Preparing for Battle
Ephesians 6:10-20
Spiritual Warfare 101
Every child of God eventually discovers that the Christian life is a battleground, NOT a playground! There are many exciting things about the Christian life, but we’re in the midst of a great spiritual battle.
POSTSCRIPT: SPIRITUAL WARFARE 6:10-20
An alert is added to the end of the letter.
We are in a spiritual battle.
"Oh, by the way! We’re in a spiritual battle . . ." Therefore, be ready.
We are in a battle zone! not long ago people thought the ancient world with its atrocities was worse than it is today. People actually thought our world was getting better. Some thought it would get better and better until Christ comes!
Not many think that way any more. Ask our kids! We live in a war zone! In school they learn about the ominous power of a split atom. On television we are reminded daily of the masses demonstrating violently in the streets, and the rockets blasts in Kosovo, and in Kuwait. Even our own schools have become a war zone.
But there’s a more perilous war zone that every one of us faces every day —it’s a spiritual war zone! And our very souls are at risk!
Paul’s words about a spiritual battle raging around us no longer sound strange to our ears.
We tremble in the presence of evil in a chaotic world gone mad and bent on its own destruction.
The battle doesn’t just rage in the world out there—it battles within us—we fight anger and jealousy, the temptation to cheat to get ahead, the desire for more things, sexual temptations. The battle is raging on the inside!
No wonder someone observed: A father is usually more pleased to have his child LOOK like him than ACT like him.
It’s important that we as parents—fathers in particular—prepare our kids for battle in that war zone.
Are WE teaching OUR kids how to “suit up” with God’s armor?
This addendum is important to keep in mind, to experience victory.
We have to know we are in a battle.
We have to know what kind of battle it is
—and what the enemy looks like!
The intelligence corps is a vital part of any battle. It enables those fighting the war to understand the enemy. Unless we know who he is, where he is, and what he can do, we will have a difficult time defeating him.
Officers in a Costa Rican coffee shop. Eating a meal, enjoying a drink. Suddenly the men at the next table stood up, pulled guns and killed the officers. They didn’t know their enemy. The enemy destroyed them.
We need to know who our enemy is and what his weapons are!
J. Vernon McGee: “I do not think the devil is concentrating on the nightclubs, or skid row, nor on the underworld, or the Mafia. I think he is concentrating on the church on Sunday morning. He is working on the spiritual front, and too many sleepy Christians seem to be totally unaware of that. Too many Christians are concerned about closing up cocktail parlors, when they need to be closing their mouths from gossiping and criticizing. The devil is working where we least expect to find him. He is not out on the town on Saturday night. He has gone to bed early so he can get up and go to church on Sunday morning. The spiritual battle is being fought wherever a man is giving out the Word of God, where a church is standing for the Word of God. That is the place the devil wants to destroy and that is the place of the spiritual battle.
C. S. Lewis, Screwtape Letters: Satan has two main strategies for defeating God’s people: (1) to get us to underestimate his importance—NOT to take him into account—to think he doesn’t really exist; (2) to get us to overestimate his importance—to focus on him with great fear—to see him hiding in every corner and behind every lamp post. If he can lure us into either of these extremes, he wins!
[We need to know who our enemy is, and be ready for battle! 3 COMMANDS: Begins with]
ONE PASSIVE COMMAND:
1. BE STRENGTHENED CONTINUOUSLY
by the Lord and by the power of His might." 10
TWO ACTIVE COMMANDS:
Intertwined/repeated together, because they go together
2. PUT ON GOD'S ARMOR
3. STAND FIRM
We must be prepared—put on armor God gave us so we may stand firm.
PREPARATION FOR THE BATTLE 10-13
“BE PREPARED!” (B.S.A. motto)
The enemy is not a physical enemy.
Therefore, our weapons are not physical; they are spiritual.
THE SOURCE OF OUR STRENGTH: THE LORD 10 “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.”
Our strength is "in the Lord" HE is the source of our strength
We will never overcome the devil in our own strength and our own power! We need His strength!
We are to be continuously fortified by Him.
THE WEAPONS FOR THE BATTLE:
THE FULL ARMOR WHICH GOD PROVIDES 11
"Put on (once for all) the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the devil's strategies”
We are to wear full armor
It is to be put on once for all
Our warfare is continual (unceasing).
The armor God provides includes everything we need!
THE PURPOSE OF OUR WEAPONS: (11)
TO STAND FIRM AGAINST SATAN'S ATTACKS
"Put on (once for all) the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the devil's strategies”
We need the armor to stand against Satan's attacks.
His strategies are effective.
Old Spanish proverb: “The devil knows more by being old, than by being devil!”
He’s been at this a long time. He’s been honing his methods for millennia!
He knows how to get us to fall into his traps.
He’s expert at sowing doctrinal confusion—even among God’s people—telling us it doesn’t matter.
He’s expert at sowing sensuality to focus our minds on things that ought not occupy our attention.
THE REASON FOR USING THESE WEAPONS:
"For our battle is NOT against flesh and blood
But against the rulers } Politicians?
against the authorities }
against the world powers of this darkness
against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places" 12
Our adversary is not a physical enemy.
We are not at war with people.
The enemy is spiritual, and the warfare is spiritual.
We fight an organized system with power.
It’s futile to fight this battle in our flesh. We are involved in a superhuman battle in which conventional tactics won’t work. Conventional weapons of warfare are as useless as army knives in a nuclear war!
Every child of God is a soldier.
More than ever before, these are times in which Satan is attempting to trip us up and render us ineffective.
Prayer walks. => Prayer walks for the enemy too!
This week I heard that a leader at Casas Adobes B. C. observed people walking around the church on Sunday evenings. He asked what they were doing and discovered it was a group of witches praying for the downfall of the church. Praying for pastoral staff and leaders by name.
That happened to one of my students in Guatemala—a successful young pastor—they prayed for his downfall, they set traps to encourage his fall; eventually he left his wife and church and ran off with a beautiful young woman lawyer.
I’ve seen Satan distract people, lead them astray, and leave them strewn by the side of the road.
We know how the story ends. We’ve read the last chapter.
But the battle is still raging and there are many casualties.
Swindoll: “Fortune. Fame. Power. Pleasure. When it comes to temptation, these are the biggies. By resisting each, out in the open, we cultivate character down inside. So keep your eyes open and your shield handy. The battle is on right now. You can’t trust Satan’s cease fires.”
We can't out maneuver the enemy—we need divine help.
"On account of this, receive the full armor of God in order that you may be able to resist (stand against) in the evil day and having done everything, to stand." 13
CONCLUDING WARNING: Take up the FULL armor —ALL of it!
Purpose of the warning: so we can resist the attack and stand firm!
ARMOR FOR THE BATTLE 14-20
We need to put on the complete armor God has provided us, in order to endure Satan’s attacks and stand firm against the enemy.
Be prepared!
Not allowing anything to distract us
PRAYING—concerning the battle.
Our main line of defense infiltrates the whole process: PRAYER 18 And 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.
All through the passage prayer accompanies the defense strategy!
Our main defense: (that which accompanies the armor:)
“Praying in the Spirit . . . “ —all the time —for all the saints —in all kinds of prayer and petition”
We need to keep on praying for God’s protection from the enemy —persevere in prayer.
Brethren asked Agathon, "Amongst all our activities, Father, which is the virtue that requires the greatest effort?" He answered, "There is no labor greater than praying. Every time a man wants to pray, his enemies, the demons, try to prevent him; for they know that nothing obstructs them so much as praying to God.”
Amateur climbers scaling the Matterhorn. As they came to a narrow, hazardous passage, a gust of wind swept down on them. The guide, quickly shouted, "Get down on your knees! You are safe only on your knees!"
"When you can't sleep, don't count sheep. Talk to the shepherd."
We need to keep praying for one another—”for ALL the saints!”
We need to remember to pray for one another!
It would be easy to forget.
Let’s pray for one another continually, lest any of US be left as casualties at the side of the road.
Phillips summarized lesson our children have been learning in VBS; that we need to learn too 6:10-13: “In conclusion, be strong—not in yourselves but in the Lord, in the power of His boundless resource. Put on God’s complete armor so that you can successfully resist all the devil’s methods of attack. For our fight is not against any physical enemy: it is against organizations and powers that are spiritual. We are up against the unseen power that controls this dark world, and spiritual agents from the very headquarters of evil. Therefore you must wear the whole armor of God that you may be able to resist evil in its day of power, and that even when you have fought to a standstill you may still stand your ground. Take your stand then ....” [NLT => 18: “Pray at all times and on every occasion in the power of the Holy Spirit. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all Christians everywhere.”
The battle IS raging—all around us!
We’re going to take a closer look at the specific armor God has given us to fight the battle.
Are you prepared to fight the battle?
Take your strength from the Lord—the battle belongs to the Lord!
Put on the whole armor of God!
Stand firm!
Pray for all God’s people everywhere—especially for our kids!