Will Politics Fix Our Problems

You know, think about what's going on. Think about our lives. I mean, is 2020 just an average year? Look, the battle's been there always. But think about what we're up against today. You've got people that are arguing all over masks and social distancing. And we've got all the stuff that goes with the COVID-19. And then you've got the riots on top of that. And you've got race things and you've got police things and social media censorship. And there's strife and there's death and there's all sorts of issues being brought up about Black Lives Matter and the social justice kinds of things. And white cops and we need to defund and we need to dissolve. And Donald Trump's the problem and Biden's the problem and somebody's the problem. Democrats are the problem. We basically have our rights in this country that are basically crumbling away. And this is life in this world at this time. The fact is that we know how the conditions are. We know what the situations are. And it's like, really? In the midst of all that, you're going to talk about the devil? I mean, that's how the world is. It's like, what? Seriously, we're going to look at what the Bible has to say about the devil and about these spiritual forces? Look, just listen. Some in the church have thought, well, you know what the elders in the church need to do? They need to address these things. Okay. Well, I want to address them in the way that the Apostle Paul would have us address them. You see, the problem is that we know this. We know that we've got a world out there whose all you've got to do is keep your ear to the media. You know what all those on the right say will fix this? Well, for one, Donald Trump's got to be reelected. You know what all those on the left are saying? Oh, we've got to reform or dissolve the police departments. We've got Chaz and CHOP and BLM. There's all sorts of stuff in our day that's just giving us a whole new lingo. The real issue behind all of it is China. Or it's Russia. You know what really is going to fix this problem? We've got to change our verbiage. You better not say China virus. It's like, you know what? If you listen to the media, it's flesh and blood dealing with the problem. That's always the issue. I'll tell you this, no matter what the matter is, the world doesn't realize what the matter is because the matter is spiritual. Remember the world out there? They're in the power of the evil one. And you know what? He delights in nothing more than keeping people blind to it. Oh, make it a joke. Yeah, red guy, pointed tail, pitchfork in the horns. Ha ha! The guy that comes out at Halloween. Yeah, it's not so funny. He's got the nations deceived and they're all going to be thrown in the lake of fire with him. He gets men and women to fight against the God who is their only hope. I'll tell you, he does no favors for his slaves. And he's got them blind. And the world doesn't recognize it. They've never understood what the real issue is. What? The devil? Are you serious? I mean, you imagine going out to CNN and saying, hey, this is what you need to put on tonight. Tell them the devil's behind it. You talk about being ridiculed and laughed out of the place. Come on, we're modern. We're scientific men. Man's coming to his own. I mean, man's evolving, right? Aren't we getting better? We're getting smarter. We've got all the answers. Everybody has an answer. But you listen to their answers. It's all flesh and blood answers. All of them. That's all you're going to get. The devil? That's just some superstitious hangover from our primitive days when our forefathers looked at the sun and they thought there was a God there and they looked at that rock and they looked at different things and they said, well, you know, there's gods in everything. That's all that is. We've outgrown that. We've outgrown such fantasies as that. Brethren, this is the position that a large amount of this world and our fellow men take. So what's the problem? The world says man is the problem. And listen to what they say. Well, we're really going to fix these problems. What has to happen? You know the answers. We've got to get the right politician in office. Or money. Money fixes everything. Give them money. We've only got $2,000 from a government. Do you think they can afford that? Do you think it really fixed any problems? I just heard yesterday, driving to my house, they said all sorts of people went out and bought new cars. They said car lots are now filled with repossessed cars just in this little amount of time. People that had the money to make the first payment, down payment or whatever, and they've already... They said the average car lot has 40 to 50 cars right now that have been repossessed. Yeah, money fixes everything. Well, you know what? We've got to educate. That's it. And you know what? Everybody thinks they are the teacher and they have the answer and they want to educate you. But you know the problem is nobody's listening to anybody else. People over here are saying this and people over here are saying... We are so polarized. Hatred and strife. But you know what everybody says? The solution? Yeah, it's the police. Reform the police or defund them. That's going to fix the problem. Yeah, that's going to fix the problem. Anarchy will really fix the problem. But brethren, you can think whatever you want. You can think Donald Trump's the problem. You can think Donald Trump's the solution. Listen, men have always looked to the politicians. You remember when Obama came in, they were calling him the Messiah. Why don't they still call him that? Because he didn't fix anything. It's still as messed up as it's ever been. Why? This isn't a flesh and blood battle, folks. That's not where it's to be taught or fought. How do we remedy all this? Oh, we need a vaccine. Brethren, it's not it. We need to make progress as men. I mean, we need to be advanced. But brethren, the fact is we can't fix this. Do you know some people are... We've got cities that are emptying their jails and emptying their prisons. Is that going to fix it? Do you hear what happens in New York? They let these people out. They've arrested some of these people like... I heard they were arresting some people like 40 times because they've got a no-hold policy. They arrest them and let them go. They go out and commit another crime. Does this really fix anything? Oh, and you know what? Because men are so short-sighted and so blind, I'll tell you this, a lot of people think socialism, that's what fixes it. Communism, that's what fixes it. Oh, if you don't think we're not headed in that direction, you just wait and watch. And see, the thing is, every place man is, he recognizes it's not fixed. It's broken. And so he's always looking for some new thing. Some say, it's our guns. Got to get rid of guns. Some people say, we've got to keep our guns. Some people say, we've got to build a wall. Some people say, we don't have to build a wall. But you see, it's all physical. It's flesh and blood. And you know what? The world, at the same time, the spiritual realm is entirely banished from their mindset. You don't see anything on social media about it. You don't see anything in the news about it. And you can go to the conservative. You can go to your Fox News. They're not talking about the Lord. They're not talking about this battle. It doesn't matter where you go. No. The problem is that you've got dupes all the way around. They're held captive by them. And they're liberal and they're conservative and they're black and they're white and every other color. And they're deceived. And he's got the nations deceived. And you know what the big problem is? It's not when the world believes this. It's when you believe it. You get people in the church. If you listen to them, they sound just like the world. They sound just like the garbage on the media, the social media. That's where the tragedy is. That's where the problem is. When people in the church begin to think that the same kind of flesh and blood type of reactions to these things is what fixes it. Brethren, there is a dragon. And Scripture says he's the deceiver of the whole world. This is what you've got to get, brethren. This is what I want to drive home in this introduction. This is a spiritual battle. It is a spiritual foe. It's got to be fought in a spiritual fashion with spiritual understanding. And we've got to equip ourselves with spiritual weapons. And if you try to use the world's mechanics and its arguments, and you are sounding like, why do Christians do that? Well, they want to feel relevant. Why? Come on, I can't get involved in the discussions on Facebook. If I sound too spiritual, I've got to sound like the world. Why? Half the people there, they're arguing that way. And you get sucked in. And so what you do is you start playing that game. Oh, the devil loves that. Because what you do is you're beginning to take upon yourselves these weapons that will never avail against him. That's what he wants. Brethren, I'll tell you this, he wants to disarm us and he wants to put us to sleep. Don't go down that path. This is a spiritual battle in the midst of all this confusion. Everyone failing. Everyone falling. What the Apostle assures us of is this, that we Christians can stand when everyone else is falling. When everyone else is failing. The tragedy is that when Christian church or portions of it or people within it, instead of identifying the true problem... Because here's the thing, if you identify the true problem, you can identify the remedy. But if you start misdiagnosing the problem and then you start coming up with worldly remedies, you are ill-equipped to fight this battle because you'll not win. You better remember this, there's only one people in all this world that have been given the ability to stand and be victorious. More than conquerors in this battle for the souls of men. And it's us. And if you get your eyes off what that armor of God is, you're doomed for failure. There's a way to fight. And there's a way to defeat. The last thing we want is to get people in the church demanding that the pulpit sound like the media. That's not where we need to go. Using the arguments. It's pathetic. The business of the Christian church is to get down to the root of the problem. Oh, there's problems. We all know that. And the problems run deep. But how deep? Deeper than the media would argue for. The church alone that can do it, that can get to the root of it, that can diagnose it, and that can do something about it. But to do so, you know what? It's going to make you the laughingstock. The world will ridicule you. They'll count you an idiot. You know one of the best indications? You that spend a lot of time bantering all these opinions around on social media. Look at the worldly people on there. Do they call you an idiot? Do they look at what you have to say and laugh at you and mock you and scorn you? That's a good indication you're on the right path. If you're basically sucking into their same arguments and sucking up to those arguments and rehashing those arguments that are very worldly, well, no, you'll get applauded. They'll love you. What's the problem in the world? What's the ultimate cause of the problems? And what Paul is saying is it's not flesh and blood. The following excerpt was taken from the full sermon, The Christian's Call to Battle, An Introduction.