The Battle Line Has Been Drawn
The Battle Line Has Been Drawn
Ephesians 6:10-6:14
Since Christi and I arrived last July we have consistently talked about building our lives and our church for Christ.
We’ve talked repeatedly about preparing ourselves for His service, about committing ourselves to becoming His willing servants.
As we begin to move toward closing out 2008 this is the time we begin to think about our goals and vision for the next year.
We want decisions for Christ.
We want our SS programs to grow
We want to see growth in our Corps attendance
We want increased stewardship and giving in both our local ministry as well as world services.
We want new leaders to step up.
We want leaders who have been working this past year to grow and mature and continue in their ministry while taking new leaders under their wings.
Then of course we have many goals for our various programs.
This morning we enrolled new soldiers who will join in the fight to advance the kingdom of God.
This morning I don’t want you to take the word “Fight” lightly
When we talk about those kinds of goals, that type of God sized vision, you can rest assured that Satan gets restless.
When we talk about sharing the good news or Gospel,
When we talk about a more viable prayer life,
When we talk about spending more time in the Word of God,
Satan get’s real uneasy
But
When we move on these things we are basically "drawing a line in the sand".
We are basically calling Satan to do battle with us.
He has seen what is happening here in our church.
He has heard our teachings this past year.
He has seen what is happening in your lives.
He has seen what is happening in my life.
And my friends, HE WANTS TO STOP IT!
And he’s willing to go to battle to make that happen.
Today, I want to talk about that battle.
I want to talk about the “Fight”.
When we get serious about God, Satan gets serious about stopping us.
A fight will come, Satan will attack us.
He will come after this corps.
He will come after you.
And he will come after me and Capt Christi.
And we can’t afford to let him win!
Ex. 10:1 Now the LORD said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh; for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his servants, that I may show these signs of Mine before him, 2 and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and your son’s son the mighty things I have done in Egypt, and My signs which I have done among them, that you may know that I am the LORD.”
Moses was called by God to confront Pharaoh on behalf of the children of Israel.
He had been raised in an unusual way.
He had fled Egypt after he killed one of the Egyptian guards.
He had been in the wilderness for years where God found him.
And now, in this chapter and in the previous chapters, God had brought him to his defining moment.
I read this passage while we were at our Daughters house.
And even though I read it amidst the hustle and bustle of grand kids running around the room, these words jumped out at me because all during our furlough I had been thinking about the growth in your lives and the life of this Corps.
I thought about the spiritual direction you are going and how God is working in many of your lives.
I thought about the growth we’ve seen in many of you and the desire you’ve expressed to allow God to use you.
Christi and I know from experience that when God begins to work and move like he’s working and moving here, Satan goes on the attack.
I thought about all the ways Satan could attack us and then I read these words and I saw that what God had planned for us as a corps,
What God had planned for us for us as Christians was exactly what He had planned for Moses in this passage.
God wanted Moses to confront Pharaoh.
And, he wants us to confront Satan.
To confront Satan and show him the power of almighty God.
To show Satan whom we serve.
And, so that we, and our children, will see that He is Lord.
Satan is out to destroy, but we serve God, and God will protect us.
There are four principles I want to share with you this morning that we must all understand if we are to win this battle.
1. The Danger is Real
Eph. 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
The word “wiles” is where we get our word “methods.”
This is the word for specific tricks, traps and schemes that Satan will use to destroy us.
He knows our weaknesses and he knows how to get to us, to make us fail in our lives.
Heb. 12:1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
2. The Enemy Is Strong
Eph. 6:12 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.
What Paul is telling us here is that Satan is of a spiritual realm – beyond any human ability.
So, to think that we can defeat him by conventional, human means is ridiculous.
3. Our Protection Is Promised
Ex. 3:2 And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. 3 Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.”
Why didn’t the bush burn up?
Because God was there.
When we are in God’s control,
when he is present in our lives,
we can’t be consumed.
Nothing can destroy us.
But there are three things that we must understand.
i. Spirit filled prayer – Satan and his angels cringe when Christians go to their knees in earnest prayer.
ii. Spirit filled lives – Satan is forced to fight against the Holy Spirit, A fight he has no chance of winning.
iii. Spirit filled service – By serving we grow and become more founded in God’s word making it ever harder for Satan’s tricks and schemes to work.
I have said this to you many times this past year.
That Satan can never move the hand of God but he can always move the hearts of men if we are not grounded in Christ.
Gen. 50:20 But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good,
We serve a God that is in control –
He never sleeps or slumbers –
He is always intimately aware of the very intents of our heart.
And as long as we trust in Him, we have nothing to worry about.
Because – and please capture this truth – “We are not without protection!”
The more we trust in Him, the more protection we have!
The more fierce the storm, the stronger the shelter!
The more ferocious the fight, the more empowered we become through God who gives us the victory!
I John 4:4 “…greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.”
And those who believe and trust Him – not just for the ultimate victory but daily victory in our lives – are the ones who can be assured that they can endure and overcome any spiritual attack!
I John 5:5 NIV Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
And, how do we as Christians overcome the world?
I John 5:4 NKJV For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith!
“The Evil One knows that he can’t move the hand of God, so he will attempt to change the heart of man!”
But he won’t be able to change the heart of the man or women who daily puts their total trust in God!!
4. The Victory Is Ours
This “victory that has overcome the world”
is provided for us by God - through our faith!
Our faith is the conduit by which God delivers victory in our lives.
I Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.
Ex. 3:7 And the LORD said: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. 8 So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians…
God sees our oppression,
He has heard our cries, and He will deliver us.
When we say "Not I but Christ", we challenge Satan to war.
But God will deliver us in the battle.
He will help us stand against the “wiles” of Satan.
Ephesians 6:10-14a is one of those portions of scripture that just keeps on repeating the fact that we need to stand our ground as we stand on God’s Word and His power!
Notice how many times this passage instructs the believer to STAND:
“10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to STAND against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to WITHSTAND in the evil day, and having done all, to STAND. 14 STAND therefore…”
Four times in this passage, the Bible says the word “Stand.”
You would think that if there is a battle, the Bible should have used the word “FIGHT” or “RUN” or “MOVE.”
But, here, the Bible tells us that as believers in the middle of the battle, we should “Stand.”
We should Be “immovable.”
We should be “Anchored.”
James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. RESIST the devil, and he will flee from you.
Literally, the same Greek word for the word STAND (“ISS-stay-mee”) is also the same Greek word for the word “RESIST” or literally, “STAND AGAINST the devil and he will flee from you.”
Will the Devil comes and attacks us with all the power of Hell behind him
Then what should you do?
The Bible says we are to resist him.
We are to stand firm in Christ and His Word,
We are to Pray, and
We are to obey His teachings,
The Bible says we are to draw near to God, and let GOD FIGHT THE BATTLE!
We need a powerful army of Christians who are fully committed to going to battle.
Committed to standing arm in arm, locked together, as we face the formidable opponent that is Satan.
I thank God so much for our new soldiers today. They have shown that they understand the commitment they made today and are willing to join the fight.
[INVITATION]
This morning let me ask you…
How protected are you from Satan’s attack?
Well, just ask yourself, how often do you commune with God every day?
How often do you ask Him to forgive you and cleanse you and give you his thoughts today?....
maybe you are here today and you are not saved, you are walking around this earth without any protection from Satan!
You need spiritual protection – you need a Savior – Jesus Christ.
If you recognize you need to make changes in your life in order to defeat Satan, make the choice now!
If you have never really accepted Jesus as your personal Savior, would you do it right now?
Don’t wait or put it off.
To tell you there is always time is Satan’s favorite strategy.
The Bible tells us we have no promise of tomorrow only the breath we breathe now and even that is fleeting.
This morning If you would like to receive Christ by faith, pray this simple prayer in your heart:
Dear Lord, I acknowledge that I am a sinner. I believe Jesus died for my sins on the cross, and rose again the third day. I repent of my sins. By faith I receive the Lord Jesus as my Savior. You promised to save me, and I believe You, because You are God and cannot lie. I believe right now that the Lord Jesus is my personal Savior, and that all my sins are forgiven through His precious blood. I thank You, dear Lord, for saving me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
If you prayed that prayer, God heard you and saved you.
I personally want to welcome you to the family of God and rejoice with you.