Every time we see this show of force, we can’t help but to stand in amazement of the weapons of mass destruction that this nation has at its disposal!
But as we see some of the force of our military power, we know that much of it can never be shown to the American people because the power of these weapons is so great that they would destroy spectators who are watching them displayed.
Illus: This reminds us of a cartoon in one of the newspapers when the terrorist Osama Ben Laden was being pounded in Afghanistan by the American military. These terrorists are known for suicide, and they were being trained by a terrorist leader who had explosives all over his body. And he said to them, “Watch closely, because I am only going to do this once!”
If we were to see some of the military weapons that this country has, we would only be able to see them once because it would blow the viewers to smithereens. Some of these weapons of mass destruction can only be seen on cameras from a great distance.
But as citizens of this great country, when we see this military power, we can’t help but feel good about ourselves as citizens, knowing that we have been blessed to have such powerful weapons to defend ourselves with. Of all the nations that have ever existed, no other nation had such powerful weapons as we have today to defend our nation from our enemies who would like to do us harm. The only reason we are alive and doing well today in this country is because of the military power this country possesses.
Make no mistake about it. There are countries today who would like to removes us from the face of the earth, but they know if they raise a hand against this great nation, the punishment would far outweigh what they would gain.
We ought to thank the Lord every day for blessing this country with the military power that we possess as a nation.
But what is more amazing than Uncle Sam’s show of power, is GOD’S POWER that is available to His children to protect them from the devil who would like to do them harm. This power is not only to protect Americans, but every child of God on the face of this earth. And make no mistake about it, the devil would like to wipe us from the face of this earth, but he can’t do a thing unless God allows it.
Illus: Look how he raised his hand up against that godly man in the Old Testament called Job. But he could not do a thing to Job until God allowed him to do it.
The only reason we are alive today is because of the POWER OF GOD that protects us from Satan each day.
Look at Jude 1:24-25, “Now unto him that is able to KEEP YOU FROM FALLING, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory WITH EXCEEDING JOY, To the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and for ever. Amen.”
This verse of scripture teaches the saints of God many wonderful things. The Bible teaches that God:
(1) KEEPS US - Look what the scripture says; “Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling…”
The grace that SAVES US is the same grace that KEEPS US! This verse teaches us that Christ KEEPS US FROM SIN, and He does such a thorough job, we are going to be presented to the Father-
(2) FAULTLESS
How can WE MORTALS BE PRESENTED FAULTLESS BEFORE THE FATHER, when we have so MUCH FAULT IN OUR LIVES?
• WE WHO ARE SO CARELESS
• WE WHO WANDER FROM HIS WILL SO OFTEN
• WE WHO FAIL TO OBEY HIS COMMANDS
• WE WHO MUST REPEATEDLY CONFESS OUR SIN AND RECEIVE HIS FORGIVENESS
If this is the case, and it is, HOW CAN WE BE PRESENTED FAULTLESS BEFORE GOD? We can be presented FAULTLESS before the Father because the Lord Jesus took our sins on the cross and we received His righteousness.
Now we can stand before the Holy God of heaven faultless. When God sees us, He does not see our sins, He now sees the precious blood of Christ that washed away all of our sins.
That is, the Lord Jesus is going to be able to stand us before the Holy God of heaven and say, “See these sinners? They were covered with sin.” and WITH EXCEEDING JOY He will say, “I cleansed them from their sins.”
We ought to thank the Lord every day for the LORD’S POWER that KEEPS US FROM SIN, and make it possible for us to stand before the Holy God of heaven FAULTLESS!
DOES THAT MEAN THAT AS CHRISTIANS WE DO NOT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH STANDING BEFORE GOD FAULTLESS?
When it comes to our sins, we need to consider two things:
(1) We do not have anything to do with standing before the Holy God of heaven faultless. Our past sins, present sins and our future sins are all under the blood of Christ. We are saved by His grace alone.
So when it comes to our standing before Him faultless, this has to do with the PERFECT SON OF GOD who was faultless. We stand in His righteousness. All of our sins are covered by the shed blood of the Savior.
(2) When it comes to overcoming sin in our daily life, we do have a part to play.
HOW DO WE DO THAT? We do that by putting on the whole armor of God.
I. THE WHOLE ARMOR
Look at Eph. 6:11a, we read, “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”
God has made a provision for every believer so that each one of us may withstand the attacks of Satan.
Look at 1 Cor. 10:13, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”
HOW DOES GOD GIVE US THE POWER TO OVERCOME THE THINGS THAT SATAN ATTACKS US WITH?
We “put on” the whole armor of God. This is not something He is going to make you do, it is something that you must be willing to do if you want to overcome Satan each day.
HE GIVES us the armor, but we must be willing to PUT IT ON. Let’s look at three things about His armor.
A. IT IS THE PROVIDED ARMOR
Notice, when Paul talks about the ARMOR of God he talks about the "whole armor OF GOD"
God has not left us helpless in the sight of the enemy. We need not be VICTIMS, we can be VICTORS when we are willing to “put on” the provided armor to face the attacks of the forces of wickedness.
For example, the scripture talks about THREE different kinds of spiritual armor that are PROVIDED FOR THE BELIEVER, such as:
1. THE ARMOR OF LIGHT
Rom. 13:12, “The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.”
• Notice, Paul speaks of our ARMOR as the ARMOR OF LIGHT.
• This is in contrast with the armor that Satan places on his soldiers. They wear an ARMOR OF DARKNESS.
Notice Paul said to those who are saved, “…Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness…”
In other words, the uniform that the soldiers of God wear is the ARMOR OF LIGHT. We have cast off the ARMOR OF DARKNESS that placed our lives in the bondage of sin.
The second kind of armor Christians are to wear is -
2. THE ARMOR OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
Look at 2 Cor. 6:7, “By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,”
Righteous living is the manner in which Christians live their lives. Not only have we had His righteousness IMPUTED to us, but also we NOW LIVE RIGHT!
Many professing Christians today are wondering why they are suffering defeat after defeat in their lives. The reason is simple, they are not LIVING RIGHT. They need to get before God and once and for all, take the ARMOR OF DARKNESS and dispose of it and put on the WHOLE ARMOR OF LIGHT and RIGHTEOUSNESS.
The third kind of armor the Bible mentions is -
3. THE ARMOR OF GOD
Eph. 6:11,13, “...Put on the whole armour of God....” Paul significantly lists it as the "whole armor of God" for it is provided by the Lord as a seven fold arrangement to suit the Christian soldier for the battle.
The word "whole" means complete, or entire. The Lord has thus provided us all the equipment we need for the warfare, both DEFENSIVE and OFFENSIVE.
Look at THE PROVIDED ARMOR. When we “put on” the armor of God we are to “put on” the….
• GIRDLE OF TRUTH – v. 14a
• BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS – v. 14b
• GOSPEL BOOTS – v. 15
• SHIELD OF FAITH – v. 16a
• HELMET OF SALVATION – v. 17a
• SWORD OF THE SPIRIT – v. 17b
• SUPPLICATION – v. 18
Each piece of the armor was designed to make the Christian victorious over Satan. It is THE PROVIDED ARMOR and it is ...
B. THE PROCURED ARMOR
Look at Ephesians 6:11, we read, "Put on" The words “Put on” are a command, but it is a voluntary command.
• To “Put on” implies this is something we are to do
• It is not something we have to do
Paul reveals that every believer must "put on" or appropriate this armor for himself. Notice what this armor does for us.
C. THE PROTECTING ARMOR
Verse 11 says that we, "May be able to stand against…" Now if you are not standing as a Christian, it is obvious the reason is because you do not have the whole armor of God on. The only real protection for a Christian Soldier in battle is the "whole armor of God."
Why does God provide THE WHOLE ARMOR? Because of -
II. THE WILES OF THE DEVIL
Look at Eph. 6:11, we read, “…wiles of the devil" Paul enlists these believers to put on the "whole armor" so that they might be able to stand against the "wiles" of the devil.
The word “wiles” means trickery, or lie in wait. Something you might not know as a Christian is this; every day of your life Satan is waiting to see how he can trick you and deceive you. He does this in THREE ways.
Look at John 2:16, we read, “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.”
Notice, three things about the way he tricks us. He works on our-
A. APPETITE
We read, "the lust of the flesh" The most prevalent wile of the devil is listed first.
The word "lust" in 1 John 2:16 is the Greek word, “epithumia” and it means a longing for, or desire after, especially what is forbidden.
Usually the word "lust" is used in our society to refer to sexual desire. This word lust includes that, yet it goes beyond that. It signifies all the bodily appetites. It refers to the appetite of the flesh, which if not restrained under the Lordship of Christ leads into sin and uncleanness.
We must remember that we are created with desires that are not wrong. Yet Satan appeals to those desires and seeks to pervert them so that we might venture beyond the boundaries of God’s will.
• In James 1:14-15, we learn from Scripture that Satan appeals to our flesh
• In Galatians 5:16 though, we learn the only remedy for the enticement that comes through the lust of the flesh is to "walk in the Spirit”
Through the Holy Spirit’s direction and power we can say no to the APPETITES of our flesh. Satan works through our APPETITES and through -
B. APPEARANCE
The second wile is the trick of APPEARANCE. This comes through the avenue of the eye gate, or the "lust of the eyes." The devil is a master at taking something dreadful or ugly and making it look good.
One of Satan’s appeals to Eve was through the lust of the eyes. Look at Gen. 3:6 "When the woman SAW that the tree was good for food, and PLEASANT TO THE EYES. . ."
Your eyes can have an appetite. That is why we use the expression, “feast your eyes on this”
We sometimes hear men say, "It doesn’t hurt to look". I believe that you would have a difficult time convincing the people of the Scripture who were lured into sin from the lust of the eyes, that it doesn’t hurt to look.
• ACHAN SAW THE GOODS OF JERICHO (Josh 7:21).
This fatal look caused him to covet the spoils that were forbidden. It caused God’s judgment to rest upon the nation at Ai (Joshua 7:1 13), and eventually brought about the death of his entire family.
• DAVID "SAW A WOMAN" (2 Sam 11:2).
This fatal look led this godly king down a pathway of adultery, murder, and hypocrisy. It brought about a lifetime of heartache and heartbreak both to him and his entire family. The sword of God’s chastening hung heavy over the household of David (2 Sam. 12:9 14).
• LOT LOOKED TOWARD SODOM (Gen 13:10).
From the very moment Lot set his eyes upon Sodom, he set his affections on things below, on the financial, not the moral or the spiritual. Just that moment of ‘looking’ would cause his children and his wife a mountain of misery in the days ahead.
The devil deceives through APPETITES, APPEARANCE, and -
C. ARROGANCE
Look at the Word of God, we read, "The pride of life"
The third wile from Satan included in the system of the world is the snare of pride. When the serpent appealed to Eve, the fruit she saw was a fruit to be desired to "make one wise." (Gen. 3:6)
It is sinful pride that elevates the ego and exhibits a superior attitude. It is pride that displays itself, and seeks to impress other people.
Many Christians spend their livelihood ....
• TRYING TO BUY THINGS THEY CAN’T AFFORD
• WITH MONEY THEY DON’T HAVE
• TO IMPRESS PEOPLE THEY DON’T EVEN LIKE
Illus: Dr. Harold Sightler took these three avenues and applied them to the three stages of life.
• LUST OF THE FLESH OVERTAKES US IN OUR YOUTH
• LUST OF THE EYES OVERTAKES US IN MID LIFE
• THE PRIDE OF LIFE OVERTAKES US IN OUR OLD AGE
God provides THE WHOLE ARMOR because of THE WILES OF THE DEVIL. We use the armor as we engage in....
III. THE WRESTLING OF COMBAT
Look at Eph. 6:12, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
The word "wrestle" refers to a personal encounter, or a hand to hand combat with the forces of wickedness.
There are TWO terms in this passage which outline the reality of the struggle of the believer. The first word is ...
A. STAND
Look at Eph. 6:11, we read, “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to STAND against the wiles of the devil.”
It is interesting that the first word which is identifiable in relation to the conflict is "stand." This shows the world ....
• WHO WE STAND FOR
• WHAT WE STAND FOR
Notice, in this instruction to the Christian soldier in battle, we are not told to attack the enemy, but rather to stand against his attacks. We are to STAND and we are to ....
B. WITHSTAND
Look at Eph. 6:13, we read, “Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the EVIL DAY, and having done all, to stand.”
To withstand is to oppose or resist with determination. The "evil day" is a reference to this present evil age.
As we get closer to the second coming of Christ, we can expect an increase in demonic activity. If we avail ourselves of the strength of the Lord and arm ourselves in the armor of God, we can withstand the oncoming attacks.
When everything has been done to arm yourself in the battle, and to weather the attacks of the enemy, then we must still remain in position. It takes resolution to ....
• STAND WHEN OTHERS RUN
• PRESS ON WHEN OTHERS QUIT
• SPEAK UP WHEN OTHERS HAVE SHUT UP!
Conclusion:
I. THE WHOLE ARMOR
II. THE WILES OF THE DEVIL
III. THE WRESTLING OF COMBAT
Illus: "During the War Between the States," writes Gary Redding, "a Union Soldier from Ohio was shot in the arm during the battle of Shiloh. His captain saw he was wounded and barked an order" ‘Gimme your gun, private, and get to the rear!’ The private handed over his rifle and ran toward the north, seeking safety. But after covering two or three hundred yards, he came upon another skirmish. Then he ran to the east into another part of the battle. Then he ran west but encountered more fighting there. Finally, he ran back to the front lines, shouting: ‘Gimme back my gun, cap’n. There ain’t no rear to this battle!’" When it comes to spiritual warfare there "just ain’t no rear!"
