Armored Up!Ephesians 6:10-12“Welcome to Boot Camp!”
By: Pastor Dusty R. Marshall
Let us start today by reading Romans 12:1-5;
1I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. 3For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. 4For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, 5so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.
I would like to ask you few questions right quick. These questions have very easy answers, but please humor me as I ask them.
What Happens to us if we are unprotected?
Why would a soldier need a Bullet Proof vest?
What happens to a Soldier if they enter the Battle Field with nothing more than a Feather Duster?
Today, before we can study the Armor of God, we must understand why we need it! Just as the earlier questions may have had obvious answers to us, so it would be if we asked them concerning the Armor of God.
We never plan to fail, we just fail to plan.
We would be fooling ourselves and making a grave mistake if we thought that in the moment of our Salvation that our lives would now be easy. It’s quite the contrary. The fact of our Salvation is that it also marks the beginning of a lifelong struggle, warfare. Not of our salvation, that you can be sure of, but one of Christian service. Paul’s closing in Ephesians outlines the struggle of Christians with the forces of evil. The Christian must never live and move unarmed.
Isaiah 14: 12-15 not only tell us of the fall of satan but also of his agenda and what will happen to him.
12“How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! 13For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; 14I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ 15Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit.
So why do we need this Armor? Eph. 6:10-12
1. You are in a War! (10-12)
a. We must be strong in the Lord (10)
i. “Strong”, the word used here means “Pour Power into.”
ii. Remember God is God, we’re not!
iii. We cannot fight with our strength, but God’s
b. We are not fighting against Flesh & Blood! (12)
i. We must not underestimate our enemy, this is grave mistake!
ii. “We wrestle” translated suggests Hand-to-Hand combat. (This battle is up close and personal)
c. To stand against the devil, we must understand the Armor! (11)
i. The verb “put on” denotes urgent and decisive action!
ii. The word used for “Put on” means it would never come off.
iii. “To stand” means to stand ready to fight & hold your ground.
iv. “Wiles of the devil” are his strategies & many subtle ways by which he attacks God’s People. (4:14)(A cuss word here or a lustful thought there, everyone else is doing it to premarital affairs, living together or complacency in out laziness etc…)
When we do these things is how we take off the armor or really never put it on!
So why do we need to Armor Up? Because without it we fail, we can do nothing on our own. Just as a soldier will not run into battle with a feather duster and expect to be successful in the battle, nor shall we rush in the battle in the same manner. Do not think that there is not a spiritual warfare going on. Don’t be tricked into thinking you don’t have to fight because someone else is fighting for you, because you are already in the war. Through Christ we are equipped to stand against anything that may be thrown at us. Christ through the cross has already won the war. We must now stand through Christ in the battles that satan is waging on. So, Armor Up! Accept Christ, His death, burial and resurrection and follow Him. Start planning to win! Guards don’t go and fight the war they tell the commander. The sooner we learn as David said, “The battle is the Lord’s”. If we want to win we must join God’s army and allow Him, our commander, fight and organize the battle.
By: Pastor Dusty R. Marshall
Let us start today by reading Romans 12:1-5;
1I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. 3For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. 4For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, 5so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.
I would like to ask you few questions right quick. These questions have very easy answers, but please humor me as I ask them.
What Happens to us if we are unprotected?
Why would a soldier need a Bullet Proof vest?
What happens to a Soldier if they enter the Battle Field with nothing more than a Feather Duster?
Today, before we can study the Armor of God, we must understand why we need it! Just as the earlier questions may have had obvious answers to us, so it would be if we asked them concerning the Armor of God.
We never plan to fail, we just fail to plan.
We would be fooling ourselves and making a grave mistake if we thought that in the moment of our Salvation that our lives would now be easy. It’s quite the contrary. The fact of our Salvation is that it also marks the beginning of a lifelong struggle, warfare. Not of our salvation, that you can be sure of, but one of Christian service. Paul’s closing in Ephesians outlines the struggle of Christians with the forces of evil. The Christian must never live and move unarmed.
Isaiah 14: 12-15 not only tell us of the fall of satan but also of his agenda and what will happen to him.
12“How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! 13For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; 14I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ 15Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit.
So why do we need this Armor? Eph. 6:10-12
1. You are in a War! (10-12)
a. We must be strong in the Lord (10)
i. “Strong”, the word used here means “Pour Power into.”
ii. Remember God is God, we’re not!
iii. We cannot fight with our strength, but God’s
b. We are not fighting against Flesh & Blood! (12)
i. We must not underestimate our enemy, this is grave mistake!
ii. “We wrestle” translated suggests Hand-to-Hand combat. (This battle is up close and personal)
c. To stand against the devil, we must understand the Armor! (11)
i. The verb “put on” denotes urgent and decisive action!
ii. The word used for “Put on” means it would never come off.
iii. “To stand” means to stand ready to fight & hold your ground.
iv. “Wiles of the devil” are his strategies & many subtle ways by which he attacks God’s People. (4:14)(A cuss word here or a lustful thought there, everyone else is doing it to premarital affairs, living together or complacency in out laziness etc…)
When we do these things is how we take off the armor or really never put it on!
So why do we need to Armor Up? Because without it we fail, we can do nothing on our own. Just as a soldier will not run into battle with a feather duster and expect to be successful in the battle, nor shall we rush in the battle in the same manner. Do not think that there is not a spiritual warfare going on. Don’t be tricked into thinking you don’t have to fight because someone else is fighting for you, because you are already in the war. Through Christ we are equipped to stand against anything that may be thrown at us. Christ through the cross has already won the war. We must now stand through Christ in the battles that satan is waging on. So, Armor Up! Accept Christ, His death, burial and resurrection and follow Him. Start planning to win! Guards don’t go and fight the war they tell the commander. The sooner we learn as David said, “The battle is the Lord’s”. If we want to win we must join God’s army and allow Him, our commander, fight and organize the battle.
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