Know Your Enemy: The Armor of God Pt. 2

D) Shield of faith Purpose for Roman soldier – Provided protection from enemy attacks – close range (swords, fists) or long distance (spears, arrows). If a soldier were to go into battle without a shield, how long would he last? Not long. Spend most of his time running and dodging. He would not be able to stand his ground firmly. Purpose for Christian – Define faith – Read Hebrews 11:1. Being certain/being sure of our hope/of what we do not see. Read I Peter 5:8-9. Faith keeps us grounded in God. When the Enemy seeks to pounce on us and devour us like a lion, we are to stand firm and throw up our shield of faith and resist him. When he shoots the flaming arrows of (write following on the board) temptation, confusion, hatred, anger, bitterness, guilt, loneliness, depression, uber pride all in an effort to weaken our relationship with God and our fellow man, we are to stand firm and throw up our shield of faith to extinguish them/snuff them out/make them ineffective. Enemy/this world is throwing everything at you including the kitchen sink to cause you to despair/lose hope – your faith in God and his promise of salvation enables you to stand firm. If you go into battle without a shield of faith, you have no hope against the Enemy. E) Helmet of salvation Purpose for Roman soldier - Protected the soldier’s head from mortal injury. If a soldier were to go into battle without a helmet, how long would he last? Not long. Purpose for Christian – When we put on the helmet of salvation, what are we putting on? We are putting on an eternal hope … we are putting on an eternal assurance … we are putting on an eternal confidence … in the FACT that the blood of Christ has saved us from an eternal punishment and saved us into an eternal relationship with God. The helmet of salvation protects that knowledge. Such knowledge is important because the Enemy is going to do and say everything he can to undermine your hope, your assurance, your confidence in your salvation. If he can get you to forget your helmet of salvation, to get you to question your salvation, he has made you an ineffective soldier. Ex. If in the midst of a battle, Nate loses hope/loses confidence in himself, in everything that made him a Marine, how effective a soldier will he be? F) Sword of the Spirit - Purpose for Roman soldier – To fight a war, a soldier has to have a weapon. For a Roman soldier it was a double-edged sword (sharp on both sides). The sword used as an offensive weapon and a defensive weapon. Purpose for Christian – According to Paul, what is our spiritual sword? The Word of God. The Bible. In Hebrews 4:12, the author says the Bible is sharper than any double-edged sword, able to divide spirit and soul, joints and marrow. The Bible is our weapon against the Enemy. God’s Word defends us from his attacks. It is also to be used to attack the Enemy to send him running. Recall when Satan tempted Jesus. How did Jesus defeat the Enemy? What were the first three words Jesus spoke “It is written …” Satan attacks – guilt/self-condemnation; Counterattack with John 3:17; Romans 8:1 Satan attacks - worry; Counterattack with Matthew 6:25-34; Philippians 4:6-7 Satan attacks - unloved; Counterattack with Romans 8:38-39 Satan attacks – negative attitude; Counterattack with Philippians 4:8 Satan attacks – pride; Counterattack with Obadiah 3-4 To be successful in our struggle against the Enemy, knowing and living God’s Word is mandatory. 7) If a Christian is missing one piece of armor, how effective a soldier would he/she be? He/she will be very ineffective. 8) What role does prayer play in our war against the Enemy? Prayer plays a vital role. It is our communication line to our commander. Without prayer, we don’t have a prayer against Satan. When developing military strategy/planning to defeat an enemy – at top of the list is cutting off/destroying the communications of the enemy. Prevent commanders from communicating to front-line troops. Why? Promotes confusion. Have no knowledge where the opposing army is at. Have no knowledge where or when to mount a proper defense. Same in spiritual warfare. The Enemy seeks to prevent us from communicating with our battle commander. Through prayer, God gives us direction, strength, courage, boldness, wisdom we need to fight the Enemy. Through prayer, we are able to put on the whole armor of God needed to fight the Enemy. Should pieces of our armor become weak, through prayer God strengthens our armor. How important is prayer? How essential is prayer? How often did Paul say we are to pray? At all times. If we want to be successful in our war against Satan, we must be in constant communication with God. If you are not, you are going to constantly fall prey to the Enemy’s snares/traps. Regularly devoured. Regularly hit by flaming missiles. 9) What is the final outcome of the Enemy? Rd. Revelation 20:10. Cause for rejoicing. Until then, Satan is still our adversary/our Enemy. My prayer is that after this study you are better prepared/better armed to fight the Enemy. Not just fight, but overcome. Live a victorious life and not a defeated one.