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You are in a war! Your eternal life depends on the outcome! Read in this article what and how to fight.

      Everybody likes a fight. No one knows this better than movie producers. That’s why nearly every western, spy thriller, or even comedy situation has its fight scene. In many cases the picture builds up dramatically to the big fight—the all-out fist fight—where tables, chairs, windows, posts, bottles and nearly every other thing in sight is smashed to pieces.

      People love it. But most don’t know why. Children love fights. Witness their fighting nature on any playground or school yard. Even women like fights. Take a look at the front row seats of any boxing or wrestling event. Listen to the high-pitched screams from the audience as women fight fans get very involved with their favorite contestant.

A Part of Human Nature

Believe it or not, YAHWEH made us fighting beings. He put it in man’s nature to want to fight and conquer. In fact, we cannot be happy without fighting and conquering.

The problem is that most do not know WHAT to fight. We fight the wrong things. We want to fight other people. We become jealous, envious of others. We quarrel with our mates.

People want to fight all right—but they want to fight other people. And although YAHWEH made us fighting creatures, He commands us to live in peace.

Notice: YAHWEH says, “Follow peace with all men” (Heb 12:14). And again, He says, “Be at peace among yourselves” (1st Thess 5:13). YAHWEH admonishes us again, “So, then let us pursue the things of peace, and the things for building up one another” (Romans 14:19).

Not Flesh and Blood

YAHWEH intends that we fight! But He does not want us to fight other people and especially not our own brethren—the other children of YAHWEH!

“For the rest, my brothers, be made powerful in our Master and in the might of His strength. Put on all the armor of YAHWEH, for you to be able to stand against the strategies of the devil. FOR OUR CONFLICT IS NOT WITH FLESH AND BLOOD, but with principalities, and with those in authority, and with the possessors of this dark world, and with the evil spirits that are beneath heaven” (Eph 6:10-12).

You have enemies—vicious, clever, murderous enemies. They are spirit beings—demons— who are fighting you on a spiritual front. They are assaulting you—causing doubt, division, discouragement.

Nothing gives the demons more pleasure than to divert your energy and attention from the spiritual fight and to see you get involved in a battle against other brethren. Jealousy, envy, hard feelings greatly please them.

YAHWEH intends for you to fight—but not on your own strength. You have to take the whole armor of YAHWEH—He supplies the tools and means for you to battle against the devil and his demons.

The day you were baptized, the enemy—Satan and his demons—set out to kill you spiritually. They are relentless in this pursuit. Therefore, YAHWEH admonishes you to use His armor and to FIGHT!

Here are the weapons of YAHWEH’s warfare. YAHWEH gives us the truth with which to gird our loins, and righteousness as a breastplate. Our feet are encased with the preparation of the Good News of peace. And we have a shield to protect us from the darts of the wicked. That shield is made of faith. Our head is covered with the helmet of salvation—hope for eternal life and our looking forward to entry into YAHWEH’s Kingdom. And one of our most powerful weapons is the sword YAHWEH has given us. That sword is the Word of YAHWEH. Besides all this, Believers must pray for one another and help one another in this all-out struggle for eternal life. See Eph 6:14-18.

The Second Battle Front

Yes, the devil is our enemy. We have to fight him and the demons. But there is more.

In Romans 12:2 we read, “And be not conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, in order to prove by you what is the good and pleasing and perfect will of YAHWEH.”

Notice! Believers are to keep from being conformed to this world. And that’s not easy to do!

The society around us—its attitudes, way of doing things, trends, styles, government policies, ideologies, religious and educational philosophies—these are all lumped into one gigantic pressure, which the Bible refers to as “this world.” The world is like a gigantic press trying to squeeze us, conform us—into its patterns.

Believers are told, “Come out of her, My people” (Rev 18:4).

There is only one way for you to keep from being crushed and conformed by this world. You have to fight it! The world never ceases to pressure you into the wrong way. It reaches out for you—constantly putting pressure on you—through the media, television, radio, advertisements, books and magazines, and associations with other people. And the world is reaching out to grab your children. You need to fight for your family as well as for your own life!

There is a war going on—a war in which you can be made a slave. If you don’t fight, you will not win.

The Third Battle Front

You not only have to fight the devil and his demons and to fight to resist the pulls and pressures of this world, you also have to fight another very powerful and insidious enemy. That enemy is your own human nature.

Here’s how the Apostle Paul describes this war. “I find therefore that the Torah agrees with my conscience, when I desire to do good, but evil is always near, distracting me. For I delight in the Torah of YAHWEH according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members having warred against the law of my mind, and taking me captive by the law of sin being in my members” (Romans 7:21-23).

There is a war going on inside every Believer. A fight against human nature! Human nature resists you in your efforts to do good. It is a pull in the opposite direction—trying to pull you into the way of sin—warring against you!

Paul further explains this battle in Galatians 5:17. “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are opposed to one another; so you are not able to do as you desire.”

When you were converted, you received the Holy Spirit of YAHWEH. That Spirit imparted to you the divine nature of YAHWEH. But you are still flesh. You are human. You are filled with the nature of man—human nature. The spirit and the flesh are contrary—enmity is constantly present. There is an antagonism between the things of YAHWEH and the things of the flesh.

They actually thrust themselves one against the other.

In other words, there is a constant war going on—your human nature pulling on you trying to maintain your bondage to sin—and the divine nature leading—showing the way through the Laws of YAHWEH.

YOU MUST FIGHT YOUR HUMAN NATURE! YOU MUST RESIST THE PULLS OF THE FLESH! And it is a battle!

The Principles of Warfare

The day you were baptized you were drafted into a war—a spiritual war. On that day YAHWEH made available to you the equipment with which to fight on the three battle fronts—the demons, the world, and your human nature.

But it is difficult for us to recognize that we are truly in a war. And we fail to conduct ourselves like the Disciple soldiers we should be.

YAHWEH gives important principles for soldiers. Notice. “Then you suffer hardship as a good soldier of Yahshua Messiah” (2nd Tim 2:3).

Here is one of the first principles a soldier must learn. He must be willing to “endure hardness.” Look at our men in Vietnam. They have to be willing to slosh through mud, endure jungle heat, fight insects and jungle rot, and put up with uncomfortable sleeping conditions and canned food.

What if a soldier had this attitude? “I’ll fight for my country if I can have my three hot meals a day, box spring and mattress, warm fire and stuffed easy chair at night. And I don’t mind the shooting as long as it’s not in the rain or under muddy conditions. And, I can’t stand blood, nor can I afford to miss my favorite TV programs on Sunday night!”

Well, such statements are laughable when you think of them coming from a soldier. But what about yourself? Are you willing to endure hardness?

Or do you say, “I’m willing to be a Believer as long as everything goes all right”?

As a soldier of Yahshua Messiah you must be willing to endure hardness—go through trials— and still keep fighting the enemy. You must recognize that there will be obstacles to hurdle, problems to overcome. But you are made for this! And with YAHWEH’s help you can conquer!

Notice another principle in warfare. “NO ONE SERVING AS A SOLDIER ENTANGLES HIMSELF WITH THE AFFAIRS OF THIS LIFE, so that he might please the one having enlisted him” (2nd Tim 2:4).

In World War 2 both the Germans and the Japanese realized the importance of this principle of warfare. Thus, the Germans used Axis Sally and the Japanese used Tokyo Rose to cause American soldiers to violate this cardinal principle of war.

Here’s how it worked. Tokyo Rose would broadcast over frequencies readily available to American troops. She would play American music—the kind that GI’s liked to listen to. She would talk in her soft, sexy voice to the GI’s themselves. Sometimes she had factual information and other times she made up names and places. Her object was to get the minds of the American fighting men onto their problems back home.

To do this she sought to bring about doubts in their minds as to the fidelity of their wives and sweethearts. She would say things like this: “Why should you soldiers be fighting out here for a lost cause? Why should you have to go through all this suffering while other men back home are taking your wife out to dinner and dancing? Hey, Bill, do you know who’s dating your girl now? And Johnny, your wife has seen your best friend for the last three nights.”

Many of the soldiers just laughed at the statements by Tokyo Rose and Axis Sally. But a good number were actually affected. They got to thinking about the last letter they received from their wife or sweetheart. They began to entangle themselves with the affairs of this life— the problems back home. And the next day on the battlefield their attention was not totally on the war. As a consequence, many were killed or wounded.

Since the devil knows this principle of warfare, it is his purpose to see to it that we become concerned with the affairs of this life. He would like to see us bog down—get our minds on our finances, our relatives, gossip in the local congregation, our little problems, and to relax in this fight for eternal life.

WE CAN’T GET OUR MINDS OFF THE WARFARE AND ONTO THE AFFAIRS OF THIS LIFE, OR WE WILL SURELY BE KILLED!

Reward Goes to the Winners

In YAHWEH’s Congregation we hear a lot about overcoming. But do we get the real meaning of this term?

Both the Greek word used in the New Testament writings and the English word “overcome” mean “to conquer.”

Now notice Yahshua Messiah’s statement in Revelation 2:26 “And the one overcoming, and the one keeping My works until the end, “I will give to him authority over the nations.”

Who gets power over the nations? Who will rule with Yahshua in His Kingdom? Who receives the prize? Does it go to the losers?

“The one overcoming, I will give to him to sit with Me in My throne, as I also overcame and sat with My Father in His throne” (Rev 3:21). Who gets to sit with Yahshua on His Throne? To whom does this reward go? It goes to the conquerors—the ones who win in this warfare.

Have you ever seen a boxing match, wrestling match, football game, basketball game or other sporting event where the cup or prize or crown went to the loser? Losers just don’t win!

And if we lose in this fight, it will mean that we have been conquered.

Yahweh makes this statement in Revelation 21:7. “The one overcoming will inherit all things, and I will be Elohim to him, and he will be the son to Me.”

Notice the prize! To the conquerors goes the grand prize—inheritance of all things. It is a joint inheritance with Yahshua Messiah, who is the Great Conqueror!

Yahshua Messiah was the greatest warrior that ever lived. He met the devil on a spiritual battle front unparalleled in history. He conquered. He went up against His own human nature time and again and came out the victor. He resisted this world—fighting against its pressures all of His life. He was victorious!

But He did none of these things on His own strength. He Himself said that by Himself and of Himself, He could do nothing (John 5:30.) He knew that He had to have YAHWEH’s instruments of warfare and YAHWEH’s help. This same help is available to you and me. But we must recognize we are in a war. We must recognize it is a fight for eternal life! And the reward goes to the winners. Losers get nothing.

Men of YAHWEH—Great Warriors

Today our battle front is on a spiritual plane as described above. But it is interesting to note that all of YAHWEH’s great men were warriors. Some of them were fighters on a physical plane, but they also had to fight the spiritual fight of faith.

Joshua had to fight his way into the Land of Canaan. David had to fight in order to preserve his kingdom. Samson fought. Jephthah fought. Even Abraham was a fighter (Gen 14).

But YAHWEH has called us not to fight other human beings, but to fight the spiritual fight of faith.

And how do we get into YAHWEH’s Kingdom? Do we fall in? Do we slide in?

“But from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, and the violent are robbing it” (Mat 11:12).

Here is the comment from the Expository Dictionary on this verse. “Those who are possessed of eagerness and zeal, instead of giving up to the opposition, press their way into the kingdom.” It is a fight, a press, a driving effort to get into YAHWEH’s Kingdom!

YAHWEH made man to conquer. Even a noted psychologist understands this about human nature. He said, “We are engineered as goal-seeking mechanisms. We are built that way. When we have no personal goal that means something to us, we are apt to life itself purposeless. We are built to conquer environment, solve problems and achieve goals and we find no real happiness or satisfaction in life without this. People who say that life is not worthwhile are really saying that they themselves have no personal goals that are worthwhile.”

How true! Man loves things that are challenging—things he must overcome. Notice sports. Would people go hunting if all animals were tame? Would golfing be interesting if every swing were a hole-in-one? No, we are attracted by the adventure of accomplishment—the adventure of overcoming.

Right or Wrong You Will Fight

Man has a fighting nature. He will fight something. And if a person is not fighting the right things, he ends up fighting other people.

Take, for example, people who are lonely and have no hobbies or outside interests. What do they do? In most cases they end up minding other peoples’ business, causing problems through gossip and envy. Since they have no other worthwhile goals, they turn inward and want to fight their fellow man. There are millions of such unhappy souls in this world. Their human nature cries out for something to conquer. But they don’t know what to fight.

What about you? You are designed to conquer and overcome. You must win against your human nature! You are pitted against the devil and his demons and you must come out the victor! The world is pressing you—trying to conform you to its patterns—and you must resist!

Be driving, intense, and forceful when it comes to overcoming these obstacles! But be loving, kind, and patient with other people.

Notice Paul’s statement shortly before his death. “For I am ready to be sacrificed, and the time of my departure is at hand. I HAVE FOUGHT THE GOOD FIGHT. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith. For the rest, the crown of righteousness is laid up for me, which our Master, the righteous Judge, will give to me in that Day, and not only to me, but also to all those who love His appearance” (2nd Tim 4:6-8).

Paul described his life as a Disciple as a fight. He did not say, “I have lived a good life.” He said, “I have fought a good fight.”

He had won. He had conquered. And he knew there was a crown in store for him as well as for all others who fight the good fight and keep the faith.

Brethren, can we realize we are in a fight for Eternal Life? Can we get rid of the lethargy that is characteristic of the Laodiceans of our time? Can we see the goal before us?

Here is YAHWEH’s admonition to you:

“FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH, LAY HOLD ON ETERNAL LIFE” (1st Tim 6:12).