Sunday 08 • 04 • 19

It's our practice to read the word out loud together. It's a newer practice we've been doing just to focus our minds on what he says to us. So if you'll join me, three, two, one, go.

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time, he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you. Be sober minded, be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the god of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen. — 1 Peter 5:6-11

Would you join me in prayer? Father, we thank you for your word. There is nothing like your word. And Lord, we thank you that this book is like no other book. And so we pray as we open it and Lord, we listen today, father, to a particularly difficult passage. We pray that you would instruct us and encourage us. We pray that you'd lift up our weary arms and our downcast faces. And Lord, remind us of your power and your glory and your presence. And we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

The Reality of Spiritual Warfare

So we just read from First Peter five about Satan, about demonic powers, and I know that this passage may be jarring for some of you. This is hard material, all this language about a real spiritual enemy who comes like a roaring lion who seeks to devour and you may be thinking, really? I didn't know I was in that kind of church this morning and yes, we are that kind of church, the kind of church that takes all the parts of this book seriously. Even the ones that are hard for us, even the ones that don't square maybe with what we would consider a modern view of the world. This is challenging material and yet, I want to ask you if you would, if you're newer to our church or if this is hard for you, I want to just ask you to have an open mind this morning.

We live in a very scientific place and a very naturalistic scientific viewpoint era in history where we view the world as the things that we see have cause and effect that we can explain. And so we're used to being able to look at things and say, surely, there's a microscope somewhere or an electron microscope somewhere or a particle collider somewhere that can give answers to some of the deep kind of mysteries of the universe. And so we read a passage like this and for modern people, it doesn't square and it's easy to have a little bit of a haughty attitude toward the Bible and say, we know better and I just want to challenge you to think about that.

There are certain realities which are unseen and which just don't measure under a microscope. I mean, if you can imagine how foolish it would have been for me this morning to be like, you know, are there any radio waves in this room? I'm waving my hand. I sure don't feel any radio waves. Do you guys feel any radio waves this morning? I don't think there are any radio waves in this room. No. That's ridiculous because this instrument with five fingers attached to it is not appropriate for picking up radio waves and in the same way, a scientific worldview, a naturalistic worldview, while there are gifts that come from that, they don't encompass all of spiritual reality. And so I want us to listen and have an open mind as Hamlet said to Horatio, there are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy. And I think that's true for us as well.

Sermon Outline

So here's my outline if you take notes. First point is devil or Tasmanian devil? Second is forewarned is forearmed and the last one is ESV, E-S-V. Okay, you'll figure that one out later on. Don't worry. I'll explain.

Understanding the Nature of Satan

So, now, notice how Peter speaks of the devil. This is not some kind of mysterious, vague force here. He speaks of an enemy, a personal, intelligent enemy who is the opponent of God, God's purposes, and God's people in the world. He speaks of an enemy that is to be resisted and yet he makes it clear—he makes it really clear to us. This is helpful for us. That this is not a universe with two equal and opposite adversaries. It's not yin yang. This is God who, he says in verse 11, has all dominion and authority and power. Everything is under God's rule and even as he talks about Satan here, I want you to understand from the very beginning, he's not saying, hey, there are just these two equal and opposite forces in the universe. God is in charge of all things. God is in charge of all things. Now, this is consistent with the rest of scripture.

Jesus talked about the devil more than anybody else. He used titles for Satan like the prince of demons, the ruler of this world. The New Testament uses other phrases like the prince of the power of the air, the god of this age.

Satan is referred to 52 times in the New Testament, which means adversary, opposer. Thirty-five times he's called the devil, which means the accuser, the slanderer. Other titles include the evil one, a roaring lion, a great red dragon, the ancient serpent.

When you put all these pieces together from Scripture, you get a picture of an intelligent personal being who is evil, who is against the purposes of God, leading a whole mass of spiritual forces against God and His people.

Two Errors About the Devil

C.S. Lewis famously said in his Screwtape Letters that there are two errors people make about the devil. One is being overly curious, and the other is to disbelieve in his existence. I think we see both of those right now in our culture.

On one hand, educated people do not believe in the demonic. It doesn't show up under the microscope. They say that's old wives' tales, old superstition. And yet on the other hand, our media is filled with the supernatural. Part of our society is saying that's not true, while the whole media industry brings us Stranger Things, movies filled with zombies, vampires, and the occult. Interest in this right now is at an all-time high, which tells us something—there's something in us that knows there may be more to this than our scientific naturalistic worldview.

The outcome of having denial on one hand and these movies and images on the other is to make Satan into a cartoon. Many non-believers fall into this category, but here's the thing: a lot of church people also fall into that category. A lot of Christians do too.

Some churches see Satan behind every rock, tree, and bush—he's always out to get them, responsible for all the things. There's an over-emphasis on the satanic which is not helpful. But on the other hand, there are a lot of Christians who don't recognize Satan or his power at all. We're so quick to blame our roommates, our spouses, the government, our parents, all kinds of other institutions for the problems in the world, and do not recognize that there is a real enemy of the people of God.

As Kevin Spacey says, "the usual suspects"—the greatest trick the devil has ever pulled is convincing the world he does not exist.

How Much Do We Actually Think About This?

I want to demonstrate this functionally for you if you're a Christian, because here's my contention: you don't think about this very much. I doubt we do.

You may be able to say yes when I ask if you believe in the demonic. But it's a different question to ask how much time you actually think about that. Do you pray for protection from evil forces, as Jesus taught us to pray in the Lord's Prayer? How much time do you actually think about the dark powers at work in this world? My contention is we don't think about this very much at all.

Most Christians, I'm afraid, treat the devil like the Tasmanian devil. There is a real animal—in Australia, in Tasmania—with big teeth that lives there. It's a real thing. But most of you probably know the other one, the cartoon character from Looney Tunes.

That's sort of how I think a lot of us think about the devil. "I believe there is a Tasmanian devil somewhere. I know it exists somewhere in the world. I'm glad it has nothing to do with my life, especially with those large teeth." Functionally, that's how we think about Satan—out there somewhere, sure it exists, but doesn't touch my life, and I'm very glad for that.

But here's the thing: it matters whether you have that view or the Bible's view on Satan.

See, in 1 Peter 4:11, Peter tells us:

Do not be surprised at the fiery trial you are going through right now as if something surprising were happening to you. — 1 Peter 4:11

I think that's a slogan we read last week, but it's a theme throughout this book. This book has been all about human suffering and the causes of suffering. So it's not a surprise then that he turns here and says, there's a real enemy who causes much of the suffering in this world. Do not be surprised. Don't be surprised that there is an enemy who brings suffering.

In the very beginning of this book, he called us to be sober minded. And here at the end of the book, again, he calls us to be sober minded because you have an enemy.

Understanding the Enemy's Work

Here's how we understand from Scripture how this enemy is at work in the world. We see that we have a spiritual adversary who accuses, who wants to discourage, to steal your joy, to disrupt your relationships. It's not always about the devil, not under every rock and tree, not responsible for everything, but he's always there.

So we read in 2 Thessalonians 2, Paul writes about how Satan thwarted his work, got in the way of his work. In 2 Corinthians 2, about Satan sowing disruption within the church, about even Christians being pulled into schemes of the enemy like chess pieces that become pawns that he uses for his work to disrupt and to sow dissension. In 1 Corinthians 7, Satan tempts believers by appealing to our sensual desires. And in Ephesians 6, Paul points out there are behind the events and actions and powers of this world, there are spiritual forces, dark spiritual forces that are at work.

Can you see that? It's my question for you this morning. I do want to rattle you because I think that for most Christians, this is just not on the radar. And I want to just ask, can you broaden your mind? Can you see there is something greater in this world than just human dysfunction and bad parenting? There's something else. We live in a war zone. Just like Stranger Things—that's exactly what I'm trying to say. You have an enemy and many of us don't even know it.

So Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 11:

We are not ignorant of his schemes. — 2 Corinthians 11

And sadly, I think that's not true for us. I think many of us are ignorant of his schemes. The old phrasing goes, to be forewarned is to be forearmed. I want us to think and listen to what Peter tells us today about how the posture we take, the way that we prepare ourselves for this fight, the way that we even understand what is happening around us.

Peter has a lot of encouragement in understanding his schemes. So let's listen to what he says. Peter first talks about the goal. He speaks here of the devil in a way that I think is very instructive for us, and about the Christian's posture toward that enemy in a way that's really helpful.

Look at verse 9:

Resist the devil. — 1 Peter 5:9

Not flee the devil, not defeat the devil, not even like what you'll hear sometimes in prayer circles among Christians, "You're called to bind the forces of evil." No. All that's in view for us is resistance. It's a defensive position.

And here's why. Because we know. We've read the end of the book. We know how the story ends. The battle is already as good as done. Satan was crippled in his powers at the cross and the resurrection and will ultimately be thrown down and destroyed by the Lord Jesus Christ at the second coming. And we know how this turns out. This is the best Disney ending there ever was. Everything will be okay. Everything is gonna be okay.

So this is why we're given this language of resist. It's not up to you to go nine rounds with Satan. You're not called to do that. You're not called to defeat the devil. You're not called to make it happen. We're called to fix our eyes on the one who has defeated and will bring to an end all of Satan and his powers. And we're called to a defensive posture.

Three Pre-Fight Self Assessments

And yet in that defensive posture, this is what we see from Peter: Peter calls us to three pre-fight self assessments. Three things: be humble, be sober minded, and be watchful. Now this is so important. Each of these are us checking ourselves before the fight.

I want you to think about a boxer. A boxer is gonna go into the ring, and he needs to have three checks before he goes in. One is a humble self assessment of his abilities. If he's a lightweight, he's not gonna go up against a welterweight or a heavyweight.

He's like, I need to know my weight class. I need to know where I can fight. Right? Humble self assessment. Second thing, he needs to have his mind sober. Here, like, mind on the fight, not mind on taxes while I go into the ring. Like, no. You've got to be focused on the fight that's at hand, and then finally, checking his eyesight. You know, the biggest thing, one of the biggest weapons a boxer has is his eyesight, his ability to see something coming. And again, be watchful, be sober minded, be humble. This is a pre-fight check.

Now most of you are not boxers. I don't know if anybody in our congregation who boxes. But so let's translate this very directly to your experience. What are you called to do if you are going to have this pre-fight assessment? Well, one is this: are you humbled before the Lord? In other words, do I know my own weaknesses? Every person in this room has areas where you are more susceptible to temptation than other people. Now, that doesn't mean that they're not different. They're very different. They're as different as the people are in this room. Some of you struggle with things that others of you will never ever struggle with. Right? But all of us have weaknesses. All of us have places where we're really susceptible. Are you humble before the Lord to be honest about that?

Second, am I sober minded? That means, am I serious about my faith? Am I serious about my faith? Am I aware that the Christian life is a hard life? It is a hard walk. Am I thinking in light of this book? Do I take my thoughts about God and about myself and about the world from this book rather than what other people say? Am I taking that in?

And then third, how's my sight? I mean, think about the boxer. Gotta be able to see. Like, am I watchful? I'm told here that I have an enemy that's going to attack me. Am I looking for an attack? The enemy attacks when we're unprepared and most susceptible. Am I watchful? Am I paying attention?

Why We Gather for Worship

See, this is what every Christian is supposed to be doing all the time. Time out. Let me ask you this question. Why do we come to worship? Why do we pray and read the Bible? Why do we have fellowship with other Christians? See, a lot of people in the South think those are ways for earning God's favor. Those are earning points with God. Those are meriting something from God. God is like, "In worship this week. Check." Right? And we know that's not true. We know from Scripture that Jesus Christ has done everything possible. Everything required to make us right with God. There's nothing we can do to improve that.

So, what are we doing here? I'll tell you what we're doing here. When we come together on Sundays, this is like us coming to the gym to work out together. We're just lifting weights. I'm like, yeah, I'm reminding myself of what's true. I'm just working that out, right? And when you open up God's Word, you're like reminding yourself. You're doing those push-ups. You're like, I'm working to get in fighting weight. Alright, like, every time you do those things, it's not because we're taking attendance and not because Jesus is taking attendance. It's because you need it. You need to remember what's true. You need to be equipped. You need to be strengthened for a fight. I need to be in shape. You need to be in fighting shape.

Look, humble, sober minded, watchful. Again, the question: do you know that you have a real enemy? Not a Tasmanian devil. A real devil. A real one.

The Nature of Our Enemy

Then finally, look at the fight here. Look at this—this is the fight that Peter prepares us for. Look at verse eight. He says this:

Your adversary, the devil, prowls like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. — 1 Peter 5:8

And that just sounds like, man, the devil is just going to come through the front door like the Mind Flayer—to just break down and just grab you. Right? Okay. Nobody saw Stranger Things Three? Come on. Y'all were binge watching Stranger Things Three. A lot of y'all. Okay? So the Mind Flayer, right? But look, if you have read Scripture, if you have any experience as a Christian, you know this is not really actually how the devil works. It's not come through the front door, rip your throat out. It's much more subtle. Much more subtle. He traffics in deception. He traffics in lies. Satan doesn't attack us with a pitchfork. He comes alongside you with the same questions that you can read in Genesis chapter three. The first man, the first woman—listen to what he does. He comes alongside you and says, distorting God's truth. You know, he came to the first man, the first woman like, "Can you really not eat from any of these trees in the garden?" Of course, that's not what God said. Distorting the truth. He comes and questions God's goodness. God's holding back on you. He comes alongside and says, "Has God really said?"

Satan comes just like he did to the first man and woman, giving false promises. "Hey, if you do this, you're going to be like God." In our lives, it comes like things are going to work out for you. This is nothing new. Satan is replaying Genesis 3 in your life on loop in all kinds of different circumstances—same tactics of distorting the truth, making God's goodness look like badness, and giving false promises.

Peter is really helpful in understanding the lies that come at us and how we deal with them. If Satan is coming at us with lies, what are they? I'm going to give you three.

Satan whispers to us in our pain. He says things like this: "I thought the Bible said that God's good and that God's all powerful. If he's both of those things, if he's all powerful, he can be taking away your pain right now. He could be removing that from you. So he must not really care about you. He might say that he does, but not really."

Lie number two: Satan whispers to us in our sufferings. What you're going through right now is unique. Other people have problems, but not what you're feeling right now. The way you feel, you've been overlooked by God. Or here's the other version: "You're being punished. Must be that thing that you did. Must be that bad relationship. Because of your secret. Maybe it's because you're a bad mom, a bad daughter, a bad son, a bad husband. Maybe it's because you're never going to get it right."

Number three: Satan whispers to us in hardship. Things like this: "Hey, this is going to go on forever. What you're experiencing right now? That's your new normal. You better strap in. God has set you up to hurt and it's never going away."

Those are lies from the evil one. What we need—what Peter gives us—is like a Wonder Woman bracelet to power. We're going to look at three of those that Peter gives us to counter these lies.

First Defense: God Cares for You

For the first lie—a God who is all powerful but not caring about you—Peter responds with verse seven:

Cast all your anxieties on him because he cares for you. — 1 Peter 5:7

That's a nice verse, even just taken out of context. I saw it cross-stitched on a bathroom wall in somebody's house in our church. But this is not a cross-stitch verse. This is a fighting Satan verse. This is what I want you to know: Peter's letter is about suffering, and this is very specific to demonic attack in the midst of suffering.

We are people—you and I—who are filled with fears and anxieties. We're filled with worry and fear. One of the most often repeated verses in the Bible is when angels come to people and say, "Do not be afraid." I need to hear that all the time. God doesn't come to us and say, "Hey, there's nothing to be afraid of." Sometimes we tell our children that and we know it's not quite true. There are lots of things in this world to be afraid of. Yet what my heart needs to hear from the Lord is "Do not be afraid."

This is where this verse invites us. God is inviting you to cast your anxieties on him. You're filled with fears—cast them on him. He invites you to move toward him in the midst of a demonic attack, of Satan coming at you to devour you. Cast your fear on him.

I know that is hard. Fears and anxieties most come at me around three or four in the morning, and it is so hard to go back to sleep. Things look worse in the middle of the night than they do in the light of day. You can't just be like, "Go back to sleep, self." That doesn't work.

One of the things I encourage you to do is start keeping a journal. It doesn't even have to be all that great.

Just a pad of paper that says, "Times when God answered my prayers. Times when God met me." And you know what? Little things are even the best things. Like, even if all you have is little things—I don't have like God bought me a new house—that's okay. Writing down little things, stick it by your bed and remind yourself: God cares for me. I can cast my cares on him. These are the evidence of when he's shown up for me. See, that's how you handle that lie.

Lie Number Two: You Are Unique in Your Suffering

Number two, you are unique in your suffering. Remember that one? You're unique. You must have done something wrong. Again, Peter doesn't want you to be defenseless. So he gives us verse nine.

Knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being endured by others all over the world. — 1 Peter 5:9

Man, that's good. Do you know why that's so good? There is an international brotherhood and sisterhood of people just like us this morning all over the world who are in our boat, who know what it's like to be you, who are also facing hardship, and who are also being told, "Hey, you're unique or God's punishing you." Man, that's helpful for me.

This is an age-old tactic of the evil one—to come at you with that kind of lie. One of my favorite Old Testament prophets is a guy named Elijah. Elijah lived at a really dark time in the history of Israel where there was a king on the throne named Ahab and his wife named Jezebel. They were promoting worship of other gods—Baal and Asherah. They were killing the people of God, people that loved God, and especially those who spoke on God's behalf. They were systematically destroying them.

There's this big showdown where Elijah squares off against the prophets of Baal, and God sends lightning and burns up the sacrifice. Ahab and Jezebel said, "You're a dead man." So Elijah runs for his life. He runs and runs, and finally he's in the middle of the wilderness by himself, filled with self-pity and exhaustion. This is what he believes: "I'm the only one left."

And God comes to him and says these words:

There are yet 7,000 people who have not bent their knee to Baal.

What was he saying to him? You're not alone. What you're going through right now, there are 7,000 others. Such encouraging words.

This is just like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, right? What does Spider-Man from each dimension need to hear? You're not the only one. You're not alone. You're not the only one who knows what it's like. This is what you need to hear this morning. You're not the only ones.

Peter is saying this to you. This is how you fight the lies. Yes, I'm not being punished. The punishment—all the punishment of God—was poured out on a cross on Jesus Christ, the Son of God. All of it used up on him. All that's left for me is God's fatherly embrace. Yes, he still disciplines his children, but he doesn't punish. I'm not being punished for what I did in my twenties. This isn't like "you're a bad mom day." It's not what God's up to. You have an enemy who's coming at you. Fight.

Lie Number Three: This Is Going to Go On Forever

Third lie: This is going to go on forever. It's always going to be like this. Again, Peter has another counter weapon for you here. Verses ten and eleven.

After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace who has called you into his eternal glory in Christ will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen. — 1 Peter 5:10-11

Why do you need to know that? You need to know, and I need to know, that there is an expiration date to your suffering. The hardships in your life, the things you're going through—the enemy comes and says, "Forever." No. That's not right. There's an expiration date. This will be over. God is going to make all things right. This will pass.

Look at the words here. If you want a verse to memorize this summer, memorize this first. Look at verse 10:

He himself will restore and confirm and strengthen and establish you.

This is a monster promise to afflicted people. I could just sit in this one. Can you hear this? Let me tell your heart this: Do you feel damaged this morning? Do you show up here feeling like damaged goods? Look, you will be restored. You're going to be made whole in parts of yourself that you didn't even know were broken. He himself will do it.

Do you doubt? It's really common for people in the church. Listen to this: He himself—you will be confirmed. You will be confirmed. He himself will do it. Do you feel weak this morning?

I mean, just like it took everything to show up here this morning. Like, I dragged myself. I do not want to be here. Do you feel weak? Listen, you will be made strong. And finally, do you wonder, am I going to make it? I mean, you're one of those people who's like, I'm having a hard time imagining next week. Am I going to make it? You will be established. See, that is a monster promise from God. He himself will do it.

Remember, who's telling us this? This is what kills me about this passage, right? Think of who is telling us. If he was sitting down having coffee with you this morning, this is the apostle Peter. This is the guy when Jesus said, "Hey, all of you are going to leave me." Peter's like, "Not me. Not going to do it." And Jesus like, "Tonight you will. And Satan has asked if he could sift you like wheat and you're going to struggle, but I'm going to restore you. And when you do so, strengthen your brothers."

Here's Peter. He's sitting down across from you having coffee and he's saying, this is true. And guess what? If I can find God faithful in that place—a place of weakness and doubt and fear—you can too. God is that good for this.

So brothers and sisters, forewarned is forearmed. Fight. Be prepared. Get your mind, your eyes, get yourself ready. Arm yourself with the truth so that when the lies come—and you know they'll come, and they're going to come in the places where you're the most weak and most susceptible—you need this word. You need this word.

The Gift of Community

Now finally, one last gift from this passage. I want you to see one thing that's not obvious in your text: how you deal with a roaring lion. These commands about resisting the devil were not written to an individual. They were written to a group of people together.

This is why I made a pitch earlier this summer. I want somebody to take the ESV, which is my favorite translation of the Bible, and upgrade it to the SESV—Southern English Standard Version—because I want all the "yous" turned into "y'alls." Because when you read the New Testament in all the letters, almost all the pronouns are y'all. They're not you. And we're people who already, as Americans, are hyper individualistic. We read this as "you and you and you and you and you." No, no, no, no, no. This is y'all. We already come to this book as if this is the "me ESV." It's all about me, right? It's all for you individually. No, no, no. This is for y'all.

And here's how that matters. Listen to the phrases here again. Y'all cast your anxieties on him. Y'all resist the devil like the roaring lion. Y'all be watchful. Do you know that one of the greatest gifts that God has given you is y'all? That is one of the greatest gifts he's given you, and resisting the enemy is other people.

See, here's where I need to upgrade my former sermon illustration where I'm talking about the boxer going in the ring, going to square off. You are never called to go nine rounds with Satan by yourself. You're not a boxer. You're part of an infantry. Like, you're with a group of people who together, as God's people, are called to resist.

Your fellow soldiers—how is this a help to you? You need people, and I need people who will pray for us and who will pray with us. I need people, and you need people who know what you're walking through and speak truth to it. "Hey, that's a lie. That is not true." Who are coming alongside you. Man, I certainly do.

Yet the Christian life was never meant to be golf. It was meant to be soccer. Like, you're on a team. This isn't a solo sport. I need you to help me resist. You need to be able to talk to someone and name the battleground and name the skirmish and name the struggle.

The best gift God has given you is one another. And you know what drives me crazy as your pastor? Everyone is so isolated in this church. I see this regularly. I don't want to overstate that. But we're not laying hold of this gift. There's a lot of loneliness and a lot of "I'm going to do this on my own" and a lot of like, "I guess I got this." You don't got this. You got brothers and sisters. And if you're not regularly calling up other people and saying, "I need you today, right now to help me resist," you're stuck. You're in a rough spot. Because one of the greatest gifts that God has given you is y'all. SESV.

You know, it's a sleepy December morning, Sunday. The alarm clock went off at 03:45 for privates George Elliot and Joseph Lockhart. They had awakened in their tent in the warmth of an Oahu night and gotten their radar fired up and scanning. About thirty minutes later, half a dozen mobile units consisting of a generator truck and a monitoring truck and an antenna and a trailer were all scattered on the same side of the island. But George and Joseph's outpost was the furthest north. Their orders were basically just to keep the equipment from being vandalized.

Their shift was from three to seven. They were given one pistol, a 45, and a couple bullets. The orders were basically just to sit in the van, keep the radar on, and make sure nobody messed with the equipment. They had no idea why they were out there. Nobody told them.

The two privates had been ordered out there for training. George would recall it was more like practice than anything else. Often with the coming of first light in the morning, they would look on the radar and see army and navy planes taking off and landing. That was about all they saw. Otherwise, it was a pretty boring assignment.

The local monthly in Hawaii had just proclaimed the state of Hawaii "a world of happiness in an ocean of peace." So George and Joe had nothing interesting to do on that Sunday. They were waiting for the breakfast truck to come and bring them breakfast, killing time. They were actually off duty—they got done at seven.

George happened to be playing with the oscilloscope. It wasn't a very developed modern piece of equipment. All it could do was show you blips. He's looking in, just sort of playing with it, and he sees this really big blip. Normally he would see smaller ones, which represent like two or three planes coming in or out. This one was enormous. An enormous force was coming.

George started to get confused. Was the equipment broken? He began to investigate all the connections, looked everything over. He didn't even know what to do. He'd been given no orders for what to do with information if something was coming in. He was so unprepared. The country was so unprepared for a war.

What I'm describing is 12/07/1941 in Hawaii—the worst day in US naval history, the attack on Pearl Harbor. It basically destroyed the entire Pacific fleet and propelled the United States into World War Two. Even though we knew there was an enemy, we were completely unprepared. We acted like there's no danger, nothing going on.

The great lesson from Pearl Harbor is simply this: when you confront a menacing opponent, you have to shed your own assumptions and think like him. So I leave you this morning with this question: Are you ready? Are you aware? Are you even prepared for the fact that we are at war, no matter what you see going on outside of you right now?

Lord God, this is a message that is hard for us to hear. We may not want to hear it, and it certainly messes with some of our categories. Yet we pray, Father, for humility to have a right self-assessment about what's going on in us and what's going on in the world. We pray, Father, Lord, that You would bind us together with other brothers and sisters. I pray, Father, for a culture of encouragement and truth-speaking and praying to grow up in our church, that we would resist together because we know the outcome is sure. Lord, we pray these things in Your name. Amen.