Learn the believer’s strategy for success in the devil’s world. In this two-part series, Rick Hughes explains how the Apostle Paul used military language to remind Christians that life is a spiritual battle. God provides the armor we need—truth, righteousness, faith, and peace—to face the enemy’s attacks. With personal love for God as our motivation, we can fight the good fight of faith and live with strength and confidence.
Welcome to the Flatline with your host, Rick Hughes. For the next 30 minutes, you’ll be inspired, motivated, educated, but never manipulated. Now, your host, Rick Hughes.
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Good morning and welcome to the Flatline. I’m your host, Rick Hughes, and for the next few minutes, please stick around. It won’t be long. Only 30 minutes of motivation, some inspiration, a whole lot of education. and no manipulation. We always say that every show, no manipulation, because we don’t con you. We’re not trying to ask you for money. We’re not trying to sell you a product. We just want to offer you some information that will help you verify and identify the plan of God for your life if you’re interested. If you are, you can orient and adjust to the plan. That’s up to you. But for 20 plus years now, we’ve been broadcasting the Flatline radio show across America. I’m so happy that we’re still doing this for you even today. FLOT, F-L-O-T, stands for Forward Line of Troops. The FLOT line is made up of 10 unique problem-solving devices taught in the Word of God, taught to me by my very own pastor. It’s not something that I came up with. It’s something that he developed and taught me, and I’m passing it on to you. But when you learn the flatline, when you understand what it is and how God has provided 10 unique problem-solving devices for you, then you can stop the outside source of adversity before it ever becomes the inside source of stress. That’s why we always say adversity is inevitable, but stress is optional. Now today, as we study on this show, we want to look at a passage in Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus. What we’re going to discover is how he uses metaphors Metaphors of real life situations to relate to the Christian’s life. Sometimes Paul would compare Christians to runners in a race, like in Galatians 5, 7, where he said you were running a good race who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth. At other times, he uses an illustration of a fighter in the ring. And like in 1 Corinthians 9, 26, I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. In our study today, we want to look at a military metaphor that Paul uses in regards to the Christian being able to oppose Satan’s strategy towards us. Keep in mind, he’s writing to people who’ve already been saved. They are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. So the intent of Satan is to defeat them in their spiritual journey so that they don’t reach spiritual maturity. Because if they do, they will begin to reproduce the mind of Christ and eventually lead others to his saving grace. What we’re going to learn is that Satan has a strategy to defeat us. Concentrate on the word strategy. a strategy to defeat us based on your habits and things that he knows that you do. He can’t read your mind. He’s not omniscient like that, but he’s got a list of your patterns and things you do. And he has a strategy to defeat you. But we have the weapons to overcome his intentions, and that’s what we must well be aware of, that we are to have our own strategy in this spiritual war. Paul tells us, as he told Timothy, fight the good fight. In 1 Timothy 6, 12, fight the good fight of faith. This charge was actually given earlier in 1 Timothy 1, 18. Here’s what he said. This charge I commit unto thee, my son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that by them thou mightest war a good warfare. thou mightest war a good warfare. The words mightest war is the Greek word for strategy. It’s pronounced stratuo, stratuo. And its intention is to serve in a military campaign, to do military duty. It’s a clear indication that we are in a spiritual war. He also uses the word warfare with Timothy, which is stratia, stratia. And this is the noun counterpart to the verb stratituo. Using these two words back to back in repetition of the same basic word makes them a little redundant or not necessary, except to emphasize the thought which sounds like this. Like I remember President Trump when he got shot saying, fight, fight, fight. That’s what Paul’s telling Timothy, fight, fight. This is a challenge to be a good soldier by preserving through the entire campaign of the Christian life. Now what does it take for Timothy or for you to be a good soldier? In 2 Timothy 2, 3 through 4, the Bible says, There therefore, endure hardships as a good soldier. There it is. Endure hardships as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Paul went on to say in 2 Timothy 2, 3-4, No man that warreth entangles himself with the affairs of this life, so that he may please him who has chosen him to be a soldier. So Paul challenged Timothy, young Timothy the pastor at Ephesus, to endure the hardness. This phrase is the word kakopatheo, kakopatheo, the Greek word. And it’s an obvious statement indicating the spiritual battle that Timothy or you and I will face. It’s not a piece of cake. There are going to be tough times in our battles for spiritual maturity. And we studied some of that last week when we dealt with testing on this radio show. He also tells Timothy that he should not get entangled with the affairs of this life. Did you hear verse 4? No man that warrant war entangleth himself with the affairs of this life. No soldier in service gets entangled with civilian pursuits in order that he may please the one who enlisted him. So simply put, your spiritual life takes precedence over your physical life and your responsibilities. I know that’s a hard thing to get a hold of, but I’m going to say it again. Your spiritual life takes precedence over your physical life and responsibility. Where did I get a thought like that? In Matthew 10, 37 and 38, Jesus said, he that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. So personal love for God is priority number one for every Christian. In Mark 12, 28 through 30, and one of the scribes came and having heard them reasoning together and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him this question, which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered and said, the first of all the commandments, O hear, O Israel, the Lord God is one Lord, and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. This is the first commandment. So without personal love for God, we will never be able to obey the mandates he asked of us. And personal love for God is known as problem-solving device number six on the flood line of your soul. That personal love for God is your motivational virtue to obey Him, to serve Him. Your functional virtue would be your impersonal love for other individuals. You can love people that you don’t even like based on your character, not theirs. So you have to have personal love for God before you will ever live the Christian life He’s designed for you because you won’t obey Him, you won’t seek Him. Matthew 6.33 says if you’ll seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, then these other things will be added to you that He talked about. So as you could see, priority number one for the believer Those of us who are still behind the enemy’s lines that’s here on earth, we have to learn and follow God’s plan, not our own plan. So what comes first in your life? That’s a fair question for me to ask you. Is it to learn and follow God’s predetermined plan for you? Or do you do it your way? Like Frank Sinatra sang, I did it my way. How many years have you wasted doing it your way, only to find Operation Boomerang? Like the aborigine natives would throw the boomerang, and if it didn’t hit what he threw it at, it’d come back to him. Sometimes you go off in a frantic search for happiness, and you don’t find it, and you wind up more miserable than you did to start with. That’s a boomerang. So the wonderful thing for us is that our God has provided everything that we need to defeat the strategy of Satan. And these provisions are all found in Ephesians 6, 11 through 17. Here’s where Paul lists them for us. I’ll read it. It says, put on the whole armor of God, that’s every piece of it, so that, purpose clause, so that you will be able to stand against the strategy of the devil. for we don’t wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, spiritual wickedness in high places. Because of this, take unto you the whole armor of God, so that you would be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to keep standing. And here comes the armor of God now. This is your strategy. Listen carefully. stand therefore having your loins girded with truth having on the breastplate of righteousness and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace and above all taking the shield of faith wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one and take the heaven of salvation and the sword of the spirit Which is what? Which is the Word of God. There’s your strategy right there laid out for you right there. So let’s take a look at this. The mandate is put on. Put on. That’s an imperative mood. Put on. He’s not asking you. He’s telling you. No soldier goes into battle without his battle equipment. You know that. Water, medical supplies, bulletproof vests, special shoes, ammo, extra ammo. Thus you and I are commanded to suit up, to strap on our battle equipment. This is a military metaphor, the Apostle Paul, and he used the Roman soldiers as his analogy. But before we get to all of that, remember, we stand up against the strategy of the devil. This refers to Satan’s specific strategy to defeat you based on his reconnaissance of your spiritual life. Your habits, your desires, he’s aware of that. He’s aware of your weaknesses, he’s aware of your strengths, and he has devised a specific plan to defeat you based on your past performance. And this plan of attack is carried out by demonic creatures who are actually fallen angels. And it appears that they have rank and leadership in his kingdom. The first one mentioned in this passage Paul brings up is called principalities. And this is the word rulers. These are the general officers like the three-star and two-star and the… The four star generals, the ones that are in charge of the show. The next rank refers to rulers of darkness. These are, what is that? Well that’s demon ambassadors and then we have the word powers, powers. These are demon officers like colonels and majors and lieutenants. And then we have the word spiritual wickedness in high places. These are the rank-and-file demons apparently. But remember this, that no Christian can ever be demon-possessed. You can be demon-influenced, and you must remember that Satan is not omniscient, so he cannot read your thoughts, but he can track your pattern, your habits. He knows what you do. So during the church age, demon attack on believers are limited to demon influence, in which the doctrine of demons invades the soul, the thinking of the soul. In 1 Timothy 4, 1 and 2, Paul brought that up. He said, but the Spirit says expressly that in the latter periods of time, some believers will withdraw from sound doctrine, concentrating on deceitful spirits and the doctrines from demons. by means of hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience with a hot iron. So here’s a prophecy of what would happen in the latter days. Believers will leave sound, solid, systematic doctrine and go for the lie, go for the doctrine of demons, go for the false stuff. When you get involved in that false stuff and that’s organized religion to the max, I promise you that’s what it is. demon influence wipes out all the sound doctrine you’ve ever learned, and it will destroy all your norms and your standards. And you’ll live a different lifestyle, you’ll have different priorities, and you’ll think you’re really doing great things for God, when in reality, you’re just piling up wood, hay, and stubble. So the Bible goes on to say, stand therefore having your loins girded about with truth. Your loins girded about with truth. Well, what does that mean? and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Loins girded about were truth. Every Roman soldier had a belt that served many purposes, much like the American soldier has an ammo belt. And this particular metaphor emphasizes the need for truth in our lives, the need for truth. Remember John 4, 24, God is a spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. Remember what John wrote in 3 John 1, 4, I have no greater joy than to know my children are walking in truth. You are to put truth around your waist, belt your armor up with truth, loins girded about with truth. So if you can walk in truth, then obviously you must be able to walk in the lie. And remember what Jesus said about Satan being a liar in John 8, 44. There’s no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he’s a liar and the father of it. So if the Christian doesn’t understand the truth about the spiritual life, he will undoubtedly lead other believers and sometimes non-believers astray. Though he means well, he’s trying to do the right thing, but he doesn’t have the truth. God demands protocol, which says the right thing must be done in the right way, and if you don’t understand that, you wind up doing a lot of right things in the wrong way, and it winds up being wood, hay, and stubble at the judgment seat of Christ. The truth is a right thing done in a right way. You know, it’s really a shame today that the ministry of the Holy Spirit is overlooked in the daily lives of believers. I want you to understand that unless you know what it is to be filled with the Holy Spirit, unless you know what it means to quench the Holy Spirit, you’ll wind up misinterpreting God’s will and plan for your life, I assure you. So in Ephesians 5.18, the Bible clearly says we are to be filled with the Holy Spirit if we wish to live an effective Christian life. This is not taught today, it’s not brought up today except by certain denominations that go overboard with it. go crazy with it sometimes, but as a Christian, you can either walk in the flesh or walk in the spirit. Galatians says the flesh wars against the spirit and the spirit wars against the flesh and these are contrary one to the other so that we can’t do the things that we want to do. There’s a battle going on, a war going on in your soul for the thinking of your soul, for the mentality of your soul. That’s why you must understand the truth and obey the truth. The judgment seat of Christ as taught in 1 Corinthians 3 will expose all those good intentions that were manufactured by the area of strength in your flesh. Satan’s number one objective is to prevent you from putting on the belt of truth. And he does this by counterfeiting the truth, getting you to bite the counterfeit and distracting you by your own good intentions. The next strategy we must employ is to put on the breastplate of righteousness. Now this is not referring to the plus R we get at salvation. Remember the Bible says, he that knew no sin was made sin for us so that we might be made the righteousness of God through him. That’s not what this is talking about. This is talking about experiential righteousness, which is your integrity and your spiritual capacity developed after you get saved. Some people may call it becoming a godly person or godliness. This sort of righteousness is potential if you live in obedience to God’s mandates to grow in the grace and the knowledge of your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In 1 Timothy 6, 11, but thou, O man of God, flee these things and follow after righteousness. Godliness, there we are, those two things. Faith, love, patience, and meekness. So Paul is well aware of that, teaching that concept to young Timothy, the pastor of the church at Ephesus. I haven’t lost you yet, have I? I’m giving you a lot of information. I hope you’re hanging with me. This breastplate of righteousness protects the vital organs of the Roman soldier. He didn’t have a breastplate of righteousness, but he had on a breastplate like a bulletproof vest, especially the heart and the lungs. If you get shot with an arrow in your heart or lungs, you’re dead. Developing capacity righteousness is like you putting on a spiritual bulletproof vest. This is tantamount to you becoming a spiritually mature individual. When you develop capacity righteousness through the consistent intake of God’s word, you are preserving your life. You hear that? When you develop capacity righteousness through the consistent intake of God’s word, you are preserving your life. In Proverbs chapter three, verse one and two, my son, forget not my law, but let your heart keep my mandates for length of days and a long life and peace shall they add to you. There’s the divine promise right there. Forget not my law, learn it, keep it, and you will live a long time and have a peaceful life. The next item Paul says we are to employ as our strategy against the devil are shoes or our combat boots. In Ephesians 6.15, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Can you imagine a warrior in combat fighting barefooted? Remember that Paul says we’re to stand against the strategy of the devil. Now, if you’re going to stand, this requires sheer footing, which is a balance and stability of sheer footedness. Fighting requires you to be stable and not knocked off your feet. In spiritual combat, you will confront the enemy as he tries to knock you off your feet so that your effectiveness is rendered neutral. The very thing we offer the lost man is this, peace with God. Peace with God. What does the verse say? And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. We offer peace with God. In Romans 5.1, therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God, there it is, through the Lord Jesus Christ. I know when I became a believer, the first night I went to sleep after I accepted Christ, I slept like a baby. Because it was the first night I didn’t have guilt and I wasn’t ashamed of who I was. I had been saved. I had been redeemed. I had been born again. My sins had been washed away and I had peace with God. That’s the opposite of turmoil. The lost man should be able to see the stability in your life, the peace in your life, the confidence that you have by using that faith rest drill, problem solving device number three. So peace with God means confidence, not doubt, not confusion, but confidence. A sure-footed believer is always confident in what Christ has given him as well as optimistic about what lies ahead. So here’s another question. Do you have peace with God? Have you been knocked off your feet because of your sin and your failure? Did you stay on the ground full of self-pity and guilt? Or did you rebound, problem-solving device number one, and scramble back up to your feet holding the line? I know when I played football in high school and college, I got blocked. I got knocked down. Usually I would take my hands and cover my numbers so the coach wouldn’t know who it was on the film. But I had to get back up and get back in the game. You didn’t lay there and feel sorry for yourself because you got knocked down. What about you? Have you been knocked down spiritually? Have you failed God and you think God deserted you? You feel like a loser in your life because you made a terrible sin and terrible mistake? Rebound. Confess the sin. God said if we’ll confess our sin, he’s faithful and just to forgive us and purify us from all of our wrongdoing. Get back in the game. Hold the line. The last piece of protective armor that the Roman soldiers shield is shield. Shield. Paul continues to use this military metaphor by saying this in Ephesians 6.16. In addition to all of this, take the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. So you have a shield as part of your strategy against the devil. It’s called the shield of faith. Did you know that the demonic darts of fallen angels are intended to cripple you spiritually? This means that you would be of no concern to them since you’ve been neutralized. One of the great cripplers in the Christian life is fear. It’s a great crippler to the Christian since he looks at problems and doesn’t focus on the solution. Scripture defines what a faith should be. The faith rest drill is and the shield of faith. Here it is, 2 Corinthians 4, 18. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. Since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. So faith is the means by which we perceive the reality in the unseen, and that’s in the invisible essence of God. It’s a wonderful concept. That’s what faith is. The Spartan army in the early days of Greece were famous for their shield maneuver during combat. Opposing armies would shoot thousands of arrows at the Spartan warriors who would lift their shields over their head in a tight formation, thus looking like a turtle shell. This umbrella of shields would protect them from the bombardment of those arrows running down upon them. To that Spartan warrior, the shield was the most important part of their defense. And your shield is vital to your success as a material believer. Because not only did the shield protect the warrior that held it, but it also protected the man to his right when they locked shields. Locking shields formed a phalanx. And that phalanx would move through the enemy lines like a tank, smashing the enemy as it advanced. Never forget that the mature believer in a local church, that’s much like a Spartan phalanx when they lock their shields in prayer. The local church is full of mature believers if it is as a safe haven for those being tested in the arena of life. Remember, are we talking about an attack from Satan based on his knowledge of your weaknesses? Listen to what the writer of Hebrews says concerning faith. Without faith, it’s impossible to please God. This indicates that God is aware of what you’re doing. Sometimes he’s pleased, sometimes he’s not. In Proverbs 15, three, the eyes of the Lord are everywhere keeping watch on the wicked and on the good. So God is obviously pleased when you use the strategy He gave you. When you defend yourself with His provisions, Your faith is built like a fortress made up of thousands of promises, and each promise is like an individual shield that you can use to protect yourself, to stand behind, and to extinguish the fiery darts of Satan. These darts are made up of accusations and temptations designed to break your will and cause you to surrender your efforts to oppose him. Remember, no matter what he uses to discourage you, you’re able to overcome it if you use your shield of faith. In Isaiah 54, 17, no weapon that is formed against you will prosper, and every tongue that shall rise up against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord. And in James 4, 7, submit yourself therefore to God and resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Your resistance is related to your trust and your confidence in God’s word, which is the faith rest drill. Standing on the promises of God when you sin and fall. Do you believe what God says in 1 John 1, 9? When you are tormented day and night by adversity, do you use the faith rest drill or do you go into frustration and get full of self-pity with that old woe is me sentence? Have you ever had that woe is me attitude? These are the promises that I’m giving to you. The promises you can use as a shield to give you a relaxed mental attitude. In 1 Corinthians 10, 13, there has no temptation taken you, but such as common demand. And God is faithful who will not allow you to be tempted more than you can stand, but with the temptation will also make a way to escape. That’s the wonderful grace of God. I hope you’re listening. I hope you’re learning, and I hope you will apply this information. We’ll be back next week and finish it up, same time, same place. Until then, this is your host, Rick Hughes, saying thank you for listening to The Flatline.
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Thank you for listening to The Floodline with your host, Rick Hughes. If you’d like to contact Rick, please write to him at P.O. Box 100, Cropwell, Alabama, 35054, or online at www.rickhughesministries.org.
