[There
is a dark, diabolical, devious warfare going on all
around us. It is a type of gorilla warfare.
It is permeated with sabotage, subversion, innuendo, snipping.
It is a deadly war. It is a
war between light and darkness, good and evil, heaven and hell, Christ and
Satan. Whether you realize it or not
you are a part of this warfare. You
cannot afford to be ignorant and you cannot possibly be neutral.
If you try to be neutral you will find your self in the crossfire, right
between the fighting forces, the deadliest place of all.]
[The Church is not a show boat it is a battleship.
We are at war.]
[When you were born again you were born from above, you are
heaven bond, you were born for a battle, and you were born to win.]
[This message is a (warning) call to arms and a declaration of
victory.]
Things to know about a
Christian warrior:
A.
The Christian
Warrior and His Adversary (vs 10-11) [–
“Finally,
my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
11 Put on the whole armour of God, that
ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” - We must know our
enemy. The devil is your enemy. In
our day we make light of the devil.
We speak of devils food cake, deviled ham, and call football teams the devils.
People like to make the devil laughable, but he is a very real enemy.
It has always been the devils purpose to pull the veil of darkness over
his kingdom and to have his existence denied for a while, but his goal always
has been to be worship, so that sooner or latter he will show himself and demand
worship.
It is important that we understand who the devil is because if there is
no concept of an enemy then there will be no preparation for the war.
How is our enemy described?]
1.
He is a
Decided fact (vs 11; Ezek
28.11-15; Luke 4.1-3; Heb 13.5; Rev 12.3-4) [–
“ . . . the devil.” – The devil is not
just the presence of evil in our world.
The devil is not just the dark side of the force.
The Devil is:]
a.
[A Created Being
(Ezekiel 28.11-15)]
[Ezekiel 28:11-15
11
Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon
the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up
the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone
was thy covering, the sardius,
topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the
emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy
pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.
14 Thou
art the anointed cherub that
covereth; and I have set thee so:
thou wast upon the holy mountain
of God; thou hast walked
up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
15 Thou wast
perfect in thy ways from the day
that thou wast
created,
till iniquity was found
in thee.]
[The devil is a real created being.
He was created as the covering Cherub (an angel) covering the very throne
of God. You need to understand that
God never created a devil, God created Lucifer, the most beautiful angel of all
angelic beings. It was Lucifer’s
pride and rebellion against God that turned him into the devil.
Just as God did not create sin nor sinners, it is our poor, unwise, wrong
choices that result in sin and sinfulness.
The Bible declares and reveals that Satan is a real being with
supernatural power and worldly dominion.]
b.
[Jesus Stood Toe
to Toe with the Devil (Luke 4.1-3) –
“And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the
Spirit into the wilderness, 2 Being
forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when
they were ended, he afterward hungered. 3
And the devil said unto
him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made
bread.” - Jesus was not faced with an apparition, nor a figment of his
imagination. He stood face to face
with Lucifer, who was the son of the morning, and had now become Lord of the
night.]
c.
[A Real Being
- Not just some cosmic force of evil intensions or tendencies, Lucifer, the
devil, is a real created being. With
dubious thoughts, evil intensions, and the desire to devour, deceive, and
destroy.]
(1)
[Angels are real
created beings. The bible records of
angels:]
[Hebrews 13:2
2
Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have
entertained angels unawares.]
(2)
[Demons are
fallen angels. The Bible records of demons:]
[Revelation 12:3-4
3
And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red
dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
4 And his tail drew the third part of the
stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the
woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was
born. ]
2.
He is a
Destructive foe [– “. . . that ye
may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”]
a.
He is
Strategic (1 Pet 5.8-9).
(1)
[Wiles -
methodeia meth-od-i'-ah (gk)
– This is the word we get method or methodical from.
Satan is very methodical and strategic.
He may even step back two steps in order to go forward three steps.
He may help you to feel you are getting away with your sin by blessing
you and helping you. He is very
strategic. ]
(2)
[Satan has a plan to destroy your home and life, the
bomb is planted the match is struck and the fuse is lit.]
[1 Peter 5:8-9
8
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a
roaring lion, walketh about,
seeking whom he may
devour: 9 Whom resist
stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in
your brethren that are in the world. ]
b.
He is
Spiritual (vs 12; 1 John 4.1) [–
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual
wickedness in high places.”
Some times people think that because something is spiritual that it is good.
Instead, people need to understand that there is spiritual goodness and
spiritual wickedness.]
[1 John 4:1
1
Beloved, believe not every
spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false
prophets are gone out into the world.]
(1)
[Séances,
necromancy, clairvoyancy, wee gee boards, horoscopes, and other spiritual
wickedness. There is a spiritual
reality to all of these, but they are spiritual wickedness.]
c.
He is Strong
(vs 12) [– “. . . principalities,
against powers . . .” – In your own strength you are weak in comparison to
Satan. Adrian Rogers said, “You
might as well be throwing snow balls at the rock of
Gibraltar as come against Satan in your own strength.”]
d.
He is Sinister
(vs 12) [– “. . . against the rulers
of the darkness of this world . . .” – The Devil has dark tyrannical power,
he is in a fight to the finish and there is nothing that dirty devil will not
do. He is determined to wreck, ruin
and destroy your life, and he knows he only has a little while to do it in.
He is fighting like a cornered animal.]
3.
He is a
Defeated Foe (vs 10; 1 John 4.4) [–
“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the
Lord, and in the power of his might.” – Our God has already defeated Satan.
[1 John 4:4
4
Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because
greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.]
[It is important for
Christians to realize that they do not fight for victory, they fight from
victory.]
[Someone might
ask, “If Satan is already defeated then why do I have to be warned?”
While God broke Satan’s back at Calvary, it is a part of God’s plan to give Satan limited
power on this earth to make overcomers of us and give greater glory to Himself.]
[Illustration:
Doctor’s in Arizona
had issued a warning in a News Paper that rattlesnakes whose heads have been
severed can still bite with deadly poison.
In 1989 five of thirty-two rattlesnake bites in a regional hospital
involved rattle snakes the victims thought were dead.]
[Satan is as a dead snake, but he can still bite.]
B.
The Christian
Warrior and His Armor (vs 13) [– We need to recognize our enemy, we
also need to prepare for the battle.
If you do not prepare for the battle you are going to lose the battle.
We need to put on the whole armor of God and it is to be holy armor.
A football player needs all of his equipment.
What would it be like if a football player only wore some of the
equipment? He will get hurt and he
will be out.]
1.
Your
Integrity, The Belt of Truth (vs 14) [Resisting Lies –
“Stand therefore, having your loins girt
about with truth, . . .” – Truth
stands for integrity. Soldiers used
to wear a leather belt to hold their center of strength together, their loins.
This belt held his weapons and held his tunic together so it would not
get tangled up. That belt is
integrity and it is integrity or truth that holds everything else together.
You are to live the truth, tell the truth, preach the truth, and if you
don’t your life will come apart.
Satan is a liar and is the father of lies, Jesus is the truth.
If your life is permeated with lies then you will lose the battle and
your life will come apart. You
cannot win this battle without the belt of truth.]
2.
Your Purity,
The Breastplate of Righteouness (vs 14; Matt 5.8)
Resisting Lust [–
“. . . and having on the breastplate of
righteousness;” – There can be no unconfessed and unrepented sin in your
life. A warrior had a breast plate
made of woven chain that covered his heart, lungs and chest.
Without this breastplate a warrior was susceptible to serious injury.
Jesus said,]
[Matthew 5:8
8
Blessed are the
pure in heart: for they shall see God. ]
[Satan not only attacks you with lies, but he attacks
you with impurity. He tries to get
you to read some filthy magazine, or to watch some filthy movie.
He wants to get that into your heart and mind.
He wants you to get into some crocked business deal.]
[He wants you to think its no big sin, but it is a crack in the armor.]
[Who is it that knocks so loudly,]
[It is a little sin,]
[So I let it in,]
[And soon all hell was in.]
[Is your heart pure? If not
then you cannot win. Satan fears a pure Christian.]
3.
Your
Tranquility, Feet Shod with the Gospel of Peace (vs 15; Psalm 119.165) [Resisting Discouragement –
“And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;”
A Roman soldier needed good shoes on his feet.
A Roman soldier would have hob nails on his shoes like cleats.
Why? Because when you’re
fighting you need a place to stand, you need to have good footing.
In this passage Paul tells us to
Stand, to Stand, to Stand; therefore your feet need to be shod with the
preparation of the gospel of peace.
Peace is Tranquility. Paul is
talking about peace with God, peace with each other, and peace with God in our
hearts. You see Jesus gives peace,
and unless you have peace you can never make war.]
[Satan attacks your integrity with lies, he attacks
your purity with lusts, he attacks your tranquility with stones and briars and
anything that will destabilize your footing and disturb your peace.
This is discouragement.]
[Do you have peace? If
you lack peace it is not because of your circumstances.
Peace in the Bible is not the subtraction of problems in your life, it is
the addition of the power needed to meet those problems.]
[Psalms 119:165
165
Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend
them. ]
[Jesus made peace through His blood that satisfied the
law. If you do not have peace then
you will slip and fall in the battle, you will be discouraged.
Something will happen, some sickness, some wayward child, some financial
distress and you will lose their footing and become discouraged and defeated.
Put on your shoes of peace, based on the goodness, sovereignty and power
of God and stand.]
4.
Your Certainty,
Shield of Faith (vs 16; James 3.5) [Resisting
Doubt – “Above all, taking the shield
of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the
wicked.” – When Paul wrote this he was chained to a Roman solider.
Paul looked at that soldier and thought, I can get a spiritual lesson out
of this guy. A Roman soldier’s
shield was about 2x4 feet covered in leather.
In those days they would take flaming arrows and shoot them at the enemy.
]
[Satan’s attack that is quenched by a shield of faith is doubt.]
[Satan is constantly trying to place in your heart
darts of doubt, those subtle doubts.
You need a faith based upon the absolute certainty and trustworthiness of the
absolute and authoritative Word of God and its faithfulness.
Faith is taking God at His Word and when you are certain that the Word of
God is God’s faithful Word to you, you will be absolutely certain in life’s
battle.]
[Satan only needs to plant a little doubt in your heart.
A little fire can kindle a big fire.
]
[James 3:5
. . . Behold,
how great a matter a little fire kindleth! ]
[Little darts of fire take on a lot of different forms.
In college they will come as little fiery darts from your college
professors, and they are relentless.
They can come from your doubtful friends and associations.
They can come from television and music.
They can even come for the
perceived Christians around you. Darts
of doubt come from the influencers in your life.]
[Put on the shield of faith, and quench those fiery
doubts. Feed your faith through
God’s Word, and starve your doubts.
Don’t ever forget what you have learned about God and your faith from the Word
of God.]
5.
Your Sanity,
Helmet of Salvation (vs 17) [Resisting Delusion –
“And take the helmet of salvation, . . .”
– A warrior would use a helmet to protect his head.
Why? Because if the head is
wounded nothing else works.
This helmet of salvation literally means a helmet of deliverance.
Salvation talks about going to heaven, but this helmet talks about the
effect of salvation upon our minds.
It speaks of a mind under the control of God.
This is having the mind of Christ, so you can think while in the fight.]
[When a person gets saved, for the first time in their
life they have their right mind.
Just as the demoniac who Jesus rescued from the legion of demons.
The Bible says that after he met Jesus he was then in his right mind.
A person without Jesus has a form of insanity, they are not with the mind
that God made them to have.]
[Put on Jesus
– If you really think about these pieces of armor and think about them, then you
will realize that you are putting on Jesus.
A Christian warrior just needs to put on the Lord Jesus Christ.]
C.
The Warrior
and His Attack – [We must join the battle.
It is not enough just to put on the armor, we must get into the fight.
]
[Illustration: Three
boys were sitting in the living room talking when the mother came into the room
and asked, “What are you boys doing?”
They replied, “Were playing war.”
The mother said, “You don’t look like your playing war.”
The boys replied, “Well, were all generals!”]
[Too many Christians want to be generals while the Church
needs some foot soldiers.]
Three things will Guarantee our victory in the battle:
1.
The Place
of our Stance (vs 13-14; 10; Rev 12.11) [–
“Wherefore take unto you the whole armour
of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to
stand.
14
Stand therefore, . . .” –
We have a place to fight from, it is the place that Jesus has won.]
[Ephesians 6:10
10
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of
his might. ]
[When you get into this battle you fight from the place
that Jesus has already won.
We do not fight for
victory, we fight from victory!
This is the place of our stance.]
[Revelation
12:11
11 And they overcame him by the blood of
the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; . . . ]
2.
The Power
of our Sword (vs 17; Heb 4.12) [– “. .
. and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:”
- God has given you a place to stand and a sword to fight with.
Our sword is a very powerful sword.
It is not the sword of you, it is the sword of the spirit.]
[Hebrews 4:12
12
For the word of God is
quick [alive], and powerful [full of energy], and sharper than any twoedged
sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the
joints and marrow, and is a
discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.]
[Christians should love the Bible because there is
incredible power in the Bible. Jesus
used the Bible to fight off the attacks of the devil when He was hungry and
physically weak. Jesus said,
“it is written . . .”(Luke 4)]
3.
The Provision
of the Spirit (vs 18) [-
“Praying always with all prayer and
supplication in the Spirit,
and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;”
- You have put on the armor of God, you have taken your place to stand, and you
have taken your sword in hand; now you must look to heaven for your provision.
]
[Prayer in the spirit is where your supply comes from.
Every warrior needs a supply and a commander and chief to guide him. Not
just any prayer, but prayer guided by the Spirit of God.
It is the spirit that knows what Satan is up to, it is the spirit that
knows what is needed in the battle.
You don’t understand what Satan is up to, but God does.]
[Illustration: Adrian Rogers once went to the
Strategic Space Command in
Colorado. He was given a tour of the facility. During
his tour they took him into a room and said, what do you want to see.
He said, show me Libya.
Up on a big screen came Libya.
The streets and street lights could be seen.
The officer giving the tour said, “if a missile is fired in
Libya
we’ll know it the moment it is fired.”
Adrian asked, “How will
you know?” The officer replied, “You
don’t want to know how.” Adrian asked, “why not?”
The officer replied, “If I tell you I would have to kill you.”
Adrian
said, “I don’t want to know.”]
[Our government, from up in space is watching
everything that is going on in our world and its warfare.
We Christians have a God up above
who is watching everything that is going on in our life’s struggles.]
[Christians need to stay in contact with their space
command, by praying always in the spirit.]
D.
The Christian
Warrior and his Allies (vs 18-19) [– “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and
watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
19 And for me, that utterance may be
given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the
gospel,” - We must unite forces to be successful in this battle.
Paul was a warrior but he knew that he did not fight alone.
Paul knew that we needed to pray for one another, because we fight
together, with one another. This is
not a one man army. We need each
other and we must learn to fight together against a common enemy.
]
[Many of our soldiers are AWOL.
When they come to Church on Sunday they think they have done God a favor.
They never fight; they are not in this battle.
They think that somehow they can be neutral.
This is a battle.]
1.
[Choose Sides
Carefully – If you don’t follow Jesus you are on the losing side.]
2.
[Examine Your
Heart – Be sure you have all the armor of God on.]
3.
[Don’t Try To Be
Neutral – You will place your self in the middle of the battle field, the
hottest part of the battle. You will
place yourself in harms way. You can
not be neutral.]
4.
[Rejoice in the
Victory and lives victoriously everyday]
CrossRoads
Baptist
Church, Dec 16, 2007, Evening
