Prepare for War
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
This morning as I kick off our youth revival I want to do it in a way you might not expect. I am grateful that Terrell spoke about revival last week because I am not going to talk about it. What I want to talk about is our enemy, our armor, and the battle. My aim with this is for you to take up the battle with me this week in the context of our revival, but it can’t stop there. This revival is merely a step in a great war. If the soldiers of Christ stop after this then we are in big trouble. Our passage of Ephesians 6 today is one that informs, equips, and motivates us for the fight. This fight is an epic battle that we are to engage in.
Before we dive into our passage though I want to give us some cultural context that opens up our passage and allows us to see it in a deeper light. But first a view into our culture.
The temperatures are cooling down and this can only mean one thing for us, Hallmark season. It is almost time for non stop Hallmark movies. When we watch these movies they are so predictable, as soon as we see the characters we know what is going to happen. It is cheesy and corny and predictable. I have not proven this but I have heard that when people from other cultures watch these movies they are utterly shocked by the ending. We are so culturally familiar with them that their plot is almost second nature for us. Now to the ancient world,
Somewhere between 750 and 700 BC one of the great literary works of history was composed. This is the Iliad written by Homer. By Paul's day when he wrote Ephesians the whole Greek world would have been familiar with this book. The patterns found in it for them would have been as predictable as a Hallmark movie to us.
The structure of this book is clear. There will be the spotting of the enemy, the description of their armor, then the battle.
Here is a quote where the enemy is spotted and described:
“As ravenous wolves come swooping on lambs or kids that stray from their dams on the mountains, and the dams are helpless to protect them; even so did the Danaans now fall on the Trojans, and the Trojans cried aloud and fled before them.”
Then here is a spot where the armor is described:
“He donned a fine breastplate of polished bronze, fitted perfectly to his body, and around his shoulders he slung his silver-studded sword of bronze. His mighty shield was massive and firm, and his bright, crested helmet with its horsehair plume glinted fiercely atop his head, and terror seized those who saw it.”
Then there is a battle:
“As when the waves run high before the driving blast of the west wind, and the sea darkens in the shade of the cloud that gathers, so rose the ranks of the Achaeans and Trojans on the plain. Shield pressed on shield, helmet on helmet, man on man; the horse-hair crests on their gleaming helmets touched as they bent their heads forward in the fray, and the whole mass was as if it were one—a single great combat.”
This is the pattern that the Iliad repeats throughout the whole book. When a Greek of this day heard a description of the enemy they were expecting to hear about the armor, when they heard about the armor they knew the battle was next. Paul uses just this when he writes our passage today. He uses this to his advantage and now that we know this we can look at this passage see the enemy, the armor, and the battle.
Now lets look at Ephesians 6:10-20
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.
Paul begins to close out this letter to the Ephesians telling them to be strong in the Lord. This is followed by getting a picture of the enemy. The enemy is the Devil and his minions, the forces of evil. Because we have this enemy we are to put on the armor of God. This armor helps us to stand firm. Standing firm is more than just a defensive command but it is also a offensive command. Then Paul closes with with the battle, this battle is fought in prayer.
The Enemy: Satan and the Evil Forces
The Armor: The Armor of God
The Battle: Prayer
This is what Paul is giving us here in the end of the book of Ephesians. This is a guide to spiritual warfare through the lens of Greek literature. He is pointing to that and saying that is just a story! This is the real deal!
If we are going to see revival, if we are going to see a spiritual awakening here in Cordell, then we need to take part in the battle. We have to fight in our spiritual warfare. We have to know that there is a very real enemy, we have to equip ourselves properly, and we have to fight. There is no other way. We cannot hide, we cannot run away like Achilles, we have to fight. This battle is one of eternal life and eternal death.
As we embark this morning to prepare for battle let us begin with prayer.
The Enemy
The Enemy
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
Our enemy is the devil and all his powers of evil. It is him that we are to wage war against and it is him that we are to resist. It says earlier in Ephesians 2.1-2
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—
We were once enemies of God. We once followed the prince of the power of the air, the prince of darkness. It says of those who have turned to Christ in faith though in Colossians 1.13
He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,
We have been delivered from this evil and it is now our enemy.
This section starts out with the command to be strong in the Lord and to put on the armor of God, this is a relational thing. We are with Yahweh God. This in and of itself is an amazing thing. Because and only because of this we can stand against our enemy.
The first thing that we are told about our enemy is that he schemes. This word μεθοδεία conveys craftiness, like the serpent in the garden. This isn’t the same word but it is a similar idea. The devil works to trick us, to make us stumble. There is always a hint of truth and it sounds good to our human ears. Just like the serpent tricks Eve and begins the stumbling until they fall into sin themselves, if we are not careful his schemes can begin to cause us to stumble as we fall for his traps. Do not be deceived, Satan is smart and he knows us probably better than we do.
This enemy that we wrestle with is not a flesh and blood enemy, this is why we are not taking up literal swords and armor. This is a spiritual force. There are rulers, authorities, cosmic powers, and other spiritual forces. They are all here in this darkness and they are all coming for us.
We are not going to turn there but you can write it down and go there later, but in Daniel 10 we get a glimpse into this behind the curtain. There is a battle against the king of Persia and the prince Michael. When looking at the context you wonder where they came from and what is going on here. That is until you realize that the king of Persia is one of the rulers talked about here, not flesh and blood, a spiritual force of darkness. Then Michael the prince is an angelic being. Through this passage we see that this spiritual war going on around us is organized, they have their regions and ranks. There is also strongholds that the enemy has.
Now I have not been given the opportunity that Daniel had to look behind the curtain and to see the spiritual warfare, nor would I want this opportunity. What I do know it this, there is a real enemy and he has strongholds here. There are things here in this town that the enemy is very happy with. He schemes and makes the people believe that they are god things when they are pure evil.
The Lord has burdened my heart with this lately and he has burdened Rod with it as well, we have both talked about this quite a bit lately. We have both been down some new streets and some new areas and have been seeing this in our town. He said it this way this last week at men’s breakfast; we go down our streets and do not see it, we go around the square, we go down Glen-English, we go down Crestview, and we go down this little street that gets us to the church. When that is our life man this world looks pretty good. Now I am not talking about nice pampered homes, I am talking about seeing the darkness. I am also not saying these areas are perfect either. When I have been walking the streets I have seen things that broke my heart.
The enemy is real and he has a hold in this town, I don’t know how big it is but I do know it is here. Don’t ignore this fact. If we ignore that there is a enemy and ignore that he has a hold then guess what, you are letting him win.
The Armor
The Armor
Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,
Since we have so great an enemy we must put on the armor of God. We do this so that we can withstand evil. This is our defense, we put on the armor so that we are protected from the attacks that the evil ones throw at us. More than just that we are called to stand firm. The Romans had a formation called the testudo, this is translated to the tortoise. In this formation the first row would put their shields up in front of them and their spears poking through, the second row would link them and put their shields up over their heads with spears poking out and so on. You can see how it is a turtle like formation. When all together they could stand firm against the attacking enemy. More than that though they could begin to advance. This is the imagery we see in standing firm. It is defensive as well as offensive.
When they were standing firm they would have all of their armor on. We to must armor up as we prepare for battle.
Belt of Truth
Belt of Truth
The first thing is the belt of truth. This is important because when you think of a belt you see that it holds everything together. It is the truth that holds everything together for us. Without the truth everything falls apart. Our lives should be based on the truth and we should run away from things that are not true.
This last Thursday was Reformation Day. 507 years ago Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg Germany. This was a day when the truth had been left behind. Because of this the church was plunging further and further away from it. We are talking core beliefs like salvation by faith alone. On that day Luther knew that something had to be done and it was eating him up inside so he fastened on the belt of truth.
This is the first part of the armor because it is such a crucial part. Without the truth everything else starts to fall apart.
Breastplate of Righteousness
Breastplate of Righteousness
The breastplate is what protects all of the vital organs. It is one of the biggest protectors for a soldier in battle. Even still today we look at military and law enforcement. There is not always a helmet but more often than not there is a vest on to protect them.
It is righteousness that protects us. Think about Titus 2.7-8
Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.
All of those things can be put in a simplified form, live a righteous life so that your opponent can have nothing evil to say about you. Living an honorable life protects us.
Think about the fun little event coming up Tuesday, the election. During campaigns every bad thing gets brought out by the opponent. This is why we are to live righteous lives, so that our opponent has no grounds to do this. It protects our vitals.
So be held together with truth and protect the vitals with righteousness.
Shoes of Readiness
Shoes of Readiness
You ever see a kid that just got new shoes and the first thing that they want to do is to see how fast they are? Or for you car guys, you put on some new tires that are supposed to give more grip so you have to go try them out? Last year I invested in some fancy Toyo tires with a sponsorship, they cost a pretty penny but they were supposed to help. I can’t tell a difference but I was assured there is one. They at least look good.
1 Peter 3.15 says
but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,
We are to be ready with the gospel. We are to put on the shoes that make us fast. We are to be prepared at all times. When we live upright lives that are grounded in the truth while always being ready to make a defense and to share the gospel, then we are ready to start being used as a powerful force in the battle by God.
Shield of Faith
Shield of Faith
Have you ever got so excited to do something for the Lord whether at church or in some other context but everything seems to continually get in the way. Then there is the things that we hear saying don’t do it, its a waste, and all sorts of negative things. These are the darts of the evil one. Sometimes it is a bunch of bad situations in life, deaths in family, on and on. These are the darts.
In these times we wonder what God is doing, well he is telling us to lift our shield. Though all of these things come around us we are guarded by faith. We can know that God has everything under control, we can have faith in his plan, we can fully trust him in that situation.
In youth right now we are working our way through Genesis and have just finished the flood. Noah was found to be righteous and God decided he was going to wipe the earth clean and preserve Noah through that. He told him to build a big boat and that water was going to fall from the sky. That seems outrageous. It had never rained before but this big boat was going to be lifted up by it. Now I remember the first time that I saw rain and I was blown away by it and I had been told about it. I grew up in western Oklahoma during the big drought of the early 2000’s that I am sure you all remember. So I was older when I saw this. Noah was a old man when he was told about this. He had to have faith. he had to have faith when people were coming up and making fun of what he was doing. He also had to have faith when the water was coming down and they were beating on the door until death.
We must let our faith guard us, we must hold it high, we must link together in turtle formation and stand firm together, held together by truth, protecting our vitals with holy lives, and ready with the gospel.
Helmet of Salvation
Helmet of Salvation
The helmet of salvation is something that we treasure. It covers our head, the most vulnerable part of us. When you look at all of the helmets of the world you can begin to see them and to distinguish where they are from. Take the spartan helmet for instance, probably the most recognizable helmet of history. We are protected by our salvation knowing that because we have it the battle will pan out in our favor, but we are to also be identified by our helmet. Our salvation should set us apart in the world to the point that when people see us they know whose side we are on.
Sword of the Spirit
Sword of the Spirit
Finally there is the sword of the Spirit. This is our weapon. All these other things help us to be ready, to be held together, and to be protected. Now we are talking offence.
It amazes me how many Christians neglect the word of God. It was not that long ago in the wake of the protestant reformation that people were dying so that they could have a Bible in their language. Now we all do and many do not read it. How are we to fight without a sword. Then people say that they have a Bible so they are ready, that is like having a gun but not knowing how to fire it.
The word of God is powerful and we should be in it each and every day, preparing for battle and being built up ourselves. It says in Hebrews 4.12
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
(get sword)
This is a weapon. It has great power. It is sharp all around. The power in it though is found in the one who wields it. It’s not cars that win races, it’s drivers. It’s not pencils that fail test, it’s students. The power of our weapon is found in the holder of it.
We have the Spirit in us, we are equipped with the armor of God. Now become a master with your sword so that when the enemy comes to face you it is like a white belt walking towards a black belt.
The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.
We have a real enemy and are in a real darkness, may we put on the armor of light, the armor of God so that we can go to battle.
The Battle
The Battle
praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.
The battle is prayer.
Paul is telling us a few things in this to pray for. The first is pretty broad, just pray. The second it to pray for fellow Christians, then to pray for him.
This is the battle that we are to fight. We are to wage war in prayer.
James tells us in James 5.16
Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
There is great power in prayer! We are not helpless in the battle, we are armored and we have our sword, we know who our enemy is, now we are to fight through prayer. It is a gift that we get to pray and to take part in the will of God. What a joy this is!
Spiritual warfare is something that is not often thought of, and truthfully the people that do think about it often overemphasize it. We cannot see what is going on around us, we cannot see behind the curtain. There is a place that gives us a glimpse behind the curtain of the spiritual battles around us though and this is in Daniel 10.10-21
And behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. And he said to me, “O Daniel, man greatly loved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for now I have been sent to you.” And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling. Then he said to me, “Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words. The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia, and came to make you understand what is to happen to your people in the latter days. For the vision is for days yet to come.”
When he had spoken to me according to these words, I turned my face toward the ground and was mute. And behold, one in the likeness of the children of man touched my lips. Then I opened my mouth and spoke. I said to him who stood before me, “O my lord, by reason of the vision pains have come upon me, and I retain no strength. How can my lord’s servant talk with my lord? For now no strength remains in me, and no breath is left in me.”
Again one having the appearance of a man touched me and strengthened me. And he said, “O man greatly loved, fear not, peace be with you; be strong and of good courage.” And as he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, “Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.” Then he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? But now I will return to fight against the prince of Persia; and when I go out, behold, the prince of Greece will come. But I will tell you what is inscribed in the book of truth: there is none who contends by my side against these except Michael, your prince.
Daniel was put into a deep sleep and was given a view of spiritual warfare. We can glean a few things from this that will help us in the battle.
The biggest thing that we see here is the princes. These do not fit into the context well unless you figure out what is going on. Michael we know as an angel and here he is described as a prince. Then there is the prince of Persia and the prince of Greece that Michael is contending with. These are not earthly princes but rather spiritual ones, these are the evil forces.
This shows us that there is organization to the evil spiritual forces and that they have strongholds. There are places where they rule more and there are places where they are cast out.
Now we do not have any greater detail than this. There is a battle going on around us and there are strongholds of evil. We should not seek any more detail than this that we are given in scripture.
I as well as you have not been given this glimpse behind the curtain here in Cordell but this I do know, Satan does have strongholds here in this town. How extensive I do not know nor do I care to see. This I do know, I need to pray. I need to take part in the battle against the evil around us.
What about Providence where our churches partner in the gospel is doing ministry, Sacred City Church. It does not take a genius to see that there is a great stronghold of evil there. We need to intercede for them.
How about the revival that begins tonight. I will tell you this, the evil forces do not want people at this event because God is going to move through it. Traditionally there will be prayer meetings leading up to a revival, the youth have been conducting those for months now. Take up to that battle with them.
We need to pray asking God to breakdown the evil strongholds in our town.
I have been so encouraged lately in the realm of prayer. I have begun to prayer walk the town with the goal of covering every street. Not that this does anything special but it opens my eyes to lostness and to needs that I see. It opens my eyes to the darkness and gives me lots to pray about. I used to do a short prayer time in the mornings, now I enjoy the sweet hour of prayer. God has been working on me and my prayer life. Not just me, he has been speaking to Rod about this. Together we are doing a prayer walk of the whole town with other men of the town. Men if you want to join this there is a sheet of paper in the back that you can put your name on, or you can at men’s breakfast.
So often we look around and say I wish there was something that I could do, here it is. Pray.
I’m talking more than a quick prayer before you eat or before you go to bed. I’m talking a real battle, I’m talking about seeing the needs and praying about that. I’m talking about what Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5.17
pray without ceasing,
We have to press on. The people of God must be a people who stand mightily before the enemy while on their knees.
Conclusion
Conclusion
So we know our enemy, the devil and his minions. We see our armor, the armor of God. And we see the battle, prayer.
May we as the people of God not back down. May we stand with the psalmist as in Psalm 27.1
The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?
We have nothing to fear, we must only stand firm.
We must be held together with the truth, we must be guarded by a righteous life, we must be ready at all times to defend and share the gospel, we must hold our faith high and never lower it from protecting us, we must be defined by our salvation as it guards us, and we must take up the word of God and know it well because it is our sword.
The response today is simple, it is to pray fervently, pray without ceasing, wage the war.
Notice something about this response too, it is for the Christian, it is for you church people. Act upon what you have heard in God’s word, do not be lukewarm.
I have been fighting, the youth have been fighting, will you fight with us?
There are several responses to this. The first is to be in prayer for the revival, pray for every detail and pray for salvation's. That is the whole reason for this, to see salvation's. You can pray for the people that will be sitting right where you are each night. I will be opening this door from 6:00 to 6:15 each night for you the church to come in and to pray in here for the revival.
Something longer term is to pray for our town. Pray for the people you see to come to know Jesus. Pray for the issues that you see. Pray that the evil spiritual strongholds will be torn down.
Then pray for Sacred City Church. They have a tough fight ahead of them up there. Pray that their evil spiritual strongholds will be torn down. Pray that people would be saved. Pray that they would find a building, if you want to go real big and bold pray that they could get the church building next door that is not a true gospel church.
Don’t let these things limit you but I would encourage you to start with them. There is a big battle ahead of us all. But I know who my God is and I know this is certain, we win. So lets fight in it. We know the enemy and we are equipped to fight. Church in this time of invitation lets make war.
The war cry of the reformation was “Post Tenebras Lux”, “after darkness light”. That is what will happen here if we fight.
Soldiers of Christ, in truth arrayed,
A world in ruins needs your aid:
A world by sin destroyed and dead;
A world for which the Savior bled.
His gospel to the lost proclaim,
Good news for all in Jesus' name;
Let light upon the darkness break
That sinners from their death may wake.
Morning and evening sow the seed,
God's grace the effort shall succeed.
Seed times of tears have oft been found
With sheaves of joy and plenty crowned.
We meet to part, but part to meet
When earthly labors are complete,
To join in yet more blest employ,
In an eternal world of joy.
Pray with me
