The Achilles Heel Syndrome

Scripture: Ephesians 6:11 – 20

Title: “The Achilles Heel Syndrome”

Introduction: There’s a mythological legend of a warrior named Achilles whose mother dipped him into the river Styx in order to make him invulnerable. The ONLY part of his body that didn’t receive the mysterious protection was his heel that was held by his mother when she dipped him in the river. Thus, later in Achilles’ life as a warrior, he was wounded in his heel which resulted in his death. This legend has produced a metaphor for a WEAK SPOT in someone’s life in our day. (That’s his “Achilles Heel”)

THE WILES OF THE DEIVL

· 1 Pet. 5:8 says the devil is our adversary, which walks about as a roaring Lion seeking who he may devour.

· Satan knows every trick in the book! – We are no match for him on our own!

· Let us never forget the FACT that Satan personally came against Jesus in the mount of Temptation. (Mt. 4:1-11)

· Satan even challenged God in heaven and in the beginning of Job.

THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD – “Unguarded spots in our life can be fatal!

· The armor Paul lists covers the very vital areas of our life!

· The Belt – “Truth” holds everything together (&) The Breastplate of Righteousness

· – Righteousness practiced by the believer protects the chest and heart from Satan.

(&) The Shoes of the Gospel – “The gospel gives our feet (and lives) support and

stability.” (&) Above ALL, The Shield of Faith – “The large (2.5 x 4 ft) Roman

shield, covered with leather, could extinguish flaming arrows.” – “Faith!”

(&) The Helmet – “The HELMET guards our mind and thoughts. / The Sword, the only offensive weapon mentioned, is the Word spoken to our hearts.

(&)The SWORD – This is the Word of God spoken to our hearts. The only offensive weapon mentioned that is connected with the armor.

PRAYER – Prayer engages & enhances the ability of each piece of God’s Armor!

· Prayer should be said on all occasions, in the power of the Spirit, persistent, and for all believers, since all are targets of Satan.

The “Achilles” Heel Problem in the Church

· All we have to do is look around to realize there are a lot of wounded Christians!

· There are way too many Christians that have perished because of being fatally wounded in the battle.

· Failure to put on the ‘whole armor’ of God has resulted in the injury & loss of life among God’s people.

· Many policemen & soldiers have died as a result of not wearing their bullet-proof vest. (What a waste as a result of Carelessness!)

· Story of the cameraman that jumped without a parachute.

LOST or DISCARDED ARMOR

· Many Christians are ‘Battle-scarred’ & ‘War-torn’ as a result of the severity of the conflict of the Spiritual Warfare in which we are all engaged!

· In ancient and Biblical times, when a soldiers armor needed repair they took it to someone who was trained to repair and work on it.

· God has given us the ability to be victorious, “Luke 10:19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”