Wars have been fought, lost, and won hundreds of times and with thousands upon thousands of individual battles since the beginning of time. We have the advantage of post-outcome perspectives to remove ourselves in a 3rd-party, birdseye view of these wars with the ability to identify turning points. Points at which the wars changed and were virtually won. Yet, after each of these turning points, there was still war to wage…for the job had to be finished, even if “the war was over” from the historian’s perspective.
I believe that this is an applicable analogy to the war over your soul and mine, and the war over every soul from Adam to present day. It certainly is a war, and to call it anything less is to diminish the severity of the fight, the fierceness of the struggle, and the weight of the outcome.
Gal 6:10-18 – “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”
There is a macro and micro view of this war, or series of wars over our souls. The macro view, which is sound, is that humanity in its entirety since Creation and until the Apocalypse and end of time, is one major war, with many strategic battles throughout time, including the battle over our individual souls, yours and mine. There is much to this accurate view in my opinion, but tonight I will focus on the micro view that sees the battle over your single soul as a war of its own, and one that is lifelong.
Rom 8:35-39 – “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
The thought of lifelong war may be discouraging, but realize that we were made for continuous battle and are fortified by God Himself to fight, and after having withstood all, to stand. To stand in victory as more than conquerors through Jesus Christ. Truthfully, as many souls have ever lived, there are as many wars for those souls, and just as truthfully, some of those wars have been lost, some won, and if you’re alive to read this post today, then yours is still ongoing.
I would like you to focus on yourself and the war over your very own soul, as I do the same. Where is the battle currently? Do you even recognize that you are in the middle of a war? The man worst off in the middle of a ferocious battle, is the one who walks out in the middle unknowingly, for he will surely be caught in the crossfire. Don’t be that man! Look up, open your eyes, open your ears, read the Word and have fellowship with your fellow believers—you will soon discover that you are standing in a war zone for your very own soul. When you have embraced this truth, you can then choose your side, pick up your weapons and defenses, and fight the good fight—the only way to victory, for there will be no peace treaty with Satan, I can assure you.
If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, then I have the greatest news and encouragement for you—the turning point has already been reached, and the rest of your life will prove that the war is already won. Much like the historian who can see that WWII was effectively won after D-Day--the largest turning point in the largest war with the greatest implications--if you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, D-Day has come and the day has been won for your soul. The stage is now set for the counter-attack on our Enemy until he is vanquished forever. Yet, there is still fighting to do and casualties will still be incurred.
This is the nature of war, even post-turning point war. There is still much fighting to do and a job to finish. Let me ask you, have you experienced spiritual “casualties” in your life so far? I know that I have. The enemy’s casualties have been idol worship in my heart, lust, selfishness, and non-righteous anger, just to name a few. The casualties on our side have included physical setbacks, mental anguish, and lost relationships. Yet, God even redeems these casualties. Afterall, He has raised men from the dead, the greatest of which His Son Jesus Christ, and conquered death of all sorts. He can resurrect your body, your mind, your circumstances, and your relationships. But only if they will serve Him in the battle and not the enemy. Remember, the enemy’s casualties were idol worship, lust, selfishness, anger, etc in my life, and likely similar sins in your life. There is no resurrection for those things. Sin is to die and stay dead, so any resurrection of circumstances, relationships, etc will only be possible through the power of Christ for His purpose.
And so after D-Day for our souls' salvation, the battle still rages and casualties are felt. Have you not experienced this, too? I’m sure that you have. Ask the men who fought across Europe on the march to Berlin after D-Day if the war felt easier. There were still smaller, yet important turning points ahead and to finish winning the war, they could at no point quit, and many more brave men and women gave their lives to win the war and fight that good fight. The same will be true in the spiritual war over our souls. We will still need to finish the post-turning point, post-Salvation march to victory. This is sanctification, when we continue to be purified to completion. The turning point has been reached and we have received the reinforcements and pivotal ”air support” provided by God and His Holy Spirit! The victory is ours and we are assured it! Is this cause to quit? No, it is cause to fight with all the more fervor!
So I encourage you if you feel that your battle has gotten too fierce and you cannot conquer it, continue to fight. D-day has already been won, if you are a believer. Recognize the battle…the battle with exterior circumstances will be fierce, but the hottest part of any battle is over that which is valued most, and that will be within you, for your soul. Begin to recognize the battle there. It is present with every sin and backslide, it is present with every temptation, it is present with every thought not taken captive on behalf of God and even in the taking captive of those thoughts.
2 Cor 10:3-5 – “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
The first shot rings out in traffic as you look with anger at the driver who has wronged you. The first shot rings out as you look at that person of the opposite gender in public for a half-second too long with only the slightest hint of lust in your heart. The first shot rings out when you delight in someone else’s possessions and begin comparing with yourself. The first shot rings out when you are confronted with a truth about yourself by another and first consider whether to be honest or not. You’ll notice that at the first shot, you may very well not have even sinned. But if someone is beginning to shoot bullets in your direction and you are on a battlefield, if you decide to ignore those bullets, they will begin to hit you. And if you ignore them further, they will begin to rip you apart and you will take on casualties. And if you continue to refuse to take up defense and fight back, you will eventually be killed and lose the war. Recognize the first shot and respond and crush your enemy, the Evil One. He is most easily crushed at the onset of the battle, for that is when He is most vulnerable. His bullets and flaming arrows cannot strike us, except for when we have put down our shield of faith, which "extinguishes all the fiery arrows of the Devil." Keep your shield up in faith in God.
If you are not a believer in Jesus Christ, I wish I could provide you comfort, but I cannot. If you are not a believer, then Satan is still on the march in your life, D-day has not come, and in fact you are losing the war, and without Jesus Christ, there is nothing you can do about it. I encourage you, seek Jesus, win D-day, and set out in a life of conquest with an all-powerful Savior. The greatest conquest experienced by any man is the war over his own soul, for it requires reaching out for a Savior God, followed by an entire lifetime of continuous battle. But a battle that we win.
To fight without Jesus as Savior is to lose and realize the terrors of eternal Hell fire. To not fight is to be occupied without any resistance and realize the terrors of eternal Hell fire. But to fight with Jesus is the only victory…sweeping, certain victory. Which of these three will you choose?
Lastly, we are not isolated as lone warriors. The Holy Spirit and armor of God is sufficient to win the battle decisively if we were lone warriors, which makes it an all the more decisive victory when we stand and fight together. Prayer is our weapon, and when we come beside each other in prayer, we fall into battle formation. One of the most powerful battle formations of its time, the time when Paul wrote of the armor of God, was the phalanx, perfected by the Romans. In the phalanx, soldiers would get close together, interlocking their shields, such that no weapon or enemy could penetrate. With their shields interlocked, their strength was multiplied, and they were protected from all sides and angles (even from above!). Here is the point: when we band together in sincere fellowship and prayer, we are interlocking our shields of faith and multiplying our strength supernaturally. When a single soldier might fall in a given battle, a phalanx prevails, and likewise it is true with prayer. Find the strength of community and praying for one another in all things, and you will find the ability to fight and win battles that you could not win alone.
Repent and cry out to your Savior. Win the turning point. Fight the good fight. Join the phalanx of fellow believers in prayer. Never stop. Always conquer. Through the power and grace of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, victory is ours. Amen and Oo-rah!
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