Kamikaze Christians

Scripture: 2 Timothy 4:1-5 “THE CHARGE TO A SOLDIER OF CHRIST”

Title: “Kamikaze Christians”

Introduction: “Kamikaze” (Japanese, "divine wind"), squadrons organized by the Japanese air force in the last months of World War II

The term, “Kamikaze” was originally applied by grateful Japanese to a typhoon that destroyed a Mongol invasion fleet in 1281.

It was revived in 1945 and applied to pilots who flew their aircraft loaded with explosives directly into U.S.

Kamikaze pilots, sacrificing their lives in a last-ditch effort to stop the American advance, sank about 40 U.S. ships.

Although Japan’s position was hopeless by early 1945, an early end to the war was not in sight.

The Japanese gave a foretaste of what was yet in store by resorting to kamikaze (Japanese, "divine wind") attacks, or suicide air attacks, during the fighting for Luzon in the Philippines.

January 4-13, 1945, quickly trained kamikaze pilots flying obsolete planes had sunk 40 U.S. ships and damaged 50.

The very ingredients that drove these “Sacrificial Pilots” is the very thing that we need today to win in this “Warfare” that we are fighting against Sin.

I. DIVINE WIND - “Kamikaze”

a. The Japanese remembered a time when they received HELP in delivering them from their ENEMIES from a SOURCE from ABOVE by the intervention of a TYPHOON. (Therefore, “Divine”)

b. The Japanese realized their ONLY HOPE was again to be from a “Divine” source. * Therefore, they would SACRIFICE everything for their CAUSE.

c. The Japanese LOST the war, but they will never be forgotten for the tremendous SACRIFICE they made in men giving their LIVES in an effort to win the war.

d. We, as Christians, will never win the warfare of sin without the “Divine Wind” of the Holy Spirit. * There is only “defeat” when left to our own “Resources.”

e. Almost every church is waging a battle against the ELEMENTS of this sinful world, but TOO many are being slaughtered by the power of Satan.

* This is because they have left out the “Main Ingredient” of the Holy Spirit!

f. In Acts 2 there were THREE symbols presented that would characterize the ministry of the New Testament Church through the Holy Spirit:

(1) The Rushing Mighty Wind - This represents the God’s Sovereignty, His right to DIRECT the ACTIVITY of the Church. - Jesus said, “The wind blows wherever it wills, wherever it likes. You hear the sound of it, but you cannot tell where it is going, and you do not know from whence it comes. So is he that is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8) - The wind is an apt symbol of the of the sovereign direction of the Holy Spirit.

(2) The Tongues - This is a symbol of the PROCLAMATION of the truth in various languages. - That proclamation is increasing and spreading out to other parts of the world.

(3) The Fire - This is a symbol of the JUDGING and PURIFYING by the Holy Spirit at work within His Church, to KEEP it as a USABLE instrument, to keep it honest and available. * We see the Spirit working as fire in the story of Ananias and Sapphira, when God judged the hypocrisy, the sham of an empty Christian life.

II. DIVINE LOVE

a. The Japanese soldiers were told that if they gave their life for the Emperor of Japan they would receive a heavenly position and reward.

b. Their LOVE and FAITH for their Emperor, their Country, and the Cause gave them the energy to become a “devoted volunteer” even to the death.

c. This love and devotion was a product of EDUCATION from the time of childhood.

d. (Mark 8:35) “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.”

e. The Japanese had the principle right they just had the wrong Savior.

f. This “Divine Love” for God is what caused:

The Apostle Paul to say, “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.”

JOSEPH SAID “NO” TO SEXUAL COMPROMISE. (Genesis 39:2-4; 6b-10 )

SHADRACH, MESHACH AND ABEDNEGO SAID “NO” TO PEER PRESSURE. (Daniel 3:13-18.)

DANIEL SAID “NO” TO A GOVERNMENT-ISSUED ORDER THAT WENT AGAINST HIS RELIGIOUS BELIEFS. (Daniel 6:6-11.)

JESUS SAID “NO” WHEN THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS ASKED HIM

TO PREACH A MORE SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE GOSPEL.

PAUL AND SILAS SAID “NO” TO THE EVILS OF SOCIETY. (Acts 16:16-19) (This demon-possessed girl followed Paul and Silas around town “for many days.”)

g. God is calling this church to “lay it all on the line.”

h. He’s calling us out of a place of complacency and “business as usual” onto the front lines. Are you ready?

i. It’s time for the church to say, “Listen up devil! You can throw us in jail, throw us in the fiery furnace, or throw us in a den of hungry lions.