WAR NOT PEACE!
Scripture Reading: Eph. 5:1-11
INTRODUCTION
Amidst all the prophesies that have been told regarding the end of the world. There is one prophesy which stands head and shoulders above all others.
One prophecy, which pinpoints the end of the world with greater accuracy, than all others;
One prophecy, which drives the fear of God into the enemy’s heart;
One prophecy, which the enemy will do his utmost best to ensure that it is never fulfilled; This prophecy is given in Matt. 24:14.
(Matt. 24:14) And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the entire world for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come.
What must happen before the end comes? The gospel must be preached to the entire world. Not to half of the world, or part of the world but to all the world.
The enemy well knows that the nearer we come to spreading the gospel to the whole world the nearer he is to his destruction. Brothers and sisters the spreading of the gospel throughout the world will not be accomplished with out a fight. We are not a game, we are a war. And there are only two sides, Jesus or Satan. The bible tells us in Ephs.6:10-12
[Ephs. 6:10-12] 10Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against
Our battle does not lie in the human realm but in the spiritual; it is not with man but with fallen angels. It is a war of cosmic proportions. We are not here to fight with men but to give them an opportunity to be free from the captivity of Satan through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
[2 Corinth. 10:3-5] 3For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: 4(for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
The Gospel must be preached to all the world- that’s the goal of the Christians.
It can be accomplished with each of doing our part. The goal of every Christian must be to be a witness for Jesus Christ wherever we are.
The battle is on, the battle lines are drawn.
It must be fought in every work place
It must be fought In Every school yard
It must be fought In Every home
It must be fought in the church.
The battle to be a witness for Christ must be utmost in our minds.
The bible tells us in 1 Pet. 5:8
[1 Pet.5:8] 8Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
The devil is not playing around, he is keen about his mission. The bible tells that is constantly seeking whom he may devour. This tells us that he is purposeful in his pursuit,
We dear brethren must match his enthusiasm for destruction with an enthusiasm for
witnessing. We must stop allowing ourselves to be discouraged so easily. It is the enemy’s ploy to discourage you.
He will place words into the mouths of men and women;
He will encourage them to shut the door in your face when you go witnessing. All in the hope, that he could discourage you from carrying out your mission. But we must never raise the white flag. We must never surrender to the enemy.
We must never vouch for peace with Satan. It must always be war. This news of the Gospel must be taken to every household, everyman woman and child. We must not relent, we must not compromise.
[ Heb. 10: 35,36] Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. ; For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. 1
NIV. So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. ; You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. "For in just a very little while,
"He who is coming will come and will not delay. 1
The ploys of the enemy are portrayed graphically in 1 kings 20. Here too we can glean wisdom as to the type of person we ought to be if we are to be successful against the enemy.
vs.1-7 As we read verse one we realize that there is a war. Brothers and sisters make no mistake we are in a war and the enemy wants everything we have. Benhadad thought he wanted just his silver and gold, wives and children but little did he know, when the enemy sense fear, he will throw in his hand to grab everything. He wants our houses, our cars, our lands and our money. And when we think he has had enough he will take our wives and our children, our nieces and our nephews, he will take everything we have including our very soul. The enemy is never satisfied and can never be pleased. The more you give to him the more he will desire. We cannot afford to be fearful and discouraged. The first sign of weakness will be worked upon until there is gaping gap in your armour. A gap which will be exploited until all is lost.
v. 8,9: There can be no peace treaty. We cannot afford to be at peace with the devil. They can be no negotiations. The enemy cannot be trusted to remain faithful to any peace treaty. He will use the period of peace to further marshall his forces against us.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ must be preached, like it or not! Men must hear about Jesus Christ, no matter what it costs us!!
Paul was beaten five times,
Thirty nine stripes each time,
Three times he was beaten with rods,
Once he was stoned,
Three times shipwrecked. (2 Corinth. 11:24-26).
Yet through all this he did not sign the Peace Treaty, he refused to stop witnessing for Jesus Christ. Where is the zeal and tenacity of these men in Christians today?
Gone! Too many of God’s soldiers are on pre-retirement leave; Preferring rather to live in the comfort and security of their homes than venture out to be a witness for Jesus Christ. Too many have sold out the LORD. Giving their souls as ransom for apparent peace.
v. 13,14: When Ahab decided to stand for God, God came to his assistance. Once we stand for God he will stand for us and together we will put the enemy to rout.
The victory is in our hands if we would take it. Jesus already has won the victory for us. He says to us I have overcome the world!! And therefore with him we can overcome it too!!
We can overcome the fear and intimidation which hinders us from being a witness for Jesus Christ. But first we have to be proud of who we are. We have to walk with our head held high because we know whose we are. We must not believe that our existence can be any better or worst by our association with any organization or person. We must be willing to stand for Jesus and let the cards fall where they will.
v. 31-34: Ahab did not understand this and so he made a treated with the enemy. Brothers and sisters the enemy knows you well and he will approach you in manner that is humble and non-threatening when his acts of aggression have failed. But we must be as wise as serpents and cut off the enemies head. He loves to play on our feeling but we not allow our feeling to control our actions when it comes to spiritual warfare and witnessing for Jesus Christ. They should not have jurisdiction over our obligation-The "I don’t feel like syndrome" for example should not hinder us from going into the field and telling others about Jesus Christ. If Jesus had honoured his feeling he would have never gone to Calvary. In the garden of Gethesemane Matthew tell us in Matt. 26: 39
[Matt. 26:39-42]. 39And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, 0 my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.
The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.
God’s will is that we be witnesses for Him. Not unwilling witnesses but willing
witnesses. We cannot afford to honour our feeling when it comes to life and death matters such as Salvation and eternal damnation. When the Spirit bids us move we must move. Away with feelings!!
It is time we put Satan in his place. We cannot sign a peace treaty with an enemy who took our Saviour, our LORD and placed a crown of thorns on his head, and pressed it down?
An enemy who Spit and slapped our saviour in his face.
An enemy who Whipped him, not once but twice.
An enemy who Forced him to carry a cross and then
Drove spikes through his hands and feet and hung him up to died.
We cannot sign a peace treaty and at the same time say we love our Father and our God!!
The devil has deceived many into living at peace with him.
Many of the saints have become passive, and complacent.
The bank accounts of the churches have grown, hospitals and universities bear their name and they support many charities. They believe they are doing well. Yet every day, another youth bites the dust,
Another child is molested or abused
Another woman raped,
Another child goes missing.
Everyday fear increases
The church rests and the enemy smiles as he eats away at the very fabric of the society. Soldiers of God dressed in enemy fabric! Smiling and at peace with themselves! They are prospering so all is well. Dancing to the devils tune; playing his game! It is alright to do good deads but we must never forget to introduce men and women to Jesus Christ.
God’s message to his saints today is clear. They can be no peace treaty with this enemy. Only war!
Our Father desires that every soldier puts on his whole armour and join in the war.
Titanic’s Last Hero
John Harper was born into a Christian family May 29, 1872. He became a Christian 13 years later and had already started preaching by age 17. He received training at the Baptist Pioneer Mission in London, and in 1896 he founded a church, now known as Harper Memorial Church, which began with 25 worshipers but had grown to 500 members by the time he left 13 years later.
In 1912 Harper, the newly called pastor of Moody Church in Chicago, was traveling on the Titanic with his 6-year-old daughter. After the ship struck an iceberg and began to sink, he got Nana into a lifeboat but apparently made no effort to follow her. Instead, he ran through the ship yelling, "Women, children, and unsaved into the lifeboats!" Survivors report that he then began witnessing to anyone who would listen. He continued preaching even after he had jumped into the water and was clinging to a piece of wreckage (he’d already given his lifejacket to another man).
Harper’s final moments were recounted four years later at a meeting in Hamilton, Ontario, by a man who said:
I am a survivor of the Titanic. When I was drifting alone on a spar that awful night, the tide brought Mr. Harper of Glasgow, also on a piece of wreck, near me. "Man," he said, "are you saved?" "No," I said, "I am not." He replied, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved."
The waves bore him away, but, strange to say, brought him back a little later, and he said, "Are you saved now?" "No," I said, "I cannot honestly say that I am." He said again, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved," and shortly after he went down; and there, alone in the night, and with two miles of water under me, I believed. I am John Harper’s last convert.
He was also one of only six people picked out the water by the lifeboats; the other 1,522, including Harper, were left to die.
„³ Citation: Elesha Coffman, "Sacrifice at Sea," Christianhistory.net (August 11, 2000), adapted from The Titanic’s Last Hero (Moody Press, 1997)
This man spent his last moments on earth witnessing for Jesus. He understood the value of salvation. A man who dies without salvation is lost forever but one who dies in the arms of Jesus has everlasting life. What are we doing to change the destiny of those around us? Do we feel the urgency?
May we too live to witness for Jesus. If this it is your desire To witness for Jesus Today, tomorrow and forever please stand:
Stand up, Stand up for Jesus
