This Means War
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You Must Realize You’re at WAR (v. 14)
You Must Realize You’re at WAR (v. 14)
For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.
If two nations are battling and one is at war and the other is oblivious to the war occurring then the one at war has a distinct advantage.
On Dec 7, 1941, this is exactly what happened at Pearl Harbor. Unbeknownst to the US, the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service planned a sneak attack upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, just before 08:00 a.m. The United States was a neutral country at the time; the attack led to its formal entry into World War II the next day.
Japan intended the attack as a preventive action. Its aim was to prevent the United States Pacific Fleet from interfering with its planned military actions in Southeast Asia against overseas territories of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and those of the United States.
Of the eight U.S. Navy battleships present, all were damaged, with four sunk. All but USS Arizona were later raised, and six were returned to service and went on to fight in the war. The Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, an anti-aircraft training ship,[nb 6] and one minelayer. More than 180 U.S. aircraft were destroyed.[18] 2,403 Americans were killed and 1,178 others were wounded.
This is what made the bombing of Pearl Harbor so devastating. While America slumbered, Japan struck.
Many of us are in a war we aren't aware of. So we don't fight.
The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.
Our enemy is closing in. He desires to kill steal and destroy. His desire is for us. To destroy us. To corrupt us. To neuter us.
You Must PREPARE for the War the War
You Must PREPARE for the War the War
Back to the illustration of World War II. The United States faced a mammoth job in December 1941. Ill-equipped and wounded, the nation was at war with three formidable adversaries. It had to prepare to fight on two distant and very different fronts, Europe and the Pacific.
America needed to quickly raise, train, and outfit a vast military force. At the same time, it had to find a way to provide material aid to its hard-pressed allies in Great Britain and the Soviet Union.
Meeting these challenges would require massive government spending, conversion of existing industries to wartime production, construction of huge new factories, changes in consumption, and restrictions on many aspects of American life. Government, industry, and labor would need to cooperate. Contributions from all Americans, young and old, men and women, would be necessary to build up what President Roosevelt called the "Arsenal of Democracy."
In the months after Pearl Harbor, the nation swiftly mobilized its human and material resources for war. In Dec. 1941, the US military had 2.2 million soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines to over 36 million men by 1942. Victory Gardens grown by men and women made Americans extremely self-sufficient and raised over 1 Billion tons of food for soldiers. In industry after industry Americans performed production miracles. One story helps capture the scale of the defense effort. In 1940 President Roosevelt shocked Congress when he proposed building 50,000 aircraft a year. In 1944 the nation made almost double that number. Ford's massive Willow Run bomber factory alone produced nearly one plane an hour by March 1944.
America was at war, and it had to prepare to win that war.
The same is true for us. We are at war with the flesh, and if we're going to wage war with the flesh, then we must prepare to wage the war.
So how do we prepare for the war?
1. Know Your Self (v. 15-18, 22-23)
1. Know Your Self (v. 15-18, 22-23)
Tsun-Tsu was a famous Chinese Philosopher and tactician. He is most known for his book The Art of War, an ancient Chinese manual on war. In it he wrote these words:
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
-Sun Tzu, The Art of War
As Christians, almost as important as understanding our enemy is understanding ourselves. In battle, this means understanding your soldiers, munitions, terrain, etc. In the spiritual life, it means understanding your heart.
For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.
Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good.
So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.
Paul makes it clear that our first enemy is not Satan, but me.
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?
And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him.
For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,
coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.
All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
Thomas a Kempis: "I desire to enjoy Thee inwardly, but I cannot take Thee. I desire to cleave to heavenly things, but fleshly things and unmortified passions depress me. I will in my mind to be above all things, but in spite of myself I am constrained to be beneath, so I, unhappy man, fight with myself and am made grievous to myself while the spirit seeketh what is beneath. O what I suffer within while as I think on heavenly things in my mind; the company of fleshly things cometh against me when I pray."
Our first battle isn’t against our spiritual enemies but against our sinful hearts.
But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything.
So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.
We are to not seek the things of the world, but the things of God. This requires us to repent of sin and seek after him.
We must constantly be in GOD’s WORD
We must constantly be in GOD’s WORD
2. Know Your Enemy (v. 19-21)
2. Know Your Enemy (v. 19-21)
Secondly we must know our enemy.
For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.
Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.
Notice that Paul notes it is the sin within him that leads him to failure. We fail because of the power of sin, but also because we tend to spend a lot of time fighting the wrong enemy.
Scripture makes clear who our enemy is:
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
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.
If we are going to win this spiritual battle it must be won on our KNEES.
PRAYER is essential to victory.
PRAYER is essential to victory.
3. Know Your Allies (v. 24-25)
3. Know Your Allies (v. 24-25)
Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Notice it’s by submitting to God that the enemy flees.
We must consistently REPENT of SIN.
We must consistently REPENT of SIN.
You Must STAND UP and Fight the War
You Must STAND UP and Fight the War
Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.
Let all that you do be done in love.
Next week, we’ll look at what it takes to live life in the Spirit, what it means to serve the “law of God” and not the “law of Flesh”, but sufficed to if we’re going to fight, we need to Stand Up. We need to take the fight to the enemy.