Fight the Fight
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During the War of 1812, General Andrew Jackson marched more than two thousand Tennessee volunteers from Nashville to New Orleans. With bravado they fought the decisive Battle of New Orleans. The fighting took its toll on Jackson's troops, but sickness proved to be the deadliest and most dangerous enemy. One hundred fifty soldiers became gravely ill, fifty-six of whom could not even stand.
Dr. Samuel Hogg asked the general what he wanted him to do. "To do, sir?" Jackson answered. "You are to leave not a man on the ground." It wasn't official code of conduct yet, but Jackson embodied the military motto "Leave no man behind."
Andrew Jackson ordered his officers to give up their horses to those who were sick, and the general was the first to do so. Jackson marched 531 miles on foot. Somewhere between New Orleans and Nashville, he earned the nickname "Old Hickory," the same name under which he would campaign for president fifteen years later.
Before winning the White House, the seventh president of the United States is alleged to have fought as many as thirteen duels, which explains the thirty-seven pistols in his gun collection. I'm not advocating the reintroduction of dueling, but it does reveal something about Jackson's character-Old Hickory wasn't one to shrink from a fight, especially when honor was at stake!
Jackson said, “I was born for the storm. And the calm does not suit me.” When the sea is calm, anyone can captain the ship in that situation. But when a perfect storm threatens to capsize your marriage or drown your dreams, you must play the man. A true man doesn't sit back. He steps up and steps in. He fights the good fight, even when it seems like all is lost. Why? Because a true man is born for the storm.
I wonder sometimes how many of us as Christians do not even realize that we are in a war. On more than one occasion I have had to explain the reality of what it means to be a good soldier for the Kingdom of God. I explained the reality that Christianity is not a settle-in-and-live-at-peace-with-this-world-the-way-it-is kind of religion. When Jesus said, “the truth will set you free”, he didn’t mean without a battle. Authentic biblical Christianity teaches that your life is going to be a fight. The world, the flesh, and the devil are your sworn enemies out to ruin your soul.
JC Ryle in his book called holiness… “There are thousands of men and women who go to churches and chapels every Sunday, and call themselves Christians. Their names are in the baptismal register. They are reckoned Christians while they live. They are married with a Christian marriage service. They mean to be buried as Christians when they die. But you never see any “fight” about their religion! Of spiritual strife, and exertion, and conflict, and self-denial, and watching, and warring, they know literally nothing at all. Such Christianity may satisfy man, and those who say anything against it may be thought very hard and uncharitable; but it certainly is not the Christianity of the Bible. It is not the religion which the Lord Jesus founded, and His Apostles preached. It is not the religion which produces real holiness. True Christianity is “a fight.”
There is gonna be struggles. There are gonna be defeats. There are gonna be setbacks. There are gonna be times to retreat. There is gonna be turmoil. Suffering. Tribulation. Testing. Training. Purifying. The process of being made holy. But we were born-again for the storm. We have been called and chosen to be those who will be made holy. There will be struggle in our lives. And we urge the Lord to look upon us. We look for the Lord who is on our side to rescue us, keep us, and protect us.
Look upon my suffering and rescue me,
for I have not forgotten your instructions.
Argue my case; take my side!
Protect my life as you promised.
The grass withers the flower fades but the Word of our God stands forever.
The War
The Advocate
The first thing we will look at is the reality of suffering in light of the war we are in as Christians. Second, we will see that we do not need to go through the fight in the dark, because we know that the living Lord Jesus is on our side and salvation is here.
Thesis: Though sin and the pattern of this world continue to push and fight with us daily, it is the power of the Holy Spirit and the truth of the scriptures that will remind us of the promise and give us the hope to know and wait on the Lord to bring us victory.
I. The War
- Fighting the Good fight of faith.
A. One of the first things we see when it comes to the next Hebrew letter Resh. Is the sense of the phrase … Look upon my suffering. Another way to interpret is consider my affliction. One of the subtle pictures offered to us by our psalmist is the reality of this thing called suffering. For those who will serve the Lord. Those who will walk in the fear of the Lord. We should not think of suffering as something that is weird; as something strange.
Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you.
B. Let us be reminded today that our time here on earth is a time of warfare, not luxury. It is a fight everyday. It is a battle. It is a conflict. It is not the time for comfort, luxury, and leisure. JC Ryle in his book Holiness writes…
The child of God has two great marks about him. . . . He may be known by his inward warfare, as well as by his inward peace. Warfare and Rest. Yes there is rest… but there is also a fight that you we all need to be a part of. Are we fighting?
Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have declared so well before many witnesses.
Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.
Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls.
Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
Timothy, my son, here are my instructions for you, based on the prophetic words spoken about you earlier. May they help you fight well in the Lord’s battles.
For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.
C. A pastor in Minneapolis once wrote… “When I entered the Christian life, I had no idea I was walking into war. I felt, at first, like a man parachuting over the glories of salvation — finally awake to Christ, finally safe from sin, finally headed for heaven. But soon I landed in a country I didn’t recognize, amid a fight I wasn’t ready for.”
D. As I engage with people, and many of them have been Christians for a long time, had never come to this realization. Many say that they have never been taught that Christianity is a battle. It is a fight.
Ryle continues, “There is no holiness without a warfare. Saved souls will always be found to have fought a fight”
John Piper writes, “To become a Christian is to wake up to the reality that our soul – the eternal joy of our soul – is at stake. Therefore, Christianity is mortal combat for true and lasting joy.”
E. Are you in the fight? Are we gonna get in the fight? Im on retreat right not. I gotta rest. I gotta re-arm. I need to replenish. I got to resupply. I need new batteries. I ran outa gas, gotta refuel. I know Christians are out there fighting, but I cant help right now… I will pray that someone else comes to help them.
F. But here is the fight. The ultimate fight. One that never stops. One that never rests. One that is always there and just never seems to give up. Its called “Self”. The minute we wake up in the morning Self is there singing Richard Marks … I will be right here waiting for you. There is never a ceasefire.
I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.
And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.
G. Now how you gonna rest in a lounge chair with a fan blowing on you with a virgin pina colada in a coconut sunglasses on Italian nachos on the side your wife next to you apologizing for all the bad things she did to you during your whole marriage. The rolling stones playing live behind you and the Denver Broncos up big against the Raiders. And the whole time bullets are wizzing by, bombs are going off, helicopters shooting, rocket launchers, the shrapnel of grenades keep knocking your coconut out of your hand. The rolling stones got blown up and now your trying to replace them with the Eagles. And no matter what you do, there is always fighting, explosions, injuries, suffering, sickness, pain, no-stop. And now we are gonna walk away from Jesus, because we are just not able to get our best life now.
H. And here it is… we are not consumed with lifestyle on the front lines. On the front in a ditch and complaining that we don’t have lotion. Bullets flying by and we complaining that there is no place to charge my iphone. The seats on the helicopter that is rescuing us, does not have heated seats. Really hard to be preoccupied with the comforts of life and leisure when war is all around.
I. There is no way to get out. It is the reality of life. Even unbelievers are in this war. But we got something awesome before us. We got someone awesome in our corner. This is why we can say that we are born again for the storm.
II. The Advocate
- Christ is on our side.
A. In the end no matter what is happening in the fight we are assured of one thing. We will be victorious. In the end when all is said and done we will win. And we are assured of it all because of the promises given to us by the Word of the living God. He will rescue us and he will protect us.
B. And the Father assures us of this wonderful truth. That while we were yet sinners Christ died. We were His enemy and He gave us Jesus. Yes all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. No one is righteous no not one. There is no one on earth who always does good and never sins. If we break even the smallest of commands we are as guilty as one who has broken all of it. And it is clear in the scriptures that the wrath of God is a real thing. Judgement is real, it is coming, and it will be terrible. The place of weeping and gnashing of teeth.
C. But the Lord did indeed rescue us. We were all on the ground dead in sin. and He regenerated us… we were born again by the power of the Spirit. And how? Its called the gospel. There was a price to pay. Death. And Jesus paid it. He live the life we should have lived and he died the death we should have died. Jesus died for our sins according to the Scriptures and he was buried and he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners. Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost. He became sin who knew no sin that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.
D. And the promises continue… If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved. All who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Believe that Jesus is the Christ the sSon of the living God and that by believing you will have life in his name.
E. And in this world of real spiritual warfare… we can know that Christ the Lord in on our side.