Stand up, stand up ye soldiers of the cross

Ephesians 6:10-17

We are in a battle.

There have been and still are many wars in the world. What is wrong with man? Why is he the way he is? We have lost the meaning and the sanctity of life. Many will say religion causes all wars, but the statistics are that only 7% of wars have been fought over religion.

The physical world is controlled by a spiritual world. Man wants peace but he is in turmoil within himself. Man denies God and thinks he can run things himself. The only solution is the message of Christ. The human heart is corrupt and devious. Man can either be controlled by the Spirit of God or the “spirit of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2). Who are you controlled by?

1. Who are the enemies of the Christian? – Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities and powers. Scripture tells us that the devil is a murderer and a liar, he roars around like a roaring lion seeking to devour us. We have three enemies: (1) The devil – has been disarmed by Jesus. He is not divine, but he has power and a kingdom that works against the Christian. The devil’s domain is the world. (2) The world – We are called to be in the world, but not of the world. The world refers to: (a) The material world, (b) The people of the world & (c) The ideology of the world is against God – This world is our enemy as a Christian. (3) The Flesh – The flesh is our sinful nature that wages war against the Spirit that dwells within us.
2. Why does the Christian fight? – (A) We once served the devil and fulfilled the desires of our flesh. We have redeemed and belong to a new kingdom of light. The devil seeks to enslave us again. We need to fight to stay free. Our enemy takes no holidays. (B) We must also fight because there are souls at stake. (C) We must fight for truth. Truth is that the natural man is dead in sin and needs a saviour. Truth has set us free. Truth is the only remedy for this world.
3. How does the Christian fight? – We must know who we fight for. Let us look to Jesus. He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world. We need to know that the battle is God’s battle and He is concerned about this battle more than we can ever be. We need to trust God and all that Jesus has done. We must put on the full armour of God and train ourself in how to use it to fight the enemy. We must wear the armour at all times. We need to know and use every piece of the armour.