Articles

Articles

A Spiritual Seige - 12.8.2024 Bulletin

A Spiritual Siege

I recently used an example in one of my sermons, illustrating that a Christian enduring temptations is like enduring a siege. To expand a bit more on that, let's consider what a siege is. In the days of castles and fortresses, nations would siege other nations, wherein the besieging army surrounds the castle and stops any supplies from getting in or out. This is because castles were fortified bastions that were very difficult to breach, so the attacking army might prefer to siege them and basically try to outlast the castle. As such, a siege could take months or years to complete, if the castle was able to grow food and retrieve water inside their own walls. The besieging army has to make sure no aid gets into the castle and that the castle is not able to send anyone out to request aid, or to drive the besieging army back.

The main point I want to emphasize is how a siege is not won by a single decisive battle. It's not over just because the attackers managed to breach a wall: they essentially have to outlast the castle defender' will to fight, and that could take a long time. Such is the nature of Satan's attacks against Christians. As long as we are on this Earth, Satan will never "give up and go home", but even he realizes that the more faith a Christian has, the harder they will be to tempt into sin. If you are a faithful Christian walking in the Light, you won't fall away from God because of one single sin you stumbled in; all you have to do is ask forgiveness and get back on track (1 John 1:7-9). That's why the world, which is on Satan's side, has to engage in a spiritual siege. Breaking the will of a devout Christian is no easy task, and it won't be done through a single moment of indiscretion. No, if the world is to successfully siege a Christian, it will take time. Remember what 2 Peter 2:4-9 says about Lot. We all know how sinful Sodom and Gomorrah were, and Lot and his family were literally the only righteous ones in the middle of it all. Peter called Lot righteous, and he was on his own against an entire city of sin. For whatever we can say about Lot's decision to go to Sodom, the Bible says he was righteous. I'm sure we could safely say Lot was suffering a spiritual siege from all the men of Sodom, and even a physical siege when they surrounded his house to draw him out. Yet as Peter says, God delivered Lot from the wicked city. He delivered Lot from his spiritual siege, and should we think God will not do the same for us today?

Yet that is why it is critical we not isolate ourselves from faithful brothers and sisters. It's a lot easier to withstand the devil's temptation when you have others standing with you and helping to strengthen you. Shadrach, Meshach and Abeg-nego had each other's strength to draw upon when they refused to bow before Nebuchadnezzar's idol. Joshua and Caleb were able to draw strength from each other while the other 10 spies were getting ready to stone them. Luke 22:43 says that an angel from Heaven appeared to strengthen even Jesus when He prayed in the garden. If even Jesus needed to ask for and accept assistance and strengthening from God while He was on Earth, certainly we should as well.

But what if we end up in a situation like Lot or like Noah, where we truly are the only faithful one's left we can find in our area? Normally this is the part where I would point to Elijah, and when God told him there were 7,000 who had not bowed before Baal. But in Noah's case, there were only 7 others who were righteous. In Lot's case, he only had his immediate household to strengthen him. In Joseph's case, he was sold as a slave by his own brothers to go into a pagan land; he didn't even have a small group like Shadrach, Meshach, Abed-nego and Daniel did. Sometimes we are the only faithful ones we can find. That doesn't mean there aren't more faithful Christians in the world... but sometimes you might be the only light in the darkness in your area. That is why ultimately, you must be responsible for your own righteousness. You must be responsible for your own faith, and you must strengthen yourself so that you can stand. It is always preferable to have others to stand with you. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 talks about the value of having more than 1 to stand with you.

But sometimes, we may have to be that "one man army" for God, and stand alone against Satan's siege. May our faith be so unshakable as to defy his wrath.

DY

  1. Sunday AM Bible Study
    1/12/25 09:00am
  2. Sunday AM Worship
    1/12/25 10:00am
  3. Sunday PM Worship
    1/12/25 05:00pm
  4. Wednesday Bible Study
    1/15/25 07:00pm
  5. Monthly Song Service
    1/15/25 07:00pm
  6. View Full Calendar