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Bobby Stafford

Enemies to Defeat

   Christian Living

 

Enemies to Defeat 

I.  Introduction: 

A.  The Church is described as a body both in its life and its function –

  1. Romans 12:4-5, “For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another”
  2. Bodies are designed to live, to act and to work.
  3. It is natural for the body to function so that life today promotes life tomorrow.
  4. The same is true for the Church.  Life today promotes life tomorrow.

B.  The human body has enemies that can damage or even kill it –

  1. Disease  [heart disease, cancer, infectious diseases]
  2. Accidents
  3. Self-destruction  [suicide, alcohol and drug abuse]

C.  Likewise, the church has enemies that prevent it from moving forward –

  1. Enemies that can damage or cripple it.
  2. Enemies that can kill it.
  3. Therefore, we must be ready to fight the enemies if we are to move forward.

II. Discussion: 

A. The Enemy of Ignorance –

  1. Ignorance comes in many forms.
    1. Isaiah 45:20

·       Religious ignorance of the pagan who makes his god from a tree.     Isaiah 44:9-20

·       Today same:  worship nature, New Age crystals, idols, ancestors, etc.

    1. Jeremiah 5:21-23

·       Stubborn ignorance refuses to listen to God.  This produces a hard heart.

·       Won’t see, hear or think?  Jesus and the Pharisees

c.   Hosea 4:1-6

·       Specifically, ignorance of God’s word.  His will for our lives.

·       It is possible to be destroyed by our own lack of knowledge.  Isaiah 5:13 

  1. What ignorance causes:
    1. It causes us to miss salvation.
    2. It causes us to not obey God’s will.
    3. It causes us to “practice religion” instead of Biblical faith.
    4. It can cause us to fail in God’s purpose for us in the world.

B.  The Enemy of Unbelief

 1.  Unbelief is a problem for both the alien and the Christian.

a.   John 8:24

·       It is a fact that people will die in their sins without faith in Jesus Christ.

·       It is a matter of life and death.

 b.   II Corinthians 4:3-4

·       It is a terrible thing to be blind.  It is worse to be spiritually blind.  Many things can blind us.            [friends, family, wealth, power, human traditions]

·       Satan can blind people to the glory of the gospel.

c.   Hebrews 3:12

2.  Unbelief can keep the church from moving forward.

a.   How might unbelief affect us?

·       We might know, but not believe, God’s word.

·       We might not believe that God cares how we live.

·       We might not believe that God has a plan to save in His word.

·       We might not believe it matters how we worship.

·       We might not believe it matters how committed we are.

      b.   We should be like the man in Mark 9:24, “Lord, I believe; help

          my unbelief !” 

C.  The Enemy of Apathy

1.  Illustration:

a.   A man asked:  “Do you think the world’s problems are caused by ignorance or apathy?”

b.   His wife replied, “I don’t know and I don’t care.”

2.  Apathy affected the church in Laodicea, for which Jesus soundly

     condemned them.

a.   Revelation 3:15-16

b.   Someone may say, “No this church was lukewarm.”

·       Well, what is apathy except lacking passion, or being “blah”?

·       In a word it is being lukewarm.  It means not having proper concern.  Jesus and His church are not a priority.

  1. Apathy destroys because it makes us lukewarm about the church, the lost, righteousness and about reaping the fruit of the Spirit.
D.  The Enemy of Sin

1.  This is the most obvious enemy.

    1. Ignorance, unbelief, and apathy all lead to sin.
    2. If the church practices sin, how can we remain the church?

2.  Consider just a few verses:

a.   Hebrews 12:1

·       A runner does not run a race hampered by weights.

·       Neither can we run the race of life hampered and weighted down by sin.

b.   Hebrews 3:12-13

·       One of the reasons we need each other is to help avoid hardening by sin.  This shows the importance of the assembly.

·       If that happens, sin can cause us to leave God.

    1. James 5:19-20

·       The error of sin can kill the soul.

·       Again, we need each other to help stay on the right track.

3.  What holds the church back?

a.   Sin in my personal life

b.   Sin in our family life

c.   Sin in our church life

    1.  We will not meet these challenges while sin remains.

III. Conclusion:

A.  For the church to move forward, we must recognize and defeat our enemies.

1.   Long time ago, Pogo, the comic strip character, said, “We have seen the enemy and he is us.”

2.   Other people, the government, economics, religious prejudice, and a host of others may work against the church, but we can be our own worst enemy.

B.  The four enemies are:

1.   Ignorance

2.   Unbelief

3.   Apathy

  1.  Sin
  2.  All of these are enemies that we can do something about.

C.  Are you under attack today?

  1. Fight !
  2. Do not lose the battle.
  3. Enlist help.

This outline is from Jeff Asher @ www.ExpositorySermonOutlines.com

The italic print is from Bobby Stafford       

February 12, 2012

 

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