Use of the Armor

This morning let's take what we have learned in Eph. 6 and 2 Cor. 10 and apply these Scriptures to attacking the strongholds in our lives. I think practical application of the Scripture is where many believers fail. As a result, we have churches full of weak, defeated people that have enough knowledge about the Scripture to fill a library full of books. I don't know about you, but I don't want to just have information - I want to live out the knowledge found in the Bible.

So just take a look at this example. Let's say I want to attack the stronghold lust in my life. I would begin by taking my armor and attacking it on a daily basis. The Word of God will help me to discover Truth about this stronghold. When I have spent time here, then I take the weapon of Truth and look at my life through it's lens. Truth will help me to see who I really am and identify my struggle. It will keep me from blaming others because it is focused on my stronghold. As a result of seeing myself as I really am, depression can move in. That is why the weapon of Righteousness will help me to identify a person that has been given God's righteousness. Don't forget that all of this takes place on the battlefield of the spirit with the weapon of prayer providing the atmosphere.

I could go on, but you should get the point. Use every weapon available as one unit to attack the strongholds in your life. As a result, you will see strongholds fall, peace enter your life, and joy of victory.

As we wrap of these blogs on spiritual warfare, I encourage you to not just watch the battle but be in it. Only then will you experience personal joy as you gain victory over strongholds.

The Armor

So this morning let's take a look at the weapons that are at your disposal. These are listed for us in Ephesians 6:13-18.

• truth
• righteousness
• peace
• faith
• salvation
• Word of God
• prayer

So there they are, but how on earth is a believer to use this stuff? One thing I found quite interesting is that in verse 13 we are told to take up the whole armor of God. I have always looked at this list and thought that I should put on one piece at a time until it was complete. But according to this verse, I must take them all up. There are a couple of reasons why I think this is important.

1. The pieces of the armor work together. For example none of us believe we are righteous, and before salvation we are not. But righteousness is put upon us the moment of salvation. Without the Word of God we would not know that and without truth we will not believe that. Another example is using the Word of God to attack disobedience. If we do not have peace, then we will use the Word of God without understanding the end result of the battle is peace for the believer. We are not to attack people with the Word of God, but to help them find peace by a deliverance of their sin.
2. The armor becomes who we are. Let me explain this: if a believer is to use truth, then he must live truth. The believer is to be honest in all his dealings. When he gives his word to do something, he carries through with it. Truth is not a piece of the battle, it is who they are - as with the other pieces. For example the Word of God - the believer becomes the Word of God. When they open their mouths, words that honor God come out. When they have a difficult situation, the Word of God is their strength and direction. They don't just carry it on Sunday's, they live it in front of a lost world.

That gives us a ton to think about today. Are you using and living out the armor of God in your life?

Weapons for the Battle

I hope you had a great weekend, I know our family did. Thanks to some friends who gave us tickets to a South Carolina game, our family experienced Gamecock football! Our girls had not experience a live football game so we did it all - tailgating, buying souvenirs, and eating a ton of snacks! It was one of those family experiences that was absolutely priceless!!

It is hard for me to believe that I am beginning a third week on the subject of spiritual warfare. But now that we have identified it and we know what to attack against (if you missed these just look them up under spiritual warfare in the archives); now let's take a look at the weapons we have been given for the war.

To prepare us for the week, Read Ephesians 6:10-20.

We will get to the weapons tomorrow, but let me give some history about Ephesus. In Paul's day Ephesus was known as a very wealthy and populated city with over 250,000 people living there. It was known for the temple of Diana, or Artemis, which was one of the seven wonders of the world. The Ephesians worshiped Diana as the mother of the earth. This worship would include black magic and the casting of spells. People would come from around the world to purchase "Ephesians Letters" which were charms which people would wear guaranteeing protection on a journey, a child to the childless, or success in love or business.

As a result of this black magic, the city of Ephesus was given up to the magic arts and idolatrous superstition of the orient. The people lived under so many superstitions that they became easy prey for false magicians and to demonic penetrations.

Knowing the background of the city helps us to understand why Paul tells the church in Ephesians 6:11 to put on the whole armor of God that they may be able to stand against the trickery or charms of the devil.

Read Ephesians 6 today so that you can be involved in the learning process and tomorrow we will dive into it.

Punish All Disobedience

Before we finish up for the week with the theme of 2 Corinthians 10: 1-6 take a good look at
verse 6: being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. I took the Greek words and paraphrased this verse so I can understand it better, being prepared to protect or defend against disobedience when your obedience is in abundance. Does this mean what I think it does? Are we literally to be on the offensive against disobedience? YEP!!!!!!!!

Please read Matthew 18:10 - 20 to see what Jesus says about dealing with disobedience before you read my comments.

So here are just some personal thoughts about this subject of waging war against disobedience:

• Before we dare attack someone elses disobedience, we must be overflowing with our own obedience.
• Obedience to Christ makes us more like Christ. The closer we get to Him, the more sin will literally make us sick and bring us to the necessity of coming against it.
• A relationship is necessary to confront someone of their sins for the purpose of restoring them in a relationship with Christ.
• We come against disobedience:
  

1. out of love - if we cannot separate the sin from the sinner, loving the man while hating the sin like Christ - well, we better get off of our street corners and shut our mouths!
   
2. to rescue a brother from sin that will bring destruction to their lives
   
3. to protect the purity of the church
   
4. to defend against the unity of the church.

I hope you hear my heart here. I do not condone attacking people (by the way - neither did Jesus), but it is our job to come against disobedience. Would I be showing love to my children if I never spent time showing them their disobedience, pointing out the consequences of their actions, helping them develop a plan to stay in obedience? How about if I just looked the other way when they were disobedient because I did not want to get personally involved or the fear of them not liking me anymore? Of course not, I would be telling them that I do not care about them!

So what is the leadership of most churches telling their people when they do not confront sin? Hang on here! What do most deacon's do in the church? They think it is their God given responsibility to run the church. Where is that in Scripture? They are to be servants!!! You will not be a servant unless you are obedient to God (overflowing with obedience). Does that describe most deacon bodies? Maybe churches should be less concerned with rather a deacon is divorced and focus on if he is obedient.

What about pastors and staff? When is the last time an ordained minister sat in the home of a person and confronted them of sin. I know it is not popular, people may not like you, they may talk about you, they may not add to your attendance or give to your account - but how can a pastor continue to let people live in sin and look the other way? That is telling people that we do not care about you - we just care that you come to our programs, give to our building fund, and laugh at jokes that are told from the pulpit!

Now some of you are saying that no one does it like that anymore. Not so true, I have had to do this a couple of time. I did not confront sin because I hated the person, but because I loved them and following Scripture could see their actions were leading to destruction. For some there was restoration, others chose to go their own way. Now was I perfect, nope and I still am not. Was I obedient - yep. Did some leave the church because of it, yep. But I will take you to the family that is living in obedience, joy, and service because they turned from their sin!

If the church were to actually attack sin in it's own midst, a revival would take place. But we will not because too many are lacking in their own obedience. What about you? Are you overflowing with obedience, or are you one that needs to be confronted?

Next week we will continue this thought but focus on our weapons for the battle. Have a great weekend, full of obedience.

Bringing Every Thought Into Captivity

The next area of spiritual warfare is bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. I believe few Christians actually do offensive battle in this are of their lives. Just look at the cycle of so many believers: they sin, ask forgiveness, do good for a while then fall to the same sin - they ask forgiveness, do better for a while then fall to the same sin... and the cycle continues until the believer begins to think that it is hopeless, become embarrassed, discouraged and give up.

Verse 4 of I Cor. 10 informs us that we are to bring every though into captivity. Captivity is a force able event. It is the act of taking freedom from someone or something. The thoughts that are free in an unsaved person's life are not pleasing to God. When salvation occurs, the hard work begins of locking up some thoughts. So how do we do this? The rest of the verse tells us by being obedient to Christ. When I say obedience to Christ the mind automatically goes to things we do, our acts of service. But are we obedient to Romans 12:2?

And do not conform to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind....

So how do we get on the offensive in this battle for our thoughts? I believe this is where you see the acts of bible study, prayer, and accountability energize your spirit for the battle. Are there areas in your thought process that are displeasing to God and causing you to stumble, then bring them into captivity. Memorize Scripture dealing with this issue now! Pray for God to renew your mind with His thoughts. That is being offensive! Work at it when you are not in the middle of the temptation. Then when those thoughts arise, you already have it won. Let's face it, it would be difficult to think lustful thoughts while quoting Scripture!

I wish I had more time to deal with this, but take what I have written and check it out. Study on your own, after all if you really want your thoughts to be honoring to God then you will do the work. Just something to remember - God is the only one who knows our every thought, so why do we spend so much time trying to hide them from others and are not concerned with God?

Casting Down Arguments

The second area of warfare according to 2 Corinthians 10:5 is casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.

Let's be honest, our world is a place of arrogance, greed, and pride. Just look at the financial disasters this week. What do you think happened here? I would guess that there are people who thought they knew better than anyone else (including history) and in their desire to gain more power and money made some huge financial mistakes, maybe even some intentionally. These arrogant based decisions are affecting our entire economy.

This is the battle - to wage war on arguments, which in the Greek is defined as reasoning such as is hostile to the Christian faith. The world looks at believers as if they were idiots. The mindset is that Christianity does not make sense because it does not follow a logical system of thought. Are they right? Look at it from the world's perspective:

• We believe in a God we cannot see
• We believe God came to earth in the form of a man to save us of our sins by dying
  
• Our central belief system is faith in God for salvation
• God comes as the Holy Spirit to guide us in our lives

I mean to the unbeliever, this is hard to swallow. But don't take my word for it, read
I Corinthians 1:18-25 and see how Paul confirms that the gospel is foolishness to the world.

So here is the battle as I see it in this area. From the introduction of Satan in Scripture we find that he has exalted himself above God. This continues today and is manifested in the world through a spirit of pride. Therefore, the believer is to attack this attitude on a daily basis beginning in their own lives. The question is how - we will deal with the how's next week, but for now we must begin to realize this attitude before we can wage war against it.

It is easy to find pride in those around us, but harder in our own lives. Spend some time looking at your life, ask God to show you the areas of your life where this attitude of pride has crept in, or you have never dealt with. Take time to do it now so it does not become a stronghold in your life.

The Stonghold In Your Life

As we continue to look at spiritual warfare, 2 Corinthians 10:4-6 give us the focus of the war.

• pulling down strongholds
• casting down arguments
• bringing every thought into captivity
• punishing all disobedience

Of that list, how many are defensive strategies? None! As believers we are to be on the offense and attacking these areas. So why do I live in a reaction mode so many times just trying to stay afloat during the battle? I think it is because I do not really understand my role and I lose focus during the battle. So let's learn more about on what we are to focus.

Pulling Down Strongholds
The Greek word for strongholds means to fortify, through the idea of safety; anything on which one relies; of the arguments and reasonings by which a disputer endeavors to fortify his opinion and defend it against his opponent. The dictionary defines strongholds as a strongly fortified defensive structure.

I believe strongholds are an area of a persons life where they find security and comfort. For the believer we know that this is to be God, but in actuality we struggle with this. We have strongholds that we must attack and bring down so that we can be totally vulnerable, open, and even exposed before God.

Some will define strongholds with actions such as alcoholism, drug addiction, looking at pornography, and even eating. But I would disagree with this because these are all actions of the flesh. Remember what we have learned already? We do not war against flesh and blood, but our war is in the spiritual realm. Hang with me here... While all of the above are awful actions, I believe the stronghold goes deeper. It is something within the person causing the actions to emerge in their lives. If we just attack the action, it will return. If we attack the inner stronghold, victory can be gained.

I know this is a long post, but follow me here. I met a man that was an alcoholic. He desired desperately to quit but never was victorious because he was trying to break a habit. When he got serious about stopping he sought help to identify why he was drinking. He identified that he had a serious self esteem problem. In fact, he hated himself and every time he drank it reinforced this problem while he was trying to get away from it. There were other issues, but I think you get the point. As he attacked and began bringing down the stronghold of a lack of self-worth in his life, his desire to drink began to subside. He has now been sober for six months for the first time in his adult life. He struggles every day with this because if he is not watching, the stronghold will creep back into his life. He is in a constant offensive battle to tear it down!

People are living defeated lives, giving up on themselves, others, their marriages, their churches, their friends, and the list goes on. Are their things in your life that you need to bring down? Quit making resolutions and begin searching the thought, feeling, or emotion that is triggering the action. It is hard work and easier to live with the stronghold, but there will never be freedom in you life. As a believer we are in a war and that war includes bringing down strongholds! Are you accomplishing this in you life today? If not, why not?

From Realization to Resolution

Last week we began the topic of spiritual warfare. We took a look at it and started to realize that it is indeed a true part of the believer's life. But is it enough just to realize it? I think not! I don't want to just see the battle, but move through it to a time of peace. So this week I want to focus on how to engage the battle and move to a resolution of it in our lives. To keep us focused on the topic will will be in 2 Corinthians 2:1 -6.

Corinth was truly a place of spiritual warfare. Corinth was known throughout the land as a place of wickedness. It was a sea port which brought sailors in from all over the world. Along with this came open drunkenness and prostitution. In fact thousands of temple prostitutes would descend on the city every night... I don't want to go into more detail, but Google Corinth and see what kind of place it was.

So this is where Paul has brought the gospel and is addressing a church in 2 Corinthians 10. There were some in the church that would constantly accuse Paul of not being true to God. These people would especially show up and challenge him after he had left the city. This is what Paul is addressing in verses 1-2.

In verse 3 Paul tells us that even though we walk (or live) in the flesh, we do not war in it. I know we all realize this, but realizing a battle is not enough - we must see what the battle truly is! If our battle is not in the flesh then do you spend time praying for God to show you the real battle? Your enemy is not another person, a place, or even a thing - it is not what you can see, feel, or touch. It is so much more.

Today, begin praying for God to give you spiritual eyes. Spend time identifying what the battle is really about. We act out in the flesh the battle that is raging in our spirit. Is the battle fear, loneliness, feeling of uselessness? To get to the resolution, you must see the battle. You will never identify the battle apart from God!

Tomorrow we will continue with this idea of identifying the battle.

Fighting the Unseen

As I continue learning about spiritual warfare, 2 Corinthians 10:3-4 sheds an important light on spiritual warfare. It is not in the flesh, but in the spirit. I know that this bit of information may not rock your world, but let's just think about it for a minute. If the battle is in the spiritual realm, then why do we battle in the physical? If we think that going to church, getting wise counsel, reading the Bible is the way to defeat the devil, then we are mistaken because they are all physical acts. While I am not negating their importance, I am saying that the spiritual acts of warfare are what fuels the physical acts. In other words prayer is what takes the things of the mind (like Bible memorization) and activates it in the battle.

To go even further, even the armor of God is made up of things you cannot see. Read
Ephesians 6:14-18, I'll wait for you.......no, read it........go ahead, get your Bible and read.........Don't take my word, see it for yourself.........all right. Notice the armor is made of things you cannot see truth, righteousness, gospel of peace, faith, salvation, and the word of God. Even putting on the armor is in the spiritual world.

So what is the key to the spiritual world? I believe it is prayer. Prayer is the connection between the physical and spiritual. Prayer is so much more important than a blessing over meals or bedtime prayers. Prayer is being active in the fight. Churchplanting Landmines says this about prayer: Prayer is not the preparation for the battle, it is the battle.

If prayer is the key to fighting the unseen, then why am I so weak in it? Why have I not developed it? I must if I am to fight for myself, my family, my friends, my church, those who cannot fight for themselves yet? I don't know about you, but realizing the importance of prayer, it is moving to the top of my list to develop!

Spiritual Warfar - Fact or Fiction?

It seems like lately I cannot get away from discouragement. I know the truth of God's Word, I try my best to stand up in faith - but every time I feel like I am getting out of it, something happens and I am struggling all over again.

I am reading Church Planting Landmines by Tom Nebel and Gary Rohrmayer for a class on church planting from Rockbridge Seminary. This weekend I read the chapter about Landmine #8: Underestimating Spiritual Warfare. I have to admit that while I know there is a battle, I have underestimated the enemy and the attacks. Here is a quote from the book that helped me identify the spiritual warfare in my life:

Gary and I have been around church planters most of our adult lives, and we've lived in that world ourselves. And as we've tried to get a handle on spiritual warfare as it is levied against church planter and their new churches, we've observed that most of it can be placed into one of three categories: discouragement, distractions, or disqualifications.

They go on to write specifically about discouragement, physical hardship, emotional hardship, and fear. As I read these sections it is like a light came on. I and my family is enduring spiritual warfare! I think for too long, although I have known about it, I have treated spiritual warfare as a fictional area in my life. But now that I have identified it, the battle is on. But how, and what do I do? We will discuss this throughout the week.

I know you may not be a church planter, but I wonder how many people are facing discouragement and distractions in their lives. Could it be spiritual warfare? Begin to ask God to show you if it is so that you too can battle the enemy rather than succumb to his evil schemes.