There's A War Raging!

   It’s war!  It’s already been declared, on us!  We have no choice in the matter.  There’s no negotiating for peace.  We’re caught in the middle, and there’s no escape.  Battles are being fought in our streets from house to house at this very moment.  Casualties are high.  The enemy is ruthless, merciless, bloodthirsty.  He is not limiting his vicious attacks to able bodied men.  Women and children equally are being lined up in his crosshairs, and many are dying.  He will accept no appeasement., no compromise, no truce.  Only our total destruction will satisfy him.  Confusion reigns.  Many are in agony.  Death is everywhere.  The stench of decay fills the air.  We must fight relentlessly.  We must hold our ground.  We can never surrender.  We must win or die, forever...

   The twelfth chapter of “The Revelation” tells us, basically, why that book was written.  It also tells us why the devil is the force that he is in this world.  It explains what the devil is after.  Having failed to usurp God’s throne, and having failed to stop God’s plan of redemption for mankind through Christ, Satan determined to make war on the followers of God and Christ.  If he could not have God’s throne in Heaven, he would attempt to rob God of His following on this earth.  The devil would hurt God in the only way left open to him, by leading away from Him the humans created in God’s own image.  All the devil has to do is get them to live unfaithfully before their loving creator.  That is sufficient to bring about their spiritual death and eternal destruction.
   We the church, Christians, are the followers of God.  We in particular are the ones on whom the devil is waging war.  He already has those who are not faithfully following God.  We are the ones who thwart his plan.  We are the ones he has not yet conquered.  We still carry the Lord’s banner, and we stand in Satan’s way.  If he wins against us, mankind is lost!  We are the last line of defense, the last bastion.  We carry the gospel to the rest of humanity.  Without us, those who are lost have less hope of finding salvation.
   The devil cannot win!  We must not let him win.  With God’s help we can defeat him.  The word of God, the “sword of the Spirit,” can cut him down.  We must fight the devil for our souls,  and we must fight him for the souls of those who have succumbed to his wiles and are captives in his prison of condemnation.  We must fight him by teaching the gospel to everyone we possibly can. Every time we teach the gospel and a soul puts on the Lord in baptism, the devil is beaten!
   We cannot stand against the devil alone; he’s the deadliest adversary mankind has ever known.  God has promised to stand with us and to give us victory over the devil through the gospel.  But we have to fight!  Where do you stand?  Remember, there’s no sitting this one out.  The war’s already raging, and you’re in it.  You’re going to live or die.  There’s no third choice.  There’s no just getting wounded in this war.  Live or die, eternally!  Are you ready to fight?…