2009 Spiritual Warfare Series, Part 2
Ephesians 6:10-13
Strong Armor for Weak Sheep
Blessed:
If you own just one Bible you are
abundantly blessed because 1/3 of the world doesnt have access to even one
Bible.
If you woke up this morning with more health
than illness,
you are more blessed than the million who wont survive the week.
If you have never experienced the
danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture or the
pangs of starvation, you are ahead of 500 million people around the world today.
If you attend a church meeting without fear
of harassment, arrest, torture, or death, you are more blessed than almost
three billion people in the world.
If you have food in your refrigerator,
clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep, you are
richer than 75% of this world.
If you have money in the bank, in your
wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace, you are among
the top 8% of the worlds most wealthy.
If your parents are still living
and still married, you are very rare even here in these
If you can read this message,
you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world that cannot read
anything at all.
If you believe in the Lord
Jesus as the Son of God you area part of a very small minority in the world and
the most blessed.
That
sort of puts things in perspective doesnt it?
A) Easy to
wake up in the morning and immediately get weighed down by all the little cares of this life.
B) Before you know it you
are discouraged before you have even started your day.
C) That is why it is helpful
for us to remember that we are in a Spiritual
battle.
1) With an enemy who is
always wanting to cloud our perspective and discourage
our hearts
D) A enemy who wants us to
get weighed down and distracted by the cares of
this life
1) To hinder the work of the
seed of Gods word from really taking root in the soil of our hearts
Last
week started this series Looking at the enemy who is our battle against
A) Origin: Fallen Angel who
tried rise up in the place of God.
B)
The Demons are the 1/3 of the Angels who followed him in his rebellion.
C) He
is powerful but not all powerful.
1) He is wise but not all
knowing.
D) He is not omniscient he
cannot be every where at once.
1) He
is not the opposite of God
E) He has already been
defeated by Jesus
Tonight once again we are in
Ephesians Ch. 6
Focus on the source of our
strength and an overview of our Armor.
Rd 6:10-13
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the
Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you
may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not
wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of
wickedness in the heavenly places. 13
Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand
in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Notice
first of all that our Starting position is a Position of Strength emphasized
word Stand
A)V.11 Stand against, V.13
withstand
V.13 Having done all to
stand
B) V.14 Stand therefore,
In v.10 we are
given the reason for our position of Strength. Exhorted to be
strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
A) Notice He doesnt say: BE
STRONG LIVE STRONG
B) We make a big Mistake if
we think that the key to standing is found in us Our strength
C) We
are drawn to that image though / the strong athlete Solider
1) Admire the Olympic
athlete lean muscles and wash board stomach
- refrigerator stomach{ watch
We
like the images in the Bible of Men like Joshua leading
A) David killing Goliath
cutting his head off and carrying like a trophy
miles & miles back into
C) We like the Story of Caleb 85 I am just as strong
Ole
and Airosoft Wrote didnt approve teaching our kids violence
A)Nicely said to her Have
you ever read your Bible
B) But listen those men who
did great exploits in the Bible were not super men
1) Empowered
by a Super God!
C) Be
strong in the Lord
of His might
It
is interesting that the Bible frequently compares the believer to a Sheep. Not
flattering
A) Sheep are dumb - need Protection /
.need guidance
B) Sheep
are not fit sheep dont run fast sheep cant fight sheep dont Roar
1) Lions Roar Elephants
Roar
C) Not
sheep not impressive creatures
1) Never hear the ring Master at a Circus say and now in the Center
ring we have Sheep Listen roar
What
does that have to do with Battles and warfare?
EVERYTHING!
A) Listen to what
"For Your
sake we are killed all day long;
We are
accounted as sheep for the slaughter."
B) Not only are we not
roaring we are waiting to be slaughtered.
1) Paul is writing waiting
to be Martyred Fait of many a believer in the first century.
C) But the very next verse
in
1) Yet{ Word that
introduces a contrast having given one picture in v.36 altogether different
picture in v.37
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved
us.
Literally:
We overwhelmingly conquer through Him.
We
keep on conquering to a greater and greater degree through Him
We keep on winning a more
glorious victory through Him.
The
Contrast presented between v.36-37 sums up the whole point!
A) Alone we are nothing but
sheep destined to be slaughtered easy prey for the enemy.
B) But in Christ His
strength with His Armor we are more than conquerors through Him who loved
us!
C) In Christ the weapons of
our warfare are mighty in God to the pulling down of strongholds.
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that
you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
13 Therefore take up the whole armor of
God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done
all, to stand.
D)Our strength
is in the Lord
1)Our Protection
is in His Armor!
Now
there are two words used here that tell us something of the battle we find
ourselves in.
V.11
Wiles{ Some translations schemes greek word Methodia English words methods
or strategy
The Devil has a Strategy
of attack in our lives.
A) He has methods that he
seeks to pull against us.
B) It is important that we
are aware of those schemes
We know where he is prone to
attack us.
C) Although the devil only
has limited # of the types of arrows in
his arsenal
1) It important that we know
what they are and which ones he is more inclined to use on us.
D) See fellas the strategy
he is going use in attacking your wife is probably going to be different than
the one he will use on you.{ Need to be aware.
When Joe Lewis was the heavyweight boxing champion of the
world.
He fought,
71 times professionally; he lost only once.
During the decade and a half
he held his title, he defended it 25 times.
Lewis was asked in an
interview what was the secret of his Success and how he could win over people
who were at times much larger than him?
His
response was interesting :
"I study my opponent, I plan my fight very
carefully. The results are always the
same.
1) I'm never surprised
and
2) I stay on the
offensive".
That's pretty good counsel for dealing
with the devil. Satan Success often
hinges on surprise & Ignorance.
A)He loves to catch us off guard unaware and he
preys upon the ignorance of believers
B) So the word
wiles or schemes lets us know that Satan has a strategy
1) Not random
attacks calculated strategy in coming against you.
The 2nd word is wrestle V.13 - Pale in the greek
A) Describes a
hand to hand combat
B) Not
literally a hand to hand combat because we cant see the devil feel him
1) We are not
literally wrestling
C) The thing
that is implied by this word is that the battle is not from a distance
1) It is up
close and personal
D) It is
strategic and it takes place in the mind
Fiery darts thoughts in the mind!
Lustful thoughts temptations evil thoughts fearful
thoughts doubts Paranoid thoughts
A) He bombards
our minds with thoughts distracted, depressed, confused, condemned
B) So the
C) As we go through this series
and start looking at the armor of God.
1) We want to see how each
piece of Armor is meant to combat a different
strategy of Satan.
D) Brief overview of the
Armor tonight and the strategy of the enemy it combats
1) Next time start breaking
down specifics
RD
V.14-19
A) Now understand where
Paul is at when he is writing this.
B) Roman jail Chained to a
Roman guard 2 yrs
1) Holy spirit is going to
use the pieces of the Romans Soldiers armor to illustrate our Armor
C)These are not literal
pieces literal belt / Symbolic
1)They are figurative pieces used to fight and invisible war.
{Cant buy at Christian book store
D) Belt Breastplate-
Shoes- shield helmet- sword
1) Each one is significant
to combat specific attacks
2 DIVISIONS - HAVING & TAKING
1st 3 - he
says having girded your waist
with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having
shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
By using the word "having" puts this in the past tense 1) when
did this happen? The moment you received Christ!
C) The first 3 pieces of armor deal w/ who you are
in Christ. Your position
D) The point of this is knowing the reality of what
Christ has done for you and in you! Not
redoing but knowing!
D) Example: You don't go out each day and re-check the registration on your car! Make sure this is my car
1) You know! (wish it wasn't) but you know - put key in and drive
E) In the second list the verb usage is
different - present tense taking and
take up shield
, helmet
, sword
. -
praying always - daily action!
The first
three pieces of the armor have to do with who you are in Christ
The
second three have to do with Who Christ
is in You.
Now
I believe the late pastor Ray Stedman - pointed out an interesting insight into
armor - wrote:
The
armor is nothing more than a symbolic description of the Lord Himself! The
armor is Christ and what He is prepared to be and do in each one of
us!" When Paul speaks of these various
pieces of armor he is speaking of Christ and how we are to regard him, and how
we are to lay hold of him as our defense against the strategies of the devil.
It is not merely Christ available to us, but Christ in us being appropriated by
us! True! He is right
So lets finish up tonight by
giving a brief description of these pieces of armor
A) How they are connected to
each other & how they are used to combat specific strategies of the Devil
B) Belt of truth: Truth found in the Word.
1) Specifically about who
Christ is, Who we are in Christ and what He has done for us.
C) Know the truth
.. Free!
Breastplate of
righteousness: Speaks of our position in
Christ righteous because of His blood.
Shoes of Peace: Our standing being at peace with
God, which allows us to experience the peace of God
So the first three have to do with our position in Christ
based upon what He did for us at
A) The 2nd
three have to do with our applying the reality of those truths
B) Above all taking
the Shield of faith.
C) Shield of Faith: Is the
application of the truth found in these first 3 pieces of armor.
Helmet
of Salvation: Assurance that I am saved.
A) Application of the truth
of the word and believing in the my standing as righteous Peace with God
Sword
of the spirit which is the word of God
A) Not word in general -
words specific speaking those words
B) Knowing specific
scriptures to speak in the moment of
1) Brings peace to our
hearts
C) Prayer ties it all together
Belt
of truth:
A) Used to combat strategy
of Casting doubt
False teaching, being
enticed by the world.
Breastplate
of righteousness:
A) Used for combating
condemnation and accusations from the enemy and thoughts of guilt
Shoes
of Peace:
A) Used to combat confusion
that comes from sickness, tragedies, affliction and trials.
B) Combats worry,
distractions, bitter thoughts and unforgiveness.
Shield
of Faith:
A)Used to combat
complacency, fear, intimidation
Helmet
of Salvation:
A) Used to combat doubt
and trying to be saved by our works or our performance.
D) Our
strength is in the Lord
1) Our
Protection is in His Armor!
The Bible is
the Story of two Gardens