By Martin Morrison
In a 1998 USA survey, 92% of members of the National Academy of Sciences reject belief in God or the supernatural. 85% of the Fellows of the UK Royal society strongly disbelieved in any personal God or any life after death.
When it comes to the question of God and the supernatural, there are fundamentally two worldviews. There is no possibility of any compromise or partnership between the two. They are diametrically opposed to one another and in mortal conflict.
The one worldview argues that we live in a closed universe. The closed universe argues that there is no supernatural, no God or gods, no external force or spirits, no life after death. It argues that everything in the universe can be explained by matter, motion and energy. The worldview most probably held by those mentioned above. This worldview believes that we live in an impersonal, mechanistic universe. To be blunt, this worldview is the worship of science. It is a very real religion, because for many it has become the ultimate authority. According to this worldview, “Looking for God, is like a blind man going into a dark room looking for a black cat who isn’t there”. Delightful, but dead wrong!
The second worldview is that propounded by the Bible, Jesus and Paul, an open universe. A universe that includes the supernatural and by the way, love. A universe that includes a sovereign creator God, separate and transcendent, but intimately involved in his world. A universe that includes a real devil and real demonic spirits who have real power. A universe that includes a real world, a real heaven and a real hell.
Into God’s created world, temporarily occupied by an evil empire, we as soldiers of Christ, are called to be members of a resistance movement. We are the special forces committed to counter-insurgency and unconventional warfare. Without doubt we will be victorious when our Divine Warrior appears and conclusively destroys the evil empire and its demonic ruler. The victory is assured, “…and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night for ever and ever”, Revelation 20:10.
However, in the meantime, we are resistance fighters, in a world dominated by the ruler of this world. We are needing to operate both overcover and undercover. We are having to be smart and wise with a Gospel cunning. However, Jesus has not left us isolated or unarmed. He has given us his indwelling Spirit. He has given us a blood-bought family. He has given us the armour of God.
“Therefore, take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth…the breastplate of righteousness…the shoes of the gospel of peace…the shield of faith… the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit”, Ephesians 6: 13 – 18.
In the Old Testament, it is God himself, the Lord of Hosts, who is depicted as a warrior fighting to vindicate his people, “He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head; he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped himself in zeal as a cloak. According to their deeds, so will he repay, wrath to his adversaries, repayment to his enemies”, Isaiah 59:17 – 18.
Now God calls on us to share the armour with him. We have to put on the armour, take up the weapons and go to war with the powers of evil. John Stott in his commentary on Ephesians, tells us that Paul would have been very familiar with Roman soldiers. He met many in his travels, and as he dictated Ephesians he was chained to one by the wrist. He refers to those physical chains in verse 20, “…for which I am an ambassador in chains”.
These eleven verses are not only hugely significant for us to understand the warfare we have been called to, but there has been remarkable expositions of this passage through the years. Dr Martyn Lloyd Jones in the 1950’s preached and then published two volumes on these eleven verses entitled The Christian Warfare and The Christians Soldier, totalling 736 pages! The first volume deals with, “the wiles of the devil”, where Jones, describes the devil’s subtlest assaults on the people of God in the three realms of the mind, experience and conduct.
In 1655 the Puritan minister William Gurnall published his treatise The Christian in Complete Armour. Its’ elaborate subtitle, for which one needs to draw a deep breath, is: The saints’ war against the Devil, wherein a discovery is made of that grand enemy of God and his people, in his policies, power, seat of his empire, wickedness, and chief design he hath against the saints; a magazine opened, from whence the Christian is furnished with spiritual arms for the battle, helped on with his armour, and taught the use of his weapon; together with the happy issue of the whole war. Three volumes, 261 chapters and 1,472 pages, although only an exposition of these eleven verses!
Let me just give you a tiny taste of the depth and richness of Gurnall. “In heaven we shall appear not in armour but in robes of glory; here the Armour of God is to be worn night and day; we must walk, work and sleep in them, or else we are not true soldiers of Christ. In this armour we are to stand and watch, and never relax our vigilance, for the saints sleeping time is Satan’s tempting time; every fly dares venture to creep on a sleeping lion. Samson’s hair was cut by Delilah while he slept; King Saul’s spear was stolen by David whilst he was asleep; Noah was abused by his sons whilst sleeping; and Eutychus was asleep while Paul preached.”
Our next devotion will unpack the individual pieces of armour needed by every Christian, living in exile as a resistance fighter.