The last two sermons discussed warfare in the realm of spirits. The warfare between Satan and Adam&Eve, and Jesus and Satan was discussed. This sermon will discuss YOUR warfare.

To fight a war, Paul vividly describes armour that you must put on to win. This armour MUST be used! There’s no other way but to use this armour in the realm of spirits.

Eph 6:10-17
6 pierces of armour. The belt, the breastplate, the shoes, the shield, the helmet and the sword.

This sermon will discuss two pieces - the helmet and the shoes.

Paul did not invent the helmet of salvation. In fact, the armour of God is not particularly unique to the New Testament. Paul actually borrowed this imagery from Isaiah 59:17. The armour of God isn’t a new thing. As long as you have warfare in the realm of spirits, you NEED the armour, whether in the Old Testament or New Testament.

And what is this helmet of salvation? Paul also talks about the helmet not only in Ephesians but also Thessalonians.

1 Thess 5:8
Here Paul gives a clearer explanation of what the helmet of salvation is. Here says the helmet is the HOPE of our salvation.That is to say: focusing and keeping your mind on salvation.

Keeping your mind on salvation is a common theme that runs through the Bible from the Old Testament to the New Testament.

Col 3:2

Your MIND must be focused on what? Heavenly things.

Isa 26:3
He who keeps his mind on God will have, not just peace, but PERFECT peace. You stay your mind, keep your mind, and focus on God.

Rom 8:5-6
The mind of the spirits (i.e. spiritually minded) focuses on the things of the spirits.

Heb 11:13-16
What were they looking for? They were looking not for the earthly country but the heavenly country.

Now we put all the aforementioned verses together. Colossians talks about setting our minds on things above and not on earth. In Isaiah, we stay our minds on God. Romans tells us to set our minds on the things of the spirit. Hebrews tells us to look towards a heavenly country. And the result of all this is PERFECT peace.

This piece of armour, the helmet of salvation, is all about your MIND. In a spiritual fight, when you’re engaged in a spiritual encounter, what your mind focuses on matters. If your mind focuses on God, thongs above, spiritual things, you win.

In a spiritual battle, if your mind is distracted by things of the world; your children husband job, you lose.

That’s why Paul says to put on the helmet of salvation! Focus on God and think of things of God!

Matt 16:23
See the same theme? When Satan attacks peter, what does he do? He distracts the mind of Peter! And Jesus’ job was to turn Peter back and remind him, “Hey you mind is distracted! Your kind is of the things of the weld and Man! You’re not mindful of the things of God!”

That’s how Satan attacks you! By fangibg the things of the world and distracting you! And Jesus says that’s an Odense to Him! “You’re Peter. You hold the key! When you fight, you must keep your mind on things of above and not things of Man.”

What comes to your mind and is in your mind is very important!

Now we come to the next piece of armour - shoes. Some people say the shoes is the gospel, but that’s not the case. The Chinese is very clear actually. It’s the shoe of READINESS/preparation. Not the shoe of the gospel.

What the gospel does is that it makes the person ready because when he receives the gospel, he has peace in him and he’s ready and prepared. But readiness for what?

Luke 22:33
The readiness is the readiness to suffer and the readiness to die. This is what Peter says. Paul says about the same.

Acts 21:13
“I am ready not only ready to be bound and suffer. But I am ready to die.”
A soldier who is fearful of suffering and death cannot fight. A Christian warrior has no fear of suffering nor death.

How does Paul view suffering?
2 Cor 4:17-18 + Rom 8:17
Paul sees suffering as preparation for glory. Because Christ suffered, he shares the suffering of Christ. Because Christ was glorified, he will share the glorification of Christ. If we see suffering as glory, the world takes on an entirely differently complexion/fangshi.

Phil 1:21-24
Paul sees living as a service. “As long as I draw breath, my life on Earth is to serve.” And what’s death? It’s gain. It’s profit! To live is Christ, but to die is gain.

When we consider death as a benefit, a bonus, a profit, and when we have no fear of it, victory is yours.

For a solider to move, his foot must move first, if not there’s no way. And the first thing that touches the ground is his shoe. That’s why we need the shoe of readiness, and this readiness comes from the gospel of peace. Because when you have the readiness to suffer and die for Christ, you can go anywhere, you can tread on serpents, and win!

The speaker says that those in the congregation may feel the above is all very high and mighty words. May think: it sounds very good but…it’s not my life! It’s all abstract and theory. It sounds good but it’s not linked to everything I do when I wake up.

So the speaker will tell us a story of a war in the realm of spirits where a warrior used these two pieces and won a fantastic victory.

The story of Raphael:
He was a brilliant boy. He was always the top student in school. In 2011, when he was only 11 years old, he had brain cancer. His father brought him to Hong Kong for an operation. It was fine for a while and one year later, 2012, the cancer relapsed. In June of 2012, he came to Singapore for a second surgery. 11 years old. Brain cancer. Two operations. He went through tremendous pain. He and his family went through tough times. He suffered for two years. During which time, he went through spiritual warfare.

In Dec 2014, God took him. He was only 14. But he was victorious! When he was in the hospital, he was a hero! In fact, he was a pop idol. All the nurses loved him. His presence in the hospital cheered the nurses. The nurses would tell that despite his pain from the surgery and rumours, he’s be singing hymns and all of them loved him!

No Muslim has stepped foot in our church before until Raphael brought one. The younger lady was the nurse. The nurses were SO impressed by him that she went home and told her mother about it. She was so impressed she wanted to meet Raphael and walked into church. This was the first time a Muslim came to our church, and it was because of Raphael.

What was the secret of his victory? His mind THROUGHOUT the years of suffering was stayed on God.

This was how he spent his time - reading the Bible whenever he had time, and praying!

But not just for himself! When he was in the hospital, he looked for other kids and cheered them up! The disadvantaged looking after the disadvantaged.

That’s the kind of victorious life that the angels in heaven will sing!

After his death, his father found that this boy kept diaries. The speaker asked for it and has the permission of his father to share some of his writings.

• 5 March 2013
Diary entry written in Indonesian:
“Today when I wake up at 7am, I sing hymns, praise God and read the Bible. After that I read comics. Wear my shoes. Read comics. After reading the Bible, I had my lunch.
(This is how he passed his time)
My mother told me stories. I cried. Mother also cried. Then I sing.
I watched a movie “on the spot” which is about someone who died and lived again. Although he’s dead, he’s loved. Really to die is good.
I think of the time I’m sick. When I was in Singapore, God gave me many dreams. God gave me a way. Through dreams, God showed me the way. The story is very exciting!

Dream:
(In the Catholic Church there’s an additional book called the book of Tobit)
There’s a book of Tobit. Later on, God tells me this. There is a writing on the door of the room where the book of Tobit was kept; it says Catholic. Next to this door was another door. On the other door was written the word ‘Christian’. I tried to go into the door that says ‘Catholic’. When I went inside there, I was taught to use the rosary. I don’t feel comfortable when I go into the Catholic door. There’s no happiness. I come out of the Catholic door and go into the door that says Christian. When I went there, I feel the joy in my heart. The Lord Jesus is always with us all. He gives us the Holy Spirit that fills/satisfies our heart.

After the dream, I went to eat.”

(Why did God show him this dream? What is the book of Tobit? It’s not in the Bible. Briefly, the story in this book is this: A man named Tobit fell sick and prayed for death. There’s also another woman called Sarah. Every man she was married to would be killed on the wedding night by the devil. God sent an angel to help Tobit and this woman. This angel took the gallbladder of a fish and used it to cure Tobit. He also used the gallbladder to chase away the demon harassing the woman. It’s not in the Bible because it uses physical aids for healing and casting away of the demon.

And the name of the angel who did all these things was Raphael. So it’s really remarkable this boy was given this dream by God related to the book of Tobit, where his own name came from.

It is God’s way of telling him that it’s not using human aids for his curing. That’s why when he went through the door, he felt no happiness. But when he went through the real Christian door; the door where there is the Holy Spirit, that’s where he finds happiness. It’s not the curing of the ailment that’s important that gives you happiness but where the Holy Spirit is.)

• September 2013
“I was at a party and people sang happy birthday to me. I saw a young girl named Cindy who looked like Jessica (my younger sister). Cindy was bullied by other people at the party. I shouted out until mother was shocked that he shouted. I didn’t want the other children to bully her. In the car when I was only with my mother, the Holy Spirit spoke to my mother “this is My son”, until she cried in the car. Aunty also said that what happened at the party was a result of this.”

Even when he was sick, he was the only one who stood up to defend another kid who was bullied. When he shouted, his mother actually initially told him not to do it because it was embarrassing. It was a party and most of them were the ones bullying another girl. In the car later on the Holy Spirit moved the mother to know “this is My son and he’s doing the right thing”.

This 11 year old boy had the Holy Spirit working in his life.

Oct 2013
“I studied xyz subjects. I like smurfs. I went to eat. I sleep and talked to my aunty. Later, I went to an orphanage called Love Victorious. I held a service in the orphanage.”

(See how remarkable this kid is. He’s dying. He’s in pain. But yet what he wants to do and has been doing other than praying and reading the Bible, visits the orphanage to cheer up other kids and holds services! 13 years old.)

Up to today, the True Jesus Church in Indonesia continues to support this orphanage.

He died in 2014. It’s now 2019. 5 years it has been and this ministry started by a little boy with cancer still continues.

See what a little boy can do, even when disadvantaged!

• April 2014
True faith. Faithful to the end. Hold on to our faith, our one true God. Once in a while, God will test us like Joseph, Abraham and Job. Nevertheless, God gives a way. Although it seems God is destroying us, when we have finished our task, we will get the reward if we are faithful.

(Remarkable. 13 years old writing words like this in the midst of pain! Profound words.)

“Life is like a game of chance. It’s mysterious. It’s like an ever revolving wheel. It’s like a game of cards.”

(Can you believe a 13 year old writing like this about life? God gave him wisdom like Solomon! Because he has experienced the worst life can give to him and has experienced God’s help.)

“My uncle talks about reward all the time. The ‘lightning of Smurfs’ came. It’s very exciting. Many people have many ideas. Life is about believing. Life is temporary. We are the citizens of God. Do not be influenced by the current circumstances around us. When we are given something by someone, remember that all this comes by gift from God.”

(13 year old boy writing like this. The speaker has never seen one like this nor was one like this. How many of you had thoughts like this when you were 13?)

• Later 2014
“One night I was quite sad and in pain. (God blessed him with a good, devout mother.) My mother taught me a song about the rainbow of the love of God. The song reminded me of the times in Singapore when I had my 4th chemotherapy - the last. (He knew he was going to die.)

I see the grace and mercy or God. I ask for God’s mercy. Nevertheless though I asked, rain came. (God didn’t answer his prayer) But after rain, the rainbow of the love of God. It’s bright orange. I cried.

(He prayed to be healed, just like all of us would. Sometimes God doesn’t heal. It still rained, God didn’t heal him. But God gave him a vision. God let him see a rainbow that was bright orange; a rainbow of the love of God.

Why is he talking about this rainbow? What was the hymn his mother taught?

Listen to the hymn ‘the rainbow of God’s love’ and we’ll understand how deep

Lyrics:
Whatever you experience now
You may not understand
The test you’ve experienced
Will not be beyond your strength
God will not give you a snake if you ask for bread
One thing you must keep in your heart
Whatever is beautiful is given by God
The hand of God is weaving something that is glorious
The time will come where you will see the rainbow of God’s love

How lucky some of you kids are if your mothers are devout. Not just giving physical things but the word of God and hymns.)

This is the hymn his mother gave him which brightened his day.

The story hasn’t ended yet. The best part is this: God gave him a vision.

• Oct 2014
His father became desperate. He knew he was going to die. He had 4 chemotherapies (which is terrible). The 4th was his last and he knew it.

They were introduced to a doctor of alternative medicine. His father brought him to KL. The church there was very loving. Dn/Pr Ezekiel Chang accompanied him to visit the alternative medicine doctor. Without an X-ray or medical report, just by feeling his pulse, the doctor knew he had brain cancer.

The parents were very impressed and wanted to start treatment. But the doctor said 1. Pay me money 2. Come back in a month because I’ve a long list. His parents paid a lot of money.

When they returned back to Jakarta, Raphael refused to eat. The parents were surprised.
“Why?? What’s happening?”
Raphael said, “If you want to send me for that treatment, I’d rather die.”
“Why? What’s wrong with that treatment?”
“Everywhere on the walls surrounding me I saw idols idols idols.”
His father saw nothing! Dn Jeremiah/Ezekiel Chang saw nothing too!
“Why did you see an idol?”

Dn/Pr Ezekiel Chang called up the agent who recommended this doctor and asked point blank if that doctor would use black magic. He admitted. The operation would not use knives but bare hands.

2 months later, Raphael suffered enough and God took him away. He was able to see things in the spiritual realm that neither his father nor his

How does this sermon relate to the glorious life of Raphael? In his worst times, what was in his mind? The things of God! He was praying, reading the Bible, singing hymns and serving God!

He had the helmet of salvation. It was God’s things that was in his mind.

He had no fear of suffering.

When he saw other kids suffering, he stood up for them.

In the midst of his suffering, he held services for other kids who were also suffering but less suffering for him.

Raphael had a short life of 14 years. But it was bursting with light! And in 5 years the light he shone continues on in Jakarta.

He would rather die then go for a surgery by black magic.

He had the shoes of readiness. The readiness to suffer, the readiness to die for Christ.

This story of his short life illustrates the warfare in the realm of spirits. When you fight on the right side; the side of God, when you put on the helmet of salvation and the shoes of readiness, God gives you supernatural assistance.

God gave him 3 things:

1. God gave him dreams. It comforted him. It told him, “The way you’re going is in my plan, son.”

2. God gave him supernatural wisdom, the wisdom of Solomon. So he understands the suffering a little boy like him was going through. He could write things, deep things way beyond the capability of a 13 year old

3. God gave him spiritual sight in the realm of spirits to see the idols neither his father nor Pr/Dn Ezekiel saw

When you’re on the right/spiritual side with the right equipments, God is on your side and fights with you.