We just celebrated Memorial Day this past week. A day that we set aside to honor all our men and women who have served our country in the armed services. Many have given their lives, that we might live in freedom. We need to honor them very highly, and I pray that all of us did and are doing that.

But as I thought on this, I once again thought about the fact that we are a nation at war!! The war we are involved in now is like no other that this mighty nation has ever fought. Although we have the greatest, the mightiest, the bravest, and the most advanced fighting force in the world today, our Armed forces cannot win this war! We are in a spiritual war!! Hear me well today, if America does not get back to God, Jesus Christ, we will loose this war and America as we have known her will fall!! Sure we need our forces to battle terrorism, and we need our mighty weapons, but we need more than that in this war. We need America to fall upon her knees, submit to God and resist the Devil.

The war boils down to those who follow a false God (Alah and his false prophet Mohammad ) trying to conquer and destroy those who follow the only true living God, (Jehovah, and His Son Jesus Christ) The followers of Alah firstly want to kill every living Jew and conquer Israel. If you really want to know what this war, which America, all Christians, and Jews are involved in, please read chapters 15, 16, and 17 in the book of Genesis. If you study those chapters you will come to understand that this war is between the children of Ishmael and the children of Isaac.

God has given us Christians the armor that we need to win this war. And we can win this war if we will just put on the armor of God!! Paul uses the armor of a Roman Solider to explain the armor of God to us. In these verses we have seven pieces of armor that we must put on to win this war. I will list them in three groups and deal with them in that order. Please heed these words.

   1. We must be consistent in serving the Lord, not our wants. (Mat. 6:19-21)

   2. There are three pieces of armor in this first group.

       A. The belt which equals truth

            1. Might not seem important, but the belt around the hips is one of

                the most important pieces of armor that the Roman solider wore.

           2. The belt held all the other pieces of armor together and in place

           3. We must belt of truth to hold all our other armor together, so it will

                not cause us to trip and fall.

           4. This belt that holds things together is truth! What is truth? Jesus!!

               (John 14:6)

     B. The breast plate which equals righteousness.

      1. The breast plate protected all the vital organs of a man, heart, lungs, etc.

      2. We must put on the righteousness of God to protect our heart.

      3. What is the righteousness of God? Holiness, right living, separated from

           the world and the lusts there of.

      4. In other words put on Jesus!

   C. The Sandals which equals the Gospel of Jesus Christ

       1. We must live the Gospel

       2. We must speak the Gospel

       3. We must take the Gospel (Matt. 28: 18-20)

   1. There are two pieces of armor in this group

       A. The Shield which equals faith.

            1. The Roman soldiers shield was oblong and was made of leather and

                 was soaked in water during battle. The shield would protect the

                 solider from spears arrows and firey darts shot by the enemy. The

                 wet leather would put out the fiery darts.

            2. Christianity begins by faith, (Rom. 10:9,10,13)

           3. Christianity continues by faith. (Rom.1:17)

       B. The Helmet which equals salvation

           1. The Roman soldiers helmet protected his head, brain form injury.

           2. We must have a know so salvation. (I John 5:13)

           3. We must be protected from the trickery of Satan

              (II. Corinthians 11:3)

   1. There are two pieces of armor in this group.

      A. The Sword which equals the word of god, the Bible. (Heb. 4:12)

           1. We must get our marching orders daily!!

           2. The Word is our only offensive weapon.

           3. The Word is our only means of defeating the Devil

          4. Neglect the Word and loose the war.

      B. The Prayers which equals a hot line to God.

          1. We must stay in close contact with our commander in chief.

          2. We must begin and end our day in prayer

          3. We cannot win this war without time spend in prayer.

          4. Don't know how to pray?? Then hear this (Rom. 8:26-27)

          5. Pray my brothers and sisters, pray and pray some more.