The Battle of Obedience

This world can be hard.

We know this to be true but sometimes we must state the “obvious”.

This world is full of conflict.

Some of us, this isn’t me btw, enjoy conflict and can be classified as “fighters”. One of the things I love to do with Sis is act like I am going to “fight” her and then I remark, “I’m a lover not a fighter” and then give her a big hug. She loves to tell me, “I’m a fighter not a lover” and then hits me. Which one are you?

Sometimes, we cause our own “issues”.

Thought life is hard and full of conflict it isn’t always someone else’s fault. Sometimes, we must realize we are to blame for our pain, conflict, and troubles.

There is a spiritual battle in, among and around us.

Today we start a 4-6 week series on spiritual warfare. I want to take just a few weeks to remind us of the truths of Scripture in this area. We cannot stick our heads in the sand and just hope if we do not see it does not exist. Though that may be “effective” in some ways it is not healthy. Nor is it healthy to see every issue or trouble we have in life as just part of the “spiritual battle” and blame Satan and his forces for it.

Christians must be willing to engage in this battle.

This is why Jesus says in Matthew 5 blessed are the peacemakers. Our task is not to fight to destroy and “win” but to create peace. In our text for this morning we see this in verses 3-4. Paul is assuming that followers of Jesus will fight.

Matthew 5:9 NIV

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

We do not use the same “weapons”.

To some extent I am a pacifist at heart, I truly do not like fighting. My concern, especially in a culture that is fighting more and more, where conflict is the norm not the exception, is that if we are not careful we will seek to “win” the war by all means necessary. Paul makes it clear this is not “our goal”.

At stake is the Gospel.

The context to some extent of Paul’s words is the truth/veracity of the Gospel and how it is shown to others. Does the Gospel mean true believers always “win”. Does this mean we never have any issues or trials?

The focus is on obeying Christ.

Our focus is not fighting someone else but obeying Christ. Yes, we have an enemy. According to Scripture his name is Satan. Yes according to Scripture there are others who have aligned themselves with Satan, commonly called demons. But notice what Paul says here: our focus is not the enemy but on our Savior and Lord so that we can obey HIS commands.

We enslave our thoughts.

How we think will influence our actions. The mind is not just the intellectual portion of our bodies but is also the control center and is influenced by many things, including how we behave.

We filter it through Christ.

In chapter 13 Paul reminds us all that if we are in Christ he is in us and we take him with us every where we go.

Our battle is to keep Christ first in ALL things.

This is the true war.