Most anyone who has read war novels or seen films with military themes, is familiar with some version of the following scene.  It features a soldier who has drawn guard duty, and hears a noise while on watch, betraying the approach of another person.

• Sentry: “Halt!  Who goes there?”
• [The challenge is answered by the potential intruder.]
• Sentry: “Are you friend or foe?”
• Intruder: “Friend.”
• Sentry: “Approach and be recognized.”
• [Intruder emerges from the shadows and presents himself/herself to the guard.] 
• Sentry: “What’s the password?”
• [Intruder responds.]
• Sentry grants admittance if the recognition signal is correct [or attacks if it is wrong.]

Military practice and technology differ in various parts of the world, and both have changed over the centuries.  Yet the foregoing scenario remains ubiquitous and iconic.  Why?  The answer surely lies in the value of the component parts of the interaction:

• The sentry stands watch to deter trouble and provide early warning of threats on the perimeter.  
• To minimize danger of surprise attack, any unexpected presence must be immediately challenged, and the potential enemy kept as far away as possible.  
• The command to ‘stop’ is necessary to forestall further encroachment by the unknown party(ies). 
• The threat level must be assessed as quickly as possible, hence the question about whose side the trespasser is on.  
• Permission to advance into view is granted to establish control over the unauthorized person(s), to permit closer inspection and to learn critical details, such as whether the other party is armed, is alone or accompanied, and so on.  
• The recognition code of the day (and any other authenticating detail requested) is needed to positively identify the visitor and to determine whether passage into the restricted area may be allowed.

These methods survive in some form because they still work and are therefore still useful.  They have practical application outside the library and the cinema.  While some steps could be added to the above protocol, it is difficult to see how any could be safely omitted, given that misjudgments may have serious, quite likely fatal consequences.

We know that properly posting a watch can serve us when it comes to reducing mortal threats, but what about peril to our immortal being?  Would a similar approach reduce risk to our souls?  It may indeed, as we shall see.  First, let us establish some context.

Admit it or don’t, we are in a war that according to the Bible, began in the heavens and spilled over to earth.  Today the conflict rages across both domains.  But many people have a faulty understanding of its nature.  If for example, you see this conflict as an age-old battle between good and evil, where God is pitted against the Devil in a titanic struggle of equals, you are quite mistaken.  God is the Creator and Satan merely a creature, inferior to the One who made him.  God is all-powerful, the Devil is not.  God is present at all times and in all places; the Devil is not.  God is all-knowing, the Devil is not.  God’s incomparability is evident and His triumph inevitable.

This isn’t a clash of opposing philosophies, differing worldviews or impersonal forces.  It is a rebellion, a palace coup, the objective of which is to dethrone the Sovereign (God) and replace Him with a usurper (Satan).  And despite what you may have heard or imagined, the fight is not nuanced.  There are two sides and only two—God and His creatures loyal to Him, and the Devil and his fellow rebels against God.

There are no neutral forces.  Even while He puts down the revolt, God requires all human beings to pick a side and make their personal stance known.  In God’s view, everyone who has not pledged loyalty to Him has sworn allegiance to the enemy and, as an enemy combatant, will one day share the Devil’s fate—to suffer for all eternity the fierceness of God’s wrath.  It will happen when at last, God’s victory moves from prophecy to history.

News Flash: According to the Apostle Peter, God’s enemy is the loyalist’s enemy, too: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” (I Peter 5:8).  This enemy is not passive, but always on the prowl, probing for weaknesses in our defenses.  A good sentry is sober and keeps vigilant guard, keenly aware of the danger posed by enemy patrols, probes and feints.  Jesus tells us how to spot them:

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.  But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.  To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.  And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.  And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.” (John 10:1-5)

Jesus’ audience on this occasion heard what He said, but didn’t understand what He meant (v. 6).  So, He patiently went over it once more, drawing sharp contrasts between Himself, as legitimate doorkeeper and doorway to the sheepfold, and the Devil, as would-be rustler of the sheep.

“Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.  All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.  I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.  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.” (John 10:7-10)

From there, Jesus portrayed Himself as the Good Shepherd, who, far from abandoning His sheep to thieves and wolves, loves them so much that He sacrifices His very life for them.  And then, He “takes it up again” (referring to His resurrection).  Watch:

”I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.  But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.  The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.  I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.  As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.  And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold [the Gentiles]: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.  Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.  No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.”  (John 10:11-18)

Lions will prowl, looking for strays to devour.  Savage wolves will attack and scatter the herd.  None but Christ will defend the sheep, because He alone actually cares about them.  True to His word, Jesus did give His own life for the sheep.  He knows intimately those that belong to Him, and they know Him.  The Father loves His Son, because Jesus lays down His life for the sheep, and because Jesus loves, trusts and obeys His Father, even to the cross and the grave.  Christ makes crystal clear the fact that no one coerced or compelled His sacrifice.  Jesus voluntarily laid down His life, and He had the power to take it up again.

Jesus came to earth because His Father sent Him on a mission to seek and to save the lost (“This commandment have I received of my Father).”  Did He know it would mean his own terrible suffering and death?  Of course He did (Jesus spoke of this often and in detail).  That’s the whole reason He was born—to die for the sins of the world and to purchase, with His own precious and innocent blood, a pardon for as many as will accept it.

Have you received the gift that Jesus died to give you?  Have you humbled yourself, repented of your sins and confessed Jesus as your Lord and Savior?  Have you thanked Him for taking the punishment you deserve so that you could walk free and receive the righteousness and cleansing that comes from God?

If not, I’d set the watch, if I were you.  Post some sentries.  Be on guard against that ferocious lion, roaming around somewhere nearby.  Do your best to strengthen your defenses against marauding packs of starving wolves.  Beware of demons and the rapidly growing number of two-legged beasts whom they control.  Oh, and best to put the coffee on—you dare not doze off.  Ever.

If, on the other hand, you are beginning to doubt the wisdom of worldly strategy (reject God and ignore what Jesus Christ has done for you), read on.  The enemy may be closer and far more lethal than you think.

HOW TO BE SAVED:

• Admit to God that you are a sinner (that you have not kept His moral law to perfection; in your thoughts, words, and actions you have done what His law forbids and have failed to do what His love demands).  This is seeing yourself from God’s point of view and agreeing that He is right about you.  Be as specific as you can.
• Believe in your heart that Jesus died for your sins and that God raised Him from the dead.
• Sincerely repent (turn away) from your sins, asking God to forgive you and to use His power to help you resist temptation, no matter how strong the pull of sin may be, at first.
• Acknowledge Jesus as the Lord of your life.  Invite Him to move into your heart and take up residence there, so that He can change you from the inside out.
• Trust His promise to save you and give you a new spiritual birth and a new nature (thoughts, desires, priorities, hopes, dreams, and character).

SOME KEY TRUTHS:

• “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”  (Romans 3:23)
• “As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one.”  (Romans 3:10)
• “For the wages of sin is death: but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  (Romans 6:23)
• “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  (John 3:16)
• “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”  (Romans 5:8)
• “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.”  (I Corinthians 15:3,4)
• “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” (John 1:12)
• “Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him…”  (Revelation 3:20)
• “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  (Romans 10:13)
• “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”  (Romans 10:9)
• “Verily, verily, I say unto you; He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life; and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”  (John 5:24)
• “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing, ye might have life through his name.”  (John 20:31) 
• “These things I have written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”  (I John 5:13)