Weapons

[00:00:00] Thank you brothers for that. I requested that. I just felt a special need this morning. Several weeks ago I had spoken from 2 Corinthians chapter 10 about the thing of bringing our thoughts into captivity to Christ. Christ, and a number of you afterwards came to me and said, what are the weapons that he's talking about there? [00:00:37] And I just, as I thought about that, I thought, you know, I just felt the Lord prompting me to go there and work with that a bit. And then, a couple weeks ago, we had our ministry retreat, and Brother Otto Koning was there. Many of you know the pineapple story, and he shared with us about these weapons, and just in a real practical way, from his experience, I don't know if, I think some of that is in our library, [00:01:12] the pineapple story, I'm not sure if the snake story is or not. but very interesting experiences that he had on the mission field. And so I decided this morning that I'm going to use some of that for the message and I've entitled this message, Understanding and Using Our Weapons. I want to go back into 2 Corinthians chapter 10 first of all and I want to read just a few verses there starting in verse 2. [00:01:46] I beseech you that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence wherewith I think to be bold against some which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh so there's some of you that think I'm walking according to the flesh but he said even though we're walking in the flesh we don't war after the flesh in other words we're not using the flesh We're not using fleshly weapons. [00:02:17] So then he goes on and he says in verse 4, For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, they're not fleshly, but they're mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. And you might notice that verse 4 is a parenthetical verse. It's in parentheses. So it's not the main thought there, but it's a very important thought. And then he goes on and he says, if we skip that, he says, though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ, and having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. [00:03:09] Dana talked last week about a battleground or a playground And this goes right along with it, it all fits together When you look up there, there's a lot of things up there that we consider weapons Is there anything up there that you don't think is a weapon? Rejoice? That's not a weapon? Okay, what about love? Is love a weapon? [00:03:45] Usually when we think about weapons, we think about all kinds of ammunition and guns and all kinds of things like that. So it's important for it. Here's some old-timey weapons and some other things that we might use. What about this one over here on this side? What weapon is that? Is that a weapon? Okay. Are we able to win in life? [00:04:20] It's my personal conviction that we as Christians often are losing the battle of life because we don't understand and use our weapons. Now, if I was to stand here this morning and I had a full suit of armor on, would I be safe? Why not? [00:04:55] From what? Okay. That's the question. From what? There'd be certain things that I would have no safety against, wouldn't there? A bomb? A fire? Ants? All kinds of things that are there. So, it's important for me to have weapons as well as the armor. Now, in Ephesians chapter 6, he talks to us about the armor that we need to have on. [00:05:32] That's important. That's given to us by God. We put that on. There's also weapons that are given to us by God that we need to learn to use, and we want to look at those. And this is going to start a series. Today I'm going to do kind of an overview, and just looking at the whole picture. And then, Lord willing, we want to go through these and look at them individually in the weeks to come. What weapon will help me win my battle? [00:06:08] I know that a lot of us battle with discouragement. Is there a weapon that will help us win that battle? People battle with pornography and immorality and lust. Is there a weapon that will help us win that battle? People battle with interpersonal relationships. It's not intended. God didn't intend those to be a battle. But they oftentimes end up that way. [00:06:40] We have broken relationships. We have relationships that don't meet our expectations and so on. Is there a weapon that can help us to win that battle and to see good relationships restored? Proper relationships. And so we want to look at this on a personal level. You know, is God giving me weapons that I can use in my life for the things that I face? [00:07:14] Does God only give us armor and send us out to do the battle that's there? Or does He give us weapons as well? You know, is God just expecting us to be safe? Or is He expecting us to be a threat? To the enemy. Is he expecting something to happen from our lives or is he just expecting us to just be here and he's got this armor around us and so we're all safe and protected? [00:07:50] Are our weapons selective? And what I mean by this is, if you and I are going to have hand-to-hand combat, which of the weapons would you prefer? The tank? That's not a hand-to-hand weapon, is it? We're not going to, you know, we want a knife or something, you know, that we can deal with closely. If we're dealing with another kind of enemy, we need another kind of weapon. [00:08:26] Another situation, we need a different kind of weapon. All the weapons that our armies use have a particular purpose. They're selective. You don't just go out and just take all the weapons and just start shooting all the guns and blowing off all the bombs. You pick a point and you use a certain weapon for a certain thing. And God has given us the weapons for that purpose. Now, do I know how and when to use weapons? [00:08:58] God's given them to me. Do I know how to use them? And I want us to understand something here. This is not something that I'm speaking on because I have mastered all these weapons. I think that this is a learning experience that we go through all of life. But as we begin to understand these and use these, And it's been interesting because just in our ministry team, I've seen several examples here in the last couple weeks since we've heard this of how these have been used effectively. [00:09:42] And I know in my own life as I look back at situations, I realize how the Lord has led me and shown me how to use some of these weapons. But I'm still learning. Just because you've taken marksmanship and learned how to shoot a rifle doesn't mean that you put it away and you don't keep learning. You keep learning. You keep learning to adjust to the wind and to the target and all of those things. [00:10:18] You keep learning those things as you go. Now, I want us to understand something. The Word of God is the foundation on which we stand in order to win. When I talk about these weapons, I'm not separating them from the Word of God. [00:10:52] I'm not putting something out here that stands alone. We have to stand on the Word of God if we're going to win. We have to be a child of God. We have to be walking in the Spirit of God. We have to know our place in Jesus Christ. There's a number of things that have to happen here, and I'll probably talk about those a little bit more as we go through this. Prayer alone is insufficient to win every battle. Now, understand me. Prayer is one of the weapons, and we'll see that. [00:11:26] But, there are other weapons that need to be used in their place. So prayer is a weapon that's important, but it's not the one that wins all the battles. And we need to know that. Now, I want us to look at our five spiritual weapons. And the PowerPoint here at church doesn't work like my one at home, so they're all going to come up at once here instead of one at a time. [00:11:59] But I want to look at these scriptures here, and I want us to think about what is happening with these weapons. 1 Thessalonians 5.8, rejoicing. Here's what 1 Thessalonians 5.8 says, and I think probably many of us know this verse by heart, But we've never thought about it as a weapon. In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. [00:12:36] And I'm going to bring up a chart here in a minute and go through how these different weapons, where they're used and what they're used against and so on. But I want to point these out. This weapon is faith in action. Why do we rejoice? Why do we rejoice in everything? Because it feels good? Because it looks so wonderful? Because we love the experience? [00:13:06] If I was to go around this morning, every one of us here could talk about some difficult experiences that we're facing or faced recently. Every one of us. When we rejoice, we are putting faith into action. Because we're saying, God, I don't see all the circumstances. I don't see all the way these things are going to work out. [00:13:38] I don't understand all of this, but I trust you. Therefore, I can rejoice. Therefore, I can give thanks. To the human mind, it doesn't make sense. And that's what Paul says. The weapons of our warfare aren't carnal. They're not fleshly. We don't figure them out. We are given them by God and we use them. Okay, secondly, we resist. 1 Peter 5.9 [00:14:08] This is resisting Satan. And just notice, there's a number of things that he says here that are always really good. In verse 7 he says, casting all your care on him, he cares for you. Be sober or have a right mind. Mind, think clearly, be vigilant, be alert, observant, because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. [00:14:42] Now, what does he say to do? Whom resist? He's talking about Satan. Resist in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. Now, resisting the devil is a weapon that we can use. It's an important weapon. And that is authority in action. Now, we don't have the authority, we don't have the strength to resist ourselves. It's a weapon that's been given to us by our commander. [00:15:15] And he tells us to use it. Very clearly he tells us there, resist the devil and he will flee from you. So resisting is a weapon. The third one is meditation. So resisting is authority in action. And then we have meditation, which is surrender in action. Psalm chapter 1 talks about the man that's like a tree [00:15:51] planted by the rivers of waters and in verse 2 he says His delight is in the law of the Lord and in His law doth He meditate day and night Now, if I was to ask you something Do you believe that your victory in life is directly connected to the use of these weapons? [00:16:29] What would you say? You'd have to say yes because you know that's the answer I want, right? But it's obvious. Our victory in life is related to our using the weapons that have been provided so we win in the warfare. Here's one that's very simple to use. I don't say easy. It's simple to use. Meditation. In his law doth he meditate day and night. Meditation is surrender in action. Why? [00:17:05] Why? Because I am yielding my thoughts to God's thoughts. The more we meditate on His Word, the more we understand how He thinks. And the more we're able to win in the battles of life. Now, love. Matthew chapter 5, verse 44. And this is a tough one. None of these are easy to use, but some are probably easier than others. And this one is a real tough one, but it's a very effective weapon. It's one that's very necessary. [00:17:43] Matthew 5, 44 Father which is in heaven, for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. [00:18:16] Love your enemies. Love is forgiveness in action. What is God doing when he's sending rain and sunshine to those that reject him? He's expressing His mercy, isn't He? And He says, we're to be like our Father. Now this is a weapon, because you notice He said, love your enemies. There's a battle happening there. [00:18:48] Enemies, that term speaks about war, doesn't it? Speaks about conflict. And so He says, you love your enemies, and then in Romans He says, By doing this, you'll heap coals of fire on their head. The goal in loving is not to be mean. The goal in loving is to be nice and to win someone. That's a weapon that we can use. Then the last one is prayer. [00:19:20] Ephesians chapter 6, verse 18. There where he talks about the armor. He concludes there with the thought of prayer related to that. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints and for me. He goes on. Now, I want us to just look here at, just real quickly, [00:19:54] How these weapons are used in different situations. So we've got, we'll have a list of the weapons here. We'll have when to use them, we'll have what are the visible results, and what are the end results. Rejoicing is a weapon that we use in tough circumstances, difficult times, bad things happen. That's when we use rejoicing. The visible results are faith. [00:20:25] As we rejoice, as we give thanks, in everything give thanks, as that happens in our lives, faith is produced and faith grows. And I've shared with you already how in my own life, in time of discouragement, I felt the Lord reminding me, you know what? This is the will of God in everything give thanks And I was driving down the road and I said [00:20:55] God, I don't feel thankful I don't feel like giving thanks But it's your will and I'm going to do it And as I began to do that Something happened inside of me Faith began to grow And I began to experience the presence of God And the end result of that is miracles And I know there are those of you here today that can testify to this very fact. That rejoicing in difficult circumstances results in miracles. [00:21:31] It may only change me, but it does result in a miracle. Now, what about resisting? When do we use that? We use that against satanic attacks. Now, when we think about Satan and we think about evil spirits, we kind of have a far-out mystical view of that. But you go into most of the rest of the world, it's a reality. It's a day-to-day, very real situation. [00:22:06] People realize the spirit world is just filled with activity. And Satan comes in a lot of different ways. I believe that sometimes Satan can cause disruption in a service. That's one of the reasons I wanted to be prayed for this morning. I believe sometimes Satan can cause things to happen in our minds. Where we're distracted and where we're drawn away. [00:22:37] There's times when Satan comes out blatantly and boldly and attacks in a number of ways. When we resist him, resist the devil and he'll flee from you, that visible result is authority. We begin to see God has given us authority and the end result of that is victory. As we resist and as we keep on resisting the attacks that Satan brings, we have victory in our lives. [00:23:16] That's a very important one. Now, love. Where does love come in as a weapon? It comes into relationships, in people problems. It's effective to pray for people, and Jesus told us to do that, pray for those that despitefully use you. That's important, but love goes beyond that. Love is action. Love is not just thought. [00:23:47] Love is not feeling, it's action. And so love then is translated into forgiveness. And so when an enemy comes and does something bad to us, what's our natural inclination? We all know what it is. We want to get even. Is that a weapon? Yeah, it's a fleshly one. It's a carnal one. Paul says we don't use those. [00:24:20] We use weapons that are going to tear down strongholds. When we start using fleshly weapons, the weapon of getting even and revenge, we build up strongholds, don't we? We, I mean, when you start doing that kind of stuff, you build revenge, and you build jealousy, and you build strife. You build all kinds of things, and the walls get bigger and bigger and thicker and thicker, and after a while, you can almost not tear it down. But, the weapon of love will go through those walls. [00:24:52] It's a weapon that God has given to us in order that we can deal with people problems, relationship issues. And the interesting thing, the end result, when this follows through to completion, and we may not see this, don't misunderstand me, we don't always see these results come to pass in our lifetime. But the end result is that those enemies become our servants. [00:25:27] They're won by love and rather than being our enemies, they're ready to serve us. They're ready to do things for us. And so it's an important thing for us to recognize. Now prayer is a weapon that we use always. What did he say there in Ephesians 6? Praying always. It's a weapon that we can use at any time, in any place, under any circumstance. But it is a weapon, and it's important for us to use it as that. [00:26:01] You know, when we're praying, and we pray, God I want this, and I'd like you to do that, and Lord you know what else I'd like, and all of our prayer is about us, that isn't a weapon at all. That's a sponge. That's a gimme. What does Paul tell us? You start reading, and we'll look at that later on. What does he tell us? All the things to pray for. Pray for kings, pray for rulers, pray for those that are in authority. [00:26:34] And you begin to realize he's talking about a weapon, a powerful weapon, that God has given us to use. When we pray, we express dependence, don't we? You can't pray to God when you feel like you can handle it, can you? We don't. We don't say, God, I thank you that I'm here and I can handle this and you're here with me. [00:27:07] No, that's not how we pray. We say, God, I need help. Prayer is an expression of dependence. And the thing that happens is when we use prayer as a weapon, we see unusual results. How many times have you come into a difficult situation and you begin to pray into that situation and you say, Wow, I just couldn't believe what happened. [00:27:39] Couldn't believe it. It is a weapon, but it has to be used with other weapons in the situations that call for it. Now the last one then is meditation on this chart. And it's, we use it in the morning when we get up, during the day when we're in our activities, during the evening when we relax, and then when we go to bed. Read Deuteronomy chapter 6. [00:28:09] You know, we talk about these things when we rise up, when we're walking, when we're talking, when we're seated, when we're, you know, when we lie down. These things are happening in our life. When we meditate, our will starts to surrender. You know where the biggest battle is? The biggest battle isn't between me and you, or you and someone else. The biggest battle is between me and God. [00:28:40] My will and His will. That's where our struggles are. Our biggest ones. And when we begin to meditate and allow the Word of God to come into our mind and take control of our mind, we find ourselves surrendering. We say, yes God, yes God, yes God. You can't meditate on the Word of God and say, no God. It doesn't work. You just can't do it. [00:29:15] You may think about it, but if you say, no God, then you shut that scripture out. So meditation is surrender. And the end result of that is that we prosper, that we succeed. The battles are won. Joshua, this book of the law, shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night. Joshua 1.8 For then thou shalt prosper, and then thou shalt have good success. [00:29:53] That's the end result of meditation. So we have these weapons, these five weapons that God has given to us for our use. And we need to learn to understand what these weapons are. We need to learn to understand when to use them, in what situation, how to use them. And that's one of the keys we need to learn. Because it's not something where we just grab the weapon and start swinging away. [00:30:29] We learn how to use that. We call it a tactical weapon. One where there's a purpose behind it. One where there's something that's going to be accomplished. When we use these weapons properly, that's what happens. Let's stand together for prayer. I'd just like to ask you to especially pray for me in the weeks to come as we look at these weapons and go through this [00:31:00] that God would just guide and direct by His Spirit show us the things that we need to see I just ask you to do that in the days ahead Father we thank you for this day we thank you for your word we thank you for what you have revealed to us what you've given to us You've given to us an armor to protect us, a shield, a helmet, a breastplate, and so on, Lord, to protect us from all the stray things that come our way and all the intentional things that come our way. [00:31:49] We can win. We can be victorious. We can experience your power, your strength. We can experience the joy and blessing that you desire for our lives. And Lord, we pray that you help us to understand these things. And help us too to understand, Lord, that we're not talking about a life where everything's a bed of roses. We're talking about a life that's tested, a life that's facing difficulties and in all of those things we win. [00:32:23] Not by them leaving, but by us winning. We want you to help us to understand all of this, dear Lord. We pray that you just work in each one of our hearts, our lives, to draw us closer to yourself, help us to be more effective soldiers for you. We pray it in Jesus' name. Amen.