Fight the Good Fight of Faith, English Edition
• Fight the Good Fight of Faith: Playing Your Part in God’s Unfolding Drama
my heart be acceptable in your sight. Allow me to speak your truth with wisdom in order that all with whom I speak may understand and benefit by your truth. Teach me now in this study as I receive your Word and instruction. I ask for these things in the strong name of Jesus, my Lord and Savior, amen. 1. “Everybody is involved in a spiritual war? That sounds like a little bit of Hollywood stuff to me!” In discussing the pastor’s sermon on spiritual warfare with an unbelieving friend, a young disciple of Christ had her first encounter with real doubt about the reality of spiritual things. Debbie’s friend, Ralph, had been listening to Debbie share with him her faith in Christ, how Jesus died on the Cross in order to pay the penalty of humankind’s sin, defeating the powers of the enemy, who through fear of death had kept humankind subject to bondage. “What did you say, Deb? Do you believe that we are in some kind of spiritual battle?” Debbie replied, “Yes, the Bible says that the entire universe is at war, and that the real enemy of people are not each other, but the Evil One, Satan, whose lies and deception have caused people to rebel against God and hurt each other.” “I don’t know if I can swallow that, Deb. You mean that everybody is involved in a spiritual war? That sounds like a little bit of Hollywood stuff to me!” How would you counsel Deb to respond to her friend Ralph about the reality of spiritual warfare? 2. “Lies are the deadliest weapons of the world, stronger than the strongest missiles.” This is the sentiment of one of the best Bible teachers the world has ever known, Rev. Dr. John Stott. He taught much on the meaning of Scripture, and believed that in the spiritual warfare that every disciple of Jesus is engaged in, the heart of the fight is over the truth, i.e., what is actually the right interpretation of the world, life, and things to come. He argued that the truth of Scripture (i.e., the Word of God) can enable us to identify, stand against, and replace the lies that the enemy hurls against us. What do you think of this phrase: “Lies are the deadliest weapons of the world?” Can you think of some examples in history of lies that people believed that led to horrible things being done or perpetrated on others, simply because people accepted falsehoods as the truth? 3. “The more you do it, the better you get at doing it.” All of us are creatures of habits, which, as it turns out, winds up being among one of the most useful traits that human beings have. The principle is fairly simple. The more you practice a certain attitude, thought, practice, or behavior, the easier it is to repeat it--, and normally, the better one
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