Curious What Dephcon Six Means?

In the last blog post, we discussed the connection between Bible names and identity. Curious about the identity and origin of the name, Dephcon Six? This article will satisfy your curiosity.

Dephcon vs. DEFCON

Dephcon Six comes from a play on words with the defense readiness condition commonly called DEFCON. This is an alert state established in the 1950s by the United States Armed Forces which utilizes numerical levels to indicate degrees of readiness. The first time I ever heard of the term DEFCON was in the Matthew Broderick movie, War Games.

This is where the word homophone comes into play. Harken back to grade school English class and you may recall that a homophone is a word that sounds the same as another word but with a different spelling and meaning. An example being: to, too, and two. For this website, I have modified the word DEFCON to Dephcon because of the letter to the Ephesians written by Paul the Apostle.

Similarly, the six in Dephcon Six comes from the same letter to the Ephesians chapter 6. The six is also a wordplay on the DEFCON levels used by the US Armed Forces as mentioned earlier. The next section breaks down the DEFCON levels.

DEFCON

There are five increasing levels of readiness (or states of alert) for the U.S. military. They increase in severity from DEFCON 5, which would be the least severe, to DEFCON 1, which would be the most severe, and these levels change depending upon the current military situations the US Armed Forces are facing. Below is an infographic describing the levels.

So I ask you, fellow sojourner, what level should we, the Christian believer, be at in our lives? Should we allow the world to dictate what our readiness or preparedness level should be for the conflicts and the wars in our lives?

The World

In John 15:18-19 when discussing the world, Jesus says:

If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

Jesus continues with the not of the world theme when brought before Pontius Pilate in John 18:33-38. And to build upon this point further, Paul says in Romans 12:1-2:

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

We are called out of this world. Just because the world says something is acceptable doesn’t mean the Christian should accept that something as being acceptable. We need to look to the Word for the Truth, not the world.

Peace

So I ask again, what level should the Christian believer be at in their lives when life’s conflicts and wars arise? Peace, as in the peace that surpasses all understanding. Jesus tells us in John 14:27:

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

The peace of God will guard our hearts and minds through Jesus Christ of Nazareth. We should be at peace through Jesus, as the apostle Paul continues in Philippians 4:6-7:

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Authority

In Luke 10:19, Jesus says:

Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

Note how Jesus says over ALL the power of the enemy. Not some, but ALL. Jesus has given us the authority to defeat the enemy in our lives, but it is up to us to exercise this authority. How? How do we exercise this authority? The apostle Paul shares with us how in his letters.

Paul states in 2 Corinthians 10:3-6:

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.

We exercise this authority by realizing that even though we walk in the flesh; we do not war according to the flesh. Why? Because the Lord has granted us the spiritual authority to overcome the enemy. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God!

Armor of God

This starts the ball rolling, or at least the mind thinking. Moving from the carnal mind to the spiritual. Paul explains further in how to exercise this spiritual authority in Ephesians 6:10-18 when he tells us how and why to put on the armor of God, where our strength comes from and whom it is we are actually at war with:

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints

Our battle is not against flesh and blood but against those evil forces who are bent on the destruction of God’s creation. It is not a fleshly battle but a spiritual one against various species or rankings of demons and fallen angels.

Do we fight them one on one in our power? No! We need to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. For the Christian, we do this through prayer, and by putting on the whole armor of God. For the non-believer, there is no way except by calling on the name of Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and believing in Him (Romans 10:9).

Strong in the Lord

That, my fellow pilgrim, is the derivation of the name for this website and where this website will be going. Dephcon Six. When the US military says we are at DEFCON 5, it means the United States is war-free, i.e. the US is at peace. This is carnal peace. We, as Christians, should have even greater peace, because we know Who’s we are.

We are not in this battle by ourselves, but we are strong in the Lord when we put on His armor. Also on our side are our fellow saints and soldiers of Christ. Corporate prayer and individual prayer are our principal weapons in this struggle.

This combination of the Lord’s armor and prayer leads us to the Peace of God through Jesus Christ. Therefore, fear and anxiety should not be part of a believer’s walk in this world. We should have confidence that Christ Jesus has won the war and hears our prayers. All we need is to be in A.W.E of the Lord. The following does this:

• Accept His authority (1 John 5:4-5)
• Walk in His authority (1 John 4:4)
• Exert His authority (Luke 10:19)

This in combination with wearing our God-given spiritual armor, leads us to the peace of God that surpasses all understanding through Jesus Christ. But this doesn’t mean the devil is not cunningly hunting you. To the contrary as revealed in 1 Peter 5:6-11:

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Tribulations

All Christians will face varying degrees of suffering in their life, from physical persecution to mocking and scoffing. Tribulations. As Paul discusses in Romans 5:1-5, tribulations are not pleasant. When we are in them it is difficult to not focus on them. But we need to pray that the Lord carries us through these tribulations and realize, as Paul did, to understand that this tribulation will produce perseverance, then character and finally hope. And as Paul says, hope does not disappoint.

It is this paradox of peace during trials and our warfare being against spiritual wickedness and not our fellow man that is Dephcon Six.

We are called to have an inner peace during our trying times through God. That is so easy to say and difficult to do if we stay in the flesh and not the Spirit. We need to put on the whole armor of God and remember who’s we are. We are not the world’s or the enemy’s possession. We are God’s children as Paul emphasizes in his letter to the Romans 8:12-17.

Praise God for His infinite and wonderful gift of grace! It is incredible that we are heirs of God AND joint-heirs with Christ. Simply amazing!

Do you have the peace that surpasses all understanding?
Are you trusting in the Lord during the storms of life?
Are you in A.W.E of the Lord?
If you answered yes to these questions, then you are at Dephcon Six.

And if you’ve called on the name of Jesus as your Lord and Savior, your name is written in the Book of Life!