Contend for the Faith
I loved this week's sermon. One of the big takeaways I got was that we are not at war against people. They are the ones who need saving. So what are we contending, or fighting, against?
- We fight the forces of darkness. Sometimes that is manifest in people, but it isn't the people. Let me give you an example. I had two soldiers die while I was in Afghanistan. They were killed by a mentally handicapped 15-year-old boy. The Taliban strapped a bomb to him, put him in a burka, and remote detonated him. Our fight was not with that boy, but with the evil that sent him our way.
- We fight ourselves. We must constantly wrestle the sin in our lives. We must kill our sin nature.
So what do we use?
The only offensive weapon we have, according to Ephesians, is the sword of the spirit... the word of God. That means knowing and deploying Scripture is the only weapon we have to fight for the faith. What came to mind for me, though, was an event in the Old Testament about Jehoshaphat. Don Fransico did a song about it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDiA-n-a6iM
At God's command, he deploys singers praising Yahweh in front of the Army, and God wins the battle! Much of what we sing, whether it be older hymns or modern songs, are either direct Scripture or Biblical themes. When we praise God in song, we are deploying the word of God against our enemies. We are fighting for the faith. It's like lyrical HIMARS.
So, the next time your sin threatens to drag you down, sing against it. The next time Satan uses someone to try and destroy you, sing in their faces. Deploy the word of God against your enemies, and see them defeated!
SONGS FOR SUNDAY
We Praise You
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVVXeKCg9w4
Battle Belongs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=johgSkNj3-A
Reckless Love
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sc6SSHuZvQE
Great Are You Lord