Scripture: Ephesians 6:10 - 20
Theme: Spiritual Warfare
Title: The Fog of Spiritual Warfare
INTRO:
Grace and peace from God our Father and from Jesus Christ, our Savior and LORD who came to take away the sin of the world and grant us Abundant Life!
Have you ever heard of the name - Carl von Causenwitz? Okay, how about the name of a British Colonel by the name of Lonsdale Hale? We I hadn't heard about either one of those men. But I have heard of the phrase - "the fog of war". Carl von Causenwitz has been given credit with having the idea that goes behind the phrase - "fog of war" but Colonel Hale is the person that has been credited with actually using the phrase "fog of war".
It's been reported that Colonel Hale first coined the phrase back in 1896. He used it to describe what he considered to be at that the time the normal conditions on a battle field. "Fog of war" meant "the state of ignorance in which commanders frequently found themselves as regards the real strength and position, not only of their foes, but also of their friends." In other words there are times on the battle field and in the middle of a battle when you simply lack the necessary information concerning your own troops and the oppositions troops. At best you are working in a fog. You do your best to estimate the strength and power of your troops as well as the strength and power of your opposition.
Jesus talks about the importance of having military intelligence in Luke 14. Listen to Jesus' words:
31 “. . . suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. (Luke 14:31-32 NIV)
That is just Common Sense. If you are going into a fight one of the things that you have to know is:
+Who exactly are you fighting - who is your enemy or opposition?
+What is the intelligence and capability of their leadership
+What is the size of their fighting force
+What is the quality of their weapons
+What is their true ability to go to war
Now, of course there are other things that you have to know but those are just some of the more important ones. Remember about 25 years ago when Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein bragged about defeating America? He stated at the time that his country had the military capabilities to launch the "Mother of all battles". He boasted that in a matter of a few months he would defeat America and all its allies. He believed that no one could stop his troops.
We all know today, that the exact opposite happened. Saddam's forces were crushed and they surrendered within a few weeks. The "mother of all battles" proved to be nothing of the kind. Saddam had miscalculated the power, strength and resolve of the forces of the United States and its allies. The Iraqis had blundered into a "fog of war" and it cost them over 100,000 soldiers while the fatalities of the U. S. Army and its allies were under 400.
In our passage, the Apostle Paul is writing so that we don't fall victim to the "fog of war" when it comes to spiritual conflict. While the Apostle Paul was certainly not a professional soldier he knew a great deal about war, about war strategy and especially about dealing with spiritual warfare. Paul knew what it meant to be both victorious on the spiritual battle field and he also knew what it meant to be a victim of a spiritual battle.
The church that Paul is writing to in this letter is a church that was located in one of the places that we believe that the Apostle Paul had to spend some time in prison. Over the last few years there has been some new information concerning Paul's imprisonments. We know for example that he spent time in prison in Rome and Caesarea. We now think that one of the reasons why Paul seems so depressed and out of sorts in his 2nd letter to the Corinthians is that he was writing from the depths of an Ephesian prison. His life was on trial and there was some doubt as to whether he would be acquitted or condemned to die.
If you remember it was in Ephesus that Paul had to deal with this amazing riot. While he was preaching about Jesus a crowd started shouting out the words "GREAT IS ARTEMIS OF THE EPHESIANS". The locals who were devoted disciples of the pagan goddess "Artemis" had gotten quite upset when Paul started telling everyone that there was no such goddess as "Artemis" and that her little idols statues meant nothing. In Paul's mind, Artemis was really powerless. She really didn't exist.
Suddenly, the city of Ephesus came alive. In quick fashion thousands of people gathered at the local coliseum to proclaim their love, devotion and worship for Artemis. They were going to have nothing to do with this idea that "Artemis" was a fake. Luke tells us in Acts 19 that for over two hours thousands of people gathered to shout out as loud as they could - "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians".
The Apostle Paul found himself in deep trouble. We now think that as a result of all of this the Apostle was later imprisoned and put on trial for his life. The Ephesians wanted his head for declaring that their beloved goddess Artemis was just a fake and that her idols held no power.
We know that in time the Apostle was acquitted but only after he had to suffer the life of being a prisoner and had to live with the shadow of death hanging over him. Bible scholars tell us that all of this had an adverse effect on Paul. He had to deal with a deep period of depression and despair. His mission trip to the area of Macedonia had proven to be a very difficult one. Paul was beginning to know quite well what it meant to battle against the Devil, his legion of demons and evil. He was beginning to know quite well what it meant to go against "the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places."
With all of that in the background let's look at some things that Paul shares with us so that we will not find ourselves in our own "Christian fog of Spiritual War".
I. Spiritual Warfare Is For Real
Over the years the idea of spiritual warfare has become quite a controversial topic. Songs like "Onward Christian Soldiers", "Soldiers of Christ Arise" and "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" have either been removed from hymnals or have merely been moth balled.
It's not Spiritually PC to talk about Spiritual warfare in a lot of places. It is as though certain hidden forces would rather we didn't talk about such things or that we would merely sweep such ideas under the carpet. Some feel like all this talk about there being some kind of spiritual warfare puts Christianity in the wrong light. We are not a people going into battle. We love everyone and we tolerate everyone. We are to no longer see ourselves as warriors. All of those ideas and images are archaic. They were for people who didn't know any better.
In fact, in most places people toy around with the idea of evil and the Devil. They make cartoon characters of him, make jokes about him and allow his image to become the mascot of their sports teams. Many people pretend like the Devil and his horde of demons do not exist.
And yet, if we take the time to really look around we can see his hoof prints and those of his legion of demons everywhere. Why is it is hard for us at times to forgive one another, to pray regularly, to be faithful in our church attendance, to be faithful in our stewardship or even to be faithful in reading the Bible? Why is it that each time we get ready to do something with God, with the Church or to help our spiritual walk that we get distracted, the cell phone rings or something happens that takes our attention?
We don't think much about it but if we would write those things down we would notice that we don't get all those interruptions when we just want to sit down and watch TV or go to sleep or do something else. We can plan to go to church and on the way have a fight with our spouse or children when that doesn't happen when we go out to eat, go shopping or spend some time together.
The truth is we are in a battle. We are in a conflict. We do have an enemy. We do have a force that is coming against us as individuals, as families and as communities of faith.
+There is Evil
+There is a Devil
+There are Demons
+They are out to confuse us, create chaos and lead us to our spiritual destruction
We could say a great more about all of this but if you take a moment and allow the Truth of the Holy Spirit to speak to you then you will know that what I say is true. The Devil and his legions of demons are doing their best to destroy the Church, the Message of Jesus and to block us from walking down the Road of Holiness. And if you are a disciple of Jesus this morning, they are out to confuse you, deceive you, side track you, stop you and destroy you. They are out to make you turn from following Jesus and walk towards a life of sin. They are out to keep you from God, from the Church and from enjoying a life of holiness.
What can we do?
II. We Need To Employ God's Defense!
Paul is no one's fool. He knows that just as an army must be prepared to stop an enemy's onslaught so too must we be prepared to stop Satan's attacks. No army can fight without some type of defense. No society can exist without having some safe guards.
Think for a moment about our country (USA). Trillions of dollars have been spent and will be continually be spent making sure that we can defend ourselves against others that want to do us harm. We have things like radar, stealth bombers, aircraft carriers, submarines, missiles and a host of other things that are in place to protect us. We have hundreds of thousands of soldiers and support staff ready to go to war at a moment's notice.
Locally, we have police departments, sheriff departments along with armed security guards at all kinds of places to make sure that we are kept safe and secure. We put up barriers, set up security lights and install all kinds of locks to protect ourselves.
But have you ever taken a moment and really noticed what we protect in our country and what we don't protect in our country? Our money - Yes. Our material goods - Yes. Our buildings - Yes. Our physical bodies - Yes.
But what about our morality? What about our faith in God? What about our faith in knowing Jesus Christ as our Savior and LORD?
Paul knew that all that other stuff eventually turns to rust and dust. Even our physical bodies will turn to dust. But our spirits - they have the ability to experience everlasting life. Our spirits have the ability to put on a New Body and experience everlasting life with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit on the New Heaven and New Earth. For Paul we need to be aware that the Devil not only wants to destroy creation he wants to destroy us - he wants us to experience everlasting death with him and his demons in Hell.
And yet, we look around our country and there is very little protection when it comes to securing our nation's morals, it's life of holiness or even the sanctity of life itself. As a result we have seen the Devil and his horde of demons have free reign in our schools, our businesses, our entertainment, our sports, our law courts and sadly at times even in our churches.
The same thing was going on in Paul's time. People were more worried about protecting their stuff, their physical bodies and their money than they were their spiritual souls.
To combat all of this the Apostle Paul tells us that we must be strong in the LORD and we must put on the whole armor of God.
Now, we must understand a few things. This armor is not ours. It is not made by us. It is made by God Himself. It is God's Gift to all of us. It is a full armor. Not just a piece or two. Not just half an armor. But a full armor and each and every piece comes from the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY and is essential.
Once again let us think for a moment - about a modern day soldier. What good would it do them if they went without their combat shoes and started walking around in only their bare feet? What good would it do them if they went without their uniforms and walk around in only their underwear? What good would it do them if they went into battle without their bullet proof vests?
Each of the pieces that Paul speaks about here were part of the armor of an ancient Roman Soldier. And using that image the Apostle Paul tells us that as Christ followers we need:
+God's Truth - Belt of Truth
We need to understand that when we ask Jesus in our hearts and lives we are asking for the Way, the Truth and the Life. As a result we are not people of deception nor lies. The Gospel of Jesus is first and foremost the Truth. What Jesus says is the Truth because He is the Truth.
Everything that the Devil says and does is a lie and a falsehood. Just as a belt holds our core together so too does God's truth hold everything we do together. If we lose sight of the Bible being true, the message of Jesus being true, Heaven being true, Salvation and Holiness being true then we lose everything. We must hold on to the truth and we must allow it to protect our core.
+God's Righteousness - Breastplate of Righteousness
We also need to understand that we are people of righteousness and right living. We have been made right through the grace, mercy and love of Jesus. We have been made right through the blood of Jesus Christ.
We are "right" and we are able through God's Power and Presence to live "right". We don't live or act like the world. Just as in each army the soldiers look different so too as Christ followers we look different and we live different.
Have you ever taken the time to look at another country's uniforms? They look different than ours. Have you ever noticed that they march different and that at times they salute different than we do here in the USA?
That doesn't happen by accident. It is all by design. It enables people to know who is on their side. We do the same thing when we play sports. One team dresses differently than another team. Their uniform is different. If they didn't it would cause complete chaos and confusion.
Well, when we try to live like the world and do the things of the world then both the Church and the world get confused and chaos reigns. People are not able to see what the difference is between a Christ follower - a person who has been Born from above and a person still living in darkness. And right now, we see that happening all around us.
The Devil is working overtime to get the Church of Jesus Christ to hold on to the ways of the world in one hand and attempt to be committed to Jesus with the other hand. And it has caused some major confusion. People outside of the church don't understand why we want to wear a holiness uniform with smudges of evil on our sleeves and on our pants. They don't know why at times "salt" doesn't smell like salt and the light of Christ burns dimly.
A long time ago when the Children of Israel were trying to take the Promise Land there was a growing debate whether they should adopt the lifestyle of the Canaanites who were living there at the time. Could they follow God - the true God of Creation and also adopt the ways of the people that already lived in the Promise Land? Could they follow God and still allow loose morals and pagan worship? Pagan worship that included the sacrifice of children and promoted religious promiscuity?
Joshua gathered all the tribes together for them to make a commitment either way. He wanted them to either choose to go all out of God or else abandon God and adopt the lifestyle, the gods and the religions of the Canaanites. Joshua put the measure up for a vote.
But as Joshua put it in Joshua 24:15 - "But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD!" No matter what the popular vote was going to be, Joshua and his family were going to be 100% committed to God - the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - the One and Only God of Creation.
This morning, we have to make that commitment. There is no such thing as a weekend warrior when it comes to faith in Jesus. We can't be faithful and true on Sunday and then live for the Devil the rest of the week. Jesus says we must be sold out - Serve the LORD your God with all your heart, mind and strength.
This morning, we must be sold out - 100%. That doesn't mean we are therefore perfect but it does mean that we have drawn a line in the sand and we are going with God. It may mean that we wear an altar out - but we are determined to follow Jesus. We are determined to look like, talk like and live like a disciple of Jesus. No one is going to have to wonder if we are a Jesus Person. We are wearing proudly the breastplate of righteousness.
+ God's Peace - Shoes of Peace
Did you know one of the strangest things that happens when someone is hit by a car is that it is not uncommon for their shoes to be knocked off?
Have you ever had an argument with someone and it felt like they knocked your shoes off? They knock you off your feet?
The truth is the Devil will do anything and everything he can to knock us off of our feet. He will do everything he can to get us to get cross grained with one another. He will do everything he can to get us to fuss, complain and fight with one another. And when we do it's like trying to walk around on a battle field without shoes. We suddenly are no good to ourselves or to others.
It is during those times that we stub our toes, we cut our feet and we find ourselves more mad and angry than ever. Many of us have done something similar to that trying to navigate our way through our homes in the dark of night without any foot protection on. Most of us have done that by stepping out of the house in our bare feet only to find that we have step on some rock, gotten a thorn stuck in our feet or damaged our feet in some fashion or the other. And when that happens peace leaves. Peace of mind, peace of heart and life.
Most of us have done that when we start to fuss and fight with one another. We miscommunicate. We misspeak. We misunderstand. And instead of taking a step back we take a step out of our shoes of peace and we go at it.
The Devil can cause us to do more damage with a few words than we can fix or repair in a few weeks or months. Paul wants to remind us that it is essential for us to keep our peace keeping shoes on. We have to make sure that we stand on the Peace of Christ and walk in the Path of Peace. We have to understand that we need God's Shoes of Peace on at all times.
+ God's Faith - The Shield of Faith
The Bible tells us that Doubt and Disbelief are killers. It is imperative that we have faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus and in one another. When we put down our shields of faith is when the Devil is able to hit us with those fiery darts of doubt, despair, disappointment and depression. When we put down our faith in Christ and one another is when we allow the Devil to start picking us off one by one.
God's Shield of Faith is a life saver. The bigger the faith the bigger the shield. And just like the Romans who had the ability to lock their shields together to make this huge shield that protected them from attacks from above and all sides around them - joining our faith together protects us.
That means that we must stay close and share faith. That means that we must stay close and lean on one another. That means that we must link up and lock together. That is what true faith is all about. We are all called to being part of a faith team. We need one another.
+God's Salvation - The Helmet of Salvation
We must get it into our heads that we are Born Again - we have been redeemed and that we are now to allow the Holy Spirit to renew us into the image of Jesus Christ our Savior and LORD. We are to allow the Holy Spirit to protect and renew our minds. We must allow the Holy Spirit to put a new head covering around us from the inside out.
You see, one of the problems many people have is that after they get their hearts in the right place but they don't bring their minds around to be renewed by the Holy Spirit. They live with old minds that tell them lies and that tells that it is okay to live like the carnal man, the old self; the false self.
We need Holy Spirit head gear. We need to remind ourselves that we belong to King Jesus. We no longer wear a head gear of carnality and sin. We wear God's Helmet of Salvation. We wear His helmet of grace, mercy and love. We no longer think like the world thinks. That is to say, "No More Stinking Thinking". We begin to think Holy Spirit style. We link up our minds with the mind of Christ.
Now, that is a mere glossing over of part of our defensive equipment this morning. We could spend the rest of the day looking at each of these pieces of our spiritual armor. But those five are part of the defense that God provides for each and every one of us - Truth, Righteousness, Peace, Faith and Salvation.
There are two more things that we need to have this morning. They are:
III. We Need to Employ God's Offensive Weapons
Paul ends this section of his letter by telling us that we have two major offensive weapons. Two weapons to use to fight against the Devil and Evil. Two weapons given to us by God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit:
+THE WORD - Our Sword of the Spirit
There is one very interesting fact about God's Armor - it appears that there is nothing for our back sides. There is no back shield.
I believe that is because we are to be following Jesus and Jesus is not retreating. Jesus won the war against sin, hell and the grave on the Cross and He is not interested in retreating. We may retreat but when we do so we are an open target for the Devil. It's hard to protect yourself - front or back when you are running away from God.
Instead of retreating I believe that we are to be advancing. And one of the main ways we advance is through the Sword of the Spirit. The Better we know God's Word, the better we understand and apply the words of the Bible in our lives the better we are ready to share and live the message and life of salvation.
God has given us His Word. His Word - let me say that again - His Word.
I decided a long time ago that I was going to believe in God's Word and not be drawn into all those debates and arguments that people have about God's Word. For me the Bible is God's Word - Final. No questions.
I believe in the Bible. Period. I believe that the Bible is God's Word; His Love to Us, sharing with us how He wants to rescue us, redeem us and restore us into the image of Himself - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I believe that the Holy Spirit if I allow Him will use the Word to teach, to reproof, to correct and to train a person into a life of holiness. Period.
I think that the Devil has a done a great job in having people leave their Spiritual Swords at home and/or allowed their swords to get rusty, dirty and dull. He doesn't mind us having a Bible if we don't read it, know it or how to utilize it in our lives on a daily basis. He doesn't even mind us having Bibles in our worship settings as long as we allow them to just sit on the pews or in the racks.
What the Devil does mind is when we become Bible believing, Bible reading and Bible doing disciples of Jesus. What he does mind is when we memorize, read and apply God's Word in our everyday lives.
The Devil doesn't even mind when we read all the Biblical theology and Biblical history we can as long as we leave our Bibles laying around. He doesn't mind if we become masters of archeology and eschatology as long as we don't read all of the Bible.
The Devil knows that when he tempted Jesus in the wilderness that the Son of God defeated him each time with scripture. God's Word will send the Devil on the run. God's Word is powerful. The better we absorb God's Word the better we will live out the life of Holiness that God has called us to live.
Let's be people of the Word. Let's allow God's Word to saturate our hearts, minds and souls!
+Prayer - Praying in the Spirit
Paul ends this passage with a call to prayer. Paul wants us to understand that prayer is essential. We all know that communications on a battlefield is vital.
Any military understands that battles can be won or lost because of either good or bad communications. A great line of communications allows an army to:
1. Respond much faster to changing situations
2. Position their resources more tactically and strategically.
3. Maintain a much higher degree of unity and readiness
4. Ensure ultimate victory
How many times has the Devil used silence between us and God and us and one another to defeat us?
How long has the Devil gotten people inside the church and between denominations to give each other the silent treatment?
How long has the Devil used the lack of prayer to cause us to be afraid of one another, doubt one another and mistreat one another?
Paul knew that unless people were praying for him he was not going to make it.
Now, no one quite understands all the ends and outs of prayer. The Great Archbishop William Temple stated that while he did not fully understand prayer he did notice that the more people prayed:
+ the more things God did for them
+the more they reflected God's image
+ the more they loved others.
He also noticed that the less they prayed the less they experienced God's miracles, anointings and blessings. The less they prayed the less they loved others and the less they reflected God's Holy Image.
Why do you think that the one service that the Devil did his best to get rid of in the church was prayer meeting?
In many place the Devil could give a flip about Church's Sunday Morning Services. Too many are merely concerts followed by a small motivation message. Corporate prayer takes up only a minute or two. Sad I know, but true.
But when we get together to really pray the Devil takes notice. He knows that when we pray the Kingdom of God comes down. He knows that when the Church prays he and his legion of demons are in big trouble. He knows that when the Church prays that things happen.
So what does he do? He gets us all caught up in Sunday Morning times of songs, a little message and very little prayer time. He then gets us all convinced that is all we need. If we want to pray then we can do it quietly for a moment or two at home or on the way to work.
But think for a moment - what were the Disciples doing when Pentecost fell - Praying in One Accord.
What was the Church doing when the Angel came to rescue Peter out of Prison - Praying together.
What did Jesus do before He called His Disciples - Praying with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
More than ever today we need prayer. We need to pray in the Spirit. What that means is God's Holy Spirit is interactive with us. What that means is we are being empowered and instructed by God's Holy Spirit. We are allowing the Holy Spirit to teach us, guide us and filter our prayers.
So, this morning as we close would we pass inspection as individuals or as a faith community? Are we fully dressed with the whole armor of God? Do we have both the Sword of the LORD and are we engaged in Holy Communication?
This morning as we sing that old song - Onward, Christian Soldiers - are we ready to do battle today with evil? Are we prepared to walk together in peace? Is our minds being renewed in the Holy Spirit? Are our hearts right with God? Is Truth of Christ protecting our Core?
As we sing this song - let's take some time to allow God's Holy Spirit to inspect His armor in our lives.
Song/Open Altar/Prayer Time
