Called to Duty

The Weapons of our Warfare

2 Corinthians 10:4 “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal(fleshly) but mighty through God(have divine power) to the pulling down (destroying) of strongholds.”

Ephesians 6:12 “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

John 10:10 “ The Thief only comes to Kill, Steal and destroy. But Jesus has come to give us overwhelming, abundant life.”

Ephesians 6:11 “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.”

  1. The Reality of our Enemy
  2. Hollywood has sensationalized the enemy to the point of desensitizing humanity to the true reality of his schemes. If we see him as a mere character in a dramatic or thrilling movie, or if we see the gateways to the demonic realm as nothing more than a game (like a Ouija board), we fail to understand the seriousness of the reality of the threat.
  1. 5-fold threat:
  2. Devil
  3. Rulers
  4. Authorities
  5. Cosmic Powers controlling this present darkness
  6. Evil Spiritual Forces in the Spirit realm
  1. The Brutality of the Battle – John 10:10
  2. Total annihilation - Death
  3. Job – God did not allow Satan to kill Job.
  4. But without the sovereign protection & grace of God on our lives, Satan’s would have an unrestrained access to our destruction.
  5. Destruction
  6. Testimony
  7. Faith
  8. Witness

Illustration - In C.S. Lewis’ book The Screwtape Letters, we read the story of an older demon counseling a younger demon. At one point in the book, we read these words:

"You will say that these are very small sins, and doubtless, like all young tempters, you are anxious to be able to report spectacular wickedness. But do remember, the only thing that matters is the extent to which you separate the man from the Enemy [God]. It does not matter how small the sins are, provided that their cumulative effect is to keep the man away from the Light.… Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick. Indeed, the safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts."

  1. Steal
  2. Joy
  3. Victory
  1. The Simplicity of our Victory
  2. Armor of God – 5-fold response! – Ephesians 6:11
  3. 5 steps for Victory over the adversary
  4. Helmet of Salvation – (Devil’s ultimate defeat was Calvary and The Tomb)
  5. Guard the Mind – Thoughts, Emotions, & Will
  6. Sword of Spirit – Bible – (Authorities)
  7. Breastplate of Righteousness – (Rulers)
  8. Guards the Vital Organs – Heart and lungs (Soul & Testimony) - Your Testimony is your impact upon others.
  9. We need each other - Breastplate must be put on by others.
  10. “They overcame the Enemy by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony”
  11. Feet shod with the Gospel – (powers in this age of present darkness)
  12. Watch your step!!!
  13. Do not allow your feet to go where your Faith cannot Follow nor Function!!!
  14. Shield of Faith – (Evil forces in the Spirit Realm)
  15. The Shield blocks the fiery darts of the enemy, so they cannot hit their intended target.
  1. Closing
  2. Greater is HE that is in us than He that is in the world….

When we are Operating in our Faith and Arrayed in HIS ARMOR!!!

  1. You only need armor if you are preparing for and anticipating battle.

Illustration - a scene from one of the Star Trek TV series. Worf, the Klingon, is captured by the evil Dominion. They intend to use him as a practice dummy in hand-to-hand combat for their lethal ground troops, and so they do. They bring out soldier after soldier to take Worf on and they go at it. It’s never very long before the bad guys get tired of getting beat up, and they "tap out" and quit. So, after Worf’s been taking on all comers for most of the day, they finally bring out their biggest and strongest, the one warrior they know will be able to win. They begin to battle, and Worf is just too weak from the day’s struggles. He is little more than a punching bag for the bad guy to work out on. But Worf will not "tap out" like all the other beaten soldiers. He keeps getting up, no matter how many times he is knocked down, no matter how injured he is. He simply will not quit. It is obvious that this valiant warrior has won the respect and admiration of all the Dominion troops, including the one now beating him up. They all begin to beg him to tap out and quit, but he will not. Finally, out of sheer exasperation, the warrior who is beating him stops and "taps out" himself. When asked by his enraged commander why he has done this, he says, resigned, "I cannot defeat this man. I can only kill him."

Think about that for a moment. I cannot defeat this man. I can only kill him. I don’t know about you, but my goal is to hear the devil himself say those words about me some day. I will not tap out. How about you?