Who is Winning the War?

What can we learn from history? Plenty!

This is the longest post I have ever made, but please bear with me and prayerfully learn or be encouraged from this post. Keep in mind throughout, “Satan would not want you to finish this post.” (I spent hours trying to get this up, just to have it all deleted and have to do it again. Satan is in the details.)

Let’s begin:

FIRST – LET’S REVIEW SOME REAL HISTORY (something not taught too much anymore)

The French and Indian War lasted between 1756-1763 and was a territorial battle between Britain and France. France had been expanding into the Ohio River area and the British colonies felt repeatedly attacked.

• During 1754 and 1755 the French won multitudes of battles.
• The British finally declared war on France in 1756.
• In 1757, Britain tried to turn the tide on this war as their new leader William Pitt was greatly interested in building a vast British empire, so he borrowed heavily to finance the war in America and other battles Britain was having in the world at this time. He even reimbursed American/colonies for raising troops to fight in North America.
• In July 1758, the British won their first great victory at Louisbourg near the mouth of the St. Lawrence River. A few weeks later, Britain took Fort Frontenac at the western end of the St. Lawrence River. A major victory for the British was in September 1759 with the victory of the Battle of Quebec. Then the French lost Montreal in September 1760. This was the French’s last foothold in Canada.
• Soon after Spain joined France against England. For the remainder of the war.

Finally, in February 1763, the Treaty of Paris ended the French and Indian War. Britain received Canada from France and Florida from Spain.

If you wish to read further about this historic battle, see: https://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/french-and-indian-war.

The above battle was the precursor to the American Revolutionary War. Or for simplicity the war of the American colonist against Britain.

As mentioned above, Britain had borrowed heavily for other battles in the world at this time and for the French and Indian War. Now Britain was thinking, “Since we helped the American colonists then they need to help repay our war debt.”

What better way to raise money for the government than to tax the people?

• So, in 1765 British parliament passed a tax law directly placed on the American colonists known as the Stamp Act. This tax, and future taxes, were to be paid directly to Britain for their war debt.
• Then came the Townshend Acts and Tea Act to further tax American colonists.
• By now, the American colonists were starting to think that all this taxation was unfair because they had no representation in parliament across the ocean in Britain.
• With France quite bitter towards Britain and fifteen years to stew about it, France quite easily sided with the American colonists in the American Revolutionary War against Britain.

So, from 1775-1783, again the American colonist were at war with Britain but on the side of gaining independence from Britain’s unfair and unjust laws and taxation and no representation in parliament across the ocean.

Another chain of events that lead to the unease of the American Colonists was:

• The Boston Massacre when British soldiers opened fire on a mob of colonists and killed 5 men.
• Then came the unfair tea tax; so, in 1773, Bostonians dressed as Indians and went aboard British ships and dumped the precious British tea into the Boston Harbor. Maybe that is why Americans today drink more coffee than tea. Britain responded with more controlling measures to manage the American colonists.
• On April 18, 1775, Paul Revere and other colonists met British soldiers in the Battles of Lexington and Concord and this “shot heard around the world” was officially the shot that signified the start of the Revolutionary War.
• The colonists formed their Continental Army with George Washington as the commander in chief.
• The first major Battle of Bunker Hill ended in British victory however this did not stop the colonists; it only encouraged them more to fight on. Encouragement to fight on for freedom from Great Britain.

https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/american-revolution-history

So, what did the colonist do? They drafted the Declaration of Independence and July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress voted to adopt the Declaration of Independence and send it to the King.

Battle after battle raged in the American colonies:

• Siege of Boston – 4/1775-3/1776 – American victory
• Battle of Long Island – 8/1776 – British victory
• Battle of Kip’s Bay 9/1776 – British victory
• Battle of Harlem Heights 9/1776 – American victory
• Battle of White Plains 10/1776 – British victory
• Battle of Fort Washington – 11/1776 – British victory
• Evacuation of Fort Lee – 11/1776 – British victory
• Battle of Trenton 12/26/1776 – American victory
• Battle of Second Trenton – 1/2/1777 – American victory
• Battle of Princeton – 1/3/1777 – American victory
• The Forage War – 1/1777 – 3/1777 – A draw
• Battle of Brandywine – 11/1777 – British victory
• Battle of the Clouds 9/1777 – A draw
• Battle of Germantown 10/1777 – British victory
• Battle of Saratoga 9/1777 -10/1777 – American victory

“Did you know? To celebrate the American victory at Saratoga, the Continental Congress issued a proclamation for a national day “for solemn Thanksgiving and praise,” the first official holiday observance with that name.”

https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/battle-of-saratoga

• Battle of White Marsh 12/1777 – A draw
• Battle of Monmouth 6/1778 – A draw
• Final Battle and siege of Yorktown and surrender of Cornwallis – 10/19/1781 – Final American victory. With the French blockading the waters and British could not get more troops and supplies through – the war was over at last.

9/3/1783 The Revolutionary War came to an official end with the signing of the Treaty of Paris.

To learn more about these specific battles, see: https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/the-revolutionary-war/washingtons-revolutionary-war-battles/

SECOND – WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM HISTORY? PLENTY!

We can easily see that wars are not won over night. They take months and most take years to conclude. Many battles, victories, and losses take place in a war.

What war are we fighting? The war against Satan. It is real as 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.”

The Bible also tells us that Satan sneaks around and is quite stealthy in his attacks.

I Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:”

Anyone who has ever witnessed a cat sneaking up on a bird or seen videos of lions hunting knows these animals do not go through the yard or jungle meowing and roaring as they quickly run towards their prey. What do they do? They sneak up on them. I have seen a neighborhood cat spend hours in my yard sneaking behind bushes and dark corners just waiting for the appropriate moment to pounce on some poor bird.

As we know from history, wars are not won over night. There are many battles fought and many casualties. Each side has its own ways of being sneaky and trying to pounce on the enemy. Yet each side keeps fighting until the war is over and one side listed as the victor.

Historical tidbit – The American colonist had learned how the native Indians fought. They were sneaky and stealthy. So, when Britain soldiers, in their bright red uniforms, came marching across fields – American colonist laid wait in the trees and behind hills and could pounce on their enemy like a cat on its prey.

So, exactly what goes on with this battle of a Christian against Satan? Think about our life with Satan as the enemy just as my scenario above of the poor bird and the cat. Satan sneaks up on his prey, when least expected – and he attacks. That is how Satan works.

The Bible tells us he is like a lion. He does not walk into our lives and say,

“Hey, here I am, and I am going to take you out and you will be of no use for the Lord and you will never see souls saved. Harharhar.”

No, he is sneaky and conniving and will use all the tricks in his bag to win the war in your life. But just how does he do it? He does it one battle at a time, month after month, year after year, until a Christian is no longer serving the Lord in any aspect of their life. Then he can say,

“I have got the victory in so and so’s life. Harharhar.”

And he walks away like the cat with the bird in his mouth. Satan has the poor Christian in his mouth and is chewing him up just to spit him out at some time and discard him and go onto his next victim.

Let’s look at some of the small battles he tackles every day and world-wide to take Christians out from serving the Lord. There are three areas that I have personally witnessed Satan win the battles in people’s lives (and sometimes – eventually the whole war in someone’s life):

The Personal Life – There are so many battles Satan wins here on a regular basis. Many things we know about, but I do not think we can talk enough about them. We need to stay informed about our enemy so we can win these battles. Satan wins battles every time:

1. 1. We miss a church service, and we could have been there, so we miss our encouragement and spiritual knowledge until the next church service.
   2. We do not read our Bibles, so we are not armed with the Sword to help us through the day.
   3. We do not pray, so we have no comfort and protection.
   4. We do not keep sin confessed, so we cannot get a hold of our Lord when we need him.

These things above may not seem important, but they are extremely important in our daily walk with the Lord. We could add more things to this list, but I have kept it to four basic things every Christian can easily do. I have known people over the years to lose battles in these areas and now they are no longer in church and serving the Lord. Satan won the final battle in their life.

The Family Life – there are so many battles Satan wins in the family to tear families apart. Here are a couple things to ponder.

1. 1. Divorce – Over ten years ago I was hearing statistics that as many Christian families were ending in divorce as families who were not Christians. Satan works hard here, because he can take out several people at once if he can tear up a family.
   2. Children and rebellion – Children in the public school system are learning, a minimum of 40+ hours a week, things that are against the Bible. Their brains are being filled with filth. Then parents, if they take the time, might get a few minutes in the evening around a family Bible time to refute what has been brainwashed into their child’s brain for 8+ hours that day. This does not take into account the hours children/teenagers are spending on social media. Social media will not help children/teenagers win the battles of Satan in their life. I have yet to see a person, who spends heaps of time, on social media draw closer to God. I am only seeing them loose these battles and retreat further from the Lord.

Between divorce and rebellious children/teenagers – Satan is winning the final battles in many families. He is successfully taking whole families out of the service for the Lord. Fight hard and do not let Satan win the war on your family and if he has already won the battle through divorce – get back out there. If you are single or a single parent – get in church, and serve the Lord in whatever capacity you can. Do not let Satan get the final victory in your life.

The Church – Too many churches have been lost to a whole gamut of issues, it is too many to mention today. So we will just mention a few major areas of constant concern.

1. 1. Gossiping – Satan loves it when he can pit Christians against each other. He loves it when Christians battle, fight, disagree, and argue. He can step back and start another battle elsewhere.
   2. Complaining and/or Bitterness. Some people I know complain about everything. Many people are just downright bitter, and it shows in their faces. Satan loves complaining/bitter Christians. They tend to be their own worst enemy as they fire upon themselves with their own bitter attitude and Satan is quickly the victor in their life. Yes, sadly, I have known people who let the small root of bitterness start and months or years down the road, they are out of church and of no use for the Lord. Satan loves roots of bitterness and/or complaining. They are easy for him to sneak in and start in someone’s life and then walkaway and go elsewhere to start another battle.
   3. Service in the church. Satan loves a lazy Christian. He does not have to do anything to attack them because they are already doing nothing for the Lord.
   4. False Doctrine. Our churches are such a mess today as a result of false doctrines sneaking into good, solid Independent Baptist Churches, our Lord must shed multitudes of tears for the loss of so many good churches over false doctrines. How did this happen? Satan has many conniving ways of sneaking little things here and there to start people and preachers leaning towards false doctrines and before one knows it, years later, a whole church is lost in the war.

Again, sad to say, in my lifetime of only 53 years, I know today of churches that were good, solid, Independent Baptist Churches that today are so far from what they should be – it is a crying shame. I even have to wonder if the majority of their members are even truly saved. Sad that Satan is winning these battles and people have a false salvation. Beware of the sheep in wolves’ clothing and his stealthy attacks.

Thanks to all who persevered through this post. I found it extremely interesting as I pondered wars being won through a multitude of battles over a period of time. Then, I thought, “This is how Satan works – through a multitude of battles over a period of time in the Christian’s life.” Please use this as a reminder to stay on the alert constantly because:

I Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:”

So, what can we do:

Ephesians 6:11 “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”

“…And when the battle’s over we shall wear a crown in the new Jerusalem.” Song by Isaac Watts