Sermon on Spiritual Warfare – The Spiritual Patriot Must Fight
Categories: Sermon Outlines, Textual Sermon OutlinesINTRODUCTION:
A. Patriots are people who passionately love their country and are willing to support and defend it with their very live
1. The word “patriot” awakens memories of great heroes from America’s military history
2. “Give me liberty, or give me death” (Patrick Henry)
3. “I only regret that I have only one life to lose for my country” (Nathan Hale)
B. The same kind of devotion can be seen in the lives of the first century Christians in their spiritual warfare.
1. Peter and John were beaten for preaching Jesus — but never shied away from their responsibilities
2. Paul was persecuted at every turn — yet never ceased to proclaim the Gospel
3. Stephen was stoned and James was beheaded for their uncompromising loyalty to Christ
4. Today’s Christian must have the mentality of the first century Christian — they must be “Spiritual Patriots”
C. Christians are soldiers of Christ on active duty
1. As citizens of heaven, they long for their homeland and readily acknowledge their status as pilgrims and sojourners in this present world (1 Pt. 1:3).
2. One day in the future, Jesus will return to withdraw His troops from this temporary tour of duty called “life.”
3. Until that time, the church serves as the Lord’s outpost on earth
a. That colony of heaven cannot be defined geographically, but it is no less real.
b. The Lord reigns in the hearts of men and women who have been redeemed by His Son.
D. God’s patriots are faithful saints who deeply love the church and have pledged to defend it
1. At conversion, Christians declare their liberty from Satan and loyalty to God
2. Christians engage in spiritual warfare and are in for the fight of their lives and only the committed will survive the onslaughts of the enemy
E. The book of Jude is God’s field manual for spiritual warfare and His call to arms.
1. The book of Jude reminds us that our adversary is real and determined.
2. It tells us how to respond to the world’s hostility and aggression
3. As a soldier of Christ there is no room for pacifism — for eternity is at stake
4. We are in a life-and-death struggle for the souls of men
a. “Fight the good fight of faith…” (1 Tim. 6:11)
b. “…war the good warfare” (1 Tim. 1:18)
c. Be a good soldier of Christ (2 Tim. 2:3)
DISCUSSION: (Discussion of this sermon on spiritual warfare.)
A. WAGE SPIRITUAL WARFARE WITH SPIRITUAL SENTRIES
1. Jude 1-2
2. The book of Jude was intended to serve a twofold purpose:
a. A heavenly call to arms, and
b. A strategy for spiritual victory
3. Jude’s readers success depended on their taking heed to the wake-up call — the warning that false teachers had infiltrated their ranks and poised a serious threat to the well-being of the church
a. When trouble arises, it is not enough to sit idly by and wish things were different
b. Like a deadly disease, the problem cannot be corrected by ignoring it and hoping it will go away
c. With many illnesses, there is a brief but precious window of opportunity to treat the problem and stop its progress
d. It was time for them to rally the troops!
4. If Jude’s readers would rally the troops, it was not too late to stem the tide of the injurious effects of these false teachers
5. In addition to alerting them to the present danger, this book serves as a field manual for battling the false teachers
a. A field manual is concise, proven and practical
b. This manual is of great importance for us today
6. The recipients of this letter are:
a. “Called” — 1 Peter 2:9; 2 Thessalonians 2:14
b. “Beloved” [ ASV, NAS, ESV] “sanctified” [KJV, NKJ] — if you are the beloved of God you are sanctified
c. “Kept” [ASV, ESV] or “preserved” [KJV, NKJ] — there is safety in Jesus … John 15:4-6
7. Jude is looking for someone to “stand in the gap” (Eze. 22:30) … will we be willing?
B. WAGE SPIRITUAL WARFARE WITH A PATRIOTIC PLEA
1. Jude 3
2. In the heat of battle, the best laid plans may have to be changed at a moment’s notice
a. To fortify the faith of his friends, Jude had intended to write about their common salvation — his strategy was praiseworthy, but circumstances forced him to alter his course
b. He had learned that his friends were under attack by false teachers — so Jude laid aside his plan and wrote about something that more needful
c. There are times when we must put something good on the “back burner” and address something more pressing
3. They needed to defend the Gospel
a. They were to “contend earnestly for the faith”
1) “Contend” — to fight or struggle for
2) The situation required action — strong action
b. Their need to “contend” implied that there was opposition to the truth
1) The church has enemies
2) When adversaries grow bold enough to launch an offensive, Christians must be prepared to respond
c. If a women was being mugged and a policeman refused to help her until he competed the traffic ticket he was writing, the public would be out raged
1) Or, if a child was seriously injured, and the only available doctor refused to treat her until he finished his rounds, he would be dismissed for negligence
2) These principles hold true in the church — the church cannot conduct business as usual when members are under attack and eternity hangs in the balance
3) Immediate action is required
4. The power of exhortation
a. Jude began his counteroffensive by writing a letter.
1) He was writing a letter “exhorting” them
2) Writing was an important ministry in the 1st century
3) It continues to be a vital ministry today … cards, reminders, letters of encouragement…
b. Christians are under orders to encourage one another
1) Hebrews 3:13
2) Hebrews 10:24
3) 2 Timothy 4:2
c. The focus of Jude’s exhortation was to alert his readers to the danger before them
5. The once delivered faith
a. “The faith” Jude mentions does not refer to an individual’s belief as is seen in the word “delivered”
b. “The faith” is an objective body of teaching of which Jesus is the subject and source … this is Jesus’ ethical teaching and religious instruction
1) This is the system of faith revealed in the New Testament
2) They were to be standing up for and defending this faith
c. James placed strong emphasis on the faith being “once for all delivered”
1) This phrase reveals that there will not be any modern day revelation
2) All religious truth has already been revealed
3) Finally in this sermon on spiritual warfare we have…
6. The call to contend
a. The word “contend” comes from a Greek word from which we get our English word agonize
1) Thus, great effort is to be extended in standing for the truth
2) They were to put up a real fight against false teaching, giving it their all
b. God’s patriots should be concerned about soundness in the faith (Tit. 1:13), personally stand for the faith (1 Cor. 16:13), and be prepared to defend it (Jude 3).
c. Jude clearly emphasizes that doctrine does matter
1) 1 Timothy 1:3
2) Romans 16:17
d. They were to “earnestly” contend for the faith — in other words, do so with all their might
1) Titus 2:15
2) A carefree attitude in the struggle against error is sure to end in defeat
7. There is a trust to keep
a. Faith is like a baton being handed from one runner to the next in a relay race
b. Truth must be passed on from one generation to the next, and it is our duty to protect and preserve it
CONCLUSION: (End of this sermon on spiritual warfare.)
1. The time is now for all spiritual patriots to wage spiritual warfare.
2. We must declare with Paul … 2 Timothy 4:7
*Outline from Aubrey Johnson’s book “Spiritual Patriots”