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GTM - Saints At War - Lyall Johnston - November 1, 2023 In this GTM message Lyall Johnston as this question; Are Christians pacifists? Mr. Johnston discusses the topic of Christians and military service. He shares his personal experience of being in the military before resigning due to his religious beliefs. He then references the conversation between Jesus and Pilate to argue that Christians should not engage in warfare. The speaker emphasizes the importance of living according to....
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GTM - Saints At War - Lyall Johnston - November 1, 2023 In this GTM message Lyall Johnston as this question; Are Christians pacifists? Mr. Johnston discusses the topic of Christians and military service. He shares his personal experience of being in the military before resigning due to his religious beliefs. He then references the conversation between Jesus and Pilate to argue that Christians should not engage in warfare. The speaker emphasizes the importance of living according to....
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The speaker discusses the topic of Christians and military service. He shares his personal experience of being in the military before resigning due to his religious beliefs. He then references the conversation between Jesus and Pilate to argue that Christians should not engage in warfare. The speaker emphasizes the importance of living according to the kingdom of God and listening to the voice of truth. He also warns against false apostles and prophets within the Church. Yes, well greetings everyone, and as Steve said, the title is Saints at War, and of course we're on the Sabbath day and today is a day of rest, but it's never a rest from war. And we know, you know, Jesus was the message he gave to his disciples on the Mount of Olives that we would be hearing wars and rumors of wars and many other things, but the end is not yet. Neither are the trials and the tribulations of God's people. Let's ask the question, are Christians pacifists? That's a good question. What will happen? There's a lot of rumbles of the possibility of there being a draft, of there being a calling up of particularly young men and even women to be conscripted to go to battle. So if any of us are at that age, what are we going to do? As a teenager I had no choice, we were living at a time when compulsory military training, as it was called in New Zealand, called up every young man age 18, women were not being called up at that stage. And we went through our normal training and as a result I became a member of the New Zealand Defence Force for a period of seven years. And that was terminated when I found out about God's truth and I sent in my resignation to a commission I was holding at that time. And very shortly after that we left for Ambassador College, but while I was serving I was ready and prepared to go to war. I remember my brother and I, had we been called on, we would have been off to Hungary with the problems they were having in Hungary in the 1950s. The very real possibility of being sent up into the Malaysian theatre was a very real possibility. In fact when I was asked, when I was going through a course, I was asked by a man, would your Christian religion influence whether you fight or not? My answer at that stage was, no of course not. I had little understanding at that stage of the biblical perspective for those who are a part of the body of Christ. So again the question, are we to be those people who would refuse to be a part of a military force to fight against the enemies of the country that we may be conscripted to their armed forces? Well let's have a look at John the 18th chapter. Let's see what Jesus has to say about this. Whether or not we should go along with being called up or drafted, and generally the approach we have to military service, to serving, to fighting, to killing. We go to John the 18th chapter, what we find is Jesus before Pilate, and he answers this question. I'm sure you're all very familiar with this. There's nothing new under the sun, so we repeat these things over and over again so that the truth of God, little by little, saturates more and more as it percolates into our being and it becomes a part of our very life. And these are things that are so important. So John the 18th chapter, let's look or begin in verse 28. We know that Jesus is before Pilate here, and we'll read verse 28. This is just after Peter had denied Christ, as the narrative then moves over to Jesus who had been taken from the presence of Caiaphas over to Pilate. Now then, they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the judgment hall, and it was early, but they did not want to go into the judgment hall, oh so religious, so committed to their beliefs. They did not want to go to the judgment hall, why? Well, so that they would not be defiled, that they might eat the Passover. Can you imagine that? Here they are, about to crucify the Passover lamb of God, and they're concerned about keeping the Old Covenant Passover, with no knowledge. They didn't know who Jesus was. Well, in fact, that's not true. They did. He was opposition to them, he was trouble for them, because he was drawing the crowds away from them, and they were jealous. So that they would not be defiled, that they might eat the Passover. Well, what Passover was it? Well, it was the Passover of the 15th, not the 14th, so it was not the Passover of God, not the Passover that God had appointed through Moses. Therefore, Pilate came out to them and said, what accusations do you bring against this man? Pilate had obviously heard about the troubles in the Jewish nation in Judea, and they answered and said to him, if he were not an evildoer, here are the Jews and the religious leaders, the high priests and all those high mucky mucks of Judaism, calling Jesus, the one who came to bring salvation to the whole of mankind, they're calling him an evildoer. We would not have delivered him up to you. So let's read that again. If he were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered him up to you. This is the height of hypocrisy. Then Pilate said to them, you take him and judge him according to your own law. But the Jews said to him, it is not lawful for us to put anyone to death. So he was in their mind. They wanted the death of the Son of God. The minds were blinded. These religious leaders, the high priests and the whole Sanhedrin, contra to God the Father wanting to kill the Son of God Almighty. It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death. So under the Jewish, sorry, under the Roman law, so that the saying of Jesus might be filled which he had spoken to signify by which he was about to die. Then Pilate returns to the judgment hall and called Jesus and said to him, are you a king of the Jews? And Jesus answered him, do you ask, he's not giving an outright answer. He's testing Pilate. We knew he was going to allow him to be condemned anyway. Do you ask this of yourself or did others say it to you concerning me? So he wasn't making it easy for Pilate, but Pilate's response was, am I a Jew? Do I understand your ways and your systems and your religions? The chief priests in your own nations have delivered you up to me. What have you done? Jesus said, and here's where we come to the answer, whether we are to be pacifists or whether we have to be warriors, my kingdom is not of this world. So what does that tell us? What kingdom are we in? Now we live in this world, but we do not live according to this world. As Paul clearly outlined in his epistles, we remove ourselves from everything that is of this world, in other words, wilderness, to become part of the rules of the kingdom of God, which are based on the 10 commandments, which are based on obedience to God, which are based on becoming living sacrifices to live the way of that kingdom and not to live in the ways of this world. So my kingdom is not of this world, if, here's his answer, if we can see it, if my kingdom were of this world, well, what's next? Then would my servants fight so that I might not be delivered. So what Jesus is saying, this isn't the time for my servants to fight. This is not the time for my servants to deliver me, that I might not be delivered up to Jews. However, my kingdom is not of this world. And we understand why all this took place. Pilate therefore answered to him and said, then you are a king, king as a question. Jesus answered, as you say, I am a king. And for this purpose, I was born. And for this reason, I came into the world. Interesting. Jesus said, for this purpose, I was born. How was he born? Well, Luke 1, we find that God the Father sent a physical human seed, which was Jesus Christ, and what did he do? He planted that in the womb of Mary. And he, Jesus, was fully human, born of the flesh, having given up his glory to live as you and me in this world. Not as a part of this world, as he said, my kingdom is not of this world. And when his parents came looking for him after the Passover, when he was 12 years old, what did he say? Did you not know that I had to build up my father's business? And what is his father's business? It's all about the kingdom of God. It's all about the calling of the saints today, the preparation of the government of God, the preparation of kings and priests to rule and bring peace in the world, which we do not have today. What do we have in the world today? Wars and rumors of wars. And we know of those. We have visions of those, well, visions, we see that on our screens, whether it's television or our screens, and of course, as we understand, most mainstream media has been purchased and it gives only what, what is called the deep state, says it will publish. And it comes down to being half-truths. You never get the full truth. For this purpose I was born and for this reason I came into the world that I may be a witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice. And how do we hear his voice today? Well, very simply, when we read the scriptures, that's hearing the voice of God. And when we're reading it, we recognize that this is the voice of God. This is the written words of God. It's what God is saying to us. It's what God has said and it's what he continues to say. And also, for those whom God has called, such as his apostles in the early days, and for those later who have been trained and equipped to preach the word of God, to preach the truth of God, if those speakers are preaching the words of Christ faithfully, you and I will be able to recognize who is speaking the words of Christ and God the Father and who is not, and who is twisting and warping the words of God. And we've got many false apostles in the world today and false prophets, even within those who call themselves to be part of the church of God. One man, I just saw this yesterday, who I only spoke to once, now claims that he is not only the last apostle, but also a prophet. And he said, there has been no apostle or prophet like John, who wrote the book of Revelation since that time. And this man is claiming to be both apostle and prophet like John. Well, the words that came to mind when I read that was, this man's a megalomaniac. This man is blowing his own trumpet. This man, who is saying that I was thrown into prison because I didn't pay my taxes, the government was wrong because I disobeyed them. And my wife and I, we're the two witnesses, not only that, I'm the last apostle and prophet. God has shown me what John wrote about, which John didn't understand, but I understand it. Therefore, I'm telling you these things. And it's interesting that he claims to have followed after the footsteps of H.W.A. And at the end of this biography of him, I think it was an autobiography, rather than a biography, here he is sitting in this leather chair with a world map or a world globe behind him, just almost identical to one we had of Herbert Armstrong. And that's what apostles seem to do, they seem to reflect it, sitting there so you can see the cuff links. Imagine they're gold, maybe there's some diamonds on them, I don't know. Well, you know, God is his judge, just as much as he's my judge and your judge. Well, number one, for this purpose I was born, says Jesus, verse 37, and for this reason I came into the world that I may be a witness to the truth. So he bears witness to the truth and the elders and the ministers of Christ, we are obligated to do exactly the same thing. We have no license to deviate from the word, and we make mistakes, obviously. We're still human, and we need to check ourselves, we need to correct ourselves, or if somebody picks up on that mistake to inform us, if that person is correct, then we must be prepared to change. But not everyone who has a notion or an idea or a doctrine which is contrary to scripture, do we necessarily have to accept it just because they're trying to correct us, or they cannot accept what the word clearly says. But that's not our responsibility, that's when they come under the judgments and the decisions that God will make about them as he makes for each one of us. All right, so let's move on. So Jesus declared, what did he declare? In effect, that there would be a time when you and when I will fight. Now primarily that is when the kingdom of God, when we're going to be involved in a battle of all battles. The greatest battle, of course, that will have been since Satan's rebellion or Lucifer's rebellion against God. And we had that incredible cosmic battle which totally upheaved planet Earth to the point where God had to recreate the surface of the Earth before he put our first parents, Adam and Eve, on that. So again, Jesus said, my kingdom is not of this world, but if it were, then my servants would fight. So what kind of fighting are we to be doing today? And as I said, you know, the drums are beating. It's being proclaimed by some sources that the government, particularly we refer here to the United States, are talking about bringing back the draft. Of course, this has happened in the Ukraine, where they were drafting anyone that they could load their hands on, and multiple thousands of men have fled the country in order to get away from that conscription. When they see how many of their fellow countrymen have just been slaughtered or killed by warfare, not putting the blame on anyone or not taking up any issues. That's just the nature of war. You go back to ancient Israel and you look at some of their battles, even when tribes are fighting other tribes, if God was in it, then what did God do? God actually slaughtered by the armies of Israel, or God himself slaughtered many of those who were in error, those who were sinning, those who were denying him, those who were causing problems for the people of Israel. So yes, war was physical, but we haven't been called as the body of Christ, as spiritual Israel, to fight in that kind of war. Okay, however, we have been enlisted, we could say, using the military terminology. We have been enlisted as volunteers, because God hasn't demanded that we become a part of his army, along with all his angels. We in that sense have volunteered to fight in the armies of God the Father and Jesus Christ, along with the angels. We have volunteered to do that. So what kind of battle are we involved in? We already know this, but we need to repeat it, because of the time that we are living in. Now, the outcome of any war that we are involved in as Christians is spiritual warfare. And we don't want to get involved in the spiritual warfare that's taught in the seminaries of this world, particularly one in California, where volumes of books were written. We're fighting in a warfare that is spiritual in nature. We don't have to turn to some seminary to find out what spiritual battles and warfare is. It's right here in the Scripture before our very eyes. We're not to be running around the world with stakes, driving stakes into the ground and proclaiming this piece of land or this country, we're claiming that back for God. Where do you find that in the Bible? Well, that's taught. That's taught. And as one man who had been through all those classes said to me, he said, it just came to the point where you couldn't determine what was the difference between spiritual warfare, as they were calling it, and demonism. Yeah. So what kind of war? Let's have a look at 2 Corinthians chapter 10 as our starting point for this. 2 Corinthians 10. So as we've seen, we've seen the kinds of wars that Israel involved in, and we are involved in warfare, very real. We're in daily battles. So 2 Corinthians 10. Let's begin in verse one. And I, Paul, am personally exhorting you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ. On the one hand, when I'm present with you, I'm base. But on the other hand, when absent, I'm bold towards you. But I am beseeching you, verse two of 2 Corinthians 10, so that you, when I am present, that I may not have to be bold. Yes, from a distance, his letters were strong and quite direct and pointed, so that they would take the instruction so that when he came, he could be of a gentle nature and teaching and encouraging with a great deal of empathy and warmth and bows of mercy and loving relationship with the brethren. But I'm beseeching you so that when I am present, I may not have to be bold. You know, I don't want to be coming to you and correcting you. So I'm doing that while I'm writing to you so you can get the point. You can see this is the will of God. This is what God wants you to do. So you'll accomplish that so that when I can come, we can really have, you know, a family spiritual relationship like brothers and sisters in the body of Christ. But I may not have to be bold with the confidence with which I intend to show boldness towards some. Yes, Paul was struggling with false prophets. He was struggling with the workings, the inner workings of Satan within the body of Christ through these false prophets and teachers. Who were speaking against him and trying to say, well, we're just as good as Paul. You don't have to listen to Paul. You listen to us because we've got the inside scoop. We know what's going on. They didn't. The scoop they had came from Satan. To be bold with the confidence which I intend to show boldness towards some who think we are walking according to the flesh. Yeah, that would be a Paul saying, yeah, he's walking according to the flesh. He doesn't know what it means to be walking according to the spirit. However, as Noah Paul says, for although we walk in the flesh, that's right. We've got to be living in this world. We can't deny that we're human. We've got to live and move and we've got to have our being. We've got to work. We've got to produce. We've got to provide for our families. But we're not going to get involved in the ways of this world. We do not walk according to flesh. Verse four, for the weapons. For the weapons. Hello. Paul's talking about weapons. And Paul, in a lot of his writings, talks about basically military accoutrements. Armory, weapons, and so forth. Fighting, battling. For the weapons of our warfare. Okay, so here we can establish we have weapons and we are in battle. We are at war. We're involved in a war. We're at warfare. But here's the difference between the armies of this world and Christ's army. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to be to the overthrowing of strongholds. Okay, we'll come back to that. Let's turn to a note. Let's see. Yeah, we'll come back to 2 Corinthians 10th chapter. Let's turn to Ephesians the sixth chapter and see this a little further. I've just dropped some of the comments I was going to make out there to continue. Ephesians 6 and verse 10. You can read the beginning of this chapter here. At verse 10, finally, my brethren, be strong. Be strong in the Lord and in the might of his strength. You know, the word power in scripture comes from the Greek term dunata, which is interesting because dunata in the English, the derivation of that is dynamite, which was invented by a Swedish chemist and industrialist by the name of Nobel. And guess where the Nobel Prize originated? Well, it originated with Nobel, inventor of dynamite back in the 1800s, which he patented, by the way, and of course, made a lot of money. So let's read that again. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the might of his strength. Put on the whole armor. Here we have that military terminology again so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Who's the enemy? The devil. Who are we fighting against? The devil. Do we need armaments? Do we need weapons of attack? Do we need weapons of defense? Yes, but not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. We'll return here. So let's go back to 2 Corinthians, the 10th chapter and read a little more. 2 Corinthians, the 10th chapter. We'll go back to verse 3. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. So we're established we're in a warfare. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God. In other words, God has made these weapons and they are weapons of might, made mighty by his power. You have access to those. I have access to those. Are we using them? Well, we'll need to see what those weapons are. I was running strongholds. Okay. What's a stronghold? Let's ask the question. How much of our lives have we fully committed to God the Father through Jesus Christ? How much of a living sacrifice are we? Maybe a tithe, maybe 10%. How about 20%, 20%, 40%? Oh, that's better. How about we, we're sacrifice, a living sacrifice, 50% of the time. Question. Are we not then layered a sin? Neither hot nor cold, just 50%. 50% for God, 50% for the world. Layered a sin. Now we've got to be more. Layered a sin. Now we've got to be more. We've got to be at least 51% in growing and building. Strongholds are those areas of our lives that we have not yet surrendered to God. And we have to be careful that we don't, as we're living our lives, build more strongholds. And there's only one way to get rid of these strongholds, to overthrow these strongholds. And that's for the armor. That's for the weapons that God has given to us. So we have strongholds. Next. Casting down vain imaginations, human reasoning. I think I'll solve this problem this way. Well, you know, God says to do this, but I can't do that. It won't work for me. I'm just going to have to do it the way I always done it. The main imagination is against the mind of Christ. And he goes on to expand on this and add to it. And every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, against the mind of Christ. Let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus. Let the words of Christ dwell in you richly. So that throughout the day you can bring into captivity every thought into the obedience of Christ. Have I accomplished that yet? Have you accomplished that yet? No. Are we committed to accomplishing that with the mighty power that God supplies and with the armory and the weapons that he has given to us? Yes. And that's the key. That's the secret. That's why we will win. Not because we have confidence in ourselves. Paul says, I have no confidence in the flesh. Our confidence is in Christ. Our confidence is being a member of his family, of his army, of his church. And also acting according to his laws, the laws and commandments of God. You know, we have the two tablets of the Ten Commandments. So I was thinking of this. They're called the law and the testimony. Now the Ten Commandments, as they're written, that's the law of God. And that law, those Ten Commandments, are the testimony of who God is in the first four commandments. And in all of the Ten Commandments, they're a testimony for us to demonstrate that we belong to God as we keep his laws and commandments. So we have the written law, which is a testimony of who God is and what he has given for us to be doing day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment. Bring every thought, as it says here in 2 Corinthians 10, casting down every imagination. This is quite a challenge, isn't it? But we need to be thinking of this day by day, because in this, we have success through what God can work with us. This is the inward workings of God. This is the inward actions of God who is abiding within us, aboding within us, who's dwelling within us through his Spirit. We have the very mind and Spirit of Christ here so we understand it and in our hearts so that we will act on it. And when we do that, we're going to have peace of mind. We're going to have confidence, not in self, but confidence in the Word of God, confidence in God our Father, confidence in Jesus Christ, and confidence in the Word of God. And that's going to take us into the Kingdom of God where we're going to fight real battles. We will put down all rebellion against God. Continuing verse 5, casting down vain imagines and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity another military term. So what are we to bring into captivity? Every thought. This is quite a challenge, isn't it? 24-7, every thought into the obedience of Christ. We need to meditate deeply on these words. We need to take them before God's throne in prayer and ask him. I was going to turn there later, but let's quickly turn over to Hebrews 12. Correction, Hebrews the fourth chapter. Well, now in Scripture, it's interesting. Hebrews 4 and verse 12, because who was the Word of God? Not Jesus Christ. For the Word of God is living. When we obey the Lord of God, only when we live in the Word of God. When we read it, we understand it, and we're obeying it. It's living within us. That makes us, when we obey God, we are God's workmanship. He's our boss, we're his servants, and we are pleased to serve him. The Word of God is living and powerful. Now, if that Word is within us, if our mind is filled with the Word of God, if we can't get enough of it, and we keep studying it and fill our mind, it's a guide to our life. It's showing us the way. The Word of God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, will speak to us. It'll bring back to our mind, our memory, the Word of God, showing us which way to walk. And that's how the Spirit guides us and directs us. So, the Spirit combined with the Word, they're one. Because the Spirit says Christ, and the Word says Christ. The Word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of both soul and spirit. If we get to the very... Now, coming up to Passover, aren't we? Good time. Sorry, just around the corner. Actually, that's a good time to examine ourselves in these areas. And the Word of God is two-edged sword. In other words, it's talking about cutting right down to the very center of who we are, the very center of our being, exposing the strongholds within, the vain imaginations, and every high thing that opposes the knowledge of God. This is what the Word of God does. Now, God has taken us along because we're still growing. And God just does not take us from point A to... Well, from Alpha to Omega, just the snap of a finger, takes a lifetime. Growing, little by little, every day. Some days great, some days not so great, some days terrible. Particularly if we're struggling with health issues. And we've got some terrible issues that our people, our brothers and sisters, are going through. And part of their healing, and where the forgiveness of broken laws is concerned, is in our hands to be praying for them, for their healing. And that if they have committed sin, that God will forgive them. Do you realize that our prayers to God could perhaps motivate somebody who's suffering because they've broken a health law or whatever, it can bring it to their mind, cause them to repent and be healed? Now, as we know, not all sickness is the result of sin. Now, as we know, not all sickness is the result of sin, as Jesus showed us in the Gospels. All right, continuing. Cursing even, this is the Word of God, dividing asunder of the soul and spirit, and of the joints and of the marrows. Now, what is the point of this? That right to the joints and the marrow, where is the marrow? The marrow is in our bones. You can't get any more specific about the life force because the marrow of the bones produces the blood, which combines with the uric, giving us the breath and life. So, the Word of God here is dealing with our very breath of life. Whether we will live according to the Word of God or whether we will let go by the wayside, it's our choice. Dividing asunder of both soul and spirit, in other words, these strongholds, these vanities, and where are they? Well, Romans 7, Paul tells us where they are. The sin that dwells within each one of us. Our major warfare, our major battle, our major war is against the sin that lies within. Because if we are ruling over that, remember, Christ, as God in the Old Testament said, the King, sin is at the door. You must rule over it. Paul shares that he brings his body into subjection. And we're to do the same. And it's a daily battle. It's a daily warfare. Life as the sons and daughters of God is not a walk in the park. But God gives us many roses and many beautiful flowers to smell, to make it delightful for us to serve him, to love him, to love each brother and sister. So again, back to the text. Dividing of asunder both the soul and spirit and of the joints and of the marrow and is able to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart. So the word of God would expose any strongholds within me and within you. And it does. I face some of those issues recently where I've been attempting to dig deeper. Dig deep and just asking God if there are any strongholds, please expose them to me as I'm able to handle them and the intents of the heart. You see, we don't know the intents and the thoughts of our heart. God needs to expose that to us. That's why we need to go to him and ask him. And he will show us and he will help us. And there is not a thing created that is not manifested in this sight, that all things are naked and includes us. If we can dress up in the most, or the finest and most beautiful clothes. But before God's eyes, we're naked. He sees everything. He knows our every thought. He knows our every thought. The scriptures tell us that. And laid bare before the eyes of him who we must give account. So it is better that we go before God and ask him to expose these issues to us that we've mentioned there in 2 Corinthians 10, so that we can then use the power of his Spirit to use his weapons against the enemy. One, the enemy that dwells within, which is the sin that lies within. Satan, who will try and push the buttons of our emotions to get us to return to the sins of the past. And, of course, the world. Satan working through the world to draw us in and to drag us in to all the filth and the muck that you can imagine. And it's getting worse. As I said, it's getting worse and worse. Isn't it, though? And it's frightening. However, one of the weapons, one of the armory God has given to us is peace. And we'll have a look at that as we're closing. Having, therefore, a great high priest, Jesus Christ, who has passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, we should hold fast the confession of our faith. Yes, confessing our sins, obeying the Word of God, drawing close to the Father and Christ in prayer and in study and in relationships within the body of the church. For we do not have a high priest who cannot empathize with our weaknesses. Haven't we been talking about weaknesses, the strongholds, vain imaginations, and thoughts that can rise up against us, against the knowledge of God and the Word of God? Yes, those are all temptations that Satan is not going to give up. Let me just interject, comment here. Matthew 4, 4, to see the weapon of the Word of God. What happened when Christ said three times to Satan, three times Satan tempted Christ, and Jesus responded with the Word of God, the sword of the spirit used by the Son of God. What did Satan do? He departed. He failed. He lost that skirmish, or he was coming back. But Christ beat him every time. He overcame every time. And Satan had to leave. And when Christ was crucified, oh, what joy there was in the armies of Satan. I need to be totally ruined and spoiled three days later when Christ was resurrected. And Satan had no more he could do to the Christ. Verse 16, therefore, this is the encouragement, we should come with boldness in spite of the terrible things that we have done. Think of David, adultery and murder. He repented, God forgave. He's going to sit on the throne in Jerusalem with Christ. Now, there's hope for David. Don't you think there's hope for you and for me? Who are much more of lower state. Therefore, we should come with boldness to the throne of grace so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. So again, the Word of God is truly powerful. It changes our minds. It changes our approach. It changes our very being. It gives us life, not just physical life, but life eternal. When our bodies die, they go back to sleep in the dust because we'll become dust again. But that dust, somehow, someway, God is going to raise and change that dust, dust which was our bodies into a powerful spiritual body that will have illumination like the stars. Powerful thoughts. Therefore, we should come with boldness to the throne of grace so that we may receive, if we come, we will receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. And that need is day by day by day because of the battle and because we're part of God's army and every day there are skirmishes. There are campaigns against us and we have to launch campaigns of prayer and study and fasting against the enemy, all part of our tools, all part of our armory, all part of our weapons. So let's go over to Ephesians, the sixth chapter again, and see those things that we already know are the weapons that God has given to us, the armory of God. See, this is the last chapter and beginning in, we'll begin in verse 10. Well, finally, my brethren, Paul was writing here to the Corinthians, sorry, to the Ephesians. Finally, my brethren, yeah, brothers and sisters, Paul saw himself as a brother to the brotherhood. He said, be strong in yourself, is that what he said? No, he said, be strong in the Lord and in the might, that dynamic, dynamite-like power of his strength, but to compare dynamite with power of God is a very poor simile indeed, but at least it's something we understand. It's a bit like the difference between atomic and nuclear. One of the courses that I did in the military was, in the 1950s, atomic, biological, and chemical warfare. Now, sooner had we finished that course, then it was all changed to what? Nuclear, not atomic, but nuclear, biological, and chemical warfare. So, in that sense, that's the kind of warfare in the spirit world that we are up against, the most powerful, and yet God has given us weapons that are more powerful than anything that Satan can throw at us, and we need to be assured of that. We need to be confident of that. We need to stand on that promise. Satan will always lose. If we resist him, what's he going to do? He's going to leave us. Or he'll come back. But if we resist him again, he's got to go. He's got to obey the scripture. He's got no alternative. You and I, through him, no alternative. We resist him as Christ did, and we win. No, Christ within us, God the Father within us, wins through us, because they are the ones that have given us the power, because we're not trusting in our own strength. Put on the whole armor of God, verse 11, so that you may be able to stand against what? Against the wiles of the devil. I would suggest that you look at each one of these pieces of armor provided to us by God. Okay, what are they? Well, let's continue to read, because we are not wrestling against flesh and blood. Now, in this world, we may be wrestling against flesh and blood, against powers, against the world rulers, your presidents, your prime ministers, your hierarchy of this world, hierarchy of this world, that want to see you to the grave. And more and more information is coming out about the countless millions that have died because they were injected with poison, and people are still dropping dead, and it's being recognized it's because of what was in the jab. They've got to be bringing it again, so we've got some more battles, some more fights ahead of us when that occurs. They want you, they want me dead, why? Because Satan, he's just one of Satan's wiles. He wants to kill all Christians. Did he want to kill Christ? I'll tell you, he went after Christ, he's coming after us, but he's coming after us through his human agencies. So, these are the rulers of darkness of this age, who are inspired and motivated by the evil forces of Satan, and against the spiritual power of wickedness in high places, right up to the very pinnacle of Satan. Verse 13, Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and for us that can be every day, and having worked out all things to stand. So, there is an evil day coming, we know that. That is when the man of sin is revealed, and when tribulation comes, that is going to be certainly an evil day of all evil days. Stand therefore, having your loins girded with truth, truth of God. Where do we find the truth of God? In the scriptures. How are we going to stand on the truth? We've got to fill our minds with it, so that when we have to make a decision, whether to do right or to do wrong, we can stand on the truth because we know what God would have us do. Wearing the breastplate of righteousness, righteousness, we are obeying the law of God. Therefore, we are fitted with the breastplate of righteousness. Having your feet shoved with the preparation of the gospel of peace. If we are living by the gospel, we will have a peace that passes all understanding, regardless of what is going around about us. 10,000 falling on our left hand, 10,000 falling on our right hand, according to the scriptures, and we will be able to stand. We will not give in. We will not succumb, even to the grave, even to death, against those who would want us to denounce our God and Father and Christ. Besides all these, take on the share of the faith. Yep, faith, absolute trust in God, no question. We trust in him, even if it costs us our life, because the next moment of our memory will be looking at Christ and him saying to us, well done, now good and faithful servant. And him saying to us, well done, now good and faithful servant. And the sword of the spirit, we read about that in Hebrews, the fourth chapter from verse 12, which is the word of God. Here is our weapon of defense, but also our weapon of offense. Jesus used it as a weapon of offense to Satan when he said, it is written. He parried and Satan had to leave. We can do the same. And it's all tied together with prayer. Verse 18, praying at all times with all prayer and supplication in the spirit and in this very thing being watchful with all perseverance and supplication for the saints. So there's our challenge, brethren. Passover is not too far away. We can really prepare ourselves for the Passover this year so that when the Passover comes, we will be able to have a Passover like no other Passover we've had before. And we can continue to do that and grow in the grace and the knowledge every year, bit by bit. Okay, so there we have it. That's the challenge. May God rest with you and bless you all for the rest of the Sabbath day.
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