Our Weapons of Warfare

"For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds." 2 Cor. 10:4 (ESV)

As I wrote in my last two post, there is a Battle. Actually, there are two battles. As believers, we have been given weapons to use in these Battles. In this post I in no way claim to do the subject justice or for this to be an exhaustive commentary. I would encourage you to study the subject further on your own.

If you have ever watched a war movie, inevitability there comes a time when the troops take count of their weapons. There's the usual assortment of rifles, knives and grenades and there are the specialty weapons like mortars, machine guns and bazookas...ones that have required additional training. These are all offensive weaponry. Then there are radios, binoculars, maps and gps units. There is body armour and helmets, camouflage and night vision scopes. These are more defensive type weapons. As believers we have been given the same type of weapons, both offensive and defensive. Let's take a look at a well known passage of scripture. Almost so well known that it has in some ways lost it's impact.

Eph 6:10-18 list a pretty good arsenal of offensive and defensive weapons.The Belt of Truth, Breastplate of Righteousness, Shoes from the Readiness of the Gospel of Peace, Shield of Faith, Helmet of Salvation and the Sword of the Spirit/Word of God. Then there are the weapons of Prayer, Alertness and Perseverance. Google any reference to the above list and you'll come up with any number of sermons or commentaries on this passage of Scripture.

But, I want to look at one weapon which I have never heard taught as such, but which is definitely a weapon. The Holy Spirit recently revealed this weapon to me and it's specific purpose at a time when this was the exact weapon I needed for the Fight. I want to share this with you.

Eph 6:13, 14a reads like this. (ESV) "Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. ¹⁴ Stand therefore..."  Stand is mentioned twice and withstand once. During the Civil War, at the first Battle of Bull Run, General Jackson earned the name "Stonewall Jackson" because his troops stood firm "like a stonewall" against the opposing army's advance. (There are those who say this was not a compliment, but the man who uttered the words was killed immediately after speaking them and he could not clarify) Needless to say, history has chosen to memorialise this phrase as something praiseworthy. Standing like a stonewall, standing firm, immovable. It doesn't at first seem like a weapon, but anything that keeps the Enemy from advancing, from gaining ground is a weapon.

So here are some ways we can use Standing as a weapon. You "stand" on the promises of God. Has God shown you or promised you something personally that has not yet come about? Then Stand on that. Do not waiver, do not give in to the Enemy's attacks when he tries to make you doubt. Stand firm! You can Stand against Evil, Poverty, Corruption and Complacency. In the Book of Ezekiel, God looks for a man to Stand in the gap between the corruption of the land and His wrath, but there is no one to be found. Ezk 22:23-31 Don't tell me that Standing isn't a weapon...and a powerful one at that.

As with all weapons we must learn to use them skillfully. It is the same with Standing. Practice it, you won't regret it. Stand firm, like a stonewall.

The Two Great Battles: part 2

In my last post I wrote about the first of the Great Battles in which we Christians are involved. We call this Battle "spiritual warfare". Ephesians 6:12 says this, "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." (KJV) It doesn't get any clearer than that.

The second of the Great Battles we are engaged in is against another enemy. That enemy is the "old nature", that part of us that still struggles against the "new nature". This is more difficult to write about as there are differing theological viewpoints on this subject. I do not claim to be a theologian and I have learned not to argue with another man's personal experience. Nor do I ever want to make doctrine fit my own personal experience or lack of it. I can only say this; for me the old nature is still alive, or at least to be reckoned with. I understand that it has been nailed to the cross with Christ and that I am dead to sin. (Rom 6:6) At the very minimum this is at least true from a positional standpoint. (Rom 8:3-4)  But, I know also that sin is still present in me. And for me, this is the second Great Battle...the Battle against the Flesh.

Romans 8:12-13 say as this, "Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.  For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live." (NKJV emphasis mine) Choosing to walk in the Spirit daily, as the new creation we are in Christ, choosing to put to death the deeds of the old, corrupt nature that still has the ability and desire at times to sin - this is the Battle we are given to fight as well.

The sins and temptations we all struggle with are evident. Lust, envy, jealousy, pride, desire for power, gossip, unkindness, apathy - over all of these things, and more, we have been given the ability and the desire to overcome through our new in life in Christ. But, the struggle comes because we don't always want to walk by the Spirit. It is far easier to fall back into the old ways of the old nature. Sometimes we just grow tired of the fight. Sometimes we don't understand that the God has given us everything we need to overcome. Sometimes it seems impossible and we actually doubt that it is true. Often, this is a moment by moment battle, a daily choice. Walk in the flesh or walk in the Spirit.

As difficult as this Battle is, it can be made even more difficult when it is combined with the First Battle, the fight against the "powers and principalities". Again, there are differing views on this, so I will only speak from my own experience. Satan (and I use this term generically, because Satan is not omnipresent, but we know he has many, many demons under him) knows our weaknesses, and does all he can, as a very qualified General himself, to capitalize on those weaknesses to make us weak and ineffective. 

I have observed that, for instance, whenever I am to preach or we have something upcoming that requires a greater step of faith, that there is a greater amount of strife in our family. I am learning that Satan takes and uses our struggle against the flesh and combines it with spiritual pressures from the First Battle to intensify our own propensity fail in whatever it is that day we are struggling with. 

Satan is the great Button Pusher. He knows just how to push both us and other's to say, think and do things that will then push other's buttons. I have seen this over and over and I know it to be true. The result is that we begin to see "people" as those who we are to battle against. I have experienced this in our our family and I have experienced it in churches. Go back to the verse at the top of the page. Who is our battle against? Other people, our husbands or wives, our church family? NO...it is not against flesh and blood (people). It is against powers and principalities...and our own carnal nature.

If we can begin to recognize Satan's tactics (Eph. 6:11) in this, then we can come against him and  our carnal nature in the power and authority we have been given as part of our relationship with Christ and with the weapons He has given us.  My next post will be on some practical ways to do both.