Video clip: The Lord of the Rings DVD Chapter: 5     Start Time: 00:20:47     End Time: 00:24:11

 

When I was 12 years old, I left the middle school that I attended with an armload of books, dreading the homework that was ahead of me. I walked toward the buses that would take me home, when someone stepped in front of me and blocked my path. I knew from the devilish grin on his face that he was from hell itself. He was big – twice the size of my scrawny frame. I had never seen him in my life. He began to call me insulting names. I already had a history of rejection and each name that he threw at me felt like a knife dissecting my guts. The pain was intense. I tried to get around him, but every time I went to step around him, his hulking presence cut me off. I felt like a mouse between a cats paws. He was toying with me and he was enjoying it. I did not. He pushed me around and I felt helpless. I kept hoping that a teacher or a principal would stop this cruel game, but nobody came.

 

Finally, as the buses were starting, the bully knew that his time was running out, he grabbed the hood of my sweatshirt and began to spin me around and around like an out of control, demon possessed merry-go-round. My sweatshirt gathered up around my neck, strangling the breath out of me.  My books flung out of my hands and fell to the ground like dead birds shot by a knowing hunter.  He finally let go as he ran for his bus, and I slammed to the hard, wet ground, where I joined my books in a heap. I had never been so humiliated in all my life. As I got up, and began hurriedly picking up my crumpled, filthy books, all the frustration, anger, and hurt flooded my being, and the dam of my emotions broke. Tears cascaded down my cheeks and mixed with the icy dampness of my books.  

 

Last week we talked about the Thief as we looked at Jesus teaching in John 10:10

 

The thief has come to steal, kill, and destroy . . . John 10:10

 

Evil is present in the world and it regularly rears it’s ugly head. None of us have been left unscathed by it.

 

The Thief is real. He goes by other names like Satan, the Devil, the Strongman, the Destroyer, and Lucifer. His self-imposed job is to steal what God wants for us. He seeks to steal our dreams, our blessing, and our joy. He seeks to kill our marriages, our relationships, and all that God wants to bless us with. He seeks to destroy our dreams and our purpose that God created us for, and many unknowingly work for him.

 

Have you ever wondered why there is so much pain and death, hurt and sorrow in this world? It’s because we are in a war. I hope I’m not the first one to share this with you, but if I am, please take note. There is a war going on between good and evil, between God and Satan, and between light and darkness. There is a war going on, and maybe you are like the U.S was at the beginning of WWII, when they thought they could just sit on the sidelines and not get involved. When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and great amounts of devastation and destruction were amassed, the U.S finally realized that they could not afford to sit on the sidelines, if they were to survive. 

 

If you don’t fight back, the enemy is quite pleased. If you don’t join the war, then you leave yourself wide open to attack, just like the U.S did at Pearl Harbor. If you don’t chose a side and enter the war, then you’ll be pillaged and plundered. That’s the way war works.

 

We live in a war zone. Our lives are a battlefield. We are in the midst of a spiritual battle. So how do we live? How do we fight? Paul says this to the church in Ephesus.

 

Ephesians 6:10-12 says: “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.”

 

We are engaged in a spiritual war, and without God’s help we lose. There is more to life than meets the eye. Paul says that there is an unseen world that exists around us – the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Evil. Jesus is superior to every spiritual being that exists. His name is the name above all names, He is the King of Kings, the Lord above all lords.

 

Now, Paul and all the Ephesians who he is writing to, live in the Roman Empire, where the Roman army had conquered every army in the known world. They were the greatest fighting machine in the world. The Roman Soldiers fought for the kingdom of Rome. When Paul says,

 

Put on the full armor of God, so we can stand against the Devil’s schemes.

                                                     

What he is saying is that we are in a war and if you choose to go about this life without any armor, you’re going to get killed. Last week we talked about John 10:10 where it says,

 

The Thief has come to steal and kill and destroy.

 

Paul is saying “you’ve got to have some armor and some weapons that you can defend yourself against the Thief, or he will take you out.”

 

It is only through God’s power that you can expect to win the spiritual battles of life. If you enter the battlefield alone, there’s no telling what will happen, but I can tell you this, you will lose. However, if you join together and together you fight for God’s kingdom, you are guaranteed to win. That’s one of the reasons why God created the church. It’s so that we could fight battles together. That’s why community is so great, it’s because we cannot win this war alone. We have to fight together.

 

So, you might ask, “What is a spiritual battle?” Every time you look at a person of the opposite sex and compare them to your spouse or lust after them, you have entered a spiritual battlefield. Every time you have the chance to do something vindictive, you are on the battlefield. Every time you have the chance to say something harsh and hurtful, you hold a spiritual weapon in your hands. Every time you toy with the notion that you’re just a little bit better than someone else, you are surrounded by enemy fire. Every time you encounter a person in need, you are engaged in combat. Every day that you are not grateful for all that God has given you, you are being fired upon by the enemy. Every time you are considering whether to do it God’s way or yours, you are being engaged in combat.

 

Life is a spiritual battlefield, and there is a force at work in this world that does not want you to do good. There is a force at work in this world that does not want you to live for God. There is a force at work in this world that does not want you to minister to others in his name. There is a force at work in this world that does not want you to reflect God’s love and mercy in this world. There is a force in this world that does not want you to be generous. There is a force in this world that does not want up there to come down here.

 

And that force will do whatever it takes to make sure you don’t do God’s will. Some of you may say, “Wait a minute. I didn’t sign up for this!” Maybe not, but when the doctor spanked your butt, you were drafted into it. That’s just the way life is. As someone said, “You gotta serve somebody,” but the question is, “Who are you going to serve?”

 

Now, let me make this perfectly clear. Our enemy, the Thief – Satan himself, might be strong, but God, our Savior is stronger. Don’t get the impression that a fight between God and the devil is a close match. The devil has been defeated. Beaten. Stomped. Humiliated. He was beaten on the Cross where God’s love defeated the selfishness of Satan. He doesn’t have to have power in your life, so don’t moan and groan about how oppressive the devil is. All you have to do is put on the full armor of God and you will win the battle.

 

James 4:7 says, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”

                                         

In the full armor of God, we can stand our ground against the enemy and keep standing.

 

You resist the devil by putting on the full armor of God. Listen to how Paul describes it

 

“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. Stand firm, then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

 

This is an interesting metaphor, because Paul was probably writing this letter while he was in prison, and he was probably chained to a Roman soldier. So, when he began to think of spiritual warfare, he looked at the man next to him and noticed that in the same way this soldier’s armor protected him in battle, God has provided armor, though it be much different, to protect us in battle. Let’s take a look. Paul says:

 

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

 

Paul is talking about truthful living, truthful thinking, and truthful speaking. He’s talking about not lying, or being deceptive to someone else. He’s talking about living honestly and truthfully, but he’s also talking about something more.

 

Jesus said I am the way, the truth, and the life. John 14:6

 

When Paul says to have the belt of truth buckled around our waist, he is calling us to live truthful lives according to God’s truth expressed in Jesus. Truth is not relative. Truth is not what ever I think truth is. Truth is not what my parents taught or what my teachers taught me. God is the only one who defines truth, and we must know what it is, otherwise the Thief will deceive us, and take that which is most valuable to us. He will take us out!

 

Think about your life. Where did you learn all the things that you consider truth? What if you’ve been deceived? How perfect were your parents and teachers? Could they have taught you something other than the Truth? Jesus says, “I am the Truth”. Where do you find Truth. You find it in the life and teachings of Jesus and through his Spirit speaking to us.

 

Stand firm, then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,

 

The breastplate’s role was obvious. It was like a bullet-proof vest. It protected your most vital organs. And what is that breastplate made of? Righteousness. Paul is talking about doing good works; about loving people; about encouraging your spouse and your kids and your co-workers. It’s easy to talk bad about your spouse or your co-worker or your kids, but it takes a person of God to bless them and seek to be God’s instrument in bringing about change in their lives. Paul is talking about doing what is right; about going the right way.

 

Jesus said I am the way, the truth, and the life. John 14:6

 

I know that some people get hung up on the term “good works,” so I want to make it clear that I’m not talking about working for your salvation; working to get to heaven. What I’m talking about is being holy; to be set apart for God’s purposes. Good works-right living, because that paves the way for God’s strength in your life. It’s about seeking God first in everything.

 

and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace

 

Paul is telling us to be people who wear peace and take it wherever we go. Maybe you’ve noticed that I end most of my emails with the word “Peace” and then I sign my name. Peace is a very important attribute of God’s kingdom. Peace is more than the absence of fighting. Peace is the absence of fear or anxiety. Peace signifies the way things were created to be; peace signifies the presence of heaven on earth and the only way that that kind of peace happens is when we have a deep trust in God.

 

Inner peace comes when we spend a lot of time with God, seeking to understand him, and discern who he is. Peace comes when I know God is so much bigger than any fear that comes my way. I can fight the biggest battle; I can be attached on all sides; I can be outnumbered and outgunned, but on the inside I can still have peace, because I know that God is bigger and more powerful and he’s got me covered. Somebody can put a gun to my head, and I can still have peace because I know that as soon as they pull the trigger, I will be in the arms of Jesus.

 

When Paul says that we are to put on the shoes of peace, it means that wherever we go, we are called to bring a non-anxious presence, we are called to be at peace in our inner being and share that peace with those around us. We have peace because we trust God.

 

In addition to all this, Paul says, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

 

Roman soldiers used two kinds of shields. A small one in hand-to-hand to combat, and a large one-4 ½’ tall X 2′ wide-for use when the army was advancing. Each solider would stand side-by-side, holding up his shield, and the enemy would be faced with a solid wall of shields-row after row after row. This made the army nearly impenetrable.

 

That’s what faith does. When we as a church stand together with our shields of faith, it makes us impenetrable, especially when we’re marching side-by-side wearing the armor of God.

 

Faith is knowing whose more powerful; faith is knowing who is going to win. Faith is believing that you are doing exactly what God has called you to do, and that no matter what happens everything is going to be ok. It might not seem like it when we are surrounded, but it will be -

 

Elijah – 2 kings 6:13-17

 

Take the helmet of salvation

 

The helmet of salvation was to protect the way we think. Just like a helmet protects your head, salvation does too, when you meditate on God’s word and all that God means to us, it protects our thought process.

 

Do you know why I can’t give in to despair, no matter how bad things get? Because, when I think about all that God has done in my life, and all that he promises me, I can’t despair-even during the darkest days. Do you know why I’m not very good at worry? Because God’s salvation protects my head. When I think about God’s salvation, it is difficult to see things as being out of control, because he is always in control, even when it doesn’t seem like it. God is in control, why worry?

 

Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

 

God’s word, the Bible is not only a piece of armor that protects us, but it is also a weapon. Jesus when tempted by Satan in the wilderness used God’s word to protect himself from the devil’s schemes and he used it to defeat him.

 

The idea here is when you read God’s word over and over and over, it becomes a big part of who you are. When we meditate on God’s word, his Spirit begins to live inside of us, and when Satan attacks us we fight back with God’s word. God’s word when it goes down deep inside of us, becomes our words that we speak.

 

God’s word is essential for us to know who God is and what God calls us to. His word is essential for us to know what is good and what is evil. Without God’s word living inside of us, we will be deceived by our enemy the thief, and he will steal and kill and destroy what is most valuable to us.

 

¹⁸ 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 saints.

 

Our greatest weapon in the battle is prayer. Talking to the one who is our commander and chief. Talking to the one who has all the power in the world.

 

Paul’s strategy for prayer is quite simple: Pray for everything and everyone. All occasions, he says. All kinds of prayers and requests, he says. For all the saints, he says. Pray.

 

This is your greatest weapon in spiritual warfare. Why? Because when you pray you are submitted to God. Remember the verse from James 4:7,

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Paul tells us to put on the full armor of God. You don’t have to remember the breastplate and the belt and all the others, but you do need to remember this. We are in a spiritual battle, and that battle can only be won through the strength of God. In order to experience the strength of God, we need to do certain things. We need to:

• Live truthfully. In order to do that we have to know the one who says, I am Truth.
• Do good works.
• Be people of peace. Blessed are the peacemakers for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
• Be people who live with great faith that God is who he says he is.
• Fill our minds with how much God loves us.
• Fill our hearts with God’s word.

 

This is the full armor of God. It enables you to stand against the devil’s schemes. And there’s one more weapon in your arsenal.