THE BATTLE THAT WE FIGHT WITHIN

PROCLAMATION

“They conspired against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish, but they sent men after him to Lachish and killed him there.”  2 Kings 14:19 (NIV)

EXPLANATION

Amaziah son of Joash and king of Judah initially did that which was right in the eyes of The Lord. (2 Kings 14:1-4)  After he was firmly established as the king, he executed all of the officials who had murdered his father King Joash. (2 Kings 14:5)  Then he sent word to Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel with a challenge: “Come, let us face each other in battle.”  In the civil war that followed, Judah was routed by Israel.  Amaziah was captured, the wall of Jerusalem was torn down, all of the gold, silver, and treasuries of the temple and the royal palace were taken, and some of the people were taken as hostages. (2 Kings 14:13-14)  After Jehoash king of Israel died, Amaziah escaped and fled to Lachish.  But his own men conspired against him and went after him.  They found him and they killed him in Lachish. Then they brought his body back to Jerusalem and buried him with his ancestors. (2 Kings 14:17-20)

APPLICATION

After the division of Israel into the northern and southern kingdoms, there were periods when they were at war with each other.  This civil war lasted for years.  Men will kill each other for ideological differences, greed, jealousy, envy, or out of anger for a perceived wrong which was done.  Today, not only do we see civil wars within countries, some of us experience civil wars within ourselves.  Like the apostle Paul, the good that we would do is sabotaged by our sinful human nature. (Romans 7:19)  The battle between good and evil within us is evidenced by our inconsistent behavior, at times we act like a child of God and other times we don’t.  Our behavior has an effect on the people and the world around us.  Let us pray for God’s help so that we do not harm others or cause them to stumble and fall into sin.

BEWARE THE ENEMY IS EVERYWHERE

PROCLAMATION

“So, the priest gave him the consecrated bread … Now one of Saul’s servants was there that day … he was Doeg, the Edomite, Saul’s chief shepherd.”  “But Doeg, the Edomite, … said ‘I saw the son of Jesse come to Ahimelech son of Ahitub at Nob … he also gave him provisions …’”  1 Samuel 21:7 and 22:9-10 (NIV)

EXPLANATION

After Jonathan was convinced that his father, King Saul, really wanted to kill David, (1 Samuel 20:33) he went to the field where David was hiding (1 Samuel 20:35) and the two of them talked and cried. (1 Samuel 20:41-42)  Then David left Ramah and went to Nob to meet with Ahimelech, the priest. (1 Samuel 21:1)  But one of King Saul’s men, Doeg the chief herdsman, was in Nob (1 Samuel 21:7) and he saw David meeting with Ahimelech.  He reported this to Saul (1 Samuel 22:9) who had all the priests and their families, herds and flocks killed because they had aided David. (1 Samuel 22:16-19)  David knew that Doeg would tell Saul that he saw him, which is why he left Nob and went to Gath, (1 Samuel 21:10) but he did not expect that Saul would kill everyone in the city. (1 Samuel 22:22)

APPLICATION

The priests were killed because they would not help the enemy kill an innocent man.  When we as believers take a stand to help or protect the innocent, it is quite likely that we will also be attacked.  Doing the right thing by helping others will not make us popular with the people, in fact, it will probably make us very unpopular.  That is why when we take a stand for that which is right, we need to put on the whole armor of God and pray in order to withstand the attacks that will surely come at us. (Ephesians 6:11-18)  Beware, the enemy is everywhere.

PUT ON THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD SO THAT YOU CAN STAND

Proclamation:

“Put on the full armor of God, 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 spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”  Ephesians 6:11-12 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written by the Apostle Paul under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  Paul begins this final chapter of his letter to the believers in Ephesus by addressing the children.  They are told to obey and honor their parents. (Ephesians 6:1-3)  Then he tells the parents not to provoke their children but to bring them up in the training and instruction of The Lord. (Ephesians 6:4)  After this Paul provides directions to servants and masters, which applies to workers and supervisors. (Ephesians 6:5-9)  Then he encourages the believers to be strong in The Lord and to put on the whole armor of God so that they may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. (Ephesians 6:10-17)  He ends this chapter and the letter by encouraging them to pray on all occasions and asking them to pray for him. (Ephesians 6:18-20)

Application:

As believers we need to understand that we are constantly under attack by the forces of evil.  The only way that we can protect ourselves is by putting on the whole armor of God.  That is the only way that we can stand our ground when we are attacked.  We need to make sure that we are completely wrapped up in truth, righteousness, the gospel, faith, salvation, and The Word of God.  Additionally, we should always pray about everything. (Ephesians 6:10-18)

PUT ON THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD

Proclamation:

"Finally, be strong in The Lord, and in His mighty power.  Put on the full armor of God 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." Ephesians 6:10-12 (NIV)

Explanation:

In the Apostle Paul’s letter to the believers in Ephesus, he told them that The Lord God had already defeated Satan and his control over Christians through the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ.  However, Satan was still able to attack and battle them and seduce them with cleaver crafty and cunning methods of deception to lure Christians into sin, immoral practices, and depraved abominations to turn them away from God.  The only way they could defend against this was to put on the whole armor of God.

Application:
We should recognize that we are in a battle every day of our lives. We are not fighting against people but we are battling the forces of evil.  However, we cannot win if we are fighting this battle alone.  To fight this battle against the devil and his evil forces we must be prepared, and have God's help.  To put on the whole armor of God we must gird our waist and loins with truth, put on the breastplate of righteousness, shod our feet with the preparation of the gospel, take up the shield of faith, wear the helmet of salvation, use the sword of The Spirit, which is The Word of God, and frequent prayer. (Ephesians 6:14-18)  We need to protect our eyes (sight), our mind (thoughts), our heart (desires), our hands (actions), our feet (walk), and our being (soul) from evil.  The things we watch, think, want, do, and the places we go reflect our lifestyle and are subject to evil influences which are sinful and not consistent with good Christian behavior.  Make no mistake about it, we need God's help to win this battle.  We need to pray daily and pray often.