Boot Camp 101 (Pack Up & Ship Out Your Civies- Put On Your Uniform!)

1. Boot Camp 101(Pack Up & Ship Out Your Civies- Put On Your Uniform!) 05/04/14

2. Ephesians 6:10-18 • Principles for every area of life – • The defensive is no good for combat. • The best thing the defensive can do is to avoid defeat. • The Royal Family was not designed for defeat – therefore, the offensive should always be our goal. • Defense always destroys a people. • About all defense is good for is to buy time until you can crank up a good offense. • Fortune favors the brave (aggressive). • Victory in warfare does not depend entirely upon numbers or mere courage – only skill & discipline will ensure it (but it must always be skill & discipline for the offensive).

3. Ephesians 6:10-18 • Roman conquest of the world was the result of continual training in the art of warfare & exact enforcement of discipline. • Once a Christian soldier is fully equipped for combat, they are ready to meet an enemy – superior in every way in close combat. • Nor can they be thrown off balance by the forces of Satan.

4. Ephesians 6:10-18 Understand this – when you take the offensive BAD THINGS WILL HAPPEN TO YOU! There will be storms in your life – there will be GREAT battles. But, God will ALWAYS give you the resources that you need for those storms & those battles. Look at Paul & Silas (Acts 16:22-24) – Striped; beaten; imprisoned; shackled; bloody & raw; hurting.

5. Ephesians 6:10-18 Did they React or Respond to their lousy, rough, tough circumstances? They prayed & sang hymns at midnight (during the darkness of their situation – the dark night of the soul)! (Acts 16:25) Then came an earthquake!!! (Acts 16:26) The whole place was falling down around them! The jailer thought everyone had escaped, & was about to kill himself (Acts 16:27). He would have gone into a Christless eternity into the Lake of Fire.

6. Ephesians 6:10-18 But Paul said, “STOP! We are all here! He fell down before them & cried out, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:31) Because of the faithfulness of Paul & Silas, the Philippian jailer & his whole family were saved & on their way to Heaven instead of the Lake of Fire. You may even be a spiritual descendent of the Philippian jailer! Many down through time have become believers because of the testimony of this man who went to work one day not knowing what a change was about to happen in his life!

7. Ephesians 6:10-18 But, that isn’t all that Paul went through (II Corinthians 11:24-28) - • Beaten with 39 lashes of a whip 5 times. • Beaten with rods 3 times. • Stoned to death once. • Shipwrecked 3 times (once spent a night & a day in the sea before being rescued).

8. Ephesians 6:10-18 • In danger in – • His many journeys • In the high seas; from robbers; from Jews & Gentiles; from false teachers • The cities & in the wilderness A really, really inviting life, huh?! • Tired; work was overwhelming • Long days without much sleep • Hungry (many days of fasting) • Thirsty • Cold • Inadequate clothing • Concern for the churches But the Rewards are GREAT!

9. Ephesians 6:10-18 There are 2 things that hinder us the most from “Standing Strong” – Expectations & Reactions! • Life generally doesn’t match up with our expectations – • There is a huge gap between what we expect & what we experience. • Disappointment is the gap between our reality & our expectations. We get our expectations from our families, our cultures, & our entertainment. Expectations cause us to try & manipulate others to conform to our expectations – it makes both parties miserable! We then react to one another – sooner or later, things really explode!

10. Ephesians 6:10-18 We must stop trying to manipulate others & start managing our own expectations. • Marriage is a great example – marriage is the joining together of 2 Old Sin Natures! • Two dirty birds in a cage! • Marriage is about oneness – • Not who is in charge • Not “what are our distinct roles?” • Not “separate, but equal” • But, “you are me.” The only expectation we should have in marriage (& in life) is Ephesians 5:21 (NIV) “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.”

11. Ephesians 6:10-18 • Submission is not weakness – • It takes great strength & courage. • It is not something put on us, but a willing choice we make. • It is the willing choice that we make that, “I exist for you.” • “It is not about me, but all about you.” • True love is submission. • Love is not a feeling, but all about sacrifice. • Submission does not mean that you stop thinking for yourself – you can’t let the other person bully you into conformity to their way of thinking. It is interesting that the 2 greatest passages on marriage (Ephesians 5 & I Peter 5) are followed by 2 great passages on spiritual warfare! Context is everything! The world, the flesh, & the devil will battle against you tooth & nail when you start trying to apply Biblical submission in your life – all hell will fight against you living like this! Simple question – “Whose happiness am I pursuing?”

12. Ephesians 6:10-18 • In relation to all the armor, also consider the factor of vulnerability in battle – • Rome felt that it had been proven that beards were hazardous to the combatant. • As a result, the Roman soldier was ordered to shave every day. • The shaving of the beard is analogous to confession of sin (Rebound). • You can’t fight the enemy with unconfessed sin in your life – he will slit your throat every time! The finest equipment becomes neutralized.

13. Ephesians 6:10-18 • Shaving requires a mirror – shows how grubby you really are! See James 1:22-25. • When the Royal Warrior falls in for duty, they must be in fellowship – only in the filling of the Spirit can they accomplish the divinely assigned objective.