October 28, 2001 Ephesians 6:17-20
“Ready for battle”
INTRODUCTION
One of the first songs that I remember singing as a little kid in church is “I’m in the Lord’s army.” It goes like this: “I’m in the Lord’s army; I’m in the Lord’s army. I may never march in the infantry, ride in the cavalry, shoot the artillery; I may never zoom o’er the enemy, but I’m in the Lord’s army. Yes Sir!” In fact, let’s try that together. [have the congregation stand and sing and do motions together] For every person that has Jesus Christ as their Savior, that song rings true. Your signature on the dotted line in which you indicated your desire for forgiveness for your sins is the same dotted line and the same signature that made you a part of God’s army. There’s a reason that we don’t sing that song anymore as adults. There’s a reason why it was just intended for children. We don’t put children on the front lines in our battle against the evil of this world. So it’s okay for them not to march in the infantry, or ride in the cavalry. It’s okay for them not to shoot the artillery or zoom over the enemy. But for us as adult Christians, we don’t have that luxury anymore. We must not only wear the uniform, but we must also fight in the war. It‘s not enough to just be a part of the army anymore and go through the drills like a good soldier. It’s time to fight.
But most of us have gone AWOL. We’ve jumped the fence; headed for Canada. And it’s not because we have a conscientous objection to war. It’s because we’re scared. We allow our fear to stop us from fighting in the war that we have been training for ever since we joined up. If things don’t change, when the battle is over, and we have been recognized by all the universe as the winners, and we stand before our Commander-in-Chief, Jesus Christ, we will have to bow our heads in shame as cowards who would not fight to defend against the enemy or gain new ground.
This morning, I want us to look at a passage of the Bible that will give us 4 reasons that will encourage us to fight in God’s army in spite of our fear. I want to help you change your designation before the Commander. I want him to be proud of you on that day just as I want him to be proud of me.
1. We have a commander-in-chief that we can trust. (Eph. 6:10)
…because He is committed to us.
A sergeant and his lieutenant were doing some survival training in the hills of Tennessee. Suddenly, they came upon a hungry grizzly bear. The lieutenant asked the sergeant what they should do. Without answering, the sergeant quickly sat down, got his running shoes out of the backpack, and proceeded to put them on. The lieutenant couldn’t believe that his sergeant would be so stupid. “Sarge”, he said, “this is a grizzly! He can run faster than either of us can. There’s no way that you can outrun him!” To which the sergeant replied, “I don’t need to run faster than the bear. I just need to run faster than you.”
Whenever armed forces enter into a wartime situation, they need to have absolute confidence in the fact that they can depend on their superior officers, especially their commander-in-chief to support them with no reservations. They need someone who is going to make sure that they have all the resources that they need to get the job done. They need someone who will not sacrifice them simply for his own political well-being. And they need someone who will go all the way for them. Thankfully, our military forces have a commander-in-chief in George Bush that they can trust to be all those things. He is committed to them, and he is committed to their mission. George Bush made it very clear, long before Sept. 11 that he was a staunch supporter of our military.
As Christians, you and I have a commander that we can count on because he is committed to us. His name is Jesus. To his disciples, Jesus said, I will never leave you, nor forsake you” (Hb. 13:5). We can claim that same promise for his followers today. In Isaiah 43:2, He says, “When you pass through the fire, I will be with you; when you pass through the waters, they will not overcome you…” Jesus is the kind of Commander that will never dessert us no matter who the enemy is that we. His last words before he returned into heaven were, “I will be with you always to the very end of the age” (Mt. 28:20). When it’s fourth down with long yardage with only 30 seconds on the clock and no timeouts - when the rest of the world has already turned off the TV because they’ve given up on you - Jesus will still be there. He is faithful. He is committed to you. Jesus was committed enough to you to sacrifice his life.
…because He has already proven himself in battle
Our Commander has proven himself in battle all the way to the very end. As Jesus began his earthly ministry, he and Satan faced off for battle in the desert. Satan used every weapon in his arsenal and every strategy and his warbook, but Jesus effectively countered each time. When Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego stood up to all the forces of evil that were against them, they were thrown into the fiery furnace. Their enemy thought that he had defeated them until he looked into the furnace and saw that reinforcements had been called in. They threw three men into the furnace, but the team was astonished to see four men walking around. He saw that they were not screaming in anguish as he had expected. They were not dying. They were walking around, untied, unburned, and talking with someone that Nebuchadnezzar described as looking “like the Son of God.” (Dan. 3:25) “When you pass through the fire, I will be with you…” (Is. 43:2) Jesus was there with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the middle of the flames. He saw them through the flames so that when Nebuchadnezzar called for them to come out that not a hair on their bodies was singed, and they didn’t even smell like smoke. (Dan. 3:27)
Do you know why God included this story and other stories of biblical characters in the Bible? Was it simply to teach us moral guidelines so we can learn from their failures and successes? Was it to give us principles to live by? If that’s the case, then we can start studying the Aesop’s fables, Mother Goose stories, and – God forbid – Barney and the Teletubbies instead of the Bible to gain principles of morality to live by! The Bible is not simply a morality play. The main reason that God included stories about Abraham, Ruth, Noah, Esther, David, Paul, Mary, Elizabeth, Peter and so many more in the Bible is so that as I examine what God has done in their lives, I can have confidence they God can do the same in my life. I can with confidence say, “He has done it before; He can do it again.” The sad thing about generals and armies is that there is no guarantee of repeat performance. Generals lose their edge and their competitiveness. This is not true with Jesus, for he is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8). He says in Mal. 3:6, “I am the LORD; I change not…” When Joshua was getting ready to invade the land of Canaan, God told him, “no man shall be able to stand before you; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you.” (Josh 1:5) Our commander has proven himself able to defeat the foes of his people in the past, and since he does not change, he is worthy of my trust to enable me to defeat the foes of today.
When Paul says, “be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might”, he is saying, “put your trust in Jesus to lead you to victory, he is totally committed to you, and he has proven himself in battle countless times in the past.”
It is a good thing that we have a commander like that – one who is totally committed to us and one who has proven himself in battle. Our enemy is stronger and more destructive than any enemy in this world. On our own, we would not have a chance against this enemy. But we are not on our own. And we have a distinct advantage over our opponent. Our opponent has already been defeated.
2. We have an opponent who has already been defeated (Eph. 6:12)
As the American gov’t was contemplating the possibility of going to war against the nation of Afghanistan, the Russian gov’t warned us not to do it – or at least not to take lightly the forces of Afghanistan. They should know what they’re talking about. They spent 10 years trying to defeat the Afghan army, and they failed. Over 18,000 Russian troops died in that war, and they had the second greatest military in the world. Though the U.S. has opposed and beaten many foes, we have never faced an enemy like this one. This one has never been defeated. It helps to know that when you go into the battle. The more that you know about who your enemy is, the better your chance of defeating that enemy.
In verse 12 of this passage, Paul describes our opponent. He says first that our struggle is not with flash and blood. [read 12a] We are not fighting against other human beings. No matter what happens, your enemy is not the person sitting across the aisle from you in this church.
After Paul clarifies that our enemy is not other human beings, he then specifies who our enemy actually is. When Paul speaks of our enemy being principalities and powers, he’s not talking about the principal at the local high school or the political powers that be, although at one time or another, you have probably considered one or both of these as your enemy. So what is Paul referring to with all these funny words and seeming mumbo jumbo? In Romans 8:38, it says, “For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come” In this verse, principalities and powers are contrasted with angels. You’ll notice that in every contrast in this verse, the items contrasted are on opposite ends of the spectrum – life and death, height and depth, now [that which is known] and the future [that which is unknown]. In each case, the contrasted items are equal to each other but totally opposite from the other. Then in Colossians 1:16, it says, “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by him and for him”. In this verse, principalities and powers are contrasted with thrones and dominions. Each item contrasted in this verse is contrasted on the basis of whether it is earthly (physical) or heavenly (spiritual). Visible is earthly; invisible is heavenly. Thrones and dominions are earthly; principalities and powers are heavenly or spiritual. So from these two verses, we can gather that principalities and powers are spiritual beings that are the opposite of angels. That would leave only one category – demons. Demons are the angels that chose to follow and serve Satan when he was kicked out of heaven. In the rest of verse 12 of Eph. 6, Paul continues to refer to demons when he speaks of “rulers of the darkness” and “spiritual hosts of wickedness”. The number one demon in the whole bunch is Satan himself. A few chapters earlier in Ephesians, Paul calls Satan “the Prince of the power of the air” (Eph. 2:2). Then in 2 Corinthians 4:4, Paul calls Satan “the god of this world”, and he says that Satan’s job is to blind men so that they cannot see the truth. He creates darkness in men’s lives so that they cannot see the light of God’s truth. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world”, and Satan’s goal is to keep men in the darkness. In this battle that we face, our enemy is not one another. Our enemy is not even unsaved men and women. We should treat unsaved men and women as innocent civilians who have been brainwashed by the enemy. Our job is not to condemn or destroy them. Our job is free them from their capture and help them to see what a tyrant he really is. Our enemy is Satan and his forces. Our enemy is spiritual not physical.
One of the movies that I enjoy watching every now and then is “Angels in the outfield”. It is the story of how the California Angels, a baseball team in last place, receives help from real angels to enable them to make it to the playoffs. As you watch that movie, it’s tempting to feel sorry for the players on the other team. After all, how in the world are you supposed to compete with angels – something that you cannot see? There’s one scene where an opposing player hits a long fly ball. Just before that ball soars over the outfield wall, and angels swoops down, lifts up the California angel outfielder by the arms 15 feet in the air, and he makes the catch. The California Angels pitcher is getting ready to throw a slow fastball in another scene when a real angel comes along and adds so much zip to the ball that it’s smoking when it reaches the catchers mitt. The other teams don’t have a chance! It’s tough fighting against an unseen opponent who has great power.
It is no accident that Paul described Satan and his demands as principalities and powers. They are very powerful. There are just as powerful as the angels who fight on our behalf. In 1 Peter 5:8, Satan is described as “a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.” He wants to destroy you. Just before Jesus died, he told Peter, “Satan has asked for you that he may sift you as wheat.” (Luke 22:31) And as much as Hollywood would have you believe that Satan and his demons are just characters on a movie screen, they are very real. Our enemy is unseen, and he is powerful.
If Satan and his forces are my enemy, and they are unseen and powerful, shouldn’t I be afraid? What would you think of the sanity of the Green Beret who, just before the beginning of the battle, goes over to the Taliban front lines, finds their biggest, toughest, meanest soldier and begins to say something like this: “Na nana boo boo! You can’t get me!” Or what about if in the heat of the war, one of the marines went over by himself to an Al Queida training camp to re-load his weapon from their ammunitions dump? Both would be rather foolish moves to make. Likewise, our enemy is a powerful and dangerous foe. We dare not treat him lightly. We dare not play around with him or anything that is associated with him such as Oijua boards, psychics, or anything associated with the New Age movement. In Jude 1:9, it says that Michael the archeangel didn’t even dare fight with a demon but turned to the battle over to Jesus. We need to have enough fear of Satan and his forces that we only venture into his camp for the purpose of rescuing a soul captured by him. (Jude 1:23)
But when I am about the Lord’s business, do I need to fear what Satan and his forces can do to me? No! The reason is that Satan and his forces are a defeated foe. Look back at Romans 8:37 – 38. These are the verses that we looked at earlier in which we saw that demons are contrasted with angels. Look one verse back (vs. 37). Its says, “We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” It goes on to say that nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Nothing is more powerful than God’s love! In Col. 2:15, it says that Jesus has disarmed principalities and powers [Satan’s forces], making a public spectacle of them, have triumphed over them. We truly have victory in Jesus! When Satan incited Judas to betray Jesus and put it in the heart of the enemies of Jesus to crucify him, Satan thought he was getting the victory. In reality, Satan sealed his own defeat. When Jesus died on the cross, he brought victory for you and for me. He broke the chains that Satan had used to hold us captive. Satan no longer has the authority to command or control us. Through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, he gained the victory for me. In James 4:7, James says that if we submit to God and resist the devil, the devil will flee from us. Satan is defeated.
The question then becomes if Satan is defeated, how come he’s still giving me such a hard time? Why is he still able to disrupt my life so? Why do I still feel the effects of his ways in my life and in my family? Perhaps a better way of looking at it would be to examine a prisoner on death row. He has been convicted of a crime – “Guilty” was the verdict of the jury, and he has been condemned to die. His fate in sealed. But between the time of his defeat and the time of his death, 10 and maybe even twenty years may pass. During that time, that doomed criminal can still affect a lot of lives. He can affect his fellow criminals, he can affect the guards, and through phone calls and the mail, he can still affect the outside world. He is doomed, but he is not dead. The same is true of Satan. He is doomed, but is not dead. The day will come when the sentence handed down by God on Satan will be carried out. (Rev 21:14) But for now, Satan is still an enemy with which we must fight. When Peter wrote that the devil is a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, he wrote that after Jesus’ death. Satan is still roaming around, and he still has teeth! That’s why we need to be prepared. That’s why we need to put on armor.
3. We have a defense that is inpenetrable. (Eph. 6:11, 13-17a)
Another one of the movies that I like to see whenever it comes on TV is “The Mighty Ducks”. It’s the story of a bunch of unorganized, undisciplined little league ice hockey players. One of the biggest problems that they had was the goalie – Goldberg. Goldberg was afraid to stand in front of the goal box because he was afraid that those little black pucks coming toward him at 100 mph were going to hurt when they hit. I don’t blame him. To alleviate his fears, the coach came up with a brilliant plan. One day at practice, after Goldberg had suited up with all his pads and helmet, the coach attached Goldberg to the goal with massive amounts of tape. Goldberg couldn’t move a muscle. He was stretched out and stuck. Then the rest of the team lined up a few yards away from him and began to fire scores of pucks at him. At first, he was screaming in fear. But after a few dozen pucks hit him, he realized that he was feeling no pain. He began to taunt his teammates and tell them to give him their best shot. But nothing affected him because he was covered with the armor.
God has given us some awesome armor that will protect us against every attack of the enemy. I’m sure that you have heard many sermons on this armor and many explanations of each piece. So we’re not going to spend a lot of time here this morning. We will do a more thorough examination tonight of each piece. For a moment though, I want you to forget the battle imagery that is presented here. Just concentrate on what this armor represents – hope, truth, righteousness, peace and faith. When you are armed with these things, Scripture records that you will be able to stop every dart that Satan throws at you. He didn’t just say some – he said all. Your defense is impenetrable.
Hockey goalies and military personnel have a lot more sense than most Christians. They know not to enter the game or the battle without the proper protection. Just as military personnel need to be adequately protected when they go into the battle, so we need to be protected when we are battling Satan and his forces. Look at verse 11 [read]. In order for us to be able to take the attacks of Satan and still remain standing, we’ve got to have on armor. Paul refers to the wiles of Satan. That means the tricks of Satan. Very rarely does Satan come at us with a frontal attack. He is a terrorist. He waits until the darkness is all around you. He hits below the belt. He comes at you from behind and when you least expect it. Then look at vs 13 [read]. He says, “takes up the whole armor”. This is not a buffet where you can pick and choose which pieces of the armor you want. It’s an all-or-nothing proposition. Each piece of armor is inter-connected with the rest. “that you may stand in the evil day”. The evil day is the day of Satan’s attack. After Satan tempted Jesus for 40 days, the Bible records that Satan left him for a more opportune time. (Lk 4:13) There was going to come a day when Jesus would feel Satan’s attack again. Jesus had to be prepared. You and I do not know when the attack is to begin. We don’t know when a pretty young secretary is going to be hired at our job. We don’t know what is going to come across the TV screen in the next moment. We don’t know when we’re going to have opportunity to tell our neighbor about Jesus and we will have to choose whether to speak up or keep our mouths shut. We have to be prepared at all times. The evil day, the day of temptation is coming. That is not in doubt. The timing is the only thing we don’t know about.
As Christians, we have a defense that is impenetrable. The armor can only protect us though if we remember to put it on. So put it on, as an act of faith and preparation every day as you get out of bed. The armor is necessary for your protection.
But as a part of God’s army, the greatest army in the universe, we are not just interested in holding our own – protecting the homeland. We want to attack evil wherever it is and destroy it. That’s where our offensive weaponry comes in.
4. We have an offense that is unstoppable (Eph 6:17b-20)
Through the military briefings, constant news reports, and magazine articles, we have learned of some of the awesome weapons which our military is using against the Taliban regime. Let me give you just a few examples. We have bombers – B52, B1 and B2, attack planes – F16, F18 Hornets, attack helicopters – including the Apache and another massive 21 ton helicopter that can carry up to 38 troops and can fire 4000 rounds of ammunition – 4000 bullets in a minute! We have remote control airplanes that can fly for up to 24 hrs at a time at 25000 ft in the air directly above the enemy lines. While they’re up there, they take live video feed and still pictures of the enemy’s activity and broadcast that video to our forces so that we know exactly what is going on in their camp. We have missiles. Tomahawk cruise missiles, costing 1 million dollars each that can be fired from 100’s of miles away and through laser targeting can still hit a relatively small building. We have missiles that can burrow into a cave or hardened bunker for up to 20 ft. and then explode. We have missiles that spray a fine mist of flammable liquid at the mouth of a cave and then ignite that mist so that all the oxygen in that cave is burned up, and the enemy inside suffocates. Massive powerful weapons!
But they are nothing in comparison to the weapons that we have been given by God. Look at them [read vs. 17b-18]. Our greatest weapons are the Word of God and prayer. Jesus said, “I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it” (Mt. 16:18) With all of our military superiority in the U.S., we have seen that we cannot guarantee that our sophisticated, laser guided weapons will get to their correct target every time. A Red Cross facility has been hit twice. Other targets have been over shot. That margin of error does not apply to God’s weapons – the Bible and prayer. In Isaiah 55:11, God says, “so is my word that goes out from my mouth; It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” This past week, I took packets of material and placed them at 225 homes in our neighborhood. In each of these packets was a flyer telling the people in that home that someone from our church had prayed for them. Along with that was a tract explaining the plan of salvation and a copy of the gospel of John. Some people would say that was a waste of time, energy and money. I don’t think so. Whenever you get the Word of God into the hands of someone at the same time that you are praying for that person, you train all the forces of God onto that person’s soul. We may have weapons that can burrow underground and into bunkers to overcome whatever is inside, but they pale in comparison to the power of God to burrow into a person’s heart and overcome obstacles and impact the soul that is inside. We have an offense that is unstoppable – not even Satan and all his forces can stop the advance of God and his army.
But what Satan and his forces cannot do, God’s people can do. God’s people can stop the advance of his church. Every now and then, in a close football game, the team with the ball will become satisfied with the score on the scoreboard, so they decide to sit on the ball. The center will snap the ball to the quarterback who will fall on the ball to protect it until the clock runs out. They could be using that time to score more points, but that’s risky. They might throw an interception, or have a fumble, or someone might get hurt. They don’t want to take chances. They’d rather play it safe. I think that’s the same strategy that we followed in Iraq. We got satisfied and sat on the ball. In a football game, that might be a wise strategy, but in a nation or a church, it’s self-destructive. For you see, every time we score a touchdown, that’s one more person that accepts Jesus Christ as Savior. As a church, and as individual Christians, we cannot afford to play it safe. We cannot afford to get comfortable with how the score board reads. We’ve got to continue putting more and more points on the board.
This morning, we have looked at 4 reasons that we can fight as a part of God’s army in spite of our fear.
1. We have a commander that we can trust – Jesus.
2. We have an opponent who has already been defeated – Satan.
3. We have a defense that is an impenetrable – truth, righteousness, salvation, peace, and faith.
4. We have an offense that is unstoppable – God’s Word and prayer.
In response to what we have looked at this moment, I want to ask you a few questions:
1. All you a member of a God’s army?
– You are either a member of God’s army or Satan’s army. Jesus said in Matthew 12:13, if you are not for me you are against me.
– Taliban soldiers will defect to the other side if the price is right. Have you?
– The amazing thing is that even while you were God’s enemy, he loved you enough to send his Son to give his life for you (Romans 5:8).
– How do you join God’s army? How do you become a member of the winning side? It’s not by baptism. That’s like putting on Army fatigues. It may make you look like a part of the Army, but it doesn’t change anything. It’s not by good works. That’s like playing war games in your backyard. The only way to join the Army is to come to the commander-in-chief and tell him that you want to switch sides. You have sinned, you were wrong, you want forgiveness, and you want to live your whole life for Jesus.
– Do you want to become a part of God’s team today?
2. Are you content to rest in the reserves?
– “During Desert Storm, some reserves were interviewed. They did not want to go to war. They had signed up for the benefits, the sign-up bonus, the college education – but one weekend a month and 2 weeks in the summer was all they had planned on giving. I know some Christians like that. They signed up for the grace, the retirement plan, the one hour a week, but don’t ask them to go to active duty. It was never part of their plan.” – Gary Cox, sermon
– All you eager to get into the action? Our soldiers on active duty were eager for the assignment to go in and take out the enemy.
– The only Christians that think Christianity is boring are those that aren’t fighting in the war. It’s a lot more exciting on the field.
– People are asking, “Is this the end?” I don’t know, but I do know that we are one day closer to the end today than we were yesterday. So whether or not it is the end of time, it must be the end of the status quo. It must be the end of the way we’ve always done it. God doesn’t have any reserve force. We have all been called to active duty. This is war!
– Are you going to respond to the call, or have you been AWOL ever since the day that you enlisted?
3. Do you feel like you and Satan have been in the battle, and your armor is about to fall off?
– In verses 19-20 out of this passage, Paul asked for a prayer for himself.
– Maybe you feel like you need to be put on the injured reserve list.
– Our responsibility as a church is to prayer for you and to help provide healing.
Do you need to join the team, are you ready to be involved in the battle, do you need the army to rally around you and protect you? Then you come.
