Knights, today we will look at who our enemy is. Without knowing who our enemy is we will just run around battling each other or innocent civilians and cause great harm. The price is too high to wound our brothers and sisters or those who have not yet met our King and Lord. We have to remain focused and have a clear picture of our foe. If you remember when the U.S. troops went to Iraq and Afghanistan, they were given a deck of playing cards with pictures of the top terrorist leaders on them. Why did they do this? So they would recognize who they were looking for and who they were fighting. Yes knights, a lot of us have been running around swinging our sword and hitting whoever dared come close to us. STOP! Let’s learn who our real enemy is so we can focus on where the true attacks are coming from and focus our attacks.
Ephesians 6:12 For 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.(ESV)
How many of us have been fighting our wives? How about your boss at work? Maybe the guy who lives next to you who has loud parties at night so you can’t sleep? God is telling us through Paul that those people are not our enemies. Rulers, authorities, cosmic powers, spiritual forces of evil, does not sound like my wife, boss or the guy next door. There is a real enemy we must fight but it is not a flesh and blood enemy, it is a spiritual enemy. The bible even tells us who the leader of these forces is.
Rev 12
7 Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back,
8 but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven.
9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world---he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.(ESV)
We are living in a world at war between two kingdoms. The kingdom of God all mighty is on one side and the kingdom of the dragon on the other. We have a dragon to slay knights. He has been lying and deceiving us since the very beginning with Adam and Eve and he continues still today. He tries to offer us cheap imitations of what God offers and we have been way to willing to accept the easy way out and live in his lies. But all thanks to the King that He has exposed our enemy for who he really is and we now know where our true battle lies. Not against our wives, neighbors or brothers but against the dragon. Also notice a very real truth in this passage. The dragon was defeated! He is not all powerful and he is not invincible.
Over the next couple of days we will examine the weapons that God has given us to go to battle with this dragon. Don’t be afraid or discouraged knights, our King has not left us defenseless. The weapons of our King are mighty and will allow us to overcome this foe and achieve victory through Christ our Lord.
King, I come to You today and pray for Your strength and courage to empower Your knights. Use us to accomplish Your will here on earth as we fight for Your kingdom. Thank You for giving us everything we need to be more than conquerors in Christ. Father open our hearts and minds and renew our spirits as we learn about the weapons You have given us to fight this war. We give all for our King. Amen
Until tomorrow, stand firm knights and God bless each of you.
No comments:
Post a Comment