We cannot fight the spiritual warfare in ourselves, no matter how “strong” and “powerful” we think we may be in the spiritual realm. Firstly, we need to be empowered in the Lord and in the might of His strength (Eph. 6:10).
We need to exercise our will to let the Lord empower us with the same power that raised Christ from the dead and seated Him at the right hand of God. We can fight the spiritual battle only in the Lord and in the might of His strength.
We need to put on the whole armor of God – again, not in ourselves or by ourselves, but in the Body. The whole armor of God is not for the super-strong or very-mature believers but it is for and in the Body of Christ.
As the Body, we put on the whole armor of God to fight the spiritual warfare; the Body is the corporate warrior of God (see Eph. 6:10-13; James 4:7). Praise the Lord, the battle is fought as we are in the Body and not as individuals! And the way we fight is not by attacking but by standing – we stand in God’s power to fight against God’s enemy.
We are empowered in the Lord and in the might of His strength, we are covered with the many aspects of Christ as the armor of God, and we stand in God’s power to fight the enemy as the Body of Christ. Hallelujah!
Be Empowered in the Lord and in the Might of His Strength
After seeing that there’s a spiritual warfare going on, we may desire to participate and “fight for God”. But we need to realize that before we can fight the spiritual warfare we need to be empowered in the Lord and in the might of His strength.
In order for us to deal with God’s enemies and to fight against the evil forces of darkness, we first need to be empowered with the greatness of the power that raised up Christ from the dead (the resurrection power) and seated Him in the heavens on the throne (the power of ascension and enthronement) (see Eph. 6:10; 1:19). We fight the battle in the Lord, and not in ourselves; in His power and not in our own power.
The charge “be empowered” means that we need to exercise our will – we can’t be wishy-washy, like a jellyfish, not sure about what we’re doing….no, we need to be strong in our will and choose the Lord, allowing Him to empower us. God needs believers who are strong in their will – their will has passed through death and resurrection, and now in resurrection they are strong to stand with God.
Our natural will may be strong to choose other things yet very weak towards God, but the divine life within fills our will and we can cooperate with the Lord by exercising our will to choose:
Lord, empower me together with the saints in the might of Your strength! We exercise our will to choose You, stand with You, and let You empower us. We stand on Your word, we believe what the Bible says, and we trust that You will empower us to fight the spiritual warfare in You!
Firstly, we are empowered by the power that raised Christ from the dead and made Him Head over all things, then we know God’s might and strength. This means that our own natural power and zeal is not enough – we need to be empowered with God’s power, even the power that can raise the dead and can enthrone us, so that we may fight the spiritual warfare.
We can fight only in the Lord and in the might of His strength. This means we fight one with the Lord, by His power, with His strength, and in Him.
Put on the Whole Armor of God that You may Stand
In the spiritual warfare, we cannot fight with our own weapons – we need to put on the whole armor of God. The armor of God is Christ Himself in many aspects both for protection and for attack, and this armor is not for an individual believer but for the entire Body of Christ.
All the believers in Christ are part of the corporate warrior, the church, and only the church as the Body of Christ can wear the whole armor of God. This means that we fight the battle in the Body, not on our own.
We may be alone somewhere at a particular time, and the enemy may attack – we need to stay in the Body, joined to the Head and to the other members, to fight the battle in the Body and under the whole armor of God.
We are being charged: put on the whole armor of God! This again requires the exercise of our will that we may cooperate with the Lord and, as the church, put on the whole armor of God. The whole armor of God is for the entire Body of Christ as the corporate warrior – not for any individual member of the Body; we need to fight the spiritual warfare in the Body and not as individuals!
Paul was in prison but he experienced the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ through the petition of the saints, the Body of Christ (Phil. 1:19).
We need to cast off the weapons of darkness and put on the weapons of light, walk becomingly as in the day, and put on the Lord Jesus Christ as the whole armor of God (Rom. 13:12-14). Soon, the God of peace will crush Satan under our feet (under the feet of the church) – see Rom. 16:20.
The result of being empowered by the Lord and of putting on the whole armor of God is that we are able to stand (Eph. 6:11). In Eph. 2 we sit with Christ inthe heavenlies to participate in all His accomplishments in ascension. In Eph. 4 we walk in His Body on the earth for the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose. In Eph. 6 we stand in God’s power in the heavenlies to fight against God’s enemy.
Hallelujah, we are being empowered by the Lord in the might of His strength, we put on the whole armor of God, and we are able to stand! We fight the battle in the Body!
Lord Jesus, empower us in You and in the might of Your strength. As the church, Lord, we come to You to be empowered! We want to exercise our will to stand with You and choose You. Save us from having a weak or vacillating will. Lord, we strongly choose You! Lord, we choose to fight the battle in the Body and not in ourselves. Build us up with the saints. As the church, we want to put on the whole armor of God that we may be able to stand. Lord, gain the church as the corporate warrior to deal with Your enemy!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. Ed Marks’ speaking in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Ephesians (pp. 530-532), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Entering into the Fourth Stage of the Experience of Life to Arrive at a Full-Grown Man for the Fulfillment of God’s Purpose, week 5 / msg 5, The Fourth Stage of the Experience of Life (4) – Spiritual Warfare.
- Further reading: recommending the booklet, Satan’s Strategy against the Church.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Fight the battle in the Body, / Never fight it on your own; / With the Body to the Head joined, / Fight the battle on the throne. / Fight the battle in the Body! / By the virtue of the Head; / Standing firmly with the Body, / Into vict’ry you’ll be led.
# Soldier, stand by grace empowered, / Mindful of th’ascended Lord. / Jesus surely conquered Satan; / Bravely wield the Spirit’s sword.
# The name of Jesus is our stand, / It is our victory; / Not on ourselves do we rely, / But, mighty Lord, on Thee. / Our weapons are not arms of flesh, / But ours the Spirit’s sword, / And God’s whole armor putting on, / We battle in the Lord.
# Soldiers of Christ, arise, / And put your armor on, / Strong in the strength which God supplies, / Through His eternal Son; / Strong in the Lord of Hosts, / And in His mighty pow’r, / Who in the strength of Jesus trusts / Is more than conqueror.
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