Sermon Tone Analysis

“Take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.”[1]

"If you don’t want trouble, don’t say anything, don’t do anything, don’t be anything.”

This sage advice was offered by a man who frequently stood in the midst of battle.

Preachers seek to cast the Christian Faith in the most positive light possible—no one wants to be thought negative; however, the Word of God is quite clear that you will have conflict */because/* you are a Christian.

Think of the times Jesus spoke of such conflict because of faith.

Jesus said, “I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves” [*Matthew** 10:16*], indicating the conditions those who follow Him can expect.

The words that follow are especially stunning.

The Master warned, “Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles.

When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour” [*Matthew 10:17-19*].

He did not say that men */might/* deliver His people over to courts, but rather He said “they */will/* deliver you over to courts.”

He did not say “*/If/* they deliver you over,” but rather He said “*/When/* they deliver you over.”

After cautioning that family members will be the adversary of the child of God, He warned, “You will be hated by all for My Name’s sake” [*Matthew** 10:22*].

Shortly after this, Jesus warned those who wished to follow Him, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth.

I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.

For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household.

Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” [*Matthew** 10:34-39*].

These words do not match the expectation of most professing Christians—they seek peace and prosperity, quietness and security, whereas the Master offers conflict and opposition.

Immediately before His exodus, the Master warned His disciples.

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.

If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but 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 also keep yours.

But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.

If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.

Whoever hates me hates my Father also.

If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father.

But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause’” [*John** 15:18-25*].

The Lord warned those who would follow Him, “In the world you will have tribulation.”

However, He followed that sobering warning with a word of richest encouragement for His people: “Take heart, I have overcome the world” [*John** 16:33*].

When engaged in conflict, struggling to maintain righteousness in the face of spiritual assault, where does one find strength?

How can a mere mortal stand when receiving the attention of the enemy?

The answer to these questions is found in turning to the Lord.

Precisely what is entailed in turning to the Lord?

These are the sort of questions we will explore today, God being our guide.

*God Equips His People for War* — In a future message I propose to explore more fully the armour God supplies His people.

However, for the purpose of the message for this day, I am restricting my focus to the fact that God supplies all that is necessary to conduct spiritual warfare.

Moreover, I want to stress the truth that each of God’s saints—each Christian—has the identical armour and armaments available.

There are no super saints, neither are there any inferior saints.

We each stand complete in the Son of God.

Among the people of God in this day is an alarming lethargy, a form of spiritual cowardice that seems to imagine that God does not want His people to experience any unpleasantness.

However, one cannot read the Word of God without coming to the realisation that those who follow God are expected to fight, for He leads His people to war against the enemies of righteousness.

To be certain, this is not a physical fight; it is, however, spiritual warfare that demands investment of life and strenuous exertion if we will honour the Master.

There are people who come to the Word convinced of the truth of that apocryphal verse, “God helps those who help themselves.”

Apparently, that verse is written in the Book of Hesitations; however, such a verse does not exist in the Word of God.

Never do you see the Lord urging His people to depend upon their own strength.

We are taught to look to Him for all that we may require in the tasks He assigns.

Throughout the pages of the Old Covenant we see God`s promise to lead His people.

For instance, as God prepared His people for the conquest of Canaan, He promised, “If you carefully obey [the] voice [of the Angel of the Lord] and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries” [*Exodus 23:22*].

Obedience becomes the basis for God’s intervention to protect His people.

Indeed, this promise fulfils the observation of the Moses that, “The Lord is a man of war” [*Exodus 15:3*].

Later, as Joshua was set apart for service as the leader over the tribes of Israel, we read, “The Lord commissioned Joshua the son of Nun and said, ‘Be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the people of Israel into the land that I swore to give them.

I will be with you’” [*Deuteronomy 31:23*].

This very promise is iterated in the opening words of the Book of Joshua.

“No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life.

Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.

I will not leave you or forsake you” [*Joshua** 1:5*].

An excellent example of God’s faithfulness is provided in an incident of the life of David.

“When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David.

But David heard of it and went down to the stronghold.

Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim.

And David inquired of the Lord, ‘Shall I go up against the Philistines?

Will you give them into my hand?’

And the Lord said to David, ‘Go up, for I will certainly give the Philistines into your hand.’

And David came to Baal-perazim, and David defeated them there.

And he said, ‘The Lord has burst through my enemies before me like a bursting flood.’

Therefore the name of that place is called Baal-perazim.

And the Philistines left their idols there, and David and his men carried them away.

“And the Philistines came up yet again and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim.

And when David inquired of the Lord, he said, ‘You shall not go up; go around to their rear, and come against them opposite the balsam trees.

And when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then rouse yourself, for then the Lord has gone out before you to strike down the army of the Philistines.’

And David did as the Lord commanded him, and struck down the Philistines from Geba to Gezer” [*2 Samuel 5:17-25*].

David knew that he was facing a vicious foe, and so he turned to the Lord.

God commanded him to attack, and when the attack succeeded, David’s response was, “The Lord has burst through my enemies before me like a bursting flood.”

God fought for His servant because David obeyed Him.

Again, the enemies of the Lord came against David, and David’s first act was to ask what the Lord’s will was.

God commanded him to wait.

The tactic differed, but the strategy was still to let the Lord precede him in battle.

Indeed, because David sought the Lord’s will and because he did as the Lord commanded, we read that he was again successful.

God expected obedience, and as result would ensure that David was not defeated by the enemy.

These battles were against mortal foes, to be certain; however, the principle is the same.

David waited for the Living God to fight his battles, and God was faithful.

In either instance, David was responsible to be obedient and God was responsible to fulfil His promise.

The same principle holds in the realm of spiritual warfare—out responsibility as Christians is to be obedient to the Master; His responsibility is to fulfil His promise to enable us to fight.

Beyond these very specific promises mentioned earlier, in which the Lord pledged to fight for His people, are promises that pledge His presence and His comfort in times of trial.

One of the rich promises of the Word is that which is found in the prophecy of Isaiah: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you [*Isaiah 43:2*].

Though these promises that are cited have been specifically given to Israel, it is evident that they present a truth concerning the Lord that can be taken as applicable to each believer in the Risen Son of God.

Ultimately, we have the promise of the Living God, “The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son” [*Revelation 21:7*].

God promises victory over evil if we are obedient and faithful.

The obedience requires that we look to Him and the faithfulness requires us to avoid attempting to stand in our own strength.

Paul makes precise point in his letter to the Corinthian Christians when he writes: “I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

Behold!

I tell you a mystery.

We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.

For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.

For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: