The Weapons Of Our Warfae

Valley Grove Assembly of God

May 5, 2012

The Weapons of our Warfare

Scripture: “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete. II Cor. 10:4

INTRODUCTION: There is not a day that goes by that we don’t hear the word weapons on the news. We hear about assault weapons, weapons of mass destruction, chemical weapons. On and on it goes. We live in a very dangerous world surrounded by people who want to injure and kill people for most any reason. Sometimes there is no explanation for it. They do it just because they can do it. There is no way to know where these people might set up their destructiveness at a moment’s notice. We know that Satan infiltrates our world using all kinds of things to destroy people. Scripture tell us that “the thief cometh not but to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: Jesus said, I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).

We could spend a lot of time trying to figure out why all of these evil things are happening in our world; but we are also told in I Peter 4:12, “Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to test you as though some strange thing happened to you.” We have been given hope to overcome these things in spite of what Satan tries to do against us. In John 16:33NIV, Jesus told his disciples, “I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world.” It is our job as Christians to not dwell on the whys so much but prepare ourselves to deal with how to handle things as they come our way. Jesus gives us the hope to believe that He has overcome the world in spite of what our situation looks like. Satan’s destructiveness comes in many different forms. Not only does he come in the form of terrorists throughout the world, he also attacks us in our minds causing us to doubt God. I hear Christians say, “I know God can do it, but I don’t know if He will do it for me.” Satan, more than ever, is attacking people through sickness and disease. Before Jesus went back to heaven after the resurrection He told his disciples, “I will not leave you comfortless.” I am not going to abandon you and leave you to fend for yourself. “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you” (John 14:18.) Some people will say, “the Holy Spirit is just a force, but that is not scriptural.” We know that on the day of Pentecost the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, came to guide us and direct us in our daily lives. John 16:13 says, when HE, the Spirit of truth, is come, HE will guide you into all truth.” Too often we let the things slip that we have heard and read in scripture that will help us in our warfare. Hebrews 2:1 tells us “therefore, we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.”

Romans 10:8 tells us that the “word is near thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart…” God has given us the tools to work with if we will be diligent about learning to use these weapons of our warfare effectively. Ordinary tools won’t do the job.

1. What are these tools? What are these weapons?”

There are some tools that are better known than others. For example FAITH is one we think of most often. We are reminded of a verse in Hebrews 11:1, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Faith is the CASH in hand when we go to prayer about something. Sometimes we say, “I don’t have enough faith or my faith is weak.” But our faith can work even if it is a very small amount of faith. I remember when I went to the Holy Land, we were given some mustard seeds. I had always visualized mustard seeds encased in those little plastic necklaces. How many of you had one of those? The actual mustard seeds were not as big as the one in the necklace. The actual seed was as big as a speck of black pepper. I will always remember how amazed I was to think that our faith is compared to something so small but something so effective. I put these seeds in a baggie and still have them today. We need to remember that God has given to each person “the measure of faith” for what we need to believe for. (Romans 12:3). It is not a measure but the measure. Over time our faith can grow. God doesn’t expect us to stay at the same level as we have at our starting point. Our faith grows as we use our other tool—the Word of God. “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17). If we hear what God has done in the past, hear the promises to us today, and agree that He wants to do it for us, our faith will grow. The measure of faith we have been given is a weapon that will work against the things the devil uses to try to tear us down. The word of God is different from any other book. There are many scriptures that assure us that it will work in our behalf. I like this one in Hebrews 4:12 NIV that says, “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.” Take the Words and say them aloud. There is something about taking just one verse and applying it that will cause us to believe it. Take it and say it.