The Armor Of God: The Shoes Of The Gospel And Shield Of Faith Series

Dr. Bradford Reaves

Crossway Christian Fellowship

Hagerstown, MD

www.mycrossway.org

View this message at: https://mycrossway.churchcenter.com/episodes/154176

On May 9, 1864, at the Spotsylvania Courthouse in Virginia, General Sedgwick was overseeing the placement of a battery directly to the rear of the entrenched 14th New Jersey. He was having a conversation with his chief-of-staff, General Martin T. McMahon. They were approximately 1,000 yards from the Confederate lines, a distance that was considered relatively safe given the firearms of the day. However, throughout the two men’s conversation, they were interrupted several times by stray bullets fired by Rebel sharpshooters. What happened next left a profound mark on the life of the young General McMahon, and he recorded the events in his log:

"A man who had been separated from his regiment passed directly in front of the general, and at the same moment a sharp shooter’s bullet passed with a long shrill whistle very close, and the soldier, who was then just in front of the general, dodged to the ground. The general touched him gently with his foot, and said, “Why, my man, I am ashamed of you, dodging that way. They couldn’t hit an elephant at this distance.” The man rose and saluted and said good-naturedly, “General, I dodged a shell once, and if I hadn’t, it would have taken my head off. I believe in dodging.” The general laughed and replied, “All right, my man, go to your place.” For a third time the same shrill whistle, closing with a dull, heavy stroke, interrupted our talk; as I was about to resume, the general’s face slowly turned toward me, the blood sputtering from his left cheek under the eye in a steady stream. He fell in my direction."

The 56-year-old general died on the scene making him the highest-ranking Union casualty of the Civil War. If General Sedgwick had treated his enemies with more respect, he probably would not have died that day. But he got careless and made assumptions about his enemies. (Credit: Steven Ely, Sermon Central)

Christians, we are in a real war with a real enemy and we must stay alert and on guard. As much time as we spend for personal protection and security in our homes and everywhere, it would do us well to remember where the battle really belongs. It seems that many believers have forgotten or even deny that there is a war taking place in the spiritual realm that is far more perilous than the carnal. We put in place elaborate systems to lock up our car and our valuables but give no thought given to locking down our spirit.

?Besides this, you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. 12 The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. (Romans 13:11–13)

Paul reminds us that in this war and we have a wardrobe given to us by God for this war. Conflict is inevitable as an heir in the Kingdom of God. We live in a world that is hostile that is filled with things in opposition to godliness; the pride of life, the lust of the flesh, the truth of God. Yet, we dress for success at work and hold in low regard our armor in the war that is waging around us. Like General Sedgwick, we are complacent with the enemy and the damage he can cause in our lives.

In fact, I would submit to you that the enemies’ schemes are far more volatile today than ever. For example, the level of and access to pornographic material was not possible in Paul’s day or the ability to watch the level of violence and immoral acts on a 30-foot by 60-foot screen. Satan works in a counterfeit system to deceive us and penetrate the human soul in ways not possible in Paul’s day.

Add to that the explosion of false religions and worship created by Satan to undermine God’s truth. Satan has normalized in our culture the immoral, ungodly, and false forms of Christianity. He wears clerical garb. He runs certain seminaries and colleges that call themselves Christian and call themselves religious. So how much more do we the Church need to be fully dressed in the armor of God? Instead of turning to the Bible, we turn to CNN and Fox News. Instead of kneeling to pray, we sit to be entertained. And we wonder why things are the way they are today. The church is asleep and indifferent in the middle of a war.