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by Bob Fraley
Text: Revelation 13 
Sermon in a Sentence: Christ’s followers should guardedly prepare for the possibility of persecution.
No doubt you remember where you were on the morning of September 11, 2001. Millions of Americans huddled around their television or radio, confused and shocked. Terrorists had attacked America and we were at war! We are still faced with the threat of terrorist attacks.
Our country’s second war front is hardly talked about or understood. Yet, like the first, it too has the same objective—to tear apart the fabric of our nation and destroy the foundation upon which America was built. This second war front is the spiritual warfare that is being waged against Christians and Christian values.
This second war began much earlier. It was after World War II that the moral standards that had bound our nation and our people together for generations began to unravel. Since then the moral values in our country have deteriorated more in this generation than all of the previous years of our country’s existence.
Satan has always developed a scheme against any spiritual development of God, to attack, undermine and try to destroy God’s purpose. God’s spiritual enemy does not remain idle. His tactics are ruthless and deadly. He always plays hardball. He never calls for a spiritual ceasefire! He is going to wage spiritual warfare anywhere God’s light is shining. 
Last week I read from the Gospel of John where Jesus said, referring to Satan, “He was murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth. When he lies he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” Though many people today in this enlightened age think it weird or downright silly to believe in a real devil, Jesus recognized Satan as not only real, but a tough and terrible enemy.
In this verse I just read, Jesus gives two key characteristics about Satan. One, he is a liar, and two, he is a murderer. He uses both methods when attacking God’s people.
Throughout the history of the church Christians have experienced both methods of attack. In the Book of Revelation, chapter 13, it is prophesied that in the last days of the church age, there will rise up a major superpower that Satan will work through to attack Christians and Christian values.
For any who are visitors, we are in a 50-day Spiritual Adventure called, The Remarkable Revelation: 50 Days to Prepare For What’s Ahead. This is Sunday Three of eight, and by the way, it’s still not too late to purchase an Adventure Journal. You can get that, plus the small book that most everyone read this past week, called The Day That Changed America, at _____________________.
Rather than starting your journal work at Day 1, I would suggest you pick up where the rest of the congregation is, at Day 15, or Sunday 3. That's today. In addition, I also strongly encourage you to read the seven chapters of the small book The Day that Changed America as soon as you are able.
Bob Fraley’s original 281-page book, Salt & Light, which served as the basis for the small seven-chapter book that was crafted for this Adventure and that most of you read last week, is worth reading also. Our church bulletin has the Web site address where the book Salt & Light can be ordered if we run out of copies at our church book table. Incidentally, for you who started out on Day 1 two weeks ago, if you have missed some days in your journal and feel guilty—don’t! Sometimes new practices are hard to get used to. Just do your best to stay on track this week. Spiritual Adventures are times for accelerated, measurable and lasting growth in your Christian life.
It's accelerated because you're going to know quicker progress than normal, especially since you are not in this alone, but with many others here in the church. It's measurable since you can see in your own handwriting in this journal how you are doing. And it's lasting because the results of what happens in your life should extend well beyond the duration of this adventure.
Last week I discussed one of Satan’s primary attack methods that he has used since the beginning of mankind—that of lying or deception. That is how he got Adam and Eve to disobey God’s Word; caused lawlessness and wickedness to become so terrible in Noah’s day that God chose to cleanse the earth by flood; was successful in developing the spirit of rebellion and permissiveness in Israel; caused many of Israel’s spiritual leaders to fall, including Samson, King Saul, King David, and Solomon. And by the time Jesus was born, most of Israel had fallen so far into deception they did not recognize or accept Him—their Messiah and God in the flesh.
Because the laws on which our country was founded guard our religious freedom, Satan’s attacks against Christians in America have also been primarily through deception. In the last 40-50 years, deception has rapidly destroyed many of the biblical moral standards that the majority of Americans lived by since the founding of our country.
End of Short Preview for Sermon #3 | 
