M*a*s*h "My Armor Shall Heal" Series

M*A*S*H-My Armor Shall Heal

How To Recover From Spiritual Decline(NIV)

Most of us probably remember the TV show M*A*S*H about a group of Dr’s and a Army hospital set during the Korean War. It was this hospitals job to tend to soldiers who were injured. The soldiers who came to the hospital had suffered all kinds of wounds. Sometimes the soldiers who came to the hospital were from the enemy side. For some of the soldiers, the most devastating wounds to heal from were mental and spiritual.

A church should be just like that hospital. Tending to the physical as well as the spiritual wounds suffered.

All Christians at one point will face a Spiritual decline. If you allow your Spirit to decline, you invite an attack from the enemy. Even if for a moment it can invite disaster.

Ephesians 4:27

27 and do not give the devil a foothold.

How are we to fight against the enemy? With the Armor of God we can stay in the Spirit and combat the plans of the enemy.

Ephesians 6:10-18

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. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

Belt of Truth

The devils fights with lies, and sometimes his lies sound like the truth; but only believers have God’s truth, which can defeat the devil’s lies.

Body Armor/Breastplate of Righteousness

The devil often attacks our heart-the seat of our emotions, our self-worth, and our trust. God’s righteousness is the body armor that protects our heart and ensures his approval. He approves of us because he loves us and sent his son to die for us.

Shoes/Peace that comes from the Good News

The devil want us to think that telling others the Good News us worthless and hopeless. He wants us to think the task is too big and the negative responses are too much to handle. But the shoes God gives us are the motivation to continue to proclaim the true peace that is available in God-news that everyone needs to hear.

Shield of Faith

What we see are the devil’s attacks in the form of insults, setbacks, and temptations. But the shield of faith protects us from the devil;s fiery arrows. With god’s perspective, we can see beyond our circumstances and know that ultimate victory is ours.

Helmet of Salvation

the devil wants to make us doubt God, Jesus, and our salvation. The helmet protects our mind from doubting God’s saving work for us.

Sword of The Spirit/Word of God

The sword is the only weapon of offense in the list of armor. There are times when we need to take the offensive against the devil. When we are tempted, we need to trust in the truth of God’s Word. This sword is not meant to be used as a weapon against our fellow Christians but against the devil.

A soldiers armor can be damaged in 2 ways.

1 by violent assault

2 by neglect

A Christians spiritual armor can be damage in the same way

1 by violent assault when you are overcome by temptation of sin

2 by neglect when you fail to perform your duty and “maintain” you armor.

In ancient and biblical times, when a soldiers armor needed repair they took it to someone who was trained to repair and work on it. When our spiritual armor is damaged we cant take it somewhere to get it fixed. We can repair it though. We can recover from a spiritual decline

How do we recover if sin is the cause of our decline?

Revelation 2:5

5 Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.