Surviving the Battle
Armor of God • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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In Pilgrim’s Progress Part Two, John Bunyan tells the story of a woman named Christiana, who is saved following the death of her faithful, godly husband Christian and the journey she goes on as a believer. On the journey she makes her way to the wicket gate which is a way of describing her coming to Christ for salvation there she rejoices, rests and enjoys Him and His saving grace. But she soon must continue on her journey as a pilgrim heading to heaven’s kingdom. But as she makes her way down the trail, she is quickly attacked and a person in the wicket gate (who is a depiction of the holy Spirit) hears her and comes to her rescue. When he rescues her, he says that he is surprised that she didn’t request a guide since the way is dangerous and she says that she was so caught up in the joy of being in the Wicket Gate that she forgot that troubles would ever come again.
This is a similar story to many of us. We are convinced that once we’re saved life will be hunky dory and everything will be easy, but that’s not the case, is it? As a matter of fact, I’ve found that life gets harder as you go to war with yourself, realizing just how sinful you are, and learning to lean on Jesus for strength. Well, if we don’t realize that there is danger ahead, we aren’t going to make it very far before getting seriously tripped up. So we better armor up.
In Ephesians 6:16 we read,
16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;
Here we are told that we are to be armed with the shield of faith and that it is the means by which we will be protected from the arrows of the Devil. But before go any further, we need to ask ourselves an important question, “What is faith?”
What do you think faith is?
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
John Chrysostom comments, “Faith then is seeing things not plain . . . and brings what are not seen to the same full assurance with what are seen.” In other words, Faith takes things not seen and gives us the same assurance in them as we have in things which we can clearly see. But, as one writer said, “Belief that something is real is insufficient by itself to make it real. That is why Scripture gives us historical testimony and other objective evidences of the unseen” (Ligonier). “Faith must always have a firm foundation… or it is simply a glorious falsehood” (Duguid, 66)
So what is faith? Faith is knowing about God and His gospel, believing that it is true, and personally believing in it for yourself. Faith is the arm by which we reach out and hold onto God and His promises.
And it is this kind of faith that will be our shield in the midst of life’s battles for us as Christians. Now, True faith isn’t powerful in itself though. The power that comes through faith is not in the faith, but in the object of that faith. “Faith is merely the instrument that connects us to the utterly trustworthy and all-powerful God…[Paul] is not saying that faith has some remarkable defensive power against Satan, in and of itself. Rather, he is saying that faith protects us from Satan’s attacks because of what faith enables us to take hold of, namely, the power and protection of God Himself” (Duguid, 66-67).
Psalm 18:30 tells us a little about this when it says,
30 As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.
and Psalm 91:1-2
2 This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. 3 For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease. 4 He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection. 5 Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day. 6 Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday.
What we find here is that God is our shield. It is in Him we find strength and protection and it is His faithfulness we are kept safe in the trials of our Christian life. But how? How can faith be our shield? In Iain Duguid’s book on the armor of God, he points out that if faith is going to be a shield for us, we have to believe in God’s sovereignty. That means, if we are going to find faith as our shield, we must rest in the fact that God is in control of everything going on. He is in absolute control when life is great, when the sun is shining, when you’re getting along with your friends, and when you’re summer is going well. And He’s still in control when you’re relationship ends, when you’re skies have turned to gray, when you’re sick or when you feel all alone. For us to find faith as our shield, we must know that the God who we have faith in, is the One in control. But that’s not all.
If we are going to find faith as our shield, we need to know that this God who is in control is not mad at us. There was a time when God was mad at us, when we were His enemies, when we were hopelessly lost. But if you’re saved, that’s not your story any more. God loves us and cares for us and so, when life is rocky and you feel alone you can be shielded in the fact that God is in control and that same God is the One who loves you.
With this being said, I want to talk to you all about Three Fiery Darts that Faith Extinguishes. Or Three Attacks that Faith Defeats.
God Doesn’t Care About You
God Doesn’t Care About You
As I eluded to a minute ago, we can begin to find ourselves scared and questioning things whenever life isn’t going the way we expected it to and one of the ways the enemy will attack you is by tempting you to believe that God doesn’t care about you. But in Jeremiah 31:3
3 The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.
26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
and whenever we doubt the reality of that love, we don’t have to look any further from the cross do we? Romans 5:8
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 8:28 tells us that this loving God, who is in control, is working all things for our good.
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Think about it like this, when a parent takes their kid to the doctor for a shot, as the needle gets closer that kid squeezes onto Mama tighter. This is often how the hardships of life cause us to be as they cause us to cling tighter to God.
You Are Hopeless In Fighting Against Sin
You Are Hopeless In Fighting Against Sin
If you’re familiar with the sport of Rugby, you may have heard of the New Zealand All Blacks and how they preform a tribal tradition known as the Haka before their opponents which is a historic act to display power and courage and to discourage their opponents and give them a upper hand.
Well, although Satan isn’t standing in front of you trying to discourage you by crazy sounds or dances, he is trying to discourage you in your walk with Christ. Have you ever found yourself rehearsing old sins that you’ve repented of in your mind? Have you ever found yourself falling to the same sins over and over again and you feel defeated and hopeless? This is an attack used to cripple you, to fill you with doubts and to distract you from the grace and mercy of God. For instance, when you fall into sin, you might find yourself skipping your prayer and bible reading because you feel so bad.
Well, that’s not the gospel. In the midst of the hardships, when you find yourself failing. Be reminded that you are weak, but Jesus is strong. Yes, you’ve failed but Jesus doesn’t! The Bible tells us in 1 John 4:4.
4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
God is Holding Out On You
God is Holding Out On You
Have you ever found yourself tempted to feel almost jealous at the people who go on sinning without ever feeling convicted. Almost thinking to yourself that you’re just committed to a religion of rules? If you are, you’re not alone. As a matter of fact, in the Garden of Eden, Satan tempted Eve with the same thoughts as he told her that God was holding out on her. In Psalm 37:1 we are reminded
1 Don’t worry about the wicked or envy those who do wrong.
Also, Proverbs 14:12
12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.
And when you find yourself tempted to believe that God is holding out on you, remember that He gave His own Son, the greatest, most glorious of all things for you and in Jesus we have all good things. 1 Corinthians 12:2
9 But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
Conclusion
Conclusion
So, let me go ahead and tell you if you don’t already know, that you are going to face battles as a Christian so we need to be armed with the shield of faith day and night. One writer said, “What counts is not the strength of your faith, let alone the strength of your faithfulness. Your security lies in the fact that Jesus has been faithful for you; His strength, as the One in whom our faith rests, is our sure and certain hope.” And where do we find assurance of these promises? In the word of God.
What do we learn from this today?
First, Whatever I face, I can rest in the loving providence of God. What do you think this might look like in your daily life?
Second, Whenever I fail, I can rejoice in the loving grace of God in Christ. How might this influence our relationships?
Third, Whenever I find myself tempted, I can trust that God loves me and gave Himself for me.