Stand and Fight in His Strength (6:10-24)

INTRO: Last week, Why do we need to be strong?

The Bible is clear that we face a Spiritual battle

Eph 6:12 “For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.”

A) Spiritual warfare comes in many different ways

Doubt, especially in the Bible

Temptation to rebel against God

Trials or hard times

Attack on the physical body

Division or conflict in a church

(Warning) At the pastor’s conference, a pastor mentioned out of five kids only one of his kids are walking with the Lord. The others are walking in rebellion.

You are in danger of walking away from the Lord

Even Peter, “I will never deny you Jesus”

You have an enemy that wants to stumble you

How do i deal with spiritual warfare or how do I fight against it?

1.(V10) Strong in the Lord, in His mighty power

A) Be strong in the Lord in His mighty power

Sometimes Christians make the mistake of trying to fight in their own strength

Not praying, not reading the Bible and then they wonder why they are defeated

2.(V11) Put on the armour of God to stand against the strategies of the devil

A) Satan actively tries to stop the work of God

Stand firm against all the strategies of the devil

Strategies =Spiritual warfare

3.(V13) The armour of God will help you

A) Resist the enemy in the face of temptation

B) Stand firm

C) When the battle is over you will be standing

We can only stand when we are equipped with the armor God has given us in Jesus Christ. Each aspect of this symbolic armor answers to a specific dynamic within the Christian life that enables us to stand against spiritual attack.

i. Paul wrote this while in the custody of Roman soldiers. It was easy for him to look at the equipment of his guards and see how God has equipped the believer.

ii. The order in which the pieces of armor are described is the order in which the soldier would normally put them on.

4.(V14-17) The armour of God

(Belt) Having girded your waist with truth: Truth is symbolically represented as a belt which both protects our abdomen and gathers up our garments so that we can fight effectively.

The belt was very important to the rest of the armour, as it held everything together

The Christian must understand and believe the faith they profess to have

I cringe when so called Christians pick from the Bible what they believe or don’t believe

2. (Breastplate) Righteousness is represented as a breastplate which provides essential protection for the most vital organs. We can no sooner battle against spiritual enemies in our own righteousness than a soldier can effectively fight without his breastplate.

Dictionaries define righteousness as “behavior that is morally justifiable or right.

The bad news is that true and perfect righteousness is not possible for man to attain on his own; the standard is simply too high.

-The good news is that true righteousness is possible for mankind, but only through the cleansing of sin by Jesus Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

3. (Shoes) Having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace: The preparation of the gospel is represented as the protective shoes (or sandals) worn by Roman soldiers. No one can fight effectively or effectively go about his business without this equipment.

i. Preparation is a word meaning “a prepared foundation.” The gospel provides the footing for everything we do. However powerful the rest of your body is, if you are wounded in your feet you are easy prey for the enemy.

The idea of preparation is really readiness. We must be mobile, flexible, and ready with the truth. This is a place to have in the Christian life, to live in constant readiness and flexibility.

Are you prepared to stand against someone who is attacking your faith?

Can you explain your faith and defend it?

4. (Shield) Taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one: Faith is represented as a shield, protecting us from the fiery darts of the wicked one, those persistent efforts of demonic foes to weaken us through fear and unbelief.

The shield Paul describes is not the small round one, but the large, oblong shield that could protect the whole body. In ancient warfare, these fiery darts were launched in great numbers at the beginning of an attack. The idea was not only to injure the enemy, but to shoot at him at all sides with a massive number of arrows, and thus to confuse and panic the enemy

Thoughts, feelings, imaginations, fears, and lies – all of these can be hurled at us by Satan as fiery darts. Faith turns them back.

5.(Helmet) And take the helmet of salvation: In the ancient world this usually was a leather cap studded with metal for extra strength. Often some kind of plume or decoration was added, perhaps to identify the solider to his regiment. Salvation is pictured as this kind of helmet, protecting an essential part of the body. A soldier would be foolish to go into battle without his helmet.

1 Thessalonians 5:8 speaks of the helmet of salvation in connection to the hope of salvation. The helmet of salvation protects us against discouragement, against the desire to give up, giving us hope not only in knowing that we are saved, but that we will be saved. It is the assurance that God will triumph.

6.(Sword) The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: The idea is that the Spirit provides a sword for you, and that sword is the word of God. To effectively use the sword of the Spirit, we can’t regard the Bible as a book of magic charms or tie one around our neck the way that garlic is said to drive away vampires.

Imagine only going to war with a sword as your only weapon, yet you have no experience or have ever used it (How do you think it will go?)

Think of a soldier or a gladiator in training, practicing sword thrusts and moves and positions. Now, he must practice them ahead of time and if he is a superior fighter and has a great fighting instinct, at the time of battle he will instantly recall which thrust, which position suits the precise moment. He will never be able to use the thrust in the fight if he has not first practiced it; but he still needs to make the move at the moment.

Therefore, effectively using the sword takes practice. The great example of this was Jesus combating the temptation of Satan in the wilderness.

We have a worthy adversary

Stand firm against the strategies

Resist the enemy

Stand firm

Stand your ground