MELVIN M. NEWLAND, MINISTER RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK
TEXT: Ephesians 6:11-12; 17:6; Mark 16:16
INTRO. We sometimes sing the hymn that begins with these words: "Onward Christian Soldiers, marching as to war." It's a good hymn, but for many of us it probably doesn't really represent our attitude as Christians. I mean, do you really think of yourself as a Christian soldier involved in fighting a war?
But that is exactly what the Bible portrays. In fact, God's Word frequently uses the imagery of soldiers in a conflict to describe Christians.
Ephesians 6:11 & 12 (NIrV) says, “Put on all of God’s armor. Then you can remain strong against the devil’s evil plans. Our fight is not against human beings. It is against the rulers, the authorities and the powers of this dark world. It is against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly world.”
That passage goes on to tell Christians to put on the breastplate of righteousness, the helmet of salvation, & the shield of faith, & to take the sword of the spirit, which is the Word of God, & go forth to war.
I. WE ARE IN A WAR
You see, we are in a war between God & Satan; the God of peace & light versus the prince of darkness.
Now some people might snicker at a statement like that, but it is true. Battles are taking place in the hearts & minds of people all across this world. And in our country it became more obvious in 2016 with Colin Kaepernick, a football player, taking the knee in protest to the singing of our national anthem.
With what seemed to be the whole-hearted support of our major news outlets his protest quickly spread, being echoed in nearly every major sport. And it soon spread to include outright opposition to Christianity & the part it played in the founding principles of our country.
Then, with the tragic death of George Floyd in 2020, once again with the aid of the major news outlets, the war assumed a racial character, & gained even more momentum in the attack on our nation, & upon Christianity.
It would appear that for many people, they suddenly became aware of the battle that had been going on for a long time in our nation, its educational institutions, & even in some of its churches.
The apostle Paul was right, there is a battle going on even today for the hearts of men & women, between Christianity & “the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly world.” And frankly, it would seem that Christians today are losing many of the battles.
Christian values are being eroded. We're being driven back by moral perversions, the breakdown of the family, & soaring crime rates.
ILL. A few years ago, Charles Colson told about a letter that appeared in Ann Lander's column from a young man brimming with indignation. His girlfriend, after discontinuing her birth control pills without his knowledge, had gotten pregnant. "Some women cannot be trusted," he concluded angrily.
"As I read his letter I shook my head," Colson wrote. "Sadly, so many consider sex outside of marriage an unquestioned right. Maybe, I thought, Ann Lander would set him straight.
"But her answer virtually endorsed his attitude. She wrote, 'Your letter should be discussed in all high school classrooms. ... It makes abundantly clear that a conniving or careless girl can make a tremendous difference in a man's life.'
Colson commented, "I almost crumpled the paper. There was no mention of moral right or wrong, just sympathy, & the suggestion that all high schools should teach how to be promiscuous safely."
Sadly, Ann Landers suggestion that school systems should teach about sex & morals has prevailed, & now our nation is reaping the results.
SUM. Let's admit right now, despite the fact that a majority of the people of the U.S. call themselves Christians, we are losing the battle for the hearts & minds of many people.
II. SOME CHRISTIANS ARE FIGHTING BACK
Yet, in the face of all that which has happened, there are signs that Christians are fighting back & that, as the 3rd verse of the hymn, “Onward Christian Soldiers” says, “Like a mighty army moves the church of God.”
ILL. Did you notice these news items on the internet this last week?
#1. The first one was about Deion Sanders who was one of my favorites when he was a star player with the Dallas Cowboy football team. Fox News reported, “Hall of Fame cornerback & Univ. of Colorado head football coach Deion Sanders, praised the name of Jesus during multiple postgame interviews on Saturday (Sept. 2) after defeating the No. 17 ranked TCU Horned Frogs 45-42.”
Despite calls not to hire Sanders last year because of his outspoken faith in Jesus, Sanders doesn’t hide his faith. “Just last week he told his 1.6 million social media followers, ‘Are u ready? If God gave you what you want right now could you handle and maintain the blessing? This ain’t about anybody else or anything else, it’s about you. If you ain’t ready please get ready.”
“Shedeur Sanders, the quarterback for the Colorado Buffalos, is also the Coach’s son. Shedeur threw for a school-record 510 yards, the most passing yards he has ever thrown for, & recorded 4 touchdowns. His other son, Shilo, plays safety & recorded a team-high 10 tackles.”
The news item also said, “Joined by his son Shedeur & wide receiver Travis Hunter, (the) Coach told Fox Sports’ sideline reporter Jenny Taft during a postgame interview, ‘Thank you Jesus! I’m so thankful right now.’ Sanders added that it is a blessing to be able to coach at CU, declaring that “God is good!”
Now that item is a little long, but you need to remember he was one of my favorite football players. However, I’ll try to keep the next news item shorter.
#2. Stephanie Martin, a freelance sports writer whose column is carried in many newspapers, & often quoted on TV, wrote a column last Wed. (Sept. 6) with the headline, “10 Christian NFL Players Who Plan To Play for God in 2023”
And then she named 7 major NFL quarterbacks & 3 other key first team players whom she describes as “faithful men of God who are setting godly examples both on & off the field.”
Now contrast that to the kind of news we have been subjected to from the football fields in the past few years.
#3. Oh yes, Christian influence is not just being shown in some of our major sports teams. Ask somebody who was at the local High School’s football game just a week ago. I think you would be proud of the Christian spirit shown in what some of our media calls “fly-over country.”
(NOTE: See the note at the end of this message from a teacher who was at that game about what happened there.)
So what can we do? How can we reach & teach & win people to the army of the Lord?
III. WHAT CAN WE DO?
I believe we can find at least part of the answer in the 16th chapter of the Book of Acts as we look at Paul in the city of Philippi.
When the apostle Paul went to Philippi, he experienced some great victories. His message was well received & Acts 16 records three events that show that the gospel was reaching an amazing cross section of the people.
The first event concerned Lydia, a wealthy business woman; next was a demon possessed slave girl; & the third was a man from the sturdy middle class, the Philippian jailer.
The church in Philippi soon became one of the strongest Paul ever started. So successful were they in Philippi that the people in the next town Paul entered said, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.” (Acts 17:6 NKJV)
What happened to make Paul's efforts in Philippi so successful? What did he do? And what can we learn from it to help us today?
A. When Paul entered a city, his usual practice was to go right to the Jewish synagogue, because the people there already believed in one God & were looking for the coming of the Messiah.
There Paul would have a ready made audience for the good news about Jesus. But there was no synagogue in Philippi, & this could have discouraged Paul. But it didn't. Instead, Luke, who was now traveling with Paul, wrote,
(Acts 16:13) “On the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate. We walked down to the river. There we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down & began to speak to the women who had gathered together."
As Paul spoke, one woman in particular listened carefully. Her name was Lydia, & she was a business woman, a dealer in purple cloth. Purple dye was gathered drop by drop from shellfish a tedious process & this made the garments she sold very expensive, & worn primarily by royalty. So Lydia was a dealer in expensive clothing & apparently very successful.
B. Now look at vs. 14, because I want you to notice something very interesting. Vs. 14 tells us, “The Lord opened her heart to accept Paul’s message.” And the very next sentence says, “She and the members of her household were baptized.”
Jesus had told the disciples, "Go into all the world & preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes & is baptized will be saved" (Mark 16:16). When Lydia opened her heart to the gospel, Paul instructed her to be baptized.
APPL. I love the pictured portrayed in baptism. Paul tells us that it symbolizes the death, burial & resurrection of Christ. I believe that it also symbolizes our submission to Christ.
ILL. People have responded to the invitation wearing expensive jewelry, tailor made clothing, & exquisite hairdos. But when they are ready to be baptized, all their jewelry is off. The expensive clothing is exchanged for the simple clothing almost everyone wears. That exquisite hairdo is about to get all wet.
It's as if they're saying with the hymn writer, "Lord, nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy cross I cling."
They are lowered briefly into the water, just as Jesus was buried in the grave, & they are brought back up just as Jesus arose from the dead. In the eyes of the world they may look bedraggled & drenched. But in the eyes of Christians, they are beautiful indeed.
Vs. 15 tells us, “Then she invited us to her home. ‘Do you consider me a believer in the Lord?’ she asked. ‘If you do, come and stay at my house.’ She succeeded in getting us to go home with her.”
C. When Paul went to Philippi & found no synagogue there, he didn't give up. He went out to where the people were. And that's what we need to do, too.
We come to church to be instructed & receive inspiration, but the church building is not the battlefield it is the ammunition store house. We'll never make a significant impact in our community by sitting only in our church building & talking to ourselves.
ILL. In his book, “Who Speaks for God?", Charles Colson emphasizes getting the message into the secular marketplace. He writes, "Our best writers . . . should infiltrate the newsrooms of the New York Times & CBS.
“Christian schol¬ars should debate their secular counterparts & shatter the myth that Christian faith is intellectually inferior. Christian business people need to apply biblical principles to everyday office decisions." And he's right!
IV. THAT’S WHAT WE NEED TO DO
Now if we're going to take the message into the community, there are several things we need to do.
A. First, we must recognize the false values that are constantly bombarding us. Soldiers who fought in Vietnam often said that one of the toughest things about fighting there was that many times they didn't know who the enemy was.
Tragically, too many in the church are not able to recognize the false values because we've been exposed to them so often that we've come to accept them as true.
We worry about sex & violence & vulgarity on television, but oftentimes it's the subtle messages that are even more destructive. For example, the media constantly suggests that to celebrate any occasion or to enjoy yourself, you've got to have liquor.
Again, watch how Christians are portrayed on TV. It is almost always in a negative way, & the subtle, or not so subtle impression is left that if you stand for Christian moral values you are a heartless hypocrite.
And of course, we are repeatedly bombarded with the idea that in order to be happy we must have more & more material possessions.
SUM. We absorb this stuff so much that some of us come to believe it's true. You can't be happy without possessions. You can't stand for Christian values without being uncompassionate & hypocritical. You can't have a good time without drinking. We must be alert to recognize false values.
B. Second, we must know & love the holy infallible Word of God. An army has to have ammunition. Our weapon is the Word of God.
SUM. If we don't have a solid biblical foundation, we'll be easy prey for the philosophies of self-indulgence, greed & humanism that attack us. In these critical days we've got to know the Bible values & be able to apply them to our everyday lives.
C. Finally, if we're going to affect our world, Jesus Christ must be Lord of our lives. He must have priority over everything from Monday morning's business decisions to Saturday night's TV viewing not just on Sunday morning.
ILL. Charles Colson wrote, "Being a Christian is more than mouthing pious hymns or believ¬ing in a vague deity. To follow the Christ of the Scriptures inevitably & radically alters one's opinions & values on everything . . .It involves the totality of our lives & only as we grasp that truth & make Christ Lord of all can we ever hope to make an impact on the totality of our culture."
ILL. Years ago, somebody asked Billy Graham, with so much evil in the world how he could still be optimistic about the future. Graham answered, “I’ve read the final chapter in the Book, & it assures me that Jesus Christ is going to win.”
battle for the hearts & minds & souls of mankind. But the victory of Jesus is already assured. There will be eternal life for those who give Him their allegiance, & eternal death for those who reject Him.
"At the sign of triumph, Satan's host doth flee;
On, then, Christian soldiers, on to victory!
Hell's foundations quiver at the shout of praise;
Brothers, lift your voices, Loud your anthems raise!"
In your neighborhood, in the schoolroom, at your place of business, loud your anthems raise.
INVITATION
(Note: After preaching this message, a teacher who was at this game came to me & filled me in on the details of what happened. It was an “away” game for our local High School. During half-time an announcement came over the loud speakers that a student of the High School there haD been in a very serious accident that afternoon and was in critical condition at the hospital.
Immediately, members of that local football team started to form a prayer circle. Then the members of our football team, along with everyone else on the field, cheerleaders & coaches joined that circle.
Meanwhile, students from both High Schools poured out of the stands to join the circle. Then everybody else in the stands also came onto the field to join what now became a giant oval from goal post to goal post. Everyone was on the field except for those in the announcer’s booth. The stands were empty.
Then prayers were lifted up for the young victim of the accident. After the half-time break everyone went back to their places & the game resumed.)
