Stand Against The Wiles Of The Devil

Alba 7-2-2023

STAND AGAINST THE WILES OF THE DEVIL

Ephesians 6:10-13

This Tuesday many people will be celebrating Independence Day in a variety of ways. We celebrate this holiday because of what happened 246 years ago in 1776.

On this holiday we celebrate the actions of people we can only read about in history books. We celebrate the actions of people who lived without electricity, without regular mail service, and even without Walmart.

We celebrate those people for having the courage to break the existing hold of Europe on the wilderness colonies that had struggled to survive, and were being choked by rules and unfair burdens by the king of England.

We celebrate the ideal of the prize that was worth everything to the men who would sign the document, knowing that it was something worth risking wealth, and even life, to gain.

In their desire to be free, the founders of our country were pretty specific in the Declaration of Independence. If you read through that document, they refer to oppression, abuse, removal of rights, false justice and punishment.

You find a precisely stated set of charges against the king, and their justification for separation from the rule of such a king. They declared a break from the strangle hold of a tyrant.

The first sentence of the Declaration of Independence sets the stage for the rest of the document, basically saying when things are bad enough, people have to take action.

Now years later we still enjoy the freedoms that the Declaration of Independence called for on behalf of the colonies and future citizens: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

However, there are still a few problems in our country. First, we still have a lot rules that we have to deal with. There was an article called, “12 Ridiculous Government Regulations That Are Almost Too Bizarre To Believe” on businessinsider.com that shared the following example:

“The city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin makes it incredibly difficult to go out of business. In order to close down a business, Milwaukee requires you to purchase an expensive license. You must submit a huge pile of paperwork to the city regarding the inventory you wish to sell off. And you must pay a fee based on the length of your "going out of business sale", plus a two dollar charge for every $1,000 worth of inventory that you are attempting to sell off.”

We have plenty of burdensome rules. The Washington Examiner has an article on their website published January 20, 2022 stating: “President Joe Biden has blown past both Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump in adding regulatory costs in his first year, a new analysis shows.”

It continues saying the “administration is finishing off its first full year in office with more than $201 billion in regulatory costs, and approximately 131 million hours in new annual paperwork, according to research by the American Action Forum.”

The list could go on and on. It can be hard work to pursue life, liberty and happiness when we have so many rules. Add to that having an economy that is unstable, and the increasing cost of things because of a high inflation rate. And also the flood of people coming illegally across the border.

But much worse than any of that is that, whether they really all know it or not, those in government are giving encouragement to the moral decline of our nation.

Things that used to be understood as evil, or at least not considered normal, are now being praised. From allowing and encouraging drag queen reading hours for children, to mutilating children trying to make boys into girls and girls into boys.

During a “Pride Parade” in New York last Sunday, a large group of drag queens were chanting, “We're here. We're queer. We're coming for your children.” Those supporting the march have said that it was a joke. Well if so, it is a poor joke indeed!

How can all this be??? How could we go from having a country that seemed to understand that we live in a nation under God to rebelling against godly behavior.

Guess what? God saw that it could happen. Of course. He knows all things! In His Word, He warns us all the time. He has told us that there is a continual battle going on for the souls of the people of His creation.

That is why He tells us to be aware, and be ready for the battle that we are in. So He gives us this instruction in Ephesians 6:10-13 where it says:

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”