5 Lessons for the Battle and the War

I want to call your attention to some of the themes that were in that last song. That phrase "ancient of days" does not mean that God's old. That speaks to His eternal nature. Never created, never ending, He is the eternal God. And also, notice that song was about the power of God. God is in control of it all, folks. We have nothing to worry about. Sickness, we have nothing to worry about. That just shows us that sin is entered into human race and shows us that we need a Savior even more. No matter what's going on around the world in politics, it does not matter who is elected president. God is in control.

We can serve and trust and love and follow a good, all-powerful God. And I hope that when you sing those kinds of songs, it increases your faith and strikes at any worry that would come into your heart and into your mind. I appreciate that worship. Well, if you would take your Bible and turn back to Ephesians chapter 6 verses 10 to 13, we will read through those verses one other time later on in the message. And I'm going to mention quite a few other scriptures. I do say from time to time that you need to take notes and write these things down.

But I would rather you follow me with your mind and your heart and even your attention, bodily attention. I would rather you follow me and get the message that the Lord has for us and get those details a little later on. And I say that because we need to make sure we study what God gives us. We need to be good students so that we can absorb all that the Lord is desiring to teach us. Now, we've been in these verses, verses 10 to 13 for two weeks. I think most of you know that, and we have been learning that Paul's instructions here are truly a call to arms.

We have seen that Paul is acting as a general, giving exhortations to troops before battle. And Paul was writing in this way because God's people are actually spiritual soldiers fighting a battle and a war against certain real enemies. And I have said this more than once. It resonates with me. That's why I'll repeat it. Warren Wiersby titles these verses, "You are in the army now." That's right. As believers, we are definitely in the army of God fighting spiritual battles in a spiritual war against an enemy and the enemy's evil schemes. And we have also learned that this teaching is about proper knowledge.

Paul is giving God's people a good understanding about who they are up against and how those spiritual battles work out. Paul was writing these things to show God's people that they truly are spiritual soldiers fighting against certain enemies and enemy forces. And if they are up against certain enemy forces, then they must know who that enemy is. And they must know how the enemy fights. I like what Warren Wiersby says here as well. He says the intelligence corps plays a vital role in warfare because it enables the officers to know and understand the enemy.

Unless we know who the enemy is, where he is, and what he can do, we have a difficult time defeating him. I think Warren Wiersby is spot on. As believers, we must understand who our enemy is and how that enemy makes war against us. We must have the proper intelligence. Otherwise we are defeated before a single battle ever begins. And the purpose of this morning's message is not to get back into verses 10 to 13 and divide them. We've already divided these verses. And if you have not gotten that teaching, you need to do so because this all goes together.

But this morning I want to give us some additional teaching that will help us better understand our battle and better understand how our enemy makes war against us. This will help us be better soldiers as we fight our spiritual battles. So this morning I'm going to give us five lessons for the battle and for the war. That's the title of the message. Five lessons for the battle and for the war. So lesson number one, we must be strong in the Lord. Lesson number one, we must be strong in the Lord. Matthew Henry says we must be stout hearted Christians. I like that. It just has a ring to it. We must be stout hearted Christians.

Now we should know this command very well. Paul says in Ephesians 6.10, "Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might." I like the amplified because it amplifies the meaning and it's true. The amplified says, "Be strong in the Lord. Draw your strength from him and be empowered through your union with him. And in the power of his boundless," that would be endless might. But we need to see this command relates to these other commands before we can look at these other lessons. This will elevate the importance of being strong in the Lord. And Luke Church, we must always keep the importance of this command at the top of our list.

And to me, this command is right up there with the command to be continuously filled with the Spirit. We studied that in Ephesians 5.18. Now to highlight the importance of this command, I want to make a few broad observations about verses 10 all the way down to verse 20 because that's one block of Scripture. First, this command is important because it is the main command in this section of teaching. Listen to how all of these verses fall under verse 10. Verse 10 says that we are to be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might, which is the main command of the teaching.

Verse 11 tells us that we can be strong in the Lord if we put on the full armor of God. Verse 12 shows us why this strength in the Lord is needed and the seriousness of these things. Verse 13 is a repeat of the command to be strong in the Lord and a repeat in the Scripture always highlights importance. And then verses 14 to 20 explain what all of these things look like. So the command to be strong in the Lord is important because it is the main most command in this block of Scripture. And then second, this command is important because spiritual strength is the dominant theme in all of the other three commands.

In verses 11 to 14, Paul gives three imperatives, imperative commands. First be strong in the Lord. Second put on the whole armor of God. And then third, stand. Let me repeat those. Paul gives three commands here. Be strong in the Lord. Put on the whole armor of God and stand. And I have already said that we can become strong in the Lord. How? When we put on the full armor of God and being dressed in the full armor of God, which enables us to be strong in the Lord, that enables us to obey the third command, which is to stand. Now take notice something with me. Notice the repetition in these verses.

Two times Paul commands us to be strong in the Lord. And in verses 11 to 13, four times Paul commands us to stand. We see this even into verse 14. Let me go back and read the verses. And notice this repetition. Paul says finally, be strong in the Lord and then the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, we may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle or struggle 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.

Therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the day of evil and having done all to stand firm. And then verse 14, stand therefore. Stand therefore. Now I need to show you what I'm aiming at here. This isn't just repeat. The command to be strong is dependent on being dressed in the full armor of God. And being strong in the Lord, dressed in the full armor of God is what enables us to do what? To stand, to withstand, to stand firm, and to stand. And remember, this is both active and passive. This means we are responsible to work hard spiritually here.

This means we are to seek God in prayer and in the scriptures so as to attain this spiritual strength. One commentator said, "To be strong in the Lord means to know his strength and to draw closer to him." He goes on to say, "This is not instructions for a quick fix, but for a life spent drawing strength from Christ. But at the very same time, we cannot attain any spiritual strength unless the Spirit of God works in us." The Spirit of God has to give us the strength of the Lord. Now let me give you some instruction here. I call you to be a meditator. We all study the Bible differently.

We should read the scripture, sure, but you need to learn the discipline of meditating over scripture, meditating, ruminating over scripture. And here's what I'm calling you to do. Meditate over these verses. Meditate over this teaching. By seeking after the strength of the Lord. How should we best seek after to be filled with the Spirit? Well, we meditate over that verse, that command, being filled with the Spirit. So be a meditator here. Study your notes. Go back over these verses. Meditate over this and ask the Lord to bring this work about. And then second, identify areas of your life where you need spiritual strength.

Ah, now it's getting more personal. You might need a little help here. You know, if you have a Christian spouse, your spouse can help you. She can. He can identify your greatest areas of weakness. You know, in your small groups, I have been encouraging you on Wednesday nights to have some accountability relationships and even mentor relationships. Maybe someone in your small group, as you grow closer to them, they can help you identify spiritual strength and weakness in your life. So what I'm calling you to do here is this. Be a meditator over these things.

So as to seek after the strength of the Lord and then identify areas of weakness in your life and then seek after spiritual strength in those areas. But before I move on, let me give you a little warning here. If you grow in your strength in the Lord, get ready. Get ready. Get ready for an increased attack from Satan and his demonic forces. Look, folks, this doesn't mean we're Charismatics if we say this. This is what's in the teaching. The stronger you are in the Lord, the more Satan will amp up his attacks. I don't remember where I read it, but it found its way in my notes this week.

I read where someone said that Satan and his demonic forces do not waste their time on weak Christians. Why? They're already defeated. If you're a weak Christian, you're already defeated. So why would he waste his time and effort and energy on you? So lesson number one, we must be strong in the Lord. I like what Matthew Henry said. We must be stout-hearted Christians. And then lesson number two, we must realize that we actually fight three different wars. We must realize that we actually fight three different wars.

You may say, "Pastor, last week you said that we stand against the devil and we wrestle against demonic forces, so what else is there here?" The Scriptures clearly tell us that we fight three wars every day of our lives, and these can be related, these can overlap, and at times it can even be hard to identify which one we are struggling with. But here are our three wars. We fight against the world, we fight against the flesh, and we fight against the devil. Some of you have heard that terminology before. So let's take some time to look at these wars and even how these can be related. So first, we fight against the flesh.

Now when we look at the Scriptures, we see this term flesh is used in two ways. It is used to speak of an earthly physical body, and it is used to speak of our sin and sinful nature. In Romans 8, 5-8, we see this term used to speak of the sinful nature or the lost sinful human being. Paul was contrasting between the lost and the saved. Paul was contrasting between those who were of the flesh or of their spiritual nature and those who were of the spirit. Now I'm going to read the verses and notice the language in the contrast. Paul says, "For those who live according to the flesh, set their minds on the things of the flesh.

But those who live according to the spirit, set their minds on the things of the spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law or God's word. Indeed it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God." But we need to understand that after we come to faith in Christ, the old sinful nature is not done away with. It is very much still alive in the life of every believer.

We see this in 1 Corinthians 3 when Paul was rebuking the believers in Corinth for the jealousies, strife, and division that they were allowing in their fellowship. Listen to these verses, 1 Corinthians 3, 1 to 3. Paul says, "But I brothers," brothers, that's Christians now, "but brothers, I could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ." What is he saying? You're sinful. You're in the flesh. You're in your old nature, in your immature in Christ. Verse 2, "I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it, and even now you are not ready, for you are still of the flesh." Sinful.

"For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?" And the Scriptures also tell us that this sinful nature, this flesh, literally wages war in us and against us. First Peter 2, 11 says, "Beloved," these are believers. Paul says, "Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh which war against your soul." Peter is calling these believers to see that as Christians, they live in a world that is hostile to God and hostile to them. He was calling them to see that this world was not their home, but they were passing strangers in the world.

And as they live in the world, he is calling them to abstain from the passions of the flesh. And these passions of the flesh are nothing more than the desires of their sinful nature. This literally can read, "Hold yourself back from fleshly lusts." Paul is truly calling these believers to hold themselves back from themselves. And he goes on to say that these passions of their sinful nature wage war against their souls. This word, "war," literally speaks of something like a military campaign. I like how the believers Bible commentary fleshes this out, makes some application. Many of you have that resource.

But listen to what William McDonald says here. I'm quoting, "When we read the exhortation to abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, we think immediately of sexual sins." I think that's right. "But the application is wider than that," he goes on to say. "It refers to any strong desire that is inconsistent with the will of God. It would include overindulgence in food and drink, catering to the body with excessive sleep, the determination to amass material possessions, or the hankering for worldly pleasures. All these things wage incessant warfare against our spiritual well-being." He's spot on. He's on the money.

So with just a few verses, we see that our old sinful nature is very much still alive within us, and our own flesh wages war against us. And if we do not fight against our sinful nature, if our sinful nature is left unchecked, our own sinful nature will destroy us. Now a little application before we move on. If we're not careful, we can be good at passing the buck. We can blame others for our sin. We can blame other people for our sin, and we can even blame the devil for our sin. You see, we have to take ownership. We have to take responsibility.

Some of your sin and sinfulness just comes out of your old stinking wicked sin nature that you are allowing to run free in your life. Take ownership of what you do and who you are. Don't pass the buck. But then second, we fight against the world. When we look into the Scriptures, we see that this word "world" is used three ways. It is used to speak of the physical world. It is used to speak of the world of people. That would be humanity. It is used to speak of the evil world system that is all around us, which is opposed to God and everything good. First John 2.15 says, "Do not love the world or the things in the world.

If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." But is John talking about the physical world? Is John talking about the world of people? No. John is calling believers not to love the evil world system all around them that is anti-God, anti-Bible, anti-man, and against everything that is good. But why is John calling us not to love the world? Because the evil world system is our invisible enemy. The world is this invisible wicked system that is waging war against God, against Christ, against all that is good, against all men and man.

And this evil spiritual system is especially waging war against God's people, the church, and us. And notice who is running this evil world system. Satan. Satan says in John 12.31 that Satan is the prince of the ruler of this world. This simply means that he is the ruler, he is the chief of this evil world system. And in 2 Corinthians 4.4 Paul even calls Satan the God of this world. Yes, the God of this world, little gee God. And notice what Satan does in his war against unbelievers. Paul says, and I'm quoting the verse, verse 4.

In their case, the God, little gee of this world, has blinded the minds of unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God. And here we see that Satan actually blinds the minds of unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel in the glory of Christ. And notice what the God and the ruler of this world Satan is doing. He has this massive and this evil organization of demonic spirits that work for him to carry out his evil schemes in the world. That's what we see in Ephesians 6, 11 to 12. And that's what we learned last week. But look church, listen close.

We just saw that our own sinful nature wages war against us. And here we see that the evil world system around us, it wages war against us by the schemes and the enticements that trick us. We need to see that Satan tries to entice us to love the world system. How? By appealing to our own flesh, our old sinful nature. John says in 1 John 2, 16, "For all that is in the world, the desires of the flesh, and the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life is not from the Father, but is from the world." And notice the three enticements that Satan uses. The lust or the desires of the flesh, which is our bodies.

The lust or the desires of our eyes, that's what we see. The lust or the desires of our pride of life. And none of this is new. These are the same three enticements that Satan used with Eve in the garden. And these are the three enticements that Eve acted on and sinned. Listen to Genesis 3, 6, and see if you can hear those three enticements. So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and then it was of delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate.

And when Eve saw that the tree was good for food, there is the lust of the flesh of the body. When she saw that it was a delight to the eyes, there is the lust of the eyes. And when Eve saw that it was good to make her wise, there is the pride of life. So with just a few verses, we see that Satan uses this evil world system to wage war against us. And he does so by enticing our very own flesh, our very own sin nature. And look folks, listen close. You have to recognize this evil, wicked, dirty, low-down, diabolical, evil flesh that is within you, even as a born again believer. And Satan comes right along with his schemes to do what?

To entice you. What did he do with Eve? With just a few words, he enticed her to sin. And then Adam and the whole human race and the whole creation was plunged. And if we're not careful and if we're not strong, if we don't understand how all of these things work, if we don't have proper knowledge here, if we don't understand the seriousness of our sin nature and the schemes of the devil, we'll be hooked like a catfish every five minutes. Every five minutes. So we see that we fought against our flesh and we fought against the evil world system. And then third, we fight against the devil and his minions. I like that word minions.

Now we've already covered this last week. We learned that Satan is full of schemes which are plans laid out with great skill and cunning deception and these schemes are designed and carried out for one purpose and that is to destroy everything that God created, especially people, especially believers in God's church. But we saw that Satan is not alone. When he rebelled in heaven, it appears that a third of the angels rebelled with him and those fallen angels, they became the demonic powers of darkness and they are carrying out Satan's schemes in the world.

So we see that Satan is the prince and the power behind this wicked world system and that he is constantly scheming to destroy God and everything that is good. And what you must see here folks is that Satan is the mastermind behind it all. He is the powerhouse behind it all and all of his demonic wicked forces are just fleshing his schemes out. Now question before we move on to lesson number three. Why do I take the time to go over the three wars that we fight? Why? Why not just move on into the verses? Because we must never underestimate our enemy and we must never misunderstand our enemy.

We must never underestimate the strength of our enemy and how vast his opposition is against us and we must always remember that we have an enemy lurking inside of us and that is our very own sin nature. And look folks, if we are ignorant here, we are right where our enemy wants us to be. So lesson number two, we must realize that we actually fight three different wars and I think you saw that many times they are related. And then lesson number two, we must see that the victory was won but the battle has to be fought by us. We must see that the victory was won but the battle has to be fought by us.

With all this teaching about standing against demonic forces that carry out evil schemes and the fact that we are actually fighting three wars, we may be tempted to feel discouraged and even defeated. But we need to see that the victory has been won, the outcome is secure and we should not be discouraged in any way. By going to the cross and resurrecting from the dead, Jesus provided a complete and total victory and in his victory, notice what and who he defeated. First he defeated the flesh.

Paul shows us that Christ defeated our flesh in Romans 6 verses 1 to 6 but listen to just one verse, verse 6, Paul says, "We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin." Notice what Paul was saying when he says our old self was crucified. This term old self speaks of the believer's unregenerate self, that's the flesh. But this does not speak of something being old like an old man or an old woman. In the original language, this word spoke of something that was worn out. It was worth nothing, it was useless.

So Paul is saying that our old self, the unsaved part of us, our sin nature, it is useless, it's not worth anything, it is worn out and that part of us was crucified with Christ on the cross. Listen again to Romans 6, 6, Paul says, "We know that our old self, our sin nature was crucified with him in order that the body of sin," that's the body of sin within us, "might be brought to nothing so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin." We see this again in Galatians 2, 20. When Paul says, "I've been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me." Now what part of Paul was crucified with Christ?

The old self, the old sin nature, his flesh. But what does that mean? Our sinful nature was crucified with Christ on the cross. So there is victory for us over our old sin nature. Yes, there is victory for us. Paul says, "We know that our old self was crucified with him." Why? "In order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin." What question? Are you enslaved to sin? Are you? Are you enslaved to sin? Now I have to say this, the Corinthians kind of had a problem with sin and Paul got to the end of those letters and he said, "Some of you need to check to see if you're in the faith.

If you're a slave to sin and you cannot get victory over sin, you have to examine to see if you're in the faith." But as a believer, are you enslaved to sin or to a particular sin? Why? You should not be. Has somebody told you you can be? Has somebody lowered the biblical standard and said, "Well, struggling with the sin and holding on to sin, that's okay. All Christians do, that's not what the Bible says." Listen to Romans 6, 6 again. "We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing." Why? "So that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.

As God's people, we should have victory over sin." If Paul says it, it is possible. One of the schemes of the devil is to convince you that victory is not possible. Defeat is the norm. Well, he's got you right where he wants you to be, hooked like a catfish. And then second, Jesus has overcome the world. Jesus states this himself in John 1633. He said, "I have said these things to you that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation." Let me pause there. He's preparing them for when he's going to leave them. He goes on to say, "But take heart or be comforted.

I have overcome the world." And notice what Jesus was saying to his disciples. Although they would certainly have tribulation in the world and from the world, they were not to worry. They were not to worry because through his death and resurrection, Jesus made the world's attacks and opposition against them hopeless and powerless. Well, you may say, "Pastor, didn't the world persecute many of the disciples? And didn't most of them die?" Yes. But the disciples' ability to endure persecution came from the fact that they knew that Jesus overcame the world by his death.

And any power Jesus allowed the world to have over them was according to his world and a part of his victory over the world. Well, what does that mean to us? Anything that the world would do to us must pass by the throne of God. Let me say that again. Anything that the world would do to us, remember who energizes the world, who's the powerhouse, Satan. Anything that the world would do to us has to pass by the throne of God. And if God allows the world to assault us, persecute us, or even kill us, the world has no power over us.

And if he allows the world to do anything to us, it is according to God's good and perfect will for us, and that is a part of his victory over the world. Folks either Romans 8.28 is true or it's not. The verse says, "All things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose." I think of a biblical example. In the early church there in Jerusalem, before Paul was converted, there was this great persecution against the church. Some of the believers were killed, looked like the world was winning.

No, that was a part of Christ's victory because in the persecution they scattered and they took the gospel everywhere. Then third, he has defeated Satan. We see this in Ephesians 1, 19-22. Listen to the power and the victory that is Christ's because of his sacrifice on the cross. Ephesians 1, 19-22. And what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might, that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

And he put all things under his feet. Who is he? That's God. And God, he put all things under his feet, that's Christ Jesus, and gave him his head over all things in the church. And notice what Christ's death and resurrection from the dead provided. Immeasurable power towards us who believe. And all rule, all authority, all power, and all dominion for Christ and the name that is above every name in this age and the age to come. And God put all things, all things under the feet of Jesus. And who does that include? Satan. He's doomed. He's just waiting on the day. All things are under his feet.

And that includes Satan and all of his evil minions. So we must see that the devil is a defeated foe. But even though the victory is won and the outcome is secured, see if we stop there we can shout hallelujah, you know? Get a little Babdicostal. Nothing wrong with that. But the battle still has to be fought by us. Yes. The battle still has to be fought every day, every moment of every day by us. Now church, notice how understanding the victory that Christ has won should affect how we fight in the battle and in the war that's before us. Warren Wiersby says it perfect. We do not fight for victory, we fight from victory.

Some of you will get that. If you don't, you need to think on it. We do not fight for victory, we fight from victory. The Spirit of God enables us to be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. So we literally possess Christ and his victory in ourselves. We do not fight for victory, we fight from victory because we possess Christ's victory. Well what does that mean? If we are strong in the strength of the Lord because we are dressed in the full armor of God, we will be able to stand and stand firm against the schemes of the devil.

We will be able to wrestle and struggle against the demonic powers that work to carry out the devil's schemes against us. And how is that possible? Because Christ has won the victory. All of our enemies are defeated, even our own sinful nature. So we stand and we stand firm, we struggle and we wrestle from a position of victory. And if our Lord allows the world or all of the demonic powers or even Satan himself to do anything to us, anything to us, it is according to God's good and perfect will for us and that is a part of Christ's victory over the world. Folks, if you ever get to where you understand that and believe that, that is victory.

That's why we ought to be able to get on a plane and go across the world and do mission work and not worry. Not worry one bit. That's why we should be able to send our born again children out into the world and God use them for His glory. Why? Because we understand He's won the victory. But before I move on, before we get too confident, we have to see that we can defeat ourselves in the battle and in the war of the Christian life. We can shoot ourselves in the foot. We can shoot ourselves in the foot, therefore making us less effective as a soldier. We can even make ourselves disabled, not dead, disabled.

We can disable ourselves, therefore taking ourselves out of the war. If we do not fight against our wicked sinful nature, if we allow the old man to grow, we can sin in such a way that we are far less effective as a soldier in the battle. We can sin in such a way that we can be spiritually disabled. How many true Christians, professing Christians, have not held their sinful nature in check and therefore sin is coming to their life and they are not effective soldiers. Not ashamed to be a productive soldier for the gospel for 20 or 30 years and then let sin come into the life and make you disabled for the last quarter of your life.

How many ministers love God and they do a good work and they do it right for 25 years and then they do not keep their sinful nature in check and they let us sin come into their life and they're disqualified and they're out of the battle. So lesson number three, we must see that the victory was won but the battle has to be fought by us. Now some of you may realize that we have two lessons to go. I said there were five lessons, we've only covered three. Now I'm not going to have a part two and I'm not going to just leave them off.

Sometimes when I get to the end of the time, my wife might say later, "Why don't you just leave that off?" Well, I'll make a confession to you. It fits in my notes, I can't just leave it off. I just might as well cut my arm off. But these last two lessons will be rather short. I'm not going to get into any scripture teaching. These lessons will be more of an assignment and a charge. So let's take a little breath here and let's finish the message well. Lesson number four, we must identify the schemes coming against us. We must be able to identify the schemes coming against us.

In church, if we know who our enemy is, if we know how our enemy works, and we should know these things, and if we have the Holy Spirit of God to lead us and to help us, we can identify the schemes coming against us. Now here is my assignment. Learn to identify the schemes that come against us in two areas of life. First the schemes from outside of the church, the schemes in the world. Look folks, all this LGBTQ stuff, all that is is a scheme of the devil. It's all demonic, it's to destroy men and mankind, to destroy the family. Look at the ramifications of that sin and the sinfulness.

That is nothing more than a scheme of the devil and all types of people are falling for the scheme. But second, we need to identify the schemes from within the church. The schemes of the devil where he is trying to infiltrate the church. Remember when Paul gathered the elders, the church of Ephesus together in Acts 28? What did he say? "You're not going to see me again." This is the body of elders and he said, "But there are going to be some that will rise up from among you." See the schemes of the devil?

If you pay attention to the evangelical landscape today, you will know that the debate is out there about women pastors, can women pastor and all that. There are some that study this at length and debate this at length. Look with about four verses and five minutes we can have that settle. The Bible does not allow for women pastors. That's all a scheme of the devil. If the devil can get a church to accept women pastors, the next step is to accept things like homosexuality. It happens every time. See what I mean by identifying the schemes? But notice how God is protecting the church. God is good to us.

He has provided elders and it is their job, our job to protect the church, therefore protecting you. You know that's one of the burdens that weighs heavy on me. I'm responsible to protect you. Of course you have a responsibility yourself. So we must learn to identify the schemes coming against us and one of the best places to learn how to identify schemes is to be plugged into a local church. You're better off learning how to identify the schemes being in a church and not being on YouTube watching all the hot pastors. And then lesson number five, we must see that fighting the battle in the war starts with wrestling with God.

Look church, all the men and all the women that God used in the scriptures knew this secret. Wrestling with God. We may not have the record of all of their lives but take note the men and the women that God used in the Bible knew that their spiritual battle started with wrestling with God and they maintained the battle by wrestling with God. Moses had to spend 40 years in the desert before he could ever lead the nation out of slavery. Before David could slay Goliath and be a king, he had to be alone with God tending his father's sheep.

Before Hannah could give birth to a son and give that son to the Lord, she had to spend years childless and burdening herself to God. Before John the Baptist could make a way for the promised Messiah, he had to live in the desert with God and before Jesus could begin his earthly ministry, he had to spend 40 days in the wilderness with his father and he continued that habit of being alone with his father all throughout his earthly ministry. So the battle begins and the fight continues successfully by wrestling and staying alone with God. So five lessons for the battle and for the war. Let's pray and we'll close out the message.