Saturday 5 June 2010

Battling the enemy

Last weekend marked the 157th anniversary of my home church, Browning Avenue Baptist Church, being planted. Over the weekend we had David Rushbrook (pastor of Sudbourne and Tunstall Baptist Church) come to speak to us, looking at some of the word pictures that the Bible uses for the church.

On Sunday evening we looked at the church as an army, and David made a point which i've been thinking a bit about this week.

We were looking at Ephesians 6:10-20.

Who do you think of as the enemy of Christians? I think i'm sometimes quick to think that our enemies are those who oppose Christianity, those who want to suppress the truth, those who teach lies and lead people astray.

What does Paul have to say?

"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."

Our real enemy is the devil and his forces. Those people around us who aren't Christians are merely his prisoners, those deceived by his lies and blinded by Him. We should think of them not as our enemy, but as prisoners of our enemy. We fight the enemy to bring them back from their captivity, we strive with them and for them to help them to see the truth and to see through the lies with which they've been deceived.

O Church Arise and put your armour on
Hear the call of Christ our Captain
For now the weak can say that they are strong
In the strength that God has given
With shield of faith and belt of truth
We’ll stand against the devil’s lies
An army bold whose battle-cry is Love
Reaching out to those in darkness

Our call to war to love the captive soul
But to rage against the captor
And with the sword that makes the wounded whole
We will fight with faith and valour
When faced with trials on every side
We know the outcome is secure
And Christ will have the prize for which He died
An inheritance of nations

2 comments:

Lorna's Ark said...

I think we sometimes forget we are at war! Well I do anyway thanks for the reminder :-)

Carrie said...

It's easy to not think about the Devil and to try to pretend he doesnt exist, or at least isnt upto much, rather than realise how powerful and scary he is.
I know he's trying to claw his way at me at the moment as I'v very recently found my way back to God. He's trying to plant little doubts in my mind as Im reading the bible but I know its him and I'm telling him to get lost and asking God to protect me from him. Until now I've always avoided thinking about him or admitting to myself that he does exist and is at work. In a way I feel much safer now accepting he is out there trying to tempt us away from God as it makes me realise just how powerful God's love is and how weak God's love can make the devil's temptations.
But as you point out, it's important to remember and help those who are not aware of God's love and power over the devil, and we must continue to fight for them.