Basic Training: Satan Is Our Adversary Series

That’s a fair question - surprising that it came from a 6 year old, but a fair question! We ended up trying to explain to him that it is because God’s ultimate plan for us… and promises to protect us aren’t nearly as much about this life as they are about eternal life in Heaven with him. This 80 years, or however long we live here, is just a drop in the bucket compared to eternity. And it is eternity that he’s mostly concerned about, and understanding that, is what it means to wear the helmet of salvation.

Ephesians 6:17b …and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

6) The sword of the Spirit, God’s Word, the Bible— The sword is the only weapon of offense in this list of armor. The Bible is a formidable weapon when its truth is put to use.

Both of our boys, Ethan, and our younger son, Garrett, love to play with anything that resembles a sword. And when I once tried to explain to them how the Bible is a sword, to say that was a hard sell, would be an understatement! They looked at the Bible I was holding and pointed out that it was anything but sharp and dangerous, that it didn’t have a point on it, and that you just couldn’t really hit anyone with it, let alone hurt them with it!

Well, I tried, but I never did really get through to either of them on this one, or help then understand how it could figuratively be used as a sword,

But as grown-ups, we need to understand that with God’s word in our hands, we hold a powerful weapon.

Hebrews 4:12 God’s word is alive and working and is sharper than a double-edged sword. It cuts all the way into us, where the soul and the spirit are joined, to the center of our joints and bones. And it judges the thoughts and feelings in our hearts. (NCV)

But the Bible doesn’t do us a bit of good if it just sits on the shelf. We need to read it, we need to study it, we need to memorize it, and we need to live it.

Ephesians 6:18 Pray at all times and on every occasion in the power of the Holy Spirit.

7) Prayer—in prayer we rely on God’s help.

James 5:16b When a believing person prays, great things happen.

Oh, there are so many incredible stories about the power of prayer I wish I had time to tell you… but I can’t. But let me share this:

Any military strategist will tell you that while you cannot win a war without ground troops, air superiority gives you an overwhelming advantage. Scripture describes our “air support” as prayer because God’s army advances on its knees.

C. S. Lewis wrote: “Enemy-occupied territory—that is what the world is. Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed in disguise, and is calling us all to take part in a great campaign of sabotage.”

And prayer is our means of direct, personal, free communication with our King – wouldn’t it be a shame to not take advantage of it?

CLOSING:

Let me close with this:

During the Vietnam war, there was an area that separated North and South Vietnam, called the demilitarized zone. It was kind of no-man’s-land, burned over and barren.

Since that time, rivers, mountains, and man-made walls have served the same purpose in other situations—neutral, open space where both sides watch and neither stake a claim.