The following blog in
no way condones the Anglo / Zulu war nor supports either side. It is merely
used as an example of how we must fight our enemy.
For our struggle is
not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities,
against the powers of this dark world … Ephesians 6: 12
Therefore put on the
full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to
stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand Ephesians 6: 13
I have just visited the site of the battle of Rorke’s Drift
fought in South Africa between the Zulus and British in 1879. It was made
famous by the film Zulu starring
Michael Caine. A small band of British soldiers fought against a large number
of Zulus and won mainly because of two mistakes made by the inexperienced
Zulus. The British fought bravely and 11
Victorian Crosses, the highest military honour, were awarded that day. As the
British started to face the Zulus, realising they were heavily outnumbered, the
clergyman Reverend George Smith allegedly said to them, ‘Fire straight men and
the Lord will do the rest.’
The well known verses above from Ephesians tell us how to
fight our enemy. Paul first all reminds us who the enemy is and he exhorts us
to put on our armour. Then three times he tells us to stand. We know from James 4: 7 that we must resist
the devil and he will flee from us. I Peter 5:9 tells us to resist the devil
and stand firm in the faith. We cannot resist him by lying down and giving in
nor by running away. Some men at Rorke’s Drift wanted to run away but were firmly
told that way was a certain defeat. They must stand and fight – so must we.
The devil is a defeated enemy but he is not lying down yet.
He will do all he can to drive division and discord between the brethren. We in
turn must recognise his lies and deception, stand firm and fight back.
Paul tells us we have both armour and weapons. The armour
represents wearing both what Christ has done for us and our character and
integrity. The best way to fight
darkness is with light. We are told to’
live as children of the light (for the fruit of the light consists of all
goodness, righteousness and truth)’ Ephesians 5: 8 – 9. Light always
overcomes darkness. If we live in righteousness and truth bearing the fruit of
the spirit the devil does not have a foothold into our lives.
We have a shield of faith which we can put up to extinguish
the enemy’s lies and most important we have the sword of the Spirit, the Word
of God. This is the most powerful weapon there is. By declaring the truth of
God’s Word it exposes the lies. The light of truth overcomes the darkness of
lies, discouragement, disappointment and depression.
Too often Christians let the devil walk all over them
accepting his sickness, poverty, marriage and family difficulties instead of
fighting back with the Word of God and standing in faith that what God says is true.
We must wear our armour with confidence, put up our shields of faith and
declare God’s word as a sharp sword over the works of the enemy in our lives,
homes and families. Finally having done everything we must stand.
Stand firm, declare the Word and the Lord will do the rest.
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