How to Live A Victorious Life (Part 2)
A couple of weeks ago I went with my roommates to a house out in Millbrook where I joined a group of Air Force Lieutenants in playing paintball. Now I have played paintball before, but this was different. This was more like real war than playing paintball at a paintball organization. We played on a plot of wooded land that was about 15 acres in size. We had two teams of about seven people and we played a game of single elimination where when you get hit once, your out. Now the playing area that we played in offered a jungle-like atmosphere in which you could creep through the woods and sneak up on the enemy camp and bombard them with paintballs and then retreat into the thicket. It was great fun. We played for about 6 hours and I think that my adrenaline was pumping throughout the entire time. The guys that I played with were experienced paintball players. They took the game very seriously. If you were out of ammo on the field, they would shoot you and say, “hey, that’s the reality of war.” I failed in trying to reason with them and convincing them that it wasn’t really a war.
I have plans of buying paintball equipment and begin playing regularly because it is so much fun. You get the sense of engaging in a real battle. You know, life is like paintball because you get the sense that you are engaging in a battle. The difference between paintball and life is that in paintball the battle is fake, but in life, the battle is real. Listen to what Paul writes the the book of Ephesians.
“Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand.
–Eph 6:10-13
Notice how many times Paul says the word “against.” He says it 6 times two verses. When I was on the paintball field, I knew what team I was on and I knew who the enemy was. Paul is saying, this is the team you are on and this is who the enemy is:
1. “not against flesh and blood”
2. “against the schemes of the devil”
3. “against principalities”
4. “against powers”
5. “against the rulers of the darkness of this age”
6. “against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
The first thing he tells us is that the enemy is not flesh and blood, it’s not other people. Paul constantly encourages us to live together in love and unity, always encouraging one another and never tearing one another down. Why? Because we are on the same team. And as teammates, we need to come together in unity and constantly lift one another up and encourage one another. That’s what a good teammate does. So people are not the enemy. Then who is?
Paul says that the battle is against:
· The schemes of the devil – The devil is a skilled schemer
· Principalities – The enemy is strategic and organized
· Powers – The enemy has power, not more than God, but power nonetheless
· Rulers of the darkness of this age
· Spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places – The enemy is a spiritual enemy; this is a spiritual war.
So now that we have identified who the enemy is and who the enemy is not, now we can plan for battle.
When we played paintball, the team I was on always won. In fact, we won so badly every time that the other team convinced us to change up the teams. We had a guy on our team that was skilled in the art of military tactics. He would say, “You two go slowly up the middle until you draw enemy fire, then hold your ground. You two flank wide left and come in from an angle behind them and wait until you see us attack. Jesse and I will flank wide right and attack them from the side. When all of you see that, hit em’ with everything you got.”
It worked every time! When engaged in battle, you must be able to come up with an effective strategy to be able to be victorious. Once Paul identifies the enemy, he gives us the strategy for victory. He says,
“Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, stand.” Eph 6:13
He says, “the first thing that you are going to need is some armor.” But notice that he doesn’t say that you are going to need this armor so that you can go out into the battle and kick the enemies butt. He says that you will need it to hold your ground and stand firm when evil comes.
This spiritual war is not one that we are going out to fight. We are the battleground and when the enemy attacks us, we are called to stand firm and hold our ground. But in order to do so, we must have the proper armor. Let me finish reading the passage:
“Stand therefore, and put on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all taking up the shield of faith, with which you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.”
Today we wear belts mostly for fashion purposes, but they were originally designed to hold the pants up because without them, the pants would fall down, and then you would be “exposed.” In the same way, when we don’t know the Truth, we are exposed to all the lies that the world shovels on our plate. First and foremost, we must know the Truth.
Now I want to say two things about the truth and then we will be done here for now:
1. Jesus said, “I am the Truth.” (Jn.14:6)
The very first thing that has to be in order before we can live as victorious soldiers in this battle is the we know Jesus Christ. Knowing about Jesus Christ will never be enough. We have to cultivate a personal relationship with Him through the reading of the Word and prayer. That has to come first.
2. We must know the truth of God’s Word
As a soldier in God’s army, we need to know the truth of who we are in Christ.
· Romans 8:37- “We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”
· Phillipians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
· 1 Jn. 4:4 “You are of God, little children, and have overcome the enemy, because He that is in you is greater than he that is in the world.”
· Jn. 16:33 “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
The belt must come first. When he belt is on securely, the rest of the armor will stay on snug when the battle is raging. There is truly a very real, very serious battle going on all around us. Don’t let the fact that you cannot see it with the physical eye trick you into thinking that it doesn’t exist because it does. And we have to be prepared for it, or else we are going to get out buts kicked.
“Be STRONG in the Lord and the POWER of His Might!”
