Preparation For Warfare – Dr. Charles Stanley
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field guide today. ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ male announcer: "In Touch"
with Dr. Charles Stanley, reaching the world with the
gospel of Jesus Christ through sound biblical teaching. Next on "In Touch,"
"Preparation For Warfare." Dr. Charles Stanley: Have you
ever wondered why there are so many references to
warfare in the scripture? Because when you think about it,
you think about the fact that Paul said to Timothy
in Second Timothy, the chapter two, he said,
"Suffer hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." And in Second
Corinthians chapter ten, he talks about the
weapons of our warfare, pulling down strongholds. He talks about captives and
he talks about enslavement and battles and strategy. And all through the
Bible, there's a lot in here about warfare. Well, I wonder how that sorta
matches with the fact, for example, that the Bible
says that Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace? And He said that you and I
would be known by the fact that we love each other. That's how the world would
know that we belong to Him. And then when I think about the
fact that the Apostle Paul in one passage of scripture talks
about warfare and weapons and the armor, and in the same
passage of scripture starts talking about prayer. Well, you know, when
you think about it, you don't think about prayer
and fighting going together. And so you have to ask yourself
the question: What is all this in the scripture about warfare? Well, that's what I want to
talk about in this passage today because this is the first in
our series on the believer's warfare, and the title
of this message is "Preparation for Warfare." And the Apostle Paul
had something very clear to say about that. If you'll turn to Ephesians
chapter six for a moment. Paul says, "Finally,
be strong in the Lord, and in the
strength of His might. Put on the whole armor of God,
that you may be able to stand firm against the
schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not
against flesh and blood, but against the
rulers, against the powers, against the
world-forces of this darkness, against the spiritual wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore," he says, "take
up the full armor of God, that you may be able to
resist in the evil day, and having done
everything, to stand firm." And then he says, "Stand firm,"
and he lists all the armor that the believer's supposed to have. So, I want us to look for just a
moment and look at the nature of this battle that you and I
face, because the truth is that we do face a battle. When you wake up in the
morning, you are into a battle. The moment you trusted Jesus
Christ as your personal Savior, you were born again onto a
battlefield from which you will never leave until
God calls you home. You were born into a
battle that will never cease. It does not mean the intensity
of it will always be the same, but the battle
will always be there. There'll never be a time
when the battle's over. Now, what is the
nature of this battle? Well, it's a spiritual battle.
How do I know that? Well, first of all,
because we are spiritual beings. Though we have a body and
a soul and a spirit, that which is the most important part of us
is our spirit because you and I could live and we will live
one day without these bodies. When we leave them here and God
takes us on to home, we're still gonna have our spirit and
our soul, the real us. That's how we relate to
God is through our spirit. So, the truth is that you
and I are spiritual beings. And this is a spiritual battle
because what Satan is after, he's after every part of us. He wants to get us in our body. He wants to get us in
our soul, our mind, will, and our
emotion, our conscience, our consciousness, and he
certainly wants to deal with our spirit to do anything he can
to tear us away in our thinking from Almighty God and
our relationship to Him. It is that personal relationship
that you and I have with Jesus Christ, that is his
ultimate target. Now, he'll hit us in our body,
he'll hit us in our emotions, but what he's after most of
all is our personal relationship with the Father, knowing
that he absolutely cannot tamper with our spirit. That is, he cannot
separate us from God. He cannot in any way reach down
and take us and destroy anything about our eternal security. We're eternally
secure because God, in His love and grace,
has made that a reality. So since he can't
take our spirit, what he will do, he will harass
us every way possible to make us miserable in life and to keep us
from enjoying the Lord and being the kind of witness
God wants us to be. This is a warfare. Listen, it is a war
against your soul, your spirit, your body, your
future, and your present. Listen, and it's against
everything that you love and everything that you hold dear,
and especially those truths that you believe in with
all of your heart. He, listen, he is against
the belief system of the child of God. It is a spiritual battle. Not only that, it
is a real battle. There's no question about it. The only people I know who do
not believe in the devil are those who've been
blinded by him. And so, when I
look, for example, if you'll turn to Second
Corinthians for a moment. Look, if you will, in the
fourth chapter, and listen to what he says in this fourth
chapter and the fourth verse. He says, speaking
of the unbeliever, "In whose case the god of this
world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might
not see the light of the gospel of the glory of God of Christ,
who is the image of God." He says they--he's
blinded their eyes. Now, think about this
paradox for a moment. Here's the Lord Jesus
Christ, and what is His goal? To get us to recognize
that He is real and we're to believe in Him. What does Satan want to do? Satan wants us--to deceive us
so that we won't believe there's any such
thing as a devil. And secondly, listen, that we
won't believe there's such a thing as he is, and we certainly
will not talk about him. So, as long as he can get people
not talking about him and not believing them--believing
in him, then he's got 'em where he wants 'em. He can do all the
kind of underhanded, dirty, nasty, lowdown works
he does in a person's life. And as long as they don't
realize there is a Satan and that there is strategy
going on, they are his victims, then he's got 'em
exactly where he wants them. So when somebody says, "I
don't believe in the devil." Chalk 'em up, he's got
'em right where they are. Because that's exactly,
in fact, that is his, listen, that is
his ultimate weapon. If he can just get people not to
believe in him, that he does not exist, therefore
his strategy, his works and his ways, they won't
give him any credit for that. He doesn't want
any credit for it. He just wants to
get what he's after, that is the
enslavement of mankind. This is a real battle. The devil is real,
and not only that, but listen, the hardships and
the difficulties and the trials he sends into our
life, they're real. When you're hurting
emotionally, it's real. When you're hurting
physically, it's real. It's real pain, it's real hurt. These are real
situations, real circumstances. This is where we live.
We have to face things. Financial
situations, family situations, physical situations, all
these things are real. He's behind every
single act of sickness. I'm not saying that God
does not allow things in life, but ultimately all death,
all sin, all sickness, all evil, ultimately is the
result, you have to trace it all the way back to Satan
in the Garden of Eden. That's where it all began. And so therefore, you and I have
an enemy who is out to destroy us at any cost, and
he'll use any means, listen, any means to do so,
which God allows him to use because he is not unlimited
in the things he can do. This is a real battle. So we're talking
about something that, in the eyes of God, is
absolutely extremely important. And this is why Paul says
now here's what you have. Here's who you are.
Here's how we ought to live. But I want to tell you,
you're gonna have opposition. Now, there's a second
thing he says here I want you to notice, and that's this. He says you're to
assume responsibility. Look, if you will,
now in verse ten. He starts off, he starts
off this alarm. Now, an alarm is a sound or a
signal that danger is close by. Something is about to happen. So that's why we
call this an alarm. Listen, "Finally, be
strong in the Lord, and in the
strength of His might." Now, I want you to
notice what that word, when he says, "Be
strong in the Lord." The word means to be empowered,
and it is in a present tense, which means--here's
what it means. It means continually,
continually, listen, continually being empowered. This is not something
we do for ourselves. This is something
Almighty God does for us. That is, God is
continually empowering us to do, to become, in every
decision no matter what, He's the one who's doing it. Now, listen to what he says. He says finally, be strong or
be--he says to be empowered by. Now, what is he talking about? Simply this, that the Lord Jesus
Christ who is living on the inside of us in the
presence of the Holy Spirit, listen, He is the
source of our strength. Now, there's not a single
one of us who can match it with the devil, not a one of us. We're not as smart as he is,
we're not as powerful as he is. Is he more powerful than we are?
Yes, He is. He's smarter than we are?
Yes, He is. He's had more
experience and He has, listen, He's brought
down the greatest. He's brought down the greatest. There's not single one of
us who's smart as the devil. And so, when he says, "Be strong
in the Lord," what is he saying? He's simply saying this: that
you and I are to so live our lives in this
battle that we, listen, that we draw our strength, we
draw our strength to stand against the devil from the
presence of the Lord Jesus. He is our strength. He is the source
of our strength. So we're not to draw
this--we're not to try to draw this from ourselves. And so he says we're
to draw it from Him. Now, I want you to look, if you
will, in Ephesians chapter one. Go back to the first chapter and
look in this nineteenth verse. You're gonna find three of the
same words in Paul's prayer here that we just saw in
this sixth chapter. Now, watch this, very
important, coming to the most important part. He says in verse
eighteen, this is a prayer. He says, "I pray that the
eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may
know what is the hope of God's calling in your life, what are
the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints." That is, what He's gonna
do as a result of what-- of having us as His children. Look at this. And he says, I want you to
know, "what is the surpassing greatness of His
power toward us," of His empowering toward us. This--he says I want you to
understand how great the power of God is toward you. Now, watch this,
that is you, "who believe. These are in accordance
with the working of the strength of His might." Now, look at that and go back
to chapter six for a moment. And look, if you
will, in verse ten. Notice what he says. He says here, "Finally,
be strong in the Lord, and in the
strength of His might." He said here, spoke of
the power or the strength. He says, "And
strength of His might." Now, what is he
talking about here? He's talking about, he's talking
about divine strength. He's talking about divine power. But I want you to
notice what he says. Look at this now.
Be strong, he says, how? He says be strong, how?
In the Lord. Now, it's interesting and not
an accident that he didn't say, "Be strong in Jesus,"
because be strong in Jesus, we think about the
sweet name of Jesus and salvation, forgiveness. He didn't say, "Be
strong in Christ." We think of the
Anointed One, the Messiah. He said, "Be
strong in the Lord." The Lord God Jehovah. And that is the
sovereign, absolute, complete, final ruler and
all authority in the world, now, has been in the
past, and forever shall be. That is, there's absolutely no
strength and no power to compare to the power of Almighty God. He is, listen, He is
omnipotent, we say. Satan is not.
Satan's not omniscient. He doesn't know everything.
He doesn't know your thoughts. He's not omnipotent.
He's not omnipresent. He's not everywhere.
He doesn't have all power. And you and I will say
and quote to other people, "He that is within us is greater
than he that's in the world." There is a power that is
within you that is greater than the power of Satan. It is His power, His
strength, and His might. Now, you say, "Well, if I
have all this strength, then why am I not stronger?" Okay, now here's the thing
I want you to listen to. Are you listening?
Say amen. All right, look at this now, go
back to this sixth chapter again, and I want you to look at
these words for a moment. Look at these words. When he says in verse
ten, look at them now. He says, "Finally, be
strong in the Lord." Be empowered in the
Lord, "and in the strength, the might of Almighty God." Listen, the might of
his--the strength of His might, of His authority. Now, listen carefully. Power and authority
are not the same. Power and authority
are not the same. And when you look at this
passage, you understand. Authority is not
necessarily power. But rather, authority, authority
is power that is imparted in a given situation or a
given circumstance. Now, let me
illustrate it by this. I could have some power
without having any authority, but let me give you a good
example of what I'm talking about because this
is true of all of us. Let's say that you
are a policeman, that you're a traffic cop. And in this big intersection,
we don't use lights here, and so we gonna have you
to direct the traffic. And so the traffic is coming
from my right to--your right to the left and it's moving. And you step out and you say... What happens to the traffic?
Stops. And then in a few
moments you say... What happens to the traffic?
It moves. Then you turn up
this way and you say... So, they come. And then you do
this and you do this, and then people can just
walk all across the walkway. Now, I want you to
think about something. Over on this side
are four lanes. There's two big
eighteen wheelers loaded. two or three panel
trucks, four or five cars. On this side, same thing. Over on this side, a
whole bunch of cars, just lined up back yonder. Over here's just like, you
know, like eighty-five traffic in the afternoon,
they're just everywhere. Now, on the front up here
is a little Beetle Bug. That is, a little Volkswagen
Bug, real small. And so, you're
standing out there. Let me ask you something. Do you have more power
than that Volkswagen Bug? Couldn't that Volkswagen Bug
run over you if it wanted to? In other words, if you just
stood there and if he wanted, he could run over
you, couldn't he? Now, you know, an
eighteen-wheeler can, so we're not even gonna
worry about that one. So, there you are. But isn't it interesting, if you
stand up there with your police uniform on and you say... Let me ask you a question. What stops the traffic,
your power or the authority you represent? You have authority. You have, listen, authority
is power delegated to us. So, when you say... The traffic stops.
The traffic stops. The traffic moves. Not because you can stand up in
front of an eighteen-wheeler and say, "Stop, stop,
stop, stop, stop!" No. Because he'd just make a pancake
out of you is what would happen. But when you stand up with
your uniform on and you say... You could stop ten thousand
eighteen wheelers because of the authority behind you. Now listen, here's what
He's saying in this passage. You and I, listen, we have
not only the strength of God, we have the delegated
authority to be able to say Satan, get out of here. Leave me alone. Now, there've been times when
I'd wake up in the middle of the night, me talking to the Lord
and Satan try to work on me. I just say Satan, get out of
this room, get out of this house, get off this
acre and get out of this block. You say, "Well, that's foolish."
No it's not. You know why? Because when you say, "In the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by His precious
blood," he is gone. You know why? He hates the name of Jesus
and he hates the very idea of the blood of Christ. That, listen, that is
when somebody says, "Well, that's just hocus-pocus." I tell you what, you try it. It's not hocus-pocus. It is the power of God
released in a human being. And that is exact--listen,
every single believer has Christ living on the inside, so we
have the strength of God. But the strength of
God's not enough. We need the authority
of God in our life. We have, listen, we
have divine authority. When can we
exercise that authority? Only when we're
walking in the Spirit. Listen, God's not gonna allow us
to exercise divine authority if we're living in the flesh,
living in our naturalness, doing our own thing,
living in disobedience to God. Somebody says, "Well, suppose
I'm right in the middle of it and I'm having a
difficult time." Then you cry out to God. You cry out to God, "Father,
in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by
Your precious blood, I call down, I
call down Your strength. I'm--I want, I
need Your strength." And it's just, listen,
can we speak to Satan? Absolutely! Listen, when you tell him
to be gone out of your life, he's got to walk out. If you're walking in the
Spirit and you're exercising, listen,
remember, it's not our strength. We can't shove him around. Remember that,
what you and I do, we're calling into that
circumstance the authority of the sovereign of this universe,
and Satan cannot do anything God doesn't allow him to do. Why would God just allow him
to keep on tantalizing us and harming us or whatever he's
doing when we call upon the name of the Lord? This is not to say that you and
I cannot go through situations and circumstances that
are painful and difficult. We say, "God, where are You?"
"I'm right here." "God, why do You
let this happen?" "I've got a purpose in mind." And so, oftentimes we
may have to say, "Lord, what's Your goal for me in this
difficulty and hardship?" But that doesn't mean that I
have to yield to the devil. It doesn't mean that I have
to succumb to his temptation. And it doesn't mean I have to
give up and be discouraged. So we're talking about
two different things. We're talking about
Satan trying to destroy you, trying to get you to
make the wrong decision, and trying to get you to fall
or yield to some temptation. We, listen, we have the power
of God and the authority of God. It is His strength. He says we are being empowered. Now listen, I can be empowered,
but if I don't take advantage of it, if I don't
act out that power, if I don't exercise my
life out of that strength, then I have to do it in my own. This is why we falter and fall. You have the
strength of God available, and you have the authority
of God behind your life. Now, I wouldn't even think about
standing up here if I didn't have the authority of
God behind this message. What's that authority? Well, part of that
authority is right here. Because what I'm--all I'm doing
is just telling you here's what God says, here's what God says,
here are the principles of scripture, here's what God
says, here's the authority. Almighty God's the authority,
I'm not the authority, He's the authority. I'm just a mouthpiece,
He's the authority. It's not my strength, abilities,
or talents, it--this is God's work being done God's
way in God's power by God's authority. Nobody can take credit. That's--that'd be foolish for
anybody to take credit for that. The authority of God is
from the Word of God, from the Spirit of God. Now, he says, first of all,
am I--my responsibility is to be strong. The second thing he
says, we have two responsibilities and
that's to stand firm. Look at this. Now he says it four times
but you only see three here, and I want you to show you
where the fourth one is. Look at this, if you will. He says in verse eleven,
"Put on the full armor of God, that you may be
able to stand," how? "Firm, entrenched against
the schemes of the devil." And then, if you'll notice,
he says in verse thirteen, "Therefore take up
the full armor of God, that you may be able to
resist in the evil day." That word in the Greek is the
same as the word here stand, stand firm, only has a
prefix on it, and it's used here to say resist or stand
against in the evil day. And having done everything
to stand firm, stand firm. So four times He says this. Why would He say stand firm? I want you to notice something. What's missing in this whole
passage on warfare is this, and he tells us what our armor
is in a few moments, but nowhere in this passage does He
say, "Forward march!" Nowhere does He say, "Attack!"
What does he say? He says, "Get ready for battle,
and what I want you to do is I just want you to stand firm." You know why? Because He says to us
exactly what the prophet said to Jehoshaphat in that twentieth
chapter when they were going out to face their enemy. He says, "Stand still and watch
the salvation of the Lord." He said to Moses on
the bank of the Red Sea. He didn't say, "Get ready
to fight those Egyptians." He said, "Stand still and
watch the salvation of God." Now listen carefully. God doesn't want you and
me fighting the devil. He doesn't want that.
What does He want us to do? He wants us to be strong in Him,
and He wants us to stand still and watch Him do His
marvelous, miraculous thing. That doesn't mean
we're just gonna say, "Well, God,
what are You up to?" No, we're aware of
what's going on, our strength is in the Lord, and
we have taken our stand against evil, against sin, against the
devil, against this temptation, against this trial,
against this persecution. We've taken our stand. Now, what is it we're to do? We are to trust Him.
So when you say stand, how? This is the way we stand. We stand in the
strength of Almighty God. We stand patiently waiting
for Him to intervene in that circumstance. We stand dressed in
the armor of God, the helmet of salvation, the
breast--to protect our thinking, the breastplate of righteousness
to protect our emotions, girdle of truth to protect what
we believe, and so on. We, listen, we stand in the
authority of Almighty God who stands with us. Listen, and we
stand confidently. We don't have to be fearful. We don't have to flee,
we don't have to falter, we don't have to fall. We just stand and
watch God do His work. Now listen, this is what
resting in the Lord's all about. It's not fighting.
It's resting in the Lord. That's not inactivity. Listen, you ask any soldier
on a battlefield when he's entrenched and waiting for
the enemy to attack, well, are you
just being passive? No. That's why he says, "Stand
firm and stand against." Take a stand against, knowing
that Satan is going to attack or you're facing that attack. Now listen, if you want God's
best in a world that is so bent out of shape and so
messed up and fouled up. Even in the midst of all this,
you can still have life at its best if you'll place
your trust in Jesus Christ. Because without Him,
look who your friend is. Without Christ, you've got
the devil as your leader. You say, "Well, I
don't believe in Him." You know what, that doesn't make
a bit of difference in the world, that's exactly what
he wants you to think. He doesn't want you to believe
in him because if you start believing in him and
identifying what he's doing, you'll want to change. He doesn't want you to change. But my friend, when you
change by the grace of God, you'll understand what
you've been missing. You want Christ to
be your captain. You want God the Father to
be your commander in chief. You want life at its best? Yours for the asking if you
will trust Him as your Savior. Father, we love You and
praise You and bless Your name, and ask that the Holy
Spirit would seal this message, seal it so tight it
cannot be escaped, no one can ignore it, but
it's fruit will be the salvation of those
who are lost. Its fruit will be strengthening
for those who feel weak and those who seemingly are
faltering and falling over and over again. We love You and praise You
that You are trustworthy, reliably present, always there
in every circumstance of life. In Jesus's name, amen. ♪♪♪