Winning the War

Good Morning!  We have come now to the end of our series titled The War.  Today, we will talk about putting together all the things that we’ve studied about over the last 14 weeks.  This topic is crucial to our own spiritual health and even the growth of the Kingdom of God.  And so, I hope that this has been an encouraging, and maybe even an eye-opening, series for you.

Taking Ground

Last Sunday afternoon I found the perfect spot.  I snuck past enemy observation and laid down behind some equipment that was covered by a tarp.  My enemies were busy in their fort.  It was a massive fort, comprised of a wooden tower, a plastic house and a defense mechanism think they called “a trampoline.”  They were distracted by worldly things: talking about how to build a dresser and a roof for the tower.  It seemed like the female soldier was in charge.  I could tell that the boy was a younger recruit, still green but eager to work.  If I engaged the enemy then I needed to be really careful.  The matriarchal soldier seemed to be very witty.  She could rally the troops fast and give lightning quick orders.  The young recruit was following instructions quite well until his commander found out that he had soiled his uniform.  I knew this was my opportunity.  What better time to strike the enemy than when they’re fighting with themselves and distracted from their purpose?  Plus, I had the element of surprise on my side.  Mike Tyson once said that it wasn’t the punches his opponent saw that knocked them out, it was the ones that caught them by surprise.  I was Mike Tyson that day.

The Weapon of Praise

Happy Thanksgiving weekend! I hope you all had a good celebration on Thursday and continue to have thankful hearts. I’ve always felt that this is one of the happiest holidays in America. Christmas and Easter have such profound spiritual significance for those of us who truly understand God’s plan of salvation for the world, but the forces of secularism have eroded that understanding for our nation as a whole. Christmas is now mostly about consumerism, and what is Easter about, the Easter bunny?

However, Thanksgiving is still mostly about being thankful. Saying “Happy Thanksgiving” is still acceptable to people who insist on “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas.” I guess there is the risk of overindulgence in good food, but the gathering of family and friends is generally a happy time, especially if we remember how truly blessed we are.

What is the connection between Thanksgiving and spiritual warfare? Today we are going to talk about another important weapon in our arsenal: the weapon of praise. Praise and thanksgiving are often mentioned together in the Bible. For example, Psalm 100 calls God’s people to

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.—Psalm 100:4

Captivity is not Defeat

Welcome! Today we continue our series The War, which explores spiritual warfare in depth, taking as its key text the passage on the armor of God in Ephesians 6. So as to have context to today’s passage, and as a reminder of our past recent messages, here are the first half of the verses we have looked at so far in this series:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 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. 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.  – Eph. 6:10-13

The Secret Weapon

It’s great to be back with you again – and thank you for your prayers for what seemed like a very long trip this time. As we continue in our series on spiritual warfare, we now come to a very special weapon – a secret weapon, if you will, that allows us to catch our enemy off guard.

The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.--2 Corinthians 10:4

Weapons with divine power. When we talk about putting on and using the whole armor of God in this Great War that we are engaged in, we don’t usually list the secret weapon that we are talking about today, even though it is mentioned in the very next verse – after the other items that we have been talking about for the past several weeks: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit.

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.—Ephesians 6:18

Defend with an Offensive Weapon

Welcome! Today we continue The War, our series on spiritual warfare. Just in case you have somehow forgotten, we are in a war, a war not against flesh and blood, but against something much more powerful. Often it is true that flesh and blood gets co-opted into this war; that is, people, wittingly or unwittingly, become powerful and effective foot soldiers for Satan and his demons. But even then, they are not the real enemy; the real enemy is behind the scenes.

Protect Your Head

Good morning!  Today’s topic and communion seem perfectly suited to one another.  Our title “Protect Your Head” is based on the first part of Ephesians 6:17 which says,

Take the helmet of salvation … —Ephesians 6:17a

I have to say that this must be the shortest passage of Scripture on which I’ve ever given a message.  At just five words, I think I can get through this one in about 45 minutes ;-).

Fight Fire With...Fire Extinguishers!

Good morning!  John did a pretty comprehensive review of our study last week, so I don’t think I need to do that.  But I will put up a picture just to remind us of what our soldier has been dressed in up to this point.

Wage War With Peace

Good Morning!  We’re now in the seventh message in our series titled “The War.”  After today, we’ll be halfway through the series.  In preparation for today’s message, I spent some time reviewing the messages which have come before.  One thing which stood out to me came from Carl’s message a couple of weeks back.  He shared how he wanted “to be able to look back after this series is over, for years and years, and be able to say that the body really took Ephesians 6 to heart, and they ever since that time, put on the full armor of God, thereby becoming strong in the Lord and His mighty power, so that although trials and tests come, Satan has no effect on them.”  

That caught my attention to see it again.  In one way, it is the obvious desire of all the teachings that we give.  It is our heartfelt desire that we share so that God will speak to us all and shape us all and change us all.  In another way, it struck me that, “Boy, I better pay attention.  I better focus on applying the things that I am learning.”  If I am honest with myself, I don’t easily remember what was said in the previous week, or what I’ve read each day in God’s Word, and I know if I apply myself more diligently, I can do better holding onto and meditating on these things.

So, let’s take a minute and go back through several of the insights which have come to the forefront so far.  The basis of our series is Ephesians 6:10-20.  Let’s take a look at the beginning of that passage:

Just Who are the Good Guys?

Our Scripture passage for today in our continuing series on spiritual warfare is Ephesians 6:14.  It begins:

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist

A Roman soldier prepared for battle by first putting on his armor.  He would begin by putting on an armored belt around his waist.  It was not only part of his armor to protect his midsection and his groin area, but it also served as a place to hang the rest of his armor and some of his weapons.  The apostle Paul, who had spent a long time as a Roman prisoner, was familiar with this process.  He used this analogy of putting on armor to describe how to be strong in the Lord and His mighty power in order to take a stand over the schemes of the devil by first putting on the belt of truth.  Remember Satan is the father of lies, so in order to stand up against him Paul exhorted the Ephesians to have truth as the foundation of their defense against his schemes.

Hold the Hill

Welcome! Today we continue our series on spiritual warfare, called The War. The overall message of this series is that we are indeed in a war, and that God has provided instructions in Scripture for us on how to not only survive but be victorious in this war. Our main text for the series in Ephesians 6:10-18, but we are also looking at many other supporting passages as well.

Our past messages have taken us through Ephesians 6:10-12. By way of context and review, here are these verses:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 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. – Eph. 6:10-12

The Most Important Battle

What was the most important battle in history?  The Battle of Stalingrad in WW2? Operation Overlord in Normandy, France in WW2? The Battle of Yorktown in the American Revolution?  Waterloo? Thermopylae?

There are many battles that historians have argued to be the most important battle.  But the greatest battle is often ignored in these debates.  At first glance, it doesn’t even appear to be a battle.  Some guy was crucified along with 2 thieves.  Big deal, right?  The Romans crucified a lot of people.  But, THE most important battle was fought at the Cross.  God died to redeem fallen man and to conquer evil.

Two Commanders

Welcome to week three of our series entitled “The War.”  Tim asked us last week whether or not we felt like we were in a war.  I have to confess that I kind of half raised my arm.  I only half raised my arm because I would say that I feel like I face spiritual battles, but if I am honest with myself, I don’t often think of myself being in a war. 

Carl talked a couple of weeks back about what war is like, and it’s not good.  War is terrible.  And so, I think I am predisposed to not think about being in a war just because it is unpleasant to think in those terms.  If you’re in a war, even if you’re not part of the active front line, war affects you.

Two Armies

How many of you feel like you are engaged in a war right now? There are the literal wars that America is involved in, like the one in Afghanistan, which I follow closely because I have friends who live there. We have the War on Terror and the ongoing War on Drugs. The language of warfare is used in so many ways, isn’t it? Sporting events are all about defense and offense. We speak of battling cancer or depression. Maybe you feel like you are “fighting a bug” right now. Millions of people around the world are trying to defend themselves against the recent onslaught of natural disasters, such as in Florida even today. Some people find family relationships to be like warfare, with attacks and defenses and allies and verbal ammunition.

Playground or Battlefield?

Welcome! Today we begin a new series that will take us through most of the rest of this year, a series called “The War” that focuses in on spiritual warfare. Before jumping in, I want to just say a little about the series title. If you look at secular publications and websites, the longest wars in the world include some you may have heard of and some you haven’t; multiple sites list the Reconquista as the longest war, at about 774 years. The Reconquista is a name given to war that took place on the Iberian Peninsula (what today is largely Spain and Portugal), which fell to Islamic rule in the 700s and what was not recaptured (reconquered) until 1492, a year known to Americans for something else. Also high on the lists are the Roman-Germanic wars which went on nearly continuously from 113 BC to 596 AD, and the Roman-Persian wars from 54 BC to 628 AD. Later were the Ottoman wars against the Byantine Empire, the Bulgarian Empire, and the Serbian Empire – as a whole these went from 1265 AD to 1918 AD. None of these, however, were really just called “The War” – they were more a seemingly unending series of conflicts, each with their own names. Now World War I, which took place from 1914 to 1918, was called the Great War and the War to End all Wars – they were a little off with that last name, wouldn’t you say? That war involved 70 million military personnel, and 16 million people (combatants and civilians) perished. World War II, which took place from 1939 to 1945 (although related conflicts began earlier) was simply called The War, at least in England, until the late 1940s, after it was all over. Roosevelt in the US called it the Survival War, but that name never caught on. I believe the British called it simply The War because, for them, it was so all-encompassing, so affecting of all of life, that no further description was necessary. World War II directly involved more than 100 million people from 30 countries. The number of fatalities in this war, depending on what you count as part of the war or as something else, was between 50 and 85 million people.