Ephesians 6:10-20        We are going to look at the EQUIPMENT
Mark the word ‘full armor of God’
Incomplete armor does not help and every chance is there to lose miserably.
Many of us are defeated in our spiritual life because of an incomplete armor.
We got have all of them to defeat the unseen enemy.
This invisible enemy does not give us any time to take a break or rest. 
A Christian fights with the invisible army of evil forces till the last breath.
When we wear the full armor, we are not just survivors but we become victorious.
1. BELT OF TRUTH BUCKLED AROUND OUR WAIST
The belt or the buckle holds everything on a soldier in place.
Not only that we know the truth in Him but also we live under that truth.
The truth of the Lord keeps us sharp, agile, smart and quick on our feet.
The buckle of truth around us keeps us battle ready always.
2. BREAST PLATE OF RIGHEOUSNESS
Our Lord Jesus Christ is the righteousness of a believer.
Right standing with God is not because of our good deeds but by faith alone.
2 Cor: 5:21 “God made HIM who had no sin for us, so that in HIM (Christ) we might become the righteousness of God”
Not self-righteousness but righteousness imputed upon us by the Lord Jesus because our faith in HIM.
We are made righteous by the washing of our sin through the precious blood of the Lord which HE shed on Calvary Cross.
Righteousness of our Lord covers our soul and protects us from the devil’s penetration.
3. FEET FITTED WITH THE READINESS FROM GOSPEL OF PEACE
First, there is peace with God.
Peace with God is a person’s experiences when he/she is saved by the Lord. 
Peace with God is a spiritual condition and a birth right that belongs to all believers.
Second, there is the peace of God.
It is possible to have peace with God without experiencing the peace of God. 
The peace of God is very different from peace with God.
This is the reason that “peace” has been given to us as a weapon. 
This aggressive peace puts us in a position to look directly into the face of the enemy.
We will challenge him on our feet without being moved by what we see, feel, or hear.
4. SHEILD OF FAITH
The shield covers all armor.
This shield is heavy and almost the size of a door in the hand of the soldier.
They designed it to protect the entire body.
The arrows of the devil symbolize everything thrown against our faith. 
The enemy would love to create confusion, chaos and conflicts in our life in many ways.
The enemy loves to create conflicts rather than confidence among us. 
Satan causes fear instead of faith and panic instead of peace. 
When these shields put side by side, they become thick  wall.
When believers in the Lord in the Church are united our enemy Satan becomes weak.
Our shield faith is the shield of Confidence, Courage, and Community
5. TAKE THE HELMET OF SALVATION          
Satan attacks us on our mind to doubt our faith or salvation.
We need to know why we believe in the LORD JESUS what we believe in HIM.
We have to have 100% unwavering assurance in our salvation thru Lord Jesus.
Satan’s goal is to create doubt in the minds of Christians about their faith. 
Satan is constantly targeting our mind whether we like it or not.
Rom 12 talks about our minds must be transformed and being renewed on a daily basis. 
Renewal is possible through study and obedience to the Word of God.
Possessing a deep rooted understanding of our salvation and faith is important.
THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT 
The only weapon the Lord provides the believer is the SWORD OF THE SPIRIT.
That is also called the Word of God (HOLY BIBLE).
The Word of God is a POWERFUL Weapon – Heb 4:12
The Word of God is the Sword of the SPIRIT
Apostle Paul uses Greek word ‘RHEMA’ to describe the Word not ‘Logos’.
Rhema means a specific word or portion of the Scripture for a specific subject and for a particular situation
To say that God’s Word is applied to a particular need at hand.
The Word of God is a Defensive Weapon in the hands of a believer.
A relevant Scripture can challenge and deflect a temptation.
The Devil knows the Scriptures very well.
He has and will use the Scriptures to entice us to sin against God. 
In order to confront this unending challenge from Satan we need to depend upon the Word of God entirely.
We have to meditate upon the Word of God
We have to measure the Word digging deep into its truths
We have to memorize the Word of God
We have to make the Word of God as our guiding light everyday


  

Ephesians 6:10-20
Every Christian has to face a lifelong battle with an  enemy.
Every Christian has to fight this battle with proper equipment.
Every Christian is obligated to pray for one another and also for the spread of the Gospel.
THE ENEMY
The enemy is the Devil or Satan
This enemy has no face but visible through the prism of this  world.
Satan wants to steal our joy by making us miserable using all kinds of difficulties, problems and circumstances to accomplish this goal.
He also wants to steal our love for God, love for our family, and our love for the church.
Satan wants to steal our peace by causing things to happen in our life.
He wants to destroy our relationships
Satan wants to destroy our Christian witness and influence and kill our enthusiasm to share faith with others
Satan wants to destroy our family
Satan wants to destroy the Church of Lord Jesus Christ
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers
of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
This verse speaks of an invisible world where the enemy operates.
Some things are real but invisible. Relationships, love, hatred, wickedness, mercy, tenderness, cruelty, etc
This invisible realm is real but we cannot see that unless expressed thru a media.
Apostle Paul is warning us that we face this ENEMY in an unknown realm.
We are not fighting a battle with tangibles but the evil in an unseen world.
There is a hierarchy mentioned in this unseen world.
1. Evil rulers and authorities
2. Mighty powers of darkness
3. Wicked spirits in the heavenly realm
While we exist in this present visible world, we also exist simultaneously in the unseen world
The unseen world exists simultaneously on earth as well as the realm below heaven.
This unseen world is mostly saturated with evil spirits and a constant interaction with humans.
The unseen world on earth is also the place Christ, Holy Spirit, Angels and all believers exist.
Beyond this world of our senses (all the tangibles) is the unseen world of a spiritual nature dwells both good and evil.
It is in this invisible world on earth that the spiritual warfare takes place constantly.
It is in this unseen world that we fight against the principalities and powers that seek to dominate us
Destroy our faith and cripple us in our faith walk
Daniel 10:11-14 talks about a warfare between evil spirit
But it is very obvious that a spiritual war was taking place between these spirits and angels.
This reveals that in the world which is unseen by us there is a conflict going on, a conflict of the ages between good and evil, light and darkness, God and Satan. 
It reveals that there are satanic forces and heavenly forces engaged in battle
And we are caught up in the middle of the whole thing.
Satan, the god of this evil world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe the message of the Gospel.
Many deny the message, many reject the message, and many delay the message 
This is all the work of Satan and his army of devils who constantly fight God on earth.
Satanic forces are keeping such people to come to know Lord Jesus Christ.
Those of us who are believers, Satan employ a different strategy and attack.
We are also human like other people, can easily become the victims of his attacks.
Another problem with Christians is that we underestimate the power of the enemy. 
We make a huge mistake if we think he and his demonic army have no power at all.
Satan is a present reality in our lives whether we like it or not. 
He wants nothing more than to destroy our faith and lead us to stumble into sin. 
We have to be prepared for his attacks always throughout our lives.

In Matthew 4:1-11, our Lord Jesus was tempted three times by Satan.
Soon after His baptism, Sprit led Him into a desolate place to be tempted by Satan.
After 40 days of fasting, the Devil came to Lord Jesus to tempt Him.
I believe that our Lord was tempted for two reasons.
To learn to depend upon the Holy Spirit
To prove His Lordship and Messiahship
We should not forget that our Lord was lonely and hungry identifying with humanity.
As we know that Lord Jesus in the incarnation He was 100% man and 100% God.
Two times Satan tempts the Lord using His title, “if You are the Son of God”.
He was provoking Him to use His powers as God to make bread from rocks and to jump from the highest point of the temple.
In those moments our Lord was completely identifying with humanity as 100% man.
He depended upon the strength of the Word of God to overcome Satan’s attacks.
Satan tempted Him twice to use His powers as God.
Lastly, Satan showed the Lord showing all the kingdoms of the world.
He tempted the Lord to bow to him and worship him for all that he showed.
Indirectly, Satan is tempting the Lord that He does not have to suffer the death on the cross to fulfill God’s purpose.
Satan was tempting the Lord to compromise with him to achieve the same purpose.
All the three temptations, our Lord Jesus used the scripture to confront the devil.
The same way Satan tempted Lord Jesus is the same way he tempts us. 
The way Lord Jesus responded should be the same way we should respond to Satan’s attack.
He seems always intimidating because next to God the devil is the most powerful being in the universe.
Satan attacks us when we are lonely, desperate, and at our low point in life.
Holy Spirit allows such moments to test us, to try us, and to strengthen us in our faith walk.
God is purifying us through trials and temptations so that we can be used in His service.
We can confront evil never with our strength but with help of Holy Spirit and the Word of God.

Someone said, "The devil’s greatest trick is to make men believe he does not exist." 
Some would say, "I have never seen the devil."
Oh Yah! We have never seen Abraham Lincoln and never met anyone who did. 
But we accept what the history told about him being a great President. 
The same human history offers evidence of the existence of God.
If we accept God’s existence then we must believe that Satan is real.
Because Satan always stands opposite of what God is.
Let us see three simple factors about Satan.
His origin, his nature, and his ultimate end
His Origin
As Ezekiel describes in chapter 28, Lucifer before he became Satan, enjoyed the presence of the Most High God and one of Guardian Cherubs on the holy mount of God.
Such status and position was lost and Lucifer was expelled from heaven with disgrace because of his pride.
 In the process his name was changed from Lucifer (shining one) to Satan (hater)
Satan became a corrupted being as well as a condemned being in the sight of God.
His Nature
His Nature is always a liar and deceiver.
He deceived Adam & Eve in Garden of Eden and brought the curse of the sin in the human DNA since then.
He attacks us mentally to capture our mind and draw attention from the Word of God.
He attacks us morally due to a depraved mind to love sin and the world.
That leads to immorality, perversion and addiction of all  kinds.
He attacks us motivationally to take control of our will and drift us away from the Lord.
His Ultimate End
Satan's end has not yet come but it will come only at the Lord Jesus's Second coming.
In Rev 20 it is described in detail the end of Satan.
Satan is a created being looking for someone to devour as Peter says 1Pet 5:8.
Only one way we can confront the challenges of Satan and overcome, is with Word of God and constant and consistent walk with the Lord.
My friend Satan is very real and looking for the believer in the Lord always.
Never take light of Satan because he can cause havoc in our life if we are not obedient to the Lord's will and live out our lives in the light of the Gospel.
Whe we have our focus on the Kingdom of God, the Lord gives us the helper the Holy SPirit to guide us and lead us and make us victorious in our faith walk.
May the Lord strengthens us with HIS power and presence.
(Some of the material is not my own and I give credit to the source I have taken)