The Weapons of our Warfare - Suit Up

2 Cor 10:3-4 - “3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: 4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

The title of today’s message and the first in the series is, “The Weapons of Our Warfare - Suit Up”

Ladies and gentlemen, just in case you didn’t know it, we are at war.

We are at war for our children,

our spouses,

our marriages,

our homes,

our peace,

our joy,

our minds,

our health,

our finances,

and ultimately our very souls.

When the enemy can get us, he can destroy everything, including the church. Because when you are dealing with an internal war, that carries over into every area of your life.

Our scripture text already tells us, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:” The NRSV says it this way, “Indeed, we live as human beings, but we do not wage war according to human standards,”

So you can’t go into this fight like you would an ordinary battle. It’s not about knives and guns and hand to hand combat.

“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but might through God to the pulling down of strong holds;” The weapons we fight with have divine power to destroy strongholds.

So who are we fighting in this war? That’s an excellent question, because you have to know who the real enemy is when you go into a fight so you’ll know what weapon to employ.

So let’s go to Ephesians to find out who the enemy is and what weapons we are bringing to the fight.

Eph 6:12 reiterates, this is no ordinary fight, “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

The war is happening all around us, against an enemy we can’t see. You may think you see the enemy when that person comes at you, but they are not the real enemy. The real enemy is whatever spirit happens to be attached to them at the time.

When your child seems to have lost their mind, it’s likely the spirit of disobedience or rebellion or confusion has attached itself.

Husbands, when your wife won’t submit, she just won’t follow your lead, check yourself first. Check your spirit.

Are you loving her the way Christ loved the church and gave himself for it?

Does she hear you covering her in prayer, everyday?

Are you speaking words of encouragement to her, building her up?

Are you practicing intimacy with her. Not just sex, but intimacy.

Let me just tell you, the benefit is yours when you’re loving and treating your wife the way God designed.

How do I know? Because Peter had this to say to husbands; 1 Pet 3:7 reading from the NLT "… you husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat your wife with understanding as you live together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God’s gift of new life. [Here it is] Treat her as you should so your prayers will not be hindered.”

Husbands, are your prayers not being answered? How are you treating your wife? Are you treating her as your equal or like she’s beneath you?

Let me make this clear, I’m talking about husbands and wives, not your man and your old lady, not your girl friend or boyfriend, not the one you shackin’ with, not your common law.

I’m talking about that one you are in a covenantal relationship with.

Wives, when your husband just won’t do what you want, just won’t act the way you think he should, check your spirit first. Is what you want in the will of God?

Let’s go back and see what Peter has to say to you, 1 Pet 3:1 “Wives, … accept the authority of your husbands, so that, even if some of them do not obey the word, they may be won over without a word by their wives’ conduct, 2 when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.”

Wives, are you

praying for your husband?

Allowing him to be vulnerable with you and not labeling him weak for it?

Are you creating a safe space for him when he comes home?

For both of you, do you think that your way is the right way all the time? When the truth of the matter is you should be doing things God’s way?

Do you understand that God’s ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts?

If after you have checked yourself, and the measuring stick is Christ and the Word of God, and IF it’s not you, talk to God about him, talk to God about her.

Don’t get in their face or think you’re just going to help them out, or that you’ll get them straight, and most importantly do not introduce another person into the mix, because now you have just opened a door for the enemy to come in and reek havoc in your home, in your relationship.

You have to be careful who you talk to about your spouse, even if and sometimes especially when it’s family. You and your spouse fall out about something, you talk to a friend or family member about it and now they’re looking at your partner sideways. But the two of you have made up and moved on. Others are not as forgiving sometimes. They think they’re being a good friend but in reality they may harm your relationship instead of help it.

I must tell Jesus, not Jane, all of my trials. I cannot bear these burdens alone. I must tell Jesus, not Jerry; I must tell Jesus, not Joan, Jesus will help me, Jesus alone.

Be like Mary and sit at the feet of Jesus. When we lived in Oklahoma, we had a couple of dogs and if one of them was upset or wanted attention, they would come to me. If I ignored them they would lay on my feet, not at, but on, so they knew when I was about to move.

Now picture this, how many of you are lying on the feet of Jesus, so that when He moves you know and can go with Him? Or are you standing on your own, thinking that you’re watching, but you’ve fallen asleep and you missed it. You missed Jesus moving or even worse, you moved and you thought Jesus was to follow you.

Too often we create a mess, we fail to ask God first and then we ask him to bless our mess. Pray first and you won’t have so much drama in your life.

Place yourself at Jesus’ feet, lay on the feet of Jesus to make sure you don’t miss it when He moves. He may be trying to take you to another level and all you can see is the mess you’re in right now.

Where does your joy lie? Is it in

your fine husband,

your beautiful wife,

your adorable children,

your wonderful house,

your prestigious position

your nice car,

your fat bank account,

your stylish clothes,

or even your thriving church?

What is that thing that just makes you so happy? Well I’ll tell you right now, if your joy is in anything but Jesus, it’s empty, because the reality is

husbands or wives sometimes leave,

sometimes they die,

you should be raising those children to leave,

all material things will eventually wear out, go out of style or just plain break down.

Your bank account could be wiped out with one major illness, the loss of a job, or bad investments, look at the stock market.

And there’s always drama in the church because someone is going to want to do it their way, hear their favorite song, sit in their favorite seat, have the carpet, the curtains or the roof the color they want.

You could lose your position on that job with one downsizing, restructuring, buy out, or government shut down.

I saw this movie once called Up In the Air, where this company’s whole job was to fly all over the country and fire people.

You had better establish your joy in

something solid,

something that will stand forever,

someone that loves you no matter what,

someone that gave His life for you and paid for your sins while you were yet in that sin. He didn’t care if you looked good, if you could cook, if you could back that thang up, He looked at your heart and in his love, he saw someone worth dying for and so he willingly gave up His life to save others. Find your joy in Jesus Christ.

Now that we know a little bit about who we’re up against and what we’re fighting for, let’s look at how we’re going to fight.

Now, I was in the military 30-years and when we would get ready to go to war we had to get our stuff. We didn’t just take off and start fighting, there was an order to what we did.

We put on our battle dress uniform, so we could blend with the elements around us.

We put on our combat boots to protect our feet and ankles.

We had our helmets to protect our head.

Our flack vest to protect our chest and back

We carried an M-16 assault rifle, some had a M-60 machine gun, and some had the addition of a 203 grenade launcher

A belt of ammunition, so we could reload as needed

And we had a plan or set of instructions about what to do when we got to where we we’re going.

And we trained.

We trained to know how to use all of our equipment.

We trained to know what to expect.

We trained for contingency situations.

We trained for emergencies.

We trained to be able to handle whatever came our way.

But how many know there are some things you just can’t train for?

Now, let’s go back to Ephesians 6 and go to verse 14, there we find our spiritual uniform and equipment, because remember our fight is not carnal, so neither will our weapons. In this fight that by the way everyone qualifies for, you must arm yourself with…

The belt of truth buckled around your waist, that’s your ammunition, you can’t go fight without ammunition. When you’re armed with the truth, you have no reason to back down. The story doesn’t change, because the truth is the truth.

The breastplate of righteousness (God’s approval) – is your flack vest.

Feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace (Readiness to spread the Good News) – this is the combat boots.

Shield of faith – this protects you from the fiery darts, and is an added layer of protection to keep you from getting hit with the attacks of the enemy. That lie he wanted to start about you bounced off your shield of faith because beneath your shield was your character.

Your helmet of salvation – protects your mind from Satan’s demons, from those impure thoughts, from doing the thing your flesh wants to do but the Holy Spirit says:

“let it go,

don’t look,

don’t engage,

don’t say that,

don’t go in there,

love them anyway”.

The sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God – This is your M-16, M-60 and 203 grenade launcher. This is your offensive weapon. Now, don’t use it like a battering ram. Use it in the manner in which it was given. 2 Tim 3:16 - “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests, this is how you get the plan. This is the first in a series entitled, “Weapons of Our Warfare”.

When we follow the Word of God, not only are we armed, when we employ his weapons we are extremely dangerous. As we progress in this series I’m going to give you seven weapons that make you dangerous to Satan.

So we are now dressed for this spiritual battle, and we are armed, and in this series I’m going to give you seven weapons to make you dangerous.

I’ve told you about the war were in, I’ve told you about the enemy we’re fighting, I’ve told you about the weapons we have at our disposal. Now, the question is, “How do we access these weapons?”

The only way to access our weapons in the military is you must

First enlist, you have to be a member of the team

Then you are selected for a certain job

Then you must train. You must study and learn your job – we call it OJT or on the job training

Then before you go into battle, you must receive weapons training –

Then you are tested and you must qualify, because you see it’s one thing to practice your job, it’s quite another to do it when you go into battle

But how do you gain access to the spiritual weapons? Well, there is only one way to gain access to these spiritual weapons.

Jesus said I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but by me.

So, you must recognize that Jesus is real, that he was born of a virgin.

You must believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and that he was sinless.

You must believe that one day, long, long ago they took him before a kangaroo court, they lied on him, and wrongly convicted him. But it had to be done.

You must believe that one day, long, long ago they took Jesus and on a hill called Golgotha they nailed him to a cross.

You mut believe that one day, long, long ago Jesus died on an old rugged cross. He took on the sins of the world past, present, and future to give mankind an opportunity for everlasting life.

You must believe that they put in a borrowed tomb, he wouldn’t need it for long.

Because in three days he got up with all power in his hands.

He overcame death, hell, and the grave.

He is a risen Savior. And when you believe that, you many not understand it at first, that’s why you go to Sunday school, that’s why you go to Bible study, that’s why you keep coming to church. But once you believe all that now you’re ready to pick up your spiritual weapons.

First, you enlist in the army of Christ by accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.

Next, you develop a relationship with the keeper of the weapons.

Then, you train and study, you cannot get proficient at your task unless you train and study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needth not be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth

Finally, you pray and find out what your position or job is – don’t just run out there doing what you think, spend time with the commanding officer and find out what it is you’re supposed to be doing.

The choice is yours, are you a part of the team, or do you need to join? There’s no time like the present, join the team.

We’re in a war and our weapons are not carnal weapons. Come and let’s learn how to get armed and dangerous for the Kingdom of God.

There’s a war going on. Are you ready to suit up?

If you’ve never accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior join the team today. All it takes is a prayer.

Father, I confess I’m a sinner, please forgive me. Jesus, I believe you are the Son of God, that you came to earth lived a sinless life and died for my sin. I believe that you rose again and now sit at the right hand of the Father interceding for me. Please come into my heart, I give you my life. In your name I pray. Amen

If you prayed that prayer for the first time or even if you prayed it again welcome to the family, now find yourself a Bible believing, Bible teaching church where you can work out your soul salvation and train for the battle.

For our online viewers, if you live in the Douglasville, GA vicinity, we’d love to see you at 3500 Hwy 5, Sunday School begins at 8:45, Worship at 10. Intercessory Prayer is Thu at 8 a.m and Bible Study is Thu at 7 p.m. See our website [www.lovechristianctr.org] for a complete list of service times, zoom codes and information.

As SNAP benefits are restored, people still need help. If you feel so led, please consider a financial gift to support this ministry where we feed those in need through our food pantry ministry.

Finally please share this message and continue to watch as we continue in the series, The Weapons of Our Warfare.

If you’re here in the sanctuary

salvation

membership

rededication