May 26, 2002

Ephesians 6:10-24

v. 10 - “be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might”

The ever-reoccurring formula - “in the Lord”

Only in Christ can this be experienced! “My grace is

sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in

weakness” - II Cor. 12:9

Only one way to be strong, it is furnished for us, all we

have to do is put on the whole armor of God!

To be strong is our duty, to be weak is our sin.

At Ft. Campbell, readiness is an issue of national &

international importance!

Our enemy is strong, escalating & fluctuating from

physical to spiritual warfare, the issue of spiritism and drugs

transcending from natural to supernatural, because we are

warring against “principalities, against powers, against

the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual

wickedness in high places” - v. 12

Since the Flood, we have come full circle, to where once

again violence is in the scenario. Gen. 6:11 - “The earth

also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled

with violence”

v. 11 - we are told to “put on the whole armor of God”,

the G.I.’s at Ft. Campbell are equipped for their tasks

and the term is G. I., government issue.

G. I. here but in a different light, God Issued! The

weapons mentioned in vs. 14-16 are for both protection

and aggression, defense, as well as offense!

Whether you admit it or not, the equipment of the

highest spiritual technology is available for all, and

it has been here from the beginning. Who will may

know it and God wills everyone know it, because He

has given it to us through revelation.

Isaiah 40:29,31

We are not required to provide the Divine armor,

only to put it on, its efficacy entirely depends on Him!

If you are having problems in this age, it is because

you are like the foolish virgins in the parable of the

Lord who had lamps but not oil! Matt. 25:3

Life is a battlefield, not a scene of soft ease as much

as we would like to have it. Human nature cries out

for an easy life, for a truce with the world, with the

devil, and the flesh. There are spirits of evil hovering

about us, trying to obscure & pervert the truth, to

blind us to the fruits of sin, to dazzle our eyes with

the glory of the earth, to entangle us with subtle

temptations, to fill our minds with doubts & fears,

luring us to the edge and then prepared to burst

into their bitter & scornful laugh at our misfortune

and or calamity. There are foes within

and there are foes without.

God has thought of us and provided for us - His

armor will do the job, each part of us needs to be

protected and we need suitable and adequate

equipment and armaments.

Put on the entire armor of God. Why?

So that we can “stand against the wiles of the

devil” - Satan does not always engage us in

open warfare, but deals in tricks and stratagems

designed for our demise, in fact, nothing would

please him any better than for us to become so

frustrated and hopeless so as to commit suicide.

We live in an age where secularism, headed

by the prince of demons, Satan himself, wants to

control government, especially world government,

but that cannot happen unless the United States

goes first.

Now since the Supreme Court of the United States,

various organizations, like the ACLU, pushing for

such realization of a godless world, and a minority

people in our various communities, desiring to have

it so, therefore it being illegal in the public life of

the United States today, to incorporate religious

teachings into secular institutions, perhaps it will

be okay for me to bring secular teachings into

a religious setting, in hopes that God will use this

to reach many or few, lost and anxious souls concerning

the state of affairs in the world who cry out Peace,

peace, but there can be no peace to the wicked!

Who has problems? EVERYONE HAS PROBLEMS!

How to deal with problem? Adaptive Behavior.

a. handle problem in healthful ways

b. flexibility

c. handle emotions in healthful ways

d. short term plans

e. long term plans

f. develop and maintain close relationships

Can’t cope - Use of Maladaptive Behavior.

Maladaptive Behaviors generally opposite to

Adaptive Behaviors.

Problems associated with Maladaptive Behavior.

a. frustration - feelings of dissatisfaction

when can’t do what we want.

b. loneliness

c. depression

d. substance abuse

e. suicide

Some use mental mechanisms either to escape a

problem or to disguise a problem.

Attention Getting, Compensation, Conversion,

Displaced Aggression, Denial, Displacement,

Fantasy, Humor, Idealization, Identification,

Misery Loves Company, Projection, Rationalization,

Regression, Self -Pity and Sublimation.

Only way to deal with problems is to face them!

Socialization Process - A process whereby society’s

attitudes, beliefs, and patterns of behavior, are

taught to all members of society.

Goal of Socialization - to equip people with

the knowledge they need to become

useful members of society.

Five Agents of Socialization

a. home

b. church

c. school

d. peers

e. government

Five Outcomes of Socialization

a. the individual develops a sense of

individuality and identity.

b. the individual learns how to interact

with others in a variety of situations.

c. the individual is equipped with the

knowledge and skills needed to do

the tasks expected by society.

d. the individual learns how to behave

in a disciplined fashion.

e. the individual can view his future with

some degree of certainty.

Normal Behavior - behavior within the

bounds set by society.

Abnormal Behavior - behavior outside

the bounds set by society.

Four Stages of the Human Life Cycle

a. conception to birth

b. birth to biological maturity

c. adulthood to old age

d. death ends the life cycle

Five Causes of Breakdowns in Whole Societies

a. military conquest

b. acceptance of new ways

c. internal disruptions

d. failure to adjust to new conditions

e. disease

Three Basic Physical needs of Man

a. food

b. shelter

c. clothing

Three Basic Emotional needs of Man

a. love

b. security

c. recognition

v. 12 - World-rulers denotes the extent of the

dominion of these invisible foes.

No part of the globe to which their influence

does not reach.

Don’t underestimate - looking deep within does

not work - look to Jesus - ch. 1:19-22 - He is

above all these principalities and powers.

Observe the contrast with Christ’s servants who

are children of light, order, knowledge, purity, joy,

peace, etc., while the element of the devil’s servants

is darkness, equivalent to confusion, ignorance,

crime, TERROR, strife and all misery.

Even in our most sublime service to God we often

are bombarded with attacks from wickedness -

Romans 7:18-25

Wrestling implies close personal encounter.

v. 13 - Take entire armor of God - “having done all

to stand”

The command to be “strong in the Lord” is fitly

associated with our “having done all”.

We are not called upon to do as well as our neighbors,

or as good as the next fellow, but to “do all”, leaving

nothing undone that contributes to the success of the

battle.

v. 14 - “stand” - in v. 13 - the end of the conflict,

here, the beginning - the idea of FINISHING

in sports.

UK-Duke - As easy to do something right as it is wrong.

Obviously, there must be a firm stand at the

beginning if there is to be one at the end.

“TRUTH” - honesty, sincerity, as it is in Jesus,

the substance of gospel revelation.

Truth is the proper girdle, it gives the Christian

boundless confidence in his conflict with evil.

We fight for a God of truth and against Satan,

the father of lies! John 8:44

Wrapped in truth.

“RIGHTEOUSNESS” - breastplate - imputed

righteousness of Jesus.

v. 15 - “feet shod with the preparation of the

gospel of peace” - Roman sandal was

furnished with nails that gripped the ground

for slopes or slippery places.

v. 16 - “shield of faith” - in its widest sense,

covering the entire body enabling one

to escape the fiery darts of the enemy,

fire-brands of lust, pride, revenge,

or other evil ideas from the tempter.

Happen suddenly, against our desire, often

in the middle of holy exercises, the experience

of every Christian.

In a word, “faith is the victory that overcometh the

world” - I John 5:4-5

The shield of faith makes the soul impenetrable

to such wiles of the devil, because it falls back on

the Divine Word, apprehends the mercy of God,

the merits of Christ, and the help of the Holy Spirit!

Faith enables us to see how narrow are Satan’s

limits and how wide the order and interests of our

Savior’s kingdom.

v. 17 - “helmet of salvation” - the glorious truth

that we are saved, rested in, rejoiced in,

will protect the head from intellectual

surrender and rationalistic doubt.

“the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God” -

enlightens us, applies it practically to our every day

life, a weapon to use offensively as Jesus did in

Matthew 4 when tempted by the devil - “then the

devil leaveth Him” - Matt. 4:11

The Bible is a wonderful weapon! It cuts men &

devils to the heart - it is a discerner of the

thoughts and the intents of the heart.

Thus preach to people, regardless of what the

world says - the Christian who masters most

thoroughly the Word of God will be most powerful

among his fellows, he is ahead of his time and

understands best what to do in this generation.

The sword is the saint’s only weapon of offense.

Whether the temptation to atheism, to impiety,

to despair, to unbelief, to covetousness, to pride,

to hatred or to worldliness, “It is written” is

clearly imprinted on the handle of this sword.

How earnestly we should practice using this sword

by study and application by the Holy Spirit, our Ally!

v. 18 - The metaphor of armor is dropped but not the idea

of a conflict, for prayer is insisted upon as of vital

importance for successful warfare.

All the armor - truth, righteousness, Gospel of peace,

faith, salvation.

“all prayer and supplication in the Spirit” - habitual,

sporadic, secret, spoken, domestic, social, congregational.

Without prayer we shall be unskillful in the use of the

Word. Constant use and prayer, those are the keys!

“praying always” - at all seasons - no period of life

without it - youth, middle life, old age, all demand it.

No condition in life to be without it, adversity,

prosperity, sunshine, desolation, under sore

temptation, under important duty. under heavy

trial, under all the changing circumstances of

life, personal, social, moral.

“in the Spirit” - true prayer is spiritual and not

true prayer unless by the Holy Spirit, the heart

is filled with heavenward longings and aspirations,

changing our prayer from cold form to heartfelt

realities. Realizing the Presence of God and

looking for grace and guidance.

“watching thereinto” - against formality, toward

spirituality, also against forgetfulness and

neglect of prayer.

Emancipated from self, we can pray with a large

public spirit - Job 42:10