The War Of The Worlds

The War of the Worlds

By Pastor Jim May

The 20th century proved to be one of the bloodiest periods in the recorded history of mankind. With the worldwide conflicts beginning with WWI, “The War to End All Wars”, and ending with the invasion of Kuwait and Desert Storm in the 1990’s, the death toll was well into the millions. Now that we have entered a new millennia, there doesn’t seem to be much difference. Already, in the first 6 years, we have seen our soldiers engaged in battle in Afghanistan and Iraq, and we have only seen the tip of the iceberg on a new world war known as terrorism. Our world is at war on a global scale. There isn’t a nation on the earth where the tentacles of terrorism have not taken root and made its presence known.

But we should not be surprised at these events. After all, Jesus spoke these words to us in 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 of the troubles that we face right here on planet earth, there are many people who are convinced that we should be concerned with visitors from another planet who may have hostile intentions. This idea has resulted in some popular films such as the movie titled, “The War of the Worlds”, where the Martians supposedly invade the earth.

I don’t believe that we need to worry about UFO’s or aliens from outer space, but I do believe that there is truly a “War of the Worlds” happening right now and we are all caught up in it even though most people are completely unaware of what is happening.

I am here this morning to give you a message. That message is that all of us, and each one 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 stay in your place among the ranks.

Of course I am speaking of the war between “Good” and “Evil”, a war between the “Powers of Darkness” and the powers of Heaven, and a battle between “Light” and “Darkness”. This war will determine 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 you and you can many who bear the scars of battle. Many are wounded emotionally, almost unable to cope with every day life and its pressures. Some carry around scars of guilt and shame as a result of the life that they have lived. Many more carry a wounded spirit or a broken heart that almost sends them over the edge and often makes them feel that life just isn’t worth living.

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

God’s weapons of this warfare are love, faith, a sound mind and the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Blood of the Lamb and the Cross of Christ. While God’s weapons are far superior to those of the devil, 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 is a fight with eternal consequences. Sadly, too many try to fight this battle alone, as though “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 nicotine stand the jitters of needing that next puff on a cigarette by using only his will power? Though there may be a few isolated cases where people claim to overcome these addictions through will power, most fail miserably, only adding to their feelings of hopelessness and frustration.