Spirital Weapons Ephesias 6:10-18

In the 1959 film Ben Hur a Jewish man named Judah struggles against the great Roman war machine during the times of Christ. Judah has an archenemy, Messala, a friend from childhood, who despises him because he will not submit to the Roman rule and way. As the story advances so does the presence and chilling power of the Roman military might. Judah Ben Hur and Messala come to an epic battle of force and power in the grand arena. Judah is seen with a simple tunic, while his opponent is robed in the majesty of the Roman Military. The two former friends, now bitter enemies, duel to the death in great chariots as a wild Roman crowd cheers them on.

This film depicts a very real historical situation.  All around the city of Rome and throughout the Roman Empire symbols of power and prestige were evident. Great statues of Roman gods and leaders lined the streets. Flowing banners hung from buildings with royal colors and images. There was not a corner of the Roman Empire which did not declare itself.  One of the greatest symbols of power was the Roman soldiers' dress. Everywhere you looked, during those days, the awesome and intimidating power of the military could be seen. Roman soldiers were fitted with red and white tunics, which were worn under a shining breastplate, fashioned after the musculature and physique of the ideal man. Around each soldier’s waist was a great belt on which their sword could be attached and from which a skirt of metal pleats shone in the sun. Each Roman solider wore a metal helmet and his feet were fitted with shoes enabling him to run or stand on the roughest of terrain.

It was in this context that one of the real and great early Christians met with the Roman powers in a most unhappy way. The Apostle Paul had been traveling around evangelizing for a number of years. After many confrontations with religious leaders, who were in league with the Roman government, the powerful people decided to put him away simply for proclaiming the Gospel.

I imagine that Paul, as would any citizen in the Roman Empire, recognized the steps of the guard as they came to arrest him. I imagine the clanking of the metal swords against the armored skirt and the rustle of the great plumed helmets caused his heart to beat a little faster. As the soldiers grabbed him and tied his hands behind his back I imagine that he was afraid. And when the prison doors slammed I imagine he prayed earnestly that God would deliver him.

It was in prison that Paul was forced to study the great brick walls, get acquainted with the rats, read and write by candlelight at night and try to sleep on damp straw with a rough blanket. I imagine that he studied something else as well. He studied the armor of the soldiers who guarded him. This armor represented the power that could have him put to death. This armor could have become symbols he would hate and revile. Each time he heard the footsteps of the soldiers, each time he caught glimpses of the sabers shining next to the breastplates, I imagine he could have let hatred become his constant companion. He was there because the powers and the principalities had manipulated a government and a military to destroy what was good and right.

It was in his letter to the Christians in Ephesus that Paul acknowledged the reality of the Christians battle. He wrote about it this way.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  (Ephesians 6:12)

Last week we explored the reality that the devil is like a roaring lion seeking those he can devour. This enemy of the Kingdom of God and our souls is strong. Look up Satan in a good Bible dictionary to explore all the passages that describe the devil.  Be aware of his work and then learn from the many examples of those in the Bible and elsewhere how he can be overcome. We are engaged in a mighty conflict.

Paul understood this conflict on those dark and lonely nights. In that jail cell, because the love of Jesus was poured into his heart, he could see that these soldiers with their armor were nothing more than pawns the devil being used to try to defeat the Christian movement.  And then in moments of triumph and joy, the transforming work of Christ continued. Paul’s eyes were opened and his heart was moved.  The symbols of imperial powers were transformed into the symbols of weapons of righteousness!

I imagine the day that Paul caught this reality it completely transformed his experience in prison. From that moment on he was captivated by the spiritual truth that was far greater than the Roman military. And then he had to write and encourage his friends.

Read Ephesians 6:10-18.

By this time in his life, having faced many, many obstacles in spreading the Gospel, Paul could clearly see the spiritual battle.  And this battle was more than about his imprisonment.  He wanted to equip his Christian friends even better than the Roman guards were equipped.  This is enormously invigorating and encouraging. Here was a man who has been through beatings, imprisonments, torture and troubles of all kinds, making it plain to the New Testament Christians that Satan is resistible, that we have spiritual weapons that can and will defeat the attacks of our spiritual enemy.

With Paul’s great declaration others were added.  James, the brother of Jesus, wrote in James 4:7 "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you," And Simon Peter wrote in 1 Peter 5:8-9, "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. The great leaders of the New Testament church attested to the same thing—we can resist and fight Satan. We don't need to be bothered with the false statement, "The devil made me do it." We don't need to be cowed by our peers saying, "Everyone else is doing it. You'll give in eventually." When we know that Jesus Christ lives in our hearts and gives us the power to resist the devil we have the ability to put on his armor.  And look at what we have available to us!

The Belt of Truth

This is the great belt that holds everything together. It wraps around our waist giving us the reminder that the Truth sets us free. When God’s truth is imbedded in our hearts through the memorization of Scripture, the remembrance of what God has done for us and through the great and good fellowship of other believers—we have a belt that can never be loosed or cut by any other person or force.

The Breastplate of Righteousness

Jesus Christ gives us the desire and the ability to receive his righteousness. Do you know what this means? All we have to do is kneel down in humility and let God put his righteousness on us. This is a defensive weapon designed to guard our hearts. When our hearts are right and healed by God we will know what right actions should be taken. When the enemy of our souls tries to slash at our hearts through horrifying events, personal crisis, disappointment and illness, his weapons are met with the image and reality of God’s strength around us. Isn't it wonderful to know that we don't have to hammer out a breastplate of righteousness ourselves? It is already available for us.  All we have to do it put it on.

Feet Fitted with Readiness that Come from the Gospel of Peace

I love the way Paul twists this image to portray peace instead of war. When a soldier is strapping on his boots it's a time to get into "the zone." It is time to get psyched up to enter battle. By the time the boots are on it's time to roll. Does it seem odd to you to put on a weapon of peace? It seems so opposite of being psyched up for battle. Peace is tranquil and lovely. Peace is light and happy. Or is it? Peace, true peace, comes in the midst of battle, in the middle of the pain, in the middle of the heat. Peace is what speaks confidently in the storm, "I know that God has a way through this." That is a gift and a weapon unlike any other.

How do you imagine the enemy responds to that kind of confidence? I don't think he can stand it because he wants us to believe that we are already defeated. He doesn't know the truth, does he? Or maybe he does and he just continues to be the "father of all lies," as Jesus rightly described him.

The Helmet of Salvation

The helmet is specifically designed to protect our heads and our brains. Our brain is the controlling center of our bodies. What we think, how we think, what we remember and what we choose to forget have a powerful effect on how we live out our lives in the rest of our body.  If we think that God will never forgive us because we've been too bad, then we won't be able to receive forgiveness. If we think that we are "damaged goods" we won't care what happens to our bodies.  If we think that our bodies are our own then we will do with them what we want. If we think that "everybody owes us something" then we won't care what we exact from them.  But Jesus Christ sacrificed himself for us.  He shed his blood on the cross so that we could know that we are valuable to him and that we could receive his salvation.  The knowledge of this and the act of repenting and turning to God fits that helmet on our head, protecting us.

But there is a greater reality for those who have received salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.   Paul writes in another letter that "we have the mind of Christ” (l Corinthians 2:16).  Many of us do not realize what a great gift we have. We cloud our minds with unforgiveness and images that defile the space that has been designed for God. When we release our minds to God, he fills it up with the good and right things. His words and his Spirit can communicate freely to us when we relax and let him be in charge of our minds. Beautiful thoughts, kind words, right motives and good can flow from within us when we put on the helmet of salvation.

And the devil hates that. He will do what he can to destroy your mind — through corrupt images, resentful thoughts and the abuse of substances. Use what God has given you to put that helmet of salvation on every day.

The Shield of Faith

The next two weapons are some of my favorites. Paul instructs the Christians to pick up the shield of faith. To understand this best we need to get a good grasp on the use of the shield in the Roman military. Most shields were anywhere from 3-5 feet tall, and were covered in such a way that even fire could not break through them.  In addition to this, they were designed to be used next to other shields. They had hooks on both sides of them. One of the greatest and most terrifying things in that day was a line of Roman soldiers with their shields hooked together marching ever toward the enemy. Just behind the front line would be a second line of soldiers holding their shields above their heads. This created a formidable wall, one which could not be penetrated by hand to hand combat, by flaming arrows, or by soldiers running against it.

Again Paul takes this overwhelming image and transforms it for the Christian community. Your shield of faith has the ability, even if it is as small as mustard seed and combined with other believers, to snuff out the attacks of the enemy.

Paul wrote in Romans 8:35-39, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." That's faith, my friends. Believing that Jesus Christ will never leave us or forsake us—that's faith. And with that great shield the flaming arrows of doubt, persecution, trouble and sorrow will even fall short of their target fizzling to the ground in smoke. 


The Sword of the Spirit

And then we take up the sword of the Spirit.  Many Biblical scholars note that this is the only offensive weapon Paul admonishes us to take up. All the others are used solely for defense. With the Sword of the Spirit, rightly identified as the Word of God, we can inflict wounds so deep on the enemy that he will back away. It was Jesus who modeled this best for us.  In the Gospels we read the account of his temptations in the desert. (Matthew 4:1-11) At every point of temptation by the devil Jesus responded with one singular thing—the Word of God. Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

But beware, my friends, it is more than a matter of just knowing one or two verses, it requires a life-long love of taking the Word of God into your heart and living it out. Satan himself knows the Scriptures! He neither believes in them nor follows them, but he does indeed know them.

Jesus taught us, and the Apostle Paul reiterated it, that the way to do battle with our old enemy the lion is to know and use the Scriptures in a powerful and effective way. How are you, friend, going to get that Word of God into your heart and mind? Find ways to do it and you will have a weapon of great power.

Prayer

Paul had one final weapon which seemed to have no correlation to the garb of his Roman guards. That weapon is prayer. Staying in constant communication with God, pleading with him for strength and mercy, interceding on behalf of others, is one of the most powerful and energizing weapons we have. When we talk with God, asking him for help and listening to him for guidance and encouragement, that old devil knows that we are depending on the great Source of the universe. The devil knows that when we ask the Most High God for help he has nothing with which to defeat him. The devil can only defeat you and me. When I open my mouth and raise my voice to heaven here's what I am saying, "Oh, God. I can't do this on my own. I need your help!"  And help comes—Praise his wonderful Name!

It is interesting to note that this armor does not protect our backs.  Paul was no wimp.  He faced his spiritual battles rather than running away from them. I think this is because he knew that God's got our back. When Christ stands behind us there is no reason to run. When we understand who he is as the Creator and Sustainer, we have courage pouring out us that enables us to stand our ground. When we know that God's got our back, that old lion—as loud and as hungry as he is—cannot destroy our souls and our relationship of love with God.

Every day I put on the full armor of God. I have found it to be powerful, effective and comforting.  I don’t go looking for a fight, because I know I've already got a full-fledged one on my hands. I know I have an enemy. And I also know that I have weapons and, most wonderful and important of all, I know that I have a powerful God who has my back and has given me his weapons to more than survive the battle.

Perhaps today you need to see your troubles differently.  Ask God to transform what you see.  Just as the Apostle Paul saw all the symbols of his battle transformed into symbols of victory, so can we.

Amen.

Copyright M.R. Hyde 2013

Want to get these devotionals sent to your inbox?  

Sign up in the "Follow by E-mail"box.

Lion in the Streets! Know Your Enemy

Zoos are fascinating places.  Although we can feel badly for the animals being kept in such small places, they do give a unique opportunity. We can look closely at some animals that we would really not rather meet out on the street or in the fields. I am most fascinated by the large cats, lions, tigers, leopards and cougars.  I could sit and watch them for hours—as long as they are in a cage!

One of these animals that I have no particular desire to meet in the street or out in their natural habitat is the legendary lion. I am thinking of the great African lion—with his mane that seems to reach from the East to the West and his gaping jaws battalioned with 4-6 inch fangs. And this is not to speak of the great lioness, whose physique is nearly the same, whose head and jaws are nearly identical as that of her great king. This is the kind of animal I would rather not come up close and personal with on a dark night.

The National Geographic has given us some more reasons why we do not wish to meet him there.

·        - A full-grown male is about 6-7 feet long, excluding the 3-foot long tail. He stands about 4 feet high at the shoulder and weighs 370-500 pounds.

·        - The main job of males in the pride [the family group of lions] is defending the pride's territory.

·         -A male's loud roar, usually heard after sunset, can carry for as far as five miles.  

·      -   Hunting generally is done in the dark by the lionesses.

·       -  A typical meal for an adult male lion is 15 pounds of meat, though lions can consume as much as 60 pounds at a sitting. After they feed, lions may not hunt for a few days. But when they eat, they usually eat all of their prey at once.

·       -  Three ways lion obtain meat is by killing, scavenging from other predators, or eating animals that have died from disease or old age.

·       -  When hunting, the cats pay no attention to the wind's direction, which can carry their scent to their prey.

·     -    They tire after running only short distances. 

-   -A high proportion of their hunts end in failure.

-When hunting, lionesses (and lions) patiently stalk prey using every bit of available cover and then run it down in a short, rapid rush. After leaping on the prey, the lioness lunges at its neck and bites until the animal is strangled.[1]

Now, I don't know about you, but I don't want a 500 lb. carnivore waiting in the bushes for me! This is absolutely terrifying if you think about it. If a little speedy gazelle with four quick legs can be pounced upon, what of me and my two not-so-nimble legs?! Even if I could run quickly the ground covered by a four-footed creature is far more than you or I could cover in the same amount of time. I don't want to imagine this too long because I might have nightmares!

There is a very distressing story in the Old Testament about a way that people used lions as a means of execution. Do you know the story of Daniel and the lion's den? It is found in the Old Testament book of Daniel. Here we see a good and godly man named Daniel praying three times daily to the one, true, living God. God had made Daniel powerful and very influential to the king he served—King Darius. Just as when anyone who gets close to a powerful leader becomes an object of jealousy, Daniel had become so to many of the lesser leaders and rulers in Babylon. And they were determined to get rid of him in any way possible—so they came up with a law designed solely to put Daniel in jeopardy.

Daniel 6:6-7

  ⁶ So these administrators and satraps went as a group to the king and said: “May King Darius live forever! ⁷ The royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers and governors have all agreed that the king should issue an edict and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any god or human being during the next thirty days, except to you, Your Majesty, shall be thrown into the lions’ den.

What we see here are a group of individuals acting as if they were a lion.  They have begun to stalk their prey.  What they proposed was a form of capital punishment not unlike our electric chair or firing squads. But this punishment was perhaps more terrifying because it exposed the accused either publicly and privately to the whims and aggressions of wild beasts.  Isn't that a terrifying form of punishment and execution? Again, I don't want to imagine this too long.

Read Daniel 6:10-16.

We could well imagine that Daniel was a quick meal for caged lions. But God had something else in mind. The good King Darius, who had been tricked into a law that condemned one of his favorite advisers, paced the floor all night long, hoping against hope that there might be some way that Daniel's God would rescue him.  Who could stop wild animals once they get to certain point of hunger, once they smell the blood? In one moment a hungry lion could snap the neck of a man put in a cage with him.

The Bible says they put a great stone across the entrance to the lion's den. That means it must have been dark. The moment Daniel was thrust into that horrifying place those great beasts must have circled around him, their hot breath on his neck.

Read Daniel 6:19-22.

Those last two verses are some of the favorite verses of my childhood Bible story memories.  God and his angels acted on behalf of Daniel!  Do you know what God did for Daniel? He saved him, saved him and saved him all night long. With one little touch from God’s mighty hand those great jaws were sealed closed. All night long they could do nothing but pace around Daniel. God delivered Daniel from the mouths of the lions!

Did you know that you have a lion in your streets? This lion is not caged in the city square or bunkered into a den. This lion roams all around you. He is your enemy. One who seeks of his own will to destroy you. Jesus described this enemy in John 10:10 and this is what he said this lion does for a living: this lion "comes only to steal and kill and destroy."

What might have Daniel been thinking and feeling as they lead him near the den, as he heard those terrible roars? Perhaps he was thinking that the lions were going to kill him and destroy his body. That is what might have happened. But, the One who created those lions knew how to seal their jaws shut at just the right time.

In 1 Peter 5:8-11 the Apostle Peter warned some dear Christians about the reality that they already knew. They had an enemy of their souls. This enemy demonstrated himself in the same way that the lions in those terrifying Roman arenas did. It was there that perhaps some of them had seen their loved ones die for their faith clenched in the jaws of a ravenous lion loosed by the despicable Emperor Nero. Christian persecutions were rampant during the days of this letter. Christians were objects of scorn, dragged from their homes refusing to denounce their faith in Jesus Christ. Thousands of Christians died as martyrs. It is to their friends and relatives that Peter wrote. In 1 Peter 5:8-9 we read these incredible words:  ⁸ Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. ⁹ Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. 

You, too, have an enemy, a hungry lion, who has caught your scent. He is powerful and often illusive.  He blends into the scenery. He never lets up. He roams around you all the time, watching you, studying your weaknesses and desires. He sniffs the air for fresh scents of doubt and rage. He hides in the bushes, just at the edges of your peripheral vision, seeking the right moment to leap out and drag you down.

Here is how that lion will win. At just the moment you don't expect it, in a quiet moment or when you are exhausted, he will bring back an old temptation. Maybe it will be one you thought you had conquered. Maybe it will be a one you hoped would never come.  It's as if you heard that roar five miles away and it reminded you that he was still here.

Or better yet (at least for him), perhaps he'll bring a new temptation in and he will give you the opportunity for your faith to crumble to the ground in fear or disillusionment. Then it will be easy for him to saunter over and take you without a fight. We have an enemy of our souls.  

But he is not an unknowable enemy. Just like a naturalist can study and log the patterns of a lion's behavior, we also can be aware and recognize his plans. The Apostle Paul wrote that we don’t have to be unaware of the devil’s schemes. (2 Corinthians 2:11)  The naturalists tell us that the big cats pay no attention to the wind's direction, which can carry their scent to their prey. When something is amiss, when we can't quite figure out what is going wrong, we can learn to recognize the smell of a dangerous enemy. We can learn his ways and even anticipate his next move. Just as the great head of lion can be seen from a long distance, his head, held high in arrogance believing he can take any prey he sets his eye one, we can see how the devil operates, where he is most likely to be hiding and how he plans to destroy us. 

Here are some of the ways the lion in our streets tries to pull us down.

He lies to us—telling us we have never been saved, or that we are too weak or that no one really cares about us.  Read 1 Peter 5:6-11.  
 

He captures our attention with our own evil desires. Read James 1:13-15.  Some of those desires are the most ancient of desires: to be like God—the temptation offered and accepted by Adam and Eve; to live selfishly and never think of others; to satisfy our appetites in excessive ways, etc.

He waits for us to get weak and tired. Read Psalm 10:9. 

He lures us away from other Christians, isolating and dividing us for easier defeat. Read Hebrews 10:25.

He convinces us that our enemies are our neighbors, friends and family. Read Ephesians 6: 12.  Our enemies are not our neighbors or our family members or our co-workers. We have one sure enemy and that is that old lion Satan seeking our destruction. People around us who do destructive and divisive things are pawns used by the devil. He only entices them with the lie of power and control, when all along he gains power and control over them.   It is his plan to destroy them, us and our relationship with God by whatever means necessary.

Like bands of lions, there are teams of the devil's workers circling around us, trying to wear us down, intimidating and frightening us. They can be successful in their hunt, except for one more true thing. When we believe what God says—that salvation comes through Jesus Christ, by his blood spilled on the cross for our sins—we have a wall of protection around us that no roaring lion can penetrate. Then we can "be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.”

We must live with another truth when facing the lion in our streets.  Colossians 2:15 relates that the powerful jaws of the lion have already been disarmed by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cruel cross.  The devil's roar may be great, but in God's view he is nothing more than a toothless, run-down old cat.  And that is how we can see him through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Do you know what closed the mouths of those lions as Daniel prayed all night long? Do you know who snapped their jaws shut? Do you know who stands between you and the lion pacing in our streets?  It is the Word and person of God that stops the mouths of lions and always silences the roar of our enemy.  In 1 John 4:4 the truth is stated plainly. "You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world."

I imagine that Daniel learned this same powerful truth all night long in that lion's den. There are many of us who can tell story after story of the defeats of that old lion and how God has shut his mouth. Just like earthly lions in their natural habitat tire after running only short distances and many of their hunts end in failure, so too, the enemy lion in our streets tires quickly when he is faced with the truth of Jesus Christ, the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Amen.

Copyright M.R. Hyde 2013

---

[1] http://www.nationalgeographic.com/kids/creature_feature/0109/lions2.html