THE CHRISTIAN’S ARMOR
Ephesians 6:10-18
Ephesians 6:10-13
#1 - THE REALITY OF WAR
(An introductory message on the Christian's
armor)
The Civil War, The Spanish
- American War, World War I, World War II, The Korean War, The Vietnam War,
Desert Storm and the current action in Yugoslavia are some of the conflicts
involving Americans down through the years.
War is a reality. Even when there isn't war involving this
nation, there is war going on somewhere else in the world. And there are also the smaller wars of gang
warfare, drug warfare, and terrorism in this country and worldwide. There is
also violence in many homes.
It should come as no
surprise that the Christian is also at war.
He has peace with God.
Romans 5:1
He also has the peace of
God as he commits everything to the Lord in prayer. Philippians 4:6-7
He should have peace with
others. Romans 12:17
But in a real way, the
Christian is to be at war with Satan and his forces of evil.
We want to make you
aware of the fact that you are involved in a real war! It's a Spiritual war
against the forces of evil.
The great news, though,
is that you are guaranteed to win the war, if you simply do as you are told.
REAL POTENTIAL Vs. 10
God never intends for
any Christian to live a defeated Christian life. The God who saves you through faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ is the God who expects you to be victorious in service to
Him.
God never asks anyone to
do anything that's impossible.
But God always asks us
to do things that are impossible without His help.
Imagine me telling my
granddaughter, Nicole, "touch the ceiling".
For this little girl who
is all of a year and five months old, touching a ceiling would be
impossible. But, if I pick her up and
lift her above my head, she could easily touch a dropped ceiling.
I would never seriously
ask my granddaughter to do something that's impossible. I would ask her to do
something that was impossible without my help, expecting her to let me help
her.
One difficulty we have
as Christians is that we don't realize just how much power is available to us
for the express purpose of living a victorious Christian life!
Ephesians 1:19-23 -
Vs. 19 - This is part of
a prayer Paul prayed for the Ephesians. He wanted them to grasp or understand
the great power that has already been expressed in their behalf, and that it
was available for them to take advantage of it.
Vs. 20 - This great
power was wrought in Christ by raising Him from the dead,
and then seating Him "in the heavenly places" at God the Father's own
right hand.
Vs. 21-23 give us a
description of how tremendous accomplishment this seating of Christ in the
heavenly places is. (Read)
Also, consider the
victories promised to us in Philippians
REAL PROBLEMS Vss.
11b-12
We face the
"wiles", schemes, or methods of the devil.
The history of Satan is well
documented in Ezekiel 28:11-17, Isaiah 14:12-15 and Genesis 3:1-6.
The good news is that
Satan is not all-powerful like God.
The good news is that
Satan is not all knowing like God.
The good news is that
Satan is not present everywhere like God.
The bad news is that
Satan has a lot of help from the fallen angels who followed him in his
rebellion. These demons have quite an influence as shown in verse 12.
Satan and his forces are
enticing us to break God's commands as found in Exodus 20:1-17, and to do the
things that God hates as described in Proverbs 6:16-19
REAL PARTICIPATION Vss.
11a, 13
We can stand against the
wiles of the devil.
We can be victorious
over his vicious attacks.
God has given us the
Christian armor which includes a helmet, a shield, a breastplate, a belt and
shoes. Their purpose is to protect us from the attacks of Satan.
It is our responsibility
to make sure that we are fully clothed in this armor and to stand against the
"wiles" of the devil.
When we stand we are
holding firm, or holding the fort.
Most of you know the
story of the
When the Lord tells us
to "hold the fort" against the wiles of the devil we are not
outnumbered. He has provided all the strength that we need. He has provided us
with His strength. Our Lord never puts
us in a battle that we will lose as long as we do as He says. Our Lord tells us to use the weapons, the
armor He has provided in order to resist Satan.
We should make sure that
we have made a once and for all decision to wear and use the armor which God
has provided. Daily we should put on this armor.
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