God’s Design for Battle and Our Role

Introduction

Look back at what we’ve learned the past few weeks.

Look ahead to prayer series

Prayer:

Have you ever been around a situation that was planned badly? I’m not talking about going grocery shopping without a list. I’m talking about a situation at work or home where everything went south because of poor planning. A poor plan can lead to disaster. A great plan can lead to great success. We spend time planning a budget, schedules, and trips to make sure things go smoothly. In sports gameplans are very important. Coaches spend hours each week compiling their gameplan. They study the opposing team getting to know weakness and strengths. One of the greatest game planners in the NFL is Bill Belicheck. Love or hate him he is well known for his defensive gameplans. One of his best tricks is knowing what your team is great at, and taking it away from you. If you have a great tight end, he will double cover him so you can’t throw him the ball. If your quarterback can read defenses, he will disguise coverage.

God has set up His battle plan and we have an important role. Paul finishes his letter to the church by reminding them about God’s plan for battle and the role followers of Christ

Read Ephesians 6:10-20

Main Point: STAND WITH GOD AND FIGHT THE REAL ENEMY

Know the Enemy

Ephesians 6:10–12 “Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by his vast strength. Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens.”

EXPLAIN

Paul points out the REAL enemy the members of the early Church were facing. Although the people were facing strong persecution, the real enemy was not the Romans or Religious leaders.

Imagine reading this in the house church, scared you might get caught and thrown in jail or fed to lions.

There are too many times we the enemy is our family, boss, and/or any person. However, the Bible clearly states the true enemy is Satan and all the evil forces.

ARGUE

What about evil people like the Romans, Nazis, and other terrorists? Satan uses other people to do his bidding. Also, we are in a broken world in need of a Savior.

ILLUSTRATE

Catching Fire quote, “Remember who the real enemy is.” Haymitch and Finnick

APPLICATION

Understand your enemy

We have our enemy and the Bible scouts very well for us. We know what the Enemy does. He is the father of lies and prowls around like a lion. His goal is to seek, devour, and destroy you. We know what we are going up against. Now what? What is our game plan in our war against Satan and his demons? How do we execute the plan?

Battle Preparations

Ephesians 6:13–17a “For this reason take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand. Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest, and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace. In every situation take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ”

EXPLAIN

We need to Stand with God with the Armor He provides.

Belt of Truth

The purpose of a belt is to hold stuff together. Roman soldiers used the belt to hold the excess cloth from their tunics to keep them from getting tripped up.

The belt of the Armor of God is put on with truth

Breastplate of Righteousness

Breastplate covers vital organs of the body.

2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” We don’t own our righteousness. God does.

Feet of Peace

Sandals with cleats were used in battle along the hillside for better traction.

Sandals are filled with peace of God

Shield of Faith

The shield begins the final three pieces that we have to take action to put on.

Shield is used to extinguish and stop the arrows from the enemy.

Helmet of Salvation

We have to protect our minds. Stay focused on what God says

A key thing to remember about the Armor of God is that without Christ, we have no chance for any of the armor.

Isaiah 59:16–17 “He saw that there was no man— he was amazed that there was no one interceding; so his own arm brought salvation, and his own righteousness supported him. He put on righteousness as body armor, and a helmet of salvation on his head; he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and he wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak.”

ILLUSTRATE

The importance of preparation (Stir-fry recipe)

APPLICATION

Place your full trust in God so you can Stand and fight the real enemy

Fight your Enemy

Ephesians 6:17–20 “Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit—which is the word of God. Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints. Pray also for me, that the message may be given to me when I open my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel. For this I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I might be bold enough to speak about it as I should.”

EXPLAIN

There are a few things to remember while we fight the real Enemy.

We have 2 weapons, so we should use them.

Word of God—Sword of the spirit

We need to read God’s Word and use it correctly.

Do not rely on a sermon a week to fight the Enemy

Prayer

What did Paul tell the church to pray for?

We should be ambassadors like Paul was.

Ambassador-

The New Bible Dictionary, Third Edition Ambassador

applied to the representative of Christ in carrying his message of reconciliation

In chains-Paul was speaking the gospel while in prison

ARGUE

“Is that it? Pray and read my Bible?” Think about Jesus in Matthew 4:1-11. Jesus used God’s word to combat all of Satan’s temptations.

ILLUSTRATE

God fights the battles for His people

David and Goliath- 1 Samuel 17:45–47 “David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with a sword, spear, and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord of Armies, the God of the ranks of Israel—you have defied him. Today, the Lord will hand you over to me. Today, I’ll strike you down, remove your head, and give the corpses of the Philistine camp to the birds of the sky and the wild creatures of the earth. Then all the world will know that Israel has a God, and this whole assembly will know that it is not by sword or by spear that the Lord saves, for the battle is the Lord’s. He will hand you over to us.””

2 Chronicles 20:13–17 “All Judah was standing before the Lord with their dependents, their wives, and their children. In the middle of the congregation, the Spirit of the Lord came on Jahaziel (son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite from Asaph’s descendants), and he said, “Listen carefully, all Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat. This is what the Lord says: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast number, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. Tomorrow, go down against them. You will see them coming up the Ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the valley facing the Wilderness of Jeruel. You do not have to fight this battle. Position yourselves, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord. He is with you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Tomorrow, go out to face them, for the Lord is with you.’ ””

Jericho: Joshua 6:16 “After the seventh time, the priests blew the rams’ horns, and Joshua said to the troops, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city.”

Red Sea: Exodus 14:14 “The Lord will fight for you, and you must be quiet.””

APPLICATION

KNOW THE WORD AND PRAY

First, spend quality time with God, so you know what to fight with.

Second, pray in all seasons in the power of the Spirit. Remember the authority of God while we pray.

Conclusion

As we learn about our role in Spiritual Warfare, let’s review the actions we are to take:

Be strengthened…by the Lord

Put on (take up)…full armor of God

Prepare and stand

Pray

In all seasons

For others to share the message of the GOSPEL

God’s battleplan involves all of the followers of Christ. We must STAND WITH GOD AND FIGHT THE REAL ENEMY!!