September 15, 2002 Ephesians 6:10-19
¡§The Great Satan¡¨
INTRODUCTION
A little girl had misbehaved, and as a punishment, at supper time, her parents sat her down at a small table by herself in the corner of the dining room. The rest of the family paid no notice to her, until suddenly they heard her praying over her meal with these words: "I thank You, Dear Lord, for preparing a table before me in the presence of my enemies!"
It is all too easy to get confused about who your real enemy is. I believe that is what happened when Osama ben Laden and others like him turned against the United States. At some unknown point, our nation became the ¡§great Satan¡¨ in their eyes. They determined that we were the enemy because our philosophies were too different, or our lifestyles were too rich, or because we contaminated the holy ground of Saudi Arabia with our dirty American presence. We may never know the reasons for the animosity that caused Osama ben Laden and others to make us into their enemy.
But whatever the reason, they attacked us. And then, they became our enemy, so we attacked them. That¡¦s what enemies do ¡V they attack each other. And when enemies attack each other, you call that a war.
Historians tell us that war is nothing new. In all the years of recorded human history, there have only been 227 years when there was no war going on somewhere in the world. We helped to make sure that streak doesn¡¦t end by declaring our war on terrorism. And now, it looks like we are getting ready to enter into a new war against the nation of Iraq.
Where did all this war come from? It began way back in the Garden of Eden. It began with sin. It was sin that caused people to begin battling with each other while their real enemy was sitting back and laughing. On the day that sin entered the world, a war began. It is a war that affects all of us because all of us have a common enemy.
This morning, we¡¦re going to examine this war and the enemy that we face. We¡¦re going to learn 5 steps that we can take to make sure that we will not become casualties of this war.
1. Identify the enemy.
„X Not other people - ¡§not against flesh and blood¡¨
Long before the events of 9/11, we have often thought as other people as the enemy, especially if they were different from us. If they were black, white people considered them the enemy. If they were white, black people considered them the enemy. If they were men, women considered them the enemy. The list could go on and on. When we think of other people as our enemy, we put barriers between ourselves, and we cut ourselves off from the wonderful impact that they can have on our lives.
This thought provoking poem was written in the 1920¡¦s by James Patrick Kinney. It is called ¡§The Cold Within¡¨.
Six humans trapped by happenstance in black and bitter cold.
Each one possessed a stick of wood (or so the story¡¦s told).
Their dying fire, in need of logs, the first woman held hers back,
For on the faces around the fire, she noticed one was black.
The second, looking across the way, saw one not of his church,
And couldn¡¦t bring himself to give the fire his stick of birch.
The poor man sat in tattered clothes, he gave his coat a hitch.
Why should his log be put to use to warm the idle rich?
The rich man just sat back and thought of the wealth he had in store,
And how to keep what he had earned from the lazy, shiftless poor.
The black man¡¦s face bespoke revenge as the fire passed from his sight,
For all he saw in his stick of wood was a chance to spite the white.
And the last of this forlorn group did not accept for gain:
Giving only to those who gave was how he played the game.
The logs held tight in deaths¡¦ still hands was proof of human sin.
They didn¡¦t die from the cold without, They died from the cold within.
One year ago, when angry men became responsible for the death of 1000¡¦s of civilians, we added a new classification to those physical characteristics that deem someone our enemy. Now, if someone is of Arab descent, they are suspect. This proved true even this week. The incident that happened in Florida, depending on who you believe, apparently could have been the result of a 9/11 prejudice. Just because someone is Arab in descent, it does not make them our enemy. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, 1000¡¦s of loyal Americans of Japanese descent were rounded up and held in confinement just because of their nationality. Have we learned nothing from the mistakes of history?
Confusion about the enemy can also put Christians at odds with one another. On a summer day, when the great heat induced a general thirst among the beasts, a Lion and a Boar came at the same moment to a small well to drink. They fiercely disputed which of them should drink first, and were soon engaged in the agonies of a mortal combat. When they stopped suddenly to catch their breath for a fiercer renewal of the fight, they saw some Vultures waiting in the distance to feast on the one that should fall first. They at once made up their quarrel, saying, "It is better for us to make friends, than to become the food of Crows or Vultures." When Christians fight among themselves, the vultures of the pagan world lie ready to attack Christianity.
Lisa Beamer, when she was talking about the fact that her husband, Todd prayed the Lord¡¦s prayer just before he and others attempted to overpower the hijackers and ended up losing their lives ¡V she talked about the line that says, ¡§Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.¡¨ And she said that it¡¦s as if Todd was offering his forgiveness to those who had hijacked the plane and were getting ready to take him from his wife and children. Todd realized that they were not the enemy. They were just pawns in the hand of the enemy.
Those hijackers and the people that sent them were wrong to think that we were the enemy; we are wrong to think that any person is our enemy. A person is my enemy only to the extent that they allow the true enemy to use them. They thought of us as ¡§The Great Satan¡¨. The reason that they attacked us was because they didn¡¦t know who the true enemy was.
People are not your enemy. Husbands, your wife is not your enemy. Wives, your husband is not your enemy. Employees, your boss is not your enemy. Children, your parents are not your enemy. Anything that has flesh and blood is not your enemy. They are not the ones that you are to be fighting against.
„X Not suffering
Some would have you believe that suffering is something that is to be fought off at all costs. God says in His Word though that suffering is nothing new and that He uses suffering to shape us into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. In the book of James, God says that we are to consider it a joy when we fall into all kind of trials and tribulations. (James 1:2) Anything that can make me more like Jesus is not my enemy; it is my friend.
„X Not God
Billy Graham, at his address before those gathered at the National Cathedral, quoted these words from John 3:16: ¡§For God so loved the world¡K¡¨ Some people, when they see me coming, run for cover. To them, God is their enemy, and that make me their enemy since I am a messenger for God. But how can God be their enemy when He loves them so much that He sent His Son to die for them so that He could spend an eternity with them.
We, on the other hand were God¡¦s enemies not because He declared war on us but because we declared war on Him. In Romans 5:8, it says that while we were still sinners, while we were still God¡¦s enemies, Christ died for us. And then, in James 4:4, it says that whoever is a friend of the world has made himself an enemy of God. But in spite of our rebellion against God, He has reached out to us to establish a relationship of peace and restoration. God is not your enemy. He is your greatest Friend.
„X Not physical
¡§¡¦your adversary,¡¦ Peter declares (1 Peter 5:8), ¡¥is the devil.¡¦ He is at the root of all evil¡Konce we identify the enemy and understand his ways we realize the world is a battleground, not a playground.¡¨ ¡V Why, God? By Charles Swindoll
Because he is not physical, some doubt his existence.
Wednesday night, we took our Bible study time to talk about some positive things that have come out of 9/11. One of the things was that, at least for a short time, politicians treated each other as comrades rather than as enemies. Republicans and Democrats put down their weapons and joined hands when they realized that they were not one another¡¦s enemies. Recognizing the true enemy will unify people like nothing else will. But we must do more than understand who the enemy is. We must¡K
2. Learn his tactics.
¡§Every other day, U.S. warplanes loaded with bombs and missiles cruise the skies over northern Iraq, routine patrols that are giving pilots experience that could prove invaluable if President Bush decides to go to war against Saddam Hussein.
¡§Pilots say that after 11 years of patrols, almost every U.S. pilot has flown over Iraq, learning the terrain and carefully monitoring the skills of Saddam¡¦s gunners.
¡§¡¦Knowing the terrain and knowing your enemy is definitely an advantage,¡¦ Col. John Burgess, head of air operations over the northern fly zone, said Thursday.¡¨ ¡V by Louis Meixler, AP, Clarksburg Exponent Telegram, 9/13/02
If Satan is our enemy, then we must learn some of his tactics and the terrain that he works in so that we can overcome him.
In the book of John, Jesus described the essential nature of Satan, our enemy. (John 8:44 NIV) ¡Khe is a liar and the father of lies. The lying nature of Satan manifests itself in two ways.
„X Deception
Concerning what the war is about (it¡¦s not about the color of the carpet)
Concerning who are your enemies and who are your friends.
Concerning your need to be a part of the battle.
„X Doubt
The goodness of God.
The reality of the enemy or the war.
You hear about fighting in Afghanistan from time to time especially when something big happens, but it seems so far away. It seems like it really isn¡¦t going on because it doesn¡¦t affect us directly. It could all be made up for all we know.
If you doubt the reality of the war that Satan and his forces have been fighting against Christianity, you have been keeping your head in the sand. A few years ago a group of students at an Alabama high school recited the lord¡¦s prayer together in the lunch-room, which prompted a suit by the parents of another student. In response, Judge Ira Dement, on October 29, 1997 termed the action ¡§religiously based harassment¡¨ & issued a broad ruling that banned all forms of prayer in Alabama schools, including those that are voluntary & student-led. He also prohibited groups like the Gideons from distributing Bibles in schools, and even specifically barred prayer in times of national emergencies, such as wars or natural disasters. He then ordered federal monitors to stalk hallways & classrooms in search of any students or teachers who dared to pray on school grounds....
That we are in the right. Some would have you believe that there are many ways that lead to heaven. Once you accept that, then you have become an ineffective soldier in God¡¦s army. You no longer fight with passion. And you certainly no longer fight with sacrifice. Jesus said, ¡§I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no man comes unto the Father except by me.¡¨ (John 14:6) When you stop believing that, you might as well lay down your weapon because you are no longer of any value to the kingdom of God.
Last week, we talked about the fall of man which is where sin and suffering came from. Satan used a subtle attack against Eve. He twisted the truth so that he could deceive her. Part of the reason that you come to church is so that every Sunday, you will hear the truth. But if you listen to Satan¡¦s deception when he tells you that it is not important that you read the Bible or that you come to church on a regular basis, you won¡¦t know the truth, and you will be deceived when Satan attacks you.
3. Prepare for combat.
„X Put on your armor
¡§We can resist the enemy! (1 Peter 5:9) ¡§but resist him, firm in your faith..¡¨ ¡§The enemy¡¦s attack may be directed toward the vulnerable part of your life, but the shield of faith will protect you from them.¡¨
„X Take up your weapons
The United States military has a myriad of weapons that will enable them to battle different combatants in different terrain under varying conditions. You and I have only two weapons, but that is all we need. We have the Bible, and we have prayer. The Bible is our battle plan. It is our word from God that tells us what we are supposed to do and how we are supposed to do it. Prayer is our communication line with God. It keeps us in close contact so that when we are under attack, we can call upon the power of God. And as someone has said, God is only one squeal away.
¡§We raised pigs. We raised about a thousand pigs a year. In one field we had two or three hundred little oinkers running around. Every day, at four in the morning, as I¡¦d walk into the field to feed those guys, they¡¦d scatter. Once a little pig came up and began to chew on my foot, so I picked him up and began to pet him. Soon he wanted down.
¡§I said, "No, I¡¦ll let you down when I¡¦m ready." At that moment, he let out a squeal such as I had never heard. In about two seconds, thirty mama pigs weighing five to six hundred pounds each were headed my way. I put him down and headed for the fence. I barely made it over, and all the mama pigs were snorting and walking back and forth, daring me to come back over and bother one of their kids.
I look back at that and realize the little rascal wasn¡¦t intimidated. He was out of control, but he wasn¡¦t intimidated. Why? Because one squeal away he had resources.- ¡§God Is Just One Squeal Away¡¨, Rod Cooper, "Worship or Worry?" Preaching Today, Tape No. 108.
When you are under Satan¡¦s attack, take up those two weapons. Get on the offense against him. Your Bible will show you what is truth when Satan is trying to confuse you, and prayer will muster all the forces of the armies of God against those wicked armies that are attacking you.
Get prepared! Put on your armor; take up your weapons. But don¡¦t stop there. Once your prepared, the next step is to ¡K
4. Join the battle.
President Bush is urging other nations to join in the immanent battle against Iraq. On Thursday of this week (Sept. 12, 2002), ¡§President Bush told skeptical world leaders [at the U.N.]¡Kto confront the ¡¥grave and gathering danger¡¦ of Saddam Hussein¡¦s Iraq ¡V or stand aside as the United States acts¡KBush said the body must rid the world of Saddam¡¦s biological, chemical and nuclear arsenals or risk millions of lives in a ¡¥reckless gamble.¡¦ ¡K¡¦If Iraq¡¦s regime defies us again, the world must move deliberately and decisively to hold Iraq to account¡K¡¦ ¡V by Ron Fournier, A.P., Clarksburg Exponent Telegram, Sept. 13, 2002
Iraq has: stockpiles of VX, mustard and other chemical weapons; produced 10¡¦s of thousands of liters of anthrax and other deadly agents for use with Scud warheads, aerial bombs and aircraft spray tanks; ability to build nuclear weapon within a year if they acquire fissile material; using oil money sanctioned for the purchase of food to buy missile technology including long-range missiles.
President Bush¡¦s frustration is nothing new. During the 1930’s in England, criticism of the Third Reich could ruin a person’s name. Warnings of Nazi aggression were called "hysterical." Those who warned were called "alarmist." Years before 1939, in speech after speech, one newspaper article after another, Winston Churchill hammered away at his own leaders, trying to dent their self-deception. It seems that the good people in government could not get themselves to believe that the great nation of Germany was in the hands of criminals. Why not? Because if they let themselves believe that, then the possibility of war began to gleam. And almost nobody in England could think realistically of war. Desperate, crimson memories from World War I were too fresh. Fifty years later we know some of the cost of that self-deception.
I understand President Bush¡¦s frustration. His attempt is to convince the U.S. and the world that Saddam Hussein is a dangerous man and that his threat is so intense that we must do everything in our power to topple his regime. This is the same frustrating task that I face every Sunday and most days of my life. My task is to convince you and people like you that you have an enemy who is willing to use any conceivable tactic to destroy you.
The world thinks that they can co-exist with Hussein as a friend, or at least that he is not a big enough threat to do anything about. That is the same way that we have treated Satan. For some, he is a friend who provides pleasure for them without asking anything in return, at least not now. For others, he is a threat, but he is out there. We feel like we are insulated against him. We are within the walls of the church. We try to good things in our homes and teach our children to live right. Why do we need to attack Satan? Why not just watch over our own little territory and let the rest of the world go to hell?
We have gotten lazy. We fail to recognize that the enemy is on the horizon, and as Peter says, ¡§He is a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.¡¨ (1 Peter 5:8)
The last time that an enemy attacked us on our own soil was fifty years ago when Japanese planes bombed Pearl Harbor. The United States suffered tremendous losses, including the death of 2,400 military personnel. Franklin D. Roosevelt described December 7, 1941, as "a date which will live in infamy."
Enemy planes were still 50 minutes away when two U. S. soldiers manning a small radar station in the Pacific saw many dots show up on their radar screen. They immediately reported it to their superior officer, a young lieutenant. Assuming that the dots were U. S. planes, he said, "Don’t worry about it." Tragedy followed! Someone said that one man, "at the most responsible moment of his career, failed the nation." Most of us will never face such a severe test. We all, however, come in contact with people who need to be warned. We need to tell them that just as certainly as there is a heaven for those who put their faith in Jesus, there is a hell for those who miss the only way of escape. --National Geographic
One of the Japanese generals refused to celebrate after the successful bombing of Pearl Harbor. He said that he feared that all that they had accomplished was to awaken a sleeping giant. Up to that point, the United States had been neutral ¡V uninterested in joining the war. That changed overnight. Once again, with the bombing of the WTC, it is ¡§as if a sleeping giant who has been awakened will confidently take his rightful position, fully aware of whom he is and what he can accomplish. People are stepping up to the plate who have been sitting in the shadows with little interest in joining the game.¡¨ ¡V When Tragedy Strikes by Charles Stanley That¡¦s what recognizing that you are in a war will do.
We, as Christians, have forgotten that we are in a war. People are too lax about prayer and about being in church. They think that it is no big deal if they miss. They don¡¦t understand that they are in a war.
¡§We¡¦re together in this fight. But we are only as strong as your link in the chain. We¡¦re only as alert as you are on your watch. We stand only as tall as you stand when you¡¦re all alone...We are only as tough as you are when you face the enemy. And we¡¦re only as loving and gracious as you are when surrounded by those who are neither.¡¨ - Why God? By Charles Swindoll, p. 78
It¡¦s time for you to stop saying that you¡¦re not prepared enough to get into the battle. It¡¦s time for you to take what you receive within the walls of this church and put it into practice on the battlefield. Training is of no value in and of itself. It is only valuable as you get out there and fight the enemy on his own turf.
5. Claim the victory.
Several months ago, we, as a nation declared a war on terrorism. The problem with doing this is that there is no clear-cut way of knowing when the battle is over and when you have achieved your objectives. ¡§We may search out, round up, incarcerate, and possibly execute those who committed this outrage, but we know that there will always be others ready to take their place.¡¨ ¡V When Tragedy Strikes by Charles Stanley In a war like this, how do you know when you have won? How can you be sure that you got them all?
And we are tempted to look at the war against Satan in the same terms. It seems like just when we get a handle on some area of weakness in our lives or just when we have gained some major victory in the public arena, a new battlefield heats up. It looks like we are never going to win this war, so we are tempted to despair and give up. But the reality is that we are already the victors. ¡§The war has already been won by the good guys. When Jesus died on the cross and rose again, it was all over for Satan. He was and ultimately is defeated. Still, he fights on. And yes, he wins a few battles along the way. But it doesn¡¦t matter, because he¡¦s lost the war.¡¨ ¡V Why God?, by Charles Swindoll
A missionary and his family were forced to camp outside on a hill. They were carrying money and they were fearful that thieves might rob them. After spending time in prayer, they finally fell asleep. Several months later, a man that had been injured was taken to the mission hospital. He asked the missionary if on that special night they had soldiers guarding them. The man said to him, ¡§We intended to rob you, but we were afraid of the twenty-seven soldiers.¡¨
When the missionary returned to his homeland, he shared this story with his church. One of the members responded, ¡§We had a prayer meeting that night, and I took roll. There were just twenty-seven of us present.¡¨
When we sing the song ¡§Victory in Jesus¡¨, it isn¡¦t just words! It¡¦s the truth! In Jesus, we really do have the victory.
There have been many times in history when Satan thought that he had won ¡V he thought that he had delivered a blow so powerful that no one could recover from it. One of those times was on Sept. 11, 2001. But he must have watched in horror as he saw people ministering to each other and delivering hope instead of being crushed by their own despair. Another one of those supposed death-blows was when Jesus went to Calvary. Satan thought that he had one, but he learned three days later that he had only helped Jesus to gain the ultimate victory over him. As one author says, ¡§It must be a very frustrating thought to Satan that even in his finest hour, God still rules.¡¨ ¡V p. 79, A Reason for hope in a time of tragedy. ¡§Every time he [Satan] works to advance his cause, he ends up advancing God¡¦s!¡¨ ¡V America Looks Up by Max Lucado
God has already won, and because of that, you can win the daily battles that you face. The greatest way to do that is by loving the very people that Satan uses to attack you. Jesus said that they will know you are my disciples by the love that you have for one another. Love is more powerful than anything in Satan¡¦s arsenal. He has no defense against love. Listen to what someone has written about the kind of love that was displayed during the events of last September:
¡§It¡¦s the kind of love that lets a man put his two-month-old child into someone else¡¦s arms so he can try to help make sure that the doomed aircraft he is riding on is not used as a flying bomb. The kind of love that make a firefighter run into a teetering skyscraper in the hope that he can rescue the people trapped inside, only to have that building collapse on him and more than a hundred of his brother firefighters¡K. The kind of love that creates a convoy of physicians and nurses heading for New York City, riding in ambulances and their own vehicles, not knowing how much help they can be, but just wanting to help. The kind of love that causes people the country over to stop and give blood, because that¡¦s the only way they can help¡K. This country, and the free world beside us, stands shocked and dismayed. We are angry, and justifiably so. We have been attacked by people with no desire but to make us afraid, to make us hurt, perhaps to make us hate the way they do¡K. I know that whatever their ultimate goals, they have failed already. They attempted to sow fear, and instead reaped heroism.
¡§We are dealing with a people who will die in order to kill, so great is their hate. But they are dealing with a people who will give their lives to save the lives of people they don¡¦t even know, so great is our love. In the end, how can they possibly stand against that?¡¨ ¡V p. 80, Why God? by Chuck Swindoll
CONCLUSION
If you grew up in the church or have worked with kids in the church, you may remember singing the song, ¡§I¡¦m in the Lord¡¦s Army¡¨. It goes something like this, ¡§I¡¦m in the Lord¡¦s army, I¡¦m in the Lords¡¦ army. I may never march in the infantry, ride in the cavalry, shoot the artillery. I may never zoom o¡¦er the enemy, but I¡¦m in the Lord¡¦s army. Yes sir!¡¨ As a kid, it¡¦s ok to a part of God¡¦s army and not be involved in the battles. But we¡¦re adults now. It¡¦s time for us to leave the training camp behind and join the battle. It¡¦s time for us to ride in the cavalry, march in the infantry, shoot the artillery and zoom o¡¦er the enemy. It¡¦s time for us to put our training into practice for the advancement of the kingdom of God. And it¡¦s time for us to say ¡§Yes, Sir!¡¨ whenever our Commander-in-Chief tells us to move out. The stakes are high. If we fail to join the battle, then it will be our children who suffer under the reign of Satan ¡V the enemy ¡V in the world that they live in.
INVITATION
1. Have you ever joined God¡¦s army? Be saved today. Enlist on the winning side. Take Jesus Christ as your Commander-in-Chief.
2. Have you as a Christian been fighting for the wrong side? Jesus said that whoever is not with Him is against Him. Get back where you belong. Seek God¡¦s forgiveness, and enjoy His presence once again.
3. Soldier, are you about to give up? You¡¦ve taken a lot of hits, and you don¡¦t know if you can go on. Remember that God has already won the battle. And remember that He is waiting to hang a medal around your neck. Don¡¦t give up! The battle will soon be over.
