The Believer's Battle Part 3
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Memorial Day
On the 5th of May in 1868, General John Logan had a part in the beginnings of this day.
He said, “The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land.” Because the day wasn't the anniversary of any particular battle, the General called it, Decoration Day.
On the first Decoration Day, 5,000 participants decorated the graves of 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried at Arlington Cemetery while General James Garfield made a historic speech.
In 1971 Congress made it a federal holiday, a day to remember, the last Monday of the month of May.
And here we are on that weekend when many will be camping and cooking out, vacationing, spending time with families, many will be at parades and visiting cemeteries here and there.
All because of a principle most all of humanity holds true.
To give your life, selflessly…for the sake of others, is to be honored.
To lay your life down is considered something significant.
Selflessness as opposed to Selfishness
And in humanity, we sometimes find that true selflessness is rare.
Jesus said that, and John records this in chapter 15 of his Gospel account, that there is no greater love than to lay your life down for a friend. Jesus laid His down for us.
Whether it be living for others rather than yourself or dying for others…both are considered honorable. Memorable. It is wise to remember those who have fought and died for us and our nation not only because of what they did…but it reminds us of what we’re called to do, especially as followers of Christ.
We’re to lay our lives aside, both to allow Jesus to give us new life in Him and to allow God’s spirit to fully work in us…reflecting Jesus to all of those around us.
All of this has to do with the concept of life.
How precious life is. That something is wrong when a life is taken. That there is such a thing as grief. That there is a real feeling of loss…and this isn’t loss…like you lost your keys or your wallet. This is something much much deeper. It feels sacred.
The taking of a life…is the taking of something sacred.
The laying down of your own life, whether for yourself (laying your life down before Jesus) or for someone else…is a very sacred act. So today we take time to honor those who given all while serving both this nation and their fellow citizens.
Its been a hard week to watch the news hasn’t it? In the news this week I heard this one word from many people. Evil. I heard this from those that I know do not believe in God and from those who believe as well. From atheists and Christians alike I heard people proclaim that there is evil in this world.
No one was saying...”Aww, that’s too bad that that happened.” This was much bigger.
Yes, there is all the political talk and to be honest with you, I’m trying to ignore all of that. And there’s a reason. Move all of the politics aside, no matter what happens with laws or regulation, and you still have a problem with humanity and this world.
Evil exists within the human condition. Culture seems to be moving away from God. Sin is real. Brokenness is real. Something needs to be done…something needs to change. We’ve been hearing that phrase all week too. And some seem to be narrowing things down…down to ...”this world is broken and something need to happen.”
I believe we have that answer in Jesus.
What do we have in Jesus? We have someone who was willing to lay their life down for the sake of all of us..for our real lives. We also have someone who made the claim that true life was found only in Him.
He died so we could have life. Full life. The life that we’re all searching for…that the world is searching for.
An abundant life here and into eternity. Present Peace and eternal Peace.
Armor Review - The last two weeks we’ve been discussing the background of what we’re all experiencing, reading about, responding to, reacting to. There’s a lot of tough stuff going on in the world right now isn’t there? But Paul lays it out. He goes to the main point…where all of this starts.
Our battle is not against flesh and blood.
The lives that we’re living right now are being lived in the context of a spiritual battle. In all of our lives and in the lives of others around us, there are conflicts and troubles and difficulties…but they’re not the point of our battle…what Paul is saying…they are, we are all, being influenced by evil.
Jesus narrowed things down in this verse that John recorded for us
John 10:10 (CSB)
10 A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.
That verse fits this past week doesn’t it?
Two things happening from the King’s perspective. And lets just all agree on this…the King is Jesus and He is the author of reality. Right?
The thief is taking life. Jesus is restoring it, recreating it. Because He loves us.
In reality, we’ve experienced this idea of stolen life. Sometimes we’re on the receiving end of brokenness. And sometimes we contribute to brokenness don’t we. Sometimes evil happens to us, sometimes we allow evil to happen through us.
Jesus made a way out of this vicious cycle of sin and brokenness that we’re in.
And Paul says…this is where the battle is.
This Battle is not against flesh and blood. This battle is the battle of all battles. It is the battle for your life…your heart. And we have someone who laid their life down in this battle…to win your heart.
Paul says that in this battle, we need armor...This armor isn’t ours…from us. Not made by us. It is God’s…given to us.
On Memorial Day…decoration day…we honor those who gave their all for their country.
I believe Paul, when He talks about the armor, he is giving us a picture of someone, who when they take up the armor of God, lays everything in their life down for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven.
And in return, we receive life more abundant than we could ever imagine. Peace between us and God. Peace between ourselves and others. Peace between us and all of creation. And there’s the paradox much of the world doesn’t understand…that to really live and really love means giving up yourself for others. God’s armor helps us do this.
So last week, truth - His truth (as a belt)
His righteousness (as a chest plate)
and the Good News, ready to be shared.
Today
14 Stand therefore, girding your waist with truth, and putting on the breastplate of righteousness,
15 and binding shoes under your feet with the preparation of the good news of peace,
16 in everything taking up the shield of faith, with which you are able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one,
17 and receive the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,
Faith, salvation, God’s word.
Faith - A shield. Faith is…wow there are so many passages that describe faith. Many of them are from the mouth of Jesus himself. But here I think we can narrow it down based on what Paul states the shield is for. For destroying the arrows of satan.
1 Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.
Meaning you live and act as though God is real (reality) meaning that you’ve given your life to Him.
Now…Satan is going to do all He can to have you question, walk away from, doubt, give up on God. He’s going to allow and possibly even structure things to happen in your life that will test your faith (this is why Paul says your battle is not against other people…It is against satan!)
Let’s look at it this way…faith - faith is sometimes saying…this I understand to be true and so I stand on truth. Satan would be saying, “here are reasons to distrust or not hope in God.”
I believe this is where much of the world is today. It might make sense that there’s possibly someone “up there” in the sky…a creator or designer…but there are a bunch of questions and misunderstandings that keep people away. Satan sometimes has a hand in that.
Paul says, Keep Faith strong…to extinguish the arrows. How? Study, listen, learn, read, pray…ask God the big questions you have…and then watch for answers. Pay attention to your daily walk. Filter your speech and actions through your faith.
Will this take work on our part? Your part and mine? Yes.... But will it be rewarding work? Absolutely!
Helmet of Salvation - I had us read from the Lexham English Bible…it is a newer translation and it tries to get very close to the original Hebrew and Greek..it isn’t often the easiest to read because of structure of sentences etc. But here, in this verse it gives a very cool picture.
Most translation use the phrase “take the helmet of salvation.” As though you’re picking it up. The Lexham gives the bigger nuance here…receive it. Even closer would be to welcome it. But in both instances, it is the idea that you are being handed Salvation from someone else and you are receiving it (welcoming it).
8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—
Idea here…salvation is something that you have been given. It isn’t something you have earned. It’s not something that you fought for. Christ laid down His life so you can have it (great picture of memorial day right). And because of what He did, you can receive it from Him. It something to hold on to.
Satan, the one we’re really battling with would say that we don’t have it. We didn’t earn it. We’re not good enough to keep it. He might even twist truth a little and have us be proud about it rather than humble..thinking we deserve it or that we are good enough. Pride comes before a fall.
In your mind, know that you have been saved by Christ’s death…Satan can’t take you from that position in Christ. He can’t take your salvation away. It is yours…you’ve received it from Jesus himself. You’ve been given life. True life. Abundant life....saved from death. Saved from separation from God. This should create in us a grateful attitude that colors everything we do.
God’s word - This one is interesting because of how Paul describes it. It isn’t, take your sword. Its, take up the sword of God’s spirit. We, again, are using something given to us.
4 He answered, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
His Word…and His word is like a sword that the Spirit of God uses. From God’s word comes life. Remember, our real enemy wants to steal life. Steal peace in life.
Paul is encouraging us to know God’s word…to use it…to remember it…to allow it to guide and mold us. To know and rest in God’s promises.
As a believer it is meant for us to use for others, for ourselves, and against Satan.
And for certain, God’s Word might come through scripture, but it might also come through God putting words in our mouth for someone else. For that to happen we have to laty down our life for that to happen. Our mouth…God’s spirit speaking through us.
God’s Armor.
Truth
Righteousness
The Good News that is to be shared through us
Faith
Our Salvation given by Jesus
And God’s Word
All of these things are outside of us. To live well, to bring honor and glory to God and His kingdom, we need to lay our stuff down. We need to, die to ourselves.
Now here’s where it gets difficult…and we mentioned some of this last week. We make the decision everyday to put these things on…the armor. Live as Jesus… Paul said that we die to our old selves so we can live as Christ.
In a very real way, we lay our lives down. Selflessly…for our sake and for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven.
In his book, Fuzzy Memories, Jack Handey writes, "There used to be this bully who would demand my lunch money every day. Since I was smaller, I would give it to him.
"Then I decided to fight back. I started taking karate lessons, but the instructor wanted $5 a lesson. That was a lot of money. I found that it was cheaper to pay the bully, so I gave up karate."
Satan would have us believe that giving into Him in this battle… would be easier…maybe more enjoyable. And sometimes it is…short term. But consider the loss. The loss of Peace. The loss of peace that only comes when we lay our lives down before the cross…giving them to Jesus. Allowing Him to take our heart and recreate it to be what He intends it to be…for our sake and others.
Have you considered giving your life to Christ?
Prayer - Ephesians 6:18
18 Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints.
Thankful for those who have died for us, for our nation, for our communities and neighborhoods.
We pray for ourselves because we know in this battle we need your strength and resources. We can’t do this. It has to be through your son.
Help us to live gratefully, knowing that everything we have comes through Him.
Help us, at all times, to be ready to live and speak and share Christ with others…no taking peace from others but bringing present and eternal peace to others through the good news.
Help us a church family to pray for each other so we can wear this armor well. Help us to lay our lives down before you as you’ve asked us to…so you can recreate us and give us a life full of joy and peace like you originally intended.
Help us shine your light.
In Christ’s name we pray, Amen