God's Warrior

Memorial Day is a day of remembering. We should remember those who have gone to be with the Lord. Tell your neighbor, “You need to remember!” Remembering in and of itself brings a dilemma. I can remember the things I need to forget, and I forget the things that I should remember. Anyone else have that problem? Can I get a witness? So tell your neighbor, “You need to remember the right things!” There was a church that received a memorial gift. There was a short note written on a beautiful card that described whom the memorial was for. It said the usual thing, “Enclosed you will find a check to be used as a memorial for ….” Unfortunately the person who sent it forgot to sign the note AND to enclose the check. And to top it all off, the card had been purchased from the Alzheimer’s Foundation. We need to remember the right things. And the right thing is we are God’s warriors!

10Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12For 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. 13Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

I. God’s warriors remembers they are empowered. (10) 10Finally,

my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

Good warriors are always aware of their strength. They know their abilities and where their strengths lie. They remember the lessons taught by the good drill seargant. God’s warriors are no different. We find our strength in the Lord! We plug into His strength through much prayer and bible study. Effective pastors spend 25 hours a week in sermon preparations, and at least 5 hours a week in prayer. I talked to a strong Christian this week who said they prayed for the first hour in the morning. Nothing but prayer. Good warriors know where their strength is and how to plug into it.

II. God’s warriors remember to be engaged in the war. (11) 11Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Good warriors are always prepared. They know the terrain, they know the enemy and exactly what weapon is necessary. They never go into battle empty handed. Can you imagine going into battle without a shoe? Or without your gun? Spiritually, it isn’t any different. We must be prepared physically, mentally, and spiritually. God tells us to put on our whole armor. Not just part of it! There is a little saying, “When we fail to prepare, we are preparing to fail.” Only when we are prepared can we stand against the whiles, schemes, of the devil.

In order to be engaged in an activity, you must be prepared for it, you also must be able to stand to do it, and last you must be able to avoid being deceived. However, today to many Christians have all the above, and are not engaged. There is still action that must take place. It is an area that we have become complacent in. Actually doing what God has prepared us to do. God’s warrior is engaged in life. To many Christians have taken a seat on the bench. They have become stagnant. It is time to get engaged in God’s activity!

III. God’s warriors remember his enemy. (12) 12For 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.

How does God’s warrior identify his enemy? Canadian Mounties don’t study counterfeit money. They study the original. The theology is that there are many ways to produce counterfeits. But there is only one original. If they can learn what the original looks like, they will notice the slightest difference and identify the counterfeit. How can we identify the spirit of antichrist/enemy? Not by studying him. But instead by studying God through His word and much prayer!

What we learn is it is not the physical person that we are against, but the spiritual influences on their lives. We are not in a battle against people, but we are in a spiritual war that can only be won through spiritual weapons. We may overcome the physical man and still lose the spiritual war. We may be overcome by the physical man and still win the spiritual war! When we truly understand this it will transform how we see people! It will transform our prayer life! It will transform the way that we read God’s word!