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The Weapons of Our Warfare
Fundamentals of Christianity 2
Lesson 6
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand, stand therefore, having your loins girth about with truth and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints. Ephesians 6:10-18
Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse you hands you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double minded. James 4:7
This is just a few of the many scriptures that teach us how to deal with the devil. We can learn to be strong and have the power of God in our life, making us to be mighty warriors for God. But we must deal with the devil in God's way if we expect to win. We must resist Satan and submit ourselves to God. Every day we must put on and wear the armor God has given us. A soldier would not go out to do battle without his armor. We are in a battle everyday with a real enemy, we must wear our armor too.
When we live our lives a certain way we are putting on God's armor. This armor protects us from Satan and his demons. If we do not live our lives in this way, we are open targets. Satan will cause us many troubles and perhaps destroy or even steal our life and the lives of those we love. If we live in God's armor we will be safe, and we will be able to destroy the works of Satan and set those free that are slaves of darkness.
The elements of our armor:
1. Knowledge of truth:
We cannot be ignorant of Satan's devices or ignorant of God's ways. We must know truth. Last week we talked of how Satan is a master of deception. Those deceptions are designed to separate us from God and ultimately destroy us. The deceptions can be about God and His nature and ways or they can be anything that causes us to sin.
Last week we talked about sin as being bait with a hook in it. This week I want to liken sin to poisonous candy. It may look good, smell good and taste good, but the very purpose of it is to destroy us. People do not fully realize this, but Satan knows exactly what he is doing. Remember, he is a master deceiver. This worlds system is directed by him and is designed to use every deception available to get us to sin, which will eventually destroy us. Satan wins and we loose when we sin. By knowing truth we overcome temptation which takes away Satan's power over us.
This world has no answers to the problem of evil in this world. We can only know truth when it comes from God. Man is not the author of truth and Satan certainly is not. God's word must be our source of truth for every single question or problem we face in life. Any knowledge that comes to us that does not agree with God's word is a lie and should immediately be rejected. Our lives must be patterned from God's word or we will not be wearing our armor, and will be an open target for Satan.
We must learn to love truth and hate deception. If we are truth lovers and truth seekers, God will make sure we know truth. Fall in love with God's word, it is our source for truth and will be our protection. Satan cannot stand against God's word.
2. Breastplate of righteousness:
If we are not born again there is absolutely no protection from evil, we belong to Satan and will ultimately spend eternity in hell. Our righteousness or right standing with God is like a breastplate of protection from the enemy. We receive this when we are born again.
Everyone is born into sin and darkness and must be saved by faith in Jesus in order to be born into God's kingdom. This is a choice and an action we must take. Romans 3:10 says that not even one person is righteous without faith in Jesus. Isaiah 64:6 says that our righteousness is as filthy rags. When we accept Jesus as our Lord, we become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21
Once we are saved, we must now walk in righteousness. We do this by not sinning. If we sin, we repent. (Ask God's forgiveness and turn from that sin). If we will do this, we absolutely stop Satan's plan for our life. We should never go for even a day with unrepented sin in our life. To remain in a place of protection, stay tender toward God and upright in heart.
Awake to righteous, and sin not…1 Corinthians 15:34
3. Peace:
To make a firm decision that you are going to walk in peace will greatly hinder demonic activity in your life and Satan's ability to destroy you. Satan will use people to fight and argue with you. It takes two to argue or fight, so don't participate. Fighting will steal your joy and God's plan for your life. When there is strife and division, even murder can take place. James 3:16 says that where there is strife there is confusion and every evil work.
In order to walk in peace, we must walk in love. Love is God's greatest commandment, to love God and to love others, even our enemies. Another vital element is forgiveness. According to the bible, we must forgive all wrong done to us or God will not forgive us for the wrong we do. If we will walk in love, peace and forgiveness it will tie the enemy's hands and loose God's blessings on our life.
4. Faith:
Another piece of our armor to stand against Satan with is our shield of faith. Hebrews 11:6 says that without faith it is impossible to please God. We cannot even be saved without faith. All things in God's kingdom operate by faith. Ephesians 6:16 tells us that we will be able to quench every fiery dart of the wicked one with our shield of faith. Satan and his demons are constantly throwing fiery darts of all kinds at God's children.
No matter what we see, hear or feel in all circumstances we must put our faith in God. In His goodness, in his love for us, in his ability to handle any problem we face. We must believe God's word without reservation and stand on that word in even the toughest times. When we put our faith in God and His promises to us, which is His word, every lie of the enemy falls to nothing. Our circumstances will begin to change and line up with God's word. Satan will run with his tail tucked between his legs.
Faith is the opposite of fear. We must always put our faith in God and never fear the devil. When we fear the devil, we are actually putting our faith in him. We are saying he is bigger than our God. Remember, faith in God looses his hand to bless us. Putting faith in Satan, looses his hand to destroy us.
5. Helmet of salvation:
We must be born again to stand against the devil. We are no match for him without God. We must apply our salvation to our mind or in other words, we must control our thoughts.
Wrong thoughts are a temptation to sin. If we hold those bad thoughts knowing they are bad and continue thinking about them, they become sin to us. There is a saying "you cannot keep a bird from flying over your head but you sure can keep him from building a nest in your hair". This is true with wrong thoughts. Of course, we must be careful not to watch or listen to things that bring the wrong thoughts. That in itself is wrong, we must be careful what comes into our ears and eyes, that it is not poison to us.
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds; (false ideas or beliefs) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; 2 Corinthians 10:3-5
We must be sure that our thoughts are not evil and that they line up with God's word. The bible says to meditate on evil is to commit that evil act in our hearts. If we think on something long enough, we will act it out. Sin can and should be stopped in the mind before it becomes an act. When we bring our every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, we are tying the devils hands from harming us.
6. The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
God's word is a powerful weapon against our enemy, a weapon he cannot stand against. Jesus, when he was tempted by the devil in Matthew chapter 4, used God's word against him. Satan will twist God's word to try to fool us into believing God says one thing when He really says another. That is one reason it is important for us to study God's word. There will be times when you have to talk right back to Satan and tell him he is a liar and tell him what God has to say about the situation, just as Jesus did. He gave up and left Jesus and he will give up and leave us alone too, for a while. Then he will come and try again. We must be diligent. We must know truth, speak truth and stand on truth without giving up.
7. Prayer:
A good way to submit ourselves to God and resist the devil is to pray. If we hope to be able to stand against the schemes of the devil, we must be people of prayer, praying for ourselves and for others. We should pray with our understanding, and also regularly in tongues.
When we pray, we will receive God's power or anointing. We should ask for angelic help. Through prayer we will receive direction from God. He will reveal the plans of the enemy to us before he even has a chance to make his move.
We also must spend time in prayer doing spiritual warfare. This is time when we speak directly to tormenting spirits, binding them and loosing angelic help or God's blessings. We have power and authority over demonic forces, but unless we are knowledgeable of that power and exercise it, it does us no good. We will be learning more about this in coming weeks. On your own time at home read Luke 10 of how demons are subject to Christ's disciples.
And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever though shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Matthew 16:18-19
There is much more to be learned about Satan from God's word. But if we would simply be sure to put on our full armor as described in Ephesians 6:10-11, our lives would be much easier. Satan's hand would be bound. He would not be able to bring sickness, pain and all kinds of suffering into our life. We would be powerful forces for him to reckon with. Not only would we be blessed, healthy, happy and at peace, but we would be able to help others, which is God's will.
Weekly Challenges:
Scripture Memorization: Behold, I give unto you the power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Luke 10:19
Think: Think about ways that you can put on your armor and shut the door to the enemy in your life.
L.O.V.E. Challenge: This week make an extra effort to be at peace with everyone. When someone tries to argue, politely tell them you will not argue. Ask God for help. Be prepared to tell the group how this went for you.
Scripture Reading: Read a chapter of the Bible each day working your way through the New Testament.
Prayer: Pray at least 20 minutes daily. Make spiritual warfare a part of your prayer time. Make worship a daily part of your prayer time.