Let's Roll

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Introduction

  • One day many years ago there was a young boy minding sheep on a hillside in Israel.
    • The boy's country was in political, moral and military turmoil.
    • The king's ability to solve national problems and govern the land had eroded.
    • His army found himself on a battlefield against superior forces.
    • On one side of the battle ground stood an army of superior numbers and equipment.
    • The other side was an army of lesser numbers and lesser equipment.
    • If the truth were told the smaller army should have been the superior army because God was supposed to be their true king.
    • But times had changed and that was no longer the case
    • The little shepherd boy was aware of the situation and decided to come to the battlefield to survey the situation.
    • His arrival was met with disdain.
      • His brothers who were in the army were upset by his arrival who thought he was coming to put on a show or upstage them.
      • The enemy met him with disdain because as a warrior he saw this little shepherd boy as a toy and not a warrior.
      • To the enemy this was seen as a big joke.
    • We all know the story of David and Goliath.
    • But let me share with you one important element of this confrontation. It is found in 1 Samuel 17:38-47.

Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, "I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them." So David put them off. Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd's pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine. And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. And the Philistine said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. The Philistine said to David, "Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field." Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD's, and he will give you into our hand."

  • The very first thing that happened that day was an attempt to fight outnumbered forces and a huge giant with human weapons.
  • Thankfully the little shepherd boy was wise enough to know that this would not work and chose another method.
  • You see the shepherd boy understood that the battle the Lord's!
    • Neither Saul or David would be able to pull this one off alone!
  • One day in September a 32 year old young Christian man by the name of Todd Beamer boarded a plane in Newark, N.J.
    • The plane was bound for San Francisco, Ca.
    • The plane departed at its usual time around 8 am. It looked like any other day.
    • Todd worked as an account manager for a rather large computer company and he was flying to Ca. on business.
    • Not long after take off three men armed with knives and a bomb hijacked the plane with the suspected destination of Wash. D.C.
    • The hijackers had forced the vast majority of the passengers into the first class compartment of the plane in order to keep an eye on them.
    • A few had been instructed to lay on the floor in the rear of the plane. This is where Todd Beamer found himself that morning.
    • He managed to get to the inflight aircraft phone and made a credit card call.
    • His call was routed to customer service and redirected to a GTE supervisor who talked to him for 13 minutes.
    • It was during this phone conversation that the last words of Todd Beamer were heard.
    • He was heard very clearly saying “let's roll”.
    • He was credited with organizing resistance against the hijackers that caused them to change course.
    • Thankfully they never reached their destination or target.
  • The experience of the little shepherd boy hundreds of years ago and Todd Beamer just a few short years ago are a perfect illustration of victory against overwhelming odds.
  • You and I are in a struggle today. We are in a war!
    • We who are members of the body of Christ are outnumbered and out financed.
    • As it stands today the prospects look grim.
    • This week we lost a giant for the faith (Falwell).
    • Who will be the next Jerry Falwell? Who will stand in the gap for him?
  • But just as it was for David, and just as it was for Todd, so it is with us today.
    • Both the stakes and the consequences are incredibly high!
    • The church of Jesus Christ in America is in a struggle today.
      • We are in a great fight and things don't look good.
      • You see, we are fighting against complacency.
        • What is complacency?
    • We live in the land of “who cares”!
      • People no longer care about the things of God.
      • People no longer find the church relevant.
    • Not only is our world full of people who don't care but our churches are also filled with people who just don't care.
      • They don't care if those in the community die and go to hell.
      • People in the church want the blessing of God on everything from the singing to the eating but don't want the responsibility of being obedient.
      • We want our cake and we want to eat it too!
  • Not only are the churches in jeopardy but our country is in a struggle against internal forces seeking to destroy us from the inside.
    • The media is stealing our kids.
    • The media is “dumbing us down” nationally.
    • The media puts a “good looking spin” on sin.
      • We have allowed our kids to be indoctrinated with media that teaches open rebellion, destroys basic human dignity and minimizes the worth of individuals.
  • Our country is also in a struggle against the forces of liberalism who are driving us all away from good, clean, traditional, moral values.
    • We are being told that we are NOT a Christian nation and the liberals have begun to rewrite American history.
    • My friends, we have arrived at a crucial time in church history and a crucial time in American history.
    • The words of Todd Beamer are incredibly relevant today and it is time for the church of Jesus Christ to rise up and say, “Let's roll”!
  1. LET'S ROLL WITH DIVINE WEAPONS

with an outline.

    1. Look at 2 Corinthians 10 verse 4.

For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.

    1. The weapons we are supposed to be fighting with are NOT conventional weapons.
      1. They are NOT fleshly weapons. We are not to fight these problems with worldly weapons.
      2. We need to STOP fighting with:
        1. Money
        2. Intellect
        3. Programs
        4. Worldly advice
    2. We need to START fighting with divine weapons.
      1. What are these divine weapons? How are we to fight?
        1. The very first weapon is the armor of God. Listen to Ephesians 6:10-18.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil 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 firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.

    1. Here we find that two very valuable items of our divine weapons are the Word of God and prayer.
      1. It is NOT wrong now nor will it ever be to confront evil and to confront wrong with the Word of God.
      2. The world desperately needs people with backbone who will stand with conviction.
      3. This needs to be done with love and with firmness.
      4. We need leaders at all levels who are not afraid to stand for Biblical principles.
      5. We must not cower to the forces that would cave in to tolerance and diversity.
      6. We are now in the process of signing over this country to other religious systems and special groups.
      7. We also need to pray.
        1. I am not talking about some general watered down prayer with no real emphasis or focus.
        2. I am talking about very aggressive specific prayer.
        3. We have seen God do little simply because we ask little and do not ask for specifics.
    2. Another item of divine weaponry is God's strength.
      1. We need to be strong in the Lord.
      2. We do not need to cower at every bark of the enemy!
      3. Friends, we WILL win this. I have personally looked at the back of the book and I can assure you WE WIN!
      4. Let us hold our heads hight and let us act like winners!
        1. Because I stand for core traditional moral values is NOTHING to be ashamed of.
        2. I am proud to stand for God's Word.
      5. Our mission as a church and our mission as individual Christians is to take our stand against the forces of evil and fight.
      6. But it will help us to echo the words of David, For the battle is the LORD's, and he will give you into our hand."
      7. Friends it is not our fight, it is God's fight and He needs soldiers!

APPLICATION: THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A TIME WHEN THE PEOPLE OF GOD NEED TO PARTNER AGAINST EVIL THAN NOW.

  1. SECOND, LET'S ROLL WITH DIVINE POWER
    1. We have considered divine weapons now consider divine power.
    2. Look again at 2 Corinthians 10:4.

For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.

    1. The weapons of God have DIVINE POWER!
    2. We are in a war that has incredible stakes.
      1. Your ability to worship freely could be at stake.
      2. Your ability to speak out freely is at stake.
      3. The forces of darkness are doing all they can to ruin your family, to ruin your country and we must never forget that.
      4. This means your kids and grandkids could very well be victims.
    3. Sadly the church has been and I'm sorry to say is still sitting on the sidelines waiting for “who knows what” to happen.
      1. The truth is if we do not start fighting this war it will be lost.
      2. I promise that if you will fight with the weapons God has provided He will provide the power to accomplish victory.
    4. It is important for us all to understand that in addition to needing divine weapons we also need divine power.
      1. Right now as it stands whatever fight is being put up is being done in our own human strength.
      2. We are fighting with complacency.
      3. We are fighting with political correctness.
      4. We are fighting with tolerance.
      5. We are fighting with diversity.
    5. Friends we are on the verge of losing this fight. If we don't get busy and do it NOW the prognosis becomes more grim by the day.
    6. The fight we are in will never be won with human strategy or intellect.
      1. But it can be won with the power of God as He honors His people who stand for His Word and obey His commands.
    7. If you want to know just how powerful divine power is just consider for a moment the resurrection of Jesus.
      1. God took a cold, dead lifeless body of His son and infused life into it. This took incredible power.
      2. Listen to Ephesians 1:18-20.

having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,

      1. Friends, it was quite a day when the power of God was unleashed at the tomb.
      2. But the same power that raised up the Lord Jesus from the dead is the power that is available to us as we fight our world.
      3. So often we get nowhere in our fight simply because we do not realize the amount of power that is at our disposal.
      4. So often we get nowhere because we expect God to answer immediately and God never does that.
        1. He always answers in His time and He is never late!

APPLICATION: WE MUST DETERMINE THAT WE WILL FIGHT AND THAT WE WILL FIGHT WITH THE POWER FROM ON HIGH!

  1. LET'S ROLL WITH DIVINE STRATEGY
    1. Every war that is fought is fought with strategy.
    2. Not all strategy is winning strategy.
    3. Therefore we must be careful to find and develop WINNING strategy.
    4. We can see winning strategy in 2 Corinthians 10:5.

We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,

    1. The strategy is found in the use of divine weapons and in the use of divine power.
      1. This becomes practical when we put on of the armor of God.
    2. But the method behind the strategy is found in the thought process.
      1. Paul taught that our thoughts are incredibly important.
      2. Listen to Philippians 4:8.

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

    1. Not only are our thoughts supposed to be thoughts of excellence but they are to be thoughts that are submitted.
      1. All of our thoughts are to be in subjection to the Lord Jesus Christ.
    2. Someone once said that “we are what we think”.
      1. It is critically important that we think right.
      2. If you think like a winner the odds of winning increase dramatically.
      3. How important is this truth as we gear up to fight.

CONCLUSION

  • The battle is the Lord's.
  • The battle can be won.
  • We can take back our culture.
  • The decision to do so is up to us.
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