A Winnable War

During one of the darkest periods of WW2 after the collapse of the French to Germany and before America got involved, Winston Churchill gave a speech on BBC radio that rallied his country in a powerful way. He said in part, “Now that the battle for France is over and the battle for Britain is about to begin, upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization.”

If you are a Christian you also are in a battle everyday! And upon this battle depends your joy, overcoming sin, happiness in your marriage, and the well-being of your children! The problem: most Christians don’t realize this is a fact of life and too many of us are asleep in the barracks rather than being active on the battlefield!

General Douglas Macarthur said, “In war there is no substitute for victory.”

It’s time Christians stop sounding retreat and start shouting “charge”! Instead of the devil taking it to us / we should be taking it the devil / that’s the heart of spiritual warfare!

Ephesians 6:10–12 NIV

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 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.

I heard a true story about a football player who graduated from college. He wasn’t that great a player but he was a great strategist with a quick mind. The head coach came to him one day and said, “Will you let me teach you to be my assistant coach?” He said, “Yes sir, what do you want me to do?” The head coach said, “I want you to be a scout for us and help me build a strong and competitive team again.”

So the new assistant coach said, “What kind of player do you want me to find?” The coach said, “There’s the kind of guy that when you knock him down he just stays down.” The assistant said, “Well we sure don’t want that kind of player!” Then the head coach said, “No way, but there’s the guy that when you knock him down once he gets up, but twice – he stays down.”

The assistance said, “We sure don’t want that kind of player!” The head coach said, “No way! There’s also the kind of guy that when you knock him down he gets up, and he gets knocked down and gets up and gets knocked down and he gets up again and again!” The assistant responded, “That’s the guy we need!” To that the head coach taught his new assistant a valuable lesson, he said, “No! What we need is for you to find the guy who keeps knocking everyone down!”

Church / It’s time to get off the defense and get back on the offense / we need to take it to the devil again!

I. Preparing For War

A. Realize The Attack We Face.

1. 10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

a. You won’t find this war in any history book because it’s a spiritual war!

2. There’s a war going on right here in this sanctuary!

a. No bullets whizzing by / bombs bursting in air / but its real!

1. This war is being fought in every home / on every block / in every city / happens even inside of a church

B. The Enlistment

1. Day you got saved / God put salvation in your heart / sword in your hand

a. 12 For we / Paul says, “WE” / in this war there is no deferment / draft dodging /

1. Only one way to get out of this war - by DEATH!

b. So the way I see it / we are in the Lord’s army /and as Christians we ought to get ready to RUMBLE!

1 Timothy 6:12 “Timothy, fight (agonize) the good fight (struggle) of faith.”

c. My concern is that most Christians have surrendered to the barracks / never firing a single shot!

1. Must be careful not to put our weapons down / can’t straddle the fence / cant be neutral

2. Col 1:13 For He has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of His dear Son

a. When you get saved / you choose sides / God’s side!

C. S. Lewis wrote, “There’s no neutral ground in the universe. Every square inch, every minute of every hour is claimed by God and counter-claimed by Satan.”

II. Fighting a Real Adversary

A. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

General Macarthur knew about military success / wrote the “Requisites for Military Success” / great wisdom in his words

1. There must be morale – unity around the will to win and a cause worth fighting for

2. There must be strength – teaching the fundamentals of training and equipment

3. There must be supplies – devotion to keep the lifeline available to those on the frontlines of battle

4. They must know their enemy – knowledge of the enemy’s strategy for a full victory

B. Wiles of the Devil

1. “Wile” = methods / strategies / schemes (notice it’s plural)

a. “Devil” = slanderer

2. 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.

a. Principalities = originating rulers, from the very beginning of angelic creation

b. Powers = authority to rule with jurisdiction. In the O.T. the word implies territorial authority

c. Rulers = cosmos ruler, supernatural forces

d. Darkness = implies distress, death, depression, anxiety, affliction

e. Spiritual wickedness” = literally “spirituals of the wickedness” / invisible spiritual beings rotten to the core!

3. Satan will go after God’s redeemed / His children

a. I know when I speak of the devil / we go from one extreme to the other

1. We ignore the fact that he is an invisible spiritual being / classify him with Mickey Mouse / Spiderman

I’m reminded of the prizefighter I heard about. He was in a boxing match of his life, and he was getting the tar beat out of him. He was beat to a pulp, his eyes and ears looked like cauliflower and blood was flowing from everywhere on his face.

At the end of the 2nd round he went to his corner /sat down / his manager doctored his wounds. Then his manager said, “Get back in there tiger, he hasn’t laid a glove on you.” At the end of the 3rd round the bloody boxer sat in his corner and the manager said, “Get back in there tiger, he hasn’t laid a glove on you.”

By the end of the 4th round nothing’s going right for the boxer / now his nose is broken / the bruised cuts are now open sores flowing with blood and sweat / As he sat in his corner again, the manager said, “Tiger get back in there, he still hasn’t laid a glove on you!”

This keeps up for 7 rounds and finally he stagers back to his corner looking like a fountain of blood. His manager again says, “Tiger get back in there, he still hasn’t laid a glove on you.” This time the bloody boxer yells out, “Then will you keep an eye on that referee, because someone out there is beating the daylights out of me!”

C. Keep a Look Out

1. Satan and his minions are real and they will knock the daylights out of us when we put our guard down!

a. Get it down / Satan is devising a plan to rattle your faith / destroy your spiritual supremacy / steal your joy

III. Our Advantage

A. 11 Put on the whole armor of God,

1. Paul reminds us / even the 21st century / to take advantage of our position in Christ / keep the spiritual supremacy

a. Literally Paul is saying / “Keep on putting the armor”

2. In this spiritual warfare there is no cease fire / no vacation because Satan is never out of ammo!

a. The moment we take off the breastplate of righteousness / BANG / hit right in our heart

3. Remember / Satan is not invincible / even though he is invisible

a. He is not a respecter of God’s people / but he has to respect the blood over God’s people!

1. He’s not fearful of the Navy Seals / Rangers / but he is terrified of God’s Army

b. He is speechless / powerless in Jesus name!

1. Let’s all remind Him / say it with me / It is finished!

Remember the first “Gulf War”? Everyone thought Saddam Husain had such a powerful army with his so-called “Republican Guards”. Within 24 hours his best were surrendering to cameramen in the desert!

General Norman Swartzkouff had a news conference and said, “Saddam is neither a strategist / nor is he schooled in the art of warfare / nor is he a great soldier – other than that he’s a great military man.”

c. That says it best about the devil

1. He is not omnipresent / omniscient / omnipotent but other than that - he’s a very powerful foe!

B. Victory is Mine

1. I want remind you that as a believer in Christ – born again by the blood of the Lamb - you are walking authority

a. Eph 2:6 “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus

2. We have delegated power / from God / to conquer the devil

a. Eph 6:10 the Apostle Paul tells us…. "To be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might

1. Like a policeman / you don’t stop because he has the power to stop your car / authority given him

2. Satan may have his captains / sergeants / generals positioned all around

a. BUT WE ARE POSITIONED IN CHRIST / HE SEATS US HIGHER THAN EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM!

I Read a story about a man who was found dead in a small, shabby room that he rented for $3 a week. He had been a familiar sight on the streets of Chicago for about twenty years, always dressed in rags and eating out of the garbage cans.

One day neighbors became concerned, because they had not seen his for two to three days and they found him dead in bed.

An autopsy revealed that he had died of malnutrition, yet a money belt found around his waist contained $23,000.

This man lived in poverty, peddling news papers for a living, yet he had money. He could have lived in the finest hotel in town instead of in the little rundown room.

He could have eaten the best food instead of garbage. But he did not use what belonged to him.

3. We need to know what belong to us / the Spiritual Authority / start exercising it

a. John 8:32 "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

b. Means you can hold up your hands / lift up your voice / tell him to come no closer

1. I John 4:4 "You are of God, little children and have overcome them in the world: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world."

There is Power in the Name of Jesus / He’s afraid of the Blood of Jesus / He Trembles at the Name of Jesus / We need to stand up and exercise our authority in Jesus Name once again

Tell Satan To give you back your Children / Marriage / Health / Joy / Peace / Testimony