"A Different Kind of War"

[Music] foreign [Music] Corinthians chapter 10 please stand with me for the reading of God's word second Corinthians chapter 10. we've been going through our Church's statement of faith for these last I think couple of months at least and today we're going to pause with that because we are going to stop and this is a special message for anniversary Sunday and but we'll pick up Lord willing next week on our statement of faith series and that's been going along quite well but here today we're in second Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 1 Second Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 1. now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ who in presence and base among you being absent and bold towards you but I beseech you that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence wherewith I think to be bold against some which think of us as if we walk according to the flesh for though we walk in the flesh we do not war after the flesh for the weapons of our Warfare are not carnal But Mighty through God of the pulling down of strongholds casting down imaginations and every High thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to The Obedience of Christ and having a in a Readiness to Revenge all Disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled but focusing back on verses uh three through five for though we walk in the flesh we do not war after the flesh for the weapons of our Warfare are not carnal But Mighty through God the pulling down of strongholds casting down imaginations and every High thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to The Obedience of Christ and I was I really was thinking two different directions regarding the message this morning one which I ended up not going completely this direction although it can kind of tie in a bit is um a message about hope because there are many people who are you know we're facing difficult times many people homes families lives are facing difficult times they're worn down they're demoralized they're uh and a lot of times people are facing feeling hopeless and so that would be one that would be one message that I was really thinking about going that direction but then the Lord directed me over to this which I'm going to kind of tie in this the idea regarding people who are feeling hopeless that ties in here anyway but that's we're going to the message called a different kind of War a different kind of War let's pray heavenly father thank you for the time we have to come here and be in your word pray that you'd speak to every heart may you work in each heart and life may you strengthen help us thank you for your time your years of faithfulness here and this place here in Greenfield and I pray you'd help us to reach more people for Christ to help us to build up the Saints help us to be a church that is honor and glorifying to you and may you be honor and glorified through this time this message this morning in Jesus name amen you may be seated a different kind of War different kind of War old-fashioned conventional Warfare at least this is what I think of old-fashioned when I think of warfare is when two armies meet on the battlefield now you go out if you think of the Civil War you think of Revolutionary War you think of all right here's one Army Gathering even actually if you're even back in Bible times when you look at the Old Testament and the battles of the wars back then they'd go out into the battlefield and they'd fight it out and one side would win and the other side would sustain the heavy losses or sometimes both sides sustain heavy losses and so the two armies they meet on the battlefield fight it out see who wins but in history we've also seen other kinds of War um after last last week was the 21st anniversary of 9 11 and after 9 11 was what was called the war on terror it was a different kind of War it was a war against not a country or a specific group of people per se but it was war against people that represented or aligned with an ideology that's basically how that was presented and so that would be a different kind of War when they say war on terror the coveted response in 2020 was handled as a war they had the the government really took the attitude of a wartime footing for a good or for bad right or wrong but the now when you look at what's happening there's a kinetic war going on in Ukraine between Russia and Ukraine although Ukraine calls it a war Russia calls still calls it a special military operation but call it what it is it's just a war although I guess in Russia's mind if they declared war maybe maybe they haven't done all that they would do if they called it a war but the U.S even though we don't have military boots on the ground we don't have our army going over there fighting against uh Russia we are aiding Ukraine in various ways and there's also economic war against Russia and that's a different kind of War so when we say well when we at war with Russia well actually we are with Russia it's a different kind of War it's an economic War for good or bad there are consequences to choices and that's what the Bible says with good advice make war because War has consequences and should be entered into carefully and and uh and good decisions need to be made they're also for years and I read I like to read Financial newsletters I get one particular one through email and one of the writers for that he's talked about Iraq she wrote a book called currency Wars and so over the years there have been currency Wars that take place now these these are things that aren't on Headline News oh yes there's a currency war going on it's it's in the background it's under the surface but there are currency Wars that take place uh mostly behind the scenes without much attention and not only that those are Earthly still Earthly kinds of Wars even though they're different kinds of War there is another kind of war that is different and that is the spiritual war the Bible speaks of the spiritual war now the Bible describes a lot of traditional Wars but the Bible also talks about a spiritual war and this is Satan's uh war on the Saints it's his war on the churches it's his war on the home such as war on marriage war on children it's a war on The Godly Heritage or moral values of a Nation or a state or a community and uh what we've been seeing over the years is that the changes taken place and that have taken place and that are in progress have been very breathtaking very breathtaking for it starts slowly it starts um and then happens then happens quickly it happens suddenly and that that happens in a lot of ways uh that all of a sudden something happens and boom wow something happened wow where did that come from it didn't just come out of nowhere it was it was building there were signs there were symptoms there were certain things that were taking place that then led to a bigger change a bigger event that uh that they don't come out of nowhere and whether you like it or not you are involved in a war the spiritual war to win this war the weapons are different than carnal weapons that are used in traditional Warfare you have artillery have firearms you have all kinds of things you have bombs uh there are all kinds of different weapons that are used in traditional Warfare in second Corinthians chapter 10 he says the Apostle Paul says for though we walk in the flesh in other words we are here in the flesh you know flesh and blood and my body's here our bodies are here we do not we're after the Flesh in other words we're here in the flesh but we're not walking or we're not warring after a fleshly manner we're not using carnal weapons of Warfare for the weapons of our Warfare are not carnal But Mighty through gods of the pulling down of strongholds now stronghold is is something that is build up it's like a castle it's uh it's many times it's a in in the context here I think it's a false ideas or lies that get built up that end up being strongholds in people's lives and oftentimes the uh the weapon that is needed is the weapon of Truth to combat errors to combat lies and and in verse five early expounds upon that casting down imaginations and every High thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to The Obedience of Christ a lot of this has to do with the Warfare in the mind the Warfare between truth and error truth and lies right versus wrong and but carnal weapons that can be used by Christians that are operating in the flesh not in the spirit they are they can be emotional and physical types of weapons such as manipulation such as anger various ways in which children try to manipulate parents a spouse might try to manipulate their spouse there's all kinds of ways in which and there's there's carnal weapons in churches where people fight people get uh it's all about us it's all about what I want it's all about and there's and and I mean I've never witnessed this personally but I've heard in the years past there have been churches where you know there's fights that break out during business meetings and uh I mean I can't imagine that that they literally come to blows in a business meeting and uh people fight and then they wonder why you know why why don't people want to go back to church I mean well because you're you're fighting in business meeting or you know people are self-serving or they're just wanting it their way uh and those are carnal that's an Evidence of Flesh it's an Evidence of carnality and so those are carnal weapons those are not spiritual weapons and we should cast down imaginations those imaginations those are things that get built up set up in our minds and that oh it's such a powerful thing and that's not the message today it's not the message it's not on the mind but oh such a powerful thing is the the power of what is set up in the mind because what's in the mind then affects people's Outlook it affects their actions affects their decisions and uh it has a profound impact on so many things relationships the home their job churches so many things a carnal or fleshly living by Christians renders them weak and ineffective in the spiritual war so if the weapons are carnal or not carnal but are Mighty through God the pulling down of strongholds Mighty through God would be the spiritual weapons we see the armor of God in Ephesians and it speaks of the Warfare speaks of the Warfare but Satan loves to turn strong churches into worldly and weak ones why because when carnality takes hold when fleshly things takes hold when worldliness is celebrated when worldliness is accepted in the churches and in this lives of the Saints it renders Christians and churches ineffective against the devil in the spiritual battle and so when I look at the state of America yes do we have a lot of political problems absolutely but the political problems are a symptom of what America has become and the root of that has been what the churches have become in America that the churches I mean and there's there's problems in all kinds of directions regarding churches but as we I was just discussing with uh our sending Pastor uh church we were part of we helped start in 2010 in Connecticut just talking with him last night we were discussing that thing of the churches that have changed the rapid change that's been happening in churches across the land there was a church in Connecticut that Pastor retired a few years ago and we had visited there I don't know if it was I forget if it was Wednesday night or Sunday night but we visited there and it seemed like wow this is a you know you got they got a nice building strong Church taking a stand for God's word uh and Pastor retired he then somebody else comes in churches and even anything close to what it used to be turned out you know the the people number of people dwindled they turned it into some worldly church and now they're merged they changed the name and now they're merging with a different Church different worldly church and so all of a sudden just like that a church that was strong and standing on the word of God had people filled with people doing the work of the Lord in just a few years maybe I don't know how many years it took but just a few years boom it's just gone and there are numerous just just probably hundreds and maybe thousands of examples of that happening in churches across the land and so that is happening more and more and so Satan loves but Satan loves to turn strong churches strong biblical churches into worldly and weak ones because that gives him greater opportunity because then if the churches are not fulfilling their role uh being who God wants them to be it gives an opening to The Devil and to have his way in a society his way in a state or a country people are also dealing with burnout they're dealing with stress dealing with hopelessness dealing with confusion fear uncertainty and all of those things given advantage to the devil and so what's happening in a lot of the Contemporary churches today is now they're simply just catering to the idea that there are so many people like that so now every message becomes a motivational speech a motivational message which nothing wrong with exhortation nothing wrong with motivation but it turns into then a people-centered church in an unhealthy way where it's not a god-centered church saying we're going to preach the old Council of God now we just got to keep the people hooked on this feel-good stuff well wait a minute if we're preaching the whole Council of God and we teach people to have their own real relationship with God many of those things that they're dealing with they're going to get worked on they're going to get dealt with we don't it's it's not a matter of keeping people hooked on the motivational speeches to make them feel good it's a matter of promoting a real solid relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ that is the answer because then people learn to stand on their own two feet they aren't they aren't living off of somebody else's motivation and yes are we to be encouragers are we to be exhorters absolutely there's a time and a place for that and people should be find encouragement among the Brethren and from the pulpit but there are times when we just uh you know God wants us to preach thus saith the Lord and there's times we preach thus saith the Lord that isn't very motivational it may not be very feel good but that is what the Bible says and so the devil has been gaining an advantage through the condition of the churches and so I'm not putting my hope in politics to fix the problem when the state of the churches the state of Christianity in America isn't such a sorry shape but on this anniversary Sunday a different kind of war the spiritual war so I want to really capture what the heart of our church is as far as put forth what is the heart of our church biblically speaking what should we be prioritizing what in this coming eighth year of Greenfield Baptist Church as long as the Lord tarries as long as the Lord Wills the coming eighth year what should be our Warfare like is it a fleshly Warfare and and by the way let me just say as I said you're involved in a war whether you like it or not or know it you are involved in a war the devil is Waging War against you Devil's Waging War against the churches Devils Waging War against the home and so this isn't trying to establish are we in a war no it's a war and so there are many people because of getting burnt out getting stressed feeling hopeless being overwhelmed confused fearful uncertain they then don't have an appetite to engage in the Warfare which also gives the devil an advantage and so as we find the strength in the grace of God and we press forward day by day with the Lord we can then with Clarity of mind and with focus of mind with the armor of God we can go forward and fight the battles and so there are a few things here that I want to present as weapons in this different kind of war the things that are going to make a difference because the fact is we're not in a position America is not in a spiritual condition to have a revolution the type of Revolution that took place in 1776 in that time frame is entirely different now there were some there were some other motivations for why some people revolted so it wasn't all necessarily based on didn't have to necessarily to do simply with uh churches or Christianity although there were many pastors who supported what was going on but even at that point America was in a different place morally where a revolution could take place and something good could still come out of it where in today the types of Revolution would take place would not good would not come out of it now it may end up happening it may end up where um we're just I mean we're America seems to be struggling and struggling more and more and and getting weaker and weaker in a lot of ways from the inside out uh but I'm not I don't have the appetite for getting out there and waging a Warfare on for a revolution in the streets that's not going to be the answer to America's ills to America's problems where we really win the war is with strong churches with what the Bible says are our weapons of warfare and the first one is we go to Second Corinthians chapter four the first one is the gospel first one is the gospel and so these are the weapons of the spiritual war that uh that are you say what can I do then what you know many times people who care about America they care about their society they care about their homes they care about people they care about family and they wonder what if maybe feel helpless what can I do and people get frustrated to get angry or is also happening is another tactic of the devil is get it get people entertained to death and lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God so they're also not even seeing the importance of what is going on not even seeing the importance of this different kind of War but in second Corinthians chapter four and verse 1 therefore seeing we have this ministry as we have received Mercy we faint not but have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to Every Man's conscience in the sight of God so he's saying we've not been trying to hide something we're not muddying the waters we're not clouding the message but verse 3 but if our gospel be hid it is hid to them that are lost so we haven't done anything to add to take away from muddy the waters to keep people from being able to understand it but if our gospel be hid it is hid to them to their lost verse 4 in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not lest the Glorious the light of the Glorious gospel of Christ who is the image of God should shine unto them and so it's hidden the God of this world does everything he can to Blind the minds of them which believe not the Lost are in a blinded state and the devil does what he can all right we've got to keep keep this over their eyes and you can use a lot of different ways I mean it's just Spirits different tactics to keep people distracted keep them blinded or sometimes just from the inside they're blinded spiritually it's not necessarily an external blockage of what's keeping them from seeing the light uh it's it's just starts right in the heart and that's the devil that's the devil the God of this world the devil less the light of the Glorious gospel of Christ who is the image of God should shine unto them so the devil doesn't want them to see the light so maybe uses false religions false teachings uh or just worldliness and pleasure and self-centeredness and pride and all of these things that blind people to the truth to the light of the Gospel verse 5 for we preach not ourselves but Christ Jesus the Lord and ourselves your servants for Jesus sake for God who commanded his the light to shine out of Darkness hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ Romans chapter 1 and the first part of verse 16 says for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth in the last part of the verses to the Jew and also to the Greek and so what is what's the power of God the gospel the gospel is a death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth and so those who believe they receive that power of God that saves them and it's through the gospel so when we were at the fair last week and we're trying to give the gospel to people that's spiritual warfare it's not just hey let's go have a good time at the fair and I'm glad if you had a good time at the fair I'm glad you had a good time at the fair when we're working that Booth yes we enjoy working the booth but it's not a matter of just hey this is just another event no this is spiritual warfare because we're given the gospel there's the God of this world who's trying to Blind the minds and succeeding in blinding the minds of them that believe not because they don't want that light they don't want that light and what's the indication that the opposite of the light you know the light of Jesus Christ what the devil he majors in darkness and blindness is when I just watch the people walk by and the Darkness emanates from them could be their appearance it could be their Spirit it could be their response to the gospel message it could be the response just to seeing Greenfield Baptist Church on the sign all right so you see that oftentimes they walk by they don't have they don't have any idea what we believe you know probably but assistant that's right they don't have any idea what we believe but uh but some something you know we don't know maybe and that's where the stronghold comes in because there's something that's now wait a minute why would they associate what do they associate with a Baptist Church what do they associate with could it be accurate could it be inaccurate I don't know they don't tell us they don't stop and talk about it but that's spiritual warfare that is spiritual warfare working an affair giving the gospel is spiritual warfare when you individually witness to somebody it's spiritual warfare when you give the gospel and you hand the gospel tract or when you tell somebody the gospel that is spiritual warfare the gospel is the power of God and the Salvation Paul said I'm not ashamed of it and the God of this world he works overtime he blinds the minds as you think about this just the environment of the fair there's a lot of good things at the fair but that you know when you when you go through the fairgrounds is any of that other content any of the other entertainment any of the other things at the fair doing more to point you to Jesus Christ no so when we have our one booth there that's there to point people to Jesus Christ is the light that comes from that Booth kind of figuratively speaking although we do turn the lights on fortunately there's a light there that's not anywhere else in that Fairgrounds that's spiritual warfare so the gospel that's the first thing and there's such a great need and so some of this I want to tie in with kind of a forward-looking perspective here to give you an idea of where we're headed and we're regarding the gospel uh and unfortunately I don't have this ready yet um I I live a a life of uh being conflicted in my own mind and heart of wishing I had more time but then the Lord uses the job I have outside of the church uh my my secular employment uses that in different ways and but it does take up much of my time but that's just where we are and that's okay I've accepted that and just wanted to follow the Lord's will and Leadership on that but uh with more time I'd be able to be able to be more quickly get these things done but there's a earlier this year we started which it's not publicized yet because it's not ready but we're going to have a gospel website that is not just for people around here but it's not going to be a Church website it's going to be a gospel website that's going to be meant for the proclamation of the Gospel that if and it'll have enough content on there that if nobody knows anything somebody knows anything about uh doesn't know anything about the Bible about the gospel about Christ that they can go there and they can have good content and then have the gospel presentation there for them and so that's going to be one thing we can use we can we'd be able to do some uh mailings to some places where maybe they're a little further out from here where people aren't necessarily coming in to come to church but maybe it's a little further out where they may not even know that we're here but most of all they might be places that need to be penetrated with the gospel they need a gospel witness there and we can use this website as a tool and so that's one of the ways that of a spiritual weapon that we can use to fight this different kind of War the gospel number two is prayer turn to James chapter 5 James chapter 5. James chapter 5. and that was just point one so I'm going to have to start picking up the pace here James chapter 5 and verse 16. prayer prayer is one of the most important weapons spiritual weapons that we have in this different kind of War James chapter 5 and verse 16 confess your faults one to another and pray for one another that ye may be healed the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much so first of all focus on that phrase the effects of that sentence the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man a vealeth much it needs to be effectual it needs to be fervent we need to pray according to the will of God when you know your Bible and you know the mind you have more of the mind of God on things you can then pray more according to the will of God notice that it says a righteous man and so we need to be right with God we need to be it's not somebody who's just often sin or somebody who's not concerned about righteousness it availeth much for Elias or Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain and it rained not on the Earth by the space of three years and six months and he prayed again and the heaven gave rain and the Earth brought forth her fruit now Elijah was a he was ordained a prophet of God and God used him mightily at that time but he's saying Eli he wasn't he wasn't any any higher up than we were in the sense of he was still human and still face the same Temptations face the same passions feelings that we do in other words he was human like us but yet he prayed and his prayer was effectual it actually made a difference and if we want to make a difference in the world today in our community in the lives of the people in our family or whoever it may be we need to have a weapon of Prayer the weapon of prayer because it does avail much and so many times people feel helpless so what can I do about a situation how about praying about it how about praying about Lord convicted me yesterday about something where I thought about and it was something related to my my secular work and uh and I realized you know what that specific thing I don't think I prayed about I pray about other things regarding work there was one specific thing that really could have made a big difference that I didn't pray about I was thinking wow I didn't pray about that hmm and you actually start praying about that and so many times we might think well this is something that's worth praying for but then we maybe neglect other things that we need to be praying for as well and the more I think but boy there's more and more to pray for oh my goodness more and more to pray for but prayer is necessary prayer is vital prayer does make a difference when it's fervent when you're believing the god you're praying to that he can and will answer prayer we need to always when we're praying submit ourselves to what his will is whatever he decides to do chooses to do in a situation but in this case it was praying Elijah praying earnestly that it might not rain and then pray that it would rain and it rained but we need to be people of prayer we need to be people of Prayer if we're going to see Greenfield turn around if we're going to see people reaching Greenfield and blinded eyes opens there's a lot of hardness there's a lot of Darkness there's a lot of blindness I was talking to brother Danford last night and he actually said to tell everybody hi but he said yeah I said well where are you this week he said we were out he said actually last night he's starting some meetings and he said Yeah we actually just finished up a church prayer meeting for the meetings they had a prayer meeting last night I said oh I said where are you you know where's your meeting this week he said we're in Shipshewana Indiana Cuts small town it's kind of a tourist area because there's a lot of Amish around there it's actually a neat little town you need spot to visit my wife and I visited there once a nice place to visit he said you know when we're out uh you know trying to talk to people and meet people he says you know it's he said I don't know if he said to one person he was just thinking himself but he said boy it's not Massachusetts he says people actually talk to you here because one of the days when they were here he took Josiah out and and door-to-door and trying to distribute John and Romans and he came he came back and he said wow basically it's hard to get anywhere with people when you try to talk to them doesn't mean it shouldn't be done it's just it's just different you go to somewhere else it's just different but he so he understands he understands where we're at he understands what uh but what what can make the difference what can make the difference if they don't want to listen if they don't want to talk you can still pray and still pray that can do more than any that just prayer can do more than any human effort that we maybe burn ourselves out in and we get so worked up and we get so frustrated and when we just first need a first stop and we need to pray be people of prayer bathe everything in prayer and number three we need uh boots on the ground boots on the ground for the proclamation of Truth which means training and centering laborers around the corner and around the world one of my hearts for this church is that we'd be a training center that we would have a hand in in sending out training uh Minister uh people for the ministry pastors missionaries and get the boots on the ground and acts I'm not going to take you there but just for sake of time in Acts chapter 13 verses 1-3 that's when Paul and Barnabas were sent out and what was it they were praying they were fasting they were first of all Paul and Barnabas were first serving the lord in their Church there in Antioch that's the first thing they were doing they were just Faithfully serving the lord then as the church leadership was there they prayed they fasted they were and the Holy Spirit called them they said these are this is who I want separate them for the work and that's that's that's modern day missions that's sending the messengers of the Gospel out that's the way that's the biblical way the biblical pattern and so we support when we support The Buckinghams of the carnies they had their home church that they were part of and God called them they said they believed God was calling them the church uh was in agreement with that call believing that yes these are people that we're going to send out and uh they sent them out they they raise support and uh from different churches well ours being one of them and they go out and they serve the Lord that's what Paul and Barnabas did and they went out they preached the gospel people were saved they were baptized there were churches started in so many different places that is the biblical pattern and so we need to have a heart not just for giving to missions which we should give to missions our way our missions fund works is that our missions fund is that we specifically give to missions we designate we don't have a portion of our budget that's for Missions it's whatever the church is going to give we we give toward the missions fund and then as we have more come into that missions fund it increases the amount of people we can support and so we we have the tithes and regular offerings you know so regular giving but missions is designated over and above what is given as a tithe and that is what goes 100 percent toward being able to have a hand in sending people out and so we need more and more of those boots on the ground we need more and more laborers for the ministry uh so many churches without pastors so many countries that need messengers of the gospel and uh so what did Jesus say to the disciples pray ye the lord of the Harvest he would send forth laborers into his Harvest so there even in prayers involved in that so number three along with number three comes number four which is starting churches starting churches that's a weapon so when we're sending out when when messengers of the Gospel pastors missionaries are sent out they're trained and sent out laborers around the world that's spiritual warfare prayer is spiritual warfare starting churches is definitely spiritual warfare devil doesn't like that devil hates it actually he's okay with the wrong kind of churches being started because then it dilutes and Waters things down and distracts people from the real thing the biblical thing but first Timothy chapter 3 verses 14 and 15 these things right eye into thee hoping to come unto thee shortly but if I tarry along with thou mayest know how the ought is to behave thyself in the house of God which is the Church of the Living God the pillar and ground of the truth that's why this that's why Satan hates the churches because if God has set up the churches as the pillar and ground of the truth communities will not be transformed for Christ's sake without biblical churches the pillar and ground of the truth the way to make a difference is for there to be biblical churches in in communities all across the land church should be uh so he's saying I've written these things now that was first Timothy three I didn't have you turn there but the first part of First Timothy 3 are the qualifications for the pastors and the deacons and so Paul is saying I've written to you about these things these the qualifications for pastors and deacons hoping to come shortly but I've written these things that if I'm not able to come right away that you would know how you're to behave yourself in the house of God so you're saying look this isn't some casual flippant thing being a pastor it's not some casual flippant thing being a deacon church is not some casual flipping thing church should be taken seriously regarding its leadership and it should be taken seriously regarding its membership as well but when you look at the popular churches ooh the hip the cool pastors that's not Paul Paul wouldn't approve of that Paul wouldn't approve of that you look at the qualifications for a bishop in first Timothy chapter three thank you being hip and cool and dressing in fashion designer clothing is not one of the qualifications for a bishop as a matter of fact it shows that a person is very self-absorbed and all about themselves prideful and if that's what they're using to draw people in like hey I want to be relatable I want to be it's like well then you're drawing people to the wrong thing to begin with you might get a crowd but you're not drawing them to the right things but the church is is the Church of the Living God the pillar in the ground of the truth and you know there are many people too many Christians build Church into their schedule but they don't build their schedule around the church well how important is the church well you tell me I mean the Bible says how important the church is but you tell me how important the church is to you it's the pillar and ground of the truth nothing else is spoken in scriptures the pillar and grounds of the truth so you tell me how important church is but many times it's just well we'll see if we can get Church in here on this part of my schedule and all that and and uh God blesses those who by faith make their priorities what God's priorities are God provides God blesses turn to Hebrews chapter 10 Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10 verse 22 let us draw near with a true heart and full Assurance of Faith having our heart sprinkled from an evil conscience in our bodies washed with pure water let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering for he is faithful that promised and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works and so because of this assurance that we have in Christ that he was that once for all sacrifice that his blood was sufficient to cleanse us of sin that salvation is secure in him then let's hold fast to that then it gives us the opportunity because then we're not back here lacking Assurance now that we have Assurance we then can go forward we can consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works and so that involves the Fellowship of the saints that involves the encouragement of the Saints not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together notice how that's connected verses 24 and 25 you can't consider one another and provoke unto love and good works if you're forsaking the assembling of yourselves together as the manner of some is but exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching what day is that it's the day of Christ that's the day of the Lord the more you see those last days events coming in the end times events coming in uh the the the the day of the Lord getting close to the day of Christ The Return of Christ getting closer it means more and more there's an urgency there should be an urgency of God's people we got to get together we got to exhort we got to provoke on the love and good works because it isn't getting any better it's not going to get any easier it's going to get more and more intense until Christ comes where he said not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is and so the there's the priority of the assembly and then number five one weapon of our Warfare is another weapon of our Warfare is protecting and training children protecting and training children now I don't if you pay any attention to what's going on in in the state in the country and you know places and schools and everything uh with entertainment I mean the war on children is intensifying I mean it doesn't take much to to see that I mean some of the stuff out there is absolutely it'll turn your stomach I mean I saw a couple things this week of things like oh my goodness the the the flat out utter perversion that the corruption uh when you talk about abortion that's a war on children abortions of War on children then the ones who do get to live then they push gender confusion they push the the the sexualization of children they have no business learning in elementary school the things that they're being taught no business by the way not even even when they get into partially Middle School you know number one it's the parents job to teach that anyway to teach things but let kids be kids like kids be kids uh in Deuteronomy chapter 6 once you don't have to turn there the Deuteronomy chapter six Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart with all thy soul with all thy mind and and uh and then it's hear o Israel the Lord our God is one Lord and then it says I'll teach them diligently talking about the law of God the word of God teach them diligently to the thy to your children teach them diligently and so it needs to be a priority of protecting and training children my wife and I were having discussion a few a number days ago or last week sometime and I said look I forget maybe I said it to her or somebody else it's hard to keep track but I know I know I said recently that simply homeschooling our children is spiritual warfare simply homeschooling our children there's times my wife might think boy boy I don't have time to do other things there's so much my time wrapped up in training in educating our children you know and there's a lot of burdens a lot of it's a lot of work you know especially when you're got six of them there you know but uh but the fact is that's not a inferior that's not an inferior thing that's that's a huge part of today's spiritual warfare that's going on because there's Warfare against children and so as we go on in our church we want to find ways the best we can to try to support those encourage those who are engaged in this Warfare on behalf of their children number six turn to Second Timothy Chapter 2 second Timothy chapter 2 second Timothy chapter 2 verse 1. thou therefore my son be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus and the things that thou Hast heard of me among many witnesses the same commit that of Faithful Men Who Shall be able to teach others also that's part of the pattern of ministry the things that thou has heard of me among many witnesses the same commit thou to Faithful Men so it's a passing down of the teaching a passing on of the training so my job then as a pastor I've I've learned and I continue to learn and then part of my job is then to pass it on and then you pass it on to be able to teach others also that is the pattern that's the pattern that should be the overall pattern in the church but he's specifically also talking here about Ministry about pastors that that's how we train new leadership that's how we train new pastors it's how we train the missionaries is teach the same commit out of Faithful Men Who Shall be able to teach others also then he says verse 3 thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ not an easy thing to do when you're trying to wage in the Warfare engage in the Warfare as a good soldier there's a lot of hardness to endure but he says in verse 4 no man that wareth entangleth himself with the Affairs of this life that he may please him who had chosen him to be a soldier so number six is declutter your lives the next another weapon of the war is decluttering your life of things that have no Eternal value decluttering your life of things that have no return about and this is a long journey in the life of a Believer it's not something you just all of a sudden okay now that's done now this this is all this is a journey it's a journey it's a process you you make progress in one area and then you go on for a while and then hopefully as we grow in the Lord we make more progress in that area and I'll tell you but more and more as I see the war waging very intensely and I want to be more committed than ever to the work of the Lord so that means there's even more stuff of no Eternal value that I gotta decl that I've got to declutter and it cannot entangle myself with the Affairs of this life and are things that there's the hardness there are things that I do as a pastor that could things be easier so to speak if I didn't have so much on my plate oh yeah potentially but my biggest priorities are I want to fulfill my role I want to fulfill my role as a as a father and a husband and I want to fulfill my role as a pastor and then I also want to help provide for my family more by doing my secular work but let me tell you if the rubber hit the road and you say boy I just can't handle any more and we're getting to the place where the first thing to go would not be being a husband and father the next the first thing to go would not be being a pastor the first thing to go would be well I guess I'm just going to have to do something else and trust the Lord to provide that would be the first thing because being a soldier of Christ I cannot back off from the Warfare in the home Satan's World on the home and cannot back off from the Warfare our Satan's war on the church and need to do God's things God's way we need to declutter your life and this I'm not going to get into too many specifics because what's cluttering your life might be different than is probably different than what's cluttering someone else's but there's too much of a love of pleasure I will just say most of those things that clutter our life are distractions and things that just bring us pleasure let me tell you the greatest pleasure is just simply knowing you're serving the lord and the will of God that you're being the husband that God wants you to be or being a wife God wants you to be a father or mother or just a Christian the Christian God wants you to be church member God wants you to be the worker God wants you to be wherever you are those are the things that bring Pleasures just simply just have to live in such a way where the touch of God's going to be on your life that's the most pleasing thing of all and then number seven sanctification sanctification is another weapon that the devil wants more and more corruption he wants more and more worldliness and wickedness first Thessalonians 4 3-7 says for this is the will of God even your sanctification that you should abstain from fornication that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor not in the lust of concupiscence as even as the Gentiles which know not God that no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any manner and then it goes on and it says for God hath not called us unto uncleanness but to holiness but unto holiness we are called unto Holiness God God's will is your sanctification and he's specifically addressing fornication here but I mean they let me tell you something about the people who are corrupting the children with the sexualization of children is those people are just as filthy in their minds and hearts as the rest of them and they're just simply trying to project that onto others to make it seem normal that's right but when you when you get to it gets to the root of it they're just projecting their own filthiness their own filthy minds and their own filthy hearts and trying to normalize it to feel better about themselves and it shouldn't be it shouldn't be stood for it shouldn't be accepted that way and then in Titus Chapter 2 the Bible says that the grace of God teaches us to deny ungodliness the more the grace of God that's in our life our lives there will be more denying of ungodliness and the more we're in God's word the more we're in prayer the more we get the mind of the Lord on what is Godly and what is not godly then we'll be in a position to deny ungodliness so the what the weapons of a different kind of War here in our church going into the eighth year of our church the gospel prayer we want to be a a training station for Laborers for the Harvest field we want to be even have a hand in starting churches you know I read that report from The Buckinghams the other church is five years old and they're already starting another church say well shouldn't they wait till they get to a certain point how long are they supposed to wait how do they know shouldn't you wait till you get a hundred people will happen who knows if you get to 100 people how long are you going to wait there's there's another town over there that needs Christ they've got people traveling over from that town so let me tell you in our church that should be our heart that should be our goal to say you know what we gotta we got to do something in other communities and that is our heart that's our desire and things that we should be pressing onward too amen because if we're decluttering Our Lives of things that have no Eternal value then we can attend more to those things but if we get self-centered if we could just sit here comfortably sit here in pleasure and say ah yeah we're fine we're good let's just focus on us and know more and then we're losing the heart of what the Great Commission is all about what church is all about what the Christian life is all about is that it's advancing for the Lord God wants us to be advancing in our own lives in our homes in our churches and then reaching out and more for him as he leads of course everything we do should be underpinned by prayer and the will of God so in my my Approach is always I want to make sure I know you know something just clearly a touch of God the the open door from the Lord anything we do and there's times maybe you know maybe there's some uncertainty on that but uh but you know if we walk with God if we pray and we have his heart on what is important we'll know those things we'll know those things now some people especially men it seems like when it comes to Warfare have a blow them up shoot him up in mentality you know amen that's right foreign and you know they're they're there's at times there have been times for that type of a Warfare but this different kind of War now there may be some men like manly men you know say I'm strong you know I'm ready to go blow them up shoot them up that's the type of person I am uh if you know it could be somebody a man hears like that's the type of person I am blow them up this kind of war the spiritual war is no less important and no less consequential than that kind of War getting down on your knees may not feel very Macho praying it may not feel very Macho may not feel very manly but let me tell you in the face of a wicked world in the face of Flesh carnality in the face of a spiritual war that's one of the most powerful things you can do being a husband and father that God wants you to be may not feel very Macho if I want to be out doing something else I want to be conquering something how about you conquer your home for Christ how about you do that how about how about you let God have control of your home how about you create an environment your home where God can have his way that's Warfare right there and yes that means some sacrifice that means I can't always have it my way I can't have the things that always pleasure me it means I may have to declutter my life of some garbage entertainment that I have in my life garbage music garbage this whatever it may be the flesh fleshly things worldly things because that's that's not going to help your home be a Haven for God to have his way not going to win your children that way you're not going to have children to grow up for the Lord that way the starting churches protecting and training children declutting your life of things have no Eternal value and then sanctification that is that's as far as Weapons of warfare that's quite a list it's quite a list and so this different kind of War it's no less important no less consequential because the Warfare is Raging whether you like it or not whether you know it or not and we need to engage in that war we need to be exercised we need to be trained we need to be refreshed we need to be encouraged to press on for the Lord in these times

Channel: Greenfield Baptist Church - MA

Views: 6

Keywords: Bible, preaching, church

Id: szmdTz__VgY

Length: 54min 37sec (3277 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 14 2023