Are You Leaving the Back Door Open for Satan?

Brethren, I want to give you a short history lesson. I know we're not all history buffs, but if you don't pay attention in the next two minutes, the whole sermon is going to be lost on you. So please pay attention for these next two minutes as I give a very short, very brief history lesson. How many of you have heard of the Maginot Line? Good! Good. Most of you have, and Ann Arbor, there were only two or three. I was really shocked how few people knew what that was. To those of you who don't, the Maginot Line is a line of fortifications that was named after French minister of war, André Maginot. It was a line of fortifications, obstacles, and weapons installed that France put together between its border with Germany. This was in the 1930s. In World War I, France sustained tremendous loss of life, tremendous hurt in World War I. And of course, there's going to be a long-standing analogy I'm going to run here about people and their hurt, and what they do about their hurt. But the French felt that if they had a line of fortifications, they had a wall of defense that Germany wouldn't dare come up against, that they would be safe. And so they built the Maginot Line. They built it during the 1930s. It extended basically the whole, virtually the whole border with France and Germany. The French established this fortification to provide time for their army to mobilize in the event of attack, allowing French forces to move into Belgium in case the Germans would try and end-run that direction. The Maginot Line was a state-of-the-art fortification. People from all over the world came in the 1930s to take a look at the Maginot Line. The Maginot Line was impervious to the most forms of attack. It had state-of-the-art living conditions for garrison troops. It had air conditioning. This was a vast network underground to supply the 50 forts they had on the length of the Maginot Line. They had state-of-the-art living conditions, air condition, and comfortable eating areas, underground railways to support that line. It was a very costly fortification. So many times we think of a line that maybe the Maginot Line was like from here to Woodward Avenue. The Maginot Line actually was between 12 and 16 miles deep, the whole length of the border with Germany, between 12 and 16 miles deep. It was composed of a system of intricate strong points, fortifications, military facilities, border guard posts, communication centers, infantry shelters, barricades, artillery, machine gun and anti-tank emplacements, and so forth. There were 500 separate buildings, each dominated by large forts. Each of the large forts were able to handle the next two forts either to the north or south. And so you had a duplication of fire all up and down the line where each fort was able to blast away at the area that other two forts in the north and two forts to the south should have been able to handle. But if one of those forts got knocked out, there was a duplication of effort there. There were 50 smaller forts along the or a number of smaller forts along the line. Those weren't quite as large, but those forts also had other things to protect them. They had the anti-tank trenches and things of that nature, minefields, and so forth. Now, the National Line was built for a number of reasons. To avoid the surprise attack, to give the alarm, to give the French army time to mobilize in case they were being attacked by the Germans, to save manpower. In World War I, you know, both Germany and France suffered great deals of loss, but the French felt it more than the Germans did. In the 1930s, France had 39 million people living in France, whereas Germany had 70,000. So 39,000 versus 70,000,000, or some 70 million, 39 million versus 70 million, excuse me.

Now, even though this fortification was state-of-the-art, even though the Germans really never made a frontal attack of any degree on that fortification, people have wondered, well, was the Maginot Line successful, or was it one big failure? Well, in one sense, it was successful, in the sense that the few times the Germans did try to attack a frontal attack right through the Maginot Line, they were beaten back very badly. Most historians would say the Maginot Line is symbolic of something where people put a great deal of work and expense into, thought into, and it was a colossal failure. Because in the final analysis, the Germans did do an end round around the Maginot Line. They came up over through Belgium and the Low Countries. They went through a place where no one ever thought they would come through. They went through the Ardennes Forest. And people simply thought that was too dense of a forest for the tanks and all the weaponry that Germans, everyone knew the Germans were amassing. They thought they would never get through the Ardennes. Well, they went through the Ardennes. And the Luftwaffe, the Luftwaffe simply flew over the Maginot Line.

And France was taken in six weeks. Now, the reason this struck me is because you and I, probably most of us in this room, have our own individual Maginot Lines. As the French were hurt, you have been hurt. I have been hurt. As the French wanted to build a wall to defend themselves, you and I have built walls to defend ourselves. We have built walls of flesh. As the French were overcome by a more sophisticated enemy, brethren, we have got a very sophisticated enemy in Satan the Devil. If we think the walls we establish are going to keep Satan out, then we are sadly mistaken. We are sadly mistaken. So, the title of the sermon I've got today, and what took place years ago back in World War II in France, is that the Germans came through, in one sense, through the back door. As we and I prepare for the Passover, and as we look at our lives, I want to ask this question. Here's what you might want to write across the top of your paper. Are you leaving the back door open for Satan? Again, I'm not giving this to any one person, two persons, three persons, four persons. I'm giving this to everybody, because I'm pretty sure that most all of us have done this. I'm pretty sure most all of us have had our defense mechanisms. Ministers have theirs. You know, you may think that all the brethren come to the ministers with smiley faces, pats on the back, and you know, a chicken in a pot to give to the minister and his wife. I think you'd be quite surprised at how many times we are called out on various things, and many times not even the best of languages used. But all of us have our defense mechanisms. No one is immune from that. But as I gave two sermons earlier this year, or it wasn't the tail end of last year, I asked the question, are we as spiritually tough as Jesus? This sermon goes along the same lines, because I am very concerned, brethren, as I am your pastor, as I know what my issues are, and as I pastor you and know what your issues are. I know too many of us in this room, too many over in Ann Arbor, Randy Delisandro and Mary Delisandro, too many of us have our walls of flesh. And if we think that we're going to stand through the onslaughts of Satan in the years to come, we are mistaken. Every one of us who thinks that our wall of flesh is going to keep us from harm in the years to come. And we're going to face the worst time that the world has ever seen. And if we can't live through what we're living through now with either the people at work, the people at the church, the people in our family, the people in next door neighbors, without being so sensitive and so easily offended that what's going to happen when times are much, much worse? Let's turn to Matthew 24.

And I know I've gone through this section of Scripture in the past, but rather than just as Mr. Armstrong talked about the two trees when he saw the things were needed, I'm talking about this because I see this is needed. Here we've got Matthew 24. We've got a discussion about the events at the end of the age. And let's turn our attention to God's true church here in Matthew 24, starting in verse 9. Matthew 24, verse 9. Then they, the world, will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you. Yes, there'll be another martyrdom of saints. And you will be hated by all nations for my namesake. Why will we be hated? Because we're the people of God. When the two witnesses are killed at the end of the age, the whole world will celebrate. When Jesus Christ is being crucified, they celebrate it. People, this is Satan's world. Satan's world doesn't like the things of God or the people of God. And so we will be hated by all nations. The religious powers of the day will say all the different difficulties that the world has. It's because of those Sabbath keepers. It's because of those people. You know, they've got this backward religion, and they're bringing curses upon us. And so they will blame us. And then many will be offended. Brethren, if we're easily offended now, if we get our noses out of joint, you and me, all of us, if we are easily offended now, what will we do when things really are bad? And then many will be offended, and then betray one another because they've been offended. They've been hurt. That wall of flesh has been penetrated, and they will hate one another. This is talking about true Christians. Verse 12, and because lawlessness will abound, abound in the world, and the world will be lawless toward you, and hateful toward you, and spiteful toward you. Maybe not allow you to work. Maybe not allow you to get the kind of food you need or your family. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. And that's talking about we as Christians. It could be talking about you. It could be talking about me. It could be talking about all of us, or it could be talking about none of us. None of us have to be described right here. But some will, some in a church will be in this description. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. Luke chapter 18.

Luke chapter 18 and verse 8. You know, the first seven verses is a discussion about praying, about answers to prayer, maybe not hearing answers to prayer.

And verse 8, Jesus Christ says, I tell you that he will avenge them speedily, nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, talking about the end of the age, when the Son of Man comes, will he really find faith on the earth? Will he really find the faith on the earth? And again, brethren, that's something for you and I to think about. Now, this phrase doesn't have to deal with you. You can be the most faithful person who's ever walked the face of the earth, or you can be the least faithful person as a Christian who's ever walked the face of the earth. It's up to you and me how this is going to play out. It's up to you and I as to how we, what snapshot we're a part of, the faithless or the faithful. Revelation chapter 3.

Revelation chapter 3, the discussion here to the church in Laodicea. Revelation chapter 3 in verse 14.

Actually, let's start in verse 15. I know your works that you were neither cold nor hot. I could wish that you were cold or hot. They're just kind of middle of the road, sitting on the fence, not really with things or not really against things, is kind of complacent, just kind of neutral, not really on fire, not really zealous. So then, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth because you say, I am rich and have become wealthy. And how much of that have we had in our church culture where people think, well, I've been in a church a long time and I know, and then people get offended and they stop coming, or they start a new congregation or a new a new split-off group. I am rich and I've become wealthy and have need of nothing. Today, people don't want to hear correction in the church of God. They don't want to hear that we shouldn't be doing this or that. And people will walk out the door. They think they've got need of nothing and do not know that they are rich and measurable, poor, blind, and naked. Brethren, does that describe me? Does that describe you? Each of us this Passover season needs to take a look at these scriptures and ask if this applies to us. Do you have, do I have your own Maginot line as a Christian? Have we set up a defense system because of our past experiences, just like the French did? They were hurt, and so they set up their this Maginot line. Brethren, I've dealt with my own personal Maginot line, and frankly, I'm dealing with some of yours, and some people in Ann Arbor. And we need to know that we have these. We need to know that if we don't get rid of these, me and you, all of us who've got them, then we are in for some real difficulties. Let's take a look at 2 Timothy chapter 2.

2 Timothy chapter 2. 2 Timothy chapter 2 verse 3.

You must therefore endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.

Brethren, the word here means just that. We are soldiers. Each and every one of us, we are Christian soldiers, and we are in a fight for our spiritual lives. Make no mistake about that. The word here is not talking about somebody in the back areas who was pushing paper, who was some sort of an orderly or something like that. We're talking about people here who are in the midst of conflict, who are in the midst of battle. And there's any number of ways people can be in the midst of battle.

You don't always have to have a weapon to be in harm's way. In World War II, there was a very famous group of men, black men, called the Red Ball Express. Back in those days, there was still a great deal of discrimination against blacks in the military. 75% of the Red Ball Express was made up by black men. What the Red Ball Express was, it was a series of trucks. These black men had to drive supply trucks from the back lines where they could be loaded. The trucks would be loaded, and then they had to drive those trucks without any armament, without any protection to the front lines.

They'd bring food, they'd bring ammunition, they'd bring whatever the troops in the front lines needed. And these guys were driving these trucks, they were very heroic, and the Luftwaffe just loved to attack the Red Ball Express. And I tell you the truth, the reason why so many black people were asked to do this is because the white guys didn't want to do it. They were undefended, and they had a job to do, but they did it, and they did it well.

That's one of the reasons we won the war, because of the Red Ball Express. Now, discrimination wasn't limited to the black folks in World War II. We had Americans in this country who had been Americans for generations, and some of these Japanese Americans were put into concentration camps in California. And there was a whole regiment in the Army. The 442nd Regiment was made up of Japanese Americans. Many of those Japanese Americans had family that was back home in California in concentration camps.

Their families had had their businesses taken, never to be returned. Their property taken, their land, their homes to be taken, never to be returned. And their sons are out fighting in the 442nd Regimental Group. Their motto of the 442nd Regiment was, Go for Broke. Even though they were so discriminated at home, they won eight Presidents as a group, they won eight Presidential citations for bravery as a group.

They won 21 Medal of Honor's individually, and they were the most decorated group in all of World War II. Now, these were soldiers. The Go for Broke Regiment, the Red Ball Express, these people knew battle. They were courageous men who did what it took to be soldiers. They knew what warfare was all about. They knew that their lives were expendable.

Brethren, we better understand that we are in a war as well. We are fighting a tremendous foe, an adversary, Satan the Devil. Now, why do most historians say the Maginot Line failed? There are many reasons. Today, I want to go through three. As I look at these three reasons, I want to give you, again, there are many. There's more than three. As I give you these three reasons today, I want us to take a look at our lives spiritually and say, Are we doing the same thing spiritually that the French did in the 1930s?

Why did the Maginot Line fail? Number one, it gave the French a false sense of security. Do you have a false sense of security with whatever defense mechanism you have in your life? You're keeping people away. You're keeping people at arm's length. You're keeping hurt away because you've got your defense mechanism. Well, the French did, too, and they suffered for having that. So a false sense of security is one. Number two, the French had an improper focus. Because they focused on that Maginot Line, they took a defensive attitude.

They did not develop new weaponry, as they should have. And you know, over the millennia, the French as a nation has been known as people who were great at developing ordnance. They were great. Historically, they were very much a part of history in terms of weapons development. And yet, because they thought they focused on that line of defense, they thought, that's all we need. And they were overcome because of an improper focus.

And thirdly, lastly, what I want to go through today, they failed because the firepower aimed only in one direction. When the Germans got behind the Maginot Line, everything they had, all their vaunted, their machine guns, their cannon, their rifles, everything was pointed toward Germany. Nothing was pointed inside and toward, you know, back behind them, toward their own homeland. And so they couldn't...

that vast system of fortifications, once the Germans got behind it, they were totally vulnerable. The Germans had their foot on France's neck. There's going to come a time, brethren, in your life where Satan's going to use different tactics on you than he's used in the past. There are going to be times in your life when you're going to feel overwhelmed, overburdened, and realize that Satan knows how to destroy you. He knows how to destroy each and every one of us. Whatever your personality is, he's seen many of you through the millennia. He knows exactly what buttons to hit.

He knows when you're weak and when you're vulnerable, and he knows when to attack. Yeah, he'll use some of the same strategies he's used in the past, but he's got some brand new ones saved up for you, just as the Germans did with France. Germans didn't show all their cards, but when time came for them to spring some new things, they did in France because they had the false sense of security, because they had the improper focus, because all their weaponry was aimed the wrong way, they fell.

We had better learn that lesson. So let's take a look at these three each one at a time. Number one, the false sense of security.

I've said to you on many occasions over the years as your pastor that our strength can be a weakness. And this is no better illustrated than by what happened with the Maginot Line. The Maginot Line was a tremendous strength, but it became France's weakness because they relied so heavily on just that one aspect of things. So their strength became their weakness. What is your strength? How is Satan going to use your strength against you or against me? That's something we need to ask ourselves. The difficulty for the French with the Maginot Line is that they didn't adapt. Now, if you and I have our own individual Maginot Lines, that gives us the false sense of security thinking, well, I've got this, you know, I know what to do to put myself at arms length from people, from hurt, and that's going to save me. My wall of flesh is going to save me. But the French didn't adapt to each and every circumstance as it was coming along. They didn't adapt to the fact that the Germans were going to have this mechanized force that was into Blitzkrieg. They were fighting the old war. The French were fighting when World War II was coming. They were fighting World War I. Are you fighting past battles with strategies used in the past? Maybe it's been to some degree successful in the past. But you think Satan's going to come against you with things that have been successful for you to keep him at arms length? Or do you think Satan's going to come at you with a new wrinkle, a new twist?

While the Imagine line did prevent a direct attack, it was strategically ineffective. As I said, the Germans simply went around it. The Luftwaffe flew over it, and they were defeated. So specifically, what walls do you have? What walls do I have? Do you have emotional walls? You've been hurt emotionally? You set up emotional walls around you so you won't be hurt emotionally anymore? Now, that's understandable.

That's human, and probably all of us have done that. Probably all of us have done that. But does that make it good? Does that make it something that's strong? Something that will outwit Satan? Of course not. Maybe we've got economic walls. Maybe we've come from a disadvantage. Maybe we think if we have a big enough bank account that when times get bad, then we can just kind of buy our way out of things.

We don't have to worry about starting because we've got so much money the bank will be able to buy things when things get really expensive. You know, I sent out an email to you, I think earlier today. The title, somebody sent this to me.

I don't normally send these four of these things along, but the title of a little article was, The Thieves Aren't Stupid. And the gist of some of the things were that if you're going someplace on a trip and you park your car in long-term parking, the crooks love to break into those cars. Long-term parking. Why? They break in. What do you have in your car? Well, you might have your garage door opener right there on your visor. You probably have all of your information on your insurance card there.

You've got your address. You've got the garage door open. You're in long-term parking, so the crooks realize they can back a truck into your driveway and just, you know, at their leisure, unload your stuff. People have done that. Or people lose a cell phone. And on the cell phone says, my husband. Or home number. And so some crooks got your cell phone. They text, you know, your wife or your husband saying, honey, I forgot the pin to our account.

Would you send me the pin number so I can get into the bank account? And so the crook takes your phone or your wife's phone and they contact the other spouse. The other spouse not talking to them, just seeing a text says, oh yeah, here's our number. And then people's bank accounts are emptied. You know, we can have all sorts of economic walls, but money comes and money goes. I was watching a show the other day and people said that, you know, when cities are under siege, people with all their gold and all their diamonds, they'll give you a handful of diamonds for a sack of potatoes.

You see, today people are talking about you need to buy gold from this company or silver from that company. Well, brethren, when times are really hard in this country, what are you going to do? You're going to take a gold-silver coin to Kroger's and somebody sees you flashing a gold coin. You don't think somebody's going to follow you home, break into your door and say, where are the rest of your gold coins? How about church walls? How many times have I heard this? We've had so many splits. We've had so many difficulties. One of the first split-offs from United Church of God themselves just had another split-off recently.

And the group, when they left us, they said, well, we're going to do the work of God. And they only have 1,300 people around the world. And now that group is split apart. Some of the ministers are now coming with Living Church of God. Some are coming with United Church of God.

Some are going to take a few, a couple of families and they're going to start their own thing. And so people get so upset with this, they have church walls. You've got people saying, I don't want to be part of any organization anymore. I'm going to set up a wall, so that won't hurt me. Oh, really? So people go independent. That doesn't hurt people.

That doesn't hurt people. It sure does. What walls do I have in my life? What walls do you have in your life? Let's not let Satan see that we've got those walls, because if we think we're secure behind those walls, we are not. We are not. 2 Corinthians chapter 3.

2 Corinthians chapter 3 and verse 5.

2 Corinthians 3, 5. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves. Whatever wall of flesh we have, take note. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves. But our sufficiency is from God. 2 Corinthians 3, 5. Our sufficiency is from God. We must rely upon God's grace. We must rely upon God's Spirit. If there are walls, they've got to be spiritual walls that God erects for us. Not fleshly walls that we put up in our own hearts and minds. Satan will get around those. He's very adept at that. Romans chapter 5, one of my favorite verses here. Favorite sections of scriptures. Romans chapter 5 verses 1 and 2.

Here's where true security comes from. True security is found here. Romans chapter 5 verse 1. Therefore, having been justified by faith, having our past sins be forgiven. That's what justified means. Having been justified by faith. And faith is a spiritual element. We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have got peace because of something spiritual. Not because of a physical fleshly wall that we erected in our hearts or our minds. We have peace with God through Christ. Not peace through our own defense mechanism. Verse 2. Through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand. We stand by grace. We don't stand by our own defense mechanisms. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. We rejoice in the spiritual.

Lastly, along these lines over here in Ephesians chapter 6. Ephesians chapter 6. Starting here in verse 10. Ephesians 6.10 through 13.

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord in the power of His might. Not the power of ours. The power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God. Not the defense mechanism of the man. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Because He's got ways that come at you He's never done before. And He will do those when you're most vulnerable and you're least expecting. If we don't wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. That's why, brethren, every person who's ever erected a fleshly wall, an emotional wall, a physical wall of some type in their hearts and minds, they're going to fail because Satan is spiritual. And just as the Germans made an end run and came through the low countries, came through the Ardennes, some place that people thought it was impossible, Satan will come at you in a way that you didn't think was possible. French had their Maginot Line. They felt secure behind that. What do you feel secure behind? Verse 13, therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand.

Okay, so the first thing we wanted to look at was a false sense of security. The French had it. We want to make sure we don't have it. Number two of the three things we want to look at today. The French had an improper focus. France's military spending and planning was focused around the Maginot Line. That encouraged a defensive attitude that slowed the development of new weapons, new tactics. In other words, they didn't grow. They were stuck in the past. They were looking behind themselves at the past and they didn't grow. They had a wrong focus.

France took a defensive posture, do you or do I spiritually? When you come to services, do you listen? Do you want to grow? Do you want to learn? Or are you on the defensive? Are you looking for ways to critique the sermonette? Are you looking for ways to critique the sermon? Are you looking for ways to critique the conversation before or after church? How do you handle the words of a sermonette or a sermon or a conversation where that conversation, the sermonette or the sermon, may conflict with something you hold dearly? How do you respond to that? Do you see it as an iron sharpening iron situation? Do you view it as a personal attack? How do you view that? It used to be in God's church where we came to services, whether we were having a conversation or listening to the sermonette or sermon, we said, well, you know what? Maybe there's something there I didn't see before I need to listen to that. Well, we've lost a lot of that. Now we're kind of like the Laodiceans. Well, I've been in a church a long time and here's where I stand. Do you tend to implement what you hear or do you tend to seek ways to ignore, judge, or critique what you hear? And, brethren, this is very much for me, too. I have to listen to sermons, sermonettes. I listen to conversations. I can't allow myself to fall victim to this improper focus. I'm one who wants to grow. I'm one who wants to be in God's kingdom, just like you. So none of us here have a free pass on this subject. Due to the French focusing on the Maginot Line and only the Maginot Line, they didn't grow. They didn't develop themselves in areas where they should have. They became like Captain Ahab. Remember the story about Moby Dick, where Captain Ahab had such a single-minded focus about killing that white whale, that in the end of the story, he went down with the white whale. The white whale didn't get killed. Captain Ahab was lashed to the whale, and he died. He wasn't nimble like he should have been able to be. He was so focused on that situation. You know, as an aside, there probably was, at some point, a Moby Dick. There was a story back in the days when Herman Melville wrote the story that a white or a pale whale had actually sunk a ship. And that was proven to be the case, where this huge whale, it was pale in color, rammed the ship and rammed the ship and rammed the ship and the ship sank. So the story of Moby Dick is not just some lesson from somebody's imagination. It probably was based in fact. So if we don't want an improper focus, what is the proper focus? Isaiah 66.

Isaiah 66, verses 1 and 2. Isaiah 66, verse 1, Thus as the Lord, heaven is my throne, earth is my footstool, where is the house that you build for me, and where is the place of my rest? For all those things my hand is made, and all those things exist as the Lord. But on this one will I look, on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at my word. People who have the focus, they want to come to church to learn. Not to defend themselves, but to come to church to learn. Am I defending myself? Are you defending yourself? Where are we with all of this? This is who Guy looks at. People who come because they want to learn. They have a right focus. Acts 17, verses 10-12. Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, when they arrived that went into the synagogue of the Jews. Now these are more fair-minded to those in Thessalonica, and that they received the word with all readiness in search of the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. Brother, how many times do we in the ministry, wherever we might be at, see brethren who don't want to search the Scriptures? More and more we're having people who, you know, it's got to be the sacred names. It's got to be this. It's got to be that. There's, you know, the calendar. That is a perpetual sore spot with some people. Well, we shouldn't use the rules of postponement. Those are all man-made. We want to do it with Christ. Well, as far as we know, Christ used those rules of postponement. And He never gave second thought to what was happening in His day. There was no big argument about where the Holy Days were, and they used the rules of postponement. And yet, people want to make that a thing. Or people want to talk about this way of tithing or that way of tithing. You name the issue. People will have it. And people, once they get their little pet idea, then they're not willing to do what it says here and to search the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things are so. They'll search the Scriptures to back their view of tithing or back their view of the Holy Days or to back their view of this, that, or the other. Notice verse 12, therefore many of them believe in not also a few of the Greek's prominent women as well as men. So, you know, these folks, they learned and they grew. They learned and they grew. Lastly, number three.

Proper focus with number two. Number three, the reason the Maginallian fell is the defenses were aimed in only one direction. Again, there are more reasons why the Maginallian fell, but this is three of them. But number three is their defenses were aimed in only one direction. As I made mention earlier, the German Army simply went around the Maginallian into Belgium in the north. They went through the Ardennes Forest, which was very, very dense. The Luftwaffe simply flew over the Maginallian line. The French had all these devastating weapons, all these defenses, this wall of defense, this whole world came in wonderment. And yet, the Germans simply went around it. You know, you could have the biggest bear trap in the world, and a bear can walk just walks around, walks over and lays his paws on you and kills you. That's what basically the Germans did. The French were so heavily invested in the past, in the past, they were not mentally or strategically nimble enough to deal with the current reality. And, brethren, if there's any one of these three points that I want to hit, that I'm really concerned about, some in Ann Arbor, some in Detroit, but myself.

Are you and I nimble enough? Are we looking too much into the past? Is the past guiding what we're doing in the present? If we're slaves to the past, we will be defeated by Satan.

The French were so heavily invested, they didn't change. They didn't get with the times.

They left the back door open for the Germans.

But, as I may mention a moment ago, if you in your life right now feel overwhelmed, when I gave the sermon a couple of weeks ago over in Ann Arbor, I had a number of people comment on this. I didn't give the sermon, but I may mention this over in Windsor. It was last week or the week before. I had a very long conversation with one individual after services. I asked the question, do you feel overwhelmed in some area of your life right now? Do you feel overloaded in some area of your life right now? If you do, that's because Satan is working on that area of your life. He is wanting to break the door down and get at you. If you are feeling overwhelmed, overloaded, our wall of flesh, whatever mechanism we put together in our own heart and mind, that's not going to stand up against Satan. Huffing and puffing. He'll blow that door down. Once he's in there, then because you've had all your defenses aiming one way, you're going to be vulnerable. You're going to be defenseless. The biggest fear I have is you may be like the people there in Matthew 24, where you lose out on salvation, because you've had this wall all your life. Then the wall is breached, and you fall. Now, that's something I need to think about in my life. That's something you need to think about in your life. Are you overwhelmed? Are you overloaded?

You and I can fix that by going to the great God who will help us. We should never be overwhelmed or overloaded, perpetually. It's not that that can happen to every Christian. It will happen to every Christian. But when that comes to us, we don't want to stay in that state of being overwhelmed and overloaded. If you are perpetually in a state of being overwhelmed and overloaded, then you are not taking the pressure that is being brought to bear on you and funneling it down through your foundation. Why is a pillar strong? A pillar is strong because a pillar takes the weight of what is on top of it, and the weight goes straight through the pillar to the foundation. And then the weight is dispersed, and a strong foundation. We are to be pillars. Our foundation is Jesus Christ. The weight that comes upon our shoulders from top down needs to be separated and put under Jesus Christ. And to do that, you and I have to be nimble spiritually. The French weren't nimble spiritually. They were locked into the past. Let's make sure you and I aren't locked into the past. 2 Peter 3, verse 18.

2 Peter 3, verse 18.

But grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Grow in the grace. Be spiritually nimble. Be a droid. Don't be stuck in the past. Don't be the kind of person where people look at you or look at me and they think, well, that person, they're so one-dimensional. This is their issue. If you or I are known as having an issue, and that's where people, how they view you or I, then you and I need to do something about that. Because if other human beings see that in us, that we're so one-dimensional, how does Satan see that? They're so one-dimensional. Once I get past, once I kick down that door, they're mine. They're mine. All they've got to do is kick down that door. And they've got no, they're so invested in that one door. That's why it says here that we must grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We must stand in the grace that God has given to us. And not allow that back door open for Satan. Final Scripture for today is over here in Matthew 11.

Matthew 11.

Now, we were talking about warfare today. Spiritual warfare with Satan. We've read various scriptures dealing with that. Notice what it says here. In Jesus Christ's own words, in my Bible, it's read letters. Matthew 11, verse 12. Matthew 11, verse 12. And from the days of John's baptism until now, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force. The violent take it by force. That's you and I. This is talking about an attitude you and I need to have. If we're a soldier and we're given orders to storm an objective and God has given us orders, we are to storm life. We are to take life. It's our objective. We're not to become victims. We are to become overcomers, conquerors. A person here who takes the kingdom by force doesn't take it in a half-hearted way, doesn't take it with a lack of energy, spiritually speaking. The soldier is not complacent. They know what their objective is. They know what their goal is. And they're going after that goal wholeheartedly. They've got a vested interest to succeed because if they don't, they may die.

They don't, they don't, you know, as I was watching the miniseries Band of Brothers, which is a true story about the, it was the 101st Airborne Division, I think it was, in World War II. These are the guys that on D-Day, they dropped behind enemy lines. And as one man said, well, we're always surrounded by the enemy. This is the same group that the story followed them from the time they dropped into France, on D-Day, all the way to the time where they captured Hitler's eagle's nest. And World War II had ended. But during one segment of their soldier through Europe, they were in Bastogne. And they were surrounded by the German army. They basically were wearing summer clothing. They were in weather worse than we've got here. You know, zero degrees below zero for the most of the two or three weeks they were there in Bastogne. Some of the men only had one bullet. They had almost no medical supplies. They were completely surrounded. But they knew what their objective was. They had to hold Bastogne because five roads came into Bastogne. The Germans wanted that. Germans desperately needed it. So this one group of men, the 101st Airborne, I believe it was, they held their ground until General Patton was able to break through and to liberate them. We need to hold our ground. We've got to be nimble to do this. We've got to be a droid. We can't be set in the past. We must have the ability to endure whatever it took, whatever it took, willing to follow the orders of the commanders. They didn't like being in Bastogne. After the miniseries were over, they interviewed a number of the men. Of course, during the course of the miniseries, they were interviewing the men who had survived and are still alive, most of them now in their 80s and 90s. And the one man said, you know, to this day, somebody says it's cold outside, they say, no, Bastogne was cold. This is nothing.

So, they didn't want to be there, but they were ordered to be there. You and I don't want trials. We don't want to fight Satan, but God has ordered us to fight Satan. So the question is, brethren, today, are you or am I leaving the back door open for Satan? Do you or I have a false sense of security based upon our own human defenses? Do we have an improper focus that has stunted our growth, has not allowed us to be the people God wants us to be? Are our defenses aimed in only one direction and are we going to find ourselves incapable of defending ourselves against Satan when it comes out of some new and different way? Are we going to be overwhelmed and overloaded and fall? None of us has to be there, or all of us could be there. That story is up to you and up to me. What is going to be the story for you? What snapshot is it for you? Are you going to be the one who's overcome or the one who overcomes? Time will tell.