Armor of God - Book of ActsSample

Fight against Darkness

Bible Story: Paul and Silas in jail (Acts 16:16-33)

We do not fight against humans but against the devil and his principalities of darkness. The devil likes to cause misunderstandings and can use people to hurt each other, but we must remember that our fight is always against him! Our world is a fallen place, and as humans, we often sin against one another. But we must remember not to fight against each other, because that would be falling into the enemy’s trap.

God loves everyone, even though we make mistakes. We are grateful for the mercy of God on our own lives when we make a mistake, so we should also have mercy on others. Sometimes the enemy twists our words or actions, so that we become very angry with one another. However, God loves everyone, and so should we.

In today’s Bible story from the book of Acts, Paul and Silas are thrown into jail. The guards are cruel to them, even though they have done nothing wrong. However, when God gives them a way to escape, they do not take revenge on the guards, instead they have mercy on them, leading the guard and his whole family to the Lord! Paul and Silas could have blamed the guard for the evil against them, but instead they remembered that their fight was against the devil and not against people.

We must remember as we put on the Armour of God, to fight against spiritual darkness and not against our fellow humans!

"I choose to fight against the devil, and not the people around me."

Questions:

1. What do these words mean? "powers, authorities, and powers, which dominate this world of darkness and evil spiritual forces." Ephesians 6:12

2. What are some examples of when we have fought against humans instead of the world of darkness?

3. Why did God want us to know about the armor of God?

4. What painful thing happened to Paul and Silas before they were thrown into prison?

5. What was the answer to the jailer’s question, “What must I do to be saved?”