Jst Church of Christ | Grants Pass

Put on the whole armor of God to stand against the schemes of the devil

When fighting a war, it helps to know who the actual enemy is. Asymmetrical warfare is designed to confuse a nation’s defenses so they don’t know who the enemy is until it’s too late. False-Flag operations, like a computer virus that disables a weapons system–but leaves the digital fingerprints of a different Nation-State; Or terrorist attacks or assassinations that leave no obvious trace to the true attackers.
Our Enemy uses any tactic to deceive: Lies, False-Flags, False-Fronts, False-Teachers, False-Doctrines, Propaganda, Deception, Transference, Blame, Control. But God has equipped us with Spiritual Armor because our Battle is a Spiritual Battle. AUDIO | TEXT PDF

We are constantly bombarded with lies in this world. There are a Billion Lies – but Only One Truth. A Billion Forms of Self-Righteousness–but Only One Righteousness of God. A Billion different man-made gospels–but Only One Gospel with the Power to Save. Thankfully God has equipped the Christian with the spiritual armor of Truth, Righteousness and Gospel Peace. | AUDIO | TEXT PDF

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. (Ephesians 6:11-13)

“A gulf has opened up in our culture between the visibility of evil and the intellectual resources available for coping with it” –Andrew Deblanco, Columbia University.

Since secular society rejects the notion of Good or Evil–everything has to be explained in terms of social or psychological forces. However, “As the twentieth century has gone on, it has gotten harder and harder to say holocausts and ethnic cleansing and serial killing are just bad psychological and sociological adjustment… [the argument] that all evil has natural causes, scientific causes, psychological, social causes, is wearing thin.” – Andrew Delbanco: ‘The Death of Satan.’

The Bible is very blunt about the fact that we have a spiritual enemy. But our response to this usually falls into two extremes: 1) We either place too much emphasis on the enemy and his powers with an unhealthy interest. 2) Or we completely ignore the fact that we have an enemy and ignore the spiritual battle. Both Extremes Are Harmful. The Bible commands us to, ‘Put on the whole Armor of God that you may withstand the schemes of the devil.’ | AUDIO | TEXT PDF

Be Strong in the Lord and in the Power of His Might

Think about some of the great men of faith. Solomon was the wisest of all men, he had great wealth and great power. Samson was the strongest of all men, able to kill 1,000 men with a jawbone. David was the most devoted, a man after God’s own heart, who wrote most of the Psalms. Moses was the most humble, able to lead the people of God to the promised land.

But each one fell to temptation and suffered for it. You might think, “I’m a strong Christian, I have a strong faith…” But ask yourself, are You wiser than Solomon? Are you stronger than Samson? Are you more devoted than David? Are you more humble than Moses? Because each of these men fell, and their fall was recorded for us so we may learn from their mistakes.

We all face our own battles, but where will we find the strength to fight? Paul tells us our strength is not in ourselves, but in the Lord and in the power of His might. AUDIO | TEXT PDF