The Weapons of Our Warfare
Scripture Reading: Ephesians 6:10-18
10Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
11Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the
rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
13Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day,
and having done all, to stand.
14Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of
righteousness;
15And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the
wicked.
17And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
18Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all
perseverance and supplication for all saints;
Before we dissect this powerful scripture, there are a couple of others we need to see
first to get a complete understanding. The first of these is (Luke 10:1-4)
1After these things the LORD appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before His face
into every city and place, whither He Himself would come. 2Therefore said He unto them, The
harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he
would send forth labourers into his harvest. 3Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs
among wolves. 4Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes: and salute no man by the way.
Jesus sends them out two by two. He explains to them that the harvest is plenty, just
like today. There's a multitude of people out there that are ready to believe. They've
been beat down by the world. Many of them have given up on what the world has to
offer. Unfortunately, because the enemy has been working overtime inside the church,
many people think that the religiousness of what they perceive as 'the church' is just as
bad or worse than the world. If no one shows them that Christ's church is not about
religion but is about having a relationship with Him, how will they know there's another
option. The workers are few, those that will go out at tell them.
I watched a movie on Hallmark Channel this weekend called 'Hidden Places'. It was
about a family during the Depression that had an orange grove. The father died and
there was only his daughter-in-law, his older sister, and two grandchildren left. The
bank had called the loan due but they weren't going to have enough time to bring in the
harvest so they could get the money for bank. The harvest was out there, just hanging
on the trees but they couldn't afford to hire anyone to get the oranges off the trees.
The wholesaler told the woman that he had no use for oranges on the tree, he would
only be able to give her a price for the fruit in crates. The story had a happy ending as
an unlikely source of free labor came in and help them pick the fruit. As the movie was
ending, I began to (for the first time), really understand what Jesus was saying about
the harvest. Many people think that people don't want to hear the Gospel so they don't
share it. But, in reality, there are so many more who do want to really understand but
don't know where to go or who to ask. Maybe they've been hurt by someone in the
church or have just lost faith in everything. Jesus clearly tells us that the harvest is right
there, hanging on the trees, waiting to be harvested. We need to pray workers into the
kingdom.
He sent them out as lambs among wolves. Basically, powerless; with no money, no
provisions, unprepared. They couldn't even salute anyone on the way, they were so
without power. But get this! In verse 17 they came back with joy saying devils are
subject to us in your name. With God all things are possible. These seventy went out
powerless but they really had sufficient power because they had the name of Jesus.
Now let's look at (Luke 22:35-36)
35And He said unto them, When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any
thing? And they said, Nothing. 36Then said He unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him
take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.
Here Jesus brings them into remembrance of this previous time. He asked them if they
laked anything and they said no. Even with their lack of preparation, with God, they had
everything they needed. But now, He tells them to get ready. Take a purse and scrip if
you have them, and if you don't have a sword, sell what you have to buy one. The
purse is not a purse like we would picture. It would have been a bag that they carried
their provisions in. Scrip would have been their wallet; money. We talked about
kingdom thinking with our finances last week. The first two things He says if you have it,
bring but the sword He says you'd better get. The sword is our protection, which leads
us back into our scripture for today.
Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. We have to put on the whole armor
of the Lord so we can be ready to handle the enemy. Our war is not in the flesh, it's in
the spiritual rhealm. We must be prepared as Jesus said. There are seven things that
are included in this passage and we'll take a look at each on.
1) Gird our loins with truth. Do you know what gird means? It means to put on, cover
yourself with. Every lie or deception or half truth is like a rip in the fabric. If you've ever
had a piece of clothing with a tear, you know it usually just gets worse and worse until it
ruins the whole garment. That's the way it is with deception. The more we lie, the more
we have to lie which leads us deeper and deeper into the pit. We must cover ourselves
with the truth and not allow lies or half-truths to be a part of who we are in the Lord.
2) The breastplate of righteousness. Now this is an easy one because when we're born
again we are the righteousness of God in Christ. What makes us have difficulty with it is
that it's just so hard to believe. People beat themselves up with the things they've
done, not realizing that they're removing their armor. The enemy's job is to be the
accuser of the brethren so he will continually remind you of your misdeeds. We have to
completely receive the forgiveness the Father offers so we will be able to pick His
righteousness and not put it down.
3) Our shoes are the preparation of the gospel of peace. Remember when He sent
them out without shoes. They were unprepared, going out with just their measure of
faith. But now we must put on our shoes which is to be prepared in the Gospel. We
must fill ourselves up with the Word because as Peter wrote in 1 Peter 3:15 we must
always be ready to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope
that is in you.
4) Above all the shield of faith. Our faith is the most important part of our protection but
we must use that faith along with the other pieces in order to be truly effective. Without
faith it is impossible to please God. However, as we grow in the Spirit we must learn to
do more. With a baby just being cute is enough hold the attention of everyone in the
room. Just ask anyone whose had a baby brother or sister come from the hospital how
much attention a baby gets for doing nothing. But as that baby grows into a child then
a young adult, more is expected. Too many Christians are still spiritual babies. It's time
for us to grow up.
5) The helmet of salvation. We have to know that we know that we know we have our
salvation through faith in Christ. That's why it's the helmet. Pretend to put on a helmet.
What do you do with your hands? It's all about protecting your brain; your mind. Don't
let doubt creep into the equation. Salvation is yours when you're born again and it can
not be taken away.
6) The sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. This is one of the only offensive
weapons we see in this analogy. This is our power; the Holy Spirit. the Word. The
Word is how we come against the enemy. Just as Jesus defeated satan when He was
tempted in the wilderness by using the Word of God, so must we. As the enemy comes
against us in our own trials, we must learn to quote scripture. He will be forced to leave
when he sees that he can't sway us. If you've never read or never notice how Christ
accomplished this, read Matthew 4:1-11.
7) Prayer, prayer, and more prayer. This is both and offensive and a defensive
weapon. Being prayed up we will have more power and strength which is our defensive
weapon. While in praying for God to make ready the hearts of all those He brings you
into contact with is our offensive weapon.
The harvest is plenty. Let's get ready for the task!
Sermon by: Denise Baxley
Date: January 29, 2006