Do All To Stand Series

Series: America, Bless God

Sermon Title: Do all to Stand

Sunday, October 23, 2004

Intro: “the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do”

We have now reached the point when political debates deal essentially with the most fundamental matters of right and wrong, life and death, true and false, and are therefore incapable of being solved by negotiation and compromise.

- People feel very strongly on many issues such as: Economic policy, taxation, natural resources and the criminal justice system

o Nevertheless, our political process allows for considerable give and take in dealing with these issues, and, in the end, our political structures are generally able to find some ground for compromise, even on these contentious issues.

- When it comes to abortion, homosexuality, marriage, and the deep questions of morality, compromise fails as a means of settling disputes and reaching a political resolution.

o Take abortion, for example. While the pro-abortion side reduces the issue to liberation for women and freedom from unwanted pregnancy, pro-life advocates begin with the non-negotiable premise that human life is sacred from the moment of conception until natural death. For both sides, compromise is anathema.

o The same pattern of intractable controversy and irresolvable division is encountered in debates over same-sex marriage, the normalization of homosexuality, and a host of issues from embryonic stem-cell research to euthanasia.

Compromise simply isn’t an option for real Christians.

The determination needed from Christians is a constant, it isn’t only an “election year” conviction.

Let’s look at the nature of this conflict and get a picture of what is really going on in our culture today:

Text: Ephesians 6:10-13 NKJV Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12For 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. 13Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Ephesians 5:15 CEV Act like people with good sense and not like fools. 16 These are evil times, so make every minute count. 17 Don’t be stupid. Instead, find out what the Lord wants you to do.

I. This is a Spiritual battle

a. Spiritual war for the hearts of man

I spent the better part of the last two days working on installing a new steel door to the outside entrance to my basement. The original door was a security nightmare. The lock was worthless and half the door was glass. Any one with intend for harm could have been in my house in seconds. What difference did it make if we locked the front door with a door like this only a few feet away.

i. If we forget that this is a spiritual battle at it’s core, we loose the power from God we need more than anything.

1. We are not fighting against human enemies.

2. We are fighting against spiritual forces.

3. WE are fighting against the powers set against everything that even has a hint of God. For Satan can’t stand anything remotely just.

ii. The “Culture war” is a “Spiritual war” because it is a battle for the hearts and minds of people. That makes it spiritual.

b. Children are the easiest target

Abraham L. “The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next.”

i. Satan knows this and is committed to take children captive.

Why? Because, as lesbian author Patricia Nell Warren wrote in 1995: “Whoever captures the kids owns the future.”

ii. Instead of promoting a radical social agenda, pray and demand that our sons and daughters will receive an education focusing on traditional subjects and Judeo- Christian values.

Following are some samples of hostility to religious expression, as provided in the Liberty Legal Institute report:

A 12-year-old elementary school student was reprimanded by a public school in St. Louis, Missouri, for quietly saying a prayer before lunch in the school cafeteria, according to a federal lawsuit.

Public high school students in Massachusetts started a Bible club and tried to hand out candy canes with a biblical passage attached. The school suspended the students for distributing the candy canes.

A public school sixth grader in Boulder, Colorado, tried to complete her book report assignment by presenting the Bible, but was forbidden from doing so by her teacher. She was also forbidden from bringing the Bible to school.

II. Do all to stand

Tim Lahaye “Today we have almost been silenced by anti-Christian forces claiming that we are trying to impose moral values on this rampant decadence. The truth is that they tried to impose their immoral values on us. They are generally doing a better job of corrupting society than we are of cleansing it. May God help us become the restraining influence we should be on a corrupt world.”