TITLE: A Good Offense

1
(No Transcript)
2
TITLE A Good Offense

• TEXT Ephesians 616-17
• THEME After putting on the armor the believer
  should wield the Sword of the Spirit to defeat
  Satan

3
(No Transcript)
4
What would you say to a mother that wants to
shoot herself?
5
What would you say?
6
(No Transcript)
7
What can the believer do to defeat Satan?
8
I. Put on the Defensive Armor (cont.) (16-17)
9
Ephesians 616

• In addition to all this, take up the shield of
  faith, with which you can extinguish all the
  flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the
  helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit,
  which is the word of God.

10
I. Put on the Defensive Armor (cont.) (16-17)

• A. The Shield of Faith

11
(No Transcript)
12
Put on the Defensive Armor (cont.) (16-17)

• A. The Shield of Faith
• B. Protects against the darts and arrows

13
In the Spiritual RealmFaith defends against

• I. Doubt- in two minds

14
Os Guiness, Doubt In Two Minds. A book that
defines the nature of doubt
15
James 15,

• 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask
  God, who gives generously to all without finding
  fault, and it will be given to him

16
James 15,

• 6 But when he asks, he must believe and not
  doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of
  the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

17
James 15,

• 7 That man should not think he will receive
  anything from the Lord 8 he is a double-minded
  man, unstable in all he does

18
(No Transcript)
19
Faith defends against

• Doubt- in two minds
• Unbelief- not believing God

20
Romans 1015-16

• Faith Comes by hearing and hearing by the Word
  of God.

21
Hebrews 11-20

• 111 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for
  and certain of what we do not see. 2 This is
  what the ancients were commended for. 3 By faith
  we understand that the universe was formed at
  God's command, so that what is seen was not made
  out of what was visible.

22
Hebrews 11-20

• 4 By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice
  than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a
  righteous man, when God spoke well of his
  offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even
  though he is dead.

23
Hebrews 11-20

• 115 By faith Enoch was taken from this life,
  so that he did not experience death he could not
  be found, because God had taken him away. For
  before he was taken, he was commended as one who
  pleased God. 6 And without faith it is
  impossible to please God, because anyone who
  comes to him must believe that he exists and that
  he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

24
Hebrews 11-20

• 117 By faith Noah, when warned about things not
  yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his
  family. By his faith he condemned the world and
  became heir of the righteousness that comes by
  faith.

25
Hebrews 11-20

• 118 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a
  place he would later receive as his inheritance,
  obeyed and went, even though he did not know
  where he was going
• 1111 By faith Abraham, even though he was
  past age--and Sarah herself was barren--was
  enabled to become a father because he considered
  him faithful who had made the promise\

26
Hebrews 11-20

• 1113 All these people were still living by
  faith when they died. They did not receive the
  things promised they only saw them and welcomed
  them from a distance. And they admitted that they
  were aliens and strangers on earth. 14 People
  who say such things show that they are looking
  for a country of their own.

27
Hebrews 11-20

• 15 If they had been thinking of the country
  they had left, they would have had opportunity to
  return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a
  better country--a heavenly one. Therefore God is
  not ashamed to be called their God, for he has
  prepared a city for them

28
(No Transcript)
29
(No Transcript)
30
I. Put on the defensive armor

• The Shield of Faith
• The Darts and Arrows
• The Helmet of Salvation

31
(No Transcript)
32
C. The Helmet of Salvation

• Defends against
• Spiritual Destruction

33
Matthew 2820

• I am with you always, even until the ends of the
  earth.

34
Philippians 44-10

• 44 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it
  again Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be
  evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be
  anxious about anything, but in everything, by
  prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present
  your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God,
  which transcends all understanding, will guard
  your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

35
Philippians 44-10

• PHP 48 Finally, brothers, whatever is true,
  whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is
  pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is
  admirable--if anything is excellent or
  praiseworthy--think about such things. 9
  Whatever you have learned or received or heard
  from me, or seen in me--put it into practice. And
  the God of peace will be with you.

36
(No Transcript)
37
What can the believer do to defeat Satan?
38
II. Wield the Offensive Weapon (17b)
39
II. Wield the Offensive Weapon (17b)

• The Sword of the Spirit

40
I Corinthians 24

• My message and my preaching were not with wise
  and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of
  the Spirit's power, 5 so that your faith might
  not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.

41
I Corinthians 24

• 1CO 26 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom
  among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age
  or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to
  nothing. 7 No, we speak of God's secret wisdom,
  a wisdom that has been hidden and that God
  destined for our glory before time began.

42
I Corinthians 24

• 8 None of the rulers of this age understood it,
  for if they had, they would not have crucified
  the Lord of glory. 9 However, as it is written
• "No eye has seen,
• no ear has heard,
• no mind has conceived
• what God has prepared for those who love him"

43
I Corinthians 24

• 1CO 210 but God has revealed it to us by his
  Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the
  deep things of God. 11 For who among men knows
  the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit
  within him? In the same way no one knows the
  thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 We
  have not received the spirit of the world but the
  Spirit who is from God, that we may understand
  what God has freely given us.

44
I Corinthians 24

• 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught
  us by human wisdom but in words taught by the
  Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual
  words. 14 The man without the Spirit does not
  accept the things that come from the Spirit of
  God, for they are foolishness to him, and he
  cannot understand them, because they are
  spiritually discerned.

45
I Corinthians 24

• 15 The spiritual man makes judgments about all
  things, but he himself is not subject to any
  man's judgment

46
I Corinthians 24

• 1CO 216 "For who has known the mind of the Lord
  that he may instruct him?"
• But we have the mind of Christ.

47
II. Wield the Offensive Weapon (17b)

• The Sword of the Spirit
• The Word of God

48
Hebrews 412-13

• HEB 412 For the word of God is living and
  active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it
  penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit,
  joints and marrow it judges the thoughts and
  attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all
  creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything
  is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him
  to whom we must give account.

49
(No Transcript)
50
Application

• We have an enemy who wants to destroy us both
  physically and spiritually. He wants to get our
  focus off God and onto ourselves

51
Application

• We need faith- that only God can give to
  strengthen us and protect us. We need the helmet
  in knowing that God is with us and will not let
  Satan destroy us.

52
Application

• Spend time in Gods word and use it against Satan
  when he attacks, memorize it and meditate on it
  daily so that you prepared when he does attack.

53
Application

• But we must remember the purpose of learning Gods
  Word is that we might know God. It is not a mere
  academic performance to know God personally and
  to be in His presence and build our relationship
  with Him. In that we find protection and
  strength.

54
(No Transcript)
55
Nancy Guthrie

• "At first, I thought it was my fault," says Nancy
  "that I didn't pray enough for a healthy baby and
  was now paying for it." Nancy was familiar with
  prayer. She grew up going to church, attended a
  Christian college, and had a great job in
  Christian publishing. Her life was filled with
  the pursuit of Christian things but as she later
  realized, not necessarily with the pursuit of
  Christ. "There was a sense of hypocrisy, you
  know? I was so busy for God and interested in
  theological things, working with Christian
  authors and books, and working hard at my church,
  but I wasn't talking to him or listening to him
  by reading his word

56
Nancy Guthrie

• Time magazine interviewed Nancy and David for an
  article in which the writer compared their plight
  to that of Job's in the Old Testament. The
  article quotes an entry from Nancy's journal
  "Like Job, we often cannot see the hidden
  purposes of God," she wrote. "But we can
  determine to be faithful and keep walking toward
  Him in the darkness."

57
Nancy Guthrie

• Named after the angel, Gabriel was born on July
  16, 2001, the same day the Guthries' story
  appeared in Time. They knew what to expect. Their
  son's first day would be his best.

58
Nancy Guthrie

• Gabriel died 183 days later.

59
Nancy Guthrie

• "I've experienced one of the worst things that
  can happen," says Nancy, "and I haven't found I'm
  strong and I can handle it. But I have found out
  God's promise is true, his grace is sufficient.
  Now when I read 'My grace is sufficient' (2
  Corinthians 129), I believe it not only because
  Jesus said it in the BibleI believe it because
  I've experienced it."

60
(No Transcript)