49-49 The Call To Arms--Part 2

William T Sherman was a Civil War general who led Union forces in several campaigns thru the South (GA and Carolinas). He is considered to be a major architect of modern warfare…one aspect being “total war.” Total war is a strategy that views civilian resources as legitimate military targets. Sherman incorporated this strategy in his famous March to the Seas taking out railroads and supplies that the Confederacy relied upon to wage war.

At some point in his military career he made the comment that “war is hell.” Later in life he said he couldn’t remember when he said it but still agreed with the statement. A month after the Civil war ended, he wrote to a friend “I am sick and tired of fighting.” His military career was not finished. In 1869 when U.S. Grant became president he elevated Sherman to commanding general of the army—a post he held for the next 14 years. He is described as “one of the ablest Union generals in the Civil War.” He was known for his tenacity, as a brilliant strategist. His personal character was questionable. But the legacy he left (tallest sequoia in world named after him), though he despised war, few soldiers have demonstrated a more determined, unshakeable commitment to victory in battle.

There are scores of believers who have yet to recognize how serious the warfare is that we face as the people of God. Too many approach the Xn life with disinterest toward the reality of spiritual war.

Last time we began to study the spiritual battle Xns are engaged in. Sooner or later every believer will figure it out that the Xn life is not easy/playground. We are called to arms and we saw last time how urgent it is that we be alert to the battle and appropriate the strength of Christ in our daily lives. Our need to be prepared cannot be overstated and yet Christ has already given us strength to triumph in battle.

Paul never questioned the difficulty of theXn life. In several places he compares our walk to a race—but also battleground.

2 Timothy 2:3–4 NASB95

Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.

He encourages the believer to “fight the good fight” (1 Tim 1:18; 6:12)

2 Timothy 4:7 NASB95

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;

As a believer your daily living requires great effort (strenuous) b/c it is a struggle. We still live in the flesh (unredeemed humanness), we are still tempted to sin and disobey God/Word. We are foolish to think it is possible to wage war in our strength. That is why Paul calls us to be alert by standing strong in the Lord and the power of His might (limitless/beyond comprehension).

2. Alert to God’s Provision

vs 11

There is increasing urgency here—“Put on” denotes the idea of permanence—once for all. It is very much linked to the idea of “put on the new self” (4:24) Romans 13:14 “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.”

The armor of God is something that you put on and leave on. Its not like a uniform that you wear only while playing a game and take of when its over--but something you leave on permanently—b/c there is never a time when the battle pauses. Satan is relentless in his attacks and so there is urgency to clothe ourselves (put on) the full armor of God and keep wearing it.

Too many people attempt to wage war without the armor of God b/c they either lay the armor aside or have not put it on to begin with. This armor is your lifelong companion for 3 reasons:

A. This is God’s armor

This is the power of God given to you to triumph over the adversary. In a sense this armor is not only provided by Him but is His own—for that reason Believer can only prevail thru protection and power of God Himself. We cannot approach spiritual war with weapons of flesh (2 Cor 10:3-4).

B. This armor is complete

“full armor” panoplian (panoply: complete collection of something)—describing the completeness of the armor itself. This armor is not just defensive but includes offensive weapons as well.

Now, when Paul wrote Ephesians he was chained to a Roman soldier. The imagery he describes in vv14ff describe the armor that a soldier would wear. As he saw the soldier he was inspired by H.S. to see it as an analogy of God’s spiritual provisions for fighting the battle.

C. This armor is effective

It will enable you to stand firm—this word when used in a military sense has the idea of resistance and holding a critical position while under attack. It is very apt description of our Xn duty. Keep in mind the battle is technically won. On the cross, Jesus sealed the fate of Satan & his demons forever. He conquered the power of sin and death over our lives. We are not called to advance as an army—Christ won it all—we are called to stand firm—hold on to the territory Christ conquered.

We cannot surrender to the opposition but must hold our position, resist the foe and we will ultimately prevail against it. This is the efficacy of the armor of God.

3. Alert to the Enemy

The devil is singled out as the primary enemy of God and therefore His children. Satan has an endless list of stratagems to attack God and those who belong to Him—“schemes” or “wiles” Gk methodias (Eng methods).—Only in Eph (Eph 4:14)

This word carries idea: craftiness, cunning, deception (4:14—warned against the trickery of men craftiness of deceitful scheming). It was used outside of the Bible for a wild animal who would stalk its prey and devour it. Satan’s schemes/wiles/methods are purely evil and built around deception. No wonder Gen 3:1 calls the Serpent “more crafty/ cunning than any beast of the field.”

In a world where fewer people are believing in presence and reality of Satan—his activity among men has markedly increased—strange phenomenon. Bible is clear about his presence and reality:

Created the chief angel (anointed cherub, star of the morning, whose beauty was greater than all created jewels) Ezek 28:12-15; Is 14:12-15—highest in beauty and splendor yet he rebelled and lifted himself up against God, attempted to usurp God’s authority and power—God cast him out of heaven (Rev 12:3-4).

1st appearance is in Gen 3—tempting Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit.

Jesus taught about the reality of Satan—even spoke to him (Matt 4).

Paul, Peter, James, John and Hebrews—all speak of Satan as a personal being

In Scripture there may be as many as 40 different names attributed to Satan—annointed cherub (Ezek 28:14), prince of this world (John 12:13), prince of the power of the air (Eph 2:2), god of this age (2 Co 4:4), prince of demons (Mt 12:24), star of the morning (Is 14:12), Satan—Advesary (52x), Devil—diabolos “slanderer” (35x), Serpent (Gen 3:1), Great Dragon (Rev 12:3,7,9), Evil One (Jn 17:15), Destroyer (Rev 9:11), Tempter (Mt 4:3), Accuser (Rev 12:10), Deceiver (Rev 12:9; 20:3), spirit that works in the sons of disobedience (Eph 2:2), and so goes the list.

Satan is an evil, formidable, cunning, powerful, invisible foe against God and mankind. No human should ever think that in his own power he can defeat the devil.

The power of Satan is clearly shown throughout Scripture—despite receiving all the blessings, provisions thru Exodus, protection during the wanderings in wilderness and Canaan—God’s people continually fell for Satan’s seduction, worshipped heathen idols.

Even after all of God’s prophecies of Messiah in OT that were fulfilled by JC & witnessing His teaching and miracles, Satan persuaded Israel to reject her Messiah and even crucify Him. He will once again persuade Israel to embrace the Antichrist as the ultimate savior during the Tribulation.

Having the knowledge of the corruption of Satan’s character and his relentless attacks as he targets mankind will help you in the battle against darkness: I don’t mean to preach about Satan in order to magnify or glorify his being. The purpose is to show you how serious the battle before you is:

A. Satan’s Corrupted Character

We’d have to take a longer look at the causes of Satan’s fall but let me summarize it as Is 14:12-15 details his attitude: 5 “I will...”

Murderer, Liar: John 8:44

Practicing Sinner: 1 John 3:8 “the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil.”

Opposes righteousness so he opposes the righteous: 1 Pt 5:8; Rev 12:10

B. Satan’s Ceaseless Attacks

Satan’s attacks upon humanity/God are extensive and his (as Luther writes A Mighty Fortress Is Our God) “his craft and power are great…and armed with cruel hate”. Satan has strategically opposed God and his program. He attacks the character of God, (love, purity, holiness). He attacks the truth of God’s Word and counterfeits and promotes his own system (denies existence of God & His control; propagates evolution for creation, uniformitarianism for providence, human progress (works righteousness) for divine salvation, hope of man’s utopia in place of God’s kingdom on earth). He spreads the lies of humanism, atheism, agnosticism. In all of these lies, Satan promotes the cults/false religions of the world—for the purpose of keeping people from receiving God’s free gift of salvation.

And he is very active in this. Satan also prevents the unsaved from receiving the word of God implanted in their hearts by snatching it away (Lk 8:12)

2 Corinthians 4:3–4 NASB95

And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

1 Corinthians 1:18 For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God—He makes the gospel sound foolish,

Obviously he doesn’t stop there: In the church Satan promotes false doctrine & false teachers for the purpose of destroying unity among Christ’s body.

Accuses & slanders Xns (Rev 12:10), plants seeds of doubt in our minds so we question God’s word, concern, love for us, control over our lives/circumstances. Satan is also the one who tempts us to disobey God.

Ananias & Sapphira (Acts 5) were tempted to lie to apostles and church. Remember, Satan is the father of lies the god of falsehood—one of his primary fronts in this battle. This is why it is so important for us to instill in our lives and the lives of our children a love and concern for the truth.

Corinthian church struggled with sexual sin (perverted sex with fornication, adultery, homosexuality and other forms) (1 Cor 7:5). Today the front is the minds of boys and men (pornography) just decimating the purity of minds and hearts.

He tempts us to rely on our human strength and wisdom: Matt 16:21-23—Satan knows he can destroy what is purely human, since is does not derive its strength from God. He tempted David to have confidence in numbers of soldiers, Peter to resist the Lord in human wisdom.

He distracts us from the best things and has us focus on our difficulties, cares. He will cause us to be discouraged if we fail to “cast our cares upon the Lord”

In all of this—safe to say that Satan will do everything in his power to cause us to be preoccupied with the things of this world:

1 John 2:15–17 NASB95

Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.

We could spend a great deal of more time on the scheming of the devil but that would not be advantageous for us. He is our primary enemy. His power and activity is wide and varied but it is always directed against God, His program for universe, and people.

There is no question that he is Anti-God in character, opposes everything God is for by contriving his own counterfeit system. He will continue to undermine the authority of God by blinding unbelievers--keeping away from truth.

In all these things: Eph 6:11 makes it clear that Satan does not always attack us with head-on assaults. He employs cunning, deceptive, stratagems to catch believers who are unaware of his multi-varied ploys.

It is these attacks that we must stand against—and hold the ground that has already been conquered by Christ. We cannot allow Satan to take ground that Christ has won but we must stand firm, hold our position.

Now, Paul understood our vulnerability, and though we never losing our salvation—we can come under heavy attack from Satan. Paul writes 1 Cor 9:24-27

We are human, fallen sinners—prone to fail and so we must be all the more diligent to be alert to the battle being strengthened with the Lord’s strength, be alert to the Lord’s provision in this battle and alert to the enemy so as to stand against our adversary—the devil. And we rest assured knowing that God will undertake for us in this cosmic duel.