The Art of War
Pt. 4 - Warfare Wardrobe 2
I. Introduction
In January of 2006 an article was published in the USA Today. It said . . . "After Army and Marine Corps generals were summoned Wednesday to a closed-door briefing on Capitol Hill, the brass emerged with vows to improve body armor for all U.S. troops in Iraq. Members of Congress were reacting to a newly reported analysis by the Armed Forces Medical Examiner, which concluded that 80% of the fatal injuries to Marines in the study might have been prevented by additional armor coverage. Side armor, a special concern, is just beginning to arrive in Iraq. The occupying U.S. troops soon found themselves facing deadly new tactics with inadequate armor on both their vehicles and themselves. This tragic miscalculation has had tragic consequences. To date, 1,510 soldiers and 633 Marines have died in Iraq, many of them killed by rifle shots or explosions in which better armor could have made a difference."
Better armor could have made the difference! In our case any armor could make a difference because as much time as we spend for personal protection in regards to our valuables we seem to forget that we are in a spiritual battle that also requires defensive measures to be taken. Too many of us fight naked. We never stop long enough each day to inspect our armor much less put it on.
Paul, using the Roman soldier he sees daily, begins to tell us that we have armor for the spiritual battle that we face on a daily basis. We have a wardrobe for war. Paul starts with the belt of truth because it is what everything else hangs on. He deals with protecting our heart with the breastplate of righteousness and then deals with our footwear. We should walk in peace. Let's look at the rest of the protection we are provided.
Ephesians 6:10-18 (Message)
And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels. Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life. God’s Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.
10 Finally, be strengthened in the Lord and in the strength of his power. 11 Clothe yourselves with the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens. 13 For this reason, take up the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand your ground on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm therefore, by fastening the belt of truth around your waist, by putting on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 by fitting your feet with the preparation that comes from the good news of peace, 16 and in all of this, by taking up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
It is interesting to me that the shield, helmet and sword of the Word are all grouped together. They are connected. They are linked. See if you can see the connection as we examine the shield and our helmet today.
Shield
Paul states that it is the shield that blocks or deflects the fiery darts of the enemy. I also want to just stop a moment and make sure you read it carefully . . . It stops every fiery dart. For some reason in our own life we begin to believe that there are some darts that are just too tough to stop. So because we believe that lie we take the hits repeatedly and never put up any resistance. Oh, that sin, that addiction, that challenge . . . That is too much for me.
In order to understand the how faith is a shield you must first know what faith is. Remember the writer of Hebrews states that "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." So one way to look at this is that your shield is all about perspective. Faith is how you see things. What does the enemy shoot at us? Revelation 12 tells us that our enemy is the accuser of the brethren. In other words, he is firing accusations against us. Slander. Lies. Our shield against those false accusations is our faith - perspective. We only get in trouble when we fail to operate in the right perspective! We are wounded when begin looking/focusing/obsessing and then become controlled by what we can see instead of seeing with faith to what can't be seen. We become susceptible to the onslaught of the enemy if we only operate on what we can see in the natural.
I am telling you to take up your shield when the enemy is telling you that God isn't living up to His name as provider. If you don't have your shield up (guarding your perspective), then you will believe the accusations and you will take God's role and mess things up. If you don't have the shield up, then when the enemy makes accusations against you regarding your children, then you will wreck your world trying to fix your children instead of loving them. Get your perspective right. Get your shield right. When the accusations come that your marriage is doomed raise your shield of faith and say I may not see it yet and it may seem in the natural that there is no way but my perspective is different. When the accusations of enemy speak with the voice of your doctor take up your shield of faith and hear the diagnosis but in faith deflect the arrows and believe what Jesus has said about us!
We are protected as long as we guard our perspective! Lift up your eyes - see over and through the accusations, the lies - your perspective determines your victory! For a moment recall the number of times that a change of perspective in Scripture changed the outcome of a battle . . . Elisha's servant when they are surrounded, Gideon, Peter about who he was, Paul's understanding of who he was. Over and over again enemy attacks deflected simply due to a change in perspective. Seeing things not as they are in the natural but with heavenly sight. Raise your eyes . . . Raise your shield.
Helmet
Paul's last defensive piece of armor is what he calls the helmet of salvation. We get caught up in the "salvation" part of this piece and forget that Paul says it is a helmet. Why is that description so important? I think we have a tendency to talk about giving Jesus our heart but never surrender our mind. Listen, salvation is supposed to be more than just Jesus touching or even changing your heart. Salvation is supposed impact your mind and the way that you think! That is why Paul would also say "Renew your mind."
Most of us struggle with our salvation not because Jesus hasn't dealt with our heart but rather because we won't let him deal with our mind. Salvation causes you to see things differently and the enemy cannot deal with you like he once did because you're not the same person. Too many of us experience salvation for our soul but we fail to allow salvation to deal with the carnal mind that we have lived with for so long. Do you see the connection between the shield, the helmet and the Word? Until we get an understanding of how to think we will struggle for victory.
The Word tells us that whatsoever a man thinks in his heart so is he. Too often what we allow what is in our mind to override and overrule what is true about our soul. It is still true . . . You will come out of darkness/bondage head first! Salvation has to get in your head!
I want to remind you of an Old Testament account. Saul and the soldiers of Israel are hiding in fear. The Philistine champion was a giant. David shows up and sees his nation's elite fighting men hanging out in tents. With a different perspective and a different way of thinking David steps up to the challenge of Goliath. The first thing that Saul does is he calls David to his tent and tries to outfit or clothe him in his personal armor. David tries the armor on but realizes he can't move/operate/or be effective in Saul's armor. David showed us that we can't win if we are wearing someone else's armor. It isn't enough for the person 3 seats up to be covered in armor. They can't loan you their shield, their helmet, etc. There is armor available. But Paul says clothe yourself. I can't clothe you. Mama can't clothe you. Daddy can't clothe you. Dress yourself. You need your own belt. You need your own shoes. You need your own helmet! Are you armored up today?
You can't avoid the war. You can't hide in your tent and expect it to go away. The giant, the bills, the brokenness, the temptation, the anger will show up daily and the fiery darts will come your way. However, if you will take the time to suit up you can stop every attack.
Do you need a new perspective? A new view? Is your mind saved? Salvation of your soul will keep you from going to hell! Salvation of your mind will keep you from living in hell!
