WARFARE
2 Cor 10.3-6
We are at war. What are we as a church doing to fight and win this war?
What are we at war with?—Satan and Evil.
The church must compete against—TV/Movies; Drugs/Alcohol; Sexual Perversion; Peer Pressure; Jobs—gods that keep people away from church; Schools—false doctrines such as evolution—the extracurricular activities that are scheduled at church times.
Satan and His army use everything at their disposal to draw people away from Christ and the church, and it seems as though they are winning the war...look around tonight!
We let Satan Win. The church says they are against all these things, but we only give it lip service. We don’t do anything about it, Why? We don’t take a stand, Why?
I’ll tell you why—Apathy and laziness.
Preacher now I am not lazy. Well it must be laziness because we are standing back and letting the devil win many battles. I mean we as Christians have power over Satan...
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. (James 4:7—10)
Folks, Satan has put so much opposition out there that it may seem impossible. But all we have to do is resist him and he will flee.
Take a stand. We don’t need to worry about what other people think or do. We are supposed to be a peculiar people. We are to be a separated people—a different people.
Noah took a stand—What happened?
Daniel took a stand—What happened?
Shadrack, M and A took a stand—What happened?
Why cant we take a stand? Resist Satan and all the obstacles that he sets before us.
Pray that Satan’s obstacles will fall. We have to compete, we have got to get into the battle.
We have to have events to compete with Satan. We have to have things to draw children and youth away from undue influence and not just kids, adults too.
There are plenty of national and global events...Crusades, Christian concerts; Christian movies and videos—The Passion, The Nativity. Books—The Left Behind Series...
What is Thompson Creek Baptist Church doing on a local level? Do we set an example for others to follow?
Are we standing firm in our resolve to win this spiritual war? What are we doing to draw people in to the fellowship of Christ at Thompson Creek Baptist Church?
The old tent meetings of 40-50 years ago, worked well. People in those times seemed to be more in tune to the reality of the spiritual world—There was not much else out there drawing people away.
Satan has stepped up his battle plan. But the church has fallen behind. What worked 40-50 years ago won’t work today. People are totally different than they used to be.
Things that were not accepted 40-50 years ago are now the norm.
You see, Satan has never stopped revising his battle plan. But the church has. Satan has even infiltrated the church and what is sad, is that those who are being used by the devil to cause heartache and division in the church do not even realize it.
You say preacher how is that so? What do you mean?
What I mean is those who resist every change that is suggested. What I mean is those who hold on to the traditional...(traditianity).
Those that say we never did it that way before, we don’t need a new Jesus or a new Bible. No we will never need a new Jesus or a new Bible, but if a business doesn’t evolve and change, it goes under. If the church doesn’t change its tactics and ways of outreach, it too will go under.
All to often tradition is what is worshipped, not God. We put tradition before change and moving forward for God, and when we do this, we miss out on blessings that God had in store for us.
We live in the past...I remember when we tried this and boy was it hard. I remember it used to be like this...You see, Satan wants you to remember the tough times. He wants you to remember how difficult it seemed.
He wants you to remember the hard times, and while you are remembering the hard times, you forget about how far you have come and who got you through those times.
How many remember when Thompson Creek Baptist Church was having a rough time. I have heard more than once that this church has been through some rough waters.
Now, where do we stand today? Abundantly blessed. Who got us there? God and God alone, no one else did.
You see, we are sowers. When we sow the seed, God blesses some 30 some 60 and some 100 fold. You reap what you sow. You sow nothing...then you reap nothing.
What have we missed out on? Is a soul worth $50, $100, $100,000,000? Is a soul worth making a little self sacrifice and giving in to a little change?
You see, we need to compete with Satan. We need to engage him in battle. We need to take it to him instead of waiting for him to attack. We are at war and we need to do things at this church that will strengthen our resolve and our fellowship.
We need to do things at this church to draw people in.
I have heard it said that we don’t need to bribe people to come to church. I agree. But I don’t consider reaching out and trying to reach a spiritual need a bribe. I call it an act of love for the soul.
What was it that drew the crowd to Jesus? It wasn’t his speech making, it wasn’t’ the people He hung around with, it wasn’t because He was rich.
Folks, what drew people to Jesus was what He had the potential to do for them. What is the major need of people today?
Now we are a church. We are Christ’s ambassadors to the world. Shouldn’t we follow His example and reach out to other peoples needs. That major need is Spiritual.
Most people won’t talk about Spiritual things. We as a church need to have an ice-breaker to get people to open up. What ice breaker in this spiritual battle are we using?
By all means was a mission emphasis in recent years. God gave us salvation by sacrificing all of Jesus. What are we willing to sacrifice to win the battle against Satan.
We have got to get into the battle. We must wage war against the obstacle that Satan puts in peoples way. WE have to be creative about spreading the gospel.
We have to be more creative than Satan is in keeping people from the truth.
I ask you tonight, are you with me in this fight against Satan...Are you willing to work and train in Spiritual Warfare?
Are you willing to commit yourself to God’s Army and fight the good fight? If you are, then I ask you to come to this altar and make a covenant with God Almighty, to be a valiant soldier for Him in this spiritual war and not stand in the way of the kingdom work.
Don’t be a stumbling block in the race that is set before the church...be willing to stand in the gap.
