#watchingandwaitingforjesus: The Christian Warfare

Exodus 23:20-23

After reading this, some carelessly assume that, if Israel had just obeyed God, they would have taken over the Promised Land without having to confront the people already there. This is most assuredly untrue. The blessings and cursings establish a biblical principle for God's people:

If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments, and perform them, then I will give you rain in its season, the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. . . . But if you do not obey Me, and do not observe all these commandments, and if you despise My statutes, or if your soul abhors My judgments, so that you do not perform all My commandments, but break My covenant, I will also do this to you. . . . (Leviticus 26:3-4, 14-16)

In a similar way, the promises of Exodus 23 are conditional. The bestowal of blessings depends upon obedience to the covenant. In covenantal matters like this with God, a Christian must expect reciprocity.

Notice this principle spoken by the prophet Azariah in II Chronicles 15:2: "The LORD is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you." Will God bless rebellion by His people? Absolutely not! He answers rebellion by removing His protection.

Consider: Does God make growth and overcoming easy for us, even though He promises salvation? Are there no battles to fight while overcoming? If God completely smoothed the way for us, what would we have to overcome? If He smoothed our way, how would He test our loyalty? Would we be prepared for His Kingdom? Of course, He does not make it easy for us. Each of our paths is designed and tempered to test us on the level of our natural abilities and gifts (I Corinthians 10:13). Therefore, each Christian's way will be difficult; each will have to fight many battles at his or her level.

If God completely smoothed the way, it would create a walk-in-the-park scenario, eliminating the possibility of God's law being written in our hearts. When other biblical information is added to God's promise in Exodus 23, we see that what He guarantees is that He will drive out the people of the land, making it far easier for the Israelites than if He were not involved at all. God is comparing situations with and without His intervention.

In the analogy, the people of the land are symbolic of human nature, which cannot be made subject to God and His law, according to Romans 8:7. Like human nature, the people of the land could not be driven out without God's help. We can conclude that Israel would have been totally unable to accomplish even what they did had not God been with them.

How can we know that Exodus 23 is not an outright promise that Israel would not have go to war at some point in the conquest of the land? Seeing several scriptures together will make this clear. First, notice Deuteronomy 8:1-3. Clearly, God tests us to see where we stand, revealing to us at the same time where our weaknesses lie. Our standing must be revealed to both God and us because His work in us is a cooperative effort with us. Tests are not normally easy; tests are often clarifying experiences, exposing our strengths and weaknesses. They are designed to reveal spiritual and moral progress or lack thereof, and in so doing should motivate growth in areas of weakness and produce confidence in areas of strength.

We can now add I Corinthians 10:11-13 to our understanding:

Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

An admonition is an instructive warning. It is not a "chewing-out" but a sobering, thought-provoking prod. Overall, Paul is encouraging us that God is carefully monitoring the tests we experience so that we do not get in over our heads. The sanctification process requires our cooperation with God, and He does not want to lose us through extreme discouragement.

Though He manages the operations of His creative process, His work definitely does not eliminate our involvement. Knowing that God carefully monitors each of us helps us to understand why the Bible cautions us to be careful in how we evaluate each other. God knows, but we certainly do not know all the factors working in other Christians' tests.

In Exodus 23:22-31, God makes six promises and gives one command to the Israelites regarding their conquest of the Promised Land:

1. I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.
2. I will cut them off.
3. I will send My fear before you, I will cause confusion among all the people to whom you come, and will make all your enemies turn their backs to you.
4. I will send hornets before you.
5. Little by little I will drive them out from before you.
6. I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand.

His one command, in verse 31, is, "You shall drive them out before you."

Consider what these seven statements reveal. The entire context suggests confrontation between God and the people of the land. However, the command, "You shall drive them out before you," should give us pause. There is more to this than a first glance might indicate. The easy assumption that God would remove every impediment upon Israel's entrance into the Promised Land proves false; that is not how it worked out in history. In addition, the Israelites knew for a certainty that they would have to face the people of the land in multiple confrontations.

In addition, they had already experienced a strong indicator of God's will for them regarding warfare when He permitted the Amalekites to attack the rear of Israel's column (see Exodus 17:8-13). That clash was only the first of an intense spate of battles in which the outcome hung in the balance on occasion. They knew that further warfare was a strong possibility.

Exodus 23:32 adds another factor that strongly hints that God would not simply drive the inhabitants from Canaan: "You shall make no covenant with them, nor with their gods." If He were going to drive the Canaanites completely out of the land before the Israelites, why would He need to make this warning? There would have been no people to make a covenant with!

Exodus 34:11-12, 15 repeats this command even more forcefully. If we take Exodus 23 and 34 at face value, the Israelites would have no opportunity to make a covenant with the people of the land because they would never encounter them to be tempted to make a covenant with them.

If the Israelites came into the land and began tearing down altars, would the people of the land have just stood around and let their revered high places be destroyed without resistance? No way! We can compare this to the confrontations many of us faced when we came to believe God, causing us to stop observing Christmas, Easter, Halloween, and Sunday worship and to begin keeping the Sabbath and God's holy days instead. Did our families, friends, and employers give us no resistance to these changes, which severely disturbed these relationships? Did they not defend their lifelong practices?

Because they would have close contact with the land's inhabitants, the Israelites had a choice to make: They could either compromise with the inhabitants regarding their cultures or follow God's commands. The latter choice entailed doing things like destroying altars, which would produce intense confrontations—warfare. The evidence indicates that the Israelites expected that they would have to go to war.

Exodus 23:23-30

Some people draw a careless assumption from a surface evaluation of Exodus 23:20-33, leading to a shallow conclusion: that if the Israelites had just obeyed God, they would have marched into the land and taken it over without a fight. Such submission would have undoubtedly made their course easier and produced better results.

However, many other contexts show that God tests His people because He is preparing them for future responsibilities. Israel failed many tests. The march through the wilderness and the conquest of the Promised Land was a school, a vast, almost fifty-years-long training ground, for appreciating, using, and governing the Promised Land. This "schooling" included tests by which the Israelites could measure their progress, and at the same time, prove to God their growth and readiness.

We concluded that God's promises in Exodus 23 were indeed conditional. Their fulfillment depended on Israel's obedience, and part of that obedience was confronting their enemies, the people of the land, in warfare. The episode recorded in Numbers 13-14 reveals that the Israelite spies fully expected to have to fight the Canaanites, Hittites, Jebusites, etc. They did not understand Exodus 23 as a free pass, as many do today. Their responsibility was to drive them out in cooperation with God, as He promised to be with them, enabling them to drive the people out, which they were incapable of doing without His involvement. But they refused to do their part.

They were to drive out the inhabitants even as we, in cooperation with God, are to confront and drive out old habits, attitudes, and loyalties. These are negative characteristics left over from our pre-conversion days. Christian living parallels this Old Testament instruction. This is one reason why the New Testament has so many illustrations and exhortations regarding Christian warfare.

Our warfare is in many ways different. It does not involve bloody engagements featuring swords, spears, or rifles with bayonets. It is a spiritual warfare, one that takes place primarily within ourselves. Nonetheless, it requires qualities such as loyalty, patriotism, courage, self-denial, vision, understanding, and sacrifice for us to be victorious overcomers.

Numbers 1:1-22

This phrase, "all who were able to go to war," appears 14 times in this one section! What is the significance of God commanding a census to be taken of all males twenty years old and above and able to go to war? Obviously, God wanted Israel to comprehend the size of its army. God was preparing the Israelites for the certainty of warfare with the people of the land.

Notice the precise dating in verse 1: It was "the first day of the second month, in the second year" following their flight from Egypt. Exodus 19:1 tells us, "In the third month after the children of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on the same day, they came to the Wilderness of Sinai." The giving of the law, then, occurred three months after they left Egypt. Exodus 40:17 adds another time marker: "And it came to pass in the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was raised up."

Thus, after receiving the law and making the covenant, God gave instructions concerning the Tabernacle, and it was constructed. It was erected on Abib/Nisan 1, the first day of the first month, of the second year. At this point, the Israelites have now been out of Egypt just two weeks shy of a full year. Once the Tabernacle had been erected and was in operation, God gave to Moses all the instructions in the book of Leviticus, and the priesthood began to put the ceremonial practices into operation.

In Numbers 1:1, thirteen more months have passed, and Israel is still at Mount Sinai. However, their stay is soon to end. The events of Numbers 13 and 14 did not take place until near the end of this second year after leaving Egypt. Therefore, before the Israelites even began the serious part of their trek to take over the Promised Land, the initial preparation for their being forged into an army, a force intended to fight against the people of the land, had already taken place.

They fully understood that Exodus 23 was not an unconditional promise that God would fight all their wars for them. They knew they would not just walk into the land and take it over while hornets maddeningly buzzed around their enemies' heads!

True Christianity is not an easy way of life. Yet many of this world's religious groups that call themselves Christian would have us believe that accepting the blood of Jesus Christ is the end of all of our problems.

That claim, though, is misleading at the very least—and an outright lie at the most, depending on the material supporting such a claim. Many influences attempt to knock a Christian off the path entirely or in any case cause him to stumble. A Christian must be discerning, taking great pains to maintain his balance against three primary enemies: his human nature, the world, and Satan. Regardless of his age, social status, education, or gender, these foes dog his heels.

Luke 21:36

In our day, "watch" has lost much of its original power. Is there anything more passive than watching television? We live in a spectator nation. We watch movies, news, the markets, and sporting events. Watching has become an activity that puts us on the sidelines and not on the field of battle, an idea foreign to the original meaning of the word. At the time of the King James translators, "watch" emphasized the carefulness, attention, and vigilance in the way a soldier kept alert for any sign of enemy movement.

A concept that has more meaning to us today can be found in the word "overcome." This word implies that we watch ourselves to spot our problems, do battle with them, and conquer them. "Overcome" better communicates the battle we have joined (Romans 12:21; I John 5:4-5; Revelation 21:7).

If we watch ourselves spiritually, we are not just watching our human nature, but doing battle with it. We are not just watching the world and its influences as they bombard us, but fighting against them. We are not just watching Satan's devices as they toy with us, but defending ourselves against them. In other words, "watch" as originally intended covers the entire process of overcoming that is our calling. We are to be identifying the problems, engaging them, and putting them to flight (Revelation 3:2; 16:15; I Corinthians 16:13; I Thessalonians 5:6-8).

Therefore, "overcome," more clearly than "watch," communicates to someone living today what Luke 21:36 says we should be doing as we near the end of the age. The premier end-time book, Revelation, repeatedly emphasizes that overcoming is "job one" for us (Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21; 12:11; 21:7).

Luke 21:36 suggests that those who alertly overcome and pray always are those that may be counted worthy to escape and stand before Christ in God's Kingdom. In verse 36, Christ ties together all He has said throughout the chapter. If we do not neglect the spiritual (verses 34-35), and instead watch and pray always, we can "escape all these things" (verses 7-33) and enter God's Kingdom.

Luke 21 is a chapter about the end time, and in verse 36, we have spiritual instruction directly from Jesus to anyone living during that time. He is telling us how to escape the final effects of the turmoil that is ahead and to enter God's Kingdom. This, therefore, becomes an extremely powerful verse in helping us to understand exactly what we should be concentrating on at this time. It is a roadmap to safety and salvation.

What if someone told us where to find two tickets, which if purchased by us, would grant us escape from the end-time tumult and entrance into God's Kingdom? What price would we pay? Two such "tickets" exist, and we have the wherewithal to purchase them. Luke 21:36 shows us the two tickets. One is the "watch/overcome" ticket and the other is the "pray always" ticket. If we choose to be lackadaisical about overcoming or prayer, are missing either ticket, or have only a partial ticket, we will likely be required to "buy" those same two tickets at a very dear price in the Tribulation.

The Bible states quite a few "formulas" for producing certain things. We need to understand that none of these formulas stands on its own. They fit into a whole that includes other factors supplied from other instruction found elsewhere in Scripture. However, there are formulas, and then, there are formulas. Those that Jesus gives tend to be "trunk of the tree" formulas. They must be our base, and then we can stack other instruction on them.

These "trunk of the tree" formulas not only form a foundation that supports everything else, but they also give direction and boundaries for what and how we can add to them. Once a builder lays a foundation for a small, three-bedroom house, it automatically limits what he can and cannot construct on it. Consequently, we cannot build a beautiful spiritual temple on the wrong foundation. Luke 21:36 is an integral part of the right foundation for those of us living at the end.

As we have seen, in Luke 21:36, Christ reveals that the roles of watching—or paying careful attention to overcoming—and praying always are vital to our Christian lives at this time.

Ephesians 6:12-17 makes especially clear that we are involved in a war, a spiritual war, and thus our weaponry must also be spiritual.

The Christian must tend to his weapons, as every soldier in warfare must, for not only is his life on the line but also the lives of his buddies, as he is their keeper too. Without serviceable weapons, the battle is often lost even before it begins. It is a terrifying thought to imagine oneself on a battlefield with nothing in hand to fight the enemy.

The Bible makes it clear that God has willed that this warfare is an absolute necessity for the development and preparation of His children to live in His Family Kingdom. It cannot be avoided; we cannot remain neutral. In one sense, we really have no choice. We must either fight or be lost.

Hebrews 11:8

Abraham was drawn by faith to a land that he would afterward receive as an inheritance, the Promised Land, a type of the Kingdom of God. What if he had refused to step out?

What God has recorded of Abraham's life reveals that how he responded illustrates a path, a way of trust that will lead us to our inheritance. It is the "narrow way," the difficult way that leads to life. That way would have existed even if God had not revealed it to him, but Abraham's following that way in faith proved that his heart was one with God's. God expects us to follow the same trustful attitude that motivated Abraham's actions.

Abraham's obedient response suggests that no proud, stiff-necked rebel will be in the Kingdom of God. No one wrapped up in himself will survive this difficult path, only those who by faith are humbly submissive to God's will. In short, God's calling begins severing us from a number of important negative worldly and carnal factors. At the same time, it also attaches our loyalties, our responsibilities, and our purposes in life to God and His Kingdom.

In biblical terminology, we are transferred from death to life; from fleshly minded to spiritually minded; from Israelite or Gentile to Abraham's seed; from uncircumcised to circumcised in heart; and from the world to the Kingdom of God. It is essential that our severing from the old way be as complete and continuous as possible because, despite what happens to our heart in our attachment to God and His way, the world and carnality remain as constant threats, almost like magnets drawing us back toward them.

From this arises our need for faith to wage the Christian fight so that we do not backslide to where and what we were before. We see this in a small way from Abraham's life; his breaking away was not as smooth as it appears on the surface. Genesis 12:1 contains God's original charge: "Now the LORD had said to Abram: 'Get you out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you.'"

God was severing Abraham from his country, his kindred, and his father's house. Our severing rarely involves a physical separation from the nations of our birth, but it almost always involves a spiritual division from our natural families. Frequently, this severing causes strained family relations. It appears that it caused Abraham problems as well.

In Luke 14:26-27, Jesus admonishes all who desire baptism to consider well what He says:

If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

As our calling begins, problems do not generally arise because the uncalled family members hate us outright. Instead, they love us in their carnal fashion, but our desire to obey God upsets their sense of family unity, loyalty, and responsibility. A related factor irritates them: They understand that we are rejecting many, if not virtually all, of the spiritual values they taught us.

Abraham left Ur by faith, and it was also by faith that Abraham left Haran. He sojourned in the Promised Land by faith as well.

We are told that despite becoming quite wealthy, and with the exception of a burial place for Sarah and himself, never owning a piece of land, he lived the entire time in tents and that the Canaanites lived in the land with him (Genesis 13:2; 23:1-20). This establishes another general pattern for his faithful children. In every sense of the word, he was a pilgrim. No matter where he lived or what were his economic circumstances, he purchased no land—he never even built a house!

Beyond this, the Bible reveals little social interaction with others outside of his family. Except for a league made with his nearest neighbors, Abraham made no alliances, nor took any part in the politics or the religions of the people of the land. He lived this way for one hundred years. Isaac and Jacob shared the same pattern of life.

God shows us all of this so we might see that virtually Abraham's entire post-calling life was engaged in living by faith, focused on maintaining his relationship with God. He truly was in the world but not of it. He did not cultivate its friendship but used it as necessity required, though in a guarded way, lest he should in some way abuse his privileges with God.

1 Peter 1:1-2

It is the life that is obedient to God and separated from the world that provides the proof of one's conversion. If the Christian is legally cleared of guilt before God and obedient to Him, he no longer "belongs" to the world; the Bible no longer perceives such a person as being "in the flesh."

Philippians 3:20 offers understanding of another separation from the world: "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ." His spiritual separation produces for the Christian a legal transfer of citizenship that he must recognize.

Colossians 1:12-13 confirms this: "Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love." As a result of these separations, the Christian must live his life as a stranger and pilgrim as if in a foreign land, obeying the laws of his new nation by placing higher priority in his activities as a citizen of the Kingdom of God.

This opens the door to another line of practical thought, conduct, and attitude: "Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself the enemy of God" (James 4:4). We normally do whatever we can to avoid our enemies, even to the point of fleeing from them if necessary. This reality should help us to understand why God commands us:

Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? . . . Therefore "Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you." (II Corinthians 6:14, 17)

It is by means of conduct motivated by the Holy Spirit that we are to come out from among unbelievers and be separate. We cannot—we must not—straddle the fence; we cannot serve two masters. Once we are called, we must serve God, or we will have received God's grace in vain (II Corinthians 6:1).

Genesis 3:15

As in the previous verse, the figurative sense overshadows the literal. True, women and snakes are bitter enemies, but the real hostilities are spiritual - between Satan and the woman, a symbol of the church (see Galatians 4:21-31; Ephesians 5:22-32; etc.).

Some ask, "If this is so, how can Satan, who cannot reproduce, have 'seed'?" The answer, again, lies in the spiritual realm. Paul says in Galatians 3:26-27, 29:

For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. . . . And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

No matter what their racial makeup, members of God's church become Abraham's spiritual descendents because, as Jesus says, "Abraham's children . . . do the works of Abraham" (John 8:39). Jesus goes on to explain that Satan has spiritual offspring also:

But now you [those in Jesus' audience] seek to kill Me. . . . You do the deeds of your father. . . . You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. (verses 40-41, 44)

Satan's seed are those who do Satan's will in rebellion against God.

In Ephesians 6:10-12, Paul writes of this enmity between seeds:

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 do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Genesis 3:15 prophesies of this spiritual war between God's people and Satan's.

"Seed" in verse 15 is collective (like "team" or "family"), but the following pronoun, "He," is singular. As Christ's body (Romans 12:5; I Corinthians 12:27; Ephesians 1:22-23), we are included as participants in the "enmity." However, the subjects of the "bruising" clauses are strictly Christ and Satan, the two leading opponents in the battle.

Paul also uses "Seed" in a singular sense in writing of Christ as "Abraham's Seed" in Galatians 3:16: "Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, 'And to seeds,' as of many, but as of one, 'And to your Seed,' who is Christ." Revelation 12:5 illustrates the connection between the woman and the Seed:

And she [the woman] bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and to His throne.

Interpreting itself, the Bible shows that the singular "Seed" of the woman is indeed the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

Psalm 119:165

What does "greatpeace" mean? "Peace" automatically suggests an absence of war, no battling, no fighting. Under temptation, a battle always rages, even if we are winning. In such a case, no peace exists, much less "great peace." As an illustration, initially, the U.S. in Iraq won every battle handily, but it was still war. The spiritual war we fight is caused by temptation from Satan, our human nature, and the world. Remove temptation, and war stops. What remains is great peace.

How do we achieve not just peace, but "great peace"? The last half of Psalm 119:165 tells us: "nothing causes them to stumble." What causes a human to stumble? Temptation! This means that we have to be sheltered from it. The American Standard Version renders this phrase, "they have no occasion of stumbling," Young's Literal Translation puts it as "they have no stumbling-block," and the Rotherham's Emphasized Bible reads, "nothing to make them stumble." All of these renderings mean that not even the opportunity to stumble is presented. Other scriptures mention protection from stumbling:

Psalm 121:3 (NLT): He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber.
I John 2:10: He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.
Jude 24: Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. . . .

God through the gift of His Holy Spirit is the only power in the universe that can accomplish such a feat. If God does not place that shield around us, we have no hope of success. Alone, we are powerless in the face of temptation. We overcome it not by our strength, but by God's power, the shield of faith (I John 5:4) given to us as His gift (Ephesians 2:8). It is our only sure defense.

To acknowledge God and to pray always are to be in alignment with one of Christ's most basic principles, a principle found in Matthew 6:33—to "seek first the kingdom of God" in all things. Praying always is stepping out in faith, believing that if we seek God first, He will add all the things we need (Philippians 4:19), including the strength to overcome, to finish this journey, and to enter His Kingdom.

When faced with the myriad decisions we have to make during each day, if we are not acknowledging God's presence, we have placed ourselves in the position of fighting our battles on our own. Israel made the same mistake, choosing the hard road in their fight, one littered with bodies. We probably all know of some bodies that now litter the spiritual road we have walked. We veterans carry scars from the battles we have lost.

Our battles to overcome are more like skirmishes than battles. In fact, we experience our most severe temptations and trials in everyday events like eating, conducting business affairs, or relating to others in the family or community. Luke 16:10 acknowledges this: "He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in whatis least is unjust also in much."

What better way to win those little skirmishes than to have an invincible Champion, God, in the van of the battle? Because these skirmishes are in the myriad of details we deal with every day, only striving to pray always during the day gives us that unyielding first line of defense.

Our deceitful human nature has in its arsenal countless ways, reasons, and excuses to avoid confronting the real issue of life—overcoming and allowing God to form and shape us into His image. Just bringing God into the picture unleashes forces that will not only help us to overcome, but will also protect us from the pitfalls that litter our path (Psalm 91:12). It is this striving to pray always that a Laodicean naturally avoids because he feels no need.

True Christianity is not an easy way of life. Jesus Himself declares in Matthew 7:13-14, "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." Many of this world's religious groups that call themselves Christian would have us believe that accepting the blood of Jesus Christ is the end of all of our problems.

The Christian truly has a fight on his hands, if he is serious about glorifying God by his life and achieving the growth that will give God abundant evidence of his sincerity in seeking Him and being in His character image. Many have gone before us in this way. God has faithfully recorded their successes and failures so that we might be encouraged, inspired, guided, and corrected by them.

The apostle Paul writes in I Corinthians 10:6, "Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted." "Examples" is here translated from the Greek tupos, though it is translated into a variety of English words in other New Testament contexts, for instance, as "pattern," "fashion," "manner," "figure," or "form." In each case, it indicates something shaped or formed, whether in lesser or greater degree, by a measure of pressure. It describes something that can be accepted, copied, imitated, or followed. In this context, Paul is clear that we must not accept, copy, imitate, or follow what those who went before us did. They set us a bad pattern; they were not good models for our behavior.

Previously, we explored the parallel between Israel's responsibilities in taking over the Promised Land and our spiritual preparations for the Kingdom of God. We saw that some people draw a careless assumption from a surface evaluation of Exodus 23:20-33, leading to a shallow conclusion: that if the Israelites had just obeyed God, they would have marched into the land and taken it over without a fight. Such submission would have undoubtedly made their course easier and produced better results.

We concluded that God's promises in Exodus 23 were indeed conditional. Their fulfillment depended on Israel's obedience, and part of that obedience was confronting their enemies, the people of the land, in warfare. The episode recorded in Numbers 13—14 reveals that the Israelite spies fully expected to have to fight the Canaanites, Hittites, Jebusites, etc. They did not understand Exodus 23 as a free pass, as many do today. Their responsibility was to drive them out in cooperation with God, as He promised to be with them, enabling them to drive the people out, which they were incapable of doing without His involvement. But they refused to do their part.

Resisting the World

Resisting this world's many and varied pressures is a major area of warfare, though it is not as effective an enemy as the heart we always bear within us. Its influences are often tangible and easily perceived. At the same time, however, unless we are aware of the world's power and take steps to protect ourselves, we can overlook its subtle influences as if they are of no consequence. Much of its danger lies in familiarity breeding contempt. We frequently take the world for granted.

Because of this, we need to remember how Israel was attracted to the world and began practicing the ways of the people of the land. In Deuteronomy 12:29-32, God makes it clear that we must be wary of the world:

When the Lord your God cuts off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess, and you displace them and dwell in their land, take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, "How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise." You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way; for every abomination to the Lord which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.

We must carefully evaluate the world's dangers because it has been—in the past, before conversion—the primary shaper of our sinful attitudes and characters. So powerful are the world's evil characteristics that Israelite history reveals that they were drawn into the most perverse and despicable heathen practices. The biblical record proves how easy it is for an individual to return to the old ways and how difficult it is to overcome them.

A baby is not born evil. It is most certainly born with a measure of self-centeredness that God pronounced as very good in Genesis 1:31, for some small measure of self-centeredness enables a person to take care of the self. However, it has a benefit over and above this obvious one:

So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. (Ephesians 5:28-33)

Understood and controlled, a right measure of self-love provides a foundation for the love of others, which proves beneficial for the giver as well as the receiver. This is especially true in marriage because husband and wife become one flesh; to love one's spouse is to love the self because of this oneness.

It is at least equally true, if not more so, in our relationship with Christ. He is our example. Because of our spiritual oneness with Him, and because we are His body, His loving service of us is the same as loving Himself. This principle works both ways. Our loving service of Him is also the same as loving ourselves. What we see in these two intimate relationships is a practical application and benefit of the Golden Rule—"Do unto others as you would have them do to you"—in operation, with the added benefit to the giver.

The problem with self-love is that, without contact with God throughout life, an individual's innate self-centeredness can easily develop into an extreme and sharply honed sinfulness and evil. Such an egotist gives little thought to loving others as a way of life; he shows little care for others and rarely looks for ways to serve. Without God, life becomes all about the self. The world, established by and built upon selfish human nature, continues to feed its self-absorbed inclinations and cravings.

The World Is Evil

Our own personal world includes our parents, spouses, siblings, and extended family. It includes the general geographical and cultural area in which we grew up. Just as we did not have to be formally taught our native language, as we do a second or third language, we absorb the characteristics and peculiarities of our environment. These environmental characteristics in combination with our experiences and choices subtly shape our beliefs and perspectives as we age. We feel comfortable with them, make judgments by them, and then execute our choices as a lifestyle.

Paul writes in Galatians 1:3-4, "Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father." Jesus adds to this picture in Matthew 7:11, regarding the people of His day: "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!"

These scriptures succinctly state how God perceives all the world and its inhabitants, regardless of one's particular environmental factors. The context of Matthew 7 gives no indication that the people who comprised Jesus' audience were particularly evil; they were just normal human beings. Yet, compared to God's standards for His people, their natural self-centeredness was stressful, disruptive, destructive, and calamitous—not beneficial to any concerned. In a word, they were evil.

Jesus and Paul give us comparative statements, but each from a slightly different perspective. Paul points out the cumulative effect, while Jesus identifies the individual sources that produce it. As the apostle John puts it in I John 5:19, "The whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one."

The people to whom Jesus spoke were normal, worldly people. They would not have considered themselves evil, but they were, as God judged them. So are we also evil unless we have been justified and are under the blood of Jesus Christ.

Strenuously Avoid This Evil World

A series of scriptures will highlight the world's danger to us. The apostle James writes: "Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God" (James 4:4). This epistle is written to a Christian congregation. Even as the Old Testament shows Israel to be a spiritual adulteress to God through the people's disobedience following the making of the Old Covenant, so are Christians—as part of the bride of Christ, having made the New Covenant—spiritual adulterers when they unfaithfully disobey.

James is not saying these people are lost. He is warning them that they are heading in that direction because they were backsliding, having already been unfaithful. The unstated, yet clear cause of their being drawn back is the world, as if it were the seductive temptress of Proverbs 7.

James' counsel is that we cannot straddle the fence between God and the world. He is expounding the "no man can serve two masters" principle. These two relationships—God and the world—frame a black-and-white issue; this war has no neutral zone. A person cannot pursue his self-centered, worldly ambitions and still remain loyal to God.

The apostle uses the word philos, indicating something dear, which the New King James Version translates as "friend." He is stressing an affectionate, emotional attachment. Interestingly, The New Testament in Modern English by J.B. Phillips (1959) renders the warning as, "You are like unfaithful wives, flirting with the glamour of this world, and never realizing that to be the world's lover means becoming the enemy of God!" Seen this way, James describes them as silly, immature children, thoughtlessly gambling away their futures in the Kingdom of God.

I John 2:15 adds a refinement to James' warning: "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." The Greek word translated as "love" is agapao, which suggests a reasoned, determined love. Thus, John's counsel stresses willfulness rather than mere affectionate attachment. In comparison, one could even describe philos as an unbidden "puppy love," but agapao—never.

John is saying that we should not have intimate fellowship combined with loyal devotion to the world. Our relationship to it must be a more distant, hands-off one. We certainly must live and do business within it, but we have to fight to keep it from becoming the focus of our way of life. The spiritual reality is that, as we might say today, "The world stands ready to eat us alive." It chews Christians up and spits them out. If permitted, it can trash spiritual realities that may once have been cherished hopes and dreams.

Galatians 6:14 provides another guiding principle to hold dear: "But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." This is an example of Paul's spiritual outlook and maturity regarding his relationship with the world. As far as any relationship between him and the world is concerned, the world is dead and crucified, and so is he to it. It is vivid imagery. How much willful devotion can a person have in a relationship going nowhere because both parties are "dead" to each other?

John 15:18-23 adds more about why the world is dangerous to a Christian:

If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, "A servant is not greater than his master." If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name's sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates Me hates My Father also.

This is the fruit of the carnal mind's persistently disobedient attitude shown in Romans 8:7. The whole worldly system is anti-God. Even though the Christian world patronizes Him, in reality, it hates Jesus Christ, and therefore it hates those who truly follow Him. There is a simple reason why this continual reality exists.

Paul had renounced the whole worldly system. It no longer had any appeal to him; he was, in effect, dead in relation to it. However, the world's pressure never ends, which Paul notes in Romans 12:2, "Do not be conformed to this world." The Greek more correctly reads, "Stop allowing yourself to be fashioned to the pattern of this age," or as the J.B. Phillips translation puts it, "Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold."

This is the danger we face when we allow the world to become too important. To be forewarned is to be forearmed. The world subtly but inexorably manipulates us into conformity with its thinking, its value systems, and therefore its attitudes and conduct. If we are alert and truly guarding against an invasion of worldly attitudes and practices, we will soon be able to notice when others relapse into following the course of the world.

The persistent influence of the world is a reality because Satan, the ruler of this world, is its driving force (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11). The world is Satan's medium, through which he broadcasts his propaganda and disinformation. By confusing people about what to believe, he intends to manipulate humanity. Satan's pitch to mankind is aimed directly at exciting human nature's self-indulgent cravings.

Due to this Satanic effort, even though we are converted, we are apt to become misinformed, lackadaisical, disinterested, and discouraged. We must be aware of it and absolutely resist it. The apostles' advice about avoiding intimacy with the world is a form of the proverb, "Evil company corrupts good habits" (I Corinthians 15:33). Friendship with the world corrupts.

The context expands on this thought:

If, in the manner of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage is it to me? If the dead do not rise, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!" Do not be deceived; "Evil company corrupts good habits." Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame. (I Corinthians 15:32-34)

This well-known proverb is strategically placed in the Resurrection Chapter. In verse 32, Paul reminds the Greek Corinthians of an example of the perverse, immoral morass that they left compared to the liberating and ennobling calling God has so graciously given them. He then verbally punches them in the nose by telling them the company that they keep is destroying them, meaning they are gradually reabsorbing the attitudes and culture of the surrounding world. He then charges them to wake up to what they stand to lose by being too close to the world—even worldly people who might be fellowshipping with them at services but do not believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Perceiving that some of them are on the verge of losing their salvation, he says, "Shame on you!"

The world's influences are, for the most part, subtle rather than overt. Being familiar to human nature, we find them easy to fall into or return to. What is the problem with the world? Its ruler, Satan, has designed it to lead people to live only for themselves. Therefore, we must fight and resist its attraction, which influences our hearts, because so much is at stake!

Be Alert and Wary of Satan and His Cohorts

What about the Devil? Satan is a formidable enemy, to be sure, but in a personal sense, he is not as directly dangerous to us as the other two. The chances of his confronting us individually are small in comparison to the influences of our ever-present hearts and the world in which we conduct our lives. Certainly, as our Adversary, he "walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour" (I Peter 5:8), but unlike God, he is not omniscient. While he can be only at one place at one time, he has many assistants.

We are far more likely to be confronted by one of his demon assistants than the Adversary himself, which is bad enough. However, he and his demons have constructed attitudes, institutions, systems, and entertainments into the course of this world, which they effectively use against us, even when they are absent from the scene. Most of their evil influence comes from the system.

We need to remember, though, that God has put a wall of protection around us, so demons can go only so far in their attempts to corrupt us and destroy our loyalty to God and His truth (Job 1:6-10). Their major responsibility before God at this time appears to be to provide tests for us to meet and overcome, in the same way God used Satan to test Job and to tempt Christ (Matthew 4; Luke 4). In this respect, they play a large role in helping us to recognize evil.

God gives us advice regarding them in I Peter 5:8-9: "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world." In essence, His advice is, "Be self-controlled, be alert, and resist him!" Peter's first term, "be sober," urges us not to let fear of him fluster us to the point that we cannot think clearly. The second term, "be vigilant," charges us to be fully awake, to set ourselves in a state of watchfulness and readiness. The third term, "resist him," is a command not to turn and run but to stand firm.

This instruction lets us know that Satan is not all-powerful. With the protections God provides, including His continuous presence and alert regard for His children, Satan can be beaten. The same Jesus who has already defeated Satan is on His throne, overseeing our well-being. His protection is not something we flaunt, but is power we can rely on.

James 4:7 adds additional advice: "Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." Again, the charge is to resist, but it is directly coupled with submission to God. Submission is the voluntarily act of placing oneself under the authority of another to show respect and give obedience. If we submit to God, Satan will flee.

Ephesians 6:11 parallels the other two instructions. "Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." "Stand against" is yet another way of saying "resist him." "Stand" in the Greek indicates that one must hold fast a critical position as an army must do in warfare. However, it is not a passive term, describing something like an unmoving brick wall, but an aggressive, attacking term. In other words, we are to hold the ground we have already gained by going forward.

How, then, do we resist? How do we hold our ground by going on the offensive? We must return in thought to I Peter 5:9, where the first phrase is better translated as, "Resist him, standing firm [or solid] in the faith." Putting this into military terms, a soldier would be likely commanded, "Do not surrender! Do not give up any ground! Do not back down! Move forward with all you've got! Reinforcements are right behind you."

We have the God-backed promise that Satan will flee! Who can resist God's will? The key words here are "standing firm" and "faith." "Standing firm" or "solid" is used in the sense of "unmovable." When linked with faith in practical terms, it means we are absolutely sure or immovably convicted in the face of a strong test.

Overall, the apostles' instruction suggests that what we experience vis-à-vis Satan is common to this way of life. Their advice does not say that he will flee immediately, but flee he will. As used here, "faith" can be understood as either a personal trust in God or confidence in Christian doctrine, as either one fits the context. Ultimately, if we use our relationship with God properly, the confidence in Christian doctrine becomes trust in God Himself.

Ephesians 6:12-17 makes especially clear that we are involved in a war, a spiritual war, and thus our weaponry must also be spiritual.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Seeking God Is the Christian's Fight

Recall that David's psalms show that the heart and core of his confidence was his trust in God and His powers. It was not that David was never fearful while under threat, but that he stood firm. Standing firm in faith provides the solid foundation from which to fight this war.

The antagonism between good and evil, right and wrong, wisdom and foolishness, love and hate, sacrifice and self-indulgence, etc., creates choices, tests that we must take, for God to have a clear means of judging us and for godly character and attitudes to become ingrained in our way of living.

Frequently, what we really fear is the sacrifice required to make the right choice. Sacrificing to serve God and fellowman demands a payment we, in many cases, are loath to make. We need the gifts of God's Spirit to move us along the correct course. Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:11 that our Father in heaven is very willing to give good gifts that enable us to carry out our responsibilities to Him.

Our earthly spiritual father, Abraham, had an abiding faith in the vision that motivated him. The Faith Chapter says that he looked forward to "a city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God" (Hebrews 11:10). His faith was so strong that, to please God, he was willing to sacrifice Isaac, the one he loved more than anyone else (verses 17-19). Undoubtedly, he had made many other sacrifices leading to that great test. His sacrifices began when God called him and told him to leave his homeland. He embarked on a new way of life, not even knowing where he was headed.

He became God's friend and the father of the faithful, setting us an outstanding example. If there is one quality that Abraham and others of the faithful had that gives them an edge, it is that they knew God. Their conception of Him and their vision of His purpose were big and sharp enough for them to give them staunch trust and therefore their undivided, devoted loyalty in submission to Him.

To sharpen one's vision of God is the very reason J.B. Phillips wrote his book, Your God Is Too Small. He believed that a major reason why Christians are so insipid about Christianity is that they do not have a conception of God great enough to motivate them to give their lives wholeheartedly in His service. This is the same basic reason that A.W. Tozer concluded that God Himself is the church's greatest single problem.

Consider the tremendous number of conceptions people have about God's character and purpose! This might discourage some, but for those truly seeking truth, it should spur them on to find the truth about Him. This is why Christians are absolutely required to seek God after they are already converted. It can be said that the seeking of God is the Christian's battle on his course to the Kingdom of God.

If one wholeheartedly and consistently seeks God, it will result in:

»an increasingly solid base of faith from which to work;
»a sacrificial patriotism for the Kingdom of God;
»a loving devotion and loyalty to God Himself, for the more intimately a person knows Him, the greater his admiration for God becomes;
»a stronger sense of loving duty to one's fellow soldiers, unifying him into a tight, serving fellowship.

Seeking God is the exercise whose fruit provides the strengths we need to assure our being transformed into Christ's image and our entrance into God's Kingdom. The major parts of this exercise are battling against the flesh, which is hostile to God and His way of life; the world, which attempts to lure us away; and the Devil, who wants to destroy us outright.

Ephesians 6:10-13

In conclusion, be strong—not in yourselves but in the Lord, in the power of his boundless strength. Put on God's complete armor so that you can successfully resist all the devil's craftiness. For our fight is not against any physical enemy: it is against organizations and powers that are spiritual. We are up against the unseen power that controls this dark world, and spiritual agents from the very headquarters of evil. Therefore you must wear the whole armor of God that you may be able to resist evil in its day of power, and that even when you have fought to a standstill you may still stand your ground. (Phillips)

It is clear that we are fighting a spiritual war against enemies who are far greater in numbers, intelligence, subtlety, and power than Israel had to wage war against in terms of the Amalekites, the Moabites, and so forth. In addition, our enemy is invisible.

Paul tells us to "stand," a military term for holding on to a position. In effect, before one can launch an attack, he must first hold the position he is in. In the Phillips translation, the word "against" is used four times, probably to stress the determined hostility that our enemy has. The Christian soldier is confronting something that, as a soldier, he could not overcome except that he himself also has invisible help to draw upon as a resource.

In military strategy, perhaps one of the most basic of all rules is never to underestimate the enemy. Our struggle is not merely against human foes, yet we find, in other places, that it is a war to the death. In fact, here in Ephesians 6, this idea is hidden in the Greek. It is a war to the death against supernatural forces. The word "powers" denotes those who aspire to world control, and ancient writers used the term to designate the savior gods of pagan religions. That is who we are fighting against—demons!

Our warfare, then, has all the trappings of a literal war, but it is something that we cannot see yet happening nonetheless. The qualities that we need to fight this war are not things we have inherently. We have to be given them by God. Our relationship with God is of supreme importance as to whether we are going to have the proper resources to fight this battle. We have to go to Him to get them, and we also need to be on good terms before He gives them to us.

One of the most valuable of all of these resources is the mindset that we are involved in a war. There are times when we, as a soldier, are going to face privation and hardship. There are going to be times of pain—both physical and mental. There are going to be times of sorrow that may lead us to depression or even bitterness. There will be occasions when we will be in fear and feel a great sense of insecurity. There are times we will win our battles, but other times we will lose and thus feel guilty and maybe depressed. There are going to be times of obedience that give a feeling of exhilaration and of being in control, as well as times of disobedience when just the opposite will be the effect.

There will also be times when we will be aware that God is disciplining us—sometimes in terms of punishment for sin and at other times in training to prepare us to master what we are doing. There will be times of sacrifice and even times of death. Nevertheless, all of these are part and parcel of a soldier's life.

Ephesians 6:10-14

Notice the number of times in these few verses that we are exhorted to stand. We must hold our ground as we fight against the pressures of Satan and this world. In verse 11, Paul tells us to "stand against" the Devil's tricks. In verse 13, he encourages us to prepare "to withstand in the evil day" and "having done all, to stand." In the next verse, he concludes, "Stand therefore" and put on the armor that God can supply.

There are two things to notice here. First, we are to stand firm. Paul does not instruct us to be agile or swift of foot. To the contrary, he advises us not to move; we are to stand on a firm foundation, as it were. We are to be securely grounded, rooted and unmoving. A person living a life of integrity is not shifty, but has solid convictions rather than preferences that vary with circumstances.

Second, Paul details the armor we need to "take up." He lists several pieces of "the whole armor of God," but "the breastplate of righteousness" deals mostly closely with integrity.

Most soldiers in Paul's day wore a breastplate, and even today, the most basic protection offered to police and soldiers is the armored or bulletproof vest. The Roman breastplate, primarily made of bronze and backed with leather, was worn around the chest, protecting the heart and other vital organs. In Paul's spiritual analogy, the breastplate guards the heart, the seat of our attitudes and emotions. In other words, if we are to stand firm in the truth, our heart must be protected!

Interestingly, the translation of the New Testament by J.B. Phillips renders "the breastplate of righteousness" as "integrity your breastplate." Paul instructs us to protect our heart, our love, and our emotions with a breastplate of integrity! As part of the equipment each Christian needs to stand firm in the spiritual war we have been recruited to fight, we must fasten integrity right across our chests to provide protection. What happens when a soldier takes off his breastplate? He opens his soft abdomen to attack; he is unprotected! Spiritually, the heart becomes vulnerable, apt to be turned away.

Ephesians 6:12-17

Ephesians 6:12-17 makes especially clear that we are involved in a war, a spiritual war, and thus our weaponry must also be spiritual.

2 Timothy 2:26

It is important to realize who the apostle Paul is writing about in this verse. The antecedent of "they" appears in the previous verse: "those who are in opposition." The entire epistle is instruction for the evangelist Timothy, and in this passage in particular, Paul is giving the younger man advice on how to handle those who dispute the gospel message he taught.

He instructs Timothy, as "a servant of the Lord," to correct his opponents with humility and in the hope of two positive outcomes should God grant repentance to them. First, his correct explanation of the matter in contention would bring them out of their ignorance, liberating them from the bondage of error (John 8:32) and opening the potentialities of the truth to them. Paul was very aware that false teachers and anti-Christian foes functioned with a veil over their minds (see, for instance, how he explains it regarding the Jews in II Corinthians 3:14-16; Matthew 15:14), a blindness that could only be lifted by the direct intervention of God revealing Himself and His truth by the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 2:10-14; John 6:44). A minister of God should always answer naysayers plainly with the revealed truth of God to give them the knowledge that may lead to their repentance.

The second positive outcome is the subject of II Timothy 2:26. He hopes that exposure to the truth will bring opponents "to their senses" and free them from their captivity to Satan. The apostle realizes that even the most cunning argument of one of God's servants is not enough to accomplish this; a person's repentance and acceptance of the truth will happen only if God "flips a switch" in his mind by the Holy Spirit to become receptive to Him. So a minister must present the truth in the event that God will use his explanation to call him into a relationship with Him. It is only at this point that an individual truly comes to his senses (see Luke 15:17; Acts 9:3-20). Only then does he begin to see without the blinders (or in Paul's own case, when the scales fell from his eyes).

Once one accepts the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and acknowledges Him as personal Savior and Lord, the walls of Satan's prison fall away and crumble to dust (see Romans 6:16-22). His power over us disappears because his claim on us has been removed; our sins have been forgiven and we are no longer in rebellion against God. We have gone over to the other side in the great spiritual war that the Devil has always been destined to lose. The Captain of our salvation has already crushed the head of the serpent (Genesis 3:15), and all that remains is the perfection of the saints for their roles in the Kingdom of God.

However, there are yet billions of people who are still "captive . . . to do his will." Revelation 12:9 states that the great dragon, who is the Devil and Satan, has deceived the whole world. Despite his ignominious defeat at Calvary, Satan is determined to turn it into victory. In his pride, he still thinks he can win! So he will continue to oppose God and His people wherever and whenever he can, using his captives all over the world to trouble, persecute, and kill God's saints. This reality means that Christians must remain on their guard at all times, prepared to "fight the good fight" (II Timothy 4:7) to wear the crown of victory in the Kingdom.

Finally, we must remember that our fight is really not against the men and women still enslaved to Satan, although they are the faces and voices that oppose us. Paul writes:

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. (Ephesians 6:12-13)

We need to look beyond our physical opponents to the evil spirits behind them, realizing that our human foes have not yet come to their senses and seen the light of the truth that only God can reveal. Thus, we can contend with them in humility and gentleness, grateful for the grace God has extended to us.

The helmet protects the head, the part of the body most vital to quality of life. It is the thinking part where choices and judgments are made, where attitudes reside and surge forth in conduct. It is the part that holds knowledge, understanding, wisdom, and memories of life's experiences, that determines the kind of life we lead. It is that part where Satan aims most of his fiery darts.

In this metaphor, hope is not an offensive weapon but a defense; it is a motivator to protect us from losing sight of the glorious end of God's purpose. Why? The only thing that can really defeat and destroy us is for us to give up. Jesus says in His Olivet prophecy, "But he who endures to the end shall be saved" (Matthew 24:13). Hope's fruit is not just an optimistic and positive outlook but also the drive to persevere, to endure come what may, to propel one forward. Only the hopeful will do this. The hopeless will give up.

So powerful is hope's action that Paul says in Romans 8:24-25 that we are saved by it! "For we are saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance." This in no way conflicts with his declaration in Ephesians 2:8 that we are "saved by grace through faith," because both faith and hope are necessary for salvation. Faith primarily operates in the present as visible evidence of things hoped for but not yet seen. Hope, though it is also operating in the present, primarily does so with reference to the future. Paul then says that, if a person has hope, he is motivated to wait patiently for what he hopes to see. The hopeful are motivated to endure whatever it takes to receive what they hope for.

We have a lot of work ahead of us, but always with God's help. It is not surprising in one sense that people are in a state of confusion. In Paul's second epistle to Timothy, he gives him many exhortations. Having started by telling Timothy to 'be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus,' Paul goes on to give him such detailed instructions as: 'Shun profane and vain babblings,' 'If a man therefore purge himself from these'—he has to do it, it is not done for him. 'Flee also youthful lusts.' One statement after another from Paul tells us that we have something to do. He does not say, 'Go through this crisis of surrender, hand yourself over to Christ, and look to Him. He will fight for you.'

What Paul says is, 'Take to your heels, flee youthful lusts, make no provision for the flesh!' Everything he tells us in this connection is also an exhortation to us. He has been telling this young man Timothy precisely the same thing in his first epistle, in detailed instructions:

I Timothy 6:11 "But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness."

We have a lot of work to do. The epistles are full of this kind of teaching. They address men who had been habitual liars. What Paul tells such people as habitual liars is that they must not lie any longer. Here is a man who has been troubled by temptation to steal, the tendency to thieve, and it seems to be in him and a part of him. What is he to do? Is he to hand it over to God and let God take care of all of it for him? Of course not!

Ephesians 4:28-32 Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you.

Ephesians 5:1 Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.

How is it, if this false doctrine were true, can we be an imitator of Jesus Christ if we are just sitting back and letting Him do everything, and we are not bothering to even lift a finger to try to be like Him? That false doctrine is absolutely insane, but the whole of mainstream Christianity seems to have swallowed it.

Ephesians 5:2-5 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

There is a lot of work that needs to be done in overcoming with God's help. Those are some of the detailed instructions. But, above all, this false teaching that I have been talking about would make these exhortations unnecessary and indeed wrong. This also applies particularly to what we may call the military metaphors and similes that are used by Paul in order to make us do the things they are urging us to do. That false doctrine would just throw all of those military images and symbols out of the window and they would be worthless to us.

Have you noticed the frequency with which he uses these military images? Paul talks about our 'standing' and 'withstanding.' He says, 'Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.'

Then he uses this term 'wrestling.' It is a military term. 'We wrestle not against flesh and blood.' We have to do the wrestling; we are actively involved in this struggle. Not a word about 'handing it over,' but a stern reminder that we are involved in this.

I Corinthians 16:13 Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong.

This is typical New Testament exhortation.

II Corinthians 10:3-4 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds.

It is our warfare and we have to wage it in this particular way, with God giving us the power through His Holy Spirit to be conquerors.

Look carefully at these military terms.

I Timothy 6:12 'Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life.'

Paul is exhorting Timothy that he Timothy has to 'fight.' Timothy's trouble was that he lost hope very easily, became discouraged, and felt that he was weak and could not go on. He was inclined to ask Paul to come to help him, and to lean on Paul. Which, in and of itself, is not wrong. Timothy was a typical Christian in many ways and he needed help in fighting the war against Satan.

But, Paul writes back to Timothy to 'Fight the good fight of faith.' He is telling him to pull himself together, and be strong, if he wants to be a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

II Timothy 2:3-4 You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.

This fight that we have against Satan, the world, and our own human nature, requires that we endure hardship. It is not easy to do, and it is very painful at times. The whole picture is in military terms. We are the fighters, soldiers in the army of the living God; and we are not just 'to hand it over.' We have our part to play, and our battles to fight as participators in this great battle. So the exhortations come to us in these military forms. Even though most of us have not been in the military, we can still relate very vividly to what it means.

The erroneous teaching of 'turning the battle over to God and doing nothing ourselves' is not consistent with what Paul says about himself and his own life. Listen to him here in I Corinthians 9:

I Corinthians 9:26-27 Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.

Paul did not want to be a hypocrite, so he gave a great effort to overcoming whatever he could with God's help. Paul is telling us the way in which he takes part in this contest. He is using an illustration of a number of men in a race, a marathon race.

The point is, that they are running, they are not like the great crowds that sit just and watch others. Paul is running in the race himself, so this is how he puts it: 'I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight.'

At this point, he shifts to the image of a man boxing. He takes an illustration from the boxing ring and he himself is in the ring, and he is boxing an antagonist. He is not looking at somebody in the ring fighting on his behalf; he is in the ring himself.

'Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air.' He wants to beat his opponent; he is hitting his adversary, not the air. And he says he does not do these things uncertainly. Just a side note here, because it never ceases to amaze me how things can be misunderstood. This imagery in no way encourages a man to take up boxing literally. I am being very clear on that.

Paul says, 'I discipline my body and bring it into subjection.' He is doing it himself, and it is not an easy thing to do. He has had to prepare for it. There is a struggle involved here. He is not saying to himself, 'I have so many problems and lusts rising up in my mind that are frustrating me and wearing me down, so I'll hand them all over to God and let him do the fighting for me.' It sounds good to people in the world with no understanding, but we know better. Paul says, 'I discipline my body and bring it into subjection.'

In Philippians 3 Paul spoke of 'pressing toward the goal.'

Philippians 3:12-14 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Paul describes his great effort, his pressing with all of his might toward the mark, then he introduces a word of exhortation in verses 15 and 16.

Philippians 3:15-16 Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.

Basically he is saying, I am your leader under Christ. Follow me in this matter and let us be of the same mind. His exhortation here is for the entire church to keep pressing on and working to overcome. The whole church, together in unity, need to be fighting Satan. We do strengthen each other.

Toward the end of Paul's life, as he is facing death, he writes his last letter, the second epistle to Timothy. He looks back at it all, and this is what he says: 'I have fought a good fight.'

Note how Paul speaks about himself in all the stages of his Christian life. He, himself, lived the kind of life to which he exhorts all Christians to live. He is exhorting us to fight, and to battle. He tells us to exert ourselves and press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

So we see here where Satan's deception is exposed. The deceived person sits back, in what he believes is faith, and lets God fight all his battles for him. But faith without works is dead. Therefore his faith is useless, empty, and misplaced.

He believed that 'God would never fail to fight all his battles for him.' Then when he realizes he has the same problems with sin that he always had and probably even more, he begins to ask himself why God failed him. You see the person that believes this type of thing where God fights all his battles for him, God also receives all of the blame from him.

The truth of the matter is that God does not promise to do our overcoming for us. He promises to help us by providing access to the power of His Holy Spirit. He grants us limited but effective access to His mind. The more of the Holy Spirit that we use effectively, the more that He gives us. You have heard the phrase "if you snooze you lose." Well it applies here.

Before God converts a person, he is the 'old man' only, he has nothing but rebellious human nature. But when the new man has come into being, he is not as he used to be before. There is a principle of new life in him that is working to become righteous. This process is activated by the new power, the mind of God in him.

II Peter 3:18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.

The new man is a new life and a new life is something that grows. A new life should never be told that it is so utterly hopeless and helpless and that there is nothing that it can do but rely on God and His strength. What the strength of God does is to feed and to develop this new life that is in us, and to make it stronger and stronger.

The Bible is full of exhortations, appeals, arguments and demonstrations. And if this false doctrine of turning all of our battles over to God with us doing nothing were true, then the New Testament epistles, with all of these involved arguments, refutations of error, exhortations, and appeals would be entirely unnecessary.

False teachers emphasize that letting God do everything is really 'quite simple,' and that is the appeal to the person who is unconverted. But according to the Bible it is not 'quite simple'. These epistles are not 'quite simple' because Satan is not 'quite simple,' and because a Christian's life is not 'quite simple.' We have all found this out as we go through our Christian lives. It is a lot of work and it can be confusing at times.

That false teaching is too passive. Not only that, it is too mechanical. There is nothing mechanical in the biblical teaching; it deals with life and growth, and food and energy. We cannot test a teaching by results only; we have to test every teaching by the written Word of God.

A person may think he is "happier" believing all he has to do is let God do everything and not worry about overcoming sin, but that is a destructive "ignorance is bliss" approach to life. Initially, the person who turns it all over to God and does nothing is happy because he does not feel any responsibility. We should not primarily want to be "happy" now, we should want to be righteous and holy. We should want to conform to the Scriptures so that we may have eternal joy later. There is a lot of happiness that comes from obeying God and living His way of life, but there is also a lot of struggle and some downfalls.

Ephesians 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

We wrestle against overwhelming odds if we do not include God in the picture. God is in the picture and He is giving us His help, but He is not doing it all for us.

So far, this sermon has taken a negative approach to a false teaching. Now let us take a positive approach to how we are to fight and to wrestle, and how we are enabled to do so. Most of it is done for us, but we are enabled to do a lot of it ourselves, by being 'strong in the Lord, and the power of His might.' We do this by putting on the whole armor of God.

Paul mapped it out for us. This is not the only way to attack it but it is a major way of resisting Satan and fighting him.

Ephesians 6:10-11 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.

The purpose for putting on the armor of God is so that we may stand firm against Satan's wiles. Did you know that a synonym for "wile" is the word trick? It is interesting that for Halloween, children put on their costumes and say "trick or treat." In this light, they seem to be wearing the armor of Satan. They are certainly doing his bidding, even though unknowingly.

A "wile" is a stratagem intended to ensnare or deceive. It is traced out with method, or well laid-out. Other synonyms for "wile" are entrap, enslave, lure. Satan lures us to sin as a fishing lure entices fish. You are well familiar with James' example of that enticement.

To put on the whole armor of God is to spiritually put on the mind of God. The armor is provided by God and modeled on what He and Jesus Christ wear figuratively.

Isaiah 11:5 "Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, and faithfulness the belt of His waist."
Isaiah 59:17 "For He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head."

It is a complete outfit. "Whole armor" is from the Greek: panoplia. We know the Greek word 'pan' to be all or whole. The soldier must be protected from head to foot and the "whole armor" is made up of both defensive and offensive pieces. A good soldier needs a substantial amount of strength, courage, and skill to use the complete armor effectively.

The soldier of the world develops his strength over time, so also our strength comes gradually through the power of God's might working in us as we make great effort to strengthen ourselves.

Ephesians 6:12-14 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up 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 girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness.

"Stand" is a key word in Ephesians 6:11, 13, and 14. Standing comes from overcoming. In the Greek, the word means to work out, effect, or produce; and then to work up to make an end of, to vanquish. The idea seems to be is that we are to overcome or vanquish all of our enemies while standing firm. The equipment enables the soldier to ward off the attacks of the enemy and make a stand against him.

The Greek word from which 'stand' is translated is stete—it is a military term for holding on to a position. Before an offense can be launched, we must first of all strengthen our own ground. That is basic military strategy.

Many of the churches of God feel it is imperative to go on the offensive and preach the gospel to the world. Biblical principles show that we have to shore up our own foundation first, and strengthen the position God wants us in, before moving on the offensive.

In a battle, if an army neglects to secure their own ground while on the offensive, they take a foolish chance that the enemy may come in from behind or by stealth and occupy that home territory.

Churches make this foolish mistake by rallying behind preaching the gospel to the world only, while not stabilizing their own spiritual foundation. Eventually, the spiritual enemy will gain a foothold within that organization. Satan cannot prevail against the spiritual church, but he may be allowed to pick off weak or dying associates.

When Paul wrote this letter to the Ephesians, there were deliberate attempts to destroy faith and unity in the church through the infiltration of false doctrine and the promotion of dissension. We read many examples of this in Paul's writings.

In verse 12, the Greek word for "powers" is krato. It is a root word of the title kosmokrator denoting one who aspires to world control. Those powers and influences there are Satan and his representatives. That word was attached to savior gods in the ethnic religions and identified with the sun. So these powers are evil spiritual influences.

Pride, rebellion, and presumption were three main sins in heavenly places by which Satan and his demons themselves fell. That is what Satan will introduce into our minds because he is so familiar with that; he is the father of lies as well.

In verse 13, "in the evil day" refers to the time in our lives when things are at their very worst because of Satan's schemes and conspiracies to devour us. "Having done all we can" refers to our efforts to stand with the help of the Holy Spirit against the enemy.

In verse 14, again we are exhorted to stand with immovable steadfastness in the face of a ruthless enemy. In verse 13, Paul talked about standing firm in the midst of battle. Here, in verse 14, he writes at greater length about standing ready in anticipation of it.

The major items of the soldier's armor appear in the order in which they would be put on. Together they comprise the whole armor worn before taking the field.

Ephesians 6:14-18 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 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, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.

So that is quite a list of things that has to be done by a soldier and we are Christian soldiers as the song goes, and we have a lot to do to put these things on.

Let us take a look at 'the waist with truth.' The belt tied tightly around the waist indicated that the soldier was prepared for action. To slacken the belt was to go off duty. The belt zone was not an ornament, but served an essential purpose. It gathered in the short tunic and helped keep the breastplate in place when the latter was fitted on. From it hung the scabbard in which the sword was sheathed.

The King James translation in this instance is not as good as it should be; it is misleading in the sense that it puts it in a passive way instead of an active manner. Instead of reading 'Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth,' as if someone else did it for you, a better translation is, 'Stand therefore, having girded your waist about with truth' (as the New King James Version and the English Standard Version and other versions have it).

In other words, it is we who have to do this. The girdle is not put on us by another. We have to put it on firmly and in position.

Putting on the girdle frees the soldier for action because it binds up his loose hanging garment that would get in the way and slow down his actions. He becomes unencumbered in all his movements, and is able to hold up his shield with one hand and handle the sword with the other.

The girdle gave the soldier a sense of security. He was ready, he was keyed up, he was alert, he was tense, he was toned up for action, and felt that everything was in order and in position.

There is no doubt that the girdle is the foundational garment in the soldier's armor. The soldier cannot hope to do anything without it, and there would certainly be nothing but confusion if he did not start with it and make sure that it was firm.

The girdle represents the whole truth of God—truth in and of itself.

John 8:31-32 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

Notice the term Jesus uses. He talks about knowing the truth. He is speaking about it as a whole—the whole doctrine of Christ in its entirety, the full summation of truth. Notice what Jesus is saying here, 'if you continue in My word, in My instruction concerning the truth, then you will be My disciples indeed, and then the truth will be imparted to you and that you will be continuing in, will make you free'.

In order to be free from the Devil and his wiles we must put on the girdle of truth—we must be well versed in the Word of God. Putting on this truth means applying it in our lives.

The "breastplate" covered the body from the neck to the thighs. It was known as the heart-protector. Usually it was made of bronze, but the more affluent officers wore a coat of chain mail. The front piece was strictly the breastplate, but a back piece was commonly worn as well. The breastplate protects the vital organs of the human body—the lungs, abdominal cavity, and especially the heart.

The 'breastplate of righteousness' protects us in the warfare that we are engaged in with Satan, the world, and our own human nature. In this case it is primarily concerned with fighting Satan and the world. This is probably the most important area to be careful about in regard to protection. Because it is so directly related to protecting the heart, it is the area where the emotions and affections are controlled, as well as the conscience, desires and will.

Wearing the breastplate of righteousness gives us a general sense of confidence and of reassurance. That is one of the great advantages of putting on this armor—we feel better the moment we put it on. We do not feel as exposed as we were, we are ready, and we can rely on its protection.

We need to be protected in the area of our emotions and moods, because they can be so erratic. Satan knows our weaknesses perhaps better than we know them, and he has had a lot of practice influencing and manipulating every last human on earth, but he especially wants to manipulate us.

There is only one primary protection for this—the righteousness of Christ.

This righteousness is imputed and imparted to us by faith through Christ, but we have to work out our own salvation as Paul tells us here in Philippians:

Philippians 2:12-13. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

The righteousness of Christ, implanted in us, is our breastplate to fortify our minds against Satan's attacks.

Let us take a look briefly at 'shod feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace.'

Once the breastplate has been fitted into position, the soldier puts on his boots, in the case of those back in the time of Paul many times it was actually reinforced sandals. Josephus described them as "shoes thickly studded with sharp nails" so as to ensure a good grip and sure balance.

The military successes of both Alexander the Great and of Julius Caesar were due in large part to their armies being well shod and thus able to undertake long marches at incredible speed over rough terrain.

Paul uses the word 'stand' or 'withstand' to emphasize the importance of the feet. We stand upon our feet. We do not stand on our chest. And, we usually do not stand upon our heads.

In a sense, everything relies upon security, safety, and the good functioning of the feet. It is important that the feet provide firmness of hold, mobility, and balance.

Our entire personality is engaged in this Christian warfare. Every part of the body is essential to the true functioning of the whole body. The feet are absolutely essential to the body's welfare because of the unity of the body.

There is little that is more important in our Christian lives than balance. Many of our troubles are due to a lack of balance, something of which Satan is very much aware. A person who is off balance is a person who is confused, unaware, and who lacks self control.

The 'preparation of the gospel of peace' conveys the notion of firmness that is given to us by the gospel of peace. Also, our feet should be shod with preparedness, or readiness to withstand the onslaught of the enemy, that is Satan and his demons.

Since Paul is speaking about our fight against the Devil, there are several principles that fit here. There is firmness, confidence, and a sense of assurance. In fighting such a wily adversary as Satan, we have to guard against slipping and falling.

This means we have to know exactly where we are standing, and be balanced in all that we are doing. This means that we must be resolute; that we must be resolved to be a good soldier of Jesus Christ. We have to resolve to adhere to this Gospel, even unto death if need be. If we are not willing to go to that length, then we are, at the very best, a Laodicean Christian.

To stand firm, with shod feet, does not allow room for a half-hearted Christian who desires the benefits, but objects to the duties. It does not allow for the person who wants the privileges but rejects the responsibility. We have to start by being firm, resolute, and assured.

II Corinthians 1:15-17 And in this confidence I intended to come to you before, that you might have a second benefit—to pass by way of you to Macedonia, to come again from Macedonia to you, and be helped by you on my way to Judea. Therefore, when I was planning this, did I do it lightly? Or the things I plan, do I plan according to the flesh, that with me there should be Yes, Yes, and No, No?

Paul is saying here, that there is not such inconsistency and uncertainty in his counsels and actions that no one can depend on him or know what to expect of him. He is saying that he is not a fluctuating Christian, he stands firm and his yes is yes and his no is no.

II Corinthians 1:18-19 But as God is faithful, our word to you was not Yes and No. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me, Silvanus, and Timothy—was not Yes and No, but in Him was Yes.

Paul is saying, that he, and the other ministers, were not representing Christ by being fickle and changeable. They were steadfast and firm in the truth, just as we should be.

II Corinthians 1:20-22 For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us. Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

The only way we can have that guarantee, and know that all will be fulfilled, is because there is no vacillating on the part of God, there is no fickleness, and no change of heart toward His gospel of peace. As God stands with His feet firmly planted, so should we.

Let us take a look briefly at the 'shield of faith.' Above all, through thick and thin, or to cover all the rest of the Christian soldier, is to take up the shield of faith. The Greek word from which we get our English word 'shield' is thyreon. It is derived from thyra meaning a door, and refers to the large oblong or oval shield the Roman soldier held in front of him for protection. It consisted of two layers of wood glued together covered with linen and hide, and bound with iron. I know if I were out there in battle, I would want a whole door the size that we walk through, and that is not even as large as the shield of faith that we grab hold of with the help of God.

Soldiers often fought side by side with a solid wall of shields. But even a single-handed combatant found himself sufficiently protected. After the siege of Dyrachium, Sceva counted no less than 220 darts sticking into his shield. He was very thankful for that shield.

The breastplate secures the vital organs (especially the heart). But, the shield is a universal defense that can be moved to intercept danger. In battle, you need your shield to protect you against the things that may be hurled at you as a preliminary before the enemy comes in person, sword in hand, and attacks you still more directly.

This is the only one of which Paul indicates the effect of a specific piece of armor. With such a shield the fiery darts are not only stopped but extinguished as well.

With his fiery darts, Satan drives us down into the depths of depression and utter hopelessness about ourselves. Let me give you a couple of examples of this:

Now I am sure that you have found that when you have been praying, or are trying to pray, that these darts come from all directions at you. When your one desire is to be concentrating on God, you seem filled with all these distracting, and maybe even evil thoughts. Where do they come from? They just come out of the blue, it is not a subject that you are thinking about.

I am sure you have also experienced this when you are reading the Bible. It seems you can read a newspaper and concentrate on it, but when you start reading the Bible, distractions and thoughts just seem to bombard you, they come from all directions, and it is almost impossible sometimes to concentrate. Where did they come from? Those are the result of the fiery darts.

These fiery darts obviously come from outside ourselves. They are not generated by us; they come to strike us. Dr. Lloyd-Jones gives a warfare analogy that will help picture this. In the First World War in particular, when trench warfare was practiced, there were days when there was a kind of lull. The enemy was still there, and you could afford to take risks. If you exposed yourself you would be shot at, but on the whole there was a lull with nothing much happening.

Then suddenly a barrage would come from the enemy's lines. You can picture Satan doing that, with his influences and ideas and enticements. One effect these darts in various shapes and sizes have is that the saint under attack will assume that they are his own thoughts and begin to doubt whether he is a Christian at all. The holding up of the shield of faith reminds us that we are looking to God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ, and that means that we are depending on God and His grace in Christ. It means that we link ourselves in our mind and thought to God who has all power and who will enable us with power of His Spirit. A major tool in doing this is the tool of prayer.

We do not try to work up some kind of feeling called faith. Faith never points to itself; it always points to God. We should not be looking at ourselves and trying to cultivate faith in ourselves. Faith always points to God and His character. It is the faith of Jesus Christ in us that builds and develops.

God is the One on whom we can rely. True faith is an absolute trust and confidence in Him. It is knowing that all things work together for good for those who love God.

Let us take a brief look at the 'helmet of salvation.' The shield has to be fixed in place before the helmet since the handle of the shield could not pass over it. The helmet was made of bronze with leather attachments. The previous items were laid out for the soldier to pick up. The helmet and sword were handed to the soldier by an attendant or by his armor bearer.

The spiritual application of the helmet is obvious. Paul is drawing attention to the head, the mind, the brain, the understanding, and the thinking of a Christian. We have already seen that the feelings, desires, and emotions are protected by the breastplate of righteousness.

Now, we have to direct our attention to the specific aspect that involves the consideration of the mind and the understanding, which is the intellectual part of our whole position as Christians. (Of course when we are dealing with the heart, we also include the mind, since Satan can tempt us with doubts as well.) You can only take these analogies so far.

The helmet of salvation does not relate as much to tactics of warfare (as the previously mentioned pieces of armor do) as it does to the strategy of warfare. It regards the whole military campaign.

In this general sense, our adversary, the Devil, often attacks us through producing a sense of weariness or of tiredness; so much so that we sometimes feel like giving up the entire battle. It is interesting that man, in his human way of fighting battles, will use psychological warfare to wear down and weary the enemy. In this general sense, our adversary the Devil often attacks us through producing a sense of weariness or of tiredness.

Compare this strategy to the tactics. We are sometimes in difficulties and trouble about specific aspects of the faith, maybe even about a doctrine. That does not raise the question of giving up the whole of Christian life.

There is something bigger, and in a sense, much more serious. It is that we tend to become weary and tired, and to feel hopeless about the whole campaign itself, and its outcome. We reach a condition when we begin to feel that the whole fight is in vain. This is the condition Paul warns us about:

II Thessalonians 3:13 "But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary in doing good."

Paul also warns the Galatians of the same thing, because it is a common spiritual shortfall.

Galatians 6:7-10 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.

We do not earn salvation; it is a gift. Nevertheless, God requires that we fight with a strategy, so that we do not become weary in well doing. Enduring perseverance requires that we are proactive, not passive. The helmet of salvation protects us from becoming weary. We have to know where we are headed, what the goal is, and we must have it clearly in our mind.

Let us look briefly at the last item: 'the sword of the spirit.' For the Roman soldier it was a short two-edged cut-and-thrust sword. It was a fairly short sword and could be moved very quickly. Every other part of armor provides a protection for the body as a whole, or specific parts, of the body. But this is not true of the sword of the Spirit.

This weapon is defensive in a different way. It is defensive in the sense that it keeps back the enemy as a whole, rather than some specific aspect or method of his attack.

The sword does not protect different parts of the body, or cover the whole body as the big shield does. It protects us in the sense that it helps us to hold back the enemy himself rather than some specific action on his part.

The sword serves a dual purpose: defensive, and even more so, offensive. The sword is something whereby we can not only repel the enemy, but also attack him. It throws light on scriptures such as, "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."

Our only weapon of offense is "the word of God" or "the sword of the Spirit." The word of God during the apostle Paul's time consisted of only the Old Testament books. Christ used the words of Old Testament scripture to repel Satan the tempter.

In Matthew 4 Christ quotes Deuteronomy 8:3 to Satan, "every word that comes from the mouth of God." Christ also quotes Old Testament scripture during each of the temptations by Satan. In Isaiah 11:4 Christ is portrayed as one who strikes the ruthless with the rod (or, scepter) of His mouth, that is, by the authoritative impact of what He says. Elsewhere in Scripture, speech is compared to a sword.

We are living in desperate days when the enemy is trying to undermine our whole position. But God provides understanding of the Word, through the Spirit. We must take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. We must know the Scriptures in a very detailed manner. We must not use the Word of God to feed our own vanity as so many have, in trying to impress others. But we must actively use it, and wield it, to the glory and praise of God.

Following the list of the armor of God, in verse 18 of Ephesians 6, the paragraph break in most Bible translations starts a new paragraph. But the command to "be alert" is in keeping with what has gone before and effectively rounds it off. Prayer is not itself included among the armor worn by the Christian soldier. However, constant prayer is required in preparation for battle as well as in the engagement itself.

Paul says, 'Take these various separate parts of armor and put them on carefully,' using them as he described. But in addition to all that, always, and at all times, and in every circumstance, keep on praying. Everything we have to do must be done in this spirit and attitude of constant prayer.

This means that the armor that is provided for us by God cannot be used except in fellowship and close relationship with God. The armor God provides for us must never be thought of mechanically.

The danger, the temptation, is to feel that as long as we put on this armor there is no more to be done; all is well, the armor will, in and of itself protect us, and do so mechanically. So having put it on, we can relax, and put watching aside. Here is the deep dark pit that mainstream Christianity falls into.

But, that is the exact opposite of the true position. That is a defeatist attitude. The armor and the spiritual application of it must be conceived in a vital and in a living manner. Every single piece, excellent though it is in and of itself, will not suffice us, unless we are always in a close relationship with God.

Look once more at the things we have been considering.

'Having girded your waist with truth'—the great and glorious truth about salvation as a whole and in general.

'The breastplate of righteousness'—seeing clearly the principle of right living, and proving that we see it, by living a righteous life.

"Having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace"—a firm, resolute, and assured stand for God and His Kingdom.

'Above all, taking the shield of faith'—a faith that always points to God and His holiness.

'Take the helmet of salvation'—a protection from weariness and development of our righteous strategy.

'The sword of the Spirit'—the living and powerful Word of God.

Most of the soldier's garb is for protection against whatever the enemy would come at him with. Only the sword—"the word of God"—is for offensive action. From this we may deduct that God wants most of our efforts to be defensive. That is, overcoming our own problems and developing godly character, in preparation for His Kingdom. A defensive position is strong in self-government, based on the love of God.

We have to fight and keep on fighting. We have to be able to say, 'I have fought a good fight,' as Paul did.

II Timothy 4:7-8 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

It is indeed God who gives us the strength and the armor to withstand, resist, and repel Satan, and the world. But we have a great personal responsibility to put on and take up the equipment God has provided! Are you fighting the good fight? Will God say to you, "Well done My good and faithful servant?"

#watchingandwaitingforjesus

Tuesday, January 3, 2023

The Christian Warfare

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