If you have ever watched a heavy-weight fight, you may have heard Philadelphia fight announcer Michael Buffer shout his trademark line, “Let’s get ready to rumble.” It means that the fight is about to begin. It has been used in other places for other reasons by many people, but it always means that a battle between 2 people or 2 teams is going to start. There are people who live and die to see a good fight, whether it is a wrestling match or a heavyweight bout. The spend money for tickets or pay-per-view and might even decide to make a wager on the outcome.
But, there are many more people on planet earth living and dying in another kind of wrestling match. It involves who they are to the soul of their being. It is fought in their heart and mind and is “winner take all.” They are people like you and me. Actually, they include you and me. It is the wrestling match that pits us against Satan. It is a battle of wills and ends only when the victor is clear – either him or you. Who wins is your choice and it is seen by the life you live based on decisions you make. It is a battle against a tenacious enemy who doesn’t give ground or quit. Ephesians 6:12 says that this is a spiritual fight. “For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places” (NLT). What happens in that fight has ramifications that echo to generations that follow you and the circle of influence you have around you. In this passage, the word “fight” is also translated “wrestle” and was understood well in the 1st century. A 1st century wrestling match was much more violent than even the worst of the WWE on TV. It was a fight that went on until one man was on the ground held by the throat by the other man. After the fight, the winner was parade throughout the city and honored. The loser didn’t do so well – he was taken outside the city, bound and had his eyes were gouged out.
There are a lot of people around us like that. They are fighting a losing wrestling match with Satan. They are spiritually bound and spiritually blind. It may not look that way. The might seem to have the good life – big car, big house, big salary, big social position. It would seem that life has delivered everything it promises to them. The problem is that they are on a one-way train headed to hell and every moment brings them one breath closer. Every day, they lose a little more and the fight that we fight is also for their souls, with eternity in the balance. If we are to win the fight for ourselves and for them to have a chance to hear the gospel, there are some things we need to do.
First, we must FOCUS ON THE RIGHT ENEMY. Let’s take a moment to read Ephesians 6:10-18 together: (CONGREGATION READS PASSAGE). One of the great ways to win a battle or a game is called “misdirection.” You make your opponent think you are doing one thing, but do another. In football, they are called “gadget plays” or “flea-flickers.” One of my favorite memories of this is in Super Bowl XV. Being a huge Pittsburgh Steelers fan, it was great news that the team was going to play the Seattle Seahawks for what would end up being their 5th Super Bowl Championship. During the latter stages of the game, the Steelers were tenuously holding to a 14-10 lead and were at about mid-field. They needing something that the Seahawks would not expect. Something that could get a touchdown. Then it happened. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger took the snap, pitched it to running back Willie Parker who was going one direction, who then handed it receiver Antwaan Randle-El, who threw a long touchdown pass to Hines Ward for the clinching score. Ward was wide open because the Seahawks thought the play was going the opposite direction. It was a great moment I enjoy seeing replayed over and over.
Misdirection in a football game is fun. Misdirection from Satan is deadly. He has been doing it for thousands of year, from the time in the Garden of Eden when he got Eve to believe that God was holding out on her and Adam, to Exodus when he got the Israelites focused on hating Moses, to the time he got David focused on Bathsheba, to Judas and the time he got him focused on a payoff for betraying the Lord. Deception and misdirection are two of his main weapons. 2 Corinthians 11:14 says, “Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” (NLT). He comes as what he isn’t, not as what he is. One of best ways he gets advantage in a match is to get Christians focused on fighting battles that seem good, but don’t see the big picture. He tries to maneuver us in fights in 2 directions:
The first fight involves PEOPLE OUTSIDE THE CHURCH. Ephesians 6:12 says, “For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies . . .” (NLT). We need to remember that our real enemy is not the ACLU, People for the American Way, the National Organization of Women, the “other” political party, the neighbor across the street, the person down the block or even a person of another religion. The real enemy is Satan. The rest are just people he has duped. They are people created by God who have been blinded & bound and need to be set free. 1 Peter 5:8-9 reminds us, “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith” (NLT). He uses the misinformed with bad ideas to do his dirty work. He also likes to use words and ideas that are nice-sounding, like “inclusive”, “broad-minded”, “progressive” and “multi-faith.” They are designed to appear good, but are deadly because they draw people from the truth. He also uses them to maneuver Christians into thinking that we are bad if we say “This is right and this is wrong” or “Jesus is the only way to God.” The more he gets us to fight our battles on socio-political planes (our candidates, our judicial appointments, our laws), the less focused we are on the spiritual depth in the fight for our lives. Remember, it is has been said that if Satan can’t make you bad, he’ll make you busy. If we are to win in this battle, it has to be fought God’s way, by His plan, in His strength.
The second fight involves PEOPLE INSIDE THE CHURCH. This is often Satan’s option of choice. He loves to get Christians doing battle with each other over non-essential issues that divide the loyalties, reduce the resources and split the church – while the world watches. Items like control issues (getting “my people” on the church board), personal preferences (the kind of songs we sing or hymnals we use the Bible translation we use or how we dress for church) or people who simply say “It’s my way or the highway.” (On a personal note, when it comes to that, I’ve encouraged the person to get some feel for the pavement.) It gets our focus us off winning the lost to Christ because it is on what the person wants, not on what God wants. Paul had to deal with this issue in the early church. In 1 Corinthians 1:10, he says, “I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose” (NLT). Later, he said to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:23, “. . . don’t get involved in foolish, ignorant arguments that only start fights” (NLT). One of the best ways I have heard how to avoid this came from Rick Warren, who said, “In essential beliefs we have unity. In non-essential beliefs we have liberty. In all our beliefs we show charity.”
Next, we must MOVE THE RIGHT DIRECTION. Ephesians 6:13, says, “Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm” (NLT). I have been told that “Whenever you see “therefore”, you need to stop and see what it’s “there for.” It means that what is about to follow is of extra importance. The word “resist” means “to not be moved.” “Standing firm” means “holding your ground.” We need to know this, because, if we are not careful, we can live the Christian life moving backward by giving ground here and compromising there. If we do that, life can be like a mudslide – slow movement followed by sudden collapse. We need to remember that Satan rarely wins a battle all at once. If he wins, it happens a little at a time – one compromise at a time – one poor choice at a time – one bad priority at a time – one bad friendship at a time – one decision to skip church at a time. The battle is fought every Sunday morning and throughout the week.
The Christian life and the Kingdom of God are both about growth. The main job of Christians is populating heaven by taking the news of God’s love to people so they can grab hold and have eternal life. The Bible is clear that we are not to give ground spiritually for any reason. Job 17:9 says, “The righteous keep moving forward, and those with clean hands become stronger and stronger” (NLT) and Psalm 112:6 says, “For the righteous will never be moved; they will be remembered forever” (NRSV). We are either going forward or falling back. There is no other option.
Finally, we need to WEAR THE RIGHT EQUIPMENT. To win a contest, you need items that will serve you best. A tennis racket won’t win a football game and football pads won’t win a tennis match. In the same way, spiritual battles need spiritual equipment. In Ephesians 6, we are told of 7 things you need to win the fight for your life.
First, you need the BELT OF TRUTH. The belt goes around your waist, which is at the core of your body. Our lives need to be rooted in truth, so our life’s “core” will be sound. We need to live based on God’s truth.
Second, you need the BREASTPLATE (BODY ARMOR) OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. We need to have a desire to live rightly. As the Bible says, we need to guard our hearts, because this will protect us when the temptation to sin comes.
Third, we need the SHOES OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE. This means that we need to be ready at any time to tell people about Jesus. 2 Peter 3:15 says, “. . . if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it” (NLT). That is why we are offering the series “Becoming a Contagious Christian” this Fall. We need to have a better understanding of how to reach people with the gospel in a way that will attract them to Jesus.
Fourth, we need the SHIELD OF FAITH. Roman soldiers soaked the material covering their shields in water to put out flaming arrows shot at them by the enemy. Today, those “arrows” can be the unkind words of people, cruel actions of people and sinful pleasures that come our way. Faith helps us quench their power so we don’t give in and get “burned.”
Fifth, we need the HELMET OF SALVATION. This protects your mind from doubt and discouragement, which Satan loves to send our way to get us to think that God doesn’t love us or that we are failures. How you think determines what you do. If Satan wins the battle of the mind, he wins the war for your heart. That is why Bible Study and small groups need to be part of your spiritual diet regularly.
Sixth, we need the Bible, called the SWORD OF THE SPIRIT. It is the one weapon of God on the list that puts us on the offense. To win a battle, you need to be willing to go on offense and drive the enemy back. Hebrews 4:12 tell us, “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires” (NLT).
Seventh, we need PRAYER, because this is the weapon of power through which everything else can work. It is necessary because it is the communication connection with God, like the overcoat that holds all these together. One of the great verses of the Bible is 2 Thessalonians 5:17, “Never stop praying” (NLT). We need to always be willing and ready to pray. I have discovered that my prayer life is better because when someone comes to me with a prayer I need, I don’t just say, “I’ll remember you in prayer” (after which I have be known to forget in the midst of the rest of what comes my way). Instead, I have decided to proactively say, “Let’s pray about that right now.” After all, if it’s worth praying for, it’s worth praying for now.
There are 2 ways to view the world – Through your lens or through God’s lens. Your lens limits you to just what you can see. God’s lens sees all the possibilities. To view it God’s way, you need a commitment to God. He gives us a barometer for truth. If we are to understand lies, we need to know truth. You understand truth first and then you compare everything to it. If it agrees, it stands the test of veracity. If not, it is a lie. United States treasury agents that work with counterfeit money learn to spot counterfeits by memorizing every detail of a real bill. Because they know the real thing, they can spot a fake. We need to be like that spiritually – knowing truth so well that we can spot a lie when it comes.
I believe that the greatest threat to the generation of children and youth being reared today is not drugs, alcohol or STDs. It is biblical illiteracy – not knowing the truth in order to live God-centered lives. There is a saying that goes, “If you don’t believe in God, better hope you’re right.” It is a true statement. This is why I push you to go deeper than the 75-90 minutes we spend in this sanctuary on Sunday morning. You need a time of personal study and time in a small group study of God’s Word. Your children and youth need Sunday School and youth group. If you don’t have it and they don’t have it, you are on a collision course with disaster.
Five days each week for 9 months of the year, the state mandates that your child be in school (unless you are home-schooling, which brings its own requirements.) Children start school at a certain time, take certain classes, and finish at a certain time. You don’t have a choice about an education that will cease to have value the moment they die and can lose value as they age. They may have to be at school at 7:00 a.m., 8:00 a.m. or 9:00 a.m. but they must be there. They may have to walk or ride bus, but either way, the government requires that they have an education.
One day each week, we encourage you to be here at 9:30 a.m. and stay until around 12:00 to take part in the process of fellowship, worship and discipleship that has value that lasts throughout eternity. We can’t compel you. We can’t penalize you. We can’t send Elder to find you. We can only ask you to do it for 3 reasons: GOD WANTS YOU TO DO IT. WE WANT YOU TO DO IT. YOU NEED TO DO IT.
As we head into Fall, what do you want to do – Make changes or make excuses? Grow up or “shrink”? Be committed or be contented? Stand strong or settle in? Get yourself here and get your family here. It honors God and it values the people who give time & talent in classes. It helps you avoid shrinking in faith and provides you with sustained spiritual growth & fellowship. The choice of what you do belongs to you. It is your life you’re fighting for. Fight to win.
