Battle Gear pt1
Battle Gear-pt1
Eph 6:10
In his letter to the Ephesians’, Paul describes a battle that takes place all the time.
It is a spiritual battle against what Paul describes as “..the principalities, the powers and world rulers of this present darkness, the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places”.
This battle takes places constantly, minute after minute, hour after hour, day after day and year after year.
And we are on the front line of this battle.
We are the soldiers that are fighting in this war.
We will be looking at this spiritual war that takes place and what it means to us as soldiers in this war.
The first things to look at are the soldiers in this war.
On one side we have Satan and his legions of demons.
They are armed to the teeth with the weapons of this spiritual warfare.
They are prepared to destroy everything in their path.
And on the other side we have those who are being attacked by this demonic army, ourselves.
Now we like to see ourselves like Arnold, brandishing 2 sub-machine guns, blazing away, killing everything in sight and promising that “I’ll be back”.
Or perhaps we see ourselves as more of the Steven Segal type.
Ruthless, trained in every form of combat able to construct bombs from cooking oil, baking soda and a microwave.
Or maybe we are more like the Duke. Good old John Wayne rallying the troops.
That’s how we like to see ourselves, but let’s take a look at how the Bible describes us.
Psalm 100 verse 3 says “…we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.”
Psalm 44 verse 11 and 22 says we are like sheep for slaughter.
Mark 6:34 says Jesus had compassion on the crowd because they were like sheep without a shepherd.
And in Luke 10:3 Jesus says “I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves”.
Sheep Lambs.
That’s what the Bible says we are. Now being described as a sheep or lamb isn’t exactly the greatest thing in the world.
Sheep are dumb. They are perhaps one of the dumbest animals on the earth.
They wander off, get into trouble, can fall into rivers and streams and drown and they are completely defenseless.
Throw a wolf, or other predatory animal into a bunch of sheep and it’s basically a smorgasbord for that animal.
Not exactly how we want to see ourselves in this spiritual battle.
We want to see ourselves as strong, able to fight off any enemy, able to defend ourselves against any foe.
But we aren’t like that at all in this battle of the unseen world.
We are sheep.
And as sheep we are totally defenseless.
When Satan and his demons attack, we have nothing to protect us.
See we are sheep, lambs.
And in 1 Peter 5:8 Satan is described as “…a hungry, roaring lion who prowls around looking for someone to devour.
Sheep and lions don’t mix.
So how are we going to fight this battle?
How are we possible going to defend ourselves against the attacks that Satan launches at us?
Paul gives us the answers in this passage of scripture.
Paul says “….be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.
Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
The Living Bible says, “Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand safe against all strategies and tricks of Satan”.
Open up your Bibles and look at this with me.
Read along with me and underline this.
Verses 10 and 11 says be strong; be strong how?
In ourselves, in others, in our power?
NO it says; “Be strong in the Lord “.
And verse 11 says “Put on the whole armor of……..” help me out here…..God.
Not our armor. Not the armor of the world, but the armor of God.
See, we have nothing to defend ourselves against Satan and his demons.
We are defenseless sheep.
The other thing I want you to read and underline are the words “Put On” in verse 11.
We have to literally “Put On” God’s armor.
Clothes or armor that is left hanging up in the closet or locker isn’t going to do anyone any good.
When you get up in the morning, do your clothes jump out of your dresser or closet and onto your body?
No! You have to put them on!
You’d look pretty silly walking around naked and telling everyone.
“Well I waited and waited, but my clothes never got up and slipped themselves on me.”
We have to PUT ON the armor of God for our spiritual bodies everyday, just like we have to put on our clothes for our physical body everyday.
When we put on God, put on Christ, put on the Holy Spirit, we are still sheep, but now we’re sheep with attitude, now we’re sheep who have the Lion of Judah with us, who has Christ’s strength, Christ’s weapons, Christ’s armor.
Turn to Romans 8 verse 36. Here Paul says “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep”
Here again, we are being called sheep, being slaughtered every day.
But look at the next verse. Verse 37 says “despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ.
” We cannot fight this battle by ourselves, to do so would mean spiritual suicide.
Satan would chop us to pieces with his lies, temptations and tricks.
This is an invisible battle folks. Verse 12 of our scripture in the Living Bible reads this way “For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against persons without bodies—the evil rulers of the unseen world, those mighty satanic beings and great evil princes of darkness who rule this world; and against huge numbers of wicked spirits in the spirit world.
” It’s hard enough to fight the things we can see, let alone try and fight what we can’t see.
Do you want and idea of what we’re up against in our spiritual battle?
The soldiers that were fighting against?
Just take a look at this verse that was just read.
This is how Paul describes our enemy.
They’re not made of flesh and blood; they are without bodies; they are the evil rulers of the unseen world.
Take note of that word ‘rulers’.
They are in charge, they rule, they call the shots.
They are the evil princes of darkness.
They are mighty satanic beings.
They are wicked spirits, and there are huge numbers of them.
Not a pleasant picture is it? That’s a scary scene; it’s enough to make the bravest of our superheroes shake in their boots, let alone small, frail, defenseless sheep.
This is what we’re up against folks. This is what we have to battle against everyday. And on top of what these armies have, they are smart, clever, cunning, tricky.
See what they do is lie to us and make it look like the truth.
They look at where we are weak, they look at where they can attack without it even seeming like it’s an attack.
They lure us in to their traps, working on our emotions, desires, and thoughts.
Attacking us when we least expect it, when we’re down, depressed, or sometimes even when we think we are strong.
At times people who are mature in their faith come under attack because they forget that they’re sheep and rely on their own armor to protect them.
I want everyone to repeat after me.
I am a sheep, I have wool for armor.
Our strength must come from the Lord’s mighty power within us.
It is only by using God’s strength, God’s power, and God’s armor that we can stand against the attacks of our enemy.
When Paul wrote this letter he was in a unique situation.
He was under arrest and chained or handcuffed to a Roman soldier.
He says in verse 20 “…for which I am an ambassador in chains”.
This gave him a great opportunity to view up close one of the greatest trained and armed fighters in the world at that time.
Paul was able to see up close and personal the battle gear which a Roman soldier possessed.
He then applied it in a “spiritual” sense, with armor and weaponry that we must have to defend ourselves against the devil.
We must put on this armor or battle gear and know how to use it in order to defeat the attacks of our enemy, otherwise we are in danger and will go down in defeat. With this armor though, we can emerge victorious.
Battle Gear Pt 2
I am a sheep, I have wool for armor”. We need God’s armor, God’s strength, God’s might to fight this spiritual battle, to fight off the attacks of Satan.
We continue to look at our scripture from Ephesians 6:10-20 concentrating today on verses 13-15. So lets open our bibles and take a look at the 1st 3 pieces of armor that Paul tells us we need to put on. I want you to look at and circle these 3 words in our scripture.
Truth, in verse 14, righteousness also in verse 14, and peace in verse 15.
These are the 1st 3 pieces of armor.
The belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness and the boots of peace.
To help you remember, just think of the 3 B’s, belt, breastplate and boots.
Truth is the first piece of armor, Paul compares it to a soldiers belt.
Now many of us wear a belt to keep our pants up, although as time goes by, my pants seem to be shrinking around the waist and I don’t seem to need one as much as I used to.
Nowadays belts are decorative as well as functional.
But in the days of the Roman soldier, the belt was a part of his armor.
The belt, which was often made of mail or leather, was wrapped around the soldiers waist and kept his toga or cloak from flying all around during battle.
The Roman soldiers’ belt held everything in close, keeping him in fighting readiness. It was also where he would keep his sword and other weapons ready for battle.
The belt tied everything together. In our spiritual battle gear, truth, our belt, wraps itself around the believer.
It is truth which ties together the believer’s armor. In
our warfare against Satan and his demons, our enemy uses deception and deceit as one of their weapons. It is our belt of truth that illuminates our way and enables us to be ready to fight.
Truth speaks of an authentic lifestyle.
This lifestyle means telling, living and representing truth.
There are many people today who live a double lifestyle, saying one thing and doing another.
Living a truthful life today is getting harder and harder.
More and more we see people whose conduct reveals their dishonesty.
Wearing the belt of truth means that we live honestly, in integrity, and without hypocrisy.
It means applying truth to how we live our lives.
There is also the truth in the words we use.
We, as a society, have twisted our words so that they are no longer meaningful.
I heard someone describe taxes as “revenue assessment enhancements”.
Truth says that they’re taxes.
Morale perversion is now called “gay” or alternate lifestyle.
Don’t dare say homosexual or sodomizer, say “gay”.
Destruction of unborn life, created by God is “freedom of choice”.
There was an article in the Daily
News in the Dear Prudie section, the one that has replaced Ann Landers, where a woman wrote in
because there was no word to describe the relationship the she and the man that she had been living with for over 2 years. She says (read article).
This is ridiculous!
There is a word for this type of relationship.
God calls it sinful.
This is the truth.
But Satan has worked at us so much that all our words now have to be politically correct so as not to offend anyone.
When we have the belt of truth girding us, it keeps us living in truth, it reveals the truth, it teaches us truth so that when Satan tries to attack us with lies, his little rewording of information, we have our whole lives tied together with the truth of God. Walking in truth, Knowing what is right and what is wrong.
The second piece of our armor is the breastplate of righteousness.
On the Roman soldier, the breastplate covered his vital organs. The heart, lungs, kidneys stomach, and other organs were covered by this important piece of
armor.
Paul is using this symbol to tell us that it is righteousness that protects us in those vital areas of our relationship with God so that the life of Christ within us is not removed.
Righteousness comes from God.
It is not something that we have. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
It is through Christ that we are made righteous, not guilty, innocent of our sins.
That righteousness which is through Christ means that we are able to turn away from sin and experience fellowship with God.
We have been set free from our former manner of life.
Without this breastplate of righteousness, we will be susceptible to every temptation from Satan.
The Bible tells us that we have been set free from the slavery of sin and death through Jesus Christ.
The challenge is to live like who we really are.
Romans 6: 1-2 and 11-13 says “Well then, shall we keep on sinning so that God can keep on showing us more and more kindness and forgiveness?
Of course not!
Should we keep on sinning when we don’t have to?…..
So look upon your old sin nature as dead and unresponsive to sin, and instead be alive to God, alert to him though Jesus Christ our Lord.
Do not let sin control your puny body any longer; do not give in to its sinful desires.
Do not let any part of your bodies become tools of wickedness, to be used for sinning; but give yourselves completely to God–every part of you–for you are back from death and you want to be tools in the hands of God, to be used for his good purposes”. When Satan attacks our heart, he does it in little insignificant ways, getting us to sin in small, seemingly insignificant ways, until the poison of his attacks destroy and kill our heart for the Lord. When we put on the breastplate of righteousness, we guard our heart against these attacks, we live depending on the goodness and mercy of Christ, and walk in His holiness every day.
The 3rd piece of armor are the shoes or boots of peace. It has been said that the Roman soldiers boots were the secret of the Roman conquest. The boot that a Roman soldier wore was an open toed, spiked shoe which laced up past his ankles. It could be compared to the shoes that football players wear. Any football fan knows the need for a player to have shoes that can grip the different types of turf that they play on. Without the proper shoes, a football player will slip and slide and be unable to evade or fight off a would be tackler. It was very similar to a Roman soldiers need for firm footing. A soldier must traverse different terrain, climb rocks and trees, walk over sharp jagged stones, wade through ponds and swamps, and have sure footing during combat. Most battles were hand-to-hand and a soldier could not afford to be pushed backwards or slip. The soldiers boots helped a soldier stand his ground and advance on his enemy.
We must put on the boots of peace. When we battle against the attacks of Satan, we must have the gospel of peace to stand firm. There are 2 qualities fighting against God, turning our will against His. Paul tells us in Romans 5:1 “Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”. Because of the good news in Jesus, we now experience peace and harmony with God. We no longer struggle against Him or his will for our lives. The 2nd quality is the peace of God. Philippians 4:7 says “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” This is a peace in knowing that no matter what we go through in life, we have the peace of God within us. The peace of God, means that we can experience His peace even in the most difficult circumstances. It is the peace of God that is within us that causes us to have that calm, self assurance no matter what the situation.
We’ve all heard or even told someone to “get a gripe” when life’s problems cause them to fall apart. But how can someone “get a grip”, if they nothing to grip onto? Knowing Jesus gives us something to hold on to, to have something to grab when problems arise. Putting on the boots of peace enables us to stand firm, It gives us traction in our life. It’s a way to plant our feet against Satan’s attacks and climb and walk on uncertain ground. When we wear the boots of peace, we can face any attack Satan may throw at us and be able to stand firm and have a peace about everything, knowing that we have the strength and
power of Jesus within us.
These are the first 3 pieces of the armor of God that we must put on. We must wrap ourselves in the truth that is in Christ Jesus, we must protect our heart with the righteousness of Christ, and we must put on the peace of God to
stand firm in all of life’s situations. Satan is going to attack us. That is not in question, it’s a guarantee. And we’re nothing but defenseless sheep. It is only by putting on God’s armor that we can defend and defeat these attacks.
Battle Gear pt 3
At the beginning of world war II, France believed that they were safe
against Germany behind the Maginot line. The Maginot line was a defensive line
built in the 1930’s. It stretched for over 200 miles on the NE border of France. It
was state-of-the-art, built of thick concrete with heavy guns, living quarters, store
houses and underground rail lines. It was designed to hold off any German
attack. The Germans however defeated this fortified defense by simply going
around it through the Ardennes forest, which the French considered
impenetrable. By using superior aircraft and armored tank divisions, something
the French were not prepared for, the German army overcame this defensive
line simply by avoiding it. In the end, the maginot line was useless and France
surrendered to the enemy.
France fell in defeat because they underestimated their enemy and relied
on the wrong weapons. They did not anticipate the attack their enemy used.
They thought they were protected. We too are in a war, a war against Satan
and his legions of demons. We must also be careful to not make these same
mistakes. In order to defeat the attacks of our enemy, we must be armed with the
right weapons and armor. We must not underestimate our enemy’s intelligence
and cleverness. And, we must not rely on our own weapons and armor., the Bible tells us we are only sheep in this war and have no armor of our own. We must rely on the armor and the strength of God in order to defeat the attacks of our enemy, Satan.
The remaining pieces of our armor.
The shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit. and a
secret weapon we have in this battle.
The first 3 pieces of our armor are things that must be put on and worn all
the time, by the Roman soldier, as well as us, they are never taken off. The next
3 however, were only taken up when the actual fighting was about to begin.
Now remember, Paul is writing this as he is actually chained to a Roman
soldier, one of the best fighting soldiers in the world at that time, and he is
comparing the weapons and armor of this mighty warrior to the spiritual weapons
and armor that we must have in our battle. The 4th piece of armor Paul
describes is the shield of faith. Now a Roman soldier had 2 different types of
shields that he would use. The 1st was a smaller shield, about 2 feet in diameter
which was strapped to the arm and was used in close combat. The shield Paul is
referring to, however, was a much larger shield, about 2-1/2 feet wide and 4-1/2
tall. It was made of wood and covered with leather or metal. What happened
during times of combat was that the enemy forces would launch a barrage of
arrows toward their enemies soldiers. Often these arrows were wrapped in
pieces of cloth and soaked in pitch. The tips would then be set on fire and the
arrows would then be shot at the enemy. These flaming missiles could inflict
serious damage on unprotected troops. The Roman soldier would stand behind
these large shields to protect themselves from these flaming arrows. The shields
were designed so that the arrows when striking the shields would be put out by
the leather covering on the shield which was often soaked with water.
Our shield is the shield of faith. When Satan launches his flaming arrows
or darts at us we have our shield of faith to protect us. And what are these
flaming darts? Well, how about doubts, discouragement, depression, fear,
feelings of hopelessness, guilt, shame, greed, lust, pride, stubbornness, not
trusting and the list goes on. The shield of faith is a shield of trust. We are told to
walk by faith, putting our trust in the Lord. Believing in God to take care of our
every need. Having faith that no matter what happens to us, God will be there to
help us through. By using the shield of faith, we are able to extinguish all the
flaming arrows of Satan. When we are attacked with doubts, worry,
discouragement, temptations, guilt and shame. When Satan fires his flaming
arrows at our church, our families, our jobs. and all the other arrows launched at
us, we are able to stand behind our faith and trust in God believing in God and
his ability to protect us and having confidence in his word. Psalm 91 says “We
live within the shadow of the Almighty, sheltered by the God who is above all
gods. This I declare, that he alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my
God, and I am trusting him. For he rescues you from every trap, and protects
you from the fatal plague. He will shield you with his wings! They will shelter
you. His faithful promises are your armor”.
Our 5th piece of armor is the helmet of salvation. The helmet of a soldier
protected his head. Even today, the helmet is a vital part of a soldier’s armor. No
soldier in his right mind would go into battle without his helmet. The helmet
gives the soldier a certain amount of confidence. The helmet of salvation gives
us confidence in Christ. We have been saved by what Christ did for us on the
cross. No one can take that away. The helmet of salvation protects our minds
from the attacks of our enemy. Satan seeks to strike us with discouragement
and doubt. He loves to point out our failures and faults and anything else that
seems negative. He wants us to doubt our salvation, to doubt God’s goodness,
to doubt God’s word, to be just generally depressed. Satan will try by every
means at his disposal to discourage and defeat us. But it will be the helmet of
salvation which will give us our assurance in Christ. Jesus died on the Cross in
order to give us this helmet of salvation. When he died on that cross, He made
the greatest statement about His love for us and about His desire to save us that
could ever be made. If you want assurance, look to the cross. Jesus died there
for you. Salvation is not only the forgiveness of past sins, it is the strength to
overcome, even conquer, present and future sins. The helmet of salvation gives
us confidence in our eternal security. God loves us so much that he did not even
spare his own son for us, but gave him for you. And if God is for us…..who can
be against us?
Now so far, all the pieces of armor that we have talked about have been
defensive in nature. A protection against the attacks that we face. But we also
have an offensive weapon in our armor, what Paul calls the sword of the spirit or
the word of God. The sword that the Roman soldier used was a short 18” sword
that was razor sharp on both sides. It was used both offensively and defensively
and it was deadly. Our sword is the word of God. The Greek translation that is
used here for word is hray-may, and it means to utter, to pronounce or speak. It
means the actual saying or speaking the word of God. Hebrews 4:12 says “For
the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double edged sword, it
penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the
thoughts and attitudes of the heart”. Jesus used this spiritual weapon when he
was tempted by Satan in the desert. Each time Satan attempted to deliver a
blow, Jesus blocked the attack with the word of God, quoting scripture. In every
encounter He went on the offensive speaking the word of God. When Satan
comes at you again and again and again, follow Jesus’s example. In Matthew
4:10 and 11 Jesus said “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the
Lord your God, and serve him only’”. Then the devil left him. “
Using a sword is something that takes time and practice. A soldier must
practice using his sword, practice the defensive and offensive moves to defeat
his enemy. In order to use our sword, we must also practice and use it. That
means being in the word every day. Memorizing God’s word. Knowing and
understanding the Bible. By becoming familiar with the Word of God, you are
storing away spiritual weapons for the Spirit to use. He will bring to your mind
those passages which apply to the situation you are facing. Your mind will be
trained to think like God thinks. You will be able to pierce through the lies and
deceptions of the enemy. Jesus knew the word of God and was able to defend
and attack the devil, using the scriptures to attack and drive His enemy away.
When we come under attack, we must use our armor to defend ourselves
and know and use the spoken word of God to counter-attack and drive our
enemy away. The word of God is a powerful weapon in our unseen battle.
The other weapon we have in our war, our secret weapon in our battle is
praying in the Spirit. In the NIV Bible Paul says: “Pray in the Spirit on all
occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind. be alert and
always keep on praying for all the saints”. Paul tells us to pray, pray, and pray,
and then pray some more. It is said that all of hell trembles when we pray. I
could go into a another whole message about this, but we’ll save that for another
time.
We are in a battle, a war. When we accept Christ, we become the front
line soldiers in the unseen battle of the spirit world. The only problem is, is that
we are sheep. So God gives us the armor and weapons we need to fight this
war. He gives us the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the boots of
peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit and
the power of prayer. It is up to us to put that armor on. With this armor we can
defend and defeat any attack Satan may throw at us. Without it, we are
defenseless against His tricks, temptations, deceit, discouragement, and lies.
And we will fall victim to his attacks.
We have the power of the living God available to us. Jesus has already
won the war, the victory is ours! Put on the armor of God. Put on the strength
and power of Jesus Christ. And we will have victory in our battle.