Preparing for Battle

The idea of preparing yourself for battle can be a rather daunting task. There are years of training that go into a soldier being able to fit in and contribute to a well-oiled machine. You start out first with the basics. You learn how to work as a unit, you learn how to march together, in perfect unison, you learn how to punch and very quickly you learn why it is important not to drop your hand when returning it back to the guard or blocking position, you snap that hand back as to not get hit in the face. Then as you progress through different phases of training you learn how to fight, you learn how to move as a battle group, as a platoon, a section, a crew, a battle team. Something that is interesting about the military is you will never be sent into battle without a fire team partner. This person has your back and you have their back, you are concerned with their well-being and they are concerned with yours. You learn how to be an effective team in battle.

Why am I so fixated on battles? Because we are surrounded by a battlefield, this battlefield isn’t seen or even recognized by some. But the war wages on. But what war? We have all experienced worldly fleshly desires. We all fight some sort of inner battle with ourselves, each one of us has a battle that looks different than the others but the source of that problem is all the same, the source is the desires of our sinful nature. Paul gives a list, not an exhaustive list, of what these desires are in Galatian 5:19-21

Galatians 5:19–21 NLT

When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

Most of us hone in on the sinful nature that doesn’t apply to us and we selectively don’t hear the sin that does apply to us. It is in our human nature to hear these things and look out at the world around us with a pointed finger and say yah, look at those individuals out there. Well you know something else I learned in my time preparing for battle? That as I am pointing at others with one finger there are always three examples pointing right back at me. We need to take this stuff seriously and recognize our own fallen nature. We need to avoid falling into the same patterns we see in the Bible where the church was dividing itself by who was Jew and who was Gentle, who followed Apollos and who followed Paul.

I very much enjoy Pauls’s candid honesty in Romans 7 where he is responding to how he had failed to keep his sinful nature in check while he persecuted others, with one finger pointing out he didn’t realize that there were three pointing back. He then goes on to describe a complex situation that certainly is a tongue twister on the brain but somehow makes sense when we view it from the position of the Christian who knows they have fallen and they are in this battle I’ve been talking about.

Let's read Romans 7:7-25

Romans 7:7–25 NLT

Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.” But sin used this command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires within me! If there were no law, sin would not have that power. At one time I lived without understanding the law. But when I learned the command not to covet, for instance, the power of sin came to life, and I died. So I discovered that the law’s commands, which were supposed to bring life, brought spiritual death instead. Sin took advantage of those commands and deceived me; it used the commands to kill me. But still, the law itself is holy, and its commands are holy and right and good. But how can that be? Did the law, which is good, cause my death? Of course not! Sin used what was good to bring about my condemnation to death. So we can see how terrible sin really is. It uses God’s good commands for its own evil purposes. So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.

You know what is incredibly interesting, is the fact that without the law Paul would have never known about some of the sinful natures, but through understanding the law, he began to covet and sin sprang to life and began to go to work in his life. What did Paul covet? He most likely is referring to how he was bound to the law as a Jew and bound to the Roman law as a Gentile, and he was covetous of the Christians’ freedom. There was this war within him of what he desired.

We are called, for our sakes, to put our fleshly desires to death in Romans 8:13 For if you live by fleshly desires, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live.

Okay great so this battle is between ourselves and just our own sinful desires, right? Wrong. That last little bit was merely an introduction to this war.

Have you seen those movies, or video games, where you spend so much time battling all these small-time enemies? You get used to their strength and their abilities and how much energy you need to put into them. Then when it comes to the final scene and the hero is in this final battle with what seems to be the final villain a super boss appears and it is clear the battle is not over. The hero of the storyline looks on in disbelief, they couldn’t believe they have been battling this whole time and there was something else they needed to be aware of. There was a formative enemy that was pursuing them the whole time.

The devil has been proven to be a worthy adversary, we look at examples where he has deceived Adam and Eve, we look to examples where he destroyed everything Job had, and we see that he has such power to hold up Angel’s in Daniel 9: 1-19 where an Angel was delayed by the Prince of Persia of delivering a message from God to Daniel. The spiritual world around us should not be taken lightly. Jesus even identified Satan in John 14:30 as the Prince of the world. 1 Corinthians 11:14 describes Satan as disguising himself as an angel of light. What does this mean for the world we live in today? Does this bring an explanation to some of the things we see happening today?

In our western world, we like to think of the self. We like to focus on our own successes and our own failures. We don’t look to the supernatural. Sure we as Christians know about Satan and we know about Demons but do we recognize them as something we should be concerned about, or are we even aware of their very real existence? You see we as Christians are so focused on battling a one-sided battle that is happening between me, myself and I that we forget there are two fronts. The devil is prowling like a lion, and is looking for someone who is distracted to devour. We need to be alert and sober-minded. These words you’ll recognize as being from 1 Peter 5:8. Peter himself fell to the temptations of Satan. Jesus even warned Peter that he was going to give into the Devil’s twisted schemes when he said this in Luke 22:31 “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat.” Jesus continues in verse 32 “But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers.” Peter knows of Satan’s conniving tricks, and so he is warning the readers of 1 Peter, he is warning us of the Devil’s ability to sneak up on us unannounced.

The great thing about being a Christian is that the devil and demons cannot possess us. We are temples of the Holy Spirit who is in us 1 Corinthians 6:19. Luke 10: 17-20 tells us of how the disciples reported to Jesus that the demons obeyed them when they used Jesus’ name. Jesus responds in verse 18-20

Luke 10:18–20 NLT

“Yes,” he told them, “I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning! Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you. But don’t rejoice because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered in heaven.”

How do we fight these battles, both the ones of the flesh and the ones that are against the devil? How do we respond to a society that is clearly falling and is turning against God? How do we respond when all this is being spiritually weaponized around us? Even Paul says in Ephesians 6:12 that our struggle is against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. But he also tells us how to be proactive. You see it is never a good thing to react while in a battle. Reacting tells you that the person that you are attacking was not prepared, but when you are proactive, meaning even though you didn’t know an attack was necessarily coming you were practiced, you were equipped and you were moderately prepared, you will prevail. We can be proactive by following what Paul says in Ephesians 6: 10-18

Ephesians 6:10–18 NLT

A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.

Did you catch what we can do to be proactive? We must be prepared.

By speaking truth in love (Ephesians 4:15), offering ourselves to God as an instrument of righteousness (Romans 6:13) being ready through worshiping Christ as Lord of our life and explaining our “Hope” to all those who ask (1 Peter 3:15) we need to be living with the peace that Jesus gave us, not letting our hearts be troubled or afraid (John 14:27) we need to be living a life full of faith, assurance, and conviction (Hebrews 11:1) proclaiming our salvation by the grace of God, recognizing God grace to be a gift (Ephesians 2:8-9) following and obeying the Holy Spirit as children of God (Romans 8:14) all the while storing up God’s word in our hearts so that we won’t sing against Him (Psalm 119:105)

And finally, in our preparation to be proactive in our response to the battle that wages on around us, we are to rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

Something that is worth noting, is we are not called to be reactive, we are called to be ready, we are called to be prepared, we are called to be proactive. Much like a soldier who trains for combat, or an athlete who trains to compete, or a musician who trains for a recital, training prepares our minds. It prepares us to be responsive when unexpected situations arise.It prepares us to respond in a way that is Christ-like and not worldly. Responding on our knees will have a bigger impact on the world around us than reactively responding which often consists of a fiery tongue, or a clenched fist. Reacting is never a good thing because it shows you were not prepared and reacting often shows you were caught off balance. Being Proactive, being prepared, and training ourselves up in the way we are instructed is a powerful testimony to others, and our neighbours will ask us about what this Hope is that they see in our lives.