Weekly Lesson 7

CHOOSING SIDES


We’ve been talking a lot about being a good team member. But the most important thing we can do is to choose the right team we want to be a part of. After all, if we’re not on Jesus’ team we have already lost the battle for our soul and our eternal place in heaven.

2 Timothy 2:3-5
3 Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. 5 Also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules.


THERE IS A WAR BEING WAGED THAT IS MUCH BIGGER THAN YOU ARE!
It’s a war for your heart, for your mind, for your very soul. The Bible tells us in 

Ephesians 6:12,
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

There seem to be a lot of people who think that other people are the enemies in life: young people might think it’s their parents, their teachers, or their pastors. Adults might see any number of people this way. Some might identify drugs or alcohol or government or employers as the enemy.

At the head of the evil spiritual Army, we face Satan, who hates you, and he would like to destroy you and me. I know you’ve heard it a thousand times, but Satan is your enemy, and he hates you with all his being. It makes no difference whether you’re lost or saved – he hates you, and he wants to destroy your life and keep you from being what God has created you to be. He wants to keep those who have never been saved, who have never placed their faith in Christ from being saved. He wants to keep those who are saved, who are children of God, from living for Him.

You see, before he sinned, Lucifer was a beautiful angel of God who was given great wisdom and talent. He was a leader of angels and was one of God’s masterpieces in the angelic realm. To behold, Lucifer was to see a magnificent sight, but the problem was that he knew it. He wanted his team. He wanted to be like God.

As a result of his pride and rebellion against God, Lucifer was judged. He was cast out of heaven to the earth, and he stands condemned to spend eternity in hell. The Bible tells us about a day in the future when Jesus will cast Satan and his wicked angels into the pits of hell never to be freed again, but in the meantime, he is waging a war that you and I are caught up in whether we like it or not.

Here’s the picture you ought to get. Remember from the old wars how armies would line up on opposite sides of a field as they did in the Civil War or the Revolutionary War? You’d see all these soldiers lined up with the generals in the back and the kings commanding from a castle somewhere. Imagine yourself on one of those two sides. Those kings and generals are fighting over you and me and where we will spend eternity.

ARE YOU ON THE RIGHT SIDE? HAVE YOU JOINED THE ARMY OF JESUS?
YOU’RE A SOLDIER TODAY WHETHER YOU WANTED TO BE OR NOT

Here’s the reality – there are only two sides. There is God’s side, those who are numbered among the saved, the children of God, who have accepted Jesus as Savior and Lord and the side of the enemy, the devil, and those who are lost are among his people. There are no other sides. There are no alternatives.


CHOOSE SIDES TODAY!!

Go to Romans Road to Salvation and/or Prayer of Rededication

Christ Centered Champions

Christ Centered Champions

We are more than champions through him who loved us. Romans 8:37