THE SIX WEAPONS OF THE CHRISTIAN

As Christians we have some weapons to use when we’re involved in ministry. Just to clarify ministry is not when you are ordained as a minister. The moment you become a Christian you already have a ministry and you are on an assignment. Remember we’re not fighting against physical people. We’re fighting against spiritual forces.

2 Corinthians 10:4-5 “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of this world. On the contrary, they have divine power to tear down strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” The battlefield for spiritual warfare is primarily in the thought life, in your mind. Notice it says the weapons we use, what do they do. Demolish arguments – that’s the way people think. We pull down pretension – that’s the way people think. We take captive every thought.

When somebody is opposing you, they’re not the real problem. The problem is the thoughts the devil’s giving them to oppose you. The problem is not that person. The problem is what they’re acting on. You always act on what you think. They’re getting thoughts from the wrong source. There are only two sources for thoughts. When we get thoughts from God, we call it inspiration. When we get thoughts from the devil, we call it temptation. Which are we going to accept? God’s thoughts – inspiration? Or temptation – from the devil?

Satan, the Bible teaches, holds people captive through the mind.
2 Corinthians 4:4 “He blinds peoples minds.”
2 Corinthians 11:3 “He corrupts people’s minds.”
Hebrews 2:14-15 “He holds them in bondage through fear.” Which is a mental attitude. “There are strongholds in our mind.”

So then what are the weapons we have as Christians

1. The Truth.
The Bible says “You’ll know the truth and the truth will set you free.” The Bible says that the sword of the spirit is the word of God. The word of God is the truth. The truth is our sword. It cuts through all the mustard. It gets right to the point. When you are in a conflict, the question you want to ask yourself is this: What does God say about this? Because the truth is the first weapon. You ask yourself, How does the Lord see this situation? How does the Lord see this service? How does the Lord see this act of ministry I’m about to do? So our first weapon – 1 Peter 1:13 “Therefore prepare your mind for action. Be self-controlled. Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you.” What is grace? It’s not only the power to save you, it’s the power that enables you to minister. So before you minister, set your mind for action, be controlled, set your hope on the grace that’s going to be given to you. Say, “Lord, I know You’re going to give me the power. You’re going to give me the power to do this.”

2. Humility.
James 4:6-7 “God gives strength to the humble but sets Himself against the proud and haughty. So give yourselves humbly to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” The more you humble yourself before God, the more power you will have in your life. That’s just the way it works. As we walk before the Lord humbly and say, “Lord, I humble myself before You. I can’t do this on my own. But You are the vine and I am the branch. Apart from You I can bear nothing but with You I can do what I need to do.” It doesn’t matter what you do. Whether you’re being a Care Caller or a Greeter or Lay Pastor or Singer or whatever, you say, “Lord, I’m depending on You to help me as I deal with people.” If you deal with people, you’re in for a lot of surprises. People are strange. God gives strength to the humble. Humble yourself.
Humble yourself before the Lord. As we humble ourselves, that’s a weapon. As we submit to God, all of a sudden, all the power of God comes into our lives.

3. Faith.
The Bible talks about the shield of faith. 1 John 5:4 “This is how we win the victory over the world, with our faith.” Without even talking to you in detail, I can tell you exactly what God’s doing in your ministry. He’s doing what you expect Him to do. You study the Scripture, you find out that every time God does a miracle – He moves out of heaven and moves on to earth because somebody believes. Faith is a powerful, powerful tool. The devil’s pulling one way and the Holy Spirit’s pulling the other way and somehow our faith has a part in that warfare.
If you want to see miracles, be specific. The more specific you are, the more miracles you see. Faith is one incredible tool. Whatever you want to see happen in your ministry or in your Christian walk believe it will happen. If you need more workers, pray and believe more workers will show up. If you need more people in your group, believe that God will bring them. Pray and believe and ask and expect in advance.

4. Praise.
There is tremendous power in these four things – in the truth of God’s word, in humility, in faith, in praising God. Particularly praising God in advance. Revelation 12:11-12 “They overcame him [Satan] by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony. Therefore rejoice, you heavens, and you who inhabit them.” It says rejoice. How did they overcome the devil? By the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony. They were praising God. God says when people praise, the Bible says “God inhabits the praises of His people.” There’s power in the praise of God.

5. Call on the Holy Spirit.
The Bible says in 1 John 4:4 (this is combination of the Living Bible and the New International Version) “You belong to God and have already won your fight because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” 2 Timothy 1:7 ”For the Spirit that God has given us does not make us timid. Instead, His Spirit fills us with power, love and self control.” So you say, “God, fill me with Your Spirit as I’m about to do this.” Whether it’s stuffing bulletins, connecting the sound system, setting up, taking down, whatever it is – “God, may Your Spirit fill me!” The Bible says,“Whatever you do, do it heartily as unto the Lord and not unto men.” I’m doing this for Jesus’ sake. Call on the Holy Spirit.

6. Avoid all distractions.
This is one thing I think the Lord has taught me and is teaching me over the years. If you’re going to be effective in ministry, in battle, you’ve got to focus yourself. 2 Timothy 2:3-4 (Living Bible)”Take your share of suffering as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Do not let yourself become tied up in worldly affairs for then you cannot satisfy the One who has enlisted you into His army.” Don’t get distracted. You know what’s important in life. There are so many things that want a piece of your time. The reason why there aren’t more people here tonight is because of this very thing. They’ve chosen distractions over ministry. They’ve got so many other “good” things. The good can be the enemy of the best.“No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs. He wants to please His commanding officer.” We come to Jesus Christ and say “Reporting for duty, Lord!” There are a lot of good things you could be involved in, a lot of ways you could spend your time. But you have one person to please and only one – the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you are pleasing Him, that’s what is going to count at the end of my life. Avoid the distractions. If you get distracted the enemy is going to catch up with you, catch you off guard and devastate you. So the question is, what’s distracting you from ministry?

Take these 6 weapons to heart. Meditate upon them and God will reveal more to you. If you have comments, please write them in the comment box below. Shalom, Peace and life to you.

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