WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.919 I reckon. I mean, it's a bit like Cairns in many 00:00:01.919 --> 00:00:04.679 ways, but it just has a bit more surf, doesn't 00:00:04.679 --> 00:00:08.939 it? Now, Hawaii was also like that early in World 00:00:08.939 --> 00:00:13.199 War II. It was a great place for US Navy men 00:00:13.199 --> 00:00:17.519 to take some shore leave, great bars, nightlife, 00:00:17.519 --> 00:00:21.059 fishing, beaches. It was peaceful and refreshing. 00:00:21.239 --> 00:00:23.879 If you got to go to Hawaii, that was a real treat. 00:00:25.059 --> 00:00:28.120 Especially because at that point, America hadn't 00:00:28.120 --> 00:00:32.380 entered World War II. No one was on high alert. 00:00:33.299 --> 00:00:36.000 So many were there and taking it easy, having 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:43.219 a blast. But on December 7th, 1941, everything 00:00:43.219 --> 00:00:50.140 changed. That was the Pearl Harbour attack. And 00:00:50.140 --> 00:00:55.140 it was so brutal. These people in Hawaii suddenly 00:00:55.140 --> 00:01:00.520 are at war. I mean, war was coming with Japan. 00:01:00.560 --> 00:01:02.740 They just didn't know it. And all of a sudden, 00:01:02.799 --> 00:01:04.920 bang, bang, bang, bombs are raining down on them. 00:01:04.980 --> 00:01:09.560 A sleepy Sunday morning. And America, and especially 00:01:09.560 --> 00:01:12.739 those in Pearl Harbor, were caught off guard. 00:01:14.079 --> 00:01:17.280 Many aircraft and battleships were destroyed. 00:01:17.319 --> 00:01:21.239 2 ,400 people were killed. Nearly 1 ,200 people 00:01:21.239 --> 00:01:26.519 were wounded. And if only, if only they'd seen 00:01:26.519 --> 00:01:30.120 that they were at war, it wouldn't have been 00:01:30.120 --> 00:01:33.159 a bloodbath, would it? They would have been ready. 00:01:33.219 --> 00:01:35.120 They would have been prepared. They could have 00:01:35.120 --> 00:01:40.359 taken precautions. Now, why do I tell you this? 00:01:41.840 --> 00:01:45.579 Well, you may not realise it, but every day when 00:01:45.579 --> 00:01:49.719 you wake up in Cairns, it's like Pearl Harbour. 00:01:51.400 --> 00:01:54.620 Things look calm. Things look relaxing. Things 00:01:54.620 --> 00:01:58.840 look peaceful. There's no enemy on the horizon. 00:02:00.060 --> 00:02:02.599 Bombs, they're not dropping over your head. There's 00:02:02.599 --> 00:02:06.500 no bullets whizzing past you. Maybe, you know, 00:02:06.579 --> 00:02:08.719 airsoft rifles and things if you're into that, 00:02:08.759 --> 00:02:12.860 but there's no bullets. Just normal everyday 00:02:12.860 --> 00:02:16.620 life. Actually, normal everyday life is better 00:02:16.620 --> 00:02:23.240 than most, isn't it? And yet, we're living in 00:02:23.240 --> 00:02:27.520 a war zone. And if we're not alert or ready to 00:02:27.520 --> 00:02:31.419 it, we're vulnerable. Now, what are you talking 00:02:31.419 --> 00:02:33.819 about, Brendan? What war zone are we in? Well, 00:02:33.960 --> 00:02:37.800 we're at spiritual war. We're in a war for our 00:02:37.800 --> 00:02:42.699 souls. A war with a satanic enemy telling lies 00:02:42.699 --> 00:02:46.560 to us, trying to tempt us into sin, trying to 00:02:46.560 --> 00:02:51.479 draw us away from God. Now you might be thinking, 00:02:51.659 --> 00:02:55.780 well, is this war even real? I'm glad you're 00:02:55.780 --> 00:02:59.120 here if you are. And you might be thinking, how 00:02:59.120 --> 00:03:01.360 do I stay safe in this war? Well, I'm glad you're 00:03:01.360 --> 00:03:04.780 here if you are. See, that's what the last petition 00:03:04.780 --> 00:03:07.759 of the Lord's Prayer is all about. And that's 00:03:07.759 --> 00:03:09.020 what we're going to look at today. Here's the 00:03:09.020 --> 00:03:13.439 big thing we see today. We live in a spiritual 00:03:13.439 --> 00:03:17.460 war zone, so keep praying for God's protection. 00:03:19.120 --> 00:03:21.259 If there's one thing you remember, I hope it's 00:03:21.259 --> 00:03:23.460 this today. We live in a spiritual war zone, 00:03:23.639 --> 00:03:28.219 so keep praying for God's protection. There's 00:03:28.219 --> 00:03:30.300 two things we're going to look at that feed into 00:03:30.300 --> 00:03:36.879 that. Firstly, sin leads to eternal death. It's 00:03:36.879 --> 00:03:39.199 hard to hear, but it's true. Sin leads to eternal 00:03:39.199 --> 00:03:42.740 death. And that's why we need to pray for God's 00:03:42.740 --> 00:03:46.460 protection. So let's start by seeing the danger. 00:03:46.539 --> 00:03:50.110 Let's look at the first one. to eternal death. 00:03:50.830 --> 00:03:54.069 Have a look on the screen at Matthew 18, 7 to 00:03:54.069 --> 00:03:58.469 8. It says, Woe to the world for temptations 00:03:58.469 --> 00:04:02.330 to sin, for it's necessary that temptations come. 00:04:03.210 --> 00:04:06.530 But woe to the one by whom the temptation comes. 00:04:07.590 --> 00:04:10.490 And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, 00:04:10.629 --> 00:04:14.819 cut it off and throw it away. It's better for 00:04:14.819 --> 00:04:17.579 you to end a life crippled or lame than with 00:04:17.579 --> 00:04:20.800 two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal 00:04:20.800 --> 00:04:28.540 fire. Now talk about graphic, hey? Jesus is saying 00:04:28.540 --> 00:04:34.480 you're better off amputating limbs than falling 00:04:34.480 --> 00:04:39.699 into sin. Why? Because sin can stop you entering 00:04:39.699 --> 00:04:41.959 eternal life. It does stop you entering eternal 00:04:41.959 --> 00:04:45.379 life. gets you thrown into the eternal fire, 00:04:45.540 --> 00:04:52.420 into God's judgment, into hell. My great -grandfather 00:04:52.420 --> 00:04:56.699 won the military medal for bravery in World War 00:04:56.699 --> 00:05:02.800 I. He ran messages across the different trenches 00:05:02.800 --> 00:05:05.800 and bunkers, and as he was running a message, 00:05:05.839 --> 00:05:10.620 he was hit by a shell. His arm was wounded, but 00:05:10.620 --> 00:05:13.740 he kept running. and ran this message where it 00:05:13.740 --> 00:05:16.959 needed to go. When they finally got to operating 00:05:16.959 --> 00:05:21.120 on him, they were looking at his arm and they 00:05:21.120 --> 00:05:23.819 said, we're going to have to amputate to save 00:05:23.819 --> 00:05:27.980 your life. Well, luckily enough, he happened 00:05:27.980 --> 00:05:31.480 to have, his dad was a surgeon, and the surgeon 00:05:31.480 --> 00:05:33.259 who was about to operate him was friends with 00:05:33.259 --> 00:05:36.220 his dad. And so he was able to save his arm. 00:05:38.040 --> 00:05:40.439 Now, in that situation, if you can save your 00:05:40.439 --> 00:05:46.250 arm, awesome. But if you can't, it's worth losing 00:05:46.250 --> 00:05:51.709 your arm to save your life, isn't it? What about 00:05:51.709 --> 00:05:55.769 losing something to save your soul? That little 00:05:55.769 --> 00:05:57.870 piece of you that lives on for eternity, the 00:05:57.870 --> 00:06:00.949 bit of us that lives on for eternity, to save 00:06:00.949 --> 00:06:05.769 that, that's worth losing anything for, isn't 00:06:05.769 --> 00:06:11.129 it? Now, before anyone reaches for a chainsaw, 00:06:12.430 --> 00:06:15.709 Jesus is not suggesting to literally chop off 00:06:15.709 --> 00:06:20.730 limbs. This is a metaphor. And he's showing to 00:06:20.730 --> 00:06:25.949 us what's at stake with sin. He's saying sin 00:06:25.949 --> 00:06:29.829 is so serious, you need to get radical with it. 00:06:30.949 --> 00:06:34.050 You need to guard against it. You need to cut 00:06:34.050 --> 00:06:36.589 it out of your life, no matter what the cost. 00:06:38.310 --> 00:06:44.410 Jesus is saying, cut out anger. Lust, lies, hypocrisy, 00:06:44.470 --> 00:06:48.189 any pride, any idolatry, any greed, any slander, 00:06:48.230 --> 00:06:50.970 any theft, any porn, any sleeping around, any 00:06:50.970 --> 00:06:55.029 judgmental spirit that you have. Sin is Satan's 00:06:55.029 --> 00:07:01.310 lies. It's like gangrene. If you don't cut it 00:07:01.310 --> 00:07:06.610 out, it will kill you. And if you don't believe 00:07:06.610 --> 00:07:11.670 that, look at the cross. Yes, the cross. is the 00:07:11.670 --> 00:07:14.250 place we look to where we see God's glorious 00:07:14.250 --> 00:07:17.949 salvation, but it is also a window into hell. 00:07:19.250 --> 00:07:23.750 For at the cross, we see how serious and real 00:07:23.750 --> 00:07:27.310 sin is. It is so serious and real that Jesus 00:07:27.310 --> 00:07:30.970 had to experience God's full wrath on the cross 00:07:30.970 --> 00:07:36.769 so that we could be forgiven. You want to see 00:07:36.769 --> 00:07:40.639 how serious and horrible sin is? Just take a 00:07:40.639 --> 00:07:45.879 look at the cross. But you might be thinking, 00:07:45.980 --> 00:07:48.259 well, hang on, especially if you're a Christian, 00:07:48.379 --> 00:07:54.120 why do I need to take sin so seriously? I mean, 00:07:54.180 --> 00:07:57.620 I believe Jesus died for my sins and I'm forgiven 00:07:57.620 --> 00:08:01.600 all of my sins. You know, I believe that Jesus' 00:08:01.740 --> 00:08:03.819 death is like a blank check. It pays for all 00:08:03.819 --> 00:08:06.699 my sins. No matter how many I've done, I am fully 00:08:06.699 --> 00:08:10.279 forgiven. I can't out -sin the saviour. Brent, 00:08:10.319 --> 00:08:12.100 I heard you say that like a couple of weeks ago. 00:08:14.180 --> 00:08:17.500 But you know what? Sin also hardens our hearts 00:08:17.500 --> 00:08:22.740 against God. If you keep sinning, you'll rip 00:08:22.740 --> 00:08:27.399 up that blank cheque. Have a look what it says 00:08:27.399 --> 00:08:33.830 in Hebrews 3. It says, take care, brothers. lest 00:08:33.830 --> 00:08:36.850 there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, 00:08:37.049 --> 00:08:39.769 leading you to fall away from the living God. 00:08:40.649 --> 00:08:43.649 But exhort one another every day, as long as 00:08:43.649 --> 00:08:47.970 it is called today. Is today called today still? 00:08:48.710 --> 00:08:51.269 Yeah, okay, cool. Then I need to take care and 00:08:51.269 --> 00:08:54.570 exhort you that none of you may be hardened by 00:08:54.570 --> 00:09:00.830 the deceitfulness of sin. Every day, sin has 00:09:00.830 --> 00:09:04.139 the potential to harden Christians. to slowly 00:09:04.139 --> 00:09:10.379 and subtly corrupt and erode their faith. A little 00:09:10.379 --> 00:09:13.179 while ago, we had an oil leak in our car engine. 00:09:14.940 --> 00:09:17.940 And you know how bad that can be. It was dripping 00:09:17.940 --> 00:09:22.120 away after we came from Broken Hill. And the 00:09:22.120 --> 00:09:24.779 car was still working, but we worked out that 00:09:24.779 --> 00:09:26.679 there was some oil leaking, and so we got it 00:09:26.679 --> 00:09:30.820 sorted straight away. But imagine if we hadn't 00:09:30.820 --> 00:09:32.759 have addressed it straight away. Imagine if it 00:09:32.759 --> 00:09:35.879 hadn't have been patched up. You know, we'd be 00:09:35.879 --> 00:09:38.019 driving around thinking everything's all good, 00:09:38.100 --> 00:09:43.980 all gravy, and then all of a sudden, boom! I'll 00:09:43.980 --> 00:09:46.720 tell you again later, Craig. You can give me 00:09:46.720 --> 00:09:50.679 your impression of how that goes. Because the 00:09:50.679 --> 00:09:53.320 engine will blow, won't it? It'll be an absolute 00:09:53.320 --> 00:10:01.299 disaster. And every time we sin, it's like a 00:10:01.299 --> 00:10:05.419 little faith leak, isn't it? And if we don't 00:10:05.419 --> 00:10:10.200 address that, if we don't patch that up and get 00:10:10.200 --> 00:10:13.899 our tanks full of faith again, eventually it's 00:10:13.899 --> 00:10:19.080 going to lead to disaster, isn't it? Take care 00:10:19.080 --> 00:10:25.580 is what God's word says. Beware. Be on the lookout. 00:10:27.559 --> 00:10:30.740 The day before the attack in Pearl Harbour, the 00:10:30.740 --> 00:10:35.039 US intercepted a Japanese message. And it was 00:10:35.039 --> 00:10:38.080 after the weekend. They didn't really sort of 00:10:38.080 --> 00:10:41.919 pay much attention to it. And on the day of the 00:10:41.919 --> 00:10:45.360 attack, well, a radar spotted a group of planes 00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:47.779 and they thought, oh, that's just some B -17s, 00:10:47.799 --> 00:10:51.679 some US planes doing a training run. There were 00:10:51.679 --> 00:10:54.399 signs everywhere that things were really dangerous, 00:10:54.480 --> 00:10:57.799 that a war was brewing. But they weren't alert 00:10:57.799 --> 00:11:03.960 to it. They didn't take care. And they paid the 00:11:03.960 --> 00:11:09.159 price for it. We don't want to be like that. 00:11:10.580 --> 00:11:15.279 We need to take care. How do we take care? How 00:11:15.279 --> 00:11:19.080 do we be careful? We exhort and encourage each 00:11:19.080 --> 00:11:22.659 other, don't we? Exhort each other to listen 00:11:22.659 --> 00:11:26.350 to God's word, to his gospel. See, God's word 00:11:26.350 --> 00:11:29.889 is like a radar. It alerts us to sin. It shows 00:11:29.889 --> 00:11:34.590 us where sin is trying to ambush us. This is 00:11:34.590 --> 00:11:37.649 an invisible war with eternal dangers. We need 00:11:37.649 --> 00:11:41.809 to be on guard. Our world is a propaganda machine 00:11:41.809 --> 00:11:44.769 that's trying to say to us, a lie as old as Adam 00:11:44.769 --> 00:11:48.789 and Eve. Oh, you'll not surely die. There's no 00:11:48.789 --> 00:11:50.350 hell. There's no judgment. Don't worry about 00:11:50.350 --> 00:11:56.909 it. But it's not true. Sin leads to eternal death. 00:11:59.450 --> 00:12:02.149 And that's why Sundays here at church, that's 00:12:02.149 --> 00:12:04.610 why growth groups, that's why one -to -ones, 00:12:04.850 --> 00:12:09.190 they're such key times for us because that's 00:12:09.190 --> 00:12:12.889 where we get reminded again and again, there's 00:12:12.889 --> 00:12:16.090 a war zone going on. And you're not alone in 00:12:16.090 --> 00:12:21.269 it, but you are in a war zone. You need to keep 00:12:21.269 --> 00:12:26.980 on guard against sin. Now, here's what it can 00:12:26.980 --> 00:12:29.340 look like if you get that sort of encouragement, 00:12:29.440 --> 00:12:33.399 that exhortation. I mean, this is what I hope 00:12:33.399 --> 00:12:36.500 happens each week here at church. You come to 00:12:36.500 --> 00:12:39.720 church and, hey, I get it. It's a battle, right, 00:12:39.820 --> 00:12:43.740 to even just get to church, the busyness, the 00:12:43.740 --> 00:12:46.860 tiredness, and that's if it's not even raining, 00:12:47.000 --> 00:12:52.879 right? You work hard to be here. But then you 00:12:52.879 --> 00:12:55.700 come in and you're greeted warmly and, You chat 00:12:55.700 --> 00:12:58.899 with a few people. You take your seat. And the 00:12:58.899 --> 00:13:03.899 service starts. And there's the first song. And 00:13:03.899 --> 00:13:09.600 it lifts your eyes. Oh, hang on. God, God's real. 00:13:09.679 --> 00:13:12.779 That's right, yeah. And there's spiritual realities 00:13:12.779 --> 00:13:15.840 I need to be aware of. I'm in a war zone, aren't 00:13:15.840 --> 00:13:19.120 I? And wow, God is such a good God. He loves 00:13:19.120 --> 00:13:22.559 me and cares for me. And then the Bible's read. 00:13:22.700 --> 00:13:25.809 Wow, there's. And the preacher starts preaching 00:13:25.809 --> 00:13:29.649 and you get the, oh, that hurt. Oh, wow, how 00:13:29.649 --> 00:13:32.690 good is God? Oh, yes, and praise God. And a whole 00:13:32.690 --> 00:13:36.289 bunch of things start going on inside you because 00:13:36.289 --> 00:13:39.289 you're connecting again with truth and reality. 00:13:40.970 --> 00:13:44.750 And we sing more and we pray and we talk after 00:13:44.750 --> 00:13:47.509 church and we swap details with each other so 00:13:47.509 --> 00:13:49.990 we can connect throughout the week and encourage 00:13:49.990 --> 00:13:54.679 each other. And you walk out that door and hopefully 00:13:54.679 --> 00:14:00.019 you leave with a new outlook. I need to be ready 00:14:00.019 --> 00:14:04.019 again for this week. There's a spiritual dimension 00:14:04.019 --> 00:14:08.700 I must not ignore. Sin leads to eternal death. 00:14:09.139 --> 00:14:12.279 Trusting Jesus leads to eternal life. I need 00:14:12.279 --> 00:14:16.919 to stay on guard. That's what we're trying to 00:14:16.919 --> 00:14:22.809 do here at church every single week. We need 00:14:22.809 --> 00:14:25.950 those times in our week and our lives to remind 00:14:25.950 --> 00:14:32.909 us of reality. Don't miss them. Don't treat them 00:14:32.909 --> 00:14:37.870 lightly. They're a key lifeline as we live in 00:14:37.870 --> 00:14:42.409 this war zone. But it's not the only lifeline. 00:14:43.549 --> 00:14:50.429 Secondly, we must also pray. Pray for God's protection. 00:14:51.500 --> 00:14:55.879 Pray for God's protection. When Jesus teaches 00:14:55.879 --> 00:14:58.220 us to pray, lead us not into temptation, but 00:14:58.220 --> 00:15:01.840 deliver us from evil or from the evil one. What 00:15:01.840 --> 00:15:05.120 he's telling us to pray for is to pray that we'd 00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:11.580 avoid and be alert to Satan's lies. Now, why 00:15:11.580 --> 00:15:15.639 do we need to pray that? Well, if we're alert 00:15:15.639 --> 00:15:19.850 to sin's danger, I mean, surely we can just fight 00:15:19.850 --> 00:15:24.370 it. Why do we need to pray about it? Well, it's 00:15:24.370 --> 00:15:27.769 because we often overestimate our resources, 00:15:27.909 --> 00:15:32.549 don't we? Years ago, I ran a kids' club after 00:15:32.549 --> 00:15:36.029 schools for a church I worked at, and each week 00:15:36.029 --> 00:15:39.370 we'd play soccer. And we'd try and make the teams 00:15:39.370 --> 00:15:42.629 really even, have a few leaders on one team and 00:15:42.629 --> 00:15:44.370 a few other leaders on the other team mixed with 00:15:44.370 --> 00:15:47.279 the kids. But some weeks the kids would ask for 00:15:47.279 --> 00:15:51.600 a leaders versus kids game. They were so sure 00:15:51.600 --> 00:15:57.379 of themselves. What a mistake. 20 goals to one. 00:15:57.600 --> 00:15:59.820 It was going well. It's one of the few times 00:15:59.820 --> 00:16:01.940 where I get to feel like Ronaldo and Messi in 00:16:01.940 --> 00:16:07.299 my life. But see, sin's like that. It's an opponent 00:16:07.299 --> 00:16:11.500 that's too strong for us. We're like those little 00:16:11.500 --> 00:16:13.899 kids with these big, mighty, muscly leaders. 00:16:14.080 --> 00:16:15.980 Well, maybe not as muscly as I'd like to be, 00:16:16.039 --> 00:16:20.559 but compared to sin, we're small and we're weak, 00:16:20.620 --> 00:16:24.460 aren't we? And if you think your own willpower 00:16:24.460 --> 00:16:29.580 will suffice, you're kidding yourself. Try this 00:16:29.580 --> 00:16:35.620 experiment. Lying is a sin. Try not to lie for 00:16:35.620 --> 00:16:39.820 a week. Just one week, see how you go. No white 00:16:39.820 --> 00:16:42.740 lies, no lies of any kind to spare feelings. 00:16:43.059 --> 00:16:45.679 Be completely truthful even if it lands you in 00:16:45.679 --> 00:16:50.899 hot water. Then you'll start to see the hold 00:16:50.899 --> 00:16:56.200 that sin really has on you. But when we pray 00:16:56.200 --> 00:17:00.159 for God to protect us spiritually, we're not 00:17:00.159 --> 00:17:04.420 just relying on our own resources. We're getting 00:17:04.420 --> 00:17:09.119 God involved. And he's infinitely stronger than 00:17:09.119 --> 00:17:12.799 sin. That'd be like getting Messi and Ronaldo 00:17:12.799 --> 00:17:17.579 to play against those kids. When we're regularly, 00:17:17.579 --> 00:17:20.900 genuinely praying that God would keep us from 00:17:20.900 --> 00:17:23.660 wandering into tempting situations, that he'd 00:17:23.660 --> 00:17:27.460 save us from Satan's lies, when we do that, God 00:17:27.460 --> 00:17:30.140 often honours our prayers by sovereignly protecting 00:17:30.140 --> 00:17:34.539 us. But also the very act of praying such prayers 00:17:34.539 --> 00:17:39.220 changes our hearts so that we flee from sin and 00:17:39.220 --> 00:17:43.319 when we can't, we fight it. Our willpower gets 00:17:43.319 --> 00:17:46.640 strengthened by the Spirit. We hate our sin. 00:17:46.680 --> 00:17:50.059 We don't want to do it anymore. And we don't 00:17:50.059 --> 00:17:53.220 flirt with it. Yeah, I might just do a bit of 00:17:53.220 --> 00:17:59.569 sin there. No, we run. Christian, when was the 00:17:59.569 --> 00:18:04.609 last time you prayed about those things? Where 00:18:04.609 --> 00:18:06.849 you searched your heart, where you went, where 00:18:06.849 --> 00:18:11.509 do I feel the pull of sin in my life? Where you 00:18:11.509 --> 00:18:14.130 looked at your life and went, yeah, where has 00:18:14.130 --> 00:18:19.089 sin been deceiving me recently? Where you've 00:18:19.089 --> 00:18:22.269 cried out for God's help, that he'd keep you 00:18:22.269 --> 00:18:24.509 away from situations where you're tempted to 00:18:24.509 --> 00:18:27.170 sin and where you'd say no, even if you're in 00:18:27.170 --> 00:18:31.079 them. When did you last pray for your brothers 00:18:31.079 --> 00:18:34.460 and sisters with this? People in your growth 00:18:34.460 --> 00:18:41.500 group, people at church. Imagine how godly our 00:18:41.500 --> 00:18:45.680 church would become if every day, individually, 00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:49.819 every one -to -one, every growth group, we prayed 00:18:49.819 --> 00:18:56.720 like that. Maybe we don't pray much about it. 00:18:57.679 --> 00:19:02.019 Or as much as we should. Because sin doesn't 00:19:02.019 --> 00:19:07.200 feel like that much of a threat. Maybe we forget 00:19:07.200 --> 00:19:11.380 that we're at war. And if we do, that's actually 00:19:11.380 --> 00:19:16.579 Satan's lie. Or maybe we actually love our sin 00:19:16.579 --> 00:19:19.759 more than we care to admit. And we want to be 00:19:19.759 --> 00:19:25.279 rid of it, but we kind of don't as well. If that's 00:19:25.279 --> 00:19:29.099 the case, we need to wake up. We need to see 00:19:29.099 --> 00:19:32.740 that we're in a war zone. And we need to start 00:19:32.740 --> 00:19:39.500 praying fervently. All right, let's recap. We 00:19:39.500 --> 00:19:43.339 started by asking, where are we at? Are we in 00:19:43.339 --> 00:19:47.019 a spiritual war with sin? And I hope you've seen 00:19:47.019 --> 00:19:50.460 today that the answer is yes. Even if you're 00:19:50.460 --> 00:19:54.579 forgiven, even if you love Jesus, sin is at war 00:19:54.579 --> 00:19:58.519 with you to destroy your faith. And we need to 00:19:58.519 --> 00:20:01.960 be alert to that danger and actively protecting 00:20:01.960 --> 00:20:06.539 ourselves against it by meeting together, encouraging 00:20:06.539 --> 00:20:11.180 each other, but especially by prayer. As we saw 00:20:11.180 --> 00:20:15.339 today, we live in a spiritual war zone, so keep 00:20:15.339 --> 00:20:18.500 praying for God's protection. This is something 00:20:18.500 --> 00:20:25.599 we can't stop praying about. You might be here 00:20:25.599 --> 00:20:29.160 today and you're the sceptic. You're going, yeah, 00:20:29.259 --> 00:20:31.700 I mean, Brendan, there's some interesting points 00:20:31.700 --> 00:20:34.500 there, but I don't think that there is a spiritual 00:20:34.500 --> 00:20:38.180 war zone going on. You know, you're maybe overstating 00:20:38.180 --> 00:20:43.019 things a little bit. Well, I hope you've seen 00:20:43.019 --> 00:20:46.480 some good reasons as to why there might be. I'd 00:20:46.480 --> 00:20:48.960 want to ask you, are you sceptical of your scepticism? 00:20:50.900 --> 00:20:53.319 Doubt your doubts. Maybe there's something there 00:20:53.319 --> 00:20:59.220 you need to think about. But, I mean, ponder 00:20:59.220 --> 00:21:05.019 this. If there's no sin or war, why haven't we 00:21:05.019 --> 00:21:09.400 built a utopian world yet? I mean, Cairns is 00:21:09.400 --> 00:21:12.319 a pretty good little slice of paradise, but there's 00:21:12.319 --> 00:21:14.359 still crime, there's still hurt, there's still 00:21:14.359 --> 00:21:16.339 domestic violence, there's still all sorts of 00:21:16.339 --> 00:21:19.480 horrible things, isn't there? Why haven't we 00:21:19.480 --> 00:21:23.099 built a utopia yet? There's got to be something 00:21:23.099 --> 00:21:28.950 within us stopping us. What's going on? If there's 00:21:28.950 --> 00:21:31.970 no war zone contrary to Jesus' claims, well, 00:21:32.049 --> 00:21:35.410 what should we be fighting? Well, what should 00:21:35.410 --> 00:21:37.589 you be living for? What should you be making 00:21:37.589 --> 00:21:41.549 the purpose of your life? Here's the big one. 00:21:42.990 --> 00:21:49.130 Why did Jesus die and rise again if it wasn't 00:21:49.130 --> 00:21:54.769 to rescue people and free them from sin? What 00:21:54.769 --> 00:21:57.269 do you think of Jesus? Why do you think he did 00:21:57.269 --> 00:22:02.210 all that? Maybe your scepticism is a sign that 00:22:02.210 --> 00:22:08.609 you're actually a POW, a prisoner of war, that 00:22:08.609 --> 00:22:14.890 Satan has you right where he wants you. In that 00:22:14.890 --> 00:22:18.130 movie, The Usual Suspects, there's a line in 00:22:18.130 --> 00:22:21.490 it that says, the greatest trick the devil ever 00:22:21.490 --> 00:22:24.730 pulled was convincing the world he doesn't exist. 00:22:27.939 --> 00:22:31.000 Is there even a small possibility that you could 00:22:31.000 --> 00:22:35.839 be wrong? If you think there is, come chat with 00:22:35.839 --> 00:22:38.660 me. Let's grab a coffee or we'll find someone 00:22:38.660 --> 00:22:40.380 better looking that you can have a coffee with. 00:22:40.480 --> 00:22:43.400 It's up to you. But let's have a chat. Let's 00:22:43.400 --> 00:22:49.759 talk it through. But if you're a Christian, well, 00:22:49.859 --> 00:22:52.099 the danger is that we're like the disciples that 00:22:52.099 --> 00:22:56.130 we looked at in our passage earlier. Jesus tells 00:22:56.130 --> 00:22:58.130 them to watch and pray, but what do they do? 00:22:59.109 --> 00:23:03.609 They fall asleep. They didn't see the spiritual 00:23:03.609 --> 00:23:06.930 battle happening as Jesus went to the cross. 00:23:08.970 --> 00:23:12.029 But thankfully, Jesus drank the cup of God's 00:23:12.029 --> 00:23:16.529 wrath down to the dregs so that sin's penalty 00:23:16.529 --> 00:23:21.650 can't touch us. In one respect, if you trust 00:23:21.650 --> 00:23:26.200 Jesus, you are bulletproof to sin. It can't get 00:23:26.200 --> 00:23:31.539 you anymore. You will never be punished. Yet 00:23:31.539 --> 00:23:34.339 as forgiven people, we still need to see that 00:23:34.339 --> 00:23:39.079 sin is dangerous. As long as you have faith, 00:23:39.180 --> 00:23:42.359 you're safe. But sin is trying to erode your 00:23:42.359 --> 00:23:46.759 faith. It's trying to shipwreck your faith. Satan 00:23:46.759 --> 00:23:49.259 is trying to destroy your faith by luring you 00:23:49.259 --> 00:23:54.680 into sin's grip. In one sense, you're bulletproof. 00:23:54.740 --> 00:23:56.920 In another sense, you're in a dangerous war zone. 00:23:58.720 --> 00:24:02.019 Are you readying yourself every day for the fight? 00:24:04.480 --> 00:24:06.920 One of my favourite quotes that sums this up 00:24:06.920 --> 00:24:10.960 well is by John Owen, the theologian from many 00:24:10.960 --> 00:24:14.640 years ago. He says, if you're not killing sin, 00:24:14.940 --> 00:24:20.700 sin is killing you. If you're not killing sin, 00:24:21.700 --> 00:24:25.140 Sin is killing you. I mean, that's how war zones 00:24:25.140 --> 00:24:30.000 work, isn't it? If your enemy is attacking you 00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:31.680 and hitting you, you're in danger. You're not 00:24:31.680 --> 00:24:37.559 protected. You need to take your enemy out. How 00:24:37.559 --> 00:24:42.339 do we protect ourselves? We put sin to death. 00:24:44.279 --> 00:24:48.349 We get along to church and to growth group. We 00:24:48.349 --> 00:24:50.849 start our day drawing on God's strength. We be 00:24:50.849 --> 00:24:54.029 proactive, praying that God would protect us. 00:24:55.150 --> 00:24:58.250 As we hear scripture at church, individually, 00:24:58.430 --> 00:25:01.009 in growth group, we're alerted to sins that weren't 00:25:01.009 --> 00:25:05.009 on our radar before. And we don't stop there. 00:25:05.130 --> 00:25:07.369 When we're tempted, you know, when you're there 00:25:07.369 --> 00:25:09.450 and you're facing that temptation, what do you 00:25:09.450 --> 00:25:15.009 do? You pray. You're in that argument. Your anger 00:25:15.009 --> 00:25:17.730 is rising by the second. What do you do? You 00:25:17.730 --> 00:25:25.569 breathe. Lord, help me to calm down, to just 00:25:25.569 --> 00:25:30.549 be loving in this situation. You're home alone. 00:25:32.750 --> 00:25:35.569 And the pull to go on the computer and watch 00:25:35.569 --> 00:25:39.670 something you shouldn't is strong. What do you 00:25:39.670 --> 00:25:47.819 do? Go for a walk and pray. Lord, help me. Help 00:25:47.819 --> 00:25:51.299 me to be pure. Help me to be godly. Help me to 00:25:51.299 --> 00:25:54.380 see that I have better things in Jesus than what 00:25:54.380 --> 00:25:59.279 sin can offer me. Or you catch yourself lying. 00:25:59.400 --> 00:26:03.519 What do you do? You ask Jesus to forgive you. 00:26:03.579 --> 00:26:08.380 Lord, I'm sorry. But then you ask for help. Please 00:26:08.380 --> 00:26:12.980 help me next time to tell the truth. Help me 00:26:12.980 --> 00:26:20.170 to be honest. Even when it's hard. Make it a 00:26:20.170 --> 00:26:23.549 priority to pray like this both proactively and 00:26:23.549 --> 00:26:26.089 reactively when you're in those tempting moments. 00:26:29.309 --> 00:26:31.589 But the thing is, don't let your guard down. 00:26:33.910 --> 00:26:38.950 We must, we must, we must take care and be on 00:26:38.950 --> 00:26:47.359 guard. Because we're in an unseen war. Life in 00:26:47.359 --> 00:26:52.019 Cairns is just like Pearl Harbour. Before the 00:26:52.019 --> 00:26:57.259 attacks, it appears safe and calm, yet we really 00:26:57.259 --> 00:27:03.599 are in a war zone. But we'll stay safe if we're 00:27:03.599 --> 00:27:07.599 on our knees to our loving Heavenly Father, asking 00:27:07.599 --> 00:27:14.910 for his protection. Let's pray. Gracious Heavenly 00:27:14.910 --> 00:27:17.589 Father, we want to thank you that you are so 00:27:17.589 --> 00:27:20.730 kind to us. We thank you that in Jesus you have 00:27:20.730 --> 00:27:25.529 forgiven all our sins. But help us, Father, to 00:27:25.529 --> 00:27:30.349 keep trusting you, to not lose the safety and 00:27:30.349 --> 00:27:33.869 security that we have in Christ by falling away. 00:27:35.589 --> 00:27:38.910 Help us to persevere in our faith. Help us to 00:27:38.910 --> 00:27:43.220 trust you. Help us to see that sin is dangerous 00:27:43.220 --> 00:27:46.200 because it's trying to lead us into unbelief. 00:27:48.059 --> 00:27:51.900 Please, Father, help us to take care. Give us 00:27:51.900 --> 00:27:55.019 the strength we need to fight sin and to run 00:27:55.019 --> 00:27:59.220 from it when it's tempting us. And help us, not 00:27:59.220 --> 00:28:02.299 just us individually, but help us to encourage 00:28:02.299 --> 00:28:06.519 each other, to exhort each other, to flee from 00:28:06.519 --> 00:28:10.380 and fight sin. And we ask this in Jesus' name. 00:28:11.259 --> 00:28:11.619 Amen.