Skip to main content

Consequences

 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. (Ephesians 6:11)

Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only. (Matthew 4:10)

But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” (Jude 1:9)

And so, we return finally to the passage in Ephesians. We have need of the armor because we are in a war, whether we want to believe it or not. The armor is what gives us the ability to stand. The armor is the power of God made available to us. It is not the only power that God has, but it is sufficient. As Nr, Gornall describes it, we appropriate God’s power by wearing the armor of God.

And if we do not? He suggests there are four consequences. The first is that we are alienated from God. If we refuse the armor and weapons He provides and go off on our own, we are on…our…own. Secondly, we are ignorant. Who rides out to war without armor? Only a fool, says Mr. Gornall. Thirdly, without a weapon, and therefore impotent. We are not the A-Team, or Robert McCall, or John McClane. We cannot turn duct tape and an office chair into an effective weapon. Even if we could, what good is duct tape and an office chair turned into a weapon against a foe who is spiritual? What hope can those provide when we face a dragon?

The fourth consequence is that we conspire with the enemy, committing treason against God. My first reaction to this was that the statement is overblown but consider. If you decide to go it alone, and approach the enemy without effective weapons, you have guaranteed your capture. You have foolishly but voluntarily surrendered to him. You are helping him achieve his goals instead of obeying God. What else could it be called than treason?

No, while we may not appreciate the armor described in this chapter, God has chosen them as the means to defeat our enemy. It is as we learn to use it that we will discover its effectiveness. Until then, we are called to trust God by donning and using the armor and weapons He prescribes.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Shepherd!

                 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep . (John 10:14) God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” (Genesis 3:14) The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths     for his name’s sake. Even though I walk     through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil,     for you are with me; your rod and your staff,     they comfort me. (Psalm 23:1-4) For the Jews, it was politically incorrect to make claims about yourself as a teacher (or possibly as anything else.) Teachers were expected to take pride in the...
Post a Comment
Read more