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Would The Solders Still Say this
Was Worth Fighting For?
Eph 6:13-14

Introduction Red Skelton's Pledge Of Allegiance
When I was a small boy in Indiana, I heard, I think, one of the most outstanding speeches I have ever heard in my life. We had just finished reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, and he called us all together. And he says:

"Boys and girls, I have been listening to you recite the Pledge of Allegiance all semester and it seems that it has become monotonous to you. Or could it be, you do not understand the meaning of each word. If I may, I would like to recite the Pledge and give you a definition for each word:

Since This day in a school room class the words UNDER GOD have been added.     Now let me hear you recite the Pledge of Allegiance: Do it with meaning!

Several years ago their was a song titled "This Was Worth Fighting For". I want to evaluate the question was this worth fighting for.
 
 

A.    Resist With the Full . . Armor.
                "Therefore, take up the full armor of God,. . . "

Illustration 1 Sam 17:43-47
43 And the Philistine said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.    44 The Philistine also said to David, "Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field."    45 Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted. 46 "This day the LORD will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the LORD'S and He will give you into our hands." (NAS)
 

Illustration
A motorist was mailed a picture of his car speeding through an automated radar. A $40 speeding ticket was included. Being cute, he sent the police department a picture of $40. The police responded with another mailed photo-of handcuffs.

You see he needed to understand all of the weapons available in his fight.

B.    Resist With the Full Appreciation.
            ". . . that you may be able to resist in the evil day,. . . "

        1.    When is this Evil Day?
            a.    When Youth Bomb Schools?
            b.    When Men think Genetic Cleansing is fine?
            c.    When Ex. Husbands Shoot at Ex Wives?
            d.    When TV Shows and Movies are Corrupt.
            e.    When Humans act like animals?
            f.    When there is an attack on God's Word?
            g.    When they say Homosexuality is Normal?
            h.    When Abortion is simply a Woman's choice?
 

Illustration
Firefighters, responding to reports from a passerby, rescued a 5-month old baby from a coin operated locker in Kawasaki Japan, outside Tokyo. The parents had put the infant in the locker so they could go have dinner at a restaurant.

The baby was uninjured when she was wrenched from her 13 inch by 13 inch by 24 inch deep incarceration. Source: adapted from a report in the Denver Post newspaper, Sunday, May 2, 1999

We are in an Evil Day.

Are you and I Resisting the Evil?
 

Application

It time we get back to using that term "evil" in our society. Years ago, liberals forced the word out of the public lexicon. It is time we reintroduce it. We are depraved -- sinners, lost and without God. But God in His grace has offered salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. Only in Him can we have the life transforming
righteousness of God.
 

A.    Realize the Need for A . . Stand In Fullness. v 13 b
                ". . . and having done everything, to stand firm.

        1.    Paul encourages us to do Everything in our Stand.
        2.    What is everything? It is Everything.
                    a.    Prayed Up
                    b.    Read Up
                    c.    Thought Up.
                    d.    Worked Up.
 

Illustration
When our girls were young quite often they would be told to find something in their rooms. They would come and say "I can't find it." I would say "have you done every thing you can to find it"? They would answer "yes I have". Then I would say "Okay if your sure I will look but If I look and find it easily then you will get a spanking is that okay or do you want to take a better look"?

Do you know the second time they look with just a little more motivation and usually they found what they were looking for.

B.    Realize the Need for A . . Stand In Firmness. v 14 a
            ". . . Stand firm therefore, . . . "

1 Cor 16:13 Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. (NAS)

Eph 6:11 Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. (NAS)

Phil 4:1 Therefore, my beloved brethren whom I long {to see} my joy and crown, so stand firm in the Lord, my beloved. (NAS)

II Th 2:15 So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word {of mouth} or by letter from us. (NAS)

1 Pet 5:12 Through Silvanus, our faithful brother (for so I regard {him} , I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it! (NAS)
 

ILLUSTRATION: From CNN Crossfire May 27
Senator Alan SPECTER said: "The purpose in indicting President Milosevic is to make a real precedent out of what is going on here, so that in the future if somebody wants to engage in ethnic cleansing, a rather polite word for massacres, that they will know that they're not going to get immunity or get plea bargaining because the civilized world will not tolerate it. . . . He has killed too many people, he has extracted too much violence. If you give him immunity, it's an open invitation to the next Milosevic. We are standing firm on this."
 

ILLUSTRATION:
Sometime back, the Denver Post reported this story: Like many sheep ranchers in the West, Lexy Lowler has tried just about everything to stop crafty coyotes from killing her sheep. She has used odor sprays, electric fences, and scare-coyotes. She has slept with her lambs during the summer and has placed battery-operated radios near them. She has corralled them at night, herded them at day. But the southern Montana rancher has lost scores of lambs--fifty last year alone.

Then she discovered the llama--the aggressive, funny-looking, afraid-of-nothing llama. "Llamas don't appear to be afraid of anything," she said. "When they see something, they put their head up and walk straight toward it. That is aggressive behavior as far as the coyote is concerned, and they won't have anything to do with thatCoyotes are opportunists, and llamas take that opportunity away."

Application

The Llamas stand firm Have we done everything we can to stand firm?

Vines N. T. Dictionary RIGHTEOUSNESS
1. dikaiosune ^1343^ is "the character or quality of being right or just"; it was formerly spelled "rightwiseness," which clearly expresses the meaning.

Matt 5:6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. (NAS)

Matt 5:20 "For I say to you, that unless your righteousness surpasses {that} of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. (NAS)

Eph 5:15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, (KJV)

Illustration
If I took a box of Cheerios and took my hand and put it in that box of Cheerios and just threw those Cheerios all over the kitchen floor and I called the cat. Have you ever seen a cat do this? The most remarkable thing to me is that cat can walk across that floor and not step on a single Cheerio.

Do you know why? That's what it means to walk circumspectly. She kind of looks out ahead of her and she maps out a course and she knows just where to put her foot down. She doesn't have to look below her for every foot. She puts her foot down where she knows there is not a Cheerio. That cat will never step on a Cheerio.
 

Application

Righteous People have a concern about their Walk and Talk. Every expression of their personality for Christ.
 

1.    It Is Worth Fighting For With A . . Resisting Stand.

2.    It Is Worth Fighting For With A . . Realistic Stand

3.    It Is Worth Fighting For With A . . Righteous Stand.