Fight! Fight! Fight!
By Chris Rathbone
Mitchell County
We have a common enemy. An enemy that works day and night to prevail over the church, to destroy the testimony of Christians, to break up homes, wreck marriages, and ruin the lives of any he comes across. His name is Satan, that old devil who tried to exalt himself above God but was cast out of heaven.
Peter warned: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” 1 Peter 5:8. His end goal is to keep the unbeliever from being saved, to keep the Christian believer from being effective in their walk with Jesus. There is such a battle raging that Paul exhorted Christians in Ephesians 6:10-18: “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;”
This enemy that we have is subtle and cunning (Gen. 3:1). He is constantly scheming and planning on how to prevail against you and me and we must not be ignorant of his devices and schemes (2 Corin. 2:11). He wages his war against the church and this world in the spiritual realm through influence through lying. Jesus described him in John 8:44 like this: “He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own; for he is a liar and the father of it.” Satan’s go-to weapon is lies. He uses lies to influence, to twist, to deceive, to cast doubt, and turn as many people as he can away from the truth of the Gospel of Christ.
The enemy started his attack on man, the crown of God’s creation, there in the garden of Eden. His tactics began by first casting doubt on God’s word. God had specifically said that if Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil they would die (Gen. 2:16). What did Satan tell Eve? “Ye shall not surely die.” (3:1) He wanted her to doubt the truth of what God had surely spoken. Next, he influenced her to question God’s authority over her life in verse 5: “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall as gods, knowing good and evil.” The temptation he placed in front of her wasn’t to fall down but to exalt oneself to be as God. To supplant His authority over her life and take that authority upon herself. Once Satan influenced her to doubt God’s word and rebel against God’s authority over her life, the trap had been set. Gen. 3:6 “And the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat.” As the saying goes, the rest is history, but the battle the enemy is waging is still going on today.
Satan is raging in our world today. He is using spiritual wickedness in high places to influence and turn away mankind from God’s truth. We must, as children of God, put on God’s armor and fight! We can bloody the devil’s nose when we read, believe, and obey God’s word. We give him a gut punch when we bow ourselves and submit to God’s authority over our lives. For He is our Creator, our Savior, our Lord, and is worthy of our submission. Last, of all, we give the knockout blow when we walk in fellowship with Jesus every single day. Satan has no chance of influencing us when we are walking closely with God through Jesus daily!
Rise up children of God and put on God’s armor! Fight the good fight of faith and be a good soldier of Christ! These are wicked and evil days in which we are living. These are days when the enemy of our souls is working diligently to turn people away from the truth These are not days in which the church backs down, but days in which we raise the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God gives the old devil the death blow! Fight, children, fight! Fight for truth, fight for the gospel, fight for your marriage, fight for your children and grandchildren! Stand and fight as a soldier of Christ! Fight! Fight! Fight!
Grasping to my sword,
Preacher Chris
_______________________________________________________________________________
Preacher Chris Rathbone serves as Pastor at Mine Creek Baptist Church.
You can read more Good Christian News from Pastor Chris HERE.
You can connect with Preacher Chris on Facebook HERE.
_______________________________________________________________________________
