Battle Plan for Victory
James 4:7-10
In 331 B.C. Alexander the Great was marching to take over the world. He had one more enemy to conquer in order to vanquish the mightiest kingdom of the day Persia. The Persian army was led by king Darius. Darius was a ruthless leader, just like Alexander. The two men and their armies met at the battle of Gaugamela.
Alexander the Greats army consisted of 7,000 cavalry and 40,000 infantry. Darius and the Persian army numbered 35,000-50,000 cavalry and anywhere from 100,000 to 800,000 infantry. Alexander was greatly outnumbered.
But Alexander came up with a Battle Plan that would prove to be fatal for king Darius. Alexander allowed his right flank to peel off and pull the left flank of Darius’ army away from their main force. When that happened a small gap opened up in the Persian battle lines. This allowed Alexander and his crack cavalry to gallop through the opening and attack and crush king Darius himself.
Even though Alexander was greatly outnumbered his battle plan gave him victory over his enemy.
Ladies and gentlemen if you and I are going to win this battle against Satan and his forces here on earth then we must follow God’s Battle Plan for Victory.
If we are to win over temptation and find victory here on earth then we must realize that we are in a war.
The forces of evil have lined up against us and they don’t care what temptation it takes to get us or what sin ensnares us. And if the Christian doesn’t figure out their in warfare then they are more trapped then they really know. The problem with most Christians is they feel to see that failing to follow God’s Battle Plan actually leads to following Satan’s plan for their life.
Well how can we tell when we are being attacked by the enemy? Charles Spurgeon wrote, “Whenever an impediment to usefulness is pleasing or gratifying to you, consider that it came from Satan. Satan never brushes the feathers of his birds the wrong way. He generally deals with us according to our tastes and likes. He flavors his bait to his fish.” Prayer, and Spirtual Warfare, pg. (538)
We are in a war a struggle within and that struggle leads to seeking worldly pleasures and when a believer does that they are quenching the power of the Holy Spirit working in their lives. Now James blows the trumpet call to all believers, he says, “If we are to have real victory over our enemy then follow the Battle Plan.” Heed the call believers so that your life can really make a difference for all eternity. Notice with me the two calls of God in the Battle Plan for Victory.
I. The Call to Submit (v.7) Here we see the first call in the life of victory. If we are to live a life that really matters for God we must submit to God. The word submit is a word some believers have taken out of their vocabulary. It means to obey, be a subordinate, to line up under, or my favorite, “to get into proper order.” It is a military term.
We must also understand that we either submit to God’s will or we submit to self-will. And that submission to self-will is exactly what the devil wants us to do. Because self-will is Satan’s will for our lives.
The believer then must submit to the Savior. Notice how we do this:
A. Submission to the Savior (v.7a) Many people today believe in a God, a Supreme Being. That one day they will be with God when they die. They are uncertain that they can know this God or that God wants to get involved in their lives.
This submission really means that a believer submits to what is going to govern their lives. This is a question of Lordship. Who is my Lord? Can I do what I want to do or do I have to do what God says?
General William Booth was the founder of the Salvation Army. He was a Godly man who submitted to the will of God all his life. Later in life he lost his eyesight. His son, Bramwell, was given the task of telling his father that he would never see again. When William Booth heard he would never see again, he asked his son, “you mean I shall never see your face again?” “No sir, not in this world.” General Booth then said this, “I have done what I could for God and for His people with my eyes. Now I shall do what I can for God without my eyes.”
When we line up under the authority of the Lord of our lives nothing will stop us from fulfilling His plan and purpose for our lives. If we’re to have victory over the enemy in this life, we must be willing to follow God by submitting to the Savior. . Is Jesus your Lord?
B. Resistance toward Satan (v.7b) It is impossible to ever have victory in the Christian life without submission to God. We cannot just resist the enemy. The Devil is not scared of us however he is scared of God in us. Satan doesn’t quiver when we try to simply resist him in our own strength. He is much stronger than we are and he has powers above and beyond what we possess.
Before we move to what this word resist actually means let’s make sure we understand who we are resisting. This word Devil is referring to Satan himself. However, it really means Satan as ruler of the realm of darkness. Satan is not omnipresent, everywhere at once like God is. Satan has a host of demons at his disposal ready to follow his rule.
I do believe lost people are often demon possessed. But a believer can not be possessed by a demon, but they are often influenced by a demon. It is much like being under the influence of a drug or alcohol.
By the way when a person is under the influence of drugs or alcohol they are demonically influenced. What does it mean to be demonically influenced? Anything that causes us to not submit to God is a demon influencing us to submit to it.
Therefore the word resist means to “stand against.” He has a battle plan for the believer’s life contrary to God’s Battle plan. We are to reject his plan. The word is a verb in the aorist tense and it is in the imperative. That means it is a command from God that we resist the enemy.
It means to draw a line and say Devil I oppose you rule and reign in my life. The Bible says in Romans 6:12, “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.” (NIV) When we sin we let Satan rule our lives. We give him permission to lead us. The Bible also says in Romans 6:14, “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for you are not under the law, but under grace.” (KJV) The word dominion means to be lord over. When a person allows sin in their life they have let Satan be their lord.
So you and I are to stand against, resist, the enemy by first submitting to the lordship of Christ. This is the Call to Submit, but notice also if we are to follow God’s Battle Plan for victory there is;
II. The Call to Commit (v.8-10) James is still pursuing the theme of resisting the reign of sin in our lives. There is a comeback in Christianity today that Paul faced in many of the churches in the N.T. That everybody sins, and since we are under grace all we really have to do is that God will forgive us. My sin isn’t really that serious, I haven’t killed anybody, or I’m not a habitual liar, I haven’t committed adultery, so what is the big deal preacher man.
Here we see the answer to that line of thinking. For a lost person there is a great distance between God and man and the cross of Christ bridged that gap. God has made a way that man could come near to Him. Sin is serious and no sin will be allowed to enter heaven so Jesus came and died for the sin of mankind.
William R. Newell put it this way in the wonderful hymn At Calvary,
Oh, the love that drew salvation’s plan!
Oh, the grace that brought it down to man!
Oh, the mighty gulf that God did span
At Calvary!
For a believer in Jesus Christ the distance has been bridged for them by Christ our Savior. However, when a believer sins that fellowship with God becomes distant. The believer begins by outright rebellion and before they realize it they are not near to God they feel like, act like, and look like they are a million miles away from God. The real tragedy is that might not even sense it. The Bible says the strongest man ever, Samson, didn’t even know it when the Holy Spirit left him.
Since James is writing this to believers we see that God’s Word lists the steps necessary to really be committed to Christ; **v.8**
A. Leads to Relationship (v.8a) “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” If I submit to God and commit or recommit my life to Christ then I decide to take a step closer in my walk with my Lord. We take this step in the heart, mind and will.
This step is the cry of the apostle Paul was in Philippians 3:10, “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,” (NKJ) Paul said I’m not satisfied with a ticket to heaven I want to really know that Jesus Christ is real in my life, fall in love with Him and to know Him in such a way that all know I am on God’s side.
As we draw near to Him and make knowing God our heart’s desire then God draws close to us. We have His promise that He will come near.
B. Leads to Repentance (v.8b-9) “Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.” (NKJ)
How can we know we have taken that first step of commitment or recommitment in our relationship with the Lord? The term cleansing the hands refers to the outward life. When we take that heart step of drawing close we then demonstrate what Christ has done in our lives openly. It’s not something we hide.
If Jesus has really done a work in a life there is the evidence of a changed life. See when I draw close to God I don’t want to sin. And when I do sin I see my sin in such a way that I repent and want to be cleansed and made right with God.
Billy Graham once said that. “True repentance is being sorry enough to not want to do it again.”
Notice also the term “double minded.” It means to waiver back and forth in opinion or purpose. When a Christian stays in that sin they can’t have a clear Biblical opinion and they don’t even know the true purpose of their lives.
If a believer is hanging on to sin in their life they are being deceived to what God wants them to do.
That is why James uses such strong terminology in v.9. Grieve over that sin. When a person is really trying to get right with God they begin to mourn over that sin because it has broken fellowship with the Father. King David found this out after his sin and broken fellowship with the Father in Psalm 51:8-10, he wrote, “Make me to hear joy and gladness, that the bones You have broken may rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” (NKJ)
Notice with me the last step in the call of commitment it:
C. Leads to Reward (v.10) Here we see the end of self. True closeness and repentance brings us to a place where we don’t see the sin of others, we see our sin for what it really is.
James knew what He was saying. He was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write this and if there ever were a man that could promote himself it would have been James. He’s the brother of Jesus. He could have said, “Do you know who I am!” Here he’s calling his brother, the Lord (Supreme in authority.) He is saying to us if we humble ourselves the Lord will lift us up.
Jesus said in Luke 14:11, “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (NKJ) Make no mistake God does want to reward us. He does want to bless our lives and if we chose to follow His will for our lives we will see His blessing.
In Yorkshire, England, during the 1800’s two sons were born to a family named Taylor. The older one set out to make a name for him self by entering Parliament and gathering public prestige. But the younger son chose to give his life to Christ. He later wrote, “Well do I remember, as in unreserved consecration I put myself, my life, my friends, my all upon the altar. I felt the presence of God, entering into the covenant with the almighty.”
With that commitment Hudson Taylor turned his life toward China and public obscurity. As a result, of his commitment he founded the china Inland Mission and he is known all over the world as a faithful man of God. However, when you look in books in Europe to find out what the other son did it says this, “The brother of Hudson Taylor.”
Brothers and sisters God will reward our faithfulness.
Conclusion: In Joshua chapter ten the children of Israel were fighting against the last major battle in taking of The Promised Land. They were fighting against five kingdoms. God’s people were out numbered, but God had a Battle Plan for Victory—Him.
As the children of Israel were attacking their enemy the Bible says, “the Lord hurled large hailstones down on the enemy from the sky.” (Joshua 10:11NIV) Not only that more died from the hailstones than from the swords of the Israelites. God’s people are engaged in battle, and the fighting is fierce so Joshua prays for the Sun to stand still. God slows or stops the Earth’s rotation to give His people ultimate victory. It gets better, God’s people had made a treaty to their enemy. They had given them ground and yet God still allowed the to have total victory.
Maybe you today have given the enemy ground. Listen God can still give you victory. Listen Christian if you’ll submit to His plan, stand against the enemy, resist sin, commit your life and develop a real relationship with Jesus. If we repent when we need to He will bring victory. If He has to stop the earth, hang the moon or shoot a star to give us that victory He will.
Are you following His Battle Plan for Victory in your life?
PRAY
