Now there are those who claim that the devil brought the coronavirus into life or being. Others say it was the judgment of God. I think Richard and I, over the recent weeks, we've kind of been threading this into our sermons to try and show that whilst everything is under the authority of God, and we certainly deserve the judgment of God, the virus has been at least allowed of God. And beyond that, God's purposes are manifold. And we have to say we don't know the rest. And we have to be very careful not to make up what we don't know. There's certainly sufficient of what we do know. Now having said that, the devil is very active in the age in which we live. Indeed, the scripture indicates that he will become more and more active as he sees the end drawing nigh. And Christians have always been the target of the devil and during this lock time period we have to be very careful that he will use every opportunity to try and trip us up and he's certainly very active in society. Now with these things in mind I want over the next few weeks to draw your attention to what the Lord gives us in respect of the devices that we may put up against the evil one. We're all engaged in this warfare and it's important that we are familiar with the warfare that's going on around us. You know at any time there are a number of people in the world that are engaged in warfare. One would hope at the moment that many wars have come to at least a halt for a while, but there are still pockets of warfare around the world. And yet the most important war that rages is that for our souls. And yet that's the warfare probably that people are unaware of. It's the battle for the soul of mankind. As Bunyan put it, man's soul. If you've not read that book, it's certainly worth reading. Now everyone listening has some knowledge of these things, but when it comes to the battle, some people tend to think they're spectators. Some think that perhaps these things are more for pastors and preachers and missionaries. But you know, every Christian is called to be engaged in the battle. And our reading in Ephesians chapter 6 tells us something of the how, why and wherefore of that battle. It's a very important passage for us. Now I started reading at verse 10. And verse 10 starts with a word that people generally like to hear in a sermon. It's that word finally. Although I'm saying it now, we're right at the beginning of the sermon. Paul wasn't saying there, oh, by the way, finally, there's just something else I want to say. Rather, this is the conclusion of much of what he's been saying in his letter to the church at Ephesus. He's continuing the same thread that's been going on earlier on in the letter. In chapters 1 to 3, for example, Paul has been writing about the great doctrines of faith, reminding the readers of who they were and what they had become in Jesus Christ and what Christ indeed had done for them. He talks about them being filled with all his fullness. He talks about all of this through the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Then in chapter 4 he begins to tell them how to put that into practice, how they should be living. So for example he says, I therefore the prisoner of the law beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye were called. And he continues to set out the Christian life in the home in the church and right through to the end of his letter. And here in these verses he's setting out the battle that each Christian has to contend with as part of their everyday lives. This is the sharp end of being a Christian. Now this is a most important subject and I want to let you know what we might be looking at in the next few weeks. And there are three main sessions here, or three main issues. First of all, we're to be strong in the Lord. Now, that's what it means to be a soldier. What is the warfare? Where's the battle? Who, what is our enemy? That's the first part of being strong in the Lord. Then secondly, we'll be looking at putting on the whole armour of God. What does that mean? We need to look at each piece of that armour because it has a particular relevance there. And then finally Paul says we must watch and pray. Two key things for blessing in the church and in our lives. Two things that most of us have really still got a lot to learn about. Now we're not looking at all of that this morning, we're only looking at the first part, and only a part of that, being strong in the Lord. I've called that the call to battle. And you find those words in verse 10, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. You know, we have to start here because as any soldier going into training would not be given a machine gun on the first day. Imagine the turmoil and problems that that would give. He would need to be built up. He would need to have many things explained to them before they could actually be fit to go into battle. As soldiers, we're not meant to be weak and ineffective. We need to be fit for the battle. What does the scripture say then about being a soldier and being fit for battle? Now whilst I've read from Ephesians 6 this morning, our text is actually going to come from 2 Timothy chapter 2 and it's verse 3 and 4 because that verse tells us what it means to be a Christian soldier. Let me read the verse. Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that woreth entangle himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. So that verse presupposes a number of things for those in battle. And I'm just going to pull out a few of those then this morning. First of all, we see then to be a Christian soldier, it involves hardship. It says in that verse, endure hardness. Paul knew all about that. Our Savior knew all about that. One of the problems for many of us in the West is that we don't have to endure much hardness. We think at the moment we're having a rough time because we're shut away, we're isolated, many of us, but that's not really much of a hardship for many of us. You know, when the heat is turned up, When you're living in northern Nigeria or you're in a camp in North Korea, or perhaps in a prison in China or Iran, you begin then to see what it is to endure hardness. And even here, particularly when we haven't got these restrictions, if you begin to engage in evangelism, If you strive with the Lord for holiness, you'll find the devil will become very active. The battle rages. As soon as you set extra time aside for prayer, the battle rages. Hardship for Paul was, well, he had near poverty in this world's goods. He had physical suffering. He had complaints and murmurings from the Lord's people, and he was certainly tempted by the evil one. Now that wasn't just what we might call a spiritual battle. It was his everyday battle. It was a battle that he endured in respect of his whole life. We have to be careful not to think about our spiritual battle being something separate from everyday life. This is something that we're engaged in through and through. You know, sometimes we think it's a hardship to turn out, particularly on a cold winter's night, maybe to get to the prayer meeting. We think, oh, we're going to leave the warmth of the house or, you know, to go and visit someone. These things are not hardship. Those things are just things that we do. Paul said in any event, what is the hardship? What is the persecutions compared to the glory that is to come? And my friends, I think if we never know any persecution, if we never know any hardship, then we have to question whether we are soldiers. He says endure hardness, it's something that has to be done. I don't mean making ourselves deliberately awkward. I don't mean saying things that are deliberately provocative in order that people will oppose us and then we say we're persecuted. I'm talking about living a natural, holy, Christian life, trying to share the gospel. This will be part of our engagement in this warfare. So then, we're in a spiritual war and as such we will endure hardship. Secondly, it says we're to be good soldiers. Endure hardness as a good soldier. In other words, we start with the premise that every Christian should be an out-and-out Christian. Every Christian should not be going for bronze. We should be going for gold. The Bible knows nothing of those who just scrape by. I remember many years ago doing a correspondence course, and every lesson I had come back had a good mark, but there was never really any comments. And I just wondered whether I was really doing too much. Was I giving them too much of an answer? Did I need to put so much effort into it? So I lessened what I did and I kept lessening what I did until I got a response that indicated perhaps I was just scraping by. And scraping by was not going to be good enough to get the grade. So I had to up what I was doing again. Christianity is not a lifestyle. To decide whether to engage in a battle isn't just something that we're going to do. It's something that we're meant to be. You know, what value does a poor soldier have? One who doesn't engage in the battle. One who doesn't support the cause. They become a liability. Any soldier would tell you that. If there's someone there that's not committed. Then of course there's the danger of friendly fire. How sad that is when we hear of soldiers being killed by friendly fire. And we have to think of that, don't we? It seems to be a strange term for someone on your side, There is a danger of wounding one another in this battle with harsh words or perhaps deeds that are nearly not really thought through. We're meant to be good soldiers, not to scrape by. Thirdly, we're not to get entangled with the world around us. Back to our verse, no man that wars entangles himself with the affairs of this life. To soldier, perhaps is in a foreign land, is engaged in all that's going on there. And they're not too concerned about making a home there. That's not their home. They want to get back to their home. They want to finish the war and get on with it. And my friends, we are just but traveling through here. We often ought to think of home, that this is a temporary warfare in that sense. Soldiers don't settle down in their war zone, and we're not to settle down where we are here in the world. Our mission whilst we're here is to worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. Our mission is to tell people of the gospel, to live a holy life, to tell people that they can be spared from that judgment and eternal damnation, to tell them that there is forgiveness and eternal life in Jesus Christ. And as we do those things, that is a part of the battle. We haven't really got time to get entangled with the things of the world. Indeed, we could perhaps challenge ourselves this morning and say, have I really spent time in prayer this week for the unconverted? Or have I perhaps spent more time with the entertainments of this world? It's a real challenge, isn't it? We're meant to be in the battle. What else does it say? It says that we should be soldiers that please the Lord. It says that we might please him. Who is him? He's the captain of our salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ. By being good soldiers, by engaging in the battle, the Lord is pleased. And this is a sermon within a sermon, although it will be a very short one. And I know I've preached on this before. The Bible tells us the things that please God and we ought to do something simply to please Him as we do things for one another sometimes because it will please our friends, our husbands, our wives or whoever. The scripture says faith pleases God, without faith it is impossible to please Him. Preaching the gospel, the scripture says it pleases God by the apparent foolishness of preaching to save them that belief. Creation is something that pleases God. Whosoever or whatsoever the Lord pleased, that he did in heaven and earth, the sea and all the deep places. When you look at the animals, the flowers, the trees, the stars, you're seeing things that please God to create. Elsewhere we read loving kindness, judgment, righteousness, to do his will, to build the church. These are things the scripture says actually please God. we can add to that list this morning, it pleases him for us to be good soldiers. It is when we please him that he is pleased to hear and answer prayer. You know, sin prevents the Lord attending our prayers. We have to pay attention to those things. Remember the account of Akang, Israel lost the battle of Ai because one man had sinned, prevented prayer. They were not good soldiers. They might have fought well, but because they hadn't got that right behavioral relationship with God, at least that one man hadn't, then they lost the battle. I'll give you an example that I know I've used on another occasion. Some of you might have heard of Sammy Tippett, who was an American evangelist, did a lot of work soon after the Iron Curtain came down. He was telling a story of how he was working with Christians in the Ukraine. That was before their current warfare. And they booked a stadium to preach the gospel. And many invitations had gone out. And at the last minute, the local general tore up the contract and said they couldn't use the stadium. The Christian mission could not be held. And they didn't know quite what to do. They wanted to speak to the general to try and get the stadium back again, but they couldn't do that. However, a more sympathetic member of the armed forces there who had a certain amount of power, he saw their plight and he said, well, I can give you another stadium, but it is much smaller. And after much prayer, they decided to take that. And the man sent soldiers to direct everyone to the right place. And then just as Sammy left the hotel, it rained. And it really rained, it was a real downpour. And they prayed all the way to the venue, Lord, if it keeps like this, people just won't come, they won't stay. It turned out that over the stadium, that was the only place where it didn't rain. And many people were converted, and that was a wonderful experience. But on the way home, Sammy Tippett had two carpets with him. They were souvenirs. One had come from Romania, and one from Russia. And he was only allowed to take one home. And he could take the one from Romania, but he wasn't allowed to take the one from Russia. But it was the one from Russia that he really wanted. I think that was probably the most expensive one. And so Sammy said, well, I thought about switching the labels. If I put the Romanian one on the Russian one, they'd let me take that through. They wouldn't know the difference. And as I was thinking about that, he says, one of the team came up to me and says, I bet you could get the carpet out of the country, but the next time you ask God to stop it to rain, he won't. And there's some truth in that. As soldiers, we are to be right with God. If we're not right with God, we cannot expect him to be right with us in answering our prayers. And Sammy Tippett said it was like a slap in the face. I was about to trade power in prayer for a carpet. And that's a challenge, isn't it? What do we trade for power in prayer? Well, we know prayer fellowship and Praise God, we get some answers, but we need to know that power. Billy Sunday said, you will not have power until there is nothing questionable in your life. You know, if we're good soldiers, then we need to search our hearts. And, you know, we know from the scripture that our names are written in heaven. Another challenge is, is your name known in hell? In other words, are we sufficient in our service for God, in our passion for God, in our prayer life, in our witnessing, so much to annoy the devil that he's got your name pinned up in hell? Let me give you one more. These soldiers are chosen. If you come to know Christ, you'll find that the Lord purposed it. He tells us that in the beginning of this letter. Not chosen because we were taller, tougher, not chosen because we were wiser or richer or more educated, chosen because God set his love upon us. The verse of the hymn says, chosen not for good in me, wakened up from wrath to plea, hidden in the Saviour's side by the Spirit sanctified. Now how much more we ought to esteem the task we're given when we consider that he has put his hand upon us and lifted us out of the miry clay. Why was I led when thousands make a wretched choice and rather starve than come? The more we look at the character of the Christian soldier, the more we see the character of the Lord Jesus Christ, because we're meant to be more like him, the ultimate captain of our salvation. William Gurnall wrote probably the most famous commentary on Ephesians, particularly chapter 6. And he said, as an earthly parent rejoices to see their own good qualities reproduced in their children. So God longs to see his attributes reflected in his children. And it's that image, the image of Christ reflected in our lives that so enrages hell. It is that which the demons hurl their mightiest weapons. And if we're going to be good soldiers, then we are in that battle. So then there's something of the Christian soldier. We have to endure hardness, we have to be good soldiers, not entangled with the affairs of this world, soldiers that please God, remembering that we have been chosen to be soldiers. That's a little bit of application. Are we willing to get into shape? That's hard work, isn't it, even physically, and it is so spiritually. Are we willing to see that we're in a battle that rages? We need spiritual fitness. It comes through reading the scriptures, knowing the scriptures. It comes through prayer. Training together as we come in fellowship. Training at home, alone, as you grapple with these things and as you seek the Lord in prayer. Examine what you have traded for power in prayer. Then secondly, remember that a Christian fights from a point of view of victory. We are not looking here for victory as such although we want to gain those victories but we're engaged in a battle from a position of victory. Christ has won the victory on the cross of Calvary. In the Korean War there was an army company that was cut off from every side and the Commander, when he was communicating with head office, he said, I've got the enemy to the north of me, I've got the enemy to the south of me, I've got the enemy to the east of me, and I've got the enemy to the west of me. Then after a pause, he said with determination, the enemy's not gonna get away from us now. In other words, of those surrounded on every side, he didn't speak in terms of defeat, but of victory. My friends, we're called to get up, put on the armor, armor and follow his orders. 1 Corinthians 15, thanks be to God, which gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. And then finally, really, if there's anyone listening who doesn't know the Lord Jesus Christ, then there's a battle going on in your heart too. In your heart, in your mind, your soul may be awakened by the Spirit of God, and the devil will be very interested to keep you away from the gospel, to keep you away from the things of God. Jesus Christ gives us the victory to overcome those things, and I trust that he may do that. Trust him now, be enlisted in this great warfare, a war that's been won by Christ. Begin a journey that ends in glory. And for those of you who are believers, let's ponder these things, let's be strong in these things for God's sake. Remember that verse then in 2 Timothy that I therefore, the prisoner of the law, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation of which you've been called, that was from chapter four, and to Timothy two. Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man woreth, that woreth, entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that ye may please him who have chosen him to be a soldier. May we please him, amen.