Brace Yourself For Battle
[Editor's Note: Please see the information regarding this sermon and all those in the series entitled: How To Meet And Defeat The Enemy, at the end of this message.]
Introduction
Ephesians 6:10-20 (NKJV)
"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. "Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints-and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak" (Ephesians 6:10-20, NKJV).
Throughout one of the gloomiest periods of the Second World War, following the collapse of France and prior to America's involvement, Winston Churchill wrote that the question in the minds of both friends and foes was this: "Will Britain surrender too?" At that time he made a speech that included this statement: "What General Weygand called the Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization."[1]
It has been said, "The Christian life is not a playground-it's a battleground." Therefore if you are a Christian, you are in a battle on this battlefield. Upon this battle depends the serenity of your heart, the satisfaction of your marriage, the safety of your children, the security of your home, and the success of your life.
You are engaged in spiritual warfare. However, many Christians, perhaps more than care to admit, do not even realize it. In fact, this is a key problem. Many of God's soldiers are asleep in the barracks when they ought to be aggressively attacking on the battlefield. The cause for many Christians losing their battle with Satan on a daily basis is they are not even showing up for the war. As a matter of fact, it appears as though many Christians do not even realize there is a war waging.
I once heard about a driver who was obviously drunk and heading the wrong way down a one-way street when a policeman pulled him over. "Didn't you see the arrow, buddy?" the policeman asked. "An arrow?" the puzzled driver said. "I didn't even see the Indians."
I am gravely troubled because there are a lot of Christians who don't realize who their enemy is; they don't realize there is a war waging; they do not understand that every single day they are in a fight for their spiritual life. Someone has stated the problem well: "Much of the church's warfare today is fought by blindfolded soldiers who cannot see the forces ranged against them; who are buffeted by invisible opponents and respond by striking one another."
The great military general, Douglas MacArthur, said in his 1951 farewell address to Congress, "In war there is no substitute for victory." That statement is certainly applicable in the spiritual warfare we find ourselves in as born-again believers. If you are a Christian, I want you to know that in your war, it is God's sovereign will for you to be triumphant. Furthermore, it is about time that many Christians stop regretfully retreating and begin courageously charging. There are too many of God's children who are letting the devil defeat them when they ought to be defeating the devil.
Adrian Rogers, the pastor emeritus of Bellevue Baptist Church, once told the true story of a football player who graduated from college. The coach then asked him if he would like to come on staff, be a scout, and try to find other good football players. He said, "Sure coach, what kind of a player are you looking for?"
The coach replied, "Well, there's the kind of guy that when you knock him down, he just stays down. "He answered, "We don't want him, do we, coach?" The coach said, "No, we don't want him. But then there's the kind of guy that when you knock him down, he gets up. But if you knock him down the second time, he just stays down."
The man answered, "We don't want him either, do we, coach?"
The coach said, "No, we don't want him either. But there's the kind of guy that when you knock him down, he gets up; you knock him down, and he gets up; you knock him down again, and he just keeps getting up." The man answered, "Now that's the guy we want, right, coach?" The coach said, "No, we don't want him either. What I want you to do is find the guy who's knocking all these other guys down. That's the guy I want."
I personally think it is high time that Christian people get off of the defense and go on the offense. Far too many Christians are staggering into heaven as crushed saints, when they ought to be soaring into heaven as conquering soldiers. In the following chapters, I want to share with you how to brace yourself for battle on a day-to-day basis so that you can be victorious in this spiritual conflict.
I. Realize The Fight Wage In Life
This war is very different from other wars that have been waged in history, simply because it is a spiritual war. In his epistle to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul wrote, "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Eph. 6:12, NKJV).
The fight that Paul is speaking of is going on at this very moment, right now in your life. Now understand that you may not be able to see the bullets that are continuously being fired, or the bombs bursting in the atmosphere above you, but the war is real just the same. It is being fought in your home. Today, that is why we see Christian marriages falling apart in record numbers, and also why Christian children are defying the authority of their parents.
This war is waging in your head. That is why even preachers of the Gospel are being thrown into the prison of pornography and being ambushed by adultery. It is taking place in your heart. That is why all of us have to genuinely struggle every single day to be virtuous rather than violent. However, just because this war is imperceptible does not suggest that it's nonexistent. If you don't believe there is a war raging, just take a look at your morning newspaper and you will see the effects of this war in such things as drug abuse, murder, prostitution, rape, terrorism, theft, and child molestation. These are the dreadful displays that are exhibited by this horrendous war.
You must also realize that every single Christian is in this war; every Christian has to go to battle. There are no deferments and no discharges in God's army. If you are a Christian, you better get ready to fight because you're "in the army now."
Paul clearly stated, "we do not wrestle against flesh and blood ..." (Eph. 6:12, NKJV; emphasis added). So take into consideration that when you give your heart and life to Jesus Christ, you do not get into a club, you get into a conflict. Besides, God not only puts salvation in your heart, He puts a sword in your hand. When Paul came to the end of life's journey, he said, "I have fought the good fight" (2 Tim. 4:7, NKJV). He also exhorted young Timothy, his son in the ministry, "to fight the good fight of faith" (1 Tim. 6:12, NKJV).
I want to reiterate that the problem is, we have got too many so-called "soldiers of the Cross" who are asleep in the barracks rather than fighting on the battlefield, and many of whom give up without even firing the first shot. In fact, there are perhaps some of you reading this book wondering what I'm talking about, because you never feel like you're engaged in a war. Thus, the reason many of you don't feel that you're a part of this war is because you have put down your weapons and essentially gone the way of the world. To tell the truth, the reason you and the devil get along so well is that you are both roaming the same road.
I want you to know that if you are a blood-bought, born-again child of God, you are in the war. You may be a runaway, you may be a deserter, you may be AWOL, but you are in the war nonetheless. You cannot straddle the fence in this war. You cannot be like Switzerland; you cannot remain neutral. You're either on one side or the other. You are either for God or against God. There is absolutely no middle ground. Therefore, you had better be on your guard at every moment, and realize the fight you wage in life.
II. Recognize The Foe You Wrestle In Life
General Douglas MacArthur, whom I mentioned earlier, once wrote a tremendous article entitled "Requisites for Military Success," in which he gave the four specific requirements that he considered imperative to fulfill in order to be victorious in battle.
First of all, he said that there must be morale: a will to win, an esprit de corps, a cause worth dying for. Secondly, there must be strength: capabilities, adequately trained and well-equipped personnel. Thirdly, he said there must be an adequate source of supply. Lifelines must be kept open so that those at the front can obtain all that they need to conquer and defeat the enemy. However, he said that the most important principle was this: "The greater the knowledge of the enemy, the greater the potential of victory."
The Apostle Paul tells us exactly who our enemy is. He says, "Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of The devil" (Eph. 6:11, NKJV). Now I must be very careful as I discuss the devil. Often it seems as though people tend to go to one of two extremes when thinking of the one called Satan. For example, on the one hand, many people pay no attention to the devil; some even make light of him. They visualize the devil as some type of mythological figure, like Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy. In fact, I once heard about two six-year-olds that struggled with the problem of the existence of the devil. One boy said, "Oh, there isn't any devil." The other, rather upset, said, "What do you mean, there isn't any devil? It talks about him all the way through the Bible!" The first replied, "Oh, that's not true, you know. It's just like Santa Claus; the devil turns out to be your dad." But I want you to know unashamedly that Satan is not merely a flesh-and-blood human, nor is he a perception of evil. He is a living, personal, literal being with the ability to control people and to carry out many evil deeds. There is a personal devil, just as there is a personal God.
However, there is another extreme we should avoid when thinking of the devil, and that is the extreme of being overzealous about him. There are some Christians who are absolutely fanatical when it comes to the devil. One time I read about a woman that went to a church picnic, where the ladies were having a covered dish luncheon. When she walked in, one of these super spiritual ladies walked up to her and said, "What did you bring for lunch?" She said, "Deviled eggs." Well, without delay this woman flung her hands up and shouted, "I bind every one of them in the name of Jesus!" But I like what this dear lady said back to her. She said, "You can bind them all you want to, but they're still deviled eggs." As someone once said, "I want to give the devil his due, but I don't want to give the devil the farm." You definitely need to know who he is. We are plainly told in Ephesians 6:12 that our battle is against "spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." So that tells me that Satan is a spiritual being, but it also tells me that not everything spiritual is inevitably good. But it shouldn't shock you that your fight is spiritual, because your foe is spiritual as well.
Now you can't fight Satan on a natural plain; he must be fought on a supernatural plain. You need to realize that you cannot win your war against Satan by total determination alone. He shakes at the sight of the breastplate of righteousness. He shivers before the shield of faith. He shudders before the sword of the spirit. But those are the only weapons that he is afraid of, and those are the only weapons that will work because he is a spiritual foe.
The devil is not an enemy to be played with. The Word of God tells us that our war is against "principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age" (Eph. 6:12, NKJV). Therefore, don't underestimate the power of the devil. Don't ever assume that you can deal with him on your own, because you can't. By yourself, in your human flesh, he will always defeat you.
We are also admonished to "stand against the wiles of the devil" (Eph. 6:11, NKJV; emphasis added). The Greek word for "wiles" gives us our English word "method." It literally means "deceit or trickery." The New International Version translates it this way: "Take your stand against the devil's schemes." Satan has been called "the master of deception." In fact, he has even deceived us in the way we envision him. When we hear someone speak of the devil, we normally conjure up the picture in our mind of a little man wearing long red underwear, with horns on his head, a forked tail, and a pitchfork in his hand, walking around looking for somebody bending over. A lot of people will look at a picture of the devil on the side of a deviled meat food product and remark, "I don't believe in that kind of devil." Well, I want to be totally honest. I don't believe in that kind of devil either.
Second Corinthians 11:14 says that "Satan transforms himself into an angel of light." If you could see the devil right now in bodily form, it would surprise you how delightful he would look. It would even surprise you how kind and courteous he could seem to be. As a matter of fact, you would never know that he is the most evil force on the planet.
You need to know that this devil is only interested in evil and obscurity. We are so keen on saying that "God loves you and has a glorious plan for your life." Perhaps we should add to that this reminder: "Satan hates you and has an evil plan for your life." You can mark this down. You can take this to the bank, and it will definitely draw interest. The devil is doing everything he can at this very moment to either take you to hell or, if you're going to heaven, to make your journey miserable.
God wants you to be victorious and virtuous. Satan wants you to be sad and sinful. If you are not saved, he will do all that he can to make certain you go to hell; and if you are saved, he will do everything he can to make you sin and cause you to lose the joy of your salvation. As I converse about the devil, I understand that many of you could be intimidated because he is so compelling. But that is why we need not ignore the last principle in the following chapter.
II. Receive The Freedom You Want In Life
You should appreciate the benefits and blessings you have in Christ Jesus, and claim the victory that rightly belongs to you and every other Christian. Paul says, "Put on the whole armor of God" (Eph.
6:11, NKJV). Literally what he is saying is this: "Put on the whole armor of God and keep it on." In this spiritual conflict, there are no cease-fires. There are no furloughs. There are no leaves of absence. There are no truces. You have got to keep your armor on and your guard up. You can never rest. You can never relax. You can never let your guard down; because if you do, Satan will surely sucker- punch you where it hurts. He will attack you at your weakest moment when you are least expecting it.
Thus I am telling you Satan is fierce. The devil is fatal. Old Lucifer is ferocious. This wicked one is frightening. But carefully note that he is not invincible.
Many people were terrified of Saddam Hussein prior to the first Gulf War, and they thought he would be such a daunting foe. But after the war was over, in just a matter of hours, General Norman Schwarzkopf stood before a press conference and gave this evaluation of old Saddam: "Saddam is neither a strategist, nor is he schooled in the operational arts, nor is he a tactician, nor is he a general, nor is he a soldier; other than that he is a great military man."[2] Likewise, Satan is not omnipotent; Satan is not omnipresent; Satan is not omniscient; but God is all three. Satan is not sovereign, but God is. But other than those characteristics, he is a mighty foe.
However, 1 John 4:4 declares, "He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world." We have an advantage over the devil; it is the armor of God, and if used correctly, can give us the freedom we all want in life.
Imagine that you were sitting on a warship and putting your hand against the wall, which is actually called the "bulkhead." If you hold your hands 24 inches apart, that illustrates how thick some of the walls are on older battleships. In fact, the armor plating on an American battleship is so thick that a Russian Styx missile would bounce off an armor-plated bulkhead on a direct hit.
Armor on a ship is always placed in areas where the ship is the most vulnerable to enemy missiles. Usually, an armor belt is placed around the sides of the ship from about ten feet below the water line to just above the water line. Hypothetically, a torpedo hitting the armor belt would not penetrate the hull and cause flooding. Likewise, armor plating would be placed along the upper surface of the ship to repel bombs dropped from enemy planes. Furthermore, God has given you a suit of armor guaranteed to repel the most powerful missiles, the strongest bombs, and the mightiest torpedoes that Satan can fire your way. Is it any wonder that James said, "Resist the devil and he will flee from you..." (Jas. 4:7, NKJV)? There is not one single verse in the Word of God that tells us that we are to run from the devil. It says we are to flee temptation; we are to flee sin. But God's Word never says we are to flee from the devil. It plainly states that we are to resist the devil and he will flee from us.
Geoffrey C. Ward, in his book, "The Civil War," tells a story about a scene that took place on a battlefield during the battle of Gettysburg: "Right in the middle of the Battle of the Wilderness, all the staff men who had been fighting in the east all this time-Grant had just come from the West-kept talking "Robert E. Lee, Robert E. Lee. He'll do this, he'll do that, and he'll do the other." Ulysses S. Grant heard all he wanted to hear and finally said to them, "I am tired of hearing about Robert E. Lee. You would think he was going to do a double somersault and land in our rear. I want you to quit thinking about what he is going to do to you, and I want you to start thinking about what you're going to do to him."[3]
You are in a war. It is a spiritual war and you have to brace yourself for battle. So you need to begin by thinking about what you can do to the devil, rather than what he can do to you. Because of the Lord Jesus Christ and His sacrificial death on the cross of Calvary, because of the amazing power of the Holy Spirit, and because of the armor of Almighty God, you can be victorious in this war and possess the freedom you want in life.
Endnotes:
[1] Churchill the Warrior, The Churchill Centre, July 26, 2005, http://www.winstonchurchill.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=692.
[2] James Merritt, “Are You Going To Be There?”, Touching Lives, July 31, 2005, http://www.touchinglives.org/articles/areyougoingtobethere.htm.
[3] Geoffrey C. Ward, The Civil War, (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1990), pp. 150-168.
(PastorLife is pleased to offer you this important series of messages entitled "How To Meet and Defeat The Enemy: The Keys To Victory In Spiritual Warfare." We are grateful to Dr. Blake Carroll, President of Christ-Pointe Ministries, for his faithfulness to preaching God's word and for sharing this manuscript with PastorLife. We will include the forward to Dr. Carroll's "How To Meet and Defeat The Enemy," written by Dr. James T. (Jimmy) Draper, Jr. It is our prayer that PastorLife.com will continue to bless you in your sermon preparation and in your ministry.
Forward:
It has been my privilege to know Blake Carroll for several years now. I have spent time with him, been in his home and preached in his church. I have found him to be a young man of impeccable integrity, with a passionate love for the Word of God, a deep determination to see Christians grow in their faith, and a driving desire to see the lost come to faith in Christ. His preaching is solidly founded upon the Word of God. His warmth and genuine love for people comes across in his ministry.
This book that he has written deals with the battle that every Christian must engage in. We may not recognize it, but we are at war with Satan and his forces. Ephesians 6 gives us our battle plan and strategies. Blake Carroll has done a splendid job in opening this passage up for us to see the reality of the battle and the weapons of our engagement.
I commend these pages to you. Read them and you will be challenged and blessed. You will become equipped for the warfare that rages against us in our world today. And pass this on to others, as that is the specific command for us from God's Word: "What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also" (2 Tim. 2:2).
Jimmy Draper
President, LifeWay Christian Resources)