Front Page 

        

Introduction

We now move on to the 2nd page about how we actually go about fighting in the spiritual world. These four pages will cover Our Position, Our Protection, our Weapons, and Spirit-led Prayer.

   
On this page we continue by considering Our Protection.

   


1. The Strategy of the Enemy

   
Going back to the very beginning of these studies on Warfare, remember the activities of Satan that we considered then:

   
a) Deception

- denying the truth
- making you believe a lie

  

b) Temptation
- by misleading us, leads us to do wrong

  
c) Outright Attack
- only where we are vulnerable and have let go the truth'

    

We see from these things that much of Satan’s attack is concentrated on getting us to move away from believing the truth and getting us to accept untruth. Our protection therefore, involves protecting us against receiving lies.

   
   

   
2. Our Armour

   
Read Eph 6:14-17 and observe the table below:

      

Verse	Piece of armour	Which represents:
14a	Belt	truth
14b	Breastplate	righteousness
15	Sandals	readiness to share Gospel
16a	shield	faith
17a	helmet	salvation
17b	sword	God's word

   

(strictly speaking this last one is offensive as well as defensive)

  

 

    
3. How we use them

   
Bearing in mind what we said the enemy seeks to do, let’s see each of the pieces of armour as something we DO to hold onto the truth and reject lies.

    
In each case we are to keep them before us and be constantly aware of them as we SPEAK THEM OUT:

         

The armour	How we use it:
truth	We are to be real, free from pretence and constantly speaking only that which is true, and are to hold to the truths of the Scriptures which we are to declare again and again.
righteousness	We are to remember (and declare) that we ARE righteous in God's sight now (2 Cor 5:21) and that we are to keep out of our lives any unrighteous thinking or behaviour.
availability	We are to be ready and available to God recognising that He has brought us peace and that peace is for conveying to others, and there is nothing to compare with it.
faith	We are to declare our trust in what GOD has said and we must rely on that alone. We must declare that we will not rely on feelings or emotions but only on what God has said.
salvation	We need to declare the facts of our salvation, that we HAVE BEEN saved (by Christ's work on the Cross), He IS SAVING us (by daily experience of His Spirit) and He WILL save us (by a promised place in heaven)
word of God	Like Jesus when tempted we must reject each temptation by declaring the truth as stated in the Scripture and as God releases prophecy to us in line with Scripture.

In addition to these specifically described “pieces of armour”, Paul also exhorts as to pray as led by the Spirit (v.18). In other words, keep in contact with Father as the Spirit within you prompts, being child-like in your response to Him. In that sense prayer is a vital part of your defences to counter the attacks of the enemy.

   
Finally, there is no point in knowing about these things unless we actually use them!

   
So take them in, and when you recognise an attack against the truth (e.g. God doesn’t love you, you are alone etc. etc.) USE THESE THINGS - speak them out in bold declaration and live accordingly!

   
Beware the enemy’s use of half truths and reply with whole truth:

 
e.g. HIM: “You are a failure”
YOU: “Yes but God loves me!”

    
e.g. HIM: “You are weak”
YOU: “Yes, but He within me is strong!”

    
Go for it, use the whole armour, be secure in these truths!