June 5, 2022
Morning Service

We are studying what we as the church should be according to God’s plan for us.  We found out that the purpose of God’s commands is to create within us a love that comes from a pure heart, clear conscience, and sincere faith.  If we allow the commands, through the Spirit, to do its work it will change and mold us into the followers God created us to become.  This is not a one-time miraculous event, but a process, a journey for us to become all that we can be for our Lord and Savior.  Last week the Word spoke clearly to us defining sin; things that need to be removed from our life.  These are commands from the Lord and are non-negotiable.  God said it, I believe it and that settles it.  Immediately following this list of sinful activities Paul reveals to us his story of being a sinner saved by grace.

1Ti 1:12-17 And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, (13) although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.  (14)  And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.  (15)  This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.  (16)  However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.  (17)  Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

            Only God would dare to take the biggest enemy of the church, an accessory to murder, and call him not only to be a member of that same church but a leader in it. (Acts 9) He calls himself “the chief of all sinners.”  His story of God’s forgiveness to him, is a “pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.”  He is an example to all who think they are too deep in sin to be able to be forgiven; proving there is no point too low for God’s love to reach you. He takes something terrible and makes it beautiful!  All of us also have our stories of failures, but through God’s mercy, grace and love here we are together this morning assembled in His Name in obedience to His command; making us beautiful in our Father’s eyes. Paul now challenges Timothy (and us) to engage in the spiritual battle that is around us all.

 

1Ti 1:18-20This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, (19) having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck, (20) of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.

 Timothy had been called to the ministry and the leadership laid their hands on him transferring the authority to him.  Here Paul reveals that many prophesied over him pertaining to the work he would do in the future and uses that to encourage Timothy to “wage the good warfare.” When we accept the invitation to follow Jesus, we declare war with the forces of evil. This is especially true with leaders of the church, but this warfare is also one that each follower of Jesus will have to engage in.  Here again the analogy of “Don’t be a fan” comes into play.  We are not to be sitting in the stands cheering on our Christian brothers and sisters as they battle the forces of evil that are attacking us.  We are called to be on the battlefield doing our part to “wage the good warfare.”  Paul explains this spiritual battle very clearly for us in his letter to the Ephesian church and then equips us with what we need to fight well.

 

Eph. 6:10-13 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.  (11)  Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  (12)  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness 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.

            When we choose to follow Jesus we declare war on the forces of evil.  “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”  That sounds very ominous, doesn’t it?  As a Christ follower we must be aware that much of our perspective must be from the spiritual view rather than the physical.  God’s Spirit is everywhere, but there are also these forces that Paul listed for us that are opposing that Spirit.  This is a battle we each fight personally on many fronts as it is a constant struggle between yielding our will to God’s will for our lives.  We each have our weak points that our enemy attacks and we must always be on guard and ready to fight back.

 There is a bigger agenda on society’s level that we must also engage.  Many of the issues we talked about last week; abortion, the homosexual agenda, the disrespect of Godly things, and the attacks on the Truth are all fronts of this war.  The true battle is not about our rights, but it is about what is right and wrong.  The secular world wants us to accept these agendas and be tolerant of them making them to be a normal part of society.  We, however cannot do this as the scriptures clearly reveal to us that these things are unacceptable to God; wrong in His sight.  If we remain silent on these fronts, our schools, government, and even our churches will be overrun with these evils.  Edmund Burke is quoted as saying; “the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”  What do we do?  How do we protect ourselves and win this battle with our enemy?  Paul now gives us the tools we need as he explains what the “whole armor of God” is.

 

Eph. 6:14-18 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, (15) and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; (16) above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.  (17)  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; (18) praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—

            The first item he mentions is the truth.  It is vital that we know, proclaim, and stand firmly upon the truth we find in God’s Word.  In today’s society truth can be a very evasive word as each one feels they can create the truth in any manner they desire it to be; gender identity is an example of this.  As a Jesus follower our Leader tells us “you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” (John 8:32) The truth has been given to us and we are to obey and proclaim it.

            We are to wear the breastplate of righteousness manifesting integrity and uprightness in our personal lives.  If we are following Jesus faithfully and allowing His commands to “transform” us into the disciples God designed us to be we are fighting well.  Our words that speak truth have greater impact when we live out what we proclaim. When Peter and John spoke before the Jewish religious leaders, they “perceived that they had been with Jesus.”  Oh that we could live out the truth so clearly that others see Jesus in us!  Proclaim the truth loudly through living a life of righteousness.

            We are to “have shod our feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace.”  We need to be ready to go and share the gospel wherever God calls us to go.  Be aware of the Spirit’s calling and be willing to go where you are needed in a moment’s notice.  Don’t get tied down to this world’s temporary issues, but be ready to move and act to go where the battle is raging.  We are called to make disciples of the whole world, be ready to share the gospel message and your testimony.

            Our most important piece of equipment to wage the good warfare is the shield of faith.  Our enemy will attack us, but our faith can deflect those attacks and allow them to fall harmlessly to the ground.  Faith is our firm confidence in our Lord and our commitment to follow Him even when we don’t understand where He is leading us.  Keep the shield of faith up at all times and as you read and study, building your faith, your shield becomes larger.

            The helmet of salvation provides us with the protection that no matter how hot the battle rages, we know that we have already won the war!  “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31) Knowing we win; we will fight without any thought of retreat or surrender.  The battle belongs to the Lord.

            Our only offensive weapon is our “sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.”  A classic example of this is when Jesus was tempted 3 times by Satan himself.  He answered each temptation with a scripture that pertained specifically to that moment.  It is His Word that will last forever use it in the battles of life that you face.

            Finally, prayer is mentioned, but it is not as a part of our armor.  I believe we could say that prayer is actually the air that we breathe during the battle.  Without prayer we will surely fail, and prayer is the atmosphere in which we are enabled to don the armor and fight at all.  Prayer must be a continual part of our lives coming as natural to us as breathing.  It is our communication with One we are following and that line needs to open at all times.  Pray for your own battles and for the ones that you see happening in others and the world around us.  Prayer warriors are needed!  We will address prayer again next week.

            I encourage you to reread this passage this week and pray over it.  See if there is some armor you are lacking that needs to be improved.  I assure this battle is real, and if you simply in the stands cheering it is time to get on the field and get busy waging the good warfare. 

 

Heavenly Father open our understanding to this spiritual battle we are engaged in as Your followers and empower us to use the equipment You have given us to fight well!