DRESSED FOR BATTLE

“But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” (Rom.13:14 ESV)

I heard the late Warren Wiersbe say, “This world is not a playground, but a battleground.”  Every moment of every day, Satan is out to destroy the credibility of the preacher’s message by undermining the purity of the preacher’s morals.  Since the Devil has no power to assault our King, he attacks his soldiers. Those who command the army in the field are particularly targeted. The Dragon knows that if he can bring down the preacher, then he will have great success in routing the other troops under his leadership. 

There are two things Paul tells us we must do in order to begin the day, in order to end the day unscathed. We must put on Christ as our armor and put away access points for the enemy’s entry.

“But put on the Lord Jesus Christ,” is the positive command. Where Paul details the whole armor of God in Ephesians 6, it must be noted that this is nothing other than the fullness of Christ Himself. He is our salvation, our righteousness, the truth, our peace, our shield in whom we trust and the living Word. We are no match for the Devil. He is a supernatural foe. But, he is no match for Jesus!  As the song says, “In the morning when I rise, give me Jesus!”  In your daily quiet time with God in His Word and in your prayers, consciously “put on the Lord Jesus Christ.”He is all we need.  He is Sovereign—“Lord,” and we must bow to Him.  He is Savior—“Jesus,” and we must trust in Him. He is Sufficient—“Christ” and we must lean on Him. 

Further, “make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”  We are in a hostile world, with a spiritual foe, and living in sinful flesh. Now, it is not that the body itself is necessarily evil. We can employ our body for great good. When we receive Christ, we are given a new nature. Yet, the old way of living, sinful experiences woven into the fabric of our flesh, tendencies toward particular temptations passed down from generation to generation and thereby reinforced, patterns of thinking that have programmed our minds—all that—is an enemy who is ever present. While you cannot get away from this until the resurrection and in glorified humanity we will be made perfect like unto the Son of God, now you have these fallen impulses, salivating in hunger to be gratified. Even though these temptations will find you, you are foolish to place yourself in situations where you know you are weak.  There are places we must not go, things we must not watch, people we must not company with, and so forth. To pray, “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,” and then to run into its presence is to deliver yourself to evil!

Man of God, stand your ground!  If you fall today, the enemy will use it to give occasion for others to blaspheme God and destroy the morale of those you lead.  Be dressed for battle!