THE END GAME

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     So, what's this life all about?

     And, what's the end goal?

     If you haven’t made Jesus, Yahusha Ha’Mashiach, the Lord of your life and repented from your sins, you need to do that.

     If you say that you are a believer, you need to suit up every day, putting on the whole armour of the Most High God.

Ephesians 6:10.    Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 

Ephesians 6:11.    Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

     This word “wiles” is equivalent to “strategy.” The devil is “the god of this world,” the one that “deceiveth the whole world” (II Corinthians 4:4; Revelation 12:9). He can appear as “an angel of light” and yet is “a roaring lion, [walking] about, seeking whom he may devour” (II Corinthians 11:14, I Peter 5:8). In our own strength, we are no match for him at all. Not even the archangel Michael could rebuke him on his own (Jude 9). We can only stand against him if we are “strong in the Lord” (Ephesians 6:10) and wear “the whole armour of God.” We need not be “ignorant of his devices” (II Corinthians 2:11), the very first of which (and still the most effective) is to cause us to doubt God’s Word (Genesis 3:1,4) and then to disobey it (Genesis 3:5). That he has been extremely successful with this device is evident, considering especially the modern widespread distortion of the foundation in the Genesis record of creation and earth history, followed by wholesale rebellion against all God’s commandments and finally by the rejection of His great love in the sacrifice of His Son.

Ephesians 6:12.    For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

     This curtain of the invisible is slightly opened here to give us a brief glimpse of the tremendous spiritual forces arrayed against the people of God. God created “an innumerable company of angels” (Hebrews 12:22), and apparently at least a third of this host of created spirits have followed Satan in his long war against God and His people (Revelation 12:4,7). These are organized into a great hierarchy of principalities and powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world. We dare not be without God’s whole armour when wrestling against such powers. Nevertheless, “greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” and “they that be with us are more than they that be with them” (I John 4:4; II Kings 6:16). If we, using God’s armour, “resist the devil,” then he and all his minions “will flee from” us (James 4:7).

Ephesians 6:13.    Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Ephesians 6:14.    Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness.

     The “whole armour of God” (Ephesians 6:11,13) involves seven units, all of which are vital if we are to prevail lastingly in the spiritual conflict with the great enemy of our souls. We must first of all, be strongly girded about with truth – the Word of God, and all its counsel (John 17:17; Acts 20:27) – if we hope to stand against the father of lies (John 8:44).

     The “breastplate of righteousness,” protecting the heart and lungs which provide life and breath to carry on the fight, does not cover personal righteous behavior (always imperfect at best) but His righteousness, imputed to us and in us (I Corinthians 1:30; II Corinthians 5:21) through faith by grace and thus eternally impregnable.

Ephesians 6:15.    And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.

     The feet also must be prepared, shod with footgear able to move quickly and as far as the gospel requires. “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace” (Romans 10:15). Satan would bring doubt and rebellion and death, but the whole gospel, from creation to redemption to consummation, brings assurance of peace and life.

Ephesians 6:16.    Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

     The Roman shield was metallic and thus invulnerable to the ignited missiles often fired by opponents, especially when the entire phalanx mounted shield adjacent to shield, giving a solid wall of advancing metal. The shield of faith, and faith in God’s promises is “the victory that overcometh the world,” especially that promise that the Creator, the Son of God, has also become in Jesus Christ our eternal Savior and Lord (I John 5:4,5).

Ephesians 6:17.    And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: 

     The helmet is called “the hope of salvation” in I Thessalonians 5:8, and such a hope is, indeed, a hope involving “full assurance… unto the end” (Hebrews 6:11). Salvation involves an eternal future salvation as well as a past acceptance and present assurance thereof. It is that certain hope that protects the believer’s mind as he would, in this spiritual warfare, seek continually to be “casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (II Corinthians 10:5).

     The “sword of the Spirit” is not the logos (the Word as a whole) but the rhema (the individual text, or “saying” of the Word) that is applicable in each particular situation and Satanic attack (Hebrews 4:12). Thus Jesus defeated Satan merely by citing the appropriate Scripture (Matthew 4:4,7,10).

Ephesians 6:18.    Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.

     Persevering prayer, not just for personal deliverance, but also in supplication for others, is the invisible, but powerful weapon that assures that God Himself, with His angels, is also fighting for us.

     This life is short.

     We need to ask the Father for our marching orders daily.

     Our minds need to be fixed on each and every opportunity that we are given to share the Gospel message to the lost and uphold and uplift our fellow soldiers as we are in a continual battle with Satan and his demons.

     Eternity is at stake.

Commentary by Dr. Henry M. Morris