These are notes from a message I recently preached. I typed the notes on Blogger so that I could access them from anywhere I needed to and print them out. This is the first message I've orated publicly. It went rather well. 20 minutes flat. I decided to go ahead and publish it to give you a little insight on what's happening in my life right now and hopefully give you some deeper understanding of the passage in Ephesians, Chapter 6:10-18, and specifically verse 15. I was endowed with a broader knowledge concerning this piece of Scripture. You'll have to excuse the rather scattered nature of the notes. I didn't re-touch them at all from what I had originally composed. Here you go!
Joshua 10:24 - And it came to pass, when they brought out those kings unto Joshua, that Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said unto the captains of the men of war which went with him, Come near, put your feet upon the necks of these kings. And they came near, and put their feet on the necks of them.
25 - And Joshua said unto them, Fear not, nor be dismayed, be strong and of good courage: for thus shall the Lord do to all your enemies against whom ye fight.
Joshua was the appointed leader of Israel. God had entrusted him with this time to be the influence that would guide the course of History and continue the development of Creation. He was a determined, courageous man of action and had walked through the barriers of the promised land, led by Israel's God.
The Lord has already, up to this point in the Scriptures, given His chosen Nation many victories over their enemies as they press onward in their pursuit of God's will. The dwellers of the land stand firmly against these invaders and oppose them with relentless violence and resolve to keep their land. But as we read, we see their attempts thwarted time and time again by the Almighty.
If you read the entire chapter of Joshua 10, you'll see several examples of Gods' hand upon His people, giving their enemies over to defeat. He went with them in all their battles and Joshua spurred them on, following the Lords' command. We can approach our enemies in the same way to defeat them. How are we to fight against our enemies?
3 Points in Dealing with our Enemies
1: Is God our God?
If He is not, the enemies we encounter and clash with are insignificant. We are either with God or against Him. He specifically tells us in His Word that He will not receive us if we are lukewarm in our pursuit of Him. That means that we are either chasing after God whole-heartedly, or we are fighting against Him. If we are enemies of God, what is the importance of defeating our own adversaries?
Ultimately, God will judge you and me and all of our enemies. I don't want to defeat my enemies and remain an enemy of God. Before examining who our enemies are, let us examine ourselves and release our desires to be guided by the Lord, that we can become friends of God.
2: Who are our enemies?
Those who blaspheme and deny the sovereignty of Gods' name, and mock those who call on His name. Those who oppose us in our pursuit of God. People wishing to harm us. These are a few examples of enemies that we may face in our lives. God has not placed these enemies in our lives. Rather, He has placed us in the lives of our enemies that we can overcome them.
3: How to fight our enemies.
We do not fight against flesh and blood. We wrestle with principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness in this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. We need the full armor of God to stand against these spiritual armies.
In specific reference to our enemies, it is important to have our feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace. Your feet are used for spreading the Gospel. And God wants to hand our enemies to us to bring them to the knowledge and trust in Him. Preach the Gospel to our enemies? Yes!
He is sending us out into a foreign land to conquer and claim it as His. Our enemies will come against us, but God has given us the power we need to step on their throats; to silence them with the good news. We must be prepared to share the Gospel at all times. When we are fully equipped with the Armor of God we leave our enemies no room for excuse. We as well have no excuse for neglecting to pursue and overcome the enemies in this time we've been given.
God has given us the land. He has given us an allotted amount of time to live. He has already overcome the world. Be strong and courageous and press on from victory to victory. God has placed your enemy under your feet.
