Our War and Our Weapons

 Boot Camp Bobby had gate guard duty the 1st time. He had clear orders. No car enters without a gate pass on its windshield. Soon, an Army limo arrived. A general sat in back. Bobby challenged: "Halt, who goes there?" Cpl. chauffeur answered, "Gen. Wheeler." Bobby was firm. "You can't enter without a gate pass." But Gen. Wheeler ordered, "Drive on!" Bobby cried, "Halt! Don't enter! I have orders to shoot if you try." Gen. Wheeler repeated, "Cpl., drive on!" Bobby walked up to the rear window. "General, I'm new to this. Who do I shoot? You or the driver?" In war, we have to know who to shoot. In spiritual war, it's the same. Who's the real enemy? We think it's the people who hurt us. In reality, it's the devil who uses them. Not the people. Not sure we have much trouble from the devil? Why not? Are we going in his direction? Not sure he's real? Try this. Turn to Christ. Try to live for Him alone. As soon as we try, we're face to face with the devil & his minions, hell's forces. What can we do? Eph 6:10-20 tells us. 10aBe strengthened (lit.) in the Lord. In Greek "be strengthened" is a passive or a middle imperative. If passive, it says allow the Lord to strengthen us. If middle, it says strengthen ourselves in the Lord. Both are true. And our will works together with the Lord's will to strengthen us! We're weak. To fight the devil takes more power than we have. Spiritual power. And in His mighty power, we're stronger than the enemy! Power isn't enough. It also takes spiritual weapons. The only source? God. 11aPut on God's full armor. He supplies it. But we have to put it on. All of it. If any part is missing, we're vulnerable! 11bWith all His armor we can take our stand against the devil's schemes. Our enemy is smart. Tricky. schemes? He tempts, frustrates, confuses, & discourages us. He wants to alienate us from God & each other. He knows our weak points & aims for them. Without God's full armor, we're toast. Why? 1 Pet 5:8 shows that the devil 8prowls like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. If he can't hurt us one way, he'll try another. It's war. 12aOur struggle isn't against flesh & blood. We think it is. But it isn't. For over 4,000 years, the devil & his minions have studied human weakness. We struggle 12bagainst the rulers, authorities, & powers of this dark world. In Mt 4:8-10, Jesus didn't dispute that the devil was ruler of all the kingdoms on earth. We're at war with 12cthe spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Spiritual war takes spiritual armor & weapons. 13aTherefore put on God's full armor. Put it all on. Don't skip any of it. 13bIf we put it all on, when [not if] the day of evil comes, we'll be able to stand our ground. And that day of evil? It's whenever things are at their worst because of the devil's schemes. To stand, we need armor. 13cAfter we've done everything, to stand. Make sure God's armor is on. 14aStand firm then. How do we put on the armor? Start 14b with the belt of truth buckled around our waist. It'll holds breastplate & sword in place. People only wore a belt outdoors, not inside. A belt held tunics out of the way for quick, easy movement. Like a belt, truth holds our armor & weapons in place. Jesus is the Truth. His Spirit of Truth is in us. We need to be truth tellers. Always. Next, put 14cin place the breastplate of righteousness. Truth will hold it secure. 1 Th 5:8 says faith & love are our breastplate. Wrapping faith & love around us will guard our hearts like a breastplate. The proof? Let all we say & do flow from faith & love. The test? Is our life so faithful & loving that no one believes it if others speak ill of us? With belt & breastplate in place, Roman soldiers put on boots. Josephus (War, VI.1.8) says their boots were studded with hobnails. Battlegrounds might be rugged. Slippery with blood. Soldiers needed the sure footing from those boots. To prepare for our battles, 15fit our feet with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. Our spiritual battles are fought on rugged, slippery ground. Victory depends on sure, stable footing. Only the gospel can give us the sure footing we need. How can we fit our feet? Study God's Word. Learn God's promises in Christ. All of them. Learn how to stand on His promises. Do our bare feet stand on slippery, rugged ground? Or do our feet stand on the gospel, ready for the next spiritual attack? Our armor is God's armor. To put it on will take faith. Our faith enables God to equip us with belt, breastplate, & shoes. But faith is something we do. Not something we have. 16aIn addition to all the other armor, take up the shield of faith. Like a shield, faith protects our other armor. Faith is like a soldier's 21/2' x 4' wooden shield. A soldier covered it with linen & leather. Why? So it could be soaked it in water to quench fire-arrows. 16bWith faith as a shield we can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Our faith in the Lord can stop & quench Satan's flaming arrows. Without a shield, other armor may not protect us. One more thing. Shields work well with others. Like roman shields, our faith interlocks with other believers' faith. Like Roman shields, our interlocking faith forms a wall to protect us, others, & our armor. Soldiers now pick up the last 2 parts of their armor. 1st, 17aTake the helmet of salvation... Take & put on salvation like we'd pick up a helmet. How so? Paul clarifies in 1 Th 5:8. Put on "the hope of salvation as a helmet." Focus on the sure hope of future salvation. A helmet guards the head. Just so, hope guards our thought life. When our future is secure, we can stand firm now against the enemy's attacks. Even when things look bleakest. We have to learn, Base our choices on the sure hope of salvation. Not on the way things look. When all our defensive armor is in place, It's time for our only offensive weapon. 17bTake... the sword of the Spirit, God's word. Jesus used Scripture as a sword to answer Satan's 3 temptations in the wilderness. For us, God's rhema is our sword. When we're tempted, God will bring to our minds a word of Scripture. Use it like a sword to counter the temptation. (Like Jesus in His wilderness temptations.) Know what that means? We'll have to hide Scripture in our hearts. Memorize it. Meditate on it. For me, that's a problem. When it comes to memorizing Scripture, aren't we a bit like Little Billy? "It's no use. No matter how hard I try, I forget." A wise friend replied, "Take heart. No matter how much water you pour into a sieve, it won't hold it. But even so, you get a clean sieve." God will use Scripture to cleanse us, even if we can't remember it. Or maybe we identify with Mark Twain. "Most people are bothered by Scriptures they can't understand. The Scriptures that trouble me most are those I do understand." I suspect it's the same for us. Does Scripture cleanse us or trouble us? It's sharper than any sword. Nothing can penetrate our hearts like God's word. Finally, let's talk about how to fight in our war. It's a spiritual war. That means we need to learn to pray. 18aPray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers & requests. We do, for big things. What about little things? I lost my pen. Should we pray about little things? G. Campbell Morgan asks, "Can you think of anything big to God?" If it's all little to God, why not take it all to Him? Always. Pray in the Spirit. Take our part in His prayer. Ro 8:26-27 says He prays in us, for us, & through us. When we pray on our own, we get what we can do. In the Spirit, we get what God can do. We're like Antaeus, a mythical giant born of the earth. To stay alive, he had to touch the earth every 5 minutes. Each time, he got twice as strong. We're born of God's Spirit. Each time we touch our Father we get stronger, too. God hears & answers all our prayers. So, pray. Always. 18bWith this in mind, be alert. Whether we know it or not, we're at war. The enemy will attack us. The more good God plans for or through us, the more powerful & subtle the attacks. Our defense? God's armor! Be alert! Put on God's armor. All of it. (Don't forget: the people the devil uses aren't our real enemy!) Armor up! Use our weapon. Pray. Keep praying. Interlock our prayers with the prayers of others. Build a wall of faith. Above all, build up our brothers & sisters-the church. 18cAlways keep on praying for all the saints. Do we pray for them enough? Here's a test. Look back at all our prayers. Whose lives besides ours have been transformed? Keep praying for others. Never miss a chance to pray for someone. Just ask, "Can we pray about that, now?" Rarely has someone said, "No." Let's pray... Our War & Our Weapons - Ephesians 6:10-18 Page 1 of 1