In December 1941 much of the world was at war, but the United States had not entered it yet. The thoughts of most Americans were centered on the upcoming Christmas season – no one wanted to think about what was happening in France and Austria under German occupation – it was someone else’s war, far away from our shores. No where did it seem farther away than from the beautiful shores of Hawaii.  But America had an enemy, though we tried our best not to believe it or think about it. Regardless of the denial and wishful thinking of most Americans, the empire of Japan had very specific plans - plans to inflict a crippling blow to the United States.

[Video Clip Pearl Harbor Sunday morning, December 7, 1941 – Life goes on oblivious to the attack about to begin…]

The images in the clip from the movie Pearl Harbor are very powerful and very telling - people waking up on Sunday morning, kids playing ball, guys fishing on a pier, men sleeping in their bunks, little girls running with angel’s wings on their backs a few headed off to church…

The American people were living as if they had no enemy, as if they had nothing to fear – but despite what they thought, despite their ignorance, there was a very real enemy planning their destruction.

How that describes the church today! People playing games, lying on their racks, or running around with their “wings” in place – excited about holidays but ignorant of holy lives - completely oblivious to the enemy lurking just over the horizon, bent on their destruction.

The devastation that was Pearl Harbor has been a powerful symbol for over 60 years - a symbol of what can happen when we are unprepared and choose to ignore the reality of our enemy and the enemies attack. In our own lifetime we have seen a similar reality on September 11, 2001. Just as our national enemies carefully lay a strategic plan for crippling the United States, Satan & his demons are scheming to cripple you, your family and your church.

I Second Corinthians chapter 10, beginning with verse 3, Paul reminds us in vivid terms of the reality of our situation. He writes,

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

You may feel like you have been subjected to incredible obstacles – some of us here have – but no matter what struggle you have faced in this world – financial, physical, emotional or relational – the real battle is spiritual – and if we do not recognize it, and engage in that spiritual battle, then we are likely to be overwhelmed by our enemy’s relentless attack.

Paul tells us that the weapons we must use in this Spiritual realm are not of this world. The solution to your crisis is not a better budget, Dr. Phil’s newest book, or the latest diet and exercise routine. Those efforts may address the symptoms of our warfare, but they will not address the root cause – the battles we face must be engaged on the spirit level.

Ø Addictions – drugs, alcohol, pornography, food

Ø Lies – “stinkin’ thinkin’”

Ø Discord – anger, bitterness, self-pity, jealousy

Paul says that we are able to demolish these strongholds – and even more. We are able to “demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God…” The enemy of our souls wants to do all he can to prevent us from knowing God. Have you noticed the arrogance with which the world is more and more setting itself against the things of God? Smug “scholars” dismiss Biblical history – even while archaeology continues to confirm the Biblical record. In our schools and universities, students or even teachers who believe the Bible are seen as ignorant, misinformed or naïve. When Paul describes “arguments and pretensions” against the knowledge of God, that is exactly what he is describing.

Paul further says that we can “take captive every thought, and make it obedient to Christ.” If the other battles we looked at were intimidating, this one eclipses them all. If we had any trouble seeing the previous strongholds as needing the “divine power” Paul speaks of – this one is obvious.

So how do we do it? I think we’d all love to have the kind of victory Paul is speaking of here – tearing down the enemy strongholds, demolishing arguments and arrogant attacks on the gospel, taking our every thought captive to obedience to Christ – wouldn’t we love that in our lives? How is it possible? What are these weapons that we fight with – weapons that have “divine power?”

Last week, when we talked about the Priority of Prayer, we referred to another of Paul’s letter – the one written to the Ephesian church. If you would, turn in your Bibles a little further toward the end of the book (in my Bible it’s only about 12 pages), and you will find the letter to the Ephesians. In chapter 6 of that letter, we have Paul’s description of the armor of God – verses 10-20. 

In Eph 6:10-18 - Paul listed the whole armor of God.
The belt, breastplate, shield, shoes and helmet are all defensive, protective pieces of amour intended to keep us from being injured by the weapons of the evil one. Only one piece of the armor is an offensive weapon – the sword. Verse 17, “…And take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.” The “Sword of the Spirit” – clearly identified as the Word of God, is the only offensive weapon listed in the whole armor of God.

In the book of Hebrews we also see the Word of God compared to a sword – it says, “The word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow, it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

When Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness, He fought back with the Word of God. Each time Satan tempted Him, he replied, “It is written…” and was victorious in the battle. Obviously the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, is one of the weapons of our warfare. It is not a weapon of the world, it has divine power, it gives us the knowledge of God, and it is a primary means of taking our thoughts captive to obedience to Christ – it is through the Word that we know the will of God so that we can be obedient to it.

So the Bible is one of the weapons with which we fight. In 2 Cor 10:4, however, Paul says, “The weapons we fight with…” It is in the plural form. What would the other primary weapon(s) be? There may be others, but I believe that the one that is absolutely necessary for our battle is the weapon of prayer.

Jesus also used this weapon against Satan. In Luke 22:31&32, Jesus said to Peter, “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you like wheat…” Imagine being Peter at that moment! The Son of God tells you that Satan has asked to sift you like wheat – not a very comfortable vision – and Jesus does not say, “But I wont let it happen!” No, He says, “But I have prayed for you!” What a mix of terror and reassurance that must have been. We need to learn from that little episode – we are not always spared the sifting of the enemy – but Jesus prays for us, and we can use the weapon of prayer ourselves.

In Ephesians 6, as we said last week, right after the words about the sword of the Spirit as the Word of God (verse 17), Paul writes (verse 18) “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel. ”
Again, these are words spoken in warfare – “Alert, boldly, fearlessly…” There is an aggressive, offensive tone to that paragraph. When we pray, we do battle. When we hit our knees, we tear down fortresses! When we call upon the Lord, acknowledge our dependence on Him, we demolish arguments and lofty things! When we pray, we take our thoughts of fear, and confusion and self reliance, and we take them captive – and we submit to Christ in obedience! We fight when we pray. We fight on our knees! Last week we talked about making prayer a priority – the first place we turn in times of trouble. Today we recognize the Power of Prayer – power to destroy and demolish and take captive – a powerful weapon for the warrior of God in service to the kingdom of God!
 

Oh, how the church needs to be shaken from its Sunday morning lethargy! Just as on December 7, 1941, when America slept while the enemy planned, and trained, and attacked; today the church is asleep – ignorant of the strength, intentions and relentless nature of our enemy. We are asleep on watch – derelict in our duties. We play while the enemy approaches. We sleep in late - this week I saw the last couple minutes of Family Feud and one of the questions was “Name a day that people like to sleep in.” You know what the number one answer was? Sunday morning! 52% said that they like to sleep in on Sunday morning. We sleep in late while our enemy prepares. Some of us dress up and run off to church – little spiritual wings and halos firmly attached for all to see – yet we are not engaging our enemy, nor are we prepared to engage him!

 On December 7, 1941, our lack of readiness cost the lives of 2403 Americans, with another 1200 wounded. It took that great an attack, that staggering a loss, to wake up the American people from their apathy and lassitude. Every day, thousands pass into a Christ-less eternity and thousands more are spiritually wounded by the attacks of Satan – and far too often we counter with another children’s program, a snappy new praise song, or some new marketing strategy – when we really need to be taking the weapons of our warfare – Spirit-led prayer and the living Word of God - and engaging the enemy!  

May God make us a people of prayer! It is time for us to become a people of prayer! Will you answer the call? 

Let’s determine that we will NOT take the summer off! We will not give the enemy an inch of territory without a fight! We will NOT give him an open door to our families, community and our church! Let’s take up our divinely powerful weapons and tear down some strongholds! Let’s demolish some high places! Let’s take every thought captive to obedience to Christ!

I have a sheets here at the front. I want to ask that during the closing song, if you are willing to unleash the power of prayer in this community and in this church, that you would come down and sign up for one day a week to pray for your church. Just come down here, sign up for one day – and then wait here at the front until we close with prayer together.

I know that with the Memorial Day holiday this weekend, we are a much smaller number gathered here today – but you know what I believe? I believe that God has exactly who He wants to be here today – and I believe that Spiritual victory is not about physical numbers – it’s about divine dependence. Let’s commit – we few – to faithfully waging war against our enemy.