2Peter 1:12-13, 9
Remember
Today is Memorial Day. Some get Memorial Day confused with Veteran’s
Day. Veteran’s Day is the day to thank all who have or are serving
in the military. Memorial Day is the day to remember those who died
for our country. Memorial Day is Remember Day.
I have shared the history of this day before but it is worth
repeating. Memorial Day started as Decoration Day on May 30, 1868.
The Civil War had ended just three before, May 9, 1865. The first
Decoration Day was held at Arlington Nation Cemetery. General James
Garfield spoke to about 5,000 who had gathered and after, they
decorated the graves of more than 20,000 Union and Confederate
soldiers buried there. That Decoration Day was inspired by local
ceremonies which had been done in like fashion at smaller cemeteries
around the country for the last three years. As wars continued, so
did the decorating. After World War I, all those who died in any
battle were being remembered. In 1971, Congress declared the last
Monday in May a national holiday and duped it Memorial Day.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/civil-war-dead-honored-
on-decoration-day
It is hard to know just how many we are remembering today. In some
wars, figures just were not kept. In others, some want to count all
that died during a war and others only want to count those who died
as a result of hostile action. And for the last 70 years, our
soldiers have been fighting and dying in campaigns that are not even
considered a war. However, a round estimate is that America has lost
over 43,000,000 in service to their country.
https://www.infoplease.com/us/american-wars/americas-wars-us-casualties-
and-veterans
Memorial Day is not a Christian holiday. It has no roots in the
Bible, but I think it is a good holiday. We need to remember. Why?
1. To be grateful for what we have.
2. To remind ourselves that freedom is not free.
3. To remember the individuals who died for us.
Beyond saying thank you, I am not qualified to speak on our national
Memorial Day. I did not fight in the military. I did not witness
what the military does up close or even from afar. So instead I will
speak on the topic, Remember.
There are some things that both the saved and the lost need to
remember on this day. REMEMBER!
I. We all have enemies.
A. Every American, whether they like it or not, has enemies.
1. Sadly, there are some that want to destroy us for no other
reason than the fact we are Americans.
2. That is what radical Islam desires.
a. It does not matter if you consider yourself their
enemy or their friend.
b. They consider you their enemy.
c. This is what their Quran teaches that those who are not
Muslim are infidels and must be converted or destroyed.
(1) I understand that not all Muslims are followers
of that philosophy, but some are.
(2) They consider sympathetic Americans to be weak and
foolish.
d. To them, we are the enemy.
B. So every human being has three enemies.
1. \\#1John 2:16\\ mentions two of them, the world and our
flesh.
2. \\#1John 3:8\\ mentions the last, the devil.
3. Now, many people consider these three to be the enemy of
the Christian, but they are in fact, the enemy of
everyone.
a. As some might consider the radical Muslims NOT to be
their enemy, so some figure may figure the world, the
flesh, and the devil are not their enemies.
b. But in truth, these enemies consider those sympathetic
to them to be foolish and weak.
c. All people are THEIR enemies.
C. These three enemies have the same goal for you.
1. They want to you to be destroyed.
a. The devil is the mastermind of your destruction.
b. Sin is the weapon of your destruction.
c. Your flesh is corrupt and has betrayed you to
destruction.
2. In the end, they all want your destruction.
1Pe 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your
adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh
about, seeking whom he may devour:
Joh 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to
steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come
that they might have life, and that they might
have it more abundantly.
3. I know these two verses speak only of the devil but he is
the mastermind. Sin will be his weapon and your flesh
will betray you to make it happen. That’s just the way
it is.
II. The enemies have goals.
A. Every enemy has an objective.
Quran (2:191-193) - "And kill them wherever you
find them, and turn them out from where they have
turned you out. And Al-Fitnah [unbelief) is worse
than killing… but if they desist (believe),
then lo! Allah is forgiving and merciful. And
fight them until there is no more Fitnah
[unbelief] and worship is for Allah alone….
http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/pages/quran/violence.aspx
B. What do our enemies want for us?
1. They want us damned to hell.
a. That is definitely what the devil want.
(1) That is obviously what the devil wants.
(a) Why?
(b) Because God loves you.
(c) That is all the reason the devil needs to
hate you.
b. That is the goal of sin too.
Romans 3:23 For the wages of sin is death.
(1) What is death?
(2) Separation from God.
(3) What does sin always bring? DEATH.
c. That is what you flesh wants too.
Matt 18:8 Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot
offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from
thee: it is better for thee to enter into life
halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or
two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.
9 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out,
and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to
enter into life with one eye, rather than having
two eyes to be cast into hell fire.
2. They want us miserable.
a. They seek to destroy our family, our career, our
health, our friendships, our finances, our
happiness, our peace, anything that gives us true
comfort or lasting joy.
b. They do this by out and out destruction.
(1) Adultery, pornography, and lust are home
destroyers.
(2) Addiction to liquor and drugs are health
destroyers.
(3) Jealousy, rage, envy are relationship destroyers.
(4) Greed, lust, laziness are financial destroyers.
(5) Worry and prayerlessness are peace and joy
destroyers.
(6) These are just a few but every one of these are:
(a) Sins. These are some of the weapons of our
destruction.
(b) Habits of our flesh.
(c) Temptations sent to us by the devil.
(7) All of these are full-fledged attacks to make us
miserable—saved or lost.
c. They also seek to make us miserable by deceit.
(1) I used to think that attitudes about right and
wrong would only be changed from generation to
generation but has been proven to be false.
(2) Today, people are changing their minds about
right and wrong in record numbers.
(a) Gallop Poll released in May, 2017. revealed
that 61% of Americans support gay marriage,
a record high and a complete flip flop
since 1999. In 1999, 62% of the American
people believed gay marriage should NOT be
legal.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/191645/americans-support-gay-marriage-
remains-high.aspx
(b) By the way, the same poll revealed that
less than 24% of Americans believe the
Bible is the Word of God. That’s a record
low.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/210704/record-few-americans-believe-bible-
literal-word-god.aspx
(3) Many think "a little adultery" is good. It is
fun to flirt, to lust, and do "a little"
messing around. It shows we are attractive. It
is why so many almost get dressed.
(4) It is fun to get stoned! Our government thinks
so. State of Alabama sells liquor and some
states have legalized marijuana. Parents have
it locked away and wonder why their children.
(5) Anger and rage are applauded today. Go off on
someone and you might go viral on Facebook.
(6) Our enemies have tricked us into believing every
bad thing is good and every good thing is bad.
3. They want our reputation ruined.
a. For a Christian, that is your testimony. For an
unsaved individual, it is your reputation.
b. What people think of us is the platform from which
we speak.
(1) If we are trying to move people upward, you must
have a good reputation. Otherwise, they will
simply dismiss us.
(2) If you are trying to move people downward, it
doesn’t matter what kind of reputation you have.
(a) There are always fools that will follow a
person going down and be happy to do it.
(b) Look at entertainment. (i.e. Some of them
are drunks, drug addicts, homosexuals, bi-
sexual, trans-sexual, socialists, anti-
patriots.)
(c) How can any American who understands what
Memorial Day is watch a team that has
players on it who will not stand for the
national anthem?
4. They want our life.
a. Satan wants us dead. Sin wants us dead. Our own
flesh betrays us to kill us.
b. Satan wants us dead because he wants the battle to be
over.
(1) If you are lost and die, he gets his ultimate
goal. You go to hell.
(2) If you are saved and surrendered and die, you
won’t be able to cause him any more grief.
(3) If you are saved and carnal and die, you can’t
flip on him and start serving God.
(4) Death is a win for the devil no matter who
you are.
c. Sin is Satan’s weapon. It has only one effect. It
kills.
Romans 3:23 For the wages of sin is death.
d. Our flesh wants us dead? That might be hard to
believe but it is true.
(1) Have you ever noticed that everything your body
deems to be good is bad for you?
(a) If you eat it and it tastes good, it is
going to make you fat or give you cancer
and heart disease.
(b) If it taste like cardboard and leaves you as
hungry as you were before you ate it, it is
good for you.
(2) How many of you like to exercise? Why doesn’t
your body like to exercise? Because it is good
for you.
(3) Why do you think people shoot drugs, smoke
cigarettes, get drunk, drive recklessly, fool
around with strangers? It is because the flesh
likes it.
(4) Like it or not, our flesh wants us dead.
(a) Why? Because it has been corrupted.
(b) It has betrayed us.
(c) It has betrayed those who are Christians,
sitting in this room.
(d) How much more has it betrayed the lost
people of this world?
i. Their fleshly brain will not accept the
reality or even the possibility that
God is real.
ii. Their fleshly brain will not accept the
fact that they are created.
aa. The Gallup Poll of May, 2017, only
38% of the people in the US have
a belief in Creationism.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/210956/belief-creationist-view-humans-new-
low.aspx?g_source=Politics&g_medium=newsfeed&g_campaign=tiles
bb. That is the lowest in 35 years.
iii. Their fleshly brain cannot accept the
fact that there is a spiritual war
going on and they are losing
III. There are two weapons we can use to defeat our enemies.
A. Salvation
John 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye
must be born again.
1. Salvation is the only weapon that will defeat the devil,
nullify sin, and conquer the flesh.
a. Some have given up on ever finding such a weapon.
b. Others think they have tried it but it failed.
2. I’m here to tell you that salvation is essential,
powerful, and effective.
Ro 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of
Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation
to every one that believeth; to the Jew first,
and also to the Greek.
B. Sanctification
Joh 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy
word is truth.
1. Sanctification means to separate yourself from sin and to
submit yourself to God.
2. This is not something that can be done apart from
salvation and salvation is not something that is finished
apart from sanctification.
3. These two go hand in hand.
On this day, Memorial Day, we remember. As Americans, we remember
the great price that has been paid for our freedoms. As Christians,
we remember that an eternal war continues. I pray you will be one of
those who comes home to the Father’s house.
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