“The Church’s War”

Sunday morning sermon audio from Preston Highlands Baptist Church.

“To Be Human Is To Be At War”

War is one of the world’s worst tragedies.  But, unfortunately, for the Christian, there is no peace time.  There is only and always war.  We find ourselves living in the midst of a world at war, a war between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness.  Eugene Peterson said, “This is the human condition.  To be human is to be at war.”

If you grew up in America, you probably have a hard time believing this.  You likely have a hard time believing that we live in a war against evil.  The reason is because the Enlightenment taught us to think that all evil things in the world have natural, social, or psychological causes.  The Enlightenment says that everything can be explained by science.

Christians, in the post-enlightenment West, believe in a supernatural good (i.e. God and angels), but have largely agreed with the Enlightenment’s dismissal of the supernatural bad (Satan and demons).  During the 20th century, the notion of supernatural evil went out of fashion even among many Christians.

The problem is that social and psychological and scientific remedies haven’t fundamentally changed things.  Evil things like abuse and abortion and genocide and greed are stubborn and obstinate things.  They haven’t gone away despite great advances in psychological and scientific understanding. 

“Open War Is Upon You”

Those of us who believe in supernatural evil tend to think that evil is out there in the really bad things and the really bad people of the world.  We say, “Yeah, I believe in evil.”  But Adam Young asks, “When was the last time you talked to someone about evil as something that’s working against you in your day to day life?  Or do you believe in evil the way you believe in the duck-billed platypus?  You know it’s out there somewhere, you’re not sure where, but wherever it is, it’s pretty irrelevant to your life.” 

There’s a scene in The Lord of the Rings where Gandalf says to Théoden, “You must fight.”  Théoden responds, “I will not risk open war.”  Then Aragorn says, “Open war is upon you, whether you would risk it or not.”  This is our reality.  “Open war is upon us” whether we like it or not.  Charles Spurgeon said, “To be a Christian is to be a warrior.  The soldier of Jesus Christ must not expect to find ease in this world.  It is a battlefield.  His occupation is war.”

Has the realm of darkness convinced you that it doesn’t exist in your day-to-day life? 

What Does the Bible Say about this War?

Just because I, or anyone else, says that we live in a war doesn’t make it true.  So, as always, we must ask, “What does the Bible say?”  The Bible has a lot to say about Satan and the kingdom of darkness.  The Bible begins and ends with Satan as a primary part of the plot of the Bible. 

Jesus deals directly with evil spirits in dozens of places in the gospels.  Words like Satan, devil, evil spirit, demon, dominion, ruler, authority, and tempter are used 199 times in the New Testament.  By comparison, the word “grace” is used 134 times.

Revelation 12:7-10 describes a war in heaven between God and evil.  Paul says in Ephesians 6:12, “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

Jesus says that Satan has a kingdom in Matthew 12:26, “How will his kingdom stand?”  The apostle John says in 1 John 5:19, “The whole world lies in the power of the evil one.”  The apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:4, “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers.” 

What Do We Know about Evil Spirits?

Jesus teaches us several things about the powers of darkness in Luke 11:14, 24-26.  We learn at least five things about evil spirits in verses 24-26.  First, they can exist inside and outside of people (v. 24a).  Second, they can travel at will.  As spiritual entities, they’re not subject to the physical laws of the natural world (v. 24b).  Third, they can remember and make plans (v. 24c).  Fourth, they can combine forces (v. 26).  And fifth, they can vary in degrees of wickedness (v. 26).

All of this means that, in Jesus’ mind, evil wasn’t abstract and impersonal.  Evil was real, on the move, intelligent, strong, and able to do great damage in a person’s life.  Jesus believed in the devil.  In our attempts at sophistication and cultural relevance, our view of evil is often less than Jesus’s.  A good way to discern whether our view of evil is less than Jesus’s is to think about how often we pray against evil.  Are your prayers materialistic in nature, or do they take seriously the kingdom of darkness?

Satan and the kingdom of darkness is not some isolated teaching of the Bible.  It’s everywhere and it’s a fundamental part of reality that God wants us to understand.  We need to grapple with these things because this is the world we live in.  Putting our heads in the sand will not make evil go away. 

Where Are We On the Battlefield?

If it’s true that we’re in a war, then we need to understand where we are.  To be successful in warfare, you must know your position on the battlefield.  If you don’t know where you are, you’re prone to getting lost, turned around, and cut off from the help you need.

In 1 Corinthians 15:20-25, Paul helps us get our bearings.  Verse 24 says that the end will come after Christ destroys the kingdom of darkness.  Verse 25 says that Jesus “must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.” 

So where are we in the war?  Jesus is ruling over all things, but he hasn’t yet destroyed forever all the powers of darkness.  How do we know?  Because the end hasn’t come yet.  The text says that the end will come after Jesus destroys all his enemies (v. 24).  This means that we’re living in the time when Jesus is putting all evil under his feet (v. 25).

The author of Hebrews says it like this, “Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control.  At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him” (2:8).  We’re living in the time in between Jesus’ first and second comings.  The kingdom of God began to overtake the kingdom of darkness upon Jesus’ first coming, but his kingdom has not come in all of its fullness yet. 

We Live in between D-Day and VE-Day

Our position in the war is analogous to the position of the Allied troops in between D-Day and VE-Day in World War 2.  The storming of the beaches of Normandy at D-day secured the overall victory for the Allied forces in the war.  It was the beginning of the end for the Nazis.  The war was essentially won on D-Day, but the war wouldn’t end until many other battles were fought.

Jesus has stormed the beaches of hell and won a victory for his people that can never be lost.  Satan hasn’t been totally crushed yet, but God’s troops are pushing in on him from every side.  The Berlin of his kingdom will fall.  Our General has his foot on Satan’s neck.  The seed of the woman will crush the head of the Serpent (Gen. 3:15), God’s world will be set free from corruption, and God’s people will sing and dance in the streets. 

Where are we?  We’re in the battle.  We’re working with Jesus to push back darkness in the world.  We will suffer casualties.  Many will be injured.  Some will be lost.  But our side wins, no matter what.  Jesus will put all his enemies under his feet and we’ll never have to fight again. 

The Goal of the Kingdom of Darkness

What is Satan’s goal in his last ditch efforts before his total defeat?  Jesus tells us in John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.”  The Evil One wants to take away, remove, and ruin all that is good in the world.  He hates God and those who bear God’s image.

If this is true, why are we surprised that marriages fall apart?  Satan hates the good design of God, the stability and peace of the home.  Why are we surprised that addictions of all kinds are everywhere?  Satan wants us to miss all that is good and beautiful in the world.  Why do you suppose that screens are taking over our world?  Perhaps Satan wants to distract us from the God who speaks and capture our hearts with of a world full of images.

Why have entire cultures thought it okay to kill unborn babies, redefine marriage, allow children to decide what gender they want to be, and ignore clear inequalities between different ethnic groups?  Why have most of the men I know struggled, or continue to struggle, with pornography?  Why do children get abused and abandoned by the ones who’re supposed to love them the most?  Why are children sold for sex across the world?  Why do churches split?  Why does pragmatism and numbers, rather than the Word of God and the gospel, drive the ministry of so many local churches? Why do some Christians sow division in churches?  Why do men and women abandon their families, both physically and emotionally?  Why do children rebel against parents who love them?  Why does sleeplessness and anxiety and despair and depression and loneliness and anger plague so many? 

Because Satan “comes only to steal and kill and destroy.”  The powers of darkness are engaged in an all-out assault against all that is good in God’s world.  This doesn’t mean that every bad thing is a direct result of evil.  It does mean that evil either causes or piggy-backs on all that’s wrong in the world. 

The Tactics of the Kingdom of Darkness

What are the Evil One’s tactics?  The apostle Peter says in 1 Peter 5:8, “Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”  Satan’s goal is to devour, “to steal and kill and destroy.”  His tactic is to “prowl around like a lion.”

This means that his work isn’t always obvious.  Like a lion, evil quietly hides, waiting for us to misstep.  As in Job’s case, Satan may sometimes be allowed by God to attack a person’s life and family in an all-out frontal assault.  But usually his work is more quiet, more subtle, more hidden, more insidious.

The biblical word for this is “scheme” or “snare.”  Ephesians 6:11, “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.”  Or 2 Corinthians 2:11, “So that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.”  Paul says that an elder must be “well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil” (1 Tim. 3:7).

The devil has schemes, designs, and snares.  He sets traps.  He strategizes with intent.  Remember how Moses describes him in Genesis 3:1, “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.”  Evil is way smarter than you and has been studying you your whole life.  Satan’s been studying humanity for millennia.  He’s sneaky and shrewd.  He hides just around the bend, patiently waiting for us to come.  And when the time is right, he pounces and devours.

Accusation

Two of the ways Satan devours his prey, two of his favorite tactics are accusation and deception.  In Revelation 12:9-10, Satan is called the “Accuser” and “Deceiver.”  His most common schemes are accusation and deception.

Let’s consider his scheme of accusation.  Satan wants to accuse you of sin.  Sometimes he does so accurately, sometimes inaccurately.  The accuracy of the claim is largely irrelevant.  Why?  Because no claim against you has the power to condemn you, because Jesus took all these claims on the cross.

Colossians 2:13-14, “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by cancelling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands.  This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.”

On the cross, Jesus took away all our sins which stood against us and condemned us.  The judgment is in, we’re innocent of all charges.  Satan is not our judge.  He is merely our accuser.

Difference between Accusation and Conviction

We need to remember that there’s a difference between accusation and conviction of sin.  How do we know the difference?  Tone of voice.  God’s voice to us is always kind.  Evil’s voice is pernicious and shaming.  God never accuses, he always convicts.  In Romans 2, Paul says that it’s the kindness of God that leads to repentance (v. 4).

Perhaps what you’ve thought of as conviction of sin has really been the subtle attempts of evil to accuse you?  What if some of the things that you think are most true about yourself are the Accuser’s accusations?  What if those supposed truths that you’ve always known and resigned yourself to labor under are actually accusations from the Evil One?

Why Does the Devil Accuse Us?

Have you ever considered why the Devil loves to accuse us?  Why is this one of his favorite schemes, one of the ways he devours our lives?  Because he wants us to live and labor under the weight of shame.  He wants to shame us by accusing us of things both true and untrue.  He wants shame to paralyze us and keep us on the ground so that we’re unable or unwilling to serve the Lord and help others. 

Shame is the ultimate downer.  It leads us to think that giving up is really the best option.  It makes us want to hide, to curl up in a ball and die, to not take risks for God, to not take risks for the sake of love.  Shame devours our souls from the inside out.  It’s like a cancer that slowly spreads, often going unchecked, until it’s consumed our souls and rendered us powerless.

Can anything heal the cancer of shame?  Yes, God wants to save us and set us free from shame.  Psalm 69:19, 20, 29, 32-33, “You know my reproach, and my shame and my dishonor…Reproaches have broken my heart, so that I am in despair…I am afflicted and in pain; let your salvation, O God, set me on high!…You who seek God, let your hearts revive.  For the Lord hears the needy and does not despise his own people who are prisoners.”

The Lord knows our shame, our broken hearts, our despair, our pain, and he hears us and does not despise us for our bondage to shame.  He wants our hearts to come back to life by realizing that, because of Jesus, our shame is covered and we’re made new.  If shame is paralyzing you, please listen to the voice of Jesus.  You are his.  You wear his garments of purity.  It doesn’t matter what you’ve done, you’re his child no matter what.

Deception

Let’s now consider Satan’s scheme of deception.  Listen to how Jesus describes Satan in John 8:44, “He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him.  When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” 

The Devil is a deceiver.  He questions God’s word, saying things like, “Did God actually say?” (Gen. 3:1).  He questions God’s character, saying things like, “You will not surely die” if you disobey God’s word (v. 4).  And he questions God’s goodness by saying things like, “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (v. 5).

He wants us to think that God’s Word is not certain, that his commands aren’t binding, that the consequences aren’t that severe, and that God’s holding out on us.  He wants us to think that God isn’t that holy or that good.

He wants us to believe all kinds of lies about ourselves.  We talk to ourselves more than anyone else, and sometimes we lie to ourselves.  But when we’re talking to ourselves, we use the first person, “I think I’ll make spaghetti for dinner.”  But have you ever heard things spoken to you in the second person?  Something like, “You’re not very smart, so you should just be quiet and not embarrass yourself.” 

Where Accusation and Deception Meet

We generally don’t speak to ourselves in the second person, so who is it that talks to us like this?  The “father of lies.”  Evil loves to tell us things that aren’t true to shame us.  This is where deception and accusation, the Devil’s two favorite schemes, meet to devour our souls. 

What lies does evil routinely whisper in your ear?  “You’re incompetent, you’re not working hard enough, you’re a fraud, you’re not pretty enough, you’re too tall, you’re too short, you’re too skinny, you’re overweight, you’re dumb, you’re too sensitive, you’re too emotional, you’re a bad mom, you’ll never get over that addiction, your life is pointless, no one cares about you, no one will ever want to marry you, you can never be used by God again after that, you’re a failure.”

How old are these accusations?  There was a moment when evil first accused you of these things, most likely a moment of pain and heartache.  The core accusations that plague you in your day-to-day life most likely have their origins in the heartache of some of the core stories of woundedness in your life.  In other words, evil loves to prey on our pain, to kick us when we’re down so that we’ll stay down.

Until we become aware that these accusations are the voice of evil, we’ll feel like they arise from our own heart, not realizing that evil has a voice that speaks to us regularly.  We’ll think that these are truths that our heart has always known, that these things are indisputably and irreversibly true about us.

What lies does evil routinely whisper in your ear?  How long have you been hearing those things?

Jesus is Our Mighty Fortress

Where do we go when we’re assaulted by the accusations and lies and schemes and attacks of the Evil One?  There’s only one place to go, Jesus Christ.  Jesus is our fortress of safety.  This is what Martin Luther’s hymn “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” is all about.  It says:

A mighty fortress is our God,

a bulwark never failing;

our helper He amid the flood

of mortal ills prevailing.

For still our ancient foe

doth seek to work us woe;

his craft and power are great,

and armed with cruel hate,

on earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide,

our striving would be losing,

were not the Right Man on our side,

the Man of God’s own choosing.

Dost ask who that may be?

Christ Jesus, it is He;

Lord Sabaoth, His name,

from age to age the same,

and He must win the battle.