©2005 Larry Huntsperger Peninsula Bible Fellowship

07-10-05

War Of The Worlds

7/10/05 War Of The Worlds

This has not been the best week for me

when it comes to writing up teaching notes.

And yet, in another respect,

I suppose it has been the very best possible week

given the passage we have before us.

I usually try to get a start on my notes Tuesday morning

and, if all goes well,

I will have them finished by early afternoon on Thursday.

When I sat down at my keyboard Tuesday

I had a fairly good idea where I thought we should be going

and I was able to get a good start,

in fact such a good start

that, when I returned to my notes early Wednesday,

by 10:00 in the morning

I nearly had them wrapped up.

I had some other things going on the rest of Wednesday,

so I didn’t return to finish up my notes

until Thursday afternoon.

But then Thursday when I reread what I’d already written

I knew instantly

that I’d completely missed the mark.

It was all wrong.

The illustrations didn’t work,

the ideas didn’t fit together,

and most of all

when I read what I’d written,

and then read the passage we were studying

I realized that the passage was even more vague and confusing than before I began.

And so, at 3:15 Thursday afternoon

I started all over again.

And looking back on that whole thing now,

I realize that the best illustration I could ever offer

for the passage we are wrestling with

is what I went through during those three days

in my efforts to find some way to teach the passage to you.

If you were here last week

you know that we have returned to our study

of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.

Our study has brought us to the last chapter of this letter,

and with it,

to Paul’s final words of preparation

as he seeks to equip us

for our crucial role on this earth

of being the means through which Jesus Christ expresses Himself to our world.

In the first five chapters

Paul has carefully walked us through

the knowledge we need

about who we have become in Christ

and how he now lives His life out though us.

Those chapters provided us

with a perspective on ourselves as Christians

that is in every way utterly amazing.

And then, as Paul brings his comments to a conclusion,

he takes these final few verses

to focus not so much on added knowledge,

but rather on a crucial attitude we must bring to each day we live

if we are ever to “walk in a manner worthy of our calling”.

We started looking at that attitude last week,

but we need to spend more time with it

before we move on.

The basic attitude I’m talking about

is stated for us in verses 10-12 of Ephesians chapter 6.

Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

And if I were to restate the basic message I see Paul offering us in this passage

I would put it this way.

My friends, the only way this life we live each day

will ever make any sense

is if we realize that we are at war.

It’s not a game,

it’s not part time,

it’s real,

and it matters more than we could ever imagine.

Paul wants us to know

that there are right now

powerful forces seeking our destruction, our defeat.

We can’t see them,

we can’t hear them with our ears,

we can’t touch them,

we can’t sense them with any of our human senses,

but that does not mean they are any the less real,

or powerful,

or potentially destructive to us.

And I tell you honestly

that this life we are living

will never make sense

until we understand it

and approach it in the context of those two worlds in constant interaction -

the physical world we can sense and the unseen world we cannot -

and if we then understand the real warfare

driving those forces in that unseen world that are continually interacting with us.

And I find it fascinating

to see the way in which our God goes about preparing us

for our part in this warfare.

He begins by giving us this fundamental attitude

as we approach life each day,

this attitude that tells us

that we really are at war.

He wants us to know that the battle is real,

and that every child of God is involved in it on a daily basis.

You see, without that knowledge,

we can easily become vulnerable

to one of Satan’s most powerful attack strategies - self-condemnation.

When we find ourselves wrestling with questions,

or doubts,

or fears,

or anxieties,

or temptations,

if we do not understand the warfare nature of this life we are called to live,

we can easily pounce on ourselves,

telling ourselves that, if we were only better Christians,

or if we could just find the missing truth

then we wouldn’t be going through all of this turmoil.

Paul makes a fascinating comment about himself

in his second letter to the Corinthians.

He had written his first letter to the church,

knowing that some of the comments he’d made in that letter

could cause tremendous turmoil in the lives of his fellow believers.

And as he describes the time in his life

between sending the letter

and learning of their response to it

Paul says this.

 2CO 7:5 For even when we came into Macedonia our flesh had no rest, but we were afflicted on every side: conflicts without, fears within.

I love that!

I love knowing that Paul the Apostle,

who was in many ways the most significant public example of Christian living that the world will ever have,

describes himself at one point in his life as having no rest,

being afflicted on every side,

with conflicts without and fears within.

Do you know the kind of religious piffle

many within the church world today

would have spewed out to Paul

if they had met him at that point in his life?

They would have said something like,

“Oh Paul! If you would just trust God

you wouldn’t be in this turmoil.

Now just have faith

and everything will be fine.”

But Paul doesn’t do that.

He doesn’t do it to himself,

and he certainly doesn’t do it to us.

In fact, he does exactly the opposite.

He tells us from day one

that entrance into the family of God

is entrance into warfare,

and there are times

when that warfare will cause tremendous turmoil within us.

And when we encounter Paul at this point in his life,

with conflicts without and fears within,

he simply states it as an inescapable part of real life with Jesus Christ.

And apparently our God views it the same way

because the very next thing Paul says is this.

2CO 7:6 But God, who comforts the depressed, comforted us by the coming of Titus;

God did not condemn him for the turmoil he was in.

He didn’t weigh him in the balance and find him wanting

because he was depressed,

or because he was fighting fears within.

Do you know what God did?

He comforted Paul.

He brought Titus to him

and through Titus brought information about the Corinthian church

that quieted the turmoil within Paul

and restored his assurance of God’s ability

to accomplish His sovereign work in the lives of those he loved.

Do you know what that is?

That’s a powerful snapshot

of the true nature of the warfare we’re called to,

and of the way our God views that warfare,

and of the way He responds to it in our own lives.

EPH 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

At the same time,

He does not want us living in fear of the battle.

He wants us to recognize it’s reality,

to accept it as a “given” of the Christian’s life on this planet.

But He does not want us consumed with anxiety about it.

And so He also provides us

with a number of anchor truths about this warfare.

He tells us that, (1JO 4:4) “...greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.”

He tells us that He puts clear, specific limitations

on the attacks we will face.

He says, (1CO 10:13) ....God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able...”.

God puts specific, strict limitations

on what Satan can and cannot do in our lives.

And He will never ever allow any attack

in any form

to come against us in such a way

that His grace and His love cannot reshape it into good in our lives

as we bring it to Him.

Even when we do encounter evil in our lives,

even that evil can and will be reshaped by Him

into true good

when we place it into His hands.

ROM 8:28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

And He also wants us to have a clear mental image

of the nature of these attacks.

In the verses we’ll get into next week

he describes these attacks as  “... the flaming missiles of the evil one.”

They are designed to pierce our defenses,

to disrupt our knowledge of the truth,

to inflict pain,

or fear,

or doubt,

or some other intense emotional response

that will then cause us to feel as though our God is failing us in some way.

Paul’s description of the attacks as “flaming missiles”

is, I think,

designed to prepare us

for the way in which these attacks will affect us.

They not only cause damage at the point where they hit,

but they are also designed to spread,

to consume,

to bring damage into much broader areas of our lives

unless they are removed.

In other words,

if we try to ignore them,

they will not go away.

And then our Lord also wants us to know

that He Himself sets time limits

on those attacks.

Peter says, (1PE 5:10) And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.

These statements,

and others like them

are given to us as anchors for our souls

during those times of intense conflict.

We are called to a life of warfare,

but it is a warfare in which we are never simply turned loose on the battlefield by ourselves

and asked to fight it out on our own.

Our Lord Jesus Christ never ever leaves us,

and never forsakes us.

We do not simply fight for Him,

we fight with Him,

and in the words of the passage we’re studying,

we fight... strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might.

But what do these attacks look like?

Well, in the broadest sense

I can answer that by saying

that they look like anything that enters our lives

that causes us to doubt either Christ’s infinite personal love for us

or His commitment to work all things together for good in our lives.

Every thought entering our minds that suggests to us

that God doesn’t care,

or doesn’t notice,

or doesn’t feel our pain,

or doesn’t understand our needs,

or isn’t really concerned about whether those needs are met or not,

every time we feel alone,

or feel unprotected,

or feel as though our only real resource is us,

every voice within us or around us

that tells us our situation goes beyond His grace,

or beyond His power to heal,

or beyond His love,

every time we look at ourselves

and feel as though our failure is beyond His redemption,

or our suffering is beyond His ability to comfort,

all of these are direct, specific, targeted flaming missiles of the evil one.

Every time we feel inadequate for the work our God has given us,

every time our sense of shame

causes us to try to hid from our God in the bushes,

every time our fear ties our spirits in knots,

every time we feel trapped and utterly helpless,

every time our lusts scream lies to our emotions,

every voice we hear from within or without

that suggests to us that our life doesn’t matter

or our choices do not make a difference,

all of these are direct, specific, targeted flaming missiles of the evil one.

Every time we feel as though revenge is better than reconciliation,

every voice that tells us that our performance determines our standing with God,

every time we feel like clinging to our possessions for our security,

or to our social position for our sense of value and identity,

every time we look at those in authority over us as the enemy,

or at those under our authority as barriers to a truly fulfilling life,

every time we feel like using our power over others for our good rather than for theirs,

every time we believe that a person’s value is determined by their appearance,

or their social position,

or their personality,

or their affluence,

all of these are direct, specific, targeted flaming missiles of the evil one.

When I first started talking this morning

there were, I think, some of you listening to me now

who simply didn’t understand

what the big deal was

when it came to all these comments about spiritual warfare.

I hope now

you are beginning to see things

more as they really are.

If you are God’s child

I will tell you honestly

that you are now, this day under attack.

If you want to know where you are under attack,

all you have to do

is to look at those things in your life right now

that cause you to doubt what your God has said to you,

or the depth of His love for you,

or His sovereign oversight in your life.

And then, before I stop for the morning,

I want to say just a few words

about how Satan goes about bringing these attacks into our lives.

And to do this

I need to take us back

to some of the things we’ve been looking at the past few weeks

when we were talking about those wounds

that Satan seeks to inflict on us in childhood.

You see,

the only way this will make sense to us

is if we realize that from Satan’s point of view

this war he is involved in

is the central issue of his existence,

and every person who enters this world

is a distinct, critical target to be attacked and defeated.

His strategy with each of us

is not all that complicated,

but neither is it in any way random or haphazard.

From the day we enter this world

Satan begins his efforts

to bring wounds into our lives

in such a way that they will then provide

the doorways for the attacks he will use against us for the rest of our lives.

He has a wide variety of messages

that he seeks to integrate into our lives,

and with most of us

all he has to do

is to succeed in imbedding one or two of them into our lives

at the core level of our being

and the stage is then set

for the attacks he will bring against us from then on.

Some of his most effective+ messages are things like

“Your value is determined by your appearance.”,

or “Your value is determined by your performance.”,

or “You really have no value and should never have been born.”,

or he will try to create a sense of emotional abandonment within the person -

the feeling that we really are all alone in the world.

Or he may wound us in such a way that we feel completely powerless,

or completely unprotected,

or he may wound a person in such a way

as to communicate to them the belief that authority is never to be trusted

and submission is a sign of weakness and defeat.

He may try to wound the child in such a way

as to get them to believe that they will always fail,

or that they exist only to be used by others.

The lies are in some ways

as diverse as we are,

but once those wounds are in place within us

they then provide him with the doorways through which his lies come at us for the rest of our lives.

From then on

all he has to do is to create a situation in our lives

or suggest a thought that triggers the emotional response within us

that is associated with that area of woundedness

and we will once again feel the lie and follow after it.

I have always found it intensely irritating

that Satan has to be so incredibly uncreative

in the attacks he brings against me.

So often

the same old attacks work over and over again

and then I have to once again

fight my way back into the truth.

And those same old attacks work again and again

because they line up

with emotional lies that were imbedded in my life as a child.

Now, next week we’ll move ahead in this passage

and look at the defenses God gives us

that will equip us to recognize and defeat these attacks.

But for now

I will close by simply saying

that the goal we are after

and the point at which victory becomes a reality in our lives in any given battle

is that point at which we once again recognize

and then rest in the sovereign infinite love of our Lord Jesus Christ for us personally.

Dare I quote it one more time?

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, that ... you, ... may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fulness of God.

It is in that knowledge alone

that we then find our personal victory

over the attacks we face each day.