WE SHALL OVERCOME
Text: James 4:6 – 10
God has been really good to us over the past several months. He used Brother Nick Crum to deliver a very inspiring message during our New Year’s Eve Watch Service. We prayed and worked, and God blessed, and our Couple’s Day and Friends Day services were both successful. Our bus ministry has taken off, and Andy’s Sunday school class has grown by leaps and bounds. Virgie and Sue have both been returned to us. We’ve had the privilege of welcoming several guests to our services here lately, and our Praise and Worship service was wonderful. These are all great reasons to rejoice and to celebrate!
But in the midst of all these good things, we have been under attack. You may not have realized it, but satan and his minions have been attacking us, both as individuals, and as a congregation.
Take me, for example. Over the past month, I have spent a night in the hospital, suffered with several health problems, and had to have three medical tests ran. I found out the other day that I need to speak to a surgeon because there is a problem with the ulcer that put me in the hospital a couple of years ago. I have also been fighting a major depression, loads of stress, and bouts of discouragement. I have been very concerned about some things that are affecting our church and its people, and I have even been tempted to resign as your pastor a time or two.
During the same time period, I have watched some of you struggle with sickness, and in some cases, hospitalization. Some of you have had deaths in your family or among your friends. Some of you are out of work or are in danger of losing your job. Some of you are dealing with problems at work, problems with finances, or problems with family members. Some of you have had to deal with power outages. Some of you have been wrestling with really difficult decisions.
In addition to all of this, I believe that satan and his forces are trying to attack us in other ways as well. He is trying to cause us to worry and fear because of the crime problem that has developed in our neighborhood. You have no idea how much he tried to hinder and stop the worship service. Satan has provided enticements to keep some of you away from church, especially during our series on evangelism.
You may not agree with me, but I believe that all these things are happening at the same time because we are under attack. And I think that satan has some really good reasons to be attacking us right now. I feel that we are on the verge of something spectacular here at the church. I see us getting ready to experience a period of tremendous growth, not only numerically, but also in our relationships with God and with each other. I believe that we are about to see souls saved, and Christians revived and recommitted to the Lord. We have set about to glorify God, to edify the church, and to testify to the lost, and satan would love to keep us from accomplishing any of that.
So what are we going to do about it? Let me read you a passage from 1 Kings 19:1 – 4. Elijah had just won a major spiritual battle in chapter 18, but it came at a price. The wicked queen Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to tell him that she had put out a hit on him. Instead of celebrating the victory and rejoicing over all that God had done in the situation, we find Elijah running off into the desert to sit under a juniper tree, discouraged, depressed, and wanting to die.
Is that the way that you feel this morning? Have you forgotten about all the good things God has done for us over the past several months? Do you feel like quitting? Do you feel like it’s not worth the effort any more?
Well, that’s how I felt a couple of days ago, but yesterday, I had a long talk with the Lord. I told him how I felt, and I confessed to Him that I had allowed myself to be defeated and discouraged. I asked Him to forgive me, and to give me the strength, the grace, and the desire to get through this attack.
I believe that some of you are feeling the same way that I did a couple of days ago. So when I was speaking to God, I asked Him to speak to me and to all of you through this message this morning. And here is what He says we need to do:
First of all we need to ask for His help (v. 6). Folks, He WANTS to help us! Jesus once said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28 – 30). In 1 Peter 5:6 – 9 we are told to “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”
Our number one resource in an attack such as this is God Himself, but unfortunately, the number one thing we tend to neglect in an attack like this is prayer. In a time like this we need to pray more than ever. We need to pray for each other. We need to pray about the crime in our neighborhood. We need to pray for the sick and those that are in the hospitals, along with their families. We need to be honest with God and tell Him how we feel, and ask Him for his guidance, strength, and grace to make it THROUGH the attack.
The apostle Paul was under attack like this once. We are not told specifics, but whatever or whoever it was, it was a great concern to Paul and his ministry. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 12:7 – 10. Did you notice that God didn’t take away the problem? Instead He gave Paul the strength and the grace to make it through the problem and to be victorious. That’s what you and I need to pray for in dealing with this attack.
Secondly, God says that we need to submit to Him (v. 7a). Submission is a word that we don’t like very well, but it is crucial if we want to gain the victory. Imagine being out on a battlefield surrounded by the enemy. Your only hope is to work together with your fellow soldiers and carry out the commands of your leader.
We submit to God by doing what He wants us to do. So what does He want us to do? Well this is going to sound pretty simplistic, but it is the truth. He wants us to be faithful in our church attendance. He wants us to read our Bibles. He wants you to talk to Him in prayer. He wants you to tell others about Him. He wants you to serve others in His name.
How does all that help? Well, God knows that these disciplines are what help us develop our relationship with Him and with other Christians. We will never learn to submit to Him if we never learn to trust Him. If we never learn to trust Him, we will never trust one another. And if we can’t trust one another, we end up fighting a battle all by ourselves, which just thrills the enemy.
So how is your spiritual health here lately? Are you starving because you haven’t read the Word in a couple of weeks? When was the last time that you prayed and you weren’t in church? What has been keeping you away from church over the past month or so? If we want to be victorious, we have to be willing to submit to the Lord, and to do the things that we know we should be doing. There’s just no way around it.
Thirdly, God says that we must resist the devil (v, 7b). Don’t forget – we have an enemy, and we are at war! The book of Ephesians reminds us to be prepared for battle (Ephesians 6:11 – 13). We are also reminded to be on the look out for his attacks. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.” (1 Peter 5:8, 9)
How do we resist the devil? First of all, by not listening to a word he says. He is a liar, and he will try to turn you against your brothers and sisters. He’ll try to get you angry at someone in your family, or try to get you to feel unimportant and insignificant. Remember this: GOD LOVES YOU and as Christians we are to LOVE ONE ANOTHER. Don’t allow the devil to put a wedge between you and anyone else.
Secondly, we need to avoid the things that he uses to tempt us with. If you have problems with unclean thoughts, consider the music that you listen to, the material that you read, and the programs you watch on TV. If you tend to end up in trouble when you are with certain people, don’t hang around with them.
Satan likes to attack your mind. That’s why the Bible says this in Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”
God also says that we need to draw close to Him (v. 8a). If you haven’t been making time to meet with God on a daily basis, this is the day to start. Speak to Him in prayer, and expect Him to speak to you through His Word. Tell Him all about your problems and frustrations. Tell Him how depressed you are, and how bad you feel. He is your BEST FRIEND…talk to Him.
If you want victory over this attack, you must be willing to confess any sin in your life (vv. 8b, 9). “Wait a minute, I haven’t done anything wrong!” you might say. Maybe you haven’t. But maybe you haven’t done something you were SUPPOSED to do! Are you the person that has been staying home from church to watch the game or not reaching out to others in need because you have something “better to do?” Listen folks, NO ONE is perfect, and if we truly want to ask God for His help, we have to be willing to address any sinful attitudes that may be hiding out in our hearts. Don’t know of any? Ask God to reveal them to you. You’ll be amazed at what’s down there.
If you’ve done something to hurt someone, go and make it right. If you have been saying bad things about someone, stop it now, and go apologize. If you are blaming everyone else for the predicament that you are in, fall down on your knees and take some responsibility. We are promised in God’s Word that, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) What do you need to confess to the Lord today?
Finally, God says that we must humble ourselves if we want to survive this attack (v. 10). I don’t know about you, but I don’t know everything that God knows. I don’t know how long this attack will last, but God does. I don’t know how many of you will join in standing up and fighting back, but God does. I don’t even know how to best defend myself, but God does. We need to realize that He knows best, and be humble enough to follow His lead. We need to be humble enough to realize that we are all being attacked, and we all need each other’s help. The Bible says, “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18) Are you going to try to fight off the devils minions by yourself, or are we all going to band together and trust the Lord to get us through this? Are we going to all do our “own thing”, or are we going to work together to get the victory? The promise of verse 10 is that if we can humble ourselves enough to submit to God, to draw close to Him, and to confess our sins, he will lift us up and we can successfully resist the devil and his forces.
Today, Sunday, March 29, I choose to stand up and fight. I am finished with allowing satan to slap me around and to afflict me with depression and discouragement.
I realize that things may get worse before they get better. There may be more sickness on the way. There might be more rumors of lost jobs. We may open up the church tonight and find that our sound system has been stolen. Satan may try to throw everything he has at us, but there is something that he can never take away. Romans 8:35 – 39.
We are under attack, but through Christ, we shall overcome. I believe that God has great things planned for our church and for all the people in it in the near future. As Juanita plays the piano, I am going to kneel at this altar and pray for myself, and for all of you. I am going to pray for God’s grace and strength to help us all with every problem that is facing us right now. If you would like to pray with me, please come and join me. Let’s turn it all over to Him right now and trust Him to help us win this battle.
