Equipped for Spiritual Warfare Part 2
Notes
Transcript
The Battle continues
The Battle continues
Finally, become strong in the Lord and in the might of his strength. Put on the full armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the stratagems of the devil, because our struggle is not against blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Stand therefore, girding your waist with truth, and putting on the breastplate of righteousness, and binding shoes under your feet with the preparation of the good news of peace, in everything taking up the shield of faith, with which you are able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one, and receive the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,
The recap of our last sermon is simple we must be ready to fight good fight of faith and unfortunately the devil does not take days off. The biggest issue that we as humans have is lack of consistency. We believe that because things look better today that we are not at war and that we can let our guard down. It imperative that we acknowledge the fact that the war is not over and that one of the strategies used in war is to make the enemy believe that all is calm.
In the context of military history, the term “strategy” refers to a comprehensive plan of action designed to achieve a major objective. It is a crucial concept that has profound significance in military operations, as it involves the allocation of resources, coordination of tactics, and anticipation of potential challenges and obstacles.
One of histories greatest war strategies was the trojan horse strategy:
How it worked:
The Greeks built a huge wooden horse
They left the horse outside the city gates as an offering to the gods
They pretended to give up the battle and sail away
The Trojans pulled the horse into their city as a victory trophy
That night, the Greek force crept out of the horse and opened the gates for the rest of the Greek army
The Greeks entered and destroyed the city, ending the war
1 Peter 5:8-9 (NKJV)
8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.
Stott quoting Simpson: “The tactics of intimidation and insinuation alternate in Satan’s plan of campaign. He plays both the bully and the beguiler. Force and fraud form his chief offensive against the camp of the saints.”
We must remain well equipped knowing that our enemy does not sleep nor does he rest waiting for an opening.
in everything taking up the shield of faith (Ephesians 6:16, LEB)
What is the shield of faith?
Roman shields were large enough to cover the whole body, symbolizing full protection.
The shield in this time period of war was most likely the most important defensive piece of armor that a soldier could cary and this is no different in the spiritual arena of war.
We must understand the tactics of war that our enemy is utilizing in this spiritual war in order to weaken his enemy and when we do we know that fiery darts con only be defended by the appropriate defensive armor like the shield of faith.
Let us look at this image again and understand what it means. When we look at this image we see all of the darts that the enemy is trying to throw at us. But what is the target? I’m glad you asked because the enemy is targeting your mind trying to infiltrate your thoughts with several different fiery darts:
Doubt is the complete opposite of Faith
We must understand that doubt and faith cannot exist together because one will consume the other. You can’t believe that God can do it and doubt that he’ll do it at the same time.
There have been many that have been destroyed by these fiery darts.
Satan tries to get you to doubt your salvation. Many come to me tormented by these thoughts.
The dart of Temptation
The temptation to Sin - Joseph was tempted to Sin but he chose to stand behind his faith that if he remained faithful to his God.
The temptation to give up
If I say, “I will not mention him,
or speak any more in his name,”
there is in my heart as it were a burning fire
shut up in my bones,
and I am weary with holding it in,
and I cannot.
The shield of Faith will guard you against the thoughts of quitting. That same shield Guards me from allowing the negativity from entering my mind.
The Darts of Hate, Anger, Anxiety, Depression, and Discouragement.
The shield of faith will guard your mind against the new darts of Social Media post designed to enter your mind to produce an atmosphere of retaliation.
The of faith will use your faith in God to turn of the fire of darts hitting your mind.
Can we be real that sometimes the darts are able to get into your mind and what do you do then?
Sometimes we let our Guard down.
I let someone back into my life that I shouldn’t have.
I allowed someone to speak words of discouragement into my life.
I looked at someone’s social media that I shouldn’t have looked at.
I looked at memories that were real for me but not real for the others and it brought back the feelings of hurt and pain.
I heard the voice of the devil tell me that I am not worthy.
I invited the wrong people to my house and put my shield down.
2 Successes can easily become failures. All it takes is letting our guard down.
Charles Swindoll
The Quest for Character (1982)
Chuck Swindoll
We need to know how to fight back:
2 Corinthians 10:4-6: 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, 6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.
Identify the thoughts that you are fighting.
Bringing every thought Captive. Put these thoughts under arrest.
Throw the key away.
Turn to God for Strength and Healing - Psalm 34:17-18
When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears
and delivers them out of all their troubles.
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
and saves the crushed in spirit.
2. Put on the Full Armor of God Again -
Ephesians 6:13 - “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."
To conclude we must apply what we are learning as this is a reality of life that a lot of us are being detained by the thoughts that have made it through our shield. We have been injured in battle and have allowed that dart that made it through discourage us from movie forward in battle. I for one refuse to leave a soldier down in battle. This week we will do something different for all those who are tired of negative thoughts and negative feelings I want you to do this.
Here’s a jar and every time you think of a negative thought you will put every negative thought or worry that creeps into your head in the Jar. Every time you're anxious or doubting, you take that thought and place it in the jar, sealing it tight. It’s a way to control those intruding thoughts. Just like Jesus teaches us to reign in our thoughts (2 Corinthians 10:5), we can choose to focus on what is good and true instead of letting negativity run wild.
Who’s ready to fight back? Next week we finish the spiritual warfare but this time we take the offensive weapon of the Armor the Sword of truth which is the word of God.
