Conclusion (2 Timothy 2 v 9 / Hebrews 4 v 12 ) 5

 We come to consider the last of our weapons in this conflict against  our enemy the devil,it is  'The sword of the Spirit' which is the word of God,(Ephesians 6 v 17 ) Stott points out,'Of all the six pieces of armour or weaponry listed, the sword  is the only one which can clearly be used for attack as well as defence'.First of all we must equip ourselves by reading and knowing the word of God.We assume that most Christians will read the word of God,but not all do, so they are putting themselves at a disadvantage.It was Cromwell's  Ironsides who fought with a sword in one hand and a Bible in the other.As one writer says we can never defeat God's enemies or win God's battles without God's word'. Read your Bible,know your Bible,and it is helpful to memorise it   We can also add to the weapons prayer 6 v 18.as John Stott comments ,it can be seen as a unnamed weapon. Because the warfare we are engaged in is continual,so we must pray continually,

                                                    'Restraining prayer,we cease to fight;

                                                     Prayer makes the Christian's armour

                                                      bright;

                                                      And Satan trembles when he sees

                                                      The weakest saint upon his knees.'

                                                                   William Cowper

Assurance of Salvation. ( John 10 v 27 - 30 )4

 Lets consider our next weapon in Ephesians 6 v 17,'The helment of salvation',in Isaiah 59 v 17,it is used as a metaphor to describe salvation.Knowing we are saved and going to heaven sustains and strengthens us to endure whatever comes our way, Paul who endured so much and would die a martyrs death could face it because he was saved , in 2 Timothy 2 v 11- 12, he writes,' If we died with Him, we shall also live with Him. If we endure ,we shall also reign with Him'. All through history Christians have suffered for Christ  ,from being eaten  by wild beasts,burnt at the stake ..I am sure we are all aware of the suffering of God's people in so many countries at tis time. Apart from that suffering  life for all of us means that we will  experience long painfull illness'es and so many other things.Our salvation is a anchor to our souls,Paul declares these encourageing words''I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us'. ( Romans 8 v18 ) Also we have the assurance that yes we are going to heaven, and the wonders of that,but also we shall not be going to hell .Our Saviour speaking to the church of Smyma, a church that was enduring afflctions and poverty,He tells them ,' Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer.I tell you,the devil will put some of you in prison to test you,and you will suffer persecution for ten days . Be faithful ,even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victors crown.( Revelation 2 v 10)

                                                  ' It will be worth it all when we see Jesus'.

We shall overcome. ( Isaiah 12 v 2 )3

Let us continue to look at the weapons we have to aid us in our battle against,the devil and all those under his control,the next one we want to consider is the 'The shield of faith',(Ephesians 6 v16)this is described as a defence against the firey darts of the evil one.   William Barclay describes it as a great oblong shield that protected  the soldiers from darts dipped with tow and dipped in pitch,it was a vital part of their armoury.As Christians our faith is always under attack, by doubt,and multitude of other things,and even from ourselves,yes there is enemy within and the enemy without.In 1 John 5 v4  we read,'For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world,even our faith'.Today whatever your circumstance  have faith in God,in His word ,in His promises,and in His faithfulness.

                                                       'Begone unbelief! My Savioiur is near

                                                        And for my relief will surely appear.

                                                        By prayer let me wrestle  and He will perform;

                                                        With Christ in the vessel I smile at the storm.'

                                                                              John Newton.

.

Our weapons. (Colossians 1 v 13)2

We saw last time how we are in a unrelenting where there will be no let up . The scripture we have been looking at is Ephesians 6 v 10ff.  2 Corinthians 10 v 4 tells us that in this battle the weapons that we have at our dispoal are not the weapons of the world but they have the divine power to demolish strongholds.  It is in Ephesians 6 v13 -18. we have them set out ,there are 6 of them,the first one is,'the belt of truth'It was Richard Nixion in an interview as regards charismatic politicians,' he said he didn't rate them,he was more concerned what they stood for'  So it is as Christians we must not to be swayed by charismatic preachers,we must always be guided by truth.There must be no ,compromise as regards truth,in this battle truth must prevail.Next we have ,'The breastplate of righteousness,this covers the front and the back , John Stott writing on this declares,'No spiritual. protection is greater than a righteous relationship with God.,' Before we trusted  Christ ,we had no righteousness of our own,Isaiah 64 v 6,reads, 'All our righteous acts are like filthy rags'.But when we trust Christ the Lord becomes our righteousness Jeremiah 23v 6 /1 Corinthians 1 v 30'.This means as JS writes ,'We can stand '.before God not condemned but accepted',the devil has no answer to that. The next weapon is,'Shoes for our feet',Stott uses the word ,'boots', such as a Roman soldier would wear,he calls them gospel boots, indicating a readiness to proclaim the gospel of peace.Let us remember there is no more beautiful thing, than to proclaim the gospel of Christ,it is that Gospel that delivers sinners from Satan's power. (We will continue this next time)

                                                                 Isaiah 52 v 7.

                                      'How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet

                                      of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace,

                                      Who brings good tidings of good things, who proclaim

                                      salvation,Who says to Zion,Your God reigns!

                                                                

None of us are civilians. ( 1 Peter 5 v 8-9 )1

We don't go far on in the Christian life before we are faced with temptations,that is why our Lord taught us to pray ,'Lead us not into temptation',but it does not stop there,for it goes on to say,'But deliver us from the evil one' (Matthew 6 v 13)  The devil does not  give up on those who were once his captives,and so he is ever seeking a way to bring them back into his fold. So we must not let down our guard,Paul when he came to the end of his days,said,'I have fought a good fight',(2 Timothy 4 v7)  He speaks of the Christian life in militrary terms, in Ephesians 6 v 11,we read,'Put on the full armour of God,so that you can take your stand against the devils schemes'. The word schemes has with it the idea of one who is lying in wait for us,and he will use every means he can to bring us down,yes the devil is a schemer. Paul goes on to tell us how we can be overcomers,even against our most powerful enemy the devil. We are not left defenceless as regards our hatfeful enemy.Paul says  that this is a spiritual  battle we are in,and it goes beyond mere flesh and blood enemies.The devil will  use all those who are under his control to destroy us. One person writes the following ,'This is no afternoon athletic contest that we will  walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps,a life and death fight to the finish against  the devil and his angels.'  To say the least its a bit scarey,but let us quit ourselves like children of God,we shall overcome by God's grace, just as Paul overcame so much.

                                            

                                             'We are in God's army ,and their

                                              must be no surrendering to our

                                              enemy the devil'

                                               

Is it worth while? ( John 6 v9)

I love to see bees in my garden, the bumble bees are lovely,I looked up some interesting things about them,how they navigate,they have five eyes,four wings and six legs,and that during their lifetime they each make 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey.It appears a poor investment,  hardly worth their effort, but let us look at the bigger picture,in a honey bee colony there are up to 50,000 bees.There's a verse in the Bible that says ,'never despise the day of small things,a young lad gave his lunch ,and  over 5000 people were fed (John 6) I often think does my giving make much difference in the work of God in helping people ?when one thinks of the immense need  in some place, surely my little can't do much good.If that was all they were getting it mybe wouldn't, but I know I am not the only one giving and that makes a big difference.So dont feel that the little you give  is of no consequence,added to what others give,it can really make a difference. And yet coming back to that young lad who gave his small lunch, who knows how God will bless whatever we give,be id ever so small ,Let us not  limit it to money,a kind word,a short word of witness,or a cup of cold water.Do what we can, be it ever so small as unto God, he will not despise the smallness of whatever  we do.

Moses the historian. ( Luke 1 v 1-4)

It is Leupold who calls  Moses the historian,oh yes he was more that, but he was a historian.An event occured in one of  China's official Protestant churches, a minister on Easter Sunday declarded  the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ to be an undeniable historical event,this was a brave statement by that man to make . If our faith is not based on true history ,then we have nothing, it's untrue, if there was no Moses then everything we believe in is not sustainable.Writing about the resurrection the apostle Paul declared ,'If Christ has not be raised , our faith is futile.....and we are of all people most to be pitied',  (1 Corinthians 15 v 17-19). As regards the resurrection, Paul states these wonderful facts, that Christ rose from the dead,and after his resurrection he appeared  to Cephas,and then to the 12,then he appeared unto 500 of the brothers and sisters at the same time,though some have died since, but most of them were still living ,He then appeared to James ,then again to the apostles.Paul finishes by saying and last of all He appeared unto him'(1 Cor 15 v3-8)These are the historical facts , we are not distorting history,in the Bible we are being told what actually happened. As David Prior writes,'We constantly need to reiterate the heart of the gospel, and that involves taking a firm grip on the historical facts'.One of my sons said that the Jewish peoples exsistence is evidence that there is a God,how otherwise could they have survived. Their whole history tells of a people who faced  extinction time after time,but it didn't happen.