firm, not against the schemes of people, not against the lusts of the flesh, but against the devil. Resisting includes faith, truth, the gospel of peace, the Word of God, salvation, and prayer. A large part of resistance is persistence in prayer.
Ephesians 6:10-18 agrees with Luke 18:1:-8. Christ teaches from a parable in Luke 18. A widow persists in asking a judge for justice. This judge did not respect her or anyone else. He certainly did not fear God.
Yet, the judge gave her justice because of the woman's persistence. Scripture said, “For awhile he was unwilling, but later he said… ‘’Because this widow is bothering me, I will give her justice; otherwise…she will wear me out” (Luke 18:5). The Lord hears the prayers of the persistent and looks for faithful resistance against darkness in the world and evil forces.
Resistance and persistence take strength. So, “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might” (Eph. 6:10). Do not fall for the distraction that your fight is against others. Do not fall into the trap of self-help and fixing yourself. Your fight, friend, is against wicked rulers, power, darkness, and forces of wickedness. If you feel like you struggle, you do! Take heart!
Resist and persist!
For further study, William Gurnall wrote a powerful book on resisting the devil in the late 1600s titled The Christian in Complete Armour, available on Kindle ($0 with Kindle Unlimited), Audible (1 credit), or Amazon ($35.89).
The fight with the devil is unique. It takes the full armor of God to resist and stand firm, not against the schemes of people, not against the lusts of the flesh, but against the devil. Resisting includes faith, truth, the gospel of peace, the Word of God, salvation, and prayer. A large part of resistance is persistence in prayer.
Ephesians 6:10-18 agrees with Luke 18:1:-8. Christ teaches from a parable in Luke 18. A widow persists in asking a judge for justice. This judge did not respect her or anyone else. He certainly did not fear God.
Yet, the judge gave her justice because of the woman's persistence. Scripture said, “For awhile he was unwilling, but later he said… ‘’Because this widow is bothering me, I will give her justice; otherwise…she will wear me out” (Luke 18:5). The Lord hears the prayers of the persistent and looks for faithful resistance against darkness in the world and evil forces.
Resistance and persistence take strength. So, “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might” (Eph. 6:10). Do not fall for the distraction that your fight is against others. Do not fall into the trap of self-help and fixing yourself. Your fight, friend, is against wicked rulers, power, darkness, and forces of wickedness. If you feel like you struggle, you do! Take heart!
Resist and persist!
For further study, William Gurnall wrote a powerful book on resisting the devil in the late 1600s titled The Christian in Complete Armour, available on Kindle ($0 with Kindle Unlimited), Audible (1 credit), or Amazon ($35.89).
Posted in Be Free Project
Tagged with resist, persist, spiritual warfare, ephesians 6, eph. 6, luke 18, luke 18:1-8, ephesians 6:10-18, armor, armor of god, williams gurnall, gurnall, strength, be strong, how to be strong, how to get strong, prayer, devil, evil, schemes, spiritual, forces, wickedness
Tagged with resist, persist, spiritual warfare, ephesians 6, eph. 6, luke 18, luke 18:1-8, ephesians 6:10-18, armor, armor of god, williams gurnall, gurnall, strength, be strong, how to be strong, how to get strong, prayer, devil, evil, schemes, spiritual, forces, wickedness