Fighting Fire

Ephesians 6:13-17  CSB

“For this reason, take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand. Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest, and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace. In every situation take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit—which is the word of God.”

Our next set of SOG’s center around a passage of Scripture that is commonly referred to as “The Armor of God.”  As you remember, Paul is chained to a prison wall being guarded by Roman soldiers, so his metaphor for spiritual warfare is quite vivid and detailed.

We’ve been studying Ephesians 6 which reminds us that we are in a spiritual battle that behaves much like a structure fire… destructive, unpredictable, and worst of all… deceptively dangerous.  Until now, we have been studying tactics for preparing for this spiritual firefight. A good soldier goes into battle with more than a solid game plan, he’s also well-armed, both defensively and offensively. 

Like soldiers, firefighters are also issued gear that serves to both protect the firefighter as well as give him or her the tools needed to rescue victims and extinguish fires. The best plan in the world fails without the tools to enact it.

Better yet, we are trained to don or put it on very quickly. The gear is commonly referred to “turnout gear” because it’s laid out inside out to make it easier and faster to put on. Sometimes, it’s also called “bunker gear” because it’s staged near the firefighter’s bunk so he or she can dress quickly after abruptly awaking.

Fighting spiritual fire requires that we take hold of the Personal Protective Equipment that we are issued by our Heavenly Chief. By fully implementing these tools, we are not only protected, it also affects our mental readiness. It gives us boldness.

During a training exercise, we were practicing “evolutions.” This is when a fuel source, usually within a structure like a condemned home or a specially designed training facility, is ignited and allowed to develop. We then practice extinguishing it and learning how the fire responds. On one particular evolution, we started standing up. The fire developed and the training officer noted how the smoke and heat began to thermal layer at the top of the room. It was visible and I was filming it on my GoPro.

The officer then announced for everyone to get down, below the thermal layer as it was descending in the room. I foolishly decided that I was still comfortable in the heat because of the gear and wanted to know how long I could stand the heat. It was then that I noticed that the plastic housing on my GoPro had melted to my gloves!  I immediately dropped down and when I had exited the room, I discovered that I had severely singed the leather department shield at the top of my helmet.

The point is, the gear made me feel very confident and comfortable in the middle of the harshest of conditions. I was able to stand.

Our passage tells us in Ephesians 6:13-14

“For this reason, take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand. Stand, therefore…”

Paul has spent the chapter telling us that we are in a spiritual battle against an unseen Enemy and his attitude and challenge is “Let’s gear up and beat this fool!” Stand! Prepare! Resist!  

So let’s do a little assessment. As you consider your life, and the spiritual firefight that you’re in, are you fully confident in your ability to resist the lies of temptation, discouragement, or fear?  Are you standing confidently with a winning attitude? Do you feel prepared for this battle? Or do you continue to feel defeated and weak?

How can we be effective rescuers of those who are lost unless we are confident and Mission Ready? Let’s dive in to the text and explore the tools that the Great Chief gives us to be confident in our battle. We will be comparing the Armor of God to the Bunker Gear that firefighters wear.