We must stand firm in the fight for God in our world today.
I. Stand Up for God and Ourselves (10-12)
A. As salt and light in the world around us
B. As we daily check in with the enemy around us
1. Fight God’s fight, not just our own battles
2. We are not so much a hospital as a barracks
II. Stand While Struggling Against Satan’s Forces (11-12)
A. In hand-to-hand conflict with a personal enemy
1. Avoiding evil is a personal, difficult struggle
2. Avoiding evil is impossible without God’s help
B. In a unique struggle with a unique foe
1. We struggle primarily not against other people
2. We struggle against everything opposed to God
a. Satan
b. Satan’s forces
c. Humans under the enemy’s influence
III. Stand in the Way of Satan’s Influences (11-12)
* Satan’s goal: Bringing chaos to the order God wants to build in life
A. By blinding the mind so it misunderstands God’s truth (2 Cor. 4:4)
B. By causing doubt about God to arise (Gen. 3:1ff; John 8:44)
C. By pushing us to hold unreasonable fears (2 Timothy 1:7)
D. By using people to teach false truths (1 Timothy 4:1)
E. By encouraging selfish pride
1. To justify disobeying God with a good excuse (Gen. 3)
2. To trust in our possessions more (1 Chron. 21:1ff)
3. To tell God what to do (Matthew 16:21-24)
4. To be blinded by conceit as Satan himself (1 Timothy 3:6)
