How To Use 10 Weapons To Disarm The Devil In Your Life (Part 3 Of 4)

How To Use 10 Weapons That Can Disarm The Devil In Your Life

"It’s the clothes that make the man" 3 of 4

Ephesians 6:15-16 * October 19, 2003

Chester’s First Baptist Church, Chester, Illinois Mike Fogerson, Speaker

Introduction:

The time: December 1944. Allied forces, after advancing quickly in the summer months, have slowed. Low cloud cover and fog hamper the use of Allied air superiority. Hitler, perceiving an opportunity to divide British from U.S. troops and spotting aeakly defended area near the heavily-wooded Ardennes, masses his troops and, on December 16, attacks. The U.S. high command, after taking some time to realize that this is a major offensive and not simply a skirmish, determines that the area around Bastogne is key to stopiing the German advance; the commanding general orders the 101st Airborne division under General Anthony McAuliffe to move into Bastogne and hold it. They succeed in occupying the town, but shortly thereafter are surrounded by enemy troops. As an airborne division they have little artillery and after fierce fighting, ammunition is running out. Continued bad weather hinders all resupply efforts by airdrop. Medical supplies are running out; wounded cannot be treated.

Imagine yourself as a soldier in that situation. The coldest winter in 50 years in Europe. Fog so thick German and Merican troops get confused and don’t even know where battle lines are. Many of your buddies killed or wounded or lost in the last few days.

A delegation of Germans approaches carrying a white flag: This is their messgae: "You are surrounded. We know you have little ammunition and little artillery. We have massed our forces around this city; unless you surrender, we will annihilate you."

What would you have done in that situation?

What would you do today when faced with similar situations? Because we are in a war, we are all in a great war, as part of the army of God. And in this war, we can feel surrounded, we can feel as if the enemy is about to annihilate us; we can feel as if our fight, and the cause for which we fight, is hopeless.

We have looked at How to use 10 weapons that can disarm the devil in your life.

Be strong, Stand Firm, Put On, Belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness

A EPH 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. [11] Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. [12] For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. [13] Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. [14] Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, [15] and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. [16] In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

a Paul described two pieces of spiritual armament that must be in place to ensure victory for the believer. (ETS)

b We must faithfully stand on the gospel if we are going to successfully engage in spiritual warfare. (ESS)

B I hope you’ll use your gospel shoes by inviting four people to next weeks morning service. (Objective)

a How are you using the armor of God to make a difference? (P.Q.)

b Let’s look at two pieces of spiritual armament that make or break the battle. (Transitional Sentence)

I The first piece of spiritual armament that make or break the battle is. . .the shoes. (v:15) "[15] and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace."

(I can almost see Paul, scraggly beard, tattered clothes, rat eating a crumb of bread in the corner. . .Paul with pencil in hand gazes out his prison cell and sees his jail keeper. Roman Department of Corrections wearing his standard issue armor)

A The soldier’s boot provided a strong base/foundation on which to stand on. (Alexander the great/Julies Caesar’s military success was due in large part on their soldiers ability to march long distances over rough terrain.)

a Boot (Gk. Caligae) Tough, but light sandals that went partly up the leg, w/ soles that were cleated with nails.

*Allowed soldiers to stand firm on shifting sand, slippery slopes.

*If a soldier lost footing, you lost!

b Paul tells the Ephesis believer that their lives will be stable, battles will be won with their lived and fought on the Good News of the gospel of Jesus Christ.