Sunday 11:13:11

We are engaged in a war. It is a war for the lives of men, women, and children. The outcome of the battle will affect you and your family, the peoples’ lives around you, and future generations for eternity. There are things you must know – things you cannot be ignorant about or you will be caught unprepared for battle. 1. You must know you are engaged in battle. 1 Peter 5:8-9 – Your enemy looks for someone to devour. Whether you are ready or not to battle, your enemy is at war with you. If you are not ready, you are an easy target for destruction. (Example) you and your wife have had a few rough weeks or months or years. Thoughts begin to run through your head "maybe we'd be better off apart. Maybe I could do better. Maybe I deserve better." These are the whisperings of our enemy. If you are not prepared, you are easy prey. If you don’t recognize this as darkness, you will be tempted to listen. And if you listen long enough you'll start to believe it. If you come to believe it, you'll start to act on it. Jesus told us to pray “lead me not into temptation” – are you praying for God to lead you away from temptation? (Example) Whether you are aware or not, your children or grandchildren are under pressure every day from a culture that mocks their faith. Kids who grow up in the church are leaving the church in the college years at record rates. Are you praying for their faith to endure? 2. You must not cooperate with the enemy. Ephesians 4:20-27 – Put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. – Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry and do not give the devil a foothold. Ephesians 5:3-16 -Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness. -Make the most of every opportunity. In the book Point Man, Steve Farrar tells of WWII soldiers who came upon a house with loud talking and noise inside. The talk they hear is in English. They discovered inside a group of allied soldiers who had found a stash of liquor. While their comrades fought, they drank, oblivious to the battle going on around them. You cannot continue to walk in sin. The Lord has delivered you from that darkness. You cannot dabble with the things of the enemy and be effective in the battle. Sin is the realm of our enemy, not the realm of our King. 3. You must know how to prepare for battle. Ephesians 6:10-18 – We are to take our stand in God’s strength. – Put on the full armor of God. – Our struggle is not against people, but against powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. – Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. You cannot go into this battle under your own strength, it is not enough (v 10). Our battle is against a powerful spiritual foe. We face this battle as if it were up to us. We act as if we can handle it all. But the truth is human effort is insufficient for this fight. If you do everything you can under your own strength, you will lose the battle. This war is waged on a spiritual battlefield. 4. You must know the battle is the Lord’s Romans 8:28-39 There are 3 reasons God will win the victory (v. 34) 1. Christ died for us; 2. He is alive and is seated at the right hand of God, the position of power; 3. He is interceding for us. God will complete the work that He started at the cross. His work will be completed in you and me. Now, take your stand. • Wake up! You are engaged in battle every day. • Do not tolerate sin in your life. Seek his kingdom and his righteousness. • Prepare for the battle everyday by putting on the armor of God. • Pray, pray, pray – the battle is won by the Lord, not by your strength. 1 Peter 5:8-9 8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. Ephesians 4:20-27 20 You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. 21 Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. 25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26 “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold. Ephesians 5:3-16 3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. 4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. 5 For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. 7 Therefore do not be partners with them. 8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord. 11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13 But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, 14 for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” 15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Ephesians 6:10-18 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Romans 8:28-39 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. 31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.