Church Vibes 101 • Spiritual Warfare • Discipleship Series
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Spiritual Warfare
Ephesians 6:10-13... (4 things)
1. Be strong in the Lord Vs. 10
1. Be strong in the Lord Vs. 10
All of us want to be strong - to have a solid foundation in life to stand on...
People try all kinds of things - money / work / relationships... But strength does not come from us - it comes from the Lord...
9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
In truth we are weak – but it is in our weakness we find true strength... When we realize we are weak we learn to depend on God’s strength...
Only in Jesus are we truly strong - only then do we have the ability to stand for Jesus!
Because at the end of the day it’s not about the person - it is about what is inside…
7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.
If you take a clay pot and fill it up with rocks - it is still a cheap pot... But if you take that same pot and fill it up with diamonds - its priceless!
We often get the impression there are ‘special’ people whom God chooses to use...
But in reality there are only ordinary people - who believe in God - Who makes them ‘special’!
We are all just clay pots - the question to be asked is what is inside of us?
APPLICATION: Are we full of ourselves - trusting in our abilities - no blessed Or are we full of Jesus - believing in God - having faith (trust) in His Word!
2. Get Ready for a Fight Vs. 11
2. Get Ready for a Fight Vs. 11
We need to be strong – because satan is going to be attack us…
In Luke 22:31-32- Jesus told Peter - satan has asked for you...
31 And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”
Satan wanted to shake Peter to his very core - to see what Peter was made of...
Was Peter really dedicated to Jesus - did he really believe - or was it just an act...
I imagine those were VERY unsettling words to hear - ‘satan knows my name’...
Understand this, if we stand up for Jesus – satan knows who we are… And he will come test us - try us -
To see what we are made of... He wants to try and prove we are not really sincere in our faith in Jesus...
What are we going to do when it comes? stand up for Jesus / or blend back into the world...
Because satan is Like a roaring lion…
8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
Be careful! Watch out for attacks from the Devil, your great enemy. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour.”
Satan can make noise – but he is like a lion without teeth – his bark worse than bite!
Yet Satan is smart – he knows he cannot directly come against God’s people…
Instead he tries to get us to compromise our walk with the Lord…
Because If satan can trip us with sin - can get us to walk away from the protection of God...
2nd - We need to be ready for a fight - because we are going to be accused…
The word Devil – means the accuser!
ILLUSTRATION: Picture a courtroom - you are on trial for you sins - God is the judge... The Devil is accusing you
10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.
APPLICATION: The devil wants to see you condemned to hell... He has all the ‘evidence’ he needs - all your sins / your immoral thoughts...
But Jesus - our defender - comes to our rescue - He points out one simple fact...
All our sins were paid for in full on the cross - we are found not guilty!
Conviction is good - the work of God’s Spirit telling us not to sin - but repent...
Condemnation however, is bad - focusing on our failures - dwelling on our mistakes... Disappointed - frustrated - that we cannot keep ourselves from sin
When we are focused on our mistakes - we are not looking to Jesus... We are condemning ourselves - even though God says we are NOT guilty...
20 For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.
If we are caught up in self loathing / pity over our sins and poor choices... We just need to get our eyes off ourselves - and put them back onto Jesus!
3. Get Ready for the War vs. 12
3. Get Ready for the War vs. 12
1st – We do not wrestle against flesh and blood…
One of the ways satan attacks - is by using people against us...
Our battle is against ‘spiritual powers’ - we are going to war against spiritual darkness!
Paul knew who his enemy really was - and it was not those who did not know Jesus... They were just the puppets being controlled by a far more devious foe...
The real enemy was the spiritual powers - the demonic influence behind the teachers...
APPLICATION: So often in life we miss who the real enemy is - we look at the people...
Understand, They are puppets - they are being told what to say and do by the God of this world...
The key is to go at the one who is in control - attack the root problem!
2nd - The weapons of our warfare…
4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,
“We use God’s mighty weapons, not mere worldly weapons, to knock down the Devil’s strongholds.
With these weapons we break down every proud argument that keeps people from knowing God.
With these weapons we conquer their rebellious ideas, and we teach them to obey Christ.”
ILLUSTRATION: In Roman military battles - the hardest target to defeat was a fortress... A high walled - well-defended city - was ready to repel any enemies attack...
If you came at them with sticks and stones - you were doomed to fail...
You needed specialized tools - siege ramps - catapults - to pull down the fortress!
APPLICATION: In the same way, If we come at satan in our own power/strength - we are doomed to fail...
The only way to take on our enemy is with in the power of God!
4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
at this point, our enemy does not stand a chance - cause Jesus has ultimate power and authority!
In Christ we have victory - no weapon can defeat us! Isaiah 54:17 / I John 4:4
17 No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their righteousness is from Me,” Says the Lord.
4. Stand on Jesus Vs. 13
4. Stand on Jesus Vs. 13
1st – Take up the whole armor – be a soldier for Christ...
Paul understood the Armor of a Roman soldier - he was chained to one for 3 years... Acts 28:30 - Paul appealed to Caesar and was sent to Rome...
There he waited two years to stand trial - living under house arrest... He was chained to two Roman guards -
one on his left and one on his right... He saw their armor / their weapons - and learned about their training for battle...
2nd - We need to be a well armed soldier for Christ - we need to be prepared...
4 No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.
A good soldier has an inward battle he need to prepare for… There is war over our mind - do we obey our sinful desires or our spirit...
Every decision we make is influences by this battle...
Our minds are literally a battleground for the control of our actions... Do we choose to live for pleasure/the moment – or do we live for the Lord...
The Spirit says to get up in the morning and spend time with God in His Word… The flesh says keep sleeping – you can always read your Bible –
Every morning we can be headed into a battle – a war against our sinful nature… Like any good soldier we need to prepare ourselves for the battles…
3rd - A good soldier needs to be free from the care of this world…
You never see a soldier taking a TV set with him into war… Or making sure that his cell phone is charged the day before the battle…
His focus is totally on the work he needs to get done – serving his commander!
Beware a divided heart - desiring to follow Jesus - but flirting with the world... Trying to love this world and the Lord - is in essence cheating on Jesus...
24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
We have a simple choice – who do we choose to live for – who do we serve… If we live for this world – then we are not going to be able to stand for Jesus!
4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
If your aim is to enjoy this world, you can not be a friend of God.”
4th – Stand on Jesus...
12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.
The way we overcome our enemy – the way we walk in the light so we can see... Is by putting on Jesus Christ –
walking in the Spirit of God... Then Jesus changes our desires so we do not want to do the things that are wrong… Instead we will want to do those things that please the Lord!
ENDING….
