Battle Gear pt 3
At the beginning of world war II, France believed that they were safe
against Germany behind the Maginot line. The Maginot line was a defensive line
built in the 1930’s. It stretched for over 200 miles on the NE border of France. It
was state-of-the-art, built of thick concrete with heavy guns, living quarters, store
houses and underground rail lines. It was designed to hold off any German
attack. The Germans however defeated this fortified defense by simply going
around it through the Ardennes forest, which the French considered
impenetrable. By using superior aircraft and armored tank divisions, something
the French were not prepared for, the German army overcame this defensive
line simply by avoiding it. In the end, the maginot line was useless and France
surrendered to the enemy.
France fell in defeat because they underestimated their enemy and relied
on the wrong weapons. They did not anticipate the attack their enemy used.
They thought they were protected. We too are in a war, a war against Satan
and his legions of demons. We must also be careful to not make these same
mistakes. In order to defeat the attacks of our enemy, we must be armed with the
right weapons and armor. We must not underestimate our enemy’s intelligence
and cleverness. And, we must not rely on our own weapons and armor. As we
have said the last 2 weeks, the Bible tells us we are only sheep in this war and
have no armor of our own. We must rely on the armor, and the strength of God
in order to defeat the attacks of our enemy, Satan.
We have been looking at Ephesians, chapter 6 verses 10-20. Paul tells
us here that we are in a battle with the unseen forces of the spirit world, and that
we must put on the full armor of God in order to hold our ground and stand fast
against the attack of our the enemy. He then lists the pieces of this armor,
comparing them to the armor of the Roman soldier. We have already looked at
the first 3 pieces of that armor, the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness
and the boots of peace. Today we look at the remaining pieces of our armor.
The shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit. and a
secret weapon we have in this battle.
The first 3 pieces of our armor are things that must be put on and worn all
the time, by the Roman soldier, as well as us, they are never taken off. The next
3 however, were only taken up when the actual fighting was about to begin.
Now remember, Paul is writing this as he is actually chained to a Roman
soldier, one of the best fighting soldiers in the world at that time, and he is
comparing the weapons and armor of this mighty warrior to the spiritual weapons
and armor that we must have in our battle. The 4th piece of armor Paul
describes is the shield of faith. Now a Roman soldier had 2 different types of
shields that he would use. The 1st was a smaller shield, about 2 feet in diameter
which was strapped to the arm and was used in close combat. The shield Paul is
referring to, however, was a much larger shield, about 2-1/2 feet wide and 4-1/2
tall. It was made of wood and covered with leather or metal. What happened
during times of combat was that the enemy forces would launch a barrage of
arrows toward their enemies soldiers. Often these arrows were wrapped in
pieces of cloth and soaked in pitch. The tips would then be set on fire and the
arrows would then be shot at the enemy. These flaming missiles could inflict
serious damage on unprotected troops. The Roman soldier would stand behind
these large shields to protect themselves from these flaming arrows. The shields
were designed so that the arrows when striking the shields would be put out by
the leather covering on the shield which was often soaked with water.
Our shield, is the shield of faith. When Satan launches his flaming arrows
or darts at us we have our shield of faith to protect us. And what are these
flaming darts? Well, how about doubts, discouragement, depression, fear,
feelings of hopelessness, guilt, shame, greed, lust, pride, stubbornness, not
trusting and the list goes on. The shield of faith is a shield of trust. We are told to
walk by faith, putting our trust in the Lord. Believing in God to take care of our
every need. Having faith that no matter what happens to us, God will be there to
help us through. By using the shield of faith, we are able to extinguish all the
flaming arrows of Satan. When we are attacked with doubts, worry,
discouragement, temptations, guilt and shame. When Satan fires his flaming
arrows at our church, our families, our jobs. and all the other arrows launched at
us, we are able to stand behind our faith and trust in God believing in God and
his ability to protect us and having confidence in his word. Psalm 91 says “We
live within the shadow of the Almighty, sheltered by the God who is above all
gods. This I declare, that he alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my
God, and I am trusting him. For he rescues you from every trap, and protects
you from the fatal plague. He will shield you with his wings! They will shelter
you. His faithful promises are your armor”.
Our 5th piece of armor is the helmet of salvation. The helmet of a soldier
protected his head. Even today, the helmet is a vital part of a soldiers armor. No
soldier in his right mind would go into battle without his helmet. The helmet
gives the soldier a certain amount of confidence. The helmet of salvation gives
us confidence in Christ. We have been saved by what Christ did for us on the
cross. No one can take that away. The helmet of salvation protects our minds
from the attacks of our enemy. Satan seeks to strike us with discouragement
and doubt. He loves to point out our failures and faults and anything else that
seems negative. He wants us to doubt our salvation, to doubt God’s goodness,
to doubt God’s word, to be just generally depressed. Satan will try by every
means at his disposal to discourage and defeat us. But is will be the helmet of
salvation which will give us our assurance in Christ. Jesus died on the Cross in
order to give us this helmet of salvation. When he died on that cross, He made
the greatest statement about His love for us and about His desire to save us that
could ever be made. If you want assurance, look to the cross. Jesus died there
for you. Salvation is not only the forgiveness of past sins, it is the strength to
overcome, even conquer, present and future sins. The helmet of salvation gives
us confidence in our eternal security. God loves us so much that he did not even
spare his own son for us, but gave him for you. And if God is for us.....who can
be against us?
Now so far, all the pieces of armor that we have talked about have been
defensive in nature. A protection against the attacks that we face. But we also
have an offensive weapon in our armor, what Paul calls the sword of the spirit or
the word of God. The sword that the Roman soldier used was a short 18” sword
that was razor sharp on both sides. It was used both offensively and defensively
and it was deadly. Our sword is the word of God. The Greek translation that is
used here for word is hray-may, and it means to utter, to pronounce or speak. It
means the actual saying or speaking the word of God. Hebrews 4:12 says “For
the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double edged sword, it
penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the
thoughts and attitudes of the heart”. Jesus used this spiritual weapon when he
was tempted by Satan in the desert. Each time Satan attempted to deliver a
blow, Jesus blocked the attack with the word of God, quoting scripture. In every
encounter He went on the offensive speaking the word of God. When Satan
comes at you again and again and again, follow Jesus’s example. In Matthew
4:10 and 11 Jesus said “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the
Lord your God, and serve him only’”. Then the devil left him. “
Using a sword is something that takes time and practice. A soldier must
practice using his sword, practice the defensive and offensive moves to defeat
his enemy. In order to use our sword, we must also practice and use it. That
means being in the word every day. Memorizing God’s word. Knowing and
understanding the Bible. By becoming familiar with the Word of God, you are
storing away spiritual weapons for the Spirit to use. He will bring to your mind
those passages which apply to the situation you are facing. Your mind will be
trained to think like God thinks. You will be able to pierce through the lies and
deceptions of the enemy. Jesus knew the word of God and was able to defend
and attack the devil, using the scriptures to attack and drive His enemy away.
When we come under attack, we must use our armor to defend ourselves
and know and use the spoken word of God to counter-attack and drive our
enemy away. The word of God is a powerful weapon in our unseen battle.
The other weapon we have in our war, our secret weapon in our battle is
praying in the Spirit. In the NIV Bible Paul says: “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”. Paul tells us to pray, pray, and pray,
and then pray some more. It is said that all of hell trembles when we pray. I
could go into a another whole message about this, but we’ll save that for another
time.
We are in a battle, a war. When we accept Christ, we become the front
line soldiers in the unseen battle of the spirit world. The only problem is, is that
we are sheep. So God gives us the armor and weapons we need to fight this
war. He gives us the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the boots of
peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit and
the power of prayer. It is up to us to put that armor on. With this armor we can
defend and defeat any attack Satan may throw at us. Without it, we are
defenseless against His tricks, temptations, deceit, discouragement, and lies.
And we will fall victim to his attacks.
We have the power of the living God available to us. Jesus has already
won the war, the victory is ours! Put on the armor of God. Put on the strength
and power of Jesus Christ. And we will have victory in our battle.
