Defend and Attack

(Ephesians 6:17)

1. Introduction
Gulf War
In an article from the magazine Aviation History on Stealth Secrets of
the F117, “TV viewers who tuned in to CNN on the evening of 16
January 1991, were treated to a rare live preview of wars to come.
Correspondents Bernard Shaw and Peter Arnett, a Kiwi, broadcasting
live in their room from Baghdad’s Al-Rashid Hotel were covering the
state of alert of Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. Iraqi radar operators scoured
the moonless skies for the first indication of approaching aircraft, but
they saw nothing. “We haven’t heard any planes yet”, noted Shaw,
wondering aloud whether B-52 bombers flew so high they couldn’t be
heard.
In quick succession, three waves of stealth jets singled out their
objectives with a precision at once merciful and merciless – the Iraqi
Air Force and Ba’th Party headquarters, air defense control centres,
Rashid Air Field, and other high value targets including two of
Sadam’s presidential palaces. After the mission, the ground crews
anxiously counted the returning aircraft the last of which did not touch
down until after dawn. Miraculously, not only did every Nighthawk
return but none of them bore as much as a scratch.

Vietnam War
Carlos Hathcock, the highest scoring Marine sniper, spent 3 days
stealthily invading a North Vietnamese camp to assassinate a
Vietnamese general. He crept a distance of 800 metres in 3 days in
order to get close enough and get a clear shot of the target. It was a
successful mission and caused confusion amongst the North
Vietnamese army.

In both cases, the targets were the heads of the organisation. Without
the head, everything is thrown into haywire and confusion and it
effectively paralyses the organisation.

Ephesians 6:17 is about protecting the head which if hit causes death
or disability. Paul’s exhortation is about wearing the helmet of
salvation and the clear analogy. This is the defensive side of spiritual

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warfare. In the earlier verses, we have read about the protection and
defences for other parts of the body.

We will also be looking at the offensive aspect of spiritual warfare and

the prescribed weapon for the attack.

2. Defend – God Wants to Dominate our Hearts and Minds

(v.17a)
Modern military doctrine has an acronym for battle management. It is
C3 for command, control, and communications. This doctrine is a
system of coordinating movement within the theatre of war. It also has
parallels in the realm of spiritual warfare. In a battle situation, you
need the smarts to win. The side with the better capacity to assess the
battle field can make better decisions which will eventually lead to
victory. In spiritual warfare, the best situation is to have the mind of
Christ to wage war. The mind of Christ can be had through salvation
(1 Corinthians 2:14 – 16 14The man without the Spirit does not
accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are
foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they
are spiritually discerned.  15The spiritual man makes judgments
about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's
judgment: 
  16"For who has known the mind of the Lord    that he may instruct
him?"[d]  But we have the mind of Christ.). Verse 16 is a challenge
from Paul, a rhetorical question, which argues we cannot know God
without Christ.
It is the legacy left to us when we receive salvation through Jesus.
Being saved opens new dimensions. The presence of the Holy Spirit in
our hearts brings us to a clearer understanding of God’s Word. It
brings us to a new plane of reality and knowledge that is
inconceivable or incomparable through Jesus Christ. The helmet of
salvation delivers us from falsehoods and heresy.
Command
Once we receive the gift of salvation, we are beholden to a new
master, which is Jesus Christ. He commands us to obedience and he
expects our whole-hearted loyalty and submission. In the context of

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 military doctrine, command is defined as exercise of authority, based
upon knowledge, to attain an objective or goal.

Authority – Matthew 28:18 says that Jesus has authority from heaven.
He said it Himself. Therefore he has all the rights to exercise His
authority on us.

Based upon knowledge – our God is an omniscient god. God is an all-

knowing being that we cannot hide from. Psalm 147:4 – 5 (4  He
determines the number of the stars 
            and calls them each by name.

  5  Great is our Lord and mighty in power; 

            his understanding has no limit.)

tells us about the God who know the past, present and the future. It is
through this knowledge that He commands each one of us towards the
path of righteousness.

Attain an objective or goal – The objective is salvation and that is

accomplished through reconciliation with God through Christ. 2
Corinthians 5:19, 21 states that our reconciliation with God is
accomplished by the death of Christ on the cross.

Example: During Christ’s earthly ministry, He issued commands and

orders to His disciples. He ordered them to get hold of a donkey which
he will ride into Jerusalem. Matthew 21:1 – 11 narrates this episode.
Christ asserted His authority when he ordered the two disciples. He
has shown perfect knowledge when He pointed out the specific
location of these animals. How can he possibly know? His
omniscience made it possible. The goal is to bring honour to God as
he rode into the city amidst the cheering and adulation of the crowd.
Control
When we get saved, the natural thing to do is to submit completely
and obey unconditionally to God’s will. God must have total control
of our hearts and minds. As a trooper in God’s army, obedience is
expected and demanded. In the military service, disobedience and
desertion used to be punishable by death. An army that has

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uncontrolled elements cannot win a battle. If each soldier will go his
own way in complete disobedience of the commander’s orders,
nothing can be accomplished; the objectives will not be reached and
will cause disarray and confusion.
Deuteronomy 26:16 (  16  The LORD your God commands you this
day to follow these decrees and laws; carefully observe them with
all your heart and with all your soul) says that God demands
wholehearted obedience. It is logical because He gave us
wholehearted salvation through Christ. Obedience also yields
salvation. It is an act of obedience to accept Christ because it secures
obedience to God’s kingdom (Matthew 7:21)

Examples: Abraham’s obedience was demonstrated when he willingly

obeyed God to sacrifice his son Isaac. Genesis 22:2 – 3 narrated this
obedience. It showed complete and total obedience regardless of
personal consequences.

In 1415, John Huss, one of the early reformers died a martyr’s death,
burnt at the stake, rather than renounce his faith in complete obedience
to God. He was given a chance by the Duke of Bavaria to save his
earthly life if he was to recant his faith. His obedience to the Lord is
summed up in his response, “I never preached any doctrine of evil
tendency what I preached with my lips I now seal with my blood”.
These are brave words from a man who completely submitted to the
Lord.
Communication
In war communication is very important in order to carry out
coordinated actions. Every soldier is part of an army and for that army
to be truly effective; all of its elements must work in harmony. The
destruction of Iraq’s command and control centre paralysed its
communication links with the anti-aircraft missiles and artillery
resulting in a chaotic firing of these weapons against the attacking
aircraft. They just ended up as very expensive fireworks, being lit up
without doing any damage. In spiritual warfare, communication is by
prayer. Through prayer, we get in touch with God, we let Him know
our needs, we are intimate with Him on a personal level and He
delights in them. Through prayer God gives us guidance and let us
know what He wants us to do. Proverbs 3: 5 – 6 tells us, “trust in the
Lord with all your heart and lean not on yur own understanding,
follow Him and He will direct thy paths”. The context of these verses

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describes what God will do for those who trust Him and follows His
principle for living.

In the previous section we discussed God’s control by complete

submission and willingness to Him.
The apostle James recognised that it is not easy to know when the
going gets rough. That why he said in James 1:5. He explained that we
must ask God for the wisdom and knowledge to cope up with
difficulties. In spiritual warfare prayer gives us directions in carrying
God’s will. It renders us effective warriors for the Lord. The wisdom
and knowledge revealed in prayers is graciously revealed to us and
they make it easier for us to live in a world controlled by Satan.
Through prayer we will not be powerless and ineffective. Once we
know what God wants us to do and where He wants us to be, then life
becomes meaningful.

Example: Jesus taught us to pray. He gave us the Lord’s Prayer and

He showed us the importance of prayer. Matthew 6:5 – 25 are Christ’s
instructions on prayer.
-He taught us to put prayer in its right place. Our prayers should be
acts of seeking time with God
- Prayer is about directing the heart to our Father n heaven
- Prayer is about sustaining the heart. Prayer feeds the heart, such that
it must be done frequently similar to food being consumed daily.
- Prayer keeps us in the straight and narrow path as we seek God’s
guidance against temptation

Application
In Ephesians 2:2, Paul wrote that we live in a world dominated by the
Prince of the power of the air, a synonym for Satan. Paul also wrote
that you were followers of Satan and dead in sin and was only made
alive in Christ. The helmet of salvation will protect you from the
onslaught of evil and save you from eternal fires of hell. Once you
wear the helmet of salvation, you have switched sides from being dead
in sin to being alive in Christ.
Spiritual war is serious business. It is war that we cannot fight on our
own terms. It is a war where the battle rages in our hearts and mind.
The victor is already known. The only question is, whose side are you
on? Have you put on the helmet of salvation and joined the ranks of
the saved and victorious?

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3. Attack - God’s Word Destroys the Heinous and
Malevolent (v 17b)
The sharp sword of the Spirit, the Bible, is a potent weapon. Nothing
can withstand it even the evil forces of Satan. What is it in that Book
that makes it so powerful? It is powerful because it is the Word of
God to man (2 Peter 1 20 – 21, Above all, you must understand
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that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own

interpretation.  21For prophecy never had its origin in the will of
man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the
Holy Spirit.) Though the Bible was written by 40 authors over a period
of 1,600 it delivered essentially the same message, that redemption is
only through Jesus Christ. This Book is so powerful because of its
supernatural origins. Let us examine why Paul called it the sword of
the Spirit. The author of Hebrews even referred to it as the sharp
sword
Sharp
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than
any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit,
joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
This description is very precise. God’s word is piercing as it cuts
through the soul and spirit. Its sharpness is illustrated by its
comparison with Greek word used in epistle to the Hebrews,
machaira. It is a two-edged sword used in killing animals and cutting
its flesh. Its two edges cut both ways. The machaira cuts only the flesh
and bones, but God’s word is sharper as it cuts through the soul and
spirit. It penetrates beyond the physical dimension. It transcends the
materials world and goes through the spiritual dimension. The
ordinary sword can cut only the flesh and kill your mortal body. But
the sharp word of God gives you life. The knowledge and truth of the
Bible exposes the reality that you need a Saviour and that Saviour is
none other than Jesus the Christ.

Sword
The Word of God is not only piercing, it also crushing as stated in
Jeremiah 23:29(Is not my word like fire," declares the LORD, "and
like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces? )
The sword of God is first mentioned in the Genesis narrative after the
fall of man. Adam and Eve, who disobeyed God’s commandment,

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received the promise of a Redeemer. They were driven away from the
garden of Eden. A flaming sword, guarded by a cherubim prevented
man from re-entering the garden of Eden. The sword points out to
God’s righteous indignation against sin.
This indignation still stands. God’s Holiness cannot tolerate the
presence of evil. The sword of God overcomes evil by exposing its
true nature.
Satan’s best weapon are lies and deception. He sows the seeds of lies
and deception to the unwary mind and nurtures with more lies and
deceptions until it becomes a murky haze where the difference
between truth and lies cannot be set apart. God’s Word cuts through
that murkiness by revealing the truth. Here are examples:
 There is no God – God exists and He is all around us
 There is no hell – Hell is the final destination of sinners
 Gay is okay – Homosexuality is an abomination
 Abortion is a choice – abortion is murder
 Universe evolved - universe is created
Spirit
We have seen the sharpness of the sword, able to penetrate anything
and everything. We have examined the sword that cuts through
beyond the physical realm and pierces the soul and spirit. Now let us
study the wielder of the sword, the Holy Spirit. It is only appropriate
that a spiritual weapon is borne by a spiritual being.

The Holy Spirit inspired the Word of God.

You can also say that the Sword of the Spirit is forged by the Spirit. 2
Peter 1:20-21 (20Above all, you must understand that no prophecy
of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation.  21For
prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke
from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit .) said that
the men who wrote the Bible were inspired by the Holy Spirit. These
men did not write the Bible on their own . Though their personalities
are evident in their writings, the same message is consistent
throughout the 66 books of the Bible. The Holy Spirit influenced the
individual Bible writers to put down the message God wanted men to
have. How can you explain a book written over 1,600 years by 40
authors yet they still convey the same general message? The
supernatural nature of the Bible is a result of its supernatural
inspiration.

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The Holy Spirit influences God’s Will.
In his book. “How to Reach your full potential for God”, Charles
Stanley wrote that the Holy Spirit will give us counsel as we
implement God’s plans for our lives. The Holy Spirit will nudge you
in your spirit. “Do this, don’t go there, Say this, Avoid that person”.
He will remind you of the words and deeds of Jesus. He will remind
you of God’s commandments and Bible stories of mighty victories. He
will remind of the sure and lasting promises of God’s Word. In
summary, He is a cheerleader.

The Holy Spirit inhibits the power of Satan.

The Holy Spirit acts as a divine dam, holding back the full power of
Satan and of sin. This is particularly true in spiritual warfare. It is an
indication that victory for believers is already at hand. Isaiah 59:19
(When the enemy comes in like a flood, / the Spirit of
the  LORD will put him to flight) states that the Holy Spirit prevents
the onslaught of evil. The dramatic impact of the absence of the Holy
Spirit will occur during the period of the tribulation. In 2
Thessalonians 2, Paul states that at the beginning of the tribulation the
restraining power of the Holy Spirit will be somewhat removed, thus
allowing Satan and the antichrist to briefly reign over the earth for
seven years.

Application
During times of peace, most soldiers spend a great deal of time
training, building up their fighting skills and confidence. They also
seek ways to increase their capability by developing new techniques
and technology to be become more effective warriors.
As spiritual warriors, we must spend a lot of time training and
studying the Sharp Sword of the Spirit. We must be involved in group
and personal study of the Word of God. It is our most potent weapon
and we must always hone our skills.
In my experience I find joy in studying or teaching God’s Word. It is
so rich and so deep that you don’t know when to stop. The Bible is so
rich such that you can study it from different perspectives. You can
study it as literature with all the prose and poetry. It can be studied
from the historical point of view and this is where it really comes to
life. The characters become so real when you think of how you would
have felt when confronted with the same situation. You can study it as
a personal devotion to find out what God has in store for you. If you

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are not into God’s Word then you are missing a lot. You are missing
the richness and wisdom imparted in that Book. You are also missing
by being vulnerable to Satanic assaults and influences as you can
easily be mislead by lacking knowledge in God’s Word.
Be the Spiritual Warrior that you are, study God’s Word

4. Conclusion –

Defend - Make sure that your heart and mind is in the Lord.
Psalm 91 (I will say  [b]  of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my
fortress,  my God, in whom I trust." ) is a prayer of Divine
Protection. Verse 2 is very striking declaration about having the Lord
as refuge and fortress. This ultimate protection can be had if you have
full trust in Christ with all your heart and mind. If you have repented
your sins and accepted Christ as your Lord and Saviour then you have
the helmet of salvation, divinely protected from the onslaught of evil
and assured of eternal life. Is this you ? Are you in Divine protection
in the midst of spiritual war ? If not, it is never too late as long as you
are still living and breathing.

Attack – Study and Meditate God’s Word

The Bible is a formidable weapon specially in the hands of the well-
trained. Like good soldiers we always be engaged in training, studying
and internalising the Word of God. We must be involved in studying
and meditating on this book, seeking God’s will in our lives for this
Book has supernatural origins. It is God’s Word, written by inspired
men for our benefit. The breadth and depth of this book is
immeasurable. It is alive, it is relevant and most important, it is Holy.