For those who are inexperienced in the concept of Spiritual Warfare: A lot to learn! For hose who have experience in Spiritual Warfare: More to learn! Spiritual warfare can be as subtle as demon interference in relationships / decisions. Or as intense as an attempt to destroy a church body or a ministry.
- All things; being a Bondservant to Christ is 24/7… HE touches every part of life!
- He is our power source, by His Spirit, to live HIS way
- Being energized by God’s power happens when you intertwine your life in HIS
- How does this happen? To get the power you have to plug in!
- Inward habits and outward habits
This crucial information is addressed to Christ’s Body. You have to have God’s Spirit indwelling you for any of this to be real to you. It is our fundamental text regarding spiritual warfare.
Ephesians 6:10-17
10 So in all things, be continuously invigorated by our Lord and His all surpassing power.
Salvation in Christ is our identity. Communication with God through prayer & scripture is our way of life. We constantly seek to proclaim the Gospel with our faith going before us, wrapped in Christ’s righteousness with God’s enlightening truth at the center of everything we are.
11 Trust in the complete battle gear God provides, with it you can stop and counteract the strategies of the devil.
- Trust is built through familiarity and regular contact
- We need to practice with our gear / Military term would be to ‘Drill’
- You cannot trust what you have not used (David didn’t want Saul’s armor)
- Practicing with all of the gear at once, just like you use it in real life
12 This struggle of ours is not with human beings but a clash with demonic forces; active combat with the powers of this world’s darkness; a confrontation with the spiritual forces of malice in unseen realms.
- In any contest you must KNOW YOUR OPPONENT
- The somewhat repetitive descriptions make it clear: supernatural opponents
13 For this reason you must possess and use the complete battle gear God provides, so you can stand your ground whenever the evil attacks come, enabling you to endure anything.
- You have to own it AND use it…(like exercise equipment)
- All of it is used together, the language implies that it has full value used together
- With God’s power used properly we can handle ANYTHING!
14a This is how you do it: wear divine truth as your foundation garment,
- It is believed the ‘how you do it’ goes from here to V 20
- The metaphor of ‘wearing gear’ denoting how close a doctrine is held
- The ‘Gear’ is to be seen as a ‘Matched Set’, a ‘Full Array’, a ‘Suit of Armor’
- The 1st three things are things you wear regularly but not always
14b put on the breastplate of God’s approval,
- A breastplate is a front and back full torso covering
- We have Christ’s righteousness and therefor God’s approval;
15 and pull on boots that prepare you to proclaim The Gospel of Peace.
- We put in footwear based on what we are doing
- Our feet take us where we are going
- We have to carry the message, it makes us less vulnerable
16 Together with these, hold up the shield of faith in Christ, which enables you to smother the burning missiles of the devil.
- When you suit up you get ready, holding your shield is the max readiness
- The arrows are going to come… our faith is a shield and we need to ‘hold it up’
17 And always wear the helmet of salvation and the sword of The Spirit which is the communication of God.
- In a war zone you need to keep your helmet & sword on at all times
- Our identity as a redeemed child of God is something we inhabit 24/7
- We need to keep the lines of communication open with God at all times
SUMMARY:
We have a supernatural God, when we become His Bondservants we will be involved in the the supernatural conflict that is part of this age. We are drafted into God’s army!
We need both awareness and energizing from God to stand our ground in the supernatural conflict that is our present reality. We are in a war zone and we need to understand the nature of the conflict.
An intimate, biblical relationship with Jesus Christ grows our trust in the gear He gives us to conduct ‘Spiritual Warfare’ successfully; we assemble our gear and learn how to use it.
Consistently using all the gear God provides His Bondservants for the warfare they face enables members of Christ’s body to ‘Stand Up’ to any spiritual attack.
God’s Truth is our core (belt), our life is covered by His imparted righteousness (breastplate) and we are prepared to deliver His message (shoes).
Our faith is our active protection (shield), it is effective when we ‘hold it up’ / exercise it. This is called Biblical Discipleship.
In Jesus Christ’s Body our lifestyle is built on attitudes and actions that affirm our salvation in Christ (helmet) and we practice constant communication with God (sword).
APPLICATION:
Do some research, read some things about ‘Spiritual Warfare’: get in the game!
Why is it crucial to understand who / what we fight against as Christ’s Bondservants?
As an individual, how might you prepare your gear and use it well?
What group activities can you ‘plug into’ to help you prepare and use your gear?
How can you intentionally use all of your gear together more often?
A Bondservant of Christ’s Vision of Spiritual Warfare