I Samuel 13:16-23 Weapons For War
Do you know why America wins wars? We have the best weapons and we use them!
- Israel is in a huge fight with the philistines. Saul has shown his disobedience, and now he’s showing his lack of leadership. Israel is retreating from the philistines instead of fighting them. They’ve lost the ability to forge their own weapons, so they go to the Philistines to sharpen their tools, so when the day of battle came, no weapons were found with the Israelites
- Now they can’t fight the enemy because the have lost the ability to defend themselves
- How do you end up going into battle without any weapons?
- Now- Today we are not Israel going up against the philistines. But we are the Church and we do have modern day enemies that come against the church and its people- This is YOUR enemy
- False teaching is your enemy
- 2 Peter 2:1 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.
- If you can get the church or a person in the church to believe something not true about itself, you can destroy it from the inside out. – False doctrine, false agape love, heresy, etc
- Many Christians lack basic knowledge of God’s word and listen to false teachers that make them feel good and allow heretical teaching in their heads that lead them astray
- Worldliness is your enemy
- 1 John 2:15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
- There are many people who have taken up residence in the church who love the world more than they love God or his church. Their priorities are of this world, their comfort and their life on this planet
- They do not prioritize the things of God and mock those who do- they preach love of the world
- Mixing love of the world with love of God produces fleshly Christians who don’t love God above all. Worldliness? Living like the devil at work ‘oh, they go to your church’?
- Formalism is your enemy
- Romans 2:28-29 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; 29 but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.
- Same is true for a Christian- you can act like a Christian on the outside. Do the Christian thing- carry your bible, wear your cross, post scripture on Facebook- but not really converted or repented. – YOU MUST BE CONVERTED OR NONE OF IT MATTERS- (I’m on TDY- Not in love)
- Wolves among the sheep- acting like they are saved when they are NOT
- Diversion is your enemy
- Mark 16:15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
- These orders from Jesus are plain and clear. We are to preach the Gospel and make disciples. According to Matthew 28, but many churches and Christian organizations lose their way
Works are good, but without a message, its not what we were called to do - Many Christian organizations in America start out with the purpose of preaching the Gospel, and eventually, they just end up doing good works and leaving out the Gospel
- Many churches fall into this trap as well and Satan loves it- a church without the Gospel
- Coldness is your enemy-
- Rev 2:4 Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.
- Coldness produces losing the love of the Savior and allowing sin within the assembly with no repentance
- This coldness is a silent deadly enemy that will destroy the witness and power of the church.
- Serving God becomes a chore and not a joy. dutiful and not beautiful. Who wants cold spouse?
- Division is your enemy
- Romans 16:17-18 Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. 18 For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple.
- People who cause division within the church are one of the greatest enemy because they are within the church already- Stay away from these people!
- Ask yourself- am I causing division? If you are, you are tool of Satan!
- Be a person that desires unity- forgiveness. Love. connectedness
Here’s whats happening in this story-
- Israel allowed themselves to be controlled by their enemy because they gave up the skill of blacksmithing, so they couldn’t forge their own weapons-
- V20 But all the Israelites would go down to the Philistines to sharpen each man’s plowshare, his mattock, his ax, and his sickle; 21 and the charge for a sharpening was a pim for the plowshares, the mattocks, the forks, and the axes, and to set the points of the goads.
- They were so defeated by the enemy that they even went down to him to get their power-
- They depended on their enemy for their power and their defense-
- YOU are letting these enemies in YOUR life because you have given up your blacksmithing to the enemy! You have given over the power of your ability to defend against the enemy!
- We are not in a physical battle today. We are in a spiritual battle
- Ephesians 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
- What had happened to Israel is very simple- They had underestimated the enemy- the Philistines were a formidable foe. They let them take their defense- Blacksmithing. And THEN they kept going back to them for their needs- they ended up become dependent on the enemy and when the day of battle came- they didn’t have the means to defend themselves.
- When it comes to personal enemies- the bible is very clear
- Luke 6:27 “But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
- Romans 12:14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
- 1 Peter 3:9 not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.
- But this isn’t a lesson about how to love our enemies- its about how to defend ourselves against our collective enemies of the church and our lives- the means that Satan uses
- We are not supposed to love Satan- Jesus wants us to love fellow man but not Satan
- James 4:7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
- 1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
- Ephesians 4:27 nor give place to the devil.
- So what are the weapons we forge in our spiritual blacksmithing to fight the enemy?
- Firstly = we do not fight a spiritual fight with physical means–
- 2 cor 10:3-4 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds
Enemy- false doctrine- Worldliness- Formalism –Diversion- Coldness- division
- We fight false doctrine by reading our Bibles and listening to great Bible teaching
- We fight worldliness by keeping sin out of our lives and not loving the world
- We fight formalism by actually being converted- coming to Christ and his power
- We fight Diversion by keeping the preaching of the Gospel central in our lives
- We fight Coldness by stoking the fires of our heart towards Jesus and what he loves
- We fight division by operating in love and Unity- we don’t allow division- we push unity
But what are our weapons? You have to become a spiritual blacksmith and forge some TOOLS
- The Armor of God Eph 6:13-18 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
- 14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, Forge the weapon of TRUTH You must be a truthful person- Satan is the father of lies- Don’t sharpen your tools with his lies. (liars lose spiritual pants)
- V14 having put on the breastplate of righteousness, -FORGE a BREASTPLATE Christ is my righteousness- he is my defender and my shield. My righteousness is found in him, not me. Don’t wear a breastplate forged by the enemy that makes you think you can defend yourself.
- 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace- if you don’t know the Gospel of repentance and how it brings peace you cant advance on the enemy
- DON’T GO TO THE ENEMIES CAMP FOR YOUR PROVISION AND PROTECTION
- 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. FORGE A SHIELD OF FAITH Faith defends against accusations of Satan- faith in JESUS above all- Satan wants to destroy you! FAITH IN JESUS will defend you!
- 17 And take the helmet of salvation, FORGE A HELMET Your mind must always be reminded of your saved state before God- I’m a kings kid! I’m protected and loved by the creator!
- If you’re saved what do you have to be worried about?
- and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; FORGE A SWORD you have to know the truth of God’s word- who’s you are and who you are. What you believe about this world
- ingest the word- know it love it learn it
- 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit,
- You have to be prayed up. you have the spirit man built up.
- being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—
- Keep watch- don’t be caught slipping- pay attention to what is going on around you and don’t be led astray- be watchful !
- The blacksmith cant operate on his own- he needs a place- the church to build these weapons
