A Call To Arms

We are at War

a call from complacency and presumption to sober minded alert and ready battle positions.

A Call To A Wartime Attitude

What is your conception of being a Christian?

I think we tend to over-focus on the elements of Paul’s metaphor here and miss the point. His details are important but they are meant to excite our minds into extrapolating every detail about spiritual warfare and in finding techniques and strategies to warring with spiritual evil. We are meant to try and figure out how to perform spiritual exorcisms or break generational curses, or cleanse spirits from people or persons. This text excites the mysterious in people to over emphaisze Paul’s point. That is that we are in a war. There is no time for complaciency, or presumption. We are engaged in a cosmic battle.

Is this in your thinking about the Christian life? Or do you see it as peace and joy and fulfillment? There are those things for sure, but not always. Do you think of the Church merely as an educational institution who’s job is to enlighten men and give them good sense knowledge about life and morality. We do teach moral’s for sure. Or do you consider Church to be a social club in which you gather and enjoy the company of good friends who espouse the same ideals as you? We do thank God for giving us such social interactions, especially now when we can’t have them. Or have you come to understand like Paul that while to live is Christ, to live for Christ is war. It’s a struggle it’s a contest against devastatingly powerful forces and insurmountable odds.

The Ephesians Example

Read Acts 19:8-11, 17-20

Powerful ministry, great feats, prevailing of God’s word, yet… run out of a synagogue vs 8, mimicked by apostate Jewish teachers vs. 13, threatened by Demetrius vs 23.

It had opposition from the beginning.

2 Timothy 2:3 ESV

3 Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

Do you see yourself in a battle? Are you consciously considering that we are not in peace time, we right now are at war.

The Church is engaged in a battle, she is a fortress for truth!

Application:

This is our primary goal as a Church! To be a pillar and support for the truth. To resist the attacks of Satan and to stand on God’s truth. WE can do other things, but this is primary!

Why we are at War?

Our Calling Demands It!

It’s not that we just love a fight, some do. It’s that we love our God and this world is in opposition to him.

A dog barks when his master is attacked, I would be a coward I saw that God’s truth is attacked and yet would remain silent.

Satan will not be still if a Church/Christian is active in serving Christ!

If we are walking worthy of our calling, in humility rather than pride, in unity rather than divisiveness, in the new self rather than the old, in love rather than lust, in light rather than darkness, in wisdom rather than foolishness, in the fullness of the Spirit rather than the drunkenness of wine, and in mutual submission rather than self-serving independence, then we can be absolutely certain we will have opposition and conflict.

MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1986). Ephesians (p. 331). Chicago: Moody Press.

What Kind of warfare is this?

A wrestling match.

Withstand means to hold your ground.

God has instructed believers to hold their ground against Satan. Like in a wrestling match in Paul’s day, the object was to knock your opponent off his feet. Likewise the believer is to keep a firm footing. To not be swept by Satan's scheming and maneuvering. This comes first through the influence of false doctrine and false teachers. They parade themselves as proponents of truth and God but they are masquerading angels of light who really are agents of the Devil. Some of our own Church family know intimately such people who are carried away through the influence of false doctrine and spiritually have no solid footing. Satan desires to do that to you. To sweep you up in false doctrine. To trap you in temptation.

Illustration

The nation of Israel paints a vivid picture of the influence of Satan. Although that nation experienced more of the presence and blessings of God than any before them, they persisted in running after strange gods and false worship (which Paul says is demon worship). Satan so influenced that nation that God gave them up to judgment and even after he had restored them, they were pawns of Satan to carry out the most pernicious plot on the earth, the murder of the son of God.

We must not give into the notion that there are no serious threats today. Satan would love to lull us into sleep and like Christian in pilgrims progress we loose our confidence and our progress.

How Do We Win?

Relying on God as Your Source of Strength

Be Strong in the Lord

Put on His Armor

Armor means nothing to the civilian, but it is vitally important to the soldier. If you’re in a gun fight you’ll be intimately concerned whether you have a kevlar vest or not.

How is this armor and power made available to the believer?

It is the result of the resurrection of Jesus and his ascension to power. They come as the result of that.

Christ even though he has ascended into heaven and has all power and authority at the present time rules in the midst of his enemies. Psalm 110:2 Satan and his minion still exercise influence in this world in spite of the fact Jesus has triumphed over them. Christ’s kingdom has been inaugurated and is waiting final consummation when he will bring a final overthrow to all his enemies. If someone were to ask, why allow satan to rule, why wait? Why not put an end to him now and bring complete justice and peace in the world? Well, if God were to bring judgment into the world, that would include the judgment of men. God hasn’t judged Satan because he is patiently bringing about the redemption of his people. He loves his own, and endures the hostility of satan only so long as he completes his redemption plan and when the last one of God’s sheep is redeemed, Christ will stand up and say, “ it’s done, let’s go get him!” He will split the sky, accompanied by the hosts of heaven, and will bring an end to Satan.

In the meantime, while we await that final consummation, Jesus through instructs his Church to withstand Satan, to stand against him with the resource provided to us by our resurrected Lord.

We are a people who have both inner peace, and yet are in a war. We are a warring people. Not against tribes or nationalities. We are waging war against every ideal that exalts itself against Christ. Every lie, every slander, every false doctrine which aims to pervert the glory of our God and his Christ is the cause of our fight. We stand as the citadel of God’s truth and we proclaim that we budge not one inch from the sacred scripture.