Spiritual Solders Ready for Battle

Sermon by David Summy 08/09/2026

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Thank you so much, worship team. I'm grateful for the teams we have that lead us in worship here at the church. Great job to each one of you. Your faithfulness, not only leading, just leading us in worship, but doing it in excellence. I commend you for that. It is a blessing to have. We are grateful. This morning we're going to be turning to Ephesians chapter 6. Take a little deviation from Romans. Ephesians chapter 6, verses 10 through 18. Believe we'll read that at this time. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you may so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything to stand. Stand firm then with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions, with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people. Let's bow our heads in prayer. God, we just uh commit this time to you this morning. Just pray that you would take these scriptures and make them real to us. Help us to understand what you're trying to tell us here, and uh that we can put it to practice in our lives and be good soldiers of yours. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Title I give the message this morning is Spiritual Soldiers Ready for Battle. And I'll just uh I'll just say this the theme of the conference this past weekend was taken out of these verses. So I've been marinating on this all week, and I just felt the Lord taking us there this morning. Um the title was No Fear, Stand Strong in the Lord. And to be challenged in that and to think about that in my own life, I just thought I'd share a few things with the church here this morning. Maybe a little bit of a debrief for me, but pray that'd be a blessing to you. You know, the first thing that we need to realize in our battle, in our spiritual battle. Yeah, I gave it away. We need to recognize that it is a spiritual battle, not a physical battle. This battle that we are in as Christians is not something, as it says, we fight against flesh and blood, but it's against spiritual powers. We need to recognize that fact, number one, that this is a spiritual battle. How will we identify the devil's schemes if we do not realize that this is a spiritual battle we are in? And if we don't put on our armor, we leave ourselves in a vulnerable position on the spiritual battlefield. And that's some of the things we're going to be looking at this morning as we go through these scriptures. This scripture likens a Christian to a soldier. You know, when you become a Christian, you become a soldier in the army of God. We cannot afford to be distracted by the things of the world and forget about the spiritual battle that is raging around us and against us. You know, we often as humans tend to be distracted by the physical things we see and the physical things that we face day to day in our lives. And we become distracted and forget that this battle is not against physical, but it is against spiritual forces. So, how do we successfully fight this adversary that we are up against? The first thing we need to do, I believe, in this battle is to identify our enemy. That is of utmost importance. In a physical war, if you don't know who your enemy is, it will be chaos and you'll end up fighting the wrong person. In a physical war, it is vital to identify your enemy. Otherwise, you will lose the battle, guaranteed. And we as Christians tend to put faces to our enemy oftentimes in our spiritual battle, and that is something we should not do. We are not fighting against flesh and blood. We are not fighting against other people or other people groups, but we are fighting against the rulers of darkness that come up against us. And verse 10, it tells us we need to be strong in the Lord and his mighty power. Not our own power, not our own strength, not what we can muster up of ourselves, but it says, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. That is key in our fight against our enemy. We do not fight a spiritual battle with physical strength. We fight a spiritual battle with spiritual strength in the Lord. Zechariah 4, verse 6 tells us, not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts. Verse 11 goes on to tell us, put on the whole armor of God. You know, the devil is cunning in his fight. And he will look for places that you are not armed to hit you. Here we are told to put on the whole armor of God. We need to wear the whole armor of God at all times to be protected. In 1 Peter 5, verses 8 and 9, it tells us, be sober, sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Why does a lion roar? Does anybody know? Exactly. That puts it well. A lion roars to intimidate. Now, here in this passage, it likens the devil to a roaring lion. And there's all kinds of application we can make out of that illustration. But my mind went to there's so many things that the devil tries to intimidate us with. Fears in our life. He likes to make a lot of noise to try to intimidate you and I. Verse 9 says, resist him steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. Resist him. How? Steadfast in our faith. You know, if you know the power that is in you is greater than the roar you hear, you stand firm in your faith. And that's where God is calling us to stand. Let's look at the armor this morning. Number one is gird up, gird your waist with truth. You know, truth is the utmost important in our battle, in our fight against spiritual darkness. We need to seek truth in our life. We need to believe truth in our life. We need to love truth that comes to us. This is of the most importance in this fight to love truth. Do we love truth? You know, there's a lot of voices, a lot of opinions in this day and age. But do we love truth? Do we seek after truth? Do we gird our waist with truth? You know, deception is one of the devil's most successful weapons. And we need to use the Bible as a mirror. And pray the prayer that David did in Psalms when he said, Search me, O God, and know my heart. As I thought about the prayer that David prayed there, are we willing to ask God to search us and to show us our heart? We might not like what we see sometimes, do we? God shows us the darkness that's in our heart, the motives, whatever that is. But ask God to search you to know your heart. Just as a belt holds our clothes and our tools or our weapons, so truth is the foundation from which we fight our spiritual battles. It is the foundation from which we fight our spiritual battles. Truth. It is the ground on which we stand. Without truth, we don't have a solid footing. We will flounder, we will stumble, we will fall without truth. In John 14, 6, Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Jesus is the truth, and he is the one that sets our feet on solid ground, is he not? And he is the one that we need to seek. John 8, verse 32 says, And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. The truth sets us free and gives us a solid footing from which to fight. Very important in our lives. Number two, the breastplate of righteousness. You know, this is not referring to all the good deeds that we managed to do ourselves. Excuse me. Or keeping the commandments of God. As a rich young ruler came to Jesus and bragged about. Ephesians 2, verse 9 says, not of works lest anyone should boast. You know, the breastplate of righteousness that he's talking about here is the imputed righteousness of Christ. It is the righteousness that we see receive from Jesus Christ. Philippians 3, verse 9 says, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith. Are we found in him? You know that verse in Philippians there says, and being found in him. The question I have for us is, are we found in him? You know, the devil tries to come against us. What does he see? Does he see you in Christ? And he's like, oh no. That's a problem. Romans 13, 14 says, put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lust. You know, this thing of the breastplate of righteousness, God is calling us to live a holy life. One that pleases Him, one that walks in truth. And when we choose to walk away from truth, when we choose to fulfill our lust, we expose ourselves to the darts of the enemy. We open ourselves up, we are no longer protected when we choose to walk in our fleshly lusts. We need to walk in the truth of God's word, in his holiness. Number three, having our feet shod with the gospel of peace. The gospel of peace protects our steps and gives us direction as children of God. The gospel of peace needs to be our guide and our vision in whatever we do and wherever we go. You know, Jesus said in Matthew 28, go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen. We need to be ambassadors for Christ. And this is number three of the armor, having our feet shod with the gospel of peace. You know, this is not just for the missionary that goes overseas. This is not just for you or for me. This is for all of us. All of us are called to share the gospel of peace wherever we are. We need to be ambassadors for Christ in this strange country we are traveling through. Share the love, share the hope of the gospel of Christ. We need to have our feet shod with the gospel of peace because who will tell if we do not? Who will tell if we do not? We need to proclaim God's love unashamedly. Number four, the shield of faith. You know, a shield, whether it is physical or spiritual, can only be effective if it's used as it as it is intended to be used. We need to use the shield of faith in an effective way. You know, the devil loves to hit us with discouragement, doubt to defeat us. And if you have the shield of faith in place, it is very difficult, if not impossible, for him to get through that with his fiery darts. The shield of faith renders the enemy's darts ineffective and protects our heart. Hebrews 11:1 tells us now the faith, now faith is a substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. In this chapter, we see the phrase over and over again by faith, Abraham, by faith, Sarah, by faith, Isaac, by faith, Jacob. You know, these people were examples to us today of how to live by faith, even when things did not make sense to them. You think of Abraham, how God told him to go offer his son Isaac. Now, Isaac was the promised child, the one that God would bring his descendants through. And here God says, go offer him up. The shield of faith protected Abraham because he did not doubt God, he believed God. Even when things do not make sense, it protects us. May we do as they did and raise our shields of faith and choose to believe God even when things don't make sense. Oswald Chambers says, faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God whose ways you may not understand at the time. Faith is a deliberate confidence in the character of God whose ways you may not understand at the time. The shield of faith, when it is raised, it pushes back the enemy. It helps us gain back ground that we may have lost in our life. Our fight is not one of just holding our ground. Our fight is one that advances and regains the territories that possibly have been taken from us. And this is a big part of redemption in our lives and the work of Christ in us. It regains ground. God wants to redeem those territories and restore them for his children, for his honor and his glory. Number five, the helmet of salvation. You know, the helmet protects the head, protects our mind. And that is probably one of the most vital parts of our body. It is the seat of our thoughts. You know, without the transforming power of salvation, we cannot even think of spiritual warfare, much less be effective in it. Could we say that all spiritual warfare begins in the mind? Probably most of it begins in our mind. Romans eight seven and eight says, Because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be, so then those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Romans 12 2, and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Here in these in this verse, especially in the Romans 12, there, we see the thing that we need to be true conformed, we do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed how? By the renewing of your mind. This is what God wants to do in our lives. We begin to see things from the eyes of Christ. We begin to see things differently as we face life. The thing that upset me before, the thing that derailed me before, as our mind is transformed into his image, we begin to see it through the eyes of Christ. And we see it differently than we did before. That's what God wants to do in our lives, in our minds, is to transform us by the renewing of our mind. Then when something happens, when something comes up, when we face something, we look at it in a different light than we did in the flesh or in the physical. We see it in the light of spiritual battle. We need to experience a renewal of our mind not once, but daily. God needs to renew our mind. Number six, the sword of the spirit. The sword is an offensive weapon given to us to take down the strongholds of our enemy. Jesus used the word of God when he was confronted by the devil numerous times in his temptations, and we see that. Hebrews 4.12, for the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and it is and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. The word of God is living, it is powerful. It is your sword to use in battle. And the only way we can do that. Is if we know the word of God, if we know what is truth. Because God has given us scripture, He has given us His Word to fight with, and it is our sword. Could I suggest that there is a there is a sword, there is a weapon for every temptation, every battle you face. There is God's word to counter that. And the more we know God's word, the more we study God's word, the more we memorize God's word, the more effective we are in wielding the sword of the Spirit, which is the truth of God's word. Very important for us to know, to understand that. We dare not underestimate the power of the Word of God. Use the Word of God because it is a powerful weapon against the devil. The Word of God is your sword. Learn to use it effectively. Very powerful in your personal life. Number seven is prayer. And that is not listed as part of the armor, but I believe it is crucial to our fight against spiritual powers. Although prayer is not listed as pieces of the whole armor, yet Paul closes this passage here in talking about praying. He says, pray always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit. And even when you are clothed with the armor of God, you need to be, you need to bathe it all in prayer. What does prayer do for us? It brings us into communion and fellowship with our Father. It brings us power and unity in our life. It connects us with the Father. And it's vital to work alongside the armor that we are to wear. Prayer is vital to spiritual battle. Prayer is where we find our power. I would just encourage you, even especially young people, to develop a prayer life. And I know sometimes this seems hard to do. But I would encourage you to set aside a time. Make time for prayer. And you can start small, that's okay, but set a time, set aside a time to pray. It is your spiritual battle. It is where your power is found. Don't underestimate that. The battle can often be won in our prayer closet because that is where the battle begins. We know that we are in a spiritual battle. We have identified our enemy. We have put on the whole armor of God. We pray because we know that's where the power of God comes from. Not ourselves, not our own flesh, but it is the spiritual power of God in us. We as Christians have an advantage in this spiritual battle because we possess the power of the overcomer. Isn't that awesome? God has gone before us. He has fought the battle for us. He has already won. Hallelujah. Revelation 7 14 says, These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for he is the Lord of Lord and the King of kings, and those who are with him are called chosen and faithful. We do not need to fear, we do not need to doubt. Calvary has proclaimed victory for us already. When Christ rose from the dead, the devil's territory was invaded. When Christ returns, he will return as the Lord of Lord and the King of Kings. He will reign forever and ever. Are you looking forward to that time when Jesus comes back to claim his bride? Second Thessalonians 2 8 says, And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of his mouth and destroy with the brightness of his coming. Revelation 12, 10 and 11. Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ have come. For the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down, and they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. Will you be counted with the ones who overcame the accuser by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of your testimony? You know, this is not a message today of dread and fear for us. As children of God, as believers, we have the Holy Spirit residing in us. The power of God dwells within these vessels. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to you and I. We just need to know how to arm ourselves and how to wield those weapons that God gives us. We need to understand that and walk in that. Walk in truth, walk in grace. God bless each one of you. Would you all stand for a prayer and then the worship team has one more song to close us out. Lord, we thank you this morning for this time of looking into your word and seeing your power, your what you want to do in our lives. Lord, I just pray that you would just help us all to realize and to see the devil and his schemes for what they are, knowing that you have overcome him and you give us that same power to live in victory and live over those fleshly desires that try to overtake us. God, I just pray for victory and grace in each one of our lives. Help us to wear the armor that you have given us. Help us to wield the weapons that you have given us in an effective way against the spiritual powers that rise up and uh try to defeat us. We praise you for the victory that is ours in you. We thank you for your power. We thank you for your grace. We just pray that you would help us to go in boldness, walking in truth, living in truth, seeking truth, and loving truth in our lives. This we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.