The Bible tells us that we’re in a war. This war is not fought with guns and tanks and Grenades. It’s a spiritual war. The Apostle Paul does a great job of explaining this in the book of Ephesians, chapter 6.
Ephesians 6:12
12 Because we do not fight against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual wickedness in high places.
In verse 11, Paul tells us to put on the whole armor of God. In this spiritual war, this is a spiritual armor. He tells us exactly what each piece of that armor is.
Ephesians 6:14-17
14 So stand with the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness;
15 Shoe your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace.
16 Most of all, take the shield of faith, which will make you able to extinguish all the fiery spears of evil.
17 Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
So the Armor Of God is:
The Belt of Truth
The Breastplate of Righteousness
The Preparation of the Gospel of Peace (Shoes)
The Shield of Faith
The Helmet of Salvation
The Sword of The Spirit (Bible)
Again, this battle we’re in is not a physical battle, but a spiritual one. You and I weren’t asked if we wanted to be in this war. We weren’t asked if we wanted to fight. We weren’t given the opportunity to voice our opinion on the subject at all. This war began a long time ago, and the human race became part of it when our first parents, Adam and Eve, listened to Satan’s lies and disobeyed God. The choice that Adam made that day threw the whole human race into the middle of that war, and like it or not, we’re in a war against an enemy who is many more times powerful than you and I.
We’re fighting against an enemy who is more resourceful than we are. This enemy is at least thousands of years old, maybe much older. However old is, he’s had six thousand years to study humans. He knows exactly what makes us tick. He knows what our weaknesses are. He knows exactly what strategy to use to get to each one of us. The only chance we have against this powerful, and resourceful enemy is to ally ourselves with someone who is more powerful than he is. God is the only one that fits that description. He’s the only one that can give us help in times of trouble.
Yes, God is all-powerful, and yes, he will fight for us in this battle, but contrary to popular belief, we have a part to play, too. I’d like to suggest four very important things that Christians need to do in this war that we’re in. These are not the only thing that we need to do, but I believe they’re the four most important things.
1) Trust God Completely.
2) Pray and Study God’s Word (The Bible)
3) Avoid Evil
4) Tell Others About God’s Love
In order to truly trust someone, you have to have a relationship with them. As we pursue a relationship with God, and our relationship with him grows, our trust in him will grow. As long as we’re continuing to pursue that relationship, it’ll grow stronger, and stronger to the point where we can identify with Job when he said, “Even if he kills me, I will still trust him” (Job 13:15). Remember the three Hebrews, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? When they were faced with a choice between obeying the king or God, in Daniel chapter 3, they chose to obey God even though they were threatened with death if they didn’t obey the king. Look at Daniel chapter 3, beginning in verse 14.
Daniel 3:14-17
14 Nebuchadnezzar spoke and said to them, Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? Do you not serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?
15 Now, are you ready? When you hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, or any kind of music, fall down and worship the image which I have made. If you do not worship, you will be thrown, the same hour, into the middle of a burning fiery furnace, and who is the God that will deliver you out of my hands?
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego responded and said, King Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer you in this matter.
17 If it be, our God, whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, King.
18 But if not, know this, King, that we will not serve your gods, nor worship the golden image which you have set up.
Did you notice how much faith they had in God? They said, “Our God IS able to deliver us from the fire” (Daniel 3:14-17). They knew God has the power to deliver us out of any situation, and I mean ANY situation. But they also knew something else. They knew that God doesn’t always deliver us from a bad situation. They knew that it might be in his will for them to die.
Many times, throughout history, we can see where new Christians have been born from the death of Martyrs. Remember, God didn’t save John the Baptist in prison. Some people wonder why, but we know there was a reason. God always has a reason for the things he does, and for the things he allows, and we need to realize that in our own lives. We need to trust that God is able to deliver us from anything, but if he doesn’t, then we need to trust that he had a good reason and continue trusting that he knows what’s best for us.
We need to trust God and obey him, completely. The best way to gain that kind of trust is to do the second thing I mentioned in the list; Pray and Study God’s Word. We must have personal daily devotions, and personal daily Bible study, mixed with praise and prayer to the Creator of the universe. We need to make sure the lines of communication stay open. We need to have a close, personal relationship with God so that when he tells us to do something, we know that it’s actually him speaking to us. The only way we can have that is to study the word of God and pray daily, and I mean two-way prayer where we praise him and listen to him, not just ask for things. We also must be willing to change when God tells us we’re doing something wrong, and he will. He’ll also help us to change.
The third very important thing we need to do is Avoid Evil. Job is a good example for us as Christians today in several ways. Job chapter 1, verse 1 says this;
Job 1:1
1 There was a man in the land of Uz named Job, and he was perfect and upright, and feared God, and avoided evil.
The Bible says Job avoided evil. That needs to be our testimony. We need to turn away from evil and go out of our way to avoid it. If we know we have a certain weakness in a certain area, we need to do whatever it takes to avoid that thing. We need to be aware that Satan and his evil angels set traps for us. They know our weaknesses, and they attack us where they know they’ll have the greatest chance of getting us to sin.
Have you ever heard of or seen a situation where someone is offered a certain amount of money to stay in a ring with a big guy for a certain amount of time? All he has to do is avoid the bigger guy until the time is up. What about the kid in school that’s being bullied by another student like I was when I was young? The only way to avoid this situation is to totally avoid that person.
If we know we have a weakness for something, we need to avoid even seeing it. Take alcohol, for example. If we’re tempted by it, and we go to the store to buy things we need, we shouldn’t go down the aisle where the alcohol is. Avoid it. I have a friend in that situation, and that’s exactly what he does. We need to be as diligent as we can and avoid sin whenever possible. That will help us with half the battle. There will always be temptations, but there’s good news. The Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 10:13 that God always provides a way to escape when we’re tempted to sin, so remember that the next time temptation comes to you.
Don’t play with the devil’s toys either. There are certain things that some see as entertainment that have evil influences. We need to be aware of these, and if there are things we have doubts about, we need to avoid them as well, until we can be sure one way or the other. We must lay aside everything that will come between us and God.
So, we need to trust God completely. We need to avoid evil at all costs. We need to pray and study the Bible, which is part of worshiping God, and last but not least, we need to tell others about his amazing love, and his sacrifice for them.
In the Bible, we have example after example of God’s people sharing the good news of God’s love with others. Unfortunately, part of that message includes the bad news of what will happen to those who refuse to follow God. Not because he’s mean, and just wants everything his way, but because he’s so holy that sin can not exist in his presence.
We need to warn people that God is coming back, and they need to be ready, but we don’t need to do it in a way that will make God seem like an evil tyrant. We need to call people out of something to call them into something. It’s our duty. We need to understand that we all don’t have to stand behind a pulpit, or go door to door, necessarily. We all have different gifts, and we should look for ways to witness and tell others about Jesus using our talents. We should always be looking for opportunities to share the gospel with others. We should be telling everybody to wake up, he’s coming back soon. This is very important. People are dying every day without a saving relationship with Jesus, and that’s so sad.
There was a Christian man named Bill traveling on a train. As he was eating in the dining car, he noticed something about the waiter. His name was Walter, and he was having a bad day. Several of the passengers were not being kind to Walter. He was doing his best, but still, they criticized him and complained about the food, and about his service.
When Bill finished eating, he left Walter a nice tip, and a little gospel tract, with a note on the table, and went back to the passenger car, and sat down to read. After a while, the waiter came walking down the aisle looking at all the faces of the people, and he finally came to Bill. He sat down and said, I want to thank you, Sir. My life has been in chaos lately and today just added to it. I was feeling so awful, I was planning to go home tonight and kill myself. Then he said, Thank you for giving me this pamphlet, and this encouraging note. Now, I realize what Jesus did for me, and I’m going to live the rest of my life for him.
There are people just like Walter out there. We see them every day. You never know, but maybe a kind word or a smile from you may save somebody’s life. Giving somebody a gospel tract, or an encouraging note may be just what they need to pull them back from the edge. There are many more ways to witness than going to a foreign land and preaching. Every one of us can be a witness in our daily lives. We all need to have a personal Ministry. Each one of us. Find something you like and are good at, and use that to show Jesus to others, and I promise you that sharing with others will bless you just as much as it does them. Try it. You’ll be blessed.
———————————————–
My Blogs
https://teddylynn.blogspot.com
https://teddylynn.wordpress.com
© 2008 Teddy Lynn – All Rights Reserved
My books are available in paperback and digital format on Amazon @
https://www.amazon.com/Teddy-Lynn/e/B01MZDB6L6
Adapted from my sermon “War” 2008
