God Provides the Protection
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Don’t put on the wrong protection
Don’t put on the wrong protection
I often find myself in situations when I need help. The beauty of life is that it is ever changing, involving people who are all on their own journeys in discovering God. For myself, during the times when I am confronted with situations needing help for emergencies, I immediately look around to see what is available for my protection.
The correct protection should cover all possibilities of harm
The correct protection should cover all possibilities of harm
Anxiety in life causes us to look to the wrong forms of protection. In certain circumstances we believe that looking towards our financial 401k or life savings will protect us from emergency situations.
Even in the smaller problems of life we protect ourselves in many different methods.
However, if we do not check those methods against the protection that God offers us, then we are setting ourselves up for failure.
We Should Check Each Other’s Protection
We Should Check Each Other’s Protection
Recently I attended one of the world’s best fire academies in Texas. We had a group of ten people who were going in to fight industrial fires. One of the most important parts of entering the dangerous area of addressing the fires was to don or put on all of our gear.
At all times we were encouraged to inspect each other’s gear to see if it was put on correctly to protect us when we went into those dangerous situations.
We are incapable of looking at every aspect of our protection to see if it is put on correctly.
When entering those dangerous situations we do not want to have something uncovered or it could lead to harm for ourselves.
God Encourages us to Use Him as Our Protection
God Encourages us to Use Him as Our Protection
When entering the spiritual field, we delude ourselves to think that we are capable of fighting supernatural battles with earthly protection.
We save up our finances for financial security.
We carry firearms to protect against unknown enemies who may cause us physical harm.
We end up looking at every person with the understanding the are also capable of causing harm and begin to distrust others.
We may even begin lashing out at them thinking they are the enemy. They may be under the influence of the enemy and Paul’s words in Ephesians give us an understanding as to why that may be.
Ephesians 6:10-18
Ephesians 6:10-18
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.
Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.
Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,
We are Weak but He is Strong
We are Weak but He is Strong
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.
Paul has previously given the people in Ephesus a practical application for husbands, wives, children, and workers leading up to his instruction on what the real fight should be focused on.
He acknowledges before this point that we must have received the grace to become children into the family of God.
What does that mean to be a child of God? Are we to sit back and do nothing?
The context of the battle is important. Where we are incapable of fighting, the Lord goes before us and paves the way. Where He wants us to get involved, it is not without Him as our source of strength, our shield, and our defender.
However, the Lord does want us to follow Him in spreading His message. That message convicts, that message stirs up anger in people who do not want to hear the truth. That message will end up in peace because God is over all and every knee will eventually bow to the Lord’s strength and His might.
Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.
The devil has been around a lot longer than most of us give him credit. He is capable of withstanding earthly onslaught. However, he is incapable of withstanding the protection that God provides for us. Satan may attack us and we may be hit, but we will not fail as long as our protection is that which God provides for us.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Many times we look at each other as the enemy that is dividing families, churches, communities, and the world apart. Paul’s encouragement here is that we witness the supernatural powers at work to thwart the peace that comes with the gospel. Jesus is the true king and all that is opposed to that truth is fighting until judgement day to make God’s children suffer.
Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.
This is why Paul encourages us to take up the supernatural armor. There is a greater fight going on than your financial security, than your disagreements with your family and your neighbor. The armor that Paul is asking you to put on is to withstand the evil nature that lies in each person’s heart to cause them to sin against one another. If we are to take up the armor that Paul encourages us to take up, we gain the supernatural protection available. Only that will provide what we need to survive a supernatural attack.
Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
Jesus is the truth that holds the entire body of armor together. His eternality is what justifies the message. Death was no match for Him and neither is anything else in creation. He is above that. His righteousness is our breastplate that we wear.
We know our hearts are wicked with evil intentions. If we ask the Holy Spirit to check our hearts, we will find that it needs protection spiritually. Therefore, we put on the breastplate of Jesus’ righteousness so that what He suffered for will protect us as we enter the same battlefield.
and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
Why are we entering the battlefield? There are lost souls in the enemy’s camp who do not know they are fighting a supernatural war. They are fighting without knowing why they are fighting. 2 Cor. 4:4 says the devil blinds those without the gospel to the truth. Satan wants to keep them blind so they are not capable of hearing or seeing the truth when it is presented.
Our feet must always be carrying God’s peace with us. When confronted with a difficult situation, we must always be prepared to be peacemakers. Bringing peace means to share the gospel and pray that the hearts and minds of others are prepared to receive that message.
in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
We have experienced the flaming arrows of the enemy. This enemy is the best sharpshooter ever created. Satan knows exactly where he needs to aim to throw off our defenses. This is why Paul implores us to carry our faith as a shield.
Since we know that our faith is weak at times, we must pray and be reminded that God is much more faithful for us than we are for Him. This means that His protection in the shield of faith is stronger also than whatever the enemy throws our way.
We may be tempted by the devil and drop our shield of faith, but remember that God provides a path of retreat as we hold onto that shield of faith.
When we retreat from a situation, it is not admitting defeat. It is admitting that we know that God is where our security lies. We must acknowledge that God is providing the path and instead of rushing headstrong against the enemy on our own will, we rely on God to take charge of the fight.
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Once the battle is over, understand the war is not completed yet. We continue to have our temptations, lives, children, and other forces out there to contend with.
The helmet of salvation reminds us that God’s grace is our final protection. When we fall in battle, we are not removed from the army of God. We are picked back up and reminded through the sword of the Spirit, which is God’s word, that we are His and are incapable of being snatched away by the enemy.
We rely on Jesus as our savior to take vengeance upon the enemy at another place and time. He has already won but we are incapable of knowing the final date. Our faith must lie in His truth.
With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,
Paul knows that there will be weary warriors who feel as if they cannot fight anymore. They have tried their best to fight according to their own will. Only the supernatural powers will defeat the supernatural creation. Therefore, we must rely on the prayer through the Spirit as our guide for wisdom, encouragement, conviction, and peace.
How do you put on Your Armor?
How do you put on Your Armor?
You may be wondering how to put this armor on. If that is the case, then understand it is by admitting your weakness. We are sinners with fleshly bodies under the curse of Adam. We are no match for Satan and his thousands of years of battles won against man who tries to fight him alone.
Paul’s words to the Ephesians is that they must understand this armor is a gift from God. It is by His Grace you are able to receive it.
God says He knows we are weak. He knew we were weak and sent His son, Jesus, in our place because we are weak. We cannot on our own overcome sin.
Checking Your Armor
Checking Your Armor
Once you have accepted that you need Jesus, ask Him to protect you. Admit you are weak and sinful but know that God’s grace is now your protection. Jesus has overcome all things and is now ruler.
He has given charge to His church to share the message and be a place where people learn about Him. It is also a place where we check each other’s armor.
Many of us are sometimes walking around with holes in our armor or feet shod with the gospel of war instead of peace. We fight amongst each other instead of having conversations striving for peace.
Rebuking one another in love must be done. Paul earlier has said that “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.”
In order for us to go forth as a unified body, we must understand forgiveness and grace among ourselves as well.
This is how the church moves forward in checking our armor. The devil would like nothing less than to see us ripping our own armor from each other. Then our shield of faith is let down and he is able to wound us.
Let us pray in the Spirit that we each check for one another in love, build up in love, and pray that each of us learn how to edify one another in love.