Well, good morning, everyone.
Damien has just prayed about the wars that are currently raging in our world.
! And most of us are probably unaware that we're currently experiencing in our world at the moment
! the highest number of active armed conflicts that we've seen since World War II that's currently
operating in the world. Now, there's all different kinds of wars. There's eight major wars.
Many are raging in our world. A major war is categorised by annual deaths of more than 10,000
people. There's 11 minor wars and there's over 130 armed conflicts currently going. There's
approximately 2 billion people, that's about 25 per cent, a quarter of the world's population,
live in areas where they're personally impacted by these wars and these armed conflicts. 2 billion
people. 120 million people are currently displaced because of those conflicts with 100 million people
in need of humanitarian assistance because of the crisis that they're having day by day. That's the
world right now. That's where we live. Most of us go about our daily business here in Sydney not even
thinking about those wars. You know, they come up on Facebook feeds and stuff like that and we look at
the news when we get a chance. But we go about our daily business not thinking about them so much
and really only impacted by it when we drive the car into the service station at the moment. That seems to be
the main thing for us. And when we get to the last verses of Ephesians, as we wind up this vision series,
we actually read here of a cosmic war that every soul is involved in and it has devastating
consequences for all of humanity. And on the most part, it's another war that we're unaware of. In fact,
I dare say that the vast majority of us, except for maybe my community group from Friday night,
would be unaware, even coming to church this morning, that there's a cosmic battle raging in my soul
in order to be here and all around us to be here. So that's what we're up to today. Ephesians 6,
get the passage open. And we've got four points that we're journeying through in this text.
Verse 10. First of all, we need to know the wall. Verse 10 opens with the word finally.
And it's not like, you know, at the end of the sermon where the preacher says find and you go,
fantastic. It's actually a word that means for the remaining time, for the remaining time. And so
what Paul's saying here is he's referring to the time for the Ephesians from now for you Ephesians
until the time where we have seen in Ephesians chapter one, where Christ gathers, God gathers all of his
redeemed people to himself into his presence forever. He says, until that day comes, from now
until that day comes, here's the expectation of what's going on for you, the church.
This is what he says. Verse 10. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power, put on the full
armour 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 dark world and against
the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. So these verses are the dramatic and glorious
climax to the book of Ephesians. And Ephesians has unfolded for us. Let me just give you a
quick summary. It's unfolded for us. God's glorious plan for all time and space to gather people from
every tribe, language and nation under the Lordship of Jesus into a newer society that are his forever
in his presence for our joy and his glory. And what God does is the way he achieves that plan
is in time and space is through God the Son entering human history in the person of Jesus Christ,
the dying of cross for humanity's rebellion against God and Jesus rising triumphantly over death. That
is, Jesus killed off death. He met God's justice for our sin and he defeated the forces of evil.
And Paul explained in chapter 1 verse 21 that Jesus triumphed over the devil at the cross.
And after his resurrection from the dead, Jesus was enthroned in heaven to rule over all powers
on earth, in heaven and under the earth. And God continues that plan to rescue people
from Satan's destructive influence as he grants them saving faith in the gospel, the good news of
Jesus Christ and brings them, gathers them into his new society. And he's been working at that for 2,000
years and continues to work at it now. And what God now does is he displays his glory. He displays his
wisdom and his goodness and his goodness and the magnificence of his plan to rescue humanity in Jesus by lifting up his church.
His church is his trophy for all the spiritual realms to see. He holds it up as his glorious trophy.
And as he does that in the spiritual realm and Satan walks past, it's a reminder. When he sees God's trophy lifted,
that is the reminder that he's defeated. The church is his reminder that he and his whole army are defeated.
And he hates it. He hates it. He hates the fact that Christ is the victor and he is the defeated one.
And so he continues to battle to destroy the trophy.
When Paul says our battle isn't against flesh and blood here, what he's saying is that behind
and beyond all the evil of flesh and blood, all the evil of war and all the evil of greed and envy and gossip
is a war that is going on in the spiritual realm that is the ultimate source of all evil that we experience in our world.
That's what he's saying there.
We can never understand the depths of the problem of evil in human history.
Right now, there is a cosmic war going on to destroy what God is doing in creating a new people for himself in Jesus.
For instance, and you see it at several points here.
You see it in the New Testament.
But in Ephesians 4, verse 26 and 27, I preached at least a couple of weeks ago,
it says specifically,
do not be angry with each other.
Why?
So that the devil doesn't get a foothold.
And he's talking about relationships within the church.
In other words, anger is, if you like, a crack that allows Satan to work his way in there
and expand the crack and make it worse in order to destroy what God is building.
And in fact, every instruction that I talked about,
you know, that we see here in chapters 4 and 5,
instructions to take off the old self and to put on the new self,
to get rid of the old behaviours of the old, you know,
which follows Satan and his ways,
and put on the new behaviours in Christ,
in every single area of life of church,
of marriage, of relationships, of parenting,
of work in the wider world,
is all done in the context of spiritual warfare.
That is, it's not about willpower.
Change is not about willpower.
It is about warfare.
The word struggle,
at the beginning of verse 12,
indicates hand-on-hand battle,
which means it's not a struggle that's out there being done by a few.
It's a very personal struggle, hand-on-hand.
It's literally the image that we have here
is the locked-in mortal combat with your enemy
where you are swaying,
you're on the ground,
you're rolling in the mud,
you are,
it's a battle for the death,
and it's sweat on sweat,
it's breath on breath,
it is blood on blood.
It's not bombs dropped from 40,000 feet.
That is, this is the moment-by-moment battle
that every Christian is involved in
until Jesus winds up history
and finally crushes Satan under his foot.
You see, we're going to know
that's what's happening for us right now.
We're going to know the war.
Secondly, what we also need to know
is the enemy.
We need to know the enemy and his tactics.
Now, verse 11 mentions the devil.
Verse 12 calls the enemy,
the rulers, the authorities,
the powers of this dark world
and the spiritual force of evil.
So, the Bible is pretty clear
that the devil and his fallen angels
are personal, supernatural beings,
not equal with God in any measure,
created beings,
but what is at the centre of Satan's evil
is a desire to be God more than anything else.
And so, what we see in the scriptures
is that Satan, he has no conscience,
he has no compassion,
he has no remorse,
he has no morals,
he feeds on pain and anguish and filth.
In fact, there's nothing in Satan
which is redeemable at all.
There is no virtue at all.
He is just a dark void.
And he hates God.
He hates God's church
and he hates God's people.
And his one passion,
one aim,
knowing that he himself is defeated,
is to defeat the trophy
that God holds up,
that displays his magnificence
and his glory to the world.
And so, what God,
sorry, what God doesn't,
but Paul also doesn't want us
to make the mistake here
of underestimating the devil's power.
It's why he doesn't just say
the devil and his angels
or his demons.
He actually says,
the rulers,
the authorities,
the powers of this dark world,
the spiritual forces of evil,
our enemy is formidable.
And yet, on the other hand,
he doesn't want us
to overestimate them either
because in verse 10,
finally,
in these days of cosmic war,
he says,
be strong in the Lord
and in his mighty power.
In other words,
in the battle,
don't be cowardly,
don't be weak,
don't be afraid,
expect victory.
So that's who he is.
We also need to know
some of his battle tactics.
Verse 11 mentions
the devil's schemes.
Literally,
the devil's methods
in warfare.
His battle devices,
his tactics,
if you like.
And he's got many of them,
but really,
they're characterised,
if you like,
into two main strategies.
In his preface
to his book,
The Screwtape Letters,
C.S. Lewis wrote
that there are two equal
and opposite errors
that the devil wants
all people to fall into.
And they're linked
to what I've just mentioned.
One strategy
is to disbelieve
the existence
of the devil
and his crew,
and the other
is to have
an excessive
and unhealthy
interest in them.
One is to overestimate,
one is to underestimate.
Lewis wrote,
they themselves,
referring to
Satan
and his buddies,
they themselves
are equally
pleased
by both errors
and hail
a materialist
or a magician
with the same delight.
You see,
the underestimator,
the materialist,
sees everything
in this world,
every evil
in this world,
as having
a natural
or a material
explanation.
It's
because
you're not educated
enough.
It's because
you're dropped
on your head
as a baby.
It's because
of your environment,
your disposition.
Everything
has a material
reason
and therefore
can be solved.
The
under-spiritual
approach
never
or very
rarely
takes the
cosmic war
into account.
Every problem
can therefore
be fixed
via
education,
medicine,
social awareness,
counselling,
good leadership,
that sort of stuff.
The
over-estimator
sees
absolutely
everything
as spiritual
and blames
everything
on the devil
and doesn't
see the
complexity
of a
fallen world
and God's
gracious
provision
of
education,
medicine,
leadership
and so on
and so forth.
So you've got
the
under-estimator
and the
over-estimator
and Satan's
happy with
both.
There are way
too many
Christians
who don't
consider
the spiritual
warfare
and way
too many
Christians
who attribute
everything to
Satan
and take
no
personal
account
at all.
I've
actually
know
of
someone
who
when
they
burnt
their
dinner
on
the
stove
cast
Satan
out
of
the
stove.
An
over-estimator.
No
responsibility
for taking
their eye
off the
pot.
It's all
Satan's
fault.
And so
before we
blame the
devil for
our gossip
and our
slander
and our
greed,
we need
to see
them as
personal
moral
failings
where we
are losing
the skirmishes
in the
wall
because we're
not taking
God's
word
seriously.
Both
the
under-estimator
and the
over-estimator
minimise
and reduce
evil.
That's what
they do.
That's their
problem.
Either
way,
Satan's
happy.
Now,
Satan's
schemes,
there's
his kind
of main
strategies,
if you
like,
but he's
got a
couple of
tactics
which are
also
two areas
which
are equal
and
opposite
lies
and
they
are
lies
that
infect
the
heart
of
the
Christian.
The
name
devil
is
the
Greek
word
diabolos
which is
where we
get our
English word
diabolical
and we
go,
oh yeah,
I know
diabolical,
I know
that word.
maybe we
don't
because the
verb form
of diabolos
means to
slander,
to lie,
to be a
malicious
gossip.
Fundamentally,
!
Satan
is a
liar
which is
why it's
essential
that we
be people
of truth.
It's the
opposite of
lies.
And I
think
unfortunately,
thanks to
Hollywood for
this one,
when we
think of
spiritual
warfare,
we think
of horror
movies and
possession,
out-of-body
experiences,
heads spinning
around,
black eyes,
green puke,
that kind
of stuff.
We think
of spiritual
warfare as
possession.
And yet,
that's
rarely what
we see in
the Bible.
And in
fact, it's
not even
his first
tactic.
When he
first shows
up in the
Bible,
in the
Garden of
Eden,
he doesn't
possess Eve,
he doesn't
possess Adam,
he lies to
them.
He takes
God's word
and distorts
it, and he
puts a lie
in the
heart.
His name
means that
he's a liar,
he's a
slanderer,
he's a
malicious
gossip.
And so
what the
devil does,
he doesn't
make a
good person
bad,
he makes
a flawed
person
worse.
pokes.
He pokes
the crack
that's
open,
he pokes
at it,
pokes at
what is
already
there lying
in my
heart,
and he
utilizes it
to destroy.
And there
are two
basic lies
that he
uses,
equal and
opposite
lies,
temptation
and accusation,
temptation
and accusation.
The
temptation
lie
gets a
person
to have
a too
high
view of
themselves
for their
morality,
the accusation
lie
gets a
person
to have
too
low
a view
of
themselves
and
with
it
Christ's
forgiveness.
With
the lie
of temptation,
what Satan
does with
that lie
is
he
hides
God's
holiness
and how
much he
hates
sin
and he
emphasizes
God's
forgiveness,
his love
and his
mercy.
With the
lie of
accusation,
what he
does to
your heart
is he
hides God's
love and
his forgiveness
and his
mercy
while
emphasizing
God's
holiness,
his
righteousness,
his
judgment
and
condemnation
is sin.
See how
it works?
Temptation
accusation.
In his
book,
Precious
Remedies
Against
Satan
Devices,
Thomas
Brooks,
1600s,
British,
English
pastor.
It's a
fantastic
book and
he lists
if you
want to
you can
just
download
this
thing
for a
couple
of
bucks
of
put on
your
Kindle
and
even if
you don't
read the
whole thing
just read
the list
the table
of contents
and what
he does
there is
he lists
dozens
and dozens
of lies
devices
of Satan
lies
of Satan
into
those two
categories
of temptation
and accusation.
I'll
mention
just a
few.
Here's
a couple
just on
the
temptation
side
of
things.
Tactic
of
Satan
he
presents
the
bait
but
he
hides
the
hook.
In
other
words
the
lie
he
sells
to
your
heart
is
the
short
term
pleasures
of
sin
and
he
hides
the
long
term
miserable
consequences
that
flow
from
it.
Another
he
paints
sin
with
virtues
colours.
I'm
not greedy
I'm
actually
frugal.
It's
not
adultery
it's
exploring.
nothing.
It's
not a
lie
it's
just
kind
of
like
a
half
truth.
Another
one
to
present
God
to the
soul
as
one
made
up
all
of
money
as
if
the
only
characteristic
of
God
is
that
he
is
just
love.
That's
it.
And
that's
his
job.
Doesn't
matter
if I
sin.
You
know
God's
in the
business
of
forgiveness
that's
what he
said
he
would
do.
And
the
worst
case
scenario
I
want
to
live
life
my
way
and
then
I'm
going
to
ask
for
forgiveness
on
my
deathbed.
Get
the
best
of
both
worlds.
It's
a
life
here's
a
few
on
the
accusation
side.
By
causing
them
that
is
the
Christian
to
keep
dwelling
on
and
thinking
about
sin
to
focus
on
their
sins
more
than
their
saviour.
Much
more
aware
what
the
devil
does
is
he
ensures
that
the
Christian
takes
ten
looks
at
their
sin
to
every
look
that
they
might
take
it
their
saviour.
And
when
they
do
they
see
him
as
righteous.
Another
one
by
making
Christians
think
that
the
troubles
they
are
going
through
must
be
punishments
from
God.
Again
hiding
God's
sovereignty
and his
mercy
and him
walking
with you
and highlighting
the fact
that he's
on your
side
should
you
not
have
a
good
life.
You're
suffering
this
because
you've
done
something
wrong
and God
is
punishing
you.
Another
one.
By
persuading
Christians
that their
situation
is not
good,
their
hearts
are not
sincere,
their
virtues
are not
genuine
because
they
are
so
followed,
vexed
and
tormented
with
temptations.
In
other
words,
this
Christian
life is
so hard
and if
I really
was a
Christian
I would
not
clearly
have
those
thoughts,
I would
not have
these
desires,
I would
not
constantly
failing.
I'm
an
imposter.
Another
do any
of those
sound
familiar
to you
at all?
And
depending
on your
disposition
you'll
hear one
lie more
than the
other.
Depending
on your
disposition
because
Satan
knows
the
absolute
perfect
lie
for
each
one of
us
and if
we ever
get
clued
up
he'll
shift
his
tactics
to
tackle
another
one
instead.
Come
at us
from
another
one
instead.
And so
what it
means is
we need
to know
the
enemy
and we
need
to know
which
scheme
he
particularly
what is
his
tactic
that he
specifically
uses
on
me
and
be
crafty
enough
to
keep
changing
them
as soon
as
you
become
aware
of
them.
And so
we need
to know
how to
fight.
There's
his
weapons
and
strategies
that's
the
war
we're
involved
in.
Verse
13
onwards
is how
the
Christian
fights
this
spiritual
battle
and I'm
not going
to unpack
this in
detail
because you
could.
One
commentary
I've got
on these
passages
these
nine
verses
even
less
than
nine
verses
here
all up
when you
take
verses
10
to
20
is
1200
pages
long.
So
we don't
have time
for that.
So let me
be brief.
Therefore
put on
verse 13
put on
the full
armour 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
firm
then.
Paul
is
so
conscious
of the
need
for the
Christian
to
stand
in
the
battle.
He
wants
us
to be
able
to
stand
not
falter
not
fall.
So
notice
the
order
verse
13
put
on
the
armour
so
that
you
can
stand
when
the
day
of
evil
comes
or
the
time
of
special
pressure.
In other
words
put on
the armour
first
so that
you are
ready
for
the war.
If you
and I don't
want to
sound too
light when I
say this
but
if you
were living
in a
war
zone
right
now
you
don't
wait
for the
bombs
to start
dropping
before you
build your
bunker.
Do you?
And the
reason
that I
personally
never ever
built
a
bomb
bunker
is because
I don't
live in a
war zone.
never
needed it.
The point
is
if you
do not
think
if you're
a Christian
and you
are not
aware
consciously
that there
is a
spiritual
battle
going on
that life
is going
okay
then your
default
position
is to
spiritually
coast.
You're
not fighting
a battle.
And
then all
of a
sudden
when the
timer
pressure
hits
and the
flaming
arrows
of Satan
start to
descend
what
where
did I
put that
shield?
What did
I do
with that
thing?
Ah it's
over there
in the
fire pit.
It is the
fire pit.
that's
what
happens
and you're
not able
to stand.
And so
when we
spiritually
coast and
we're not
aware of
the spiritual
battle
where our
prayer life
is almost
non-existent,
we don't
read or
try to
grow in
our
understanding
of God's
word,
worship is
not a
high priority
of the
church,
our
involvement
at church
is light
and we
are certainly
not working
on the
deep change
in our
lives that
chapters 4
and 5
tell us
to work
at.
We're not
taking off
the old
and putting
on the
new.
We're
coasting.
And when
the bombs
start dropping
it's too
late
because the
armoring of
the soul
takes time.
every
single
day
is a
testing
ground.
Most of
us are
not even
aware
from the
moment we
got up
to the
gathering
right now
we've
already
been
involved
in tens
if not
hundreds
of skirmishes
in our
heart.
And so
what happens
when you're
in a
skirmish
that you're
not aware
of?
You lose.
That's what
happens.
Now we
often attribute
the big
battles in
life to
spiritual
warfare but
fail to see
the little
skirmishes
that are
happening
every day.
For
instance
have you
ever
thought
go
down the
list in
Ephesians
4 and
5 and
pick one
that's suitable
for you
but have
you ever
thought that
impatience is
spiritual
battle?
Ever
thought about
that?
When you got
impatient with
someone?
It's a
spiritual battle
raging.
in that
moment for
us is
we've all
got those
people in
our lives
and the
default
instinct of
the heart
is
idiots
which is
not just
the default
instinct of
my heart
but also
the default
thing that
comes out
of my
mouth
because
what is
in the
heart
comes out
of their
mouth
when I'm
in traffic.
Idiots.
Look at
that idiot.
I became
aware of
it personally
when one
of my
children
sitting in
their car
seat as
a 4 year
old
noticed
someone
before I
did
in traffic
and went
idiot.
There you
go your
children teach
you what
goes on
in your
hearts.
But the
instinct of
the heart
is this
person is
getting in
my way
they're
making my
life
difficult
and what
Satan is
doing there
in that
moment
is his
poking
look at
that idiot.
You're
absolutely
right Steve
you would
not do
that.
There's
no way
you'd
do
that.
There's
no way
you'd
get in
someone's
way.
No way
you'd
make that
mistake.
Your time
is so much
more important.
What if
in that
moment
we saw
it as a
spiritual
battle
and
instead
change
the voice
of my
heart.
God
as I'm
reminded
as my
impatience
comes and
I'm
reminded
of this
person
in front
of me
God
my
impatience
towards
that person
makes me
wonder
how you
see me
my
faults
my
flaws
my
failings
my
sin
God
where would
I be
if you
treated me
like I'm
currently
treating
that person
right there
do you do
that instinctively
see it as
spiritual
warfare
in the
shopping
line
in traffic
at work
do you
do that
instinctively
in the
heart
not seeing
any
heads
nodding
let me
just say
I don't
do it
either
and so
I lose
another
skirmish
every
single
day
we're
afforded
opportunities
to hear
the
instinctive
thoughts
of our
hearts
to hear
the lies
that Satan
is putting
in there
and to
put on
the armor
of God
and to
push those
lies out
and change
but if
we're not
aware
that there
is a
battle
raging
we lose
but friends
this
is
routine
spiritual
warfare
and he
gives us
our weapons
and our
strategies
there are
seven
items
in the
armor
and I'm
going to
be super
brief
I'm not
going to
try to
condense
1200 pages
if you like
but I'll be
super
brief
the belt
of truth
in verse
14
is the
very first
item
and it's
in fact
the
foundational
principle
it is
in fact
the
foundational
principle
because the
actual word
there is
not so much
a belt
like this
that I've
got on the
outside of
me
holding my
pants up
the belt
of truth
was a
leather
undergarment
that went
under all
of the
armor
that covered
right down
to the
lowest end
it's the
undergarment
a big
thick leather
chunk of
stuff
that
covered
all of
you
from
and it's
the
foundational
to stand
firm
in the
battle
you must
be a
person
filled
with the
truth
of the
revelation
of God
in the
scriptures
with the
gospel of
the Lord
Jesus
Christ
at its
center
the truth
of who
Jesus
is
and what
he's
achieved
for us
Jesus
is the
way
the
truth
and the
life
it is
the
belt
of
truth
it is
the
foundation
of the
Christian
life
and
everything
else
in here
the
breastplate
of righteousness
the shoes
of peace
the
shield
of faith
the helmet
of salvation
if you
go back
into
chapters
one
and two
you'll
see
all of
these
things
as
benefits
that
flow
from
the
gospel
they're
all
privileges
of the
Christian
and
Paul
is
saying
your
very
foundation
of your
life
is the
truth
of the
gospel
the
truth
of God's
self
revelation
in his
word
and what
you need
to do
in take
up the
armor
is you
need
to take
up
all the
privileges
that are
yours
in
Christ
and
remind
yourself
of
them
drill
them
into
your
heart
and
push
out
the
lies
of
Satan
every
moment
and
how do
we do
that
the last
two
items
the
sword
of the
spirit
which is
the word
of God
and
praying
the
spirit
these
are
two
means
provisions
from
God
where
we
take
up
the
benefits
that
we
have
in
Christ
where
we're
reminded
of the
truth
of who
we
are
in
him
of who
God
is
and
what
he's
achieved
for
us
Bible
and
prayer
Bible
and
prayer
Bible
and
prayer
the
basic
spiritual
weapons
of our
warfare
are
Bible
and
prayer
I've
been
saying it
for five
years
at least
and I'll
keep saying
it again
and again
how are
you doing
with that
there is
a reason
why
if you
are not
taking
up
the
scriptures
and praying
into personal
devotional life
at least
four times
a week
while you
are not
going
anywhere
in your
spiritual
life
it's
because
you're
losing
the
skirmishes
a daily
habit
of taking
up these
offensive
and
defensive
weapons
how well
are you
doing
are you
doing
it
do you
even
know
how
to
do
it
are you
reflecting
on it
during the
course
of your
day
what is
your
personal
prayer
life
like
right
now
and
secondly
with that
as well
how are you
going
with
spiritual
friendship
because
none
of us
are able
to stand
on our
own
we
must
stand
together
spiritual
friendships
where we're
encouraged
to stand
firm
to be
held
accountable
in the
battle
to be
what is
God
teaching
praying for
each other
and what is
God
teaching
you
how is
he
changing
you
a weekly
habit
at the
very least
of spiritual
friendship
and
most likely
daily
when the
time of
special
pressure
comes
and what
about
Bible
and
prayer
on the
level
that
we're
doing
right
now
how does
that fit
in
to your
weekly
habits
where we
come under
the authority
of God's
word
we need
each other
we need
the preaching
of the
word
we need
the sacraments
which is a
form of
prayer
and a
physical
reminder
of the
truth
of the
gospel
we need
all of
these
things
in order
to stand
together
my last
point
as we
fight this
battle
we need
to know
who's
fought for
us
and continues
to fight
for us
all this
talk of
spiritual
warfare
and armor
can be a
little bit
unsettling
and it
certainly
is in
our day
and age
in the
western
world
where
you know
the concept
of
Christians
battling
evil in
the world
and slaying
everything
that's not
Christian
and you
know
that kind
of stuff
but it
can also
be unsettling
because it's
not what we
expect of the
Christian life
we expect a
life and you
hear this
you know
go on
YouTube
watch sermons
from certain
areas of the
Christian church
it just talks
about victory
victory
in your
life
not battle
at all
it's
important
for us
to know
the one
who has
fought for
us
and continues
to fight
for us
in the
middle of
the battle
as the
war rages
around us
and in
us
we need
to look
to the
one
who
continues
to fight
for us
on the
basis
that he
already
has
fought
for us
although
our
opponents
are
formidable
they are
nothing
compared
to our
God
in the
Old
Testament
God
is
described
as a
divine
warrior
who
fights
against
evil
and
injustice
and so
you see
this in
Exodus
15
verse
3
God
has
rescued
his
people
Israel
out of
slavery
in Egypt
out of
the
grasp
of
slavery
of
the
most
formidable
empire
in the
world
at
its
time
and
then
in
Exodus
13
verse
3
in
this
song
as
they're
on
the
other
side
of
the
Red
Sea
God
is
our
warrior
he
is
our
warrior
crucially
though
as
you go
through
the
Old
Testament
something
else
appears
when
it's
Israel
doing
the
sin
and
the
oppression
God
is a
warrior
against
them
and
sends
them
back
into
exile
and
he
destroys
he
uses
their
enemies
to
destroy
them
in
other
words
what
you
see
in
the
God
of
the
Bible
here
is
not
a
Christian
nationalism
at
all
you
see
a
God
who
shows
no
favoritism
he's
against
evil
and
injustice
whoever
perpetrates
it
that's
what you
see
and
so
at
the
end
of
the
Old
Testament
when
God's
people
are
in
exile
Israel
are
bemoaning
the
fact
and
they're
under
the
rule
of
an
oppressive
empire
and
the
prophets
start
looking
forward
to
the
day
when
God
will
become
their
divine
warrior
again
and
release
them
from
slavery
again
and
defeat
their
enemies
again
and
Daniel
7
mentions
a
divine
warrior
who
will
come
with
the
angels
and
the
armies
of
God
to
defeat
all
evil
on
the
earth
Daniel
in
his
vision
looks
to
the
ancient
of
days
God
himself
and
says
I
will
send
the
son
of
man
hundreds
of
years
later
along
comes
Jesus
and
takes
up
the
title
the
son
of
man
and
his
followers
in
that
moment
are
thinking
finally
you know
talk about
the armor
of God
look at
all these
Roman
soldiers
that are
currently
occupying
us
Jesus
is going
to come
along
look at
him
look at
what
Jesus
can
do
Exodus
14
God
divides
the
sea
with
wind
and
the
waves
and
Jesus
calms
the
wind
and
the
waves
the
divine
warrior
is
here
he's
going
to
defeat
the
Romans
he's
going
to
set
us
free
but
he
doesn't
raise
up
an
army
to
wound
instead
he
heals
and
he
forgives
and
he
restores
and
he
feeds
and
even
when
the
Roman
soldiers
come
to
arrest
him
with
all
their
armor
and
their
swords
he
doesn't
fight
them
you
know
Peter
quick
to act
and slow
to speak
and slow
to think
I think
Peter
whips
out his
sword
ready to
fight
for the
cause
of
Jesus
and
defeat
the
Romans
and
Jesus
says
put
it
away
have
you
not
understood
anything
about
me
you
see
Jesus
is
the
divine
warrior
that
we
need
and
if
Jesus
had
risen
up
in
that
moment
following
Peter's
instruction
and if
he had
defeated
the
Romans
that's
as far
as the
victory
would
go
and it
would
mean
absolutely
nothing
for the
rest of
us
in
human
history
but if
he
also
came
to
pick
up
the
sword
in
order
to
destroy
all
evil
none
of
us
would
be
left
because
evil
is
in
the
heart
we're
the
problem
I
mean
Jesus
even
said
to
Pilate
don't
you
realize
I
could
call
down
legions
of
angels
right
now
they
are
at
my
disposal
right
now
you
have
no
control
or power
over
me
at
all
he
could
have
saved
himself
but
instead
of
taking
up
a
sword
in
his
hand
he
surrendered
those
hands
to
nails
he
bared
he
if you
like
bore
the
sword
of
God's
judgment
on
all
evil
he
overcame
evil
with
good
he
saves
his
enemies
by
loving
and
forgiving
and
dying
for
his
enemies
and
can
you
see
the
war
that's
going
on
every
time
we
coast
every
time
we
coast
and
we
allow
impatience
and
we
coast
and
we
allow
anger
and
we
coast
and
we
allow
hate
and
we
coast
and
we
allow
bitterness
and
we
coast
and
we
allow
resentment
and envy
and greed
and selfishness
to go
unchecked
in the
heart
do you
see
that we're
destroying
the work
of Christ
in our
hearts
do you
see
that we're
taking the
tarnish
of God's
trophy
and
Satan
wins
when
we
coast
and
not
just
that
our
neighbours
are
condemned
to hell
because
there's
nothing
attractive
about
us
and
Satan
loves
it
and
Satan
loves
it
and
he's
going to
to
him
to
have
to
him
!
to