A Nation At War - Spiritual Warfare Part 1 Series

A Nation at War

Ephesians 6:10-12

There’s more to life and living in this world than meets the eye. The Bible tells us that we are in a war zone where unseen spiritual forces battle constantly. As Christians we are part of this war. While the Bible assures us of victory, the tragic reality is that countless Christians are living in ongoing defeat and the cost to themselves and those around them is devastating. This morning I want to start a critical series on the epic struggle each and every one of us is engaged in every single day of our lives. I do not simply want to teach you about warfare. I want to show you from the Word of God how to win the war. I cannot emphasize strongly enough how critical it is for you to be in church if at all possible every single week for the duration of this series - no matter how long it takes. It does not matter if you need to shift your plans, adjust your schedule or simply say ‘No’ to some other stuff. You need to be here. We are going to uncover God’s perspective on practical issues like . . .

How to overcome temptation with the power God has released!

How to pray so heaven is moved and your loves ones are saved!

How to command Satan so that he and the demons obey!

How to break family curses and walk in freedom!

How to set others free from the bondage they are in!

How to engage in life so that Satan loses every single day.

How to share your faith so that people are saved.

I am adding two special Friday night/Saturday classes during this series that you do not want to miss for anything - they are both essential to your victory. The one is on Spiritual Gifts - and the other on How to Share Your Faith Effectively. There is almost nothing that is more important for you to be doing in these days than to give yourself fully and faithfully to this series.

The Title of the series is "A Nation at War" and the nation I am speaking about is not this great nation of America, but the one my Bible refers to when it speaks of "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God." (1 Peter 2:9.) While we have in a war, I do not believe we have been at war. Here is a newsflash - you cannot win a war against a proficient enemy you do not believe in, you cannot win a war you are not engaged in and you cannot win a war you are not prepared to sacrifice for.

There was once a boxer who was being pummeled in the ring by his opponent. Blow after blow by his adversary left him bloodied and swollen and in a whole lot of pain. His trainer, trying to encourage his man between rounds, kept telling him, "You’re doing great, Fred. He’s barely touching you."

To which the boxer responded, "Then you better keep your eye on that referee, because somebody is killing me!"

Church - we had better keep an eyes open - because somebody is killing us . . . and this world bears the bloody, painful scars of our conflict: nations at war, shattered lives, broken homes, suicide, rape, abuse, and immorality of every kind. The command to engage has been given but most of the Church in the West is still waiting to be drafted - marking time as if there is no danger - and while she waits, the enemy is ravaging her loved ones, pillaging her resources, devastating her forces and destroying her world.

Now to the best of my knowledge the war is not over and to the best of my knowledge, the war is not going away. So having said that I believe we have no option but to grab out munitions, deploy our forces and engage the enemy. The good news I have for you this morning is that I have seen the movie - and we win. The bad news I have for you this morning is that is you do not want to be a casualty in this war, you need to be prepared to do a little training, get a little dirty, take a little fire, do a little fighting and wise up a whole lot because you are living in occupied enemy territory.

Jesus didn’t hunker down in a church and somehow from behind a pew somewhere command territorial spirits and principalities and powers over a city to leave in His name. No - He engaged the enemy, He demonstrated power, He forgave the sinful, He healed the sick, He fed the hungry, He cast out demons, He gave hope to the hopeless and then just before He left He gave us the authority of heaven and the keys to the ammunition depot - and deputized us to finish the battle He had begun, and told us we would do even greater things than He did because He know the battle would get more fierce as time got short for the enemy.