Today we’ll wrap up our teaching on Spiritual Warfare after which we shall be better equipped for these times especially as the battle intensifies leading up to Jesus’s return.
Yesterday was D-Day, the moment in World War II when the allies landed on the beach in Normandy. Code-named Operation Overlord, the massive assault successfully breached Nazi Germany’s "Atlantic Wall" defenses, ultimately paving the way for the liberation of Western Europe.
Similar, at the Cross, Jesus defeated Satan, liberating us believers but now the Church has been given the mission to go out and take the World for Christ, making disciples of all nations, to baptise in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
But this talk of war can get confused with earthly wars that have been going on for time immemorial and Hollywood movies where the allied and enemy soldiers are killed and blood is shed.
The Bible says;
1 Peter 5:8-9
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.
We are not to run away from our enemy but to face him head on and this may initially seem a daunting prospect.
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 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. 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.
Once you become a Christian your enemy changes from being God to being Satan and you enter a cosmic war. When you’re not a Christian, the Devil won’t bother you too often until such point that you are on Death’s Door. He is quite happy for a nonbeliever to be at ease and think he doesn’t exist.
The Bible is a soldier’s manual and provides insight into the Cosmic War we are fighting in every one of us individually and as a Church.
Spiritual Warfare 101 begins with putting on all the parts of the armour of God before we find ourselves at the front line in hand to hand combat with the enemy.
Ephesians 6:14-18
Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—
Carefully notice that the weapons underlined are actually humble and loving in nature. They are harmless to flesh and blood but they stand in opposition to our true enemy who is the opposite in nature to all of them.
Last week we understood the shoes of the Gospel of Peace means that we need to be ready at all times to share the Gospel in an effective way, balancing words of sin and judgement with the overall message of the offer of peace with God through faith in his Son in a manner like Ray Comfort uses. We can do this by our testimony and by knowing some key scriptures but we have to take the time to prepare so that when the opportunity arises, and it will, we are fully ready.
In addition to the shoes of the Gospel of Peace, it says above all take the Shield of Faith. This affirms faith is a priority as the Bible says.
Hebrews 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Faith is not only central to our salvation; it is our shield in day to day living and fighting in the war against the Devil.
Our faith is in God; he is the object of our faith. We can have disappointments, but we know we are on the winning side, we are going to be with him forever.
The Devil tries to attack us when we’re suffering, that’s when we need the Shield of Faith the most. Faith works in tandem with the first weapon we’ll look at today.
The Helmet of Salvation
The helmet of salvation protects the mind (just like the breastplate of righteousness protects the heart).
Helmets are required by law when riding a bike or motorcycle in New Zealand. If people didn’t wear them, our road toll would be a lot higher because if you come off a bike at speed, you’re likely to break your head. When someone gets wounded in the head, it makes it very difficult to use the other parts of the equipment effectively.
You wouldn’t go on a building site without your safety helmet. To be a minister of Jesus, you must wear your hard hat, the helmet of salvation.
If we become prey to depression, mistrust of others, or believe that we are less capable than others, or maybe even are not saved, it will make us less effective and sometimes stop us altogether. This is a problem in the mind and why we need the helmet of salvation for protection.
When you go into Spiritual Warfare you are going to enter into a battle for the Human mind. We have so many mental health issues in New Zealand, our suicide rate is the highest in the world for adolescents, that’s a shocking statistic for such a beautiful country and more evidence of the foothold the Devil has gained here. But we have the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ who read from Isaiah when his ministry first began.
Isaiah 61:1-3
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”
Ever been in a place where there’s a spirit of heaviness? Everything seems too hard, expectations are low, a gloomy tiredness descends.
That’s when we need protection on our head. What is the helmet of salvation?
1 Thessalonians 5:8
But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.
The protection of the mind is hope. The protection of the heart is faith.
Hope is a quiet steady expectation of good based on the promises of God’s Word.
When we face depressing thoughts, we need to reject them by remembering our hope. This is what the young people of New Zealand need to hear today, scriptures of hope like;
Romans 8:28
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
In this struggle, we need to protect our minds with the helmet of salvation or we can easily become depressed ourselves by what we may encounter. Our hope is sure and steadfast whatever difficulty we may encounter.
Romans 8:35-39
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
More than conquerors means we come out of the battle with more than we went in.
Isaiah 54:17
No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their righteousness is from Me,” Says the Lord.
That we cannot lose is something to remember when we’re in the heat of a spiritual battle! His promises are 100% reliable.
Hebrews 6:17-20
Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
People of the World have put their hope in temporary things like their possessions, their jobs, their bank accounts, their pension plans and in other people.
But we have our hope in 2 immutable things;
1. It is impossible for God to lie
2. Jesus is our High Priest forever
Our hope is in the eternal. The only security in this world is the hope found in Christ.
Being an optimist protects our mind. Having God’s Word stored in our hearts gives us the wisdom we need to outmaneuver the Devil.
2 Timothy 3:14-15
But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
The helmet of salvation is wisdom, and the good news is that if you think you’re not wise, it is just a prayer away!
James 1:5
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
Most of us will need to pray for wisdom because Satan has won some ground in battling for the minds of people and has them accepting certain things like;
1. Social justice (rather than biblical justice)
2. Love is love
3. Evolution
4. Hell and the Devil don’t exist or alternatively, all Roads lead to Heaven.
Are there others you can think of? Every one of these can be deconstructed with the different weapons in our spiritual armour.
2 Corinthians 10:4-6
For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.
Out of all the pieces of armour, there is one weapon of attack and is the one thing that drives the Devil back.
The Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God
Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
In the desert, Jesus was tempted by Satan and every time Jesus answered « It is written ».
Satan never questioned the authority of scripture because Jesus was able to stand firm on it.
In the Garden of Eden, although Eve remembered the word that God had said, she didn’t know it well enough, adding to it and was not able to ward off Satan. We need to not only remember it but believe it and stand firm on it which Eve didn’t do but Jesus did.
This is why we all need to memorise scripture and get used to applying it when Satan attacks us.
Every temptation was an invitation to doubt using the word « if ».
Satan knows Scripture but he misapplies it. Watch out for people who misapply scripture.
Jesus didn’t use reason; he didn’t rely on a bachelor's degree. He used scripture every time. We have to take the Sword, and the Holy Spirit will direct us when and how to use it.
Never give up and walk away in a battle with the devil. if you do that, he will get you from behind where the armour of God doesn’t protect.
In the Body, we do have people who will protect our back. Let’s not be a person who would stab another Christian in the back.
We will revisit this topic in the future. There is homework in the meantime!
You will need to write your testimony and learn some scriptures, so you are prepared
Part 2 we’ll do on groups with some real-life examples.
And Part 3, well that sounds like a project to me !
Through this Spiritual Warfare series I have learned of how we are to use the armour and my thinking of what that means in practical application has changed. Truth, righteousness, the Gospel of Peace, faith, salvation and the Word of God are not weapons like in war movies where people get shot to bits and blood is everywhere. Our weapons are not against people but they stand in opposition against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Finally, a passage from Philippians, which is like a prayer;
Philippians 4:4-7
Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
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