Introduction

“Fighting Fire” is a series of devotions that compares firefighting tactics to our lives as believers as we face temptation and deception. The main text of our study is found in Ephesians 6, a passage better known as “The Armor of God.”

When the Apostle Paul is writing the Book of Ephesians to the believers in Ephesus, he does so from a Roman prison, We envision that he is in chains and being guarded by well-armed Roman soldiers. What’s really interesting is that Paul chooses to characterize the Christian life using the soldier as his metaphor, rather than as a man awaiting execution.

Soldiers have a mission. They have training. They are armed. They are tactical. They are situationally aware. They are prepared for attack. And best of all, they have a mindset of “win at all costs.”  This is how Paul sees himself and challenges us to become, despite the reality of his circumstances that are much more grim. It’s almost like he’s saying we can be victorious in Christ no matter our circumstances.

In fact, I believe that he said exactly that in Romans 8:31-39 CSB

“What, then, are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us?  He did not even spare his own Son but gave him up for us all. How will he not also with him grant us everything?  Who can bring an accusation against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies.  Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is the one who died, but even more, has been raised; he also is at the right hand of God and intercedes for us.  Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Can affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:

‘Because of you we are being put to death all day long; we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered.’

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

To think, no matter how hard the spiritual warfare may rage in our lives, we are promised victory through the power of Jesus.

If we’ve accepted Jesus’s free offer of salvation and have repented of our sins, we are called to the life of purpose and mission that we were always meant for. If you are unsure if this is true of you, can I encourage you to spend some time in God’s Word today? The promises in these passages are meant for you and can be yours today:

Romans 3:22-24 

“The righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe, since there is no distinction. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”

Romans 6:23 

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Ephesians 2:8-10

 “For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— not from works, so that no one can boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.”

1 Corinthians 15:56-57  

“The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!  Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

The Lord has a daring plan to use those He’s saved to join His Rescue Mission.  Is that you? Have you accepted His free offer of forgiveness of your sins and the gift of a beautiful eternity with Him? We call this “salvation” and it only requires admitting to God that you’re a sinner in need of rescue, you can’t save yourself,  but Jesus’s work on the cross is the lifeline you need.”

If you’ve been saved and are ready to join up, there are 2 realities to be prepared for:

1. God is going to use YOU to defend and rescue others from Hell, and
2. The Enemy is going to do everything he can to take you out of the fight.

We are going to explore together the mission, training, and gear that prepares us for the Enemy’s attacks so we can be prepared, or as we say in the fire service, “Mission Ready.”

Most of us didn’t pass a Roman Legion on our way to work or school, but there’s a good chance that we passed a Fire House. It’s fitting that, like Paul, we look to our local heroes as metaphor for having victory in God’s great Rescue Mission and becoming fire-proof against the Enemy’s attacks.

This final sign-off from the book of Ephesians is Paul’s warning to fight temptation. Temptation, doubt, or false teaching are all dangers that we face as we go about the mission of the Gospel. You and I are to be Mission Ready at all times but the enemy is constantly trying to take us out.

These strategies of his are like a fire, the moment that it catches us unprepared and unready to fight is the moment that it engulfs us. Throughout this devotional, we will be comparing the tactics and gear that firefighters use to keep ourselves safe, rescue others, and extinguish fires with the Bible’s wisdom on how defend against spiritual warfare and rescue others from the fires of Hell.

Firefighters abide by their departments “Standard Operating Guidelines,” or “SOG’s.” This is a binder of approved tactics that guide firefighter behavior at any given rescue.  Let’s study the Bible’s SOG’s for spiritual warfare.

On every fire scene as in the Christian walk, there are 3 types of people….

Victims, Bystanders, and Rescuers. Which are you?