By this Summer, I need to complete a book I'm writing. Perhaps you may have seen some of the sketches featured on Monergism's front page last year. Well, the book is outlined, most of the writing is done, but I am exegeting Ephesians 6 from the Greek and guess what, I'm short on commentary and stumped. All I need is grace from God and a little kick-start and I'll be back on track. That kick-start might come by finding something I've never read before on the "Christian Soldier" that Paul tells Timothy to be (a good soldier of Jesus Christ).

Any links, works, suggestions??? Anything Christian Soldier related is fine and appreciated. Thanks!

__________________
Stephen
Reformer, SBC
Faith Defenders
Anaheim, CA
[URL="http://biblicalthought.com"]biblicalthought.com[/URL]

"Resolved, never to give over, nor in the least to slacken, my fight with my corruptions, however unsuccessful I may be." --Jonathan Edwards, The Resolutions, #56

Well, you will find everything you need in just one book: _The Christian in Complete Armour_, by William Gurnall. It is magnificent, exhaustive (1200 pp.), and very devotional. He does good exegesis to boot. It is an exposition of Ephesians 6, starting with verse 10, I believe.

__________________
Rev. Lane Keister
Teaching Elder, PCA, North Dakota (working out of bounds in a CRC and an RCA church)
http://greenbaggins.wordpress.com
http://brahmsgreenglove.blogspot.com
http://accenttranslation.blogspot.com
Click to get: Board Rules -- Signature Requirements -- Suggestions?

Vol. 8 of Martyn Lloyd-Jones' Ephesians commentary is entitled "The Christian Soldier", covering ch. 6:10-20. Vol. 7 focuses on Eph. 6:10-13 and is entitled "The Christian Warfare."

__________________
Chris Poe--Attending Grace Community Baptist Church, Mandeville, LA

"There never was a man in the world without a creed. What is a creed? A creed is what you believe. What is a confession? It is a declaration of what you believe. That declaration may be oral or it may be committed to writing, but the creed is there either expressed or implied."—B.H. Carroll

Thanks friends! The Doctor was great, wasn't he?

Available online here.

Other useful works on spiritual warfare:

Thomas Brooks, Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices (available online here)
Jean Taffin, The Marks of God's Children
John Downame, The Christian Warfare
Charles Spurgeon, Spiritual Warfare in a Believer's Life
Isaac Ambrose, The Christian Warrior: Wrestling with Sin, Satan, the World, and the Flesh (available online here)
William Spurstowe, The Wiles of Satan
Daniel Dyke, Michael And The Dragon Or, Christ Tempted & Satan Foiled

__________________
Andrew Myers
Husband of Jessica, Father of Jackson, Katie and Samuel
Member, Presbyterian Reformed Church of Northern Virginia
Warrenton, VA USA
Editor, The Matthew Poole Project

"On land, at sea, at home, abroad, / I smoke my pipe and worship God." -- J.S. Bach

This leads me to something that has been of concern on my heart for a while. All of these amazing works Andrew listed deal with the reality of Satan as the enemy of the believer. Why does this seem to be lost on the Church today? The Puritan's believed him to be the great deceiver and arch enemy of our soul, but today it seems like everybody in the Church is scared to talk this way less they be accused of being charismatic.

I believe today in the Church many preachers downplay the role of Satan as our adversary, and we tend to make it seem as if the flesh is our only enemy. But what about the attacks of Satan's fiery darts? What about the fact that Paul was concerned that the church in Corinth would be beguiled by Satan concerning the simplicity of Christ? What about the fact that we are told to put on the whole armour of God so that we may be able to withstand this deceiver?

I'm not saying the flesh is not our enemy because I know it is. But why does the Church today not seem to recognize Satan as the great deceiver and enemy of the soul? I know he's on a "leash", and is already defeated. I know he answers to the sovereignty of God, and will one day be cast into a burning lake of fire. But as it stands I don't think there is anything that Satan desires more than to try and corrupt the minds of believers, and take every other advantage of destroying his/her body that God will let him have.

I don't believe a true born again child of God can be demon possessed, but that doesn't change the fact that Satan still tries with all his might to stop God's kingdom from advancing. What am I missing that the Puritan's seemed to understand so much more? Is there a reason why this has been lost in the Church today?

__________________
Ryan Barnhart - Pastor of OGBC
Husband to a beautiful wife, Father to two beautiful girls
"But by the grace of God I am what I am." I Corinthians 15:10

"I confess to you, that if I can but live and die serving the Lord Jesus, it will make no difference to me whether I am eaten by Cannibals or by worms. And in the Great Day my Resurrection body will rise as fair as yours in the likeness of our risen Redeemer." - John Paton

Pastor, I believe it is a scheme of Satan that has taken root upon armorless Christians. Just as Reformation and Revival have been brought forth by God whenever justification by faith has thundered from pulpits accross the lands, so may the worship, prayer, devotion, honor, reverence, and awe of God in Christ by the Spirit refresh the souls of Satan-bedraggled Christians, should God be pleased to grant it.

They were a "God-fearing" people! Their God was worthy to be feared. He was mighty to save and mighty to judge. Their God held all men accountable for the way they lived and would one day judge all men for their sins. He was enthroned in the Heavens and laughed at the puny efforts of rebel sinners to throw off His sovereign rule (Psalm 2). His justice would be fully vindicated by His divine judgnment on the Last Day.

As Dr. Morey says, "This was the soul and substance of the Gospel. Salvation made sense upon this assumption of the fear of God." Fearing God pg.4

Indeed he was! My two favorites, the Doctor and Spurgeon!

__________________
Ivan Schoen, Pastor
Maranatha Baptist Church
Poplar Grove, Illinois USA
http://maranatha-sbc.org/
"When a denomination begins to consider doctrine divisive, theology troublesome, and convictions inconvenient, consider that denomination on its way to a well-deserved death." Dr. Albert Mohler, President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

The Whole Armour of God - Part 1
The Whole Armour of God - Part 2
The Christian Warfare
The Good Fight of Faith

__________________
J. M. - Baptist - Ontario, Canada - Feileadh Mor

"Nothing is more seductive for man than his freedom of conscience. But nothing is a greater cause of suffering."
The Brothers Karamazov

Grace to You (John MacArthur) - Today's Broadcast

I'm listening now.

William Gouge also has an exposition of portions of Ephesians 5 and 6 that is valuable and worth consulting, as well as a treatise entitled, The Whole Armour of God or a Christian's Spiritual Furniture to Keep Him Safe from all the Assaults of Satan.

]

Lloyd-Jones is awesome!