{"id":3936,"date":"2020-07-29T06:00:02","date_gmt":"2020-07-29T11:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/?p=3936"},"modified":"2020-07-29T08:56:04","modified_gmt":"2020-07-29T13:56:04","slug":"putting-on-the-armor-of-god-continued-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/2020\/07\/putting-on-the-armor-of-god-continued-7\/","title":{"rendered":"Putting on the Armor of God (continued)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Ephesians 6:13\u201318 (ESV)<\/div>\n
13 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 firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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We are examining each individual piece of armor, so that we can fight the battles that lie ahead and win.<\/div>\n
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We are continuing our look at the sword of the Spirit from yesterday.<\/div>\n
6. The Sword of the Spirit.<\/div>\n
\u201ctake\u2026the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God\u201d (verse 17)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Today, we will let Jesus teach us by example how to use the sword of the Spirit against the devil.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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To do this we will first look at a familiar story when Jesus is driven into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.\u00a0 We will look at Luke 1:1-11 (It is also recorded Matthew 4:1-11 and Mark 1:12-13).<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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It is important to note the timing of these temptations. They happened right after Jesus had just had an amazing uplifting experience. Jesus had just been baptized. He came up out of the water, heaven opened up and the Spirit of God descended like a dove upon Him. The Father spoke from heaven..\u201cThis is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The point is that one of the main times we are tempted is right after a spiritual high. Best have your armor on and ready.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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There were three areas where Jesus was tempted and they cover many of the same areas we often find ourselves tempted.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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1) The Temptation of the FLESH.<\/div>\n
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1 \u2026.led by the Spirit in the wilderness 2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. 3 The devil said to him, \u201cIf you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Not only are we tempted when we experience a spiritual high, but we are often tempted when we are at a point of weakness. Jesus had just fasted for 40 days and was very hungry. Best have your armor on and ready.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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While the temptation with hunger was the apparent temptation, the real temptation was something much more sinister. Satan was tempting Jesus to meet a legitimate need an illegitimate way. The question Jesus had to ask and that we must ask is, \u201cDo I trust God to meet my needs or do I have to help Him out?\u201d\u00a0 Best have your armor on.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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2) Temptation to the EYES<\/div>\n
5 And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, 6 and said to him, \u201cTo you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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There is no time to go into details as to the strangeness of this scenario. Let\u2019s just jump to the heart of the temptation: The essence of this temptation was to attain divine goals by worldly means. There is no shortcut to the things God offers us. Best have your armor on.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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3) Temptation toward PRIDE<\/div>\n
9 And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, \u201cIf you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10 for it is written, \u201c\u00a0\u2018He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,\u2019 11 and \u201c\u00a0\u2018On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.\u2019\u00a0\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The essence of this temptation is to presume upon God\u2019s protective grace. God expects us to take risks in order to be true to Him, but He does not expect us to take risks to enhance our own prestige. Best have your armor on.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Now, notice how Jesus uses the sword of the Spirit to both protect Himself and to slay the devil.<\/div>\n
Look at His response to this evil day when the evil one is attacking Him.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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4 And Jesus answered him, \u201cIt is written, \u2018Man shall not live by bread alone.\u2019\u00a0\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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8 And Jesus answered him, \u201cIt is written, \u201c\u00a0\u2018You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.\u2019\u00a0\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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12 And Jesus answered him, \u201cIt is said, \u2018You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.\u2019\u00a0\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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You might notice the importance of Scripture in Jesus\u2019 life. If the Scripture was Jesus\u2019 way to fight the devil, then should it not be our way as well? Best have your armor on.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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One more thing. In each of these temptations, there was really only one temptation. Jesus had to answer the question, \u201cWho do I Love?\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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And we must answer that same question day after day, temptation after temptation, battle after battle.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Ephesians 6:13\u201318 (ESV) 13 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 firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[140],"tags":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3936"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3936"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3936\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3942,"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3936\/revisions\/3942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}