The Battle Within

The Battle Within us!!!

Acts 16:16-16:31

Matthew 24:6-7, "And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places."

In the Book of Luke 21: 9 - 10, we see these words spoken again, "But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by. Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:"

In addition to all the troubles that we face right here on planet earth, there’s a lot of people who are convinced that we should be worried about visitors from another planet

I have a message. That message is that all of us, are fighting even if we don’t realize it... and the only way that you can be victorious in this war is to be on the right side and that right

side is Jesus Christ...

I’m talking about a war between “Good” and “Evil”, a war between the “Powers of Darkness” and the powers of Heaven......a battle between “Light” and “Darkness”. This war is about the eternal destiny of every man, woman and child on the face of the earth, from Adam to the last child that will be born before time ceases to exist as we know it.

Signs of this great battle for the souls of men are everywhere. All you have to do is look around and you can see many who’s got the scars of the battle. Lot’s are wounded emotionally........... some are not able to cope with every day life and its pressures. Some carry around scars of guilt and shame some carry a wounded spirit or a broken heart that sends them over the edge and makes them feel like life just ain’t worth living.

The weapons in this war ain’t bullets, knives, but words, prayer, sin and faith. Satan’s arsenal is filled with temptation, loaded fiery darts of passion and he lays traps, or minefields, where we walk every day. He’s an enemy that’s out to kill, steal and destroy everything that he can, including your very soul.

God’s weapons of this warfare are love, faith, Prayer, a sound mind and the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Blood of the Lamb and the Cross of Christ. God’s weapons are more powerful than the devil’s,

BUT none of them can be used without faith and trust in God to make them work.

The problem is that most people won’t use God’s weapons because they don’t want to surrender their will to God’s will.

When an addict is fighting for their life, doing everything in their power to overcome whatever has them bound, it’s a fight with eternal consequences. too many try to fight this battle alone, with “will power” can be strong enough to break that bondage.

Let me tell you that “will power” just won’t work most of the time. If you don’t think that’s so, then tell me how long an addict can go without a fix from the needle or the pill, just relying on will power? How long can the man who needs his cigarette stand the jitters of needing that next puff...there may be a few cases where people claim to overcome these addictions through will power, most fail, and then that adds to their hopelessness and

frustration.

The reason that people can’t overcome these things on their own is that these are not just physical battles with a physical addition. They are spiritual battles that can only be fought, and won, in the realms of the

supernatural.

Listen what the Word of God says about it.

look at the Apostle Paul..... Paul was an addict before he was an apostle. he didn’t take drugs, he wasn’t hooked on tobacco and he wasn’t a man given to drink. Paul was a Pharisee, a man who dedicated his whole life to obeying the commandments of the Law. But he was an addict. He was addicted to ambition and to recognition.

Paul was first called Saul. As Saul, he was a defender of the faith of the Jews and he loved the idea of persecuting Christians He was constantly going before the High Priest to obtain letters of authority to kill, maim and imprison every Christian he could find. Saul was fighting the battle against God. He was trying to win a battle that he couldn’t win. He could do nothing to overcome his desire for recognition and power. In fact, he saw nothing wrong with the way he was living and the things he was doing.