The Invisible Battle: Will you fight?

By: American Decency Staff

I spoke on Tuesday evening at a Church camp meeting south of Grand Rapids.    The congregation was blessed with a large proportion of children and young people.  It was a beautiful sight to Jan and me as we dined and fellowshipped  with them.

I heard it again in conversation while there “We’ve had a very good life, but I’m so concerned for our children and grandchildren.”

You’ve heard those concerns spoken and many of you have probably voiced them yourselves.

Some of you like me have been prayerfully trying to think how to best prepare those who come after us to live in a culture that is rapidly becoming increasingly hostile.

The Invisible Battle:  Will you fight? – was the title of my message.  

In athletics, we know we need to train physically, and, largely, many are inclined to do it.

Weight lifting, push-ups, sit ups, and running build up our muscles, our strength, our endurance. Physically, we become out of shape very quickly if we don’t exercise for even just a few days.  We lose physical vitality.

The Bible makes it clear  – exercise does some good.  I Timothy 4:8  For "physical exercise has some value, but godliness is valuable in every way. … What will it avail us to discipline the body, if we do not mortify sin?

We know how and why we exercise our bodies.   We know why we exercise our body.  We seem to know very well what it does.    

Here is the concerning question that I raise.  But, do we know why we need to train or exercise our spirits? 

I think that largely the answer is that many (including adults don’t).

Please think about this. 

Do you know why you need to exercise or train your spirit? 
Do you exercise your spirit and if so how?  
Do you know how to pass this along?

What are a few evidences that someone is exercising or training their spirit?

Spiritual warfare is real and present every day, even every moment.   As Ephesians 6 tells us we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 

We must understand this and diligently help our loved ones understand how to fight spiritually.  But, first, what about you?  What about me?

Physically, I’m often lethargic physically when I step on the treadmill, but as I begin to move and to push myself, my heart and body enlivens and I become increasingly energized and this enlivening helps me throughout the day. 

But there is something similar at work spiritually.   In this spiritual warfare that we face which includes whether Satan has his way in our lives or whether God does.

But here is the kicker:  If we don’t have Christ in our heart then we aren’t equipped with God’s Spirit to help us resist the devil, to oppose and fight against sin that will degrade and ultimately destroy. 

But when we become Christians, His Spirit unites with our spirit sealing us in the Holy Spirit as the Bible says in Ephesians 1:13.  He is ours and we are His.

His Spirit then resides within us.  God tells us in Phillipians 1: 6 that He who has begun a good work within you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.

We become the temple of the Holy Spirit. He lives within me.  He lives within you. He advocates for you.  He advocates for me.  He assists us.  He helps us to oppose, to resist, to defeat sin in our lives.  He quickens our spirit – giving us clarity of what is wrong, what is sin, what is degrading. 

But just as with physical lethargy that can and often does keep us from physical exercise, so there is also spiritual lethargy (lukewarmness) where complacency, laziness, apathy, our love for ease and comfort works against us and Satan uses it to devour us.   

This includes either not knowing how to exert (exercise) our spirituality or just simply failing to.    The consequences of this spiritual lethargy begins to show up soon after and largely are not recognized for what they are:  unfaithfulness to God.

For example:   We can go on in our lives wide open to sin, gloom, ugliness, hurting our loved ones, , hurting others and all the while hurting ourselves and self-destructing.  That’s what sin does. It destroys. That’s what Satan is about.  Seeking whom he may devour.   I Peter 5:8 – Be alert and sober minded.  Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.

Lulled asleep by the enemy of your soul. 

We cannot resist sin in our own flesh but in Christ we can kill sin.  We can defeat sin in our lives. Faith IS the victory that overcomes the world.

So how do we exercise (discipline) our spirits?  

Here is the short of it. (1) I get up early in the morning to spend time sitting before God in my living room where all is quiet.  I read an initial devotional that is short and points to Christ and His Word.  (2) I read the Bible going through it systematically –reading through the Bible in one year.   Where I don’t understand I seek understanding through a study Bible or a commentary.  (3) I read other devotionals including:  C.H. Spurgeon, Morning by Morning; Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest; F.B. Meyer, Our Daily Walk; and J.C. Ryle, quotes from his writings. 

As I read these devotions, I see that they sometimes cut me to the quick, stepping on my toes, pointing out an area where God is trying to speak with me.  (4) I finish with a time of prayer asking for God to help me, guide me, strengthen me, show me what I need. 

I have done this now since the late 1970s.  Jan does to.  God uses this time that extends into an hour to keep me centered in His Word, to worship Him in spirit and in truth and to enliven me in Spiritual things.   I go out the door encouraged and enlivened.

In short, as we seek God in this way, our spirits are enlivened to know His will and to do it.  Romans 12:1,2

As we seek God in this way (exercising our spirit) it helps us to know the difference between what pleases God and what doesn’t. Test all things. Hold fast what is good.  Abstain from all forms of evil.  I Thess. 5:21

As we seek God in spirit and in truth, He gives us a longing to be more like him, little by little, more and more day by day.  That the man of God may be perfect thoroughly furnished unto all good works.  . II Timothy 3:14-17 

As we seek God in His word and in prayer, our spirits are stirred to love Christ and to love and to be strengthened to fight for our marriage, our children, for endurance in the middle of hardship, to do what’s right even when we don’t want to,  for truth, for holiness. 

This time with the Lord, faithfully day by day – every day brings us to Himself.

No matter who you are or your age you and I have a need – a spiritual need – a need that the Spirit of God will live within you not in theory but in spirit and in truth – in reality.

Wake up. Wake up.  Wake up. 

Is it pornography?  Is it too much time on playing games?  Is it lying to get your way?  Isit thinking about things that are sexual in nature?  As our love life grows with the Lord, we want to please the lover of our soul.  Our spirits are awakened to hear His still small voice and to trust and obey more and more. 

Friends in Christ:  No matter your situation.  This message is for you.

Many, many, many believe they are Christians.  Some go to church even faithfully.  Many care about the things that concern Christians. 

Yet, they let sin – even so-called little sin have its way and over the years it controls them.   We are in a war of monumental proportions.  We must see this and help our loved ones see this. 

God wants that to stop.  If we don’t gain the victory, we are in danger of being neutralized, deadened and defeated.  It can and does affect our relationship with Christ.  In short, it can negatively impact our usefulness and service to the Lord, our marriage, parenting, our future, our eternity.

Satan is trying to control us while the Spirit is prompting us to stand and prevail to take spiritual ground and put to death Satan’s hold upon us.

==================================================================
 

---