I was laid low with a bug recently, so I took myself to bed and watched an old Western, A Fistful of Dollars starring Clint Eastwood. In the opening scene of that movie, Eastwood’s character: the Man with No Name, rides into a sun-bleached border town and is accosted by three gunslingers. Without warning, they draw their guns and start shooting at the ground beneath his horse, which promptly bolts, unseating its rider. Our hero beats a retreat, catches his horse, then heads back to reckon with his antagonists. On the way, he passes the town undertaker, gruffly advising him to, ‘Get three coffins ready’.

The Man with No Name did more than just stand his ground, he went on the offensive with all guns blazing. For most of us, though, this would not be an effective strategy! Note that when Paul writes about spiritual warfare in Ephesians 6, the weapons he speaks of are mainly defensive. Paul counsels us to be equipped to withstand attack so that we may still be standing at the end of the battle (v.13) – our survival doesn’t depend on brute force or a lucky shot, it is guaranteed. Let’s take a closer look at the protective armour God has equipped us with in Ephesians 6:10-20:

1. The belt of truth (v.14): Jesus is the truth, as he himself told us (John 14:6). He’s the one we really can trust, so when the truth comes up against the ‘father of lies’, there can only be one winner. 2. The breastplate of righteousness (v.14): Jesus is our righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21) so in him we are made blameless or faultless in the sight of God – that means we can stand firm against the accuser of the brethren (Rev. 12:10). 3. The gospel of peace. What is the gospel of peace? It is the good news of Jesus Christ that once accepted, brings great peace. If our feet are shod with the gospel of peace we really can stand firm. 4. The shield of faith (v.16): We are protected by our belief in Jesus as King of kings and Lord of lords, the one who has already given us victory over sin and death (1 Cor. 15:57). 5. The helmet of salvation (v.17): Our salvation in Jesus means we have already been rescued from the enemy! 

We can see from these five examples what incredible protection we have from our spiritual enemies, if we only believe and trust in Jesus.

Now we come to the only offensive weapon mentioned in the armour of God: the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17), which Paul tells us is the word of God; ‘word’ here is translated from the Greek rhema and in the context of the passage means the spoken word of God. This is the very same supernatural spiritual weapon that Jesus himself used when tempted by the devil in the wilderness (Matthew 4:4)! When you are under spiritual attack, pray for the Spirit to send a rhema to drive away your assailant.  

In Paul’s concluding verses in Ephesians 6 on the armour of God, he references the last weapon in the armoury God provides: prayer (vv.18-20). Prayer is a weapon that is both offensive and defensive and one we should be using continually. As Paul himself puts it, ‘…always keep on praying…’ (v.18). And of course, whenever we pray, we pray in the name of Jesus. 

God has not left us to fend for ourselves in our trials and tribulations, he has provided us with everything we need, including his Son, the God-man, who has already faced everything we face, and more. We are thankful that this man has a name, a wonderful name – his name is Jesus.

Local congregation:
Grace Communion International Central Glasgow 

Garnethill Room
Conference Suite
St Andrews West
260 Bath Street
Glasgow
G2 4JP

Meeting time:
Sunday 11:15 am

Local congregational contact:   
Peter Mill
Email: edinburgh@gracecom.church

Word of Life contact:
wordoflife@gracecom.church