Sermons from Lone
Rock Bible Church General Quarters Ephesians 6:10-20 – where the apostle exhorts us: 10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of
His might. “General Quarters” is the title of the sermon. I should have an exclamation point after it because every time I used to hear it in the Navy it meant “Man Your Battle Stations.” NOW ALL HANDS, MAN YOUR BATTLE STATIONS, GENERAL QUARTERS, GENERAL QUARTERS. Everybody would scramble. Everybody on the ship had a station to man during GQ. Everybody had to go a certain way to get there. No matter where you were on the ship, no matter what time of day or what you might be doing, everybody understood the drill. Leave from where you are, drop what you are doing, and head for your battle station for General Quarters. If you had to move forward to get to general quarters and had to move up on the ship, you always went up starboard, also known as the right side. Forward and up on the starboard; down and aft on the port. The whole crew would burst into action. We had equipment too. Let me tell you about my battle station. I had a helmet, a life jacket, a gas mask, just in case. I had a headset, covering one ear and off the other ear so I could hear different things, and a little microphone to talk. They handed me, as my primary weapon, a grease pencil. My general quarters station was in CIC, Combat Information Central, where I stood behind a large plexiglass screen and learned to write backwards. The guys would be watching the radar and they would be able to see on the screen these little blips, they would identify the location, give a name to the blip, always a letter of the alphabet. In other words if we see someone we don’t think is an enemy, that’s skunk Alpha, skunk Bravo, skunk Charlie. I would write backwards, Charlie. Then I would write, backwards, where they were. I would work my way down the board with each skunk and as they were updated, I would erase that skunk. That was my battle station. I try to use my Navy illustrations sparingly. I think about that when I read these verses out of Ephesians 6 when it talks about the armor of God. We go through and talk about all these different accouterments; that is, a belt, a breastplate, shoes, helmet, sword, and all these things. I look at that and I look at the Christian life and say, “OK, Christian, got your armor on?” Which way to the battle? Or do we sometimes get the sense that maybe we’re all dressed up with no place to go. I read the whole eleven verses of the passage today with this in mind: the apostle starts out by saying our struggle is not against flesh and blood, it is spiritual. There are spiritual forces at work. We cannot see them normally. There are spiritual forces at work in the heavenly places. They militate against God’s people. We have to be equipped uniquely to deal with that. We don’t forget that this is a spiritual issue and that’s why he moves from verse 17 where he talks about the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the Word of God and without missing a beat steps into verse 18 saying, pray. Pray, because that’s where the battle is fundamentally engaged. That is a fascinating concept to me. Prayer is the battle, fundamentally spiritually and engaged at that level. I have to confess, I have yet to meet a Christian who would say my prayer life is what I would like it to be. I don’t know how many Christians I have talked to and when the topic of prayer comes up, it’s “I really could be praying more. I really should be more into prayer.” I have never yet heard someone say I think I’m praying enough. Yet, that’s where the Bible so clearly takes us when it talks about engaging in spiritual battle. It is perhaps a sad irony of the issue. What is prayer? I would like, this Sunday and next Sunday, to talk about this whole notion of prayer and how it applies to spiritual battle. However, let’s remind ourselves of what this is all about. We don’t battle with flesh and blood. If we did, I think we have the weapons for it. If it were simply a flesh and blood issue, we are pretty good at that stuff. The physical is not a problem. The resources, the technology – that is ours. Spiritually, however, here’s what we need and here is what prayer actually encompasses. It is a humble turning to God, trusting and submitting to Him. That’s really what happens when we pray. We go before our Father and we say, Lord, I need You more than I know. You must prevail because I cannot. You must go where I am unable to go. Lord, I don’t understand, I can’t understand. You must be the one to undertake. That’s what prayer does for us. Prayer takes us there, humbly to the Lord, trusting and committing. Today we’re only going to be in verse 18. We call this broad strategy. It introduces us in several ways to prayer basics. I have to say it is hard for me to limit where we go here. There is so much in the Bible about our communion with God in prayer that it is hard to know where to cut back. In verse 18, the apostle says, without missing a breath with regard to the armor, “with all prayer.” The verb comes first. He says pray with all your prayers, all your supplications, pray at all times in the spirit. Prayer and petition, all prayer and petition, this is what they call standard operating procedure for believers. There are several qualifiers for it. Believers are people who pray. We come to God initially through prayer. He makes himself available and says, “I’m listening. I’m always listening” Our calls get through. We don’t get voice mail. We don’t get put on hold. He hears us and He hears us consistently. Prayer and petition is an expression of humble dependence on God to do what only God can do. We tend not to pray if we have it handled. That’s kind of human nature. But Paul is saying in this battle, with the stakes such as they are, in my circumstances, he says, I am an ambassador in chains. I’m locked up. My ability now to operate has been extremely limited. So pray, appeal to God, humbly depend upon Him to do what only God can do. I have an illustration from the ninth and tenth chapters of Daniel to illustrate why we must go to God in prayer. Daniel 9 is an interesting chapter. It is all about this man who has been in exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. He has been there crowding 70 years. He knows 70 years is the time of the penalty for exile. God has said that. But he sees something while in exile that disturbs him and that prompts him to prayer. The whole notion of 70 years in a foreign land was designed to get the people to wake up and to repent. What Daniel is seeing is not that at all. He realizes the 70-year clock is just about expired but he doesn’t see anybody repent; he doesn’t see anybody’s heart changing. In the ninth chapter of Daniel, the first 20 verses or so are all about Daniel pleading to God, asking God please forgive our sins, please restore us, please touch our hearts, please God change things because it is evident it isn’t going to happen any other way. If God doesn’t do it, it isn’t going to happen. All Daniel can do is go to his knees and say, Lord, I’m at that spot. You’ve been there, haven’t you? If anything is going to happen, God is going to have to do it. That’s where Daniel went. He prayed, he gets an answer, and then later he prays again and receives an answer from an angel. In chapter 10 he is praying again and here is how it goes. He gets an answer from an angelic messenger. I like how this is put. Daniel sees this messenger and it overwhelms him so he hits the floor. He is all trembling and scared. A hand touches him and sets him trembling on his hands and knees. 11He said to me, "O Daniel,
man of high esteem, understand the words that I am about to tell you and stand upright,
for I have now been sent to you " And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up
trembling. Daniel’s aged knees now are rattling 12Then he said to
me, "Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on
understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I
have come in response to your words. We heard you Daniel, the first time you
called. And I was dispatched from the halls of glory, the realms of heaven, wherever that
might be, a place, Daniel, you cannot see. I started out to come and bring you an answer
but (verse 13) the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for three weeks. I’m
duking it out with a fallen angel, a mighty warrior. I was all balled up with him, then
Michael, one of the chief princes, another good angel, came to help me, “for I had
been left there with the kings of Persia.” Now I’ve come to give you an
understanding. Now I’m here. Daniel prays. He keeps praying and the
answer comes. This is nothing, absolutely nothing Daniel could have generated on his own.
He had no clue. All he knew is that he is in desperate shape. His people are in desperate
shape and there appears to be no help in sight. Daniel has to go to God. He humbles
himself before God and asks God for a breakthrough. In Mark 9 we see a New Testament
illustration of this. Mark 9 is the account of Jesus and James and John and Peter going up
on the Mount of Transfiguration, up on Mount Hermon. They are up there and see Moses and
Elijah and a cloud and a voice. It’s literally in a spiritual way a mountain-top
experience. Peter, during the experience, is so pumped that he says, Let’s stay. It
is good for us to be here. Let’s camp. Let’s stay. He is so excited. Then they come down the mountain. We always
have to come down the mountain. Mark 9:14 When they came back to the
disciples, they saw a large crowd around them, and some scribes arguing with the
disciples. They see Jesus and they are all excited.
There is a problem down below. There is a kid there. He is demon-possessed. It says in
verse 17, Jesus, teacher, I brought your disciples my son and he has this demon in him. Let’s know that this guy, this father,
couldn’t fix it, but he knew the reputation of Jesus and His disciples and so he is
taking his stricken son to the only place he knows to take him in order to get help. He
has a spirit which makes him mute and whenever it seizes him it puts him into
self-destruct, dashes him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, stiffens
out. I told your disciples to cast this demon out and they couldn’t do it. Jesus said, “Oh, unbelieving
generation. How long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to
me.” They bring the boy to Jesus and when the spirit saw Jesus he throws the boy into
fits of convulsions. Jesus asked how long this had been going on. The father tells him
sometimes he goes in the fire. Sometimes he goes in the water because self-destruct is
what the devil is into and he said if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.
Jesus, of course, commands the spirit to leave. The spirit leaves. When they were alone
(toward the end of verse 28) his disciples began questioning him privately and saying,
“Why couldn’t we handle this? Why couldn’t we cast this one out?” Jesus said, “This kind,”
(evidently there are various kinds) “cannot come out by anything but prayer.”
What does this mean? This kind only I can handle and you must put all your dependence
humbly upon Me. Can you just see these disciples? “Cast that demon out!” “Well,
he didn’t leave yet. Let me try.” “OK, I’ll try.” “You cast
him out, I cannot get him out.” Meanwhile the kid is going on self-destruct and Dad
is getting more and more frantic. Jesus is saying you guys forgot something fundamental,
you forgot to depend on Me. This is us. When we can handle it
ourselves, we tend to, but this business of all prayer and petition means humble
dependence on God. That’s fundamental. We appeal to Him to do what only He can do,
what we cannot. Secondly, we have to know about prayer and
petition. This basic notion of prayer has got to have to do with God’s kingdom
agenda. God’s agenda first. We have our own, don’t we? He has His. I think to a
large degree the secret to the Christian life is learning to align mine with His and to be
at peace with who He is and what He is doing and what He wants first of all. We all know the Lord’s Prayer. It
talks about our Father in heaven. It’s all about You and it’s all about Your
kingdom. Our Father in heaven, may Your name always be held in separate, holy esteem. May
your name be held holy, and then, may Your kingdom come. May Your will be done here as
there. Wouldn’t that be something. By the way, that’s coming. One day, that is
coming. But the prayer is always in accordance with God’s kingdom agenda. Yes, we ask Him please to provide for us.
We ask Him please to protect us and to keep us from falling and going on self-destruct. We
ask that, but fundamentally the prayer is about Jesus’ kingdom coming and His will
being done on earth as in heaven. It reminds me of that verse in Revelation 5. Now we’re
in heaven and John the apostle is seeing these things. He has been transported, if you
will, into this heavenly world and he sees all kinds of amazing things – a sea of
glass and myriads of angels and a throne and a person on the throne. He sees the Lamb as
if slain and he sees four living creatures and twenty-four elders. Revelation 5:8 Isn’t that something? Bowls of prayer.
Do our prayers get through? Yes. They are being collected; they are accumulating. They
have not been forgotten. They have not been neglected. God is storing up our prayer. What
is our prayer? May Your kingdom come. And believe me, Revelation 5 moves into Revelation 6
and here it comes. These prayers are prayed in accordance with what God’s will might
be and that is so important. God, what is it that You want? What is it that would make You
look good? Sometimes Christians are a little bit lopsided, may I say, self-centered. And
sometimes we get the impression that praying to God is like a wish list of Santa. Dear
God, give me this and Dear Lord, give me that and do the other. It seems to me it’s like
child-rearing. When children are little (not my kids but I’ve noticed this is other
families), they are very self-centered. They begin that way. Immediately they to get room
temperature and they’re screaming because they aren’t happy and they want
something. Then they’re hungry and they want something. They need to be changed and
they want something. They go into that cute, dangerous age and they are always trying to
get stuff, when they can cruise and grab and break. Then when they can talk, they ask for
things a lot. Isn’t it an indication of maturity,
even at a young age, perhaps, even when a child begins focusing on what others might want.
It’s true with Christians too. When we begin to see our lives as fitting into God’s
agenda rather than the other way around, that is an indication that we are growing. That’s
an indication that we are getting it, a message from the Scripture that we desperately
need. It’s about His kingdom coming and His will being done fundamentally. All prayer
and petition goes there. Third, I need to point this out, prayer is
a mystery. Wouldn’t it be something if we could put it in a bowl ourselves? Then put
it under a microscope or something and figure it out. How is it that prayer works? We are
commanded to be people of prayer. Jesus said it more than once, that as you pray, God will
move. God will work. Things will happen. How? Frankly, we don’t know but we have
confidence in the mystery. Here is how I have confidence in the
mystery. There is a verse in the Bible that is written very uniquely. The New Testament
writers had access to a language that can be very technical, but it’s a language that
follows standard rules. Please turn to Philippians. There are only a few places in the New
Testament where a particular way of using grammar is found for a specific reason. It’s
kind of exciting when you come across it. The rule is sort of complex. It says
something like when there are two nouns that are objects of the same case, separated by
the word “and,” and a common article of the same case placed before them in the
sentence, that means the two of them are interlinked inseparably. Here’s how it
works. Look at Philippians 1:19. Paul is in prison in Rome. He is wanting to be a
proclaimer of the gospel. He is confident that one day he will be released. He is so
confident that he words his statement as I just described it in verse 19. He
says to the readers in Philippi: “I know that this will turn our for my deliverance.”
I am confident I am getting out of here and there are two inseparable factors linked
together that will secure my release: (1) your prayer and (2) the provision of the Spirit
of Jesus. He is saying you will not have one without the other. It’s like being in
the bottom of one of those missile silos with the U.S. Air Force and you have two people,
hopefully both in their right minds, and each of them has a key. The keys have to be
turned by two people on two different ends. One person cannot do it. Both have to do it
for the silo to open and the missile to launch. Both – and it’s like that in
this verse. There are a couple other places that it’s
found. There is an encouraging one in Titus 2:13. He is saying there are two issues here
that cannot be separated. He underscores it by using grammar in a very unique way where he
talks about “looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great
God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” He is saying Jesus is both our great God and our
Savior – both at the same time. Have to have them both. Isn’t that great? Is
Jesus God? Amen! It’s right here. “Our great God and Savior.” They are they
same. The only other place I know of where this
is found is the Great Commission verse of Matthew 28, where Jesus tells His disciples to
make disciples in all the world, baptizing them (placing them into) the name of the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit. This is in triplicate. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are
all in the name. So what we have in grammatical form, at least, is an expression of the
Trinitarian nature of God, one essence in three Persons. That’s the best we can do.
That’s our limitation. So how does prayer work? I don’t know.
But I know that the apostles and the Savior, who is God, are confident that it does and
they tell us, “I will work, you will pray.” That’s what God is saying.
“I will be delivered,” Paul said, “through your prayer and the provision of
the Spirit.” They cannot be separated from one another and I will be released on that
basis. So prayer is a mystery. It’s a
spiritual co-op, if you will. We are to do our part and God is to do His and as both
occur, things change. How? I don’t know. The broad strategy – we have to pray.
Humble dependence upon God in accordance with God’s kingdom agenda, and remember that
prayer is a mystery, it’s a spiritual co-op and we are called upon to do our part. Broad strategy also, pray at all times
(Ephesians 6) in every season. Always be praying. Make prayer a way of life, not just in
emergencies. Sometimes we are reduced to praying two different times, meals and
emergencies. Sometimes just emergencies, and sometimes we forget even that. I have not for a time shared with you this
poem, which I love, by Sam Walter Foss. THE PRAYER OF CYRUS
BROWN "No, I should say
the way to pray," "Oh, no, no,
no," "It seems to me
his hands should be "Last year I fell
in Hidgekin's well "And I made a
prayer right then and there, It’s an emergency, so we pray accordingly, but not only
in emergencies. We should pray, the Bible teaches, as a habit. We should be in the habit
of prayer. There is nothing wrong with a habit, if it is a good one. Some habits are not
good ones, and those are the ones your mother warned you about. Let me read you a few verses from King David in Psalm 55. If
you consider yourself to be a Christian and you are not in the habit of prayer, you ought
to be. Psalm 55 “What do you think about that? – that’s what
Selah means. Morning, afternoon, evening, I will continually be praying. I will be in the
habit of prayer. Why? Because David, with all his adventures and all his misadventures,
knew that his hope could only come from God. He was the king who had all kinds of power
and yet he couldn’t even handle his own power well and got himself and others in all
kinds of trouble. We see as he goes through his life, “Boy,” he says, “do I
need God. Left to myself, I’ll make a mess of it.” I remember talking to a Christian farmer one time. If you are
from a dry-land farming country you realize how significant is moisture. The right amount,
the right time, makes all the difference in the world. It seems as if though, some would
get the rain but with the rain would come the wind and if the wind happened to hit a field
that happened to have soft ripe, there goes the grain. Then what do we do? Farmers lives
are just like that and my dear friend, who is now with the Lord, said, “I’ve
come to the realization as a farmer that if even I controlled the weather, I wouldn’t
like it. It’s never going to be just right.” Let God handle what only God can handle. We must do that, we
must go to him in this regard all the time because that’s how life is lived. Life is
what happens between the things we don’t plan. It’s how it is and habit is so
critical. There is an interesting story Jesus told in Luke 18. He was
telling a parable to show that all times they ought to pray and not lose heart -- at
all times. He tells the story of a widow who had been ripped off. Luke 18 “I can’t help myself,” she is saying. “I’m
at the end of my resources. I don’t have the influence; I don’t have the power.”
She is a widow in first century Palestine. She has nothing. The only one who can help her
is the judge so she goes to him. She kept comes to him. He was unwilling but after he said
to himself: “Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow
bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will
wear me out.” The point of the story is not to compare the God of heaven
with this guy. The point of the story is wrapped up at the end when Jesus says in verse 7:
“Shall not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night. I tell
you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes,
will He find faith on the earth?” What He is saying is this is an expression of faith, this
business of coming back. It’s an expression of humble dependence upon God continually
reaffirming and reiterating and repeating, “Lord, I can’t do this. You must.”
That’s what faith is all about. Faith isn’t some magical prayer, some spiritual
internal generator that we can somehow ramp up the RPM’s and get God’s arm
twisted behind His back so He gives us something. Faith is on-going, lifestyle dependence
on Him because He is the only one who can fix it, who can right it, who can change it. We will continue next week. This is where the battle is fought.
Jim Carlson 2006, Lone Rock Bible Church, Stevensville Montana, USA |