Every child of God is a soldier, and a real one. In the Christian army, there are no featherbed, no fire-side soldiers. All to a man are actual combatants. Are not their enemies real? Flesh and blood real? The world real? And Satan real? a real devil? And if their enemies are real, the conflict with their enemies must be real too. "Every battle of the warrior," we read, "is with garments rolled in blood." And such is "the good fight of faith." It is no sham fight but a hand-to-hand battle, in which wounds are inflicted, bloodshed, and life, according to our feelings, often at stake.
But how shall we be able to fight this great battle, and so to withstand the enemies of our soul's salvation, as to come off more than conquerors? Weak and defenseless as we are, without one weapon of sufficient temper and strength through sin, like the children of Israel, "made naked unto their shame among their enemies." (Exodus 32:25) fall we shall, defeated we must be, unless we have some better weapons than our own armory can furnish.
God, who knows the strength of our enemies God, who knows the weakness of our flesh, has therefore provided in the heavenly armory weapons whereby, and whereby alone, we can make an effectual stand.
Of this heavenly armor the apostle speaks in the text, where, addressing his Christian brethren, he says, "therefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." (Ephesians 6:13)
He here makes it imperative upon them to take not a part of, but "the whole armor of God," assuring them that it is indispensable to their safety that only by being clad in it from top to toe, can they "withstand in the evil day," when all the powers of earth and hell are arrayed against them and that even then, when they have in the strength of that heavenly armor "done," or "overcome all," they must not put it off but will still need it "to stand."
[J. C. Philpot]
2 Timothy 2:1-3 ... Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. ❤
