Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Thursday, October 24th. There's more to spiritual warfare than knowing who your enemy is. Today's podcast finishes the Real War Series with an essential diagram for victory from Ephesians chapter six. If our warfare is real and all of us have been defeated enough times in our life to understand and realize we are indeed in a warfare.
Well, if the war is real, then the weapons must be real and the battle fatigues must also be real. So when he says put on the full armor of God, he literally means to put on the full armor of God. Now you say, well, when do you put this on? I can tell you the best time to put it on, put it on before you ever get out of bed in the morning.
Don't wait till you get halfway down the expressway or on your job or somewhere else. Put it on before you get up and you can lie there in the bed and put it on piece by piece. You say, well, how in the world do you put on something that's invisible and not material? You put it on the way you put on other spiritual things, and that is by faith. You put it on by faith. So what I want to do is to go through this armor and then let's apply it to our own life.
And I want you to see how very important every piece of it is. Notice he didn't say put on some of it. He said put on what? The full armor of God. So how and why put it on?
Let's think about it for a moment. Let's say that tomorrow morning you awaken and you say, well, I'm going to put on this armor. Well, how are you going to put it on? So let me just give you a suggestion of what to think about and how to think about it and putting it on.
And let's start from top to bottom. Lord, I choose to put on the helmet of salvation today in order to protect my thinking. I only want to think your thoughts, Lord.
I want to think the things that please you. I want to think properly about myself, who I am in Christ. I want to think properly, Lord, about you. I want to think properly about others. I do not want to be tempted. And therefore, when Satan sends one of his thoughts my way, I just want to thank you that the helmet of salvation will protect my thinking.
Now remember this. The battlefield for your life is not in your feet nor in your hands. It is in your mind. That's where Satan does his battle. And that's where he gets a toehold in the foothold and a fortress into our life to defeat us.
If he can get us thinking the wrong way, believing one of his lies, then he has us. And so first of all I put on the helmet of salvation to protect my thinking. Secondly, Lord, I want to thank you that I can put on the breastplate of righteousness to protect my emotions. Lord, I only want to feel what you want me to feel. That is, Lord, don't let me respond by my feelings. Let me respond on the basis of who I am in Christ Jesus.
On the basis of what I know in my mind, in my relationship to you. Lord, don't allow me to respond simply by my emotions. Lord, I want to thank you that I can put on the breastplate of righteousness to protect my emotions today. Lord, I want to thank you that I can put on the girdle of truth. First of all, I want to know the truth. Secondly, I want to live by the truth. I want to walk in the truth and I want to share the truth. When I listen to people talk, Lord, I want to be able to sift what they say through the truth that I know.
Then I will know if I'm hearing error or if I'm hearing truth. I put on the girdle of truth. Lord, I want to thank you today that I'm putting on the sandals of peace. Father, wherever I go today, wherever you send me, I want to be a peacemaker.
I want to be able to share the gospel of Jesus Christ in such a fashion that I will be able to be used as a tool of God to bring peace with people in their relationship to God, peace among brothers and sisters together. But Lord, I want to be a vessel of peace. And as you and I are dressed in the right uniform for the battle, we can go, no matter what's going on, we can bring peace in the midst of conflict if we are properly prepared.
Now notice what he says. Not only that, but he says, above all, taking the shield of faith. Lord, I just want to thank you today for the shield of faith. I want to thank you that no matter how many fiery missiles Satan throws at me, how many temptations come my way, no matter how bad, how intense, I want to thank you for the shield of faith that I can hide behind the faith standing upon the rock of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then he says, the sword of the Spirit.
Lord, I just want to thank you today for the word of God. And listen, if I'm thankful for the word of God and I'm wielding the word of God, that means I'm in the word, studying the word, making it a part of my life. He says, taking the sword of the Spirit. That is, using it. How am I going to use it?
I'm going to use it to share it with people who need to be saved. And you see, the sword of the Spirit cuts deep, bringing about conviction. The sword of the Spirit penetrates, the Bible says, to the very quick, all the way down to the Spirit, reaching inside of a person, bringing into the realization of who they are and their need of Jesus Christ. So we use it as an offensive weapon.
Then we use it also as a defensive weapon. Lord, I want to thank you that if I'm attacked today, I'll go to the promises of the word of God. I'll just be reminded what you said. And so, Lord, today I want to thank you that I am dressed for the battle. He says, if you want to go to battle and you want to win the battle, you go dressed.
Now, being dressed is not sufficient. Go back, if you will, now to that sixth chapter again. And notice what he says. He says, verse 10, finally be strong in the Lord, in the strength of his might, put on the full arm of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. Then notice down again in verse 13, therefore take up the full arm of God that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm, therefore. Isn't it interesting that he says, again, if you'll notice he says in verse 11, stand firm. In verse 13, stand firm.
In verse 14, stand firm. What in the world does he mean by standing firm? Well, what he's saying here is, not only must I be dressed for the battle, but he says I must take my stand. That is, I have a position. Now, when men go to battle who are in the infantry, they have a position.
And so when you and I dress in our battle uniform, we have a position. Well, our position in this whole book, in fact, the whole book of Ephesians, Paul's theme of this whole book is in Christ. In Christ.
Say that. In Christ. One more time. In Christ.
One more time. In Christ. That is your spiritual position.
Because the Bible says that when you were saved, God the Father did what? He placed you into Christ like a branch that has been grafted to a vine. You have become a part of the vine.
The sap that runs in the vine runs in the branch. The Holy Spirit in the life of Christ is now in your life. And you and I are one with Christ. We are in him. And he is in us so that we are one with him.
And he could not have used the more beautiful way of describing that sense of oneness as of grafting a branch onto a vine and the two become one and the sap in the vine runs in the branch into the stem, into the grapes producing fruit. You and I in Christ, that is our spiritual position. And because we are in him and he is in us, we are eternally secure. He says now take your position. When he says take your position, notice he said in verse 10. He said that position is what? That position is in Christ. That position makes it possible for us to affirm our strength. Look in verse 10. Finally be strong where?
Be strong how? In the Lord. And what is he saying when he says here to be strong in the Lord and taking our stand?
He is talking about depending upon him. So think about that Roman soldier for a moment. His long cleat like sandals all entrenched. He says now stand firm. That is get a good solid stand. Stand firm. When he says stand firm in that evil day, what he is saying is don't even think about running. Don't even think about trying to escape. Don't even think about trying to give up.
Don't even think about surrender. He says stand firm. Your strength is in the Lord. That is what you and I depending upon when we are facing those demonic forces that come in all kinds of fashions.
What we are depending upon is not our ability nor our strength. We are depending upon the strength that is ours because of our position in Christ. Jesus Christ who is living on the inside of you is releasing in you the supernatural resurrection power.
Listen to this. The same resurrection power that raised Jesus from the dead is the same resurrection power that is going to raise you and me from the dead. And the same resurrection power that is indwelling us this very moment enabling us to face any single solitary foe and be victorious because it is his power. That is why he says not to be strong in your armor.
Don't depend upon that. He says be strong in the Lord and he says in the strength of his might. Now notice what he says when he says stand firm. Stand firm against the schemes, all of these things that the devil is trying to do. When he says take a firm stand, that doesn't mean that we just sit back and let the devil do his thing. We take a firm stand as we go about our life every day. Listen, God has put you in your business, in your vocation, in your schooling, in your home to do what?
To make an impact, to bear a witness, to serve the living God, to share your testimony. And he knows that when you and I get up in the morning, we head out onto a battlefield. Satan is going to be there with all of his demonic forces to defeat us in every way. So when we talk about taking a firm stand, that doesn't mean some passive, well I'm in Christ and I'm just letting God do it all. I'm here to tell you my friend, God isn't going to do what he's commanded me to do. He's not going to witness for me. He's not going to preach for me. We trust he witnesses through us and preaches through us and teaches through us and shares through us.
He's not going to do it for us. And so the whole battle idea here is not that we just passively just do nothing, but we take a firm stand. And listen, the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the devil, they're on a collision course. And ultimately, one of these days, the kingdom of Satan is going to be absolutely annihilated. But until it is, you're not in the battle. And we run up against all kind of forces every day.
And those evil forces come from different aspects of life. He says, stand firm. That is, don't think about running. Don't think about leaving the battle. Don't give up. Don't say, well, you know, it's just too much for me.
Sure, it's too much for us. My friend, you and I are to never get up and say, oh, I'm so tempted and I'm so tried on. I know I'm going down in defeat today. You know what you did?
You just took off your arm and laid it down. It is amazing how, listen, it is amazing how we are defeated by our own tongue. God temptations too much for me, you just send a message.
I'm going down in defeat. Now Satan can't read your mind, but he hears, surely hear what you say. That's why we need to be careful what we say.
He says we're snared by our own tongue. And my friend, the battlefield is scattered. In fact, it's full of saints who've been injured, who've been hurt, who've been damaged, who've been greatly wounded. Because they don't know how to deal with life. And they don't know how to deal with their emotions.
They don't know how to deal with their enemy. And you see some things we say, well, man, this is just physical. It may be physical now, but it began with a spiritual problem. I'm not saying that all physical things are spiritual, but a lot of them are. And when we give in to sin and disobedience to God, ultimately it'll take its toll in our life. And this is why he says in this passage that you and I are to take a stand. Now let me give an example personally in my own life.
And I discovered this several years ago after an awful lot of heartache and an awful lot of defeat. And that is that sometimes during the week, I would go through some weeks, and I mean the devil would try me with everything he's got. He'd fire avalanches. I mean, he would just fire them all week long. And on Saturday I'd think, God, I just don't know that I can even show up tomorrow morning. I mean, he would just absolutely torment me.
I'd walk in here on Sunday morning and the power of God just come upon me and the Spirit of God working, people streaming down the aisles, and I'd go back to the study and think, God, what in the world happened? I'm telling you. Listen, you'll never catch me taking credit.
I'm going to tell you why. Nobody knows like I know that it has to be all God. All of Him.
It cannot be a man. So then I began to learn after a while, Lord, the worse the devil works on me all week long, hallelujah. Because I know come Sunday you're going to bless me and you're going to bless everybody else. Well, if you think about it, if Satan knows that something good is coming, what is he going to do? He's going to intensify the battle. He's going to increase the pressure.
He's going to avalanche you with everything possible. Now, a satanic attack, if I may name it that, a satanic attack is an intense spiritual attack from Satan and his demonic powers about something or some area in your life where it is intensely painful to resist him. And he says we are to resist the devil. And he says we're to resist him in faith. He said be strong in the Lord, in your position. Your position is that you're in him and nothing can get to us unless God allows it.
Nothing can touch us unless God allows it. And therefore sometimes, if you'll notice, he says stand firm. And he says stand firm against the schemes of the devil. And he says in verse 13, resist in the evil day. Now, what he's really saying in the evil day is this, that sometimes it's going to become intense. Sometimes you think, God, I just can't handle it.
God, I just can't take it anymore. He says stand firm. Stand how? Stand firm on the rock of Christ. Stand firm in your faith. Don't look around.
Don't go over your feelings. But remember who you are. You are a child of God. You've been sealed by the Holy Spirit. Your name has been written in the Lamb's Book of Life. The Spirit of God is working in you. Jesus Christ is living within you.
You have the power of God flowing through you. And every single one of us can stand if we choose to stand. We do not have to give up. Giving up is yielding to the devil's lie. It is being deceived. Satan says you can't. He gives you a thousand reasons why you're going to be defeated and something's not going to work. Remember where that comes from.
It comes from the pit. It doesn't come from God. How can God ever tell you to give up when he is living on the inside of you as your defense and your offense? But if I don't know that I'm in a battle and if I'm not properly dressed and I don't take my stand as a child of God. Listen, this is why I've spent so much time talking about who you are in Christ. Who you are in Christ. You were a child of God. You were an enemy but now you're a child of God. You are an heir of the blessings of the Lord Jesus Christ.
A jaunt heir with him. You are now alive and you were once dead. And you and I can just go all the way through the New Testament thinking about and realizing who we are in Christ.
And remember this. Who Christ is in you. Jesus Christ is your Savior. Jesus Christ is your Lord. Jesus Christ is your life. Jesus Christ is your sufficiency for every single need. And the Bible says that you and I are complete in him. And if I'm complete in him the devil can't do anything unless I allow him to do it.
I must choose to cooperate with the devil before he can defeat me as a believer. Now when you go to work tomorrow morning, listen. You go to school. You be sure you're properly dressed. Now I'm sure that probably all of us before we leave home try to dress the best we can. Everybody doesn't have the same kind of clothes and that's not important.
And that's not the issue. The issue is am I dressed properly? And spiritually I'm not dressed properly unless I am suited in the armor.
That's what he said. Put it all on and take your stand. And in essence if I could wrap it up in just a few words I'd simply say this. Put on the whole armor of God by faith before you get out of bed in the morning. And then affirm. Listen. Confess. Listen. Confession means that you agree with.
Confess to the Father. Lord Jesus, I just want to thank you that you're my Savior, my Lord, my life, my sufficiency for all my needs. I'm complete in you.
I want to praise you for who I am in you and who you are in me. Then when Satan fires one up on your blind side and you have on the girdle of truth, the truth says, hey, I don't have to accept that. Why? Because that doesn't fit who I am. I'm a child of God. That does not fit who I am. And besides that, it can't penetrate the shield of faith.
So I just let that go on by. You know what will happen? You'll start gaining victory in areas of your life that have defeated you over and over and over again. I wonder how many times you have been defeated by the same old sin.
And how many times you've had to confess the same thing over and over and over again. If you'll take this simple principle and begin to apply it literally before you get out of the bed in the morning, here's what will happen. You get too busy one morning, you take off.
I guarantee you. Something will happen and the Spirit of God reminds you, you didn't get dressed. You weren't dressed properly. You just forgot it. You say, I don't need that for the day.
I can tell you, my friend, by experience, it makes a difference when you put it on. Are you going to be perfect? No. Because sometimes I think, Lord, I must have laid my helmet somewhere. I keep finding the thing. You know, I just, nobody's perfect. We're going to make mistakes and we're going to falter and fall. We are.
But my, what a difference when it's your habit to get dressed up before you leave home in the right fashion. Thank you for listening to part two of Preparations for Battle. For more inspirational messages like this one, visit our online 24-7 station. And if you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or In Touch Ministries, stop by InTouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.
