You and I are soldiers fighting a war whether we recognize it or not!

You and I are soldiers fighting a war whether we recognize it or not.

Hello and welcome to Jeshurun Ministry GB in the Bahamas.

Yes, friend, every human being on earth is in a battle, for Satan has come down to make war with mankind. Unfortunately, many have already capitulated and are hopelessly lost. But all who believe in Jesus Christ are still in the fight. Hallelujah.

When Hamas launched its surprise attack on Israel during the wee hours of the morning of October 7, 2023. It was 4 hours before the IDF headquarters and many of the units had any idea that they were under attack. By that time, most of the damage had already been done. And when it was all over, 1,200 Israelis lay dead and 254 kidnapped by Hamas. In the same way, many believers in Christ fail to realize that children of God everywhere are daily under attack by Satan, until he has destroyed their lives, robbing them of all their joys, stealing their very souls.

There's a humorous story about a US Army soldier named Gupton who did not have a clue about anything. Reports say that this soldier from Appalachia did not know what state he was from. He did not understand that he was in the army and did not know that America was at war. He could not make a bunk. He was unable to distinguish left from right or handle the simplest command. Ultimately, he was considered too dangerous to be on the battlefield, even on the rifle range, and was assigned to kitchen duty. In the same way, many believers in Christ did not have a clue and are easily neutralized by Satan.

In this message, we will talk about the ways that believers in Christ are asleep at the wheel and many are not even aware that they are soldiers fighting a most dangerous, brutal foe.

Let us pray. Dear Lord, we give You thanks and praise for this glorious day that You've given us. Open eyes, Father, I pray. I pray that You would make the listeners to this message aware that they are soldiers of the Most High God fighting a cruel and dangerous enemy whose agenda is to steal, kill, and destroy. Father, bless them.

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Number one, the battle began in heaven. Yes, there's a battle that has been raging here and we are the targets. But the war started in heaven millennials ago, then came down to earth. Yes, thousands of years ago, there was an uprising in heaven. And that is the reason that the Father began the development of this project called the earth and commonly called the world.

As soldiers fighting in this war, many are dimmed to the fact that there is no time for celebration, no time for partying. The battle is fierce and there are many souls being lost forever every living day. Believers, there's no time to rest on our laurels.

Oh Lord, light a fire under Your people that they may burn for You so that others may see the flames and come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. This is my fervent prayer.

80% of the world is asleep, the way 99% of the Israelis were asleep on October 7, and thousands of young people were in the wilderness celebrating. There's no time for celebration, the battle is fierce and there are many souls hanging in the balance!

There's a story that makes this clear. When Christ 70 disciples returned from a mission on which He had sent them, they returned rejoicing and celebrating as if the war was over. It appears they were a bit full of themselves and celebrating because the demons were subject to them. And Jesus Christ cautioned them against this spirit of pride, saying:

"I saw Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample upon serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this. Do not rejoice in that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your name is written in heaven. Luke 10:18.

The incident Jesus Christ referred to here in which He saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning is found in the book of Revelation in which Satan, the ancient deceiver, while he was in heaven, rose up saying that he would be like the Most High. And this war in heaven ended with his defeat. And one third of all the heavenly host who were all cast down to the earth like a bolt of lightning.

And Revelation 12:7-9 tell us, "And war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought with the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer." And so the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old called the devil and Satan who deceives the whole world. He was cast to the earth and his angels were cast out with him.

Verse 12 tell us that after this cosmic conflict, the battleground shifted to the earth where the battle is still raging fiercely thousands of years later.

The Word of God says, "Rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down to you having great wrath because he knows that he has a short time.

And that is the present state of affairs for all of us here on the earth. The battleground has shifted to the hearts and to the minds of the children of the Most High God. And Satan has come down here to get even by wreaking havoc on God's creations. His agenda here is different. He's now fighting against mankind to steal, to kill, and destroy God's plan for His creatures here on the earth who were made in His image and likeness.

The second point is that the enemy has disguised himself. Satan is so artful that he hides himself behind fellow humans and causes us to think that they are the real enemies. But the enemy is Satan, who is Lucifer, the devil, the prince of the earth, the prince of the air. He has also deceived many among us into believing that hell is not even a real place. And it is indeed a real place prepared for him, for his wicked angels and all who follow him unfortunately. Friend, it is a game changer when anyone fail to recognize Satan is real and hell is a real place. If there's no enemy, if there's no battle, if there's no hell, then there's no need to fight and no victory to be won.

He has deceived the founders of certain denominations such as Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists, Christadelphians, Christian Universalists, Primitive Baptist, Universalist, Unity Church, and more. These all have varying beliefs about hell and the devil that are inconsistent with the Holy Scriptures.

And some of these do not believe in eternal suffering in a place called hell. Many believe that all sinners will be annihilated at the end of the age. While others believe suffering will only be temporary and not eternal. For instance, 7th day Adventists and JWs believe in hell but not as a place of eternal torment. And these doctrines do a terrible disservice to the people, the wonderful people following them, many of whom truly love God, but have been trapped by false beliefs. No doubt these erroneous teachings are the handiwork of Satan, and he has hoodwinked many.

And here's what Matthew 25:41 tell us about this. He that overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be His God, and He shall be My son. But the fearful and unbelieving, and the abominable, and the murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake, which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

On a recent street ministry trip, we met a lady who told us that she was a Jehovah's Witness. And she asked us a question that no other JW had asked us before. She asked, "Why do you Christians hate Jehovah's Witnesses?" Let me be clear, friend. Christians do not hate Jehovah's Witnesses. At least we're not supposed to hate anyone. In fact, we are taught by Jesus Christ to love even our enemies. And what we hate though and try to protect ourselves and our children from is the false narrative of Charles Taze Russell. He founded the Bible student movement which is the foundation of the Jehovah's Witnesses movement. And some even now deny that Russell is their chief founder. But the only thing they changed was the name. The core beliefs remained the same. In the same way, we reject the doctrine of the Mormon church which is now called the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints. The name changed but the core beliefs are the same as the Mormon church. We love the people and pray for their eyes to be opened to the truth.

And the third point is that Christians do not conduct themselves like soldiers. So now yes I launch an attack on Christians. Many born again believers in Christ do not conduct themselves as if they are soldiers in an army fighting a very dangerous foe. They naively go about their lives as if this is some cakewalk. They hardly ever read the Word of God. Their attendance at church is neither regular nor frequent. They go about the business of the day oblivious to the tactics of this dangerous enemy. And very often they are untrained and unprepared for his attacks. And this is why many among us fall into his traps over and over again. We must bear in mind at all times that we are daily facing an adversary whose agenda is to steal, to kill, and destroy. And Satan is more than a one-man wrecking crew. He's more like a great general who has an entire well-trained and organized force at his command. He's an artful and crafty foe who has an army, navy, and air force behind him. He's prepared for battle on land, in the air, or in the sea. Is he not called the prince of the air? And therefore, he's everywhere. He successfully inflicts great pain and hardships on the naive and unfocused followers of Jesus Christ daily.

And let us look at how the army trains its soldiers. The army uses a 12week, three-phase process to train new soldiers for combat. And these phases are number one basic combat training, two advanced individual training and three unit level exercises. They focus on physical conditioning, marksmanship, tactical drills, mental toughness. In the combat phase, the focus is placed on physical training and may even include training in gas chambers. Advanced training phase includes specific skills like operating tanks, handling explosives, etc. And unit level exercise are geared toward teamwork and preparing for battle scenarios.

Unfortunately, training for soldiers in the Lord's army is often times not anywhere near as structured as this at the church level. But God Himself has a process that He puts every born again believer through as He perfects them. And nevertheless, we have a prayer, a study of God's Word, and church attendance and participation in the work of the Lord as the phases of training.

Satan has a strategy that works, my friend. The evidence is abundantly clear. He has almost 80% of the entire population of the earth under his control. That is at least six billion of the 8.2 billion people on planet earth presently. These do not recognize Jesus Christ as Lord. But we are not to fear because the Lord our God is a sun and a shield according to Psalm 84:11.

And in this story that I'm about to tell, you will see that being in the Lord's army is like no other army because the Lord will fight for us against our enemy. In today's armies, the generals remain at home and the soldiers go to war. But all in God's army are soldiers fighting daily.

According to 2 Kings 6 and 16, when the king of Samaria sent an army to surround the city in which Elisha was living, they surrounded the city with horses and chariots during the night. His servant was afraid when they awoke in the morning and saw the army surrounding them. And he asked Elisha, "What shall we do?" And Elisha said the following.

Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them. And Elisha prayed and said, Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see. And then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire around Elisha. And then Elisha prayed that the Lord would strike the Syrians with blindness. And He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. And Elisha led them out of the city to the king of Israel.

I pray that the Lord would open the eyes of the listeners to this message. that He would open the eyes of all His brave soldiers who are daily facing a most formidable and evil foe. And I pray that the Lord would cause all believers to recognize that we are indeed soldiers of the Most High God fighting in the army of the Lord. We will be victorious. We will prevail. Hallelujah. And the end has already been written. We thank God for His grace and mercy. His hand of protection, strengthening you, blessing you, keeping you.

Perhaps you listening to this message, may not be saved, may not know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. We want to give you an opportunity to fix that today. Please engage your heart. I mean engage your heart like never before and invite a turning away from your past. In other words, this is time for you to repent, change. Turn away from evil and wickedness. Please say this prayer after me:

• Father, I am a sinner.

• I'm sorry for all my sins.

• I'm deeply sorry so much that I want to change Lord.

• Please help me to change.

• I have decided to accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.

• Dear Lord Jesus, welcome to my heart.

• I need You to guide me.

• Please direct my path.

• I give You the key to my heart today because I now belong to You forever.

• Please give me the Holy Spirit to lead me into all truth.

• Thank You Lord for saving my soul. Amen.

Welcome friend to the body of believers in Christ. There are so many of us here awaiting the return of the Good Master. In the meantime, we want to encourage you to become water baptized. Let your pastor know that you've committed your life to the Lord and you want to be baptized the way Jesus Christ was baptized.

Begin reading the Word of God every day. It is your daily food. You will need it for strength and in order to resist the temptations of the enemy.

Begin reading in the book of John and then go to Matthew, Mark, and Luke, reading audibly as often as possible because faith comes by hearing the Word of God. Pray daily. Attend at your local church and one glad morning the Savior will come and receive us all unto Himself and we shall indeed forever be with the Lord. God bless and keep you in Jesus mighty name. Amen.