When I was a kid, I saw a movie called Demetrious and the gladiators. I just turned 70 so that was a long time ago. I was impressed with the way the gladiators would dress for battle. They had helmets, breast plates, guards for their arms and for their legs. They had swords and they had shields. What made Demetrious unique was his encounter with Jesus Christ. It so changed him that he no longer wanted to fight. He knew who his enemy was. Obviously it was another gladiator with similar armament. Their flight was to the death.
The apostle Paul had not yet written in the time frame of the movie “for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities against powers and against the rulers of the darkness of this age against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places. Ephesians 6:11
The true enemies that we fight against are not flesh and blood. They are spirits. They are fallen angels. When God threw Lucifer out of heaven a third of the angels went with him. God also changed his name to Satan the deceiver. When the devil talks he lies. He is the father of lies. It is the only language he knows.
As we continue to read in Ephesians 6 Paul identifies the different pieces of armor that are supplied through the Holy Spirit. We strap truth to our waist,we have the breast plate of righteousness. we put the gospel of peace on our feet,we take the shield of faith which quenches the fiery darts of the devil, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. All of these implements of warfare in the book of Ephesians sounds similar to the weapons used by the gladiators. However with these weapons we can have victory over the enemy. It’s not by our power it’s by the power of the Holy Spirit. Remember the following scripture:
FOR THE WEAPONS OF OUR WARFARE ARE NOT CARNAL BUT MIGHTY IN GOD FOR PULLING DOWN STRONGHOLDS CASTING DOWN ARGUMENTS AND EVERY HIGH THING THAT EXALTS ITSELF AGAINST THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD, BRINGING EVERY THOUGHT INTO CAPTIVITY TO THE OBEDIENCE OF CHRIST, AND BEING READY TO PUNISH ALL DISOBEDIENCE WHEN YOUR OBEDIENCE IS FULFILLED. 2 Corinthians 10:4-6
Comments