PREPARING FOR BATTLE
Ephesians 6:10-17
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Steve texted me saying, “You busy and need something to do??” I knew this meant he had a buck down and could use some help getting it out. Two of us jumped in the truck and headed down to help. Steve had shot one of the best bucks of his life and we celebrated over the harvest. Then we loaded it and I headed back to camp.
Steven stayed back at the stand and spent a little time reflecting on the hunt. Just 366 days earlier he had been sitting with his dad when he shot his last buck from the same stand and just a couple weeks later passed away. It was a bittersweet day. Steve’s emotions were a raging battle between so many feelings. He wanted to be happy, but the sadness was very real as well. Good and bad, happy and sad thoughts raged as he packed up his stuff to leave the blind… there was an emotional battle going on.
Every day in our lives we fight a battle. There are spiritual battles that are all part of the bigger war. If you don’t realize this is happening, then most likely you are losing the war. We are in a war. It’s a spiritual war but it’s reality and it’s more real than you and you and I can imagine. The war between God and Satan is about us. They are fighting to win us over. What’s interesting is that because of Jesus Christ and because of what He did, the victory has already been won. God has won, but Satan will not give in.
Unfortunately, Satan doesn’t take his loss very lightly. The sins, temptations, and evil desires that are so prevalent in the world today are due to Satan’s attempt to take hold of those that don’t already know Jesus Christ personally. He wants to keep those away from God and His love for us. The goal of Satan is to divide us from God and sin is the means to that. His weapon is temptation and his attacks get stronger every day. He also attacks those that are of the family of God, trying to temp us so we fail in our walk and our testimony.
Jesus won the victory when He died on the cross and He defeated death rising from the grave. Even though the victory has been won, the battle is still not over. For us, we will always experience spiritual warfare until the day we die.
God provides us with Armor to protect ourselves and fight against satan in this life. Most of the “Armor of God" is defensive, meant to protect ourselves against the evil attacks of the devil. The reason why we need the sword is for offense, to attack. As Christians, it’s not enough to sit back, relax and wait until the Devil hits us with sin and temptation, we must fight. We cannot further God’s kingdom here on earth if we aren’t on the offensive. As Christians we need to start getting aggressive. We need to discipline ourselves because we are in a war.
So, what is the sword? Ephesians 10:17 tells us, “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
We could never win this battle if we rely on our own strength. Satan is too strong and crafty for us to defeat on our own. We must count on the “sword of the Spirit” not the sword of Man. This is important because this is a spiritual battle. We cannot win if we rely on our own strength and our own mind but rather this is a war where we must rely on the Holy Spirit and God’s word.
The Word is an offensive tool that we as Christians use to fight for God. It’s what we use to defeat Satan and his demons, with just like how Jesus Christ used the Word to overcome Satan’s temptations in Matthew 4.
Hebrews 4:12 Describes the importance of the Word of God. “The Sword".
“For 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; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)
How do we prepare to go offensively into battle with “the Sword”, The Word of God? Three things…
1) Read the Word
If we don’t know what the Bible contains, how can we use it? Reading the Word is a matter of disciplining yourself
2) Meditate on the Word
Understanding what the Word says and implies is not a simple matter but takes time and energy
3) Memorize the Word
If we don’t know and recall what the Word says, how can we use it when we get into the midst of the battle?
Reading, Meditating, and Memorizing the Word of God are the best ways to sharpening your sword in our lives. We are in a time of war and our time is short. Let’s make it count. Let’s fight a good fight for God.
Get in the fight and win the battle.
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