HOW TO ENGAGE THE ENEMY AND WIN --- CONTINUE

E. When YHVH is preparing us for a great work for His glory:
Every time an individual or a church is called by YHVH to do a great work for His glory satan goes on the attack. While you are preparing your heart, your mind and your soul for whatever it is YHVH is calling you to do, satan is preparing himself to bring you and the work down. Maybe YHVH has called you to be a missionary and you are ready to answer that call. You begin praying and studying about where YHVH could use you; you start looking into some education to help prepare you to do this work; the next thing you know things start going wrong for you, you start doubting the call and you begin to wonder if you really have what it takes after all. Or a ministry like TTN begins to sense that YHVH is calling us to grow, win more people to Moshiach and to plant ministries for His glory. All of a sudden, people begin to wonder if YHVH can really do the things through us that He is calling us to do. They become complacent and watch others around them doing all the work or they start to drop out because for whatever reason they do not see themselves being a part of the great work of YHVH anymore. Those are all satanic attacks that we need to be aware of; in fact, I doubt that anyone that is a Moshiach follower, has not experienced at least one of these types of things in their faith walk.

ENGAGING THE ENEMY:

Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of Elohim. -- Ephesians 6:16-17. Here we find three more weapons that YHVH has placed at our disposal;

A -- With the Shield of Faith:
Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. -- Ephesians 6:16. In the New Testament there are two different words for -- shield. One is the small, circular shield, shaped like a rubbish bin lid and the other is a long rectangular shield and is taken from the word used for a large door because it is shaped kind of like a door. The large, door-shaped shield is what Paul is referring to here. A properly trained Roman soldier could use that shield so that no part of his body could be reached by the missiles of the enemy; it protected him completely. This is the kind of faith Paul was talking about when he referred to it as a shield. When we are doing battle with satan, the moment we begin to cause him any trouble, we are guaranteed that he is going to launch a counterattack. He will attack our minds, our hearts, our bodies and our finances, so we need to have a shield that covers us entirely. He will attack us at any point he can reach, which is the point that we are most vulnerable. If he cannot attack us, he will attack those that are closest to us, like our spouse or children. We must have a shield that is big enough to protect everything for which YHVH has made us responsible, including ourselves, our family and everything YHVH has committed to us. The fiery darts of the wicked one come fast and furiously and they are going to continue to come. The only thing that will bat them down is this shield of faith. The shield of faith is built and strengthened the more that we place our whole trust in the power of YHVH. Sometimes we have questions that we do not have answers to, sometimes things do not go the way we think that they should, sometimes people get sick and die and we do not want them to, but in every case, we have to ultimately place our faith in YHVH.

B -- With the Helmet of Salvation:
And take the helmet of salvation… --Ephesians 6:17. Here we find protection for our minds; the helmet protected the head from the enemy. We need to recognize that YHVH appeals to the heart, but He also appeals to the intellect and throughout the Scriptures YHVH uses reason with man. -- Come now, and let us reason together, saith Adonai: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. -- Isaiah 1:18. YHVH wants us to use our minds, to think, to understand, to reason, but that is very difficult to do when we leave our minds unprotected. It is in the mind that we are assaulted with images that fill our thoughts with things that keep us from keeping our focus on YHVH. In this day and age we need to guard this even more as we see the most graphical of sexual images everywhere that we look. We are bombarded with aberrant philosophies that try to dethrone YHVH and enthrone man. We are made to think that what YHVH’s Word says about homosexuality, purity and righteousness is old-fashioned and unnecessary in our day and age. We need something to protect our minds from this bombardment that is coming at us from satan and we have it, it is the helmet of salvation. He is not talking here about our initial salvation experience, but the hope that our salvation offers us. -- But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation. -- 1 Thessalonians 5:8. The hope that comes from knowing that we are saved and secure in our relationship with Yeshua Moshiach gives us the ability to focus clearly on the things of YHVH. It puts all of the philosophies of the world and all of the attacks on our minds, in proper perspective. Knowing and cherishing the fact that we are YHVH’s children and that our salvation is sure, keeps us from giving into those things that would pull us astray. If you do not have that hope today, you have opened up your mind to the attacks of the enemy, but if you do have that hope, you have one of the greatest weapons of all at your disposal.

C -- With the Sword of the Spirit:
And the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of YHVH. -- Ephesians 6:17. There is one thing that distinguishes this weapon from the others listed: this is a weapon used as much for offence as it is for defence. Without it, we have no way to drive off satan and the demonic powers. If we put on all the other items of armour, we might be able to prevent the devil from wounding us, but we cannot drive him from our presence. The one thing in this list that can do this is the Sword of the Spirit, which our text tells us, is the Word of Elohim. The Bible compares YHVH’s Word to a Sword because His Word pierces and penetrates. -- For the Word of YHVH is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. -- Hebrews 4:12 YHVH’s Word penetrates to every area of human personality, to the very deepest parts of our inner being. In the book of Revelation, where John had a vision of Yeshua in His Glory and as Adonai of the Church, one of the things he saw was a Sword coming out of the Mouth of Yeshua. -- And He had in His right Hand seven stars: and out of His Mouth went a sharp two edged Sword: and His countenance was as the sun shineth in His Strength. -- Revelation 1:16. That sharp two-edged Sword is the Word of YHVH coming out of the Mouth of Yeshua. Yeshua Himself used that Sword against satan when He was tempted in the wilderness by satan and we would do well to follow His example. One of the most interesting things that took place in the wilderness temptation is that satan never questioned the authority of YHVH’s Word. In our text where Paul refers to the Sword of the Spirit being the Word of YHVH, it is important to note that there are two words for – Word -- in the original language. One stands for the written word, but the one Paul chooses here stands for the spoken word. In other words, it is not the Bible on your shelf that has the power; it is the Bible that is coming out of your mouth that has the power. And that word will only come from your mouth when you have filled your mind with it and have begun to live it out in your daily experience. Remember then, YHVH’s Weapons are at our disposal. They are not complicated, they are not hard to use and they are simply the weapons that come to us when we are fully committed to our relationship with YHVH.