Narnia: The Wardrobe Series

“The Wardrobe”

12/4/05 – John Laeger

#1 in “Narnia: More Than A Fantasy”

I. Introduction

a. ATTENTION GETTER

i. This Friday a long awaited movie opens up here at Marcus…

ii. Fantasy story about … (briefly tell story without ruining movie…)

b. TRANSITION

i. I highly encourage you to go see it – take your entire family, take a friend, take a date – you know that girl you have been wanting to ask out or the boy you have been praying would ask YOU out…

ii. Did you know that C.S. Lewis wrote “The Chronicles of Narnia” without the intent of it being a spiritual allegory?

1. He wrote it as a simple fantasy.

2. BUT… C.S. Lewis was a strong Christian and as he wrote this amazing fantasy, his strong faith and spiritual truth began to weave itself all around it with the end result being a powerful allegory of spiritual truth and life.

iii. You see, Narnia is far more than just a fantasy.

II. The Wardrobe

a. THERE REALLY ARE TWO WORLDS

i. (explain Lucy discovering The Wardrobe, hiding in it, and discovering a whole ‘nother world on the other side)

ii. World of…

1. Coldness

2. Strange creatures

3. A “battle” between those who stand for good & right against those who are bent on evil and destruction & pain.

iii. That is the world of Narnia – the “fantasy”

iv. But did you know … that that is more than just a fantasy.

1. There REALLY is another world.

2. An unseen world of good and evil.

3. Where there are struggles – continually, every day, every moment – at work, at home, at school, driving down the road, when we pay bills, when we go shopping, when someone cuts us off, when we get homework piled on…

4. It is real and it is a fight.

5. A fight between what is good & right & honest & true against what is evil & painful & destructive & deceptive.

v. Eph 6:12 “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.”

vi. Here’s the truth I want you to nail…

1. I AM IN A BATTLE BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL

2. A struggle and battle that we do not see – but one that we fight.

vii. We do not see it – but it is there.

1. We fight it when parents lay awake at night praying for their children to grow up with a pure heart.

2. Teens fight it when they hear day in and day out that they are ugly or fat or stupid or unpopular.

3. Nations and countries fight it when one side wants to create terror and murder and another wants to bring peace and prosperity.

4. Husbands and wives fight it when their marriage looses that spark, over-spending leads to indebtedness, sex is not what they expected or what they have grown up seeing portrayed on TV or the movies – and they begin to wonder if it would be best to separate or divorce.

5. Men and women fight it at the office when someone of the opposite sex gives you that look or brushes up against you in a provocative way and for a fleeting moment you wonder what it would be like if you…

viii. Don’t you think for one minute that this “fantasy” battle between good and evil is only a fantasy.

1. It is very, very, very real.

2. And we fight it every waking moment.

b. THERE REALLY IS A WHITE WITCH

i. Now, I don’t want to give away too much of the movie – BUT…

1. When you go, you will meet the “Queen of Narnia” or the “white witch”

2. She appears good, but there is something sinister and evil about her – something that just sends cold shivers up your spine.

3. You will see that she is evil to the core, without even a hint of goodness within her.

4. She is merciless, cruel, power-hungry, and sadistic.

5. She claims the throne of Narnia by brute force.

6. She enchants the land so it is always winter and never Christmas.

ii. THAT is the “fantasy” … BUT … it is far more than just a fantasy.

iii. There REALLY is a “white witch”

1. Evil to the core. Merciless. Cruel. Power-hungry.

2. Who is it? … Satan himself who is very, very real friends.

3. The Bible calls him the devil, Lucifer, Accuser, Adversary, Angel of the Bottomless Pit, Dragon, Enemy, Father of Lies, Evil Spirit, Great Red Dragon, Murderer, Old Serpent, Power of Darkness, Power of Death, Tempter…and more.