Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton,
the official podcast of Cross Christian Fellowship,
Route 66, in the heart of Albuquerque, New Mexico,
where Burton is the lead pastor. We're glad you're
here. Hey everybody, welcome to the sanctuary,
and I have a special treat for you this week.
Now, this week, we have a special guest. This
is somebody that I've watched grow up from a
very early age. And he's graduated, he's my son's
best friend, and he is doing tremendous things
in ministry. Matter of fact, as part of his fine
arts, I've been able to witness his short sermons
and various other giftings. And because of that,
I asked him, it's actually been quite a while,
I've asked him several times, and he finally
agreed to... give us a short message, you know,
to deliver us a short message. So he's very talented.
So I'd like to welcome Honor Benelli to the podcast.
You will only find it here at Healing Scars with
Pastor Burton. With no further ado, I'll now
turn you over to Honor. Hello, everyone. Good
morning, good afternoon, or good evening, wherever
time you may be listening. I'd just like to say
hello. My name is Honor Benelli. I am a good
friend to Burton Rominger, Pastor Rominger's
son. You know, I kind of grew up with him and
I've known the Romingers for such a really good
time. I'm really good friends. I'm very close
with them. And Mr. Pastor Rominger actually invited
me to give a brief, a quick little sermon as
kind of like a guest speaker kind of thing. And
so today I will be delivering a message for this
podcast. So if you want to take notes, whatever
you want to do, listen, whichever is fine. Today's
sermon is titled, Know Your Enemy. So, I find
it crazy that this past weekend was already Easter
Sunday, Resurrection Sunday. It seemed like just
a few weeks ago we were coming into 2025, and
now we already have Palm Sunday, Good Friday,
and here again, Resurrection Sunday. I just like
to say that, you know, again, glory to God, Lord.
Just thank you for coming back, Lord, coming
to this earth to save our sins. Jesus, for dying
on the cross for us. It's just such a huge blessing
to have that thought in my mind that I'm his
child and I'm saved by him, by his blood. So
just a little bit of info about myself. I do
chapel for youth, for youth students, middle
school, high school students. through the Evangelical
Christian Academy. And so we've been, for the
past few weeks, we've been having, you know,
our own little kind of sermon series. And last
week, our sermon title was Letting God Guide
You. And basically what this sermon was about
was how we should be, you know, as Christians,
we are to completely and fully surrender our
lives to God. Right. Through that little bit
of showing God that we are fully surrendered
to him and committed to him, that he will take
us wherever he needs to be. Right. He will eventually
transform us into the men or the women he wants
us to be. And continuing with that idea, you
know, when we decide to give everything and completely
everything surrender to God, that's when our
enemy for the devil is. you know, notices that
and says he can't be having any of that in our
life, right? And this is exactly why we have
to know our enemy. But what does that look like?
It makes sense to know our enemy, right? I'm
sure it's obvious if you don't know, again, our
enemy is the devil, right? And again, the moment
that we give our lives to God and we say that
we are his, he immediately tries to find ways
to get you to fall back, which is where... Like,
our first point comes into the sermon. Know the
enemy's game. What does this point mean? What
is the enemy's game? Most sins often start with
this word, temptation. Well, what is temptation?
To kind of, you know, give a definition of the
word, I both looked it up and gave the word,
you know, a definition of the word from a biblical
perspective. Now, this is from the Oxford Dictionary.
basically saying, you know, it's the urge to
do any action that is wrong or unwise. I find
that very surprising. Now, if we look at it from
a biblical perspective, it's basically the urge
to do any action that goes against God's will.
Now, again, I found it so surprising that even
the Oxford Dictionary, the one people use, you
know, that is most reliable. The Oxford Dictionary
tells us even that the end result of temptation
is a wrong doing. The devil looks for specific
ways to our own lives and he uses those ways
to tempt us off of the track that God has us
on already. To be clear, just to kind of sub
-point, temptation does not come from God. Nor
does the devil actually make us fall into temptation.
The result of temptation... sin is completely
up to us right we whenever we're tempted you
know we can choose to either fall into sin we
can choose to call on the holy spirit and say
lord help me in this time of temptation right
and that's exactly what we do that's exactly
what we do to get through the enemy's game well
back to the point what is the enemy's game how
do we know the enemy's game Well, there's this
amazing thing I've been using for the past few
years of my life that's called the Bible. And
this Bible tells us how to know his game. Now,
if you're taking notes, write down or just remember
Matthew chapter 4 verses 1 through 11. Now, this
is kind of a long verse, so I'm not going to
read the whole thing. But basically, to summarize
it in just a few sentences, this is where Jesus
is being tempted in the wilderness. He's fasting
in the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights,
right? In this time, Satan comes to him and he
tempts him with three different things. He says,
you're hungry. Make these stones bread so you
can eat them. He also says, if you fall off this
mountain, tell your angels to catch you, right?
You're God. You can do whatever you want. I'm
going to take you to this top of this mountain.
And when you fall, just tell your angels to catch
you. And finally, he says, if you bow down and
worship me, I will make you king of all of these
places. Right? These three times Satan comes
to Jesus and he tempts him one thing after another.
Boom, boom, boom. But Jesus is able to consistently
say no, no, no. And he's able to do this because
he fights back with scripture. Okay? Well, just
looking at it from Jesus' perspective, to know
the enemy's game, we have to know Scripture.
Jesus went through some of the exact same things
we did to teach us a few things in their own
kind of areas. And when we're talking about temptation
specifically, he fought back with Scripture.
At the school, the Evangelical Christian Academy,
every morning there's pledges that we do. You
know, the pledge to the flag, pledges to the
Bible. And, you know, a few different other pledges.
But there's one specifically, and that's the
Pledge of Allegiance to the Bible. And I won't
say the whole thing. It's just a little bit long.
But there's one part, you know, that says, I
will hide God's word in my heart that I might
not sin against God. Right? And I always make
sure to tell these middle school, high school
students that, you know, this isn't just that
one thing we say every morning to get it out
of the way so we can go to class. No, it's a
prayer that we should be saying, not just because
we've memorized it by now, but because it's a
prayer that we should be saying in our hearts,
right? I will hide God's word in my heart that
I might not sin against him. So to know the enemy's
game, we have to hide God's word in our hearts
that we might not sin against him. Which kind
of brings us to the next point. Know the enemy's
plan for you. It's kind of confusing. Or you
might be kind of shocked, surprised at this.
The enemy has a plan for me. I know Jesus does.
I hear about it all the time. Jesus has this
great plan for my life. But the enemy does too.
And again, it might be surprising, but yes, he
does have a plan for you. Look at John chapter
10, verse 10. The thief comes only to steal and
kill and destroy. You know, the Bible in this
verse specifically describes the enemy as a thief.
Right? And it says the word only. Right? Because
he only comes to steal, to kill, and to destroy.
Only to do this. I know it might seem a little,
you know, hard to tell the difference sometimes.
Especially now, he's kind of, Satan's kind of
gotten a hold of so many hearts, so many... mindsets
right but he only comes to do these three things
he doesn't come and try to have a relationship
with you he doesn't come to try and give us the
attention that no one else brings he doesn't
come because he so -called cares about us he
comes only to steal to kill and to destroy and
it's in this order very specifically for a reason
right steal He comes to steal our thoughts. He
steals our actions. Main point, he steals any
idea of God in our life, right? After he steals
it, what comes next? Kill. After he steals any
part of God in our life, he kills it, right?
He says, oh, there's God in his life. I have
it now and I'm going to kill that idea, right?
Well, you might kind of think to yourself, doesn't
kill and destroy mean the same thing? Yes, but
no at the same time, right? He has our thoughts.
He has any idea of God in our life. And all he
has to do next is kill that. He kills anything
that has to do with God in our lives. Any sense
of direction, any sense of praise, of glory and
honor to him. He kills it completely so we can
completely turn away from God, right? Then what
comes next? Destroy. Once he kills and takes
Jesus out of our lives, all he has to do then
is destroy us. Right? This is eventually where
he destroys our life. And eventually, he probably
does kill us. Right? Now, if you know me, or
if you don't know me, because most of you don't,
but I wonder a lot. Right? I think a lot on a
lot of things. Whether they're good, whether
they're bad. But I also think a lot about this
question. And I kind of want you to ask it to
yourselves. Whether you're at home, maybe you're
driving on the way to work, maybe to school.
Whether you're just sitting down in the living
room, wherever you're at. Just reflect just for
a minute. Does the devil have your thoughts?
Or maybe a better question, who has your thoughts?
Right? Who has them? Because if it's God, that's
great. I encourage you to keep doing more in
your relationship with God and how to faithfully
serve him. But if it's the devil, right? We already
know his plan for us. His plan is to steal our
thoughts, to kill them, and to destroy us. Does
he have your thoughts? If he has your thoughts,
has he killed any idea of God in your life? Right?
Because if he's done that second part, you already
know what comes next. Right? Destruction. He
destroys. But, the next part of this verse, John
10 .10, explains Jesus. And I did this intentionally.
John 10 .10 says, The thief comes only to steal
and kill and destroy. And it doesn't stop there.
It continues. It says, I have come that they
may have life and have it to the full. Read the
letters. This is what Jesus is saying. I have
come that they may have life and that they may
have life to the full. Which kind of brings us
to the last point of the sermon. Know the one
who comes to give life. The devil might come
to steal you. I'm not even going to say might.
The devil will try to come and steal you. He
will try to come to kill you and eventually to
destroy you. But Jesus comes so that way you
may have life. And that you will have it to the
full. I mentioned... Matthew chapter 4, those
first few 11 verses, not only because it was
when Jesus was tempted and it, you know, provides
an example to do when the devil, you know, has
his plans for us. But I also mentioned this because
when we read scripture, we're not only fighting
back against the enemy and his thoughts and his
plan for our lives. But also through this reading
and knowing scripture, we come closer and closer
to Jesus. We come closer and closer to that life
that he speaks of. We come closer and closer
to the life that he promises us, right? That
life full of blessings, of fulfillment, right?
Pretty soon that life that we had before that
was stolen, killed, hopefully not destroyed,
is completely turned around, made new. There
are a few other verses in the Bible. I don't
know them off the top of my head, but to kind
of give my own version, you know, it's saying
how Jesus comes and we are to walk into the new
life that he has for us. That we're supposed
to completely leave the old one behind and walk
in the new one that he has for us. Right, going
back to the past sermon I was telling you about,
that little sign of surrender. You know, whenever
we're praying, maybe we're worshiping, right?
Whatever we might be doing, I'm sure some of
us might be raising our hands, whether it's just
straight up in the sky, both hands, maybe it's
just one, maybe it's two, just off to the side
of your body, right? But that little hand gesture
that we do is a little sign of surrendering,
right? It's showing God that we... Completely
surrender to him. We completely surrender to
the plan that he has for us. Right? And it goes
a long way. That little sign of God, I surrender
to you, takes us from the old life that we had
and again walking into the new one that he promises
us. Write down Romans 10, 9 through 10. Chapter
10. Verses 9 and 10. If you declare with your
mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart
that God raised him from the dead, you will be
saved. For it is with your heart that you believe
and are justified, and it is with your mouth
that you profess your faith and are saved. I
know Jesus has this plan for us. Even the devil
has this plan for us. But even if we just declare
with our mouths, Jesus is Lord. He is king, and
we firmly and understandably believe that with
our hearts, we will be saved. That Jesus was
raised from the dead, we will be saved. It says,
for with your heart you believe and are justified,
and that's exactly what we have to do. We have
to believe with our hearts. We have to believe
that with wholeheartedly everything that we have,
and we are saved. And that's exactly what he
wants for us. He comes so that way we may have
life. To be saved. A life with him. A life to
be called his son or his daughter. A life that
glorifies him. So if you're sitting here listening
to this podcast, then I would just invite you
to kind of just close your eyes. right wherever
you might be in select spots places wherever
you might be it might be a little hard difficult
to do that but if you're in a time of alone where
there's nothing around you no distractions just
close your eyes and reflect kind of like what
we did earlier right reflect on not just this
sermon right you can reflect on your own life
you can reflect and look back you know at this
life that you have This life could be glorifying
God. Praise God, I hope it is. Or this life could
be this, you know, part of the devil's plan for
us. Stolen, maybe. Killed, maybe. Hopefully not
destroyed. But I ask you this. If you take anything
from this message, anything from this, I guess,
episode of this podcast, He comes to give us
life. Know the one who comes to give life. Because
all he wants is that life with him. A life as
his son. A life as his daughter. He wants us
to faithfully serve him with everything that
we have. So we'll pray to kind of wrap this up.
And then I guess. this little episode will be
finished up. But just continue to keep your eyes
closed, bow your heads, raise your hands, whatever
you feel is necessary, and just pray this with
me. Dear Jesus, God, Lord, I thank you for this
day, Father. I thank you for this opportunity
to speak on this podcast, to give this message
to further your kingdom, Jesus God. I pray that,
you know, as we reflect in our own lives, that
we would know our enemy. We would know the plans,
his game that he has for our lives. That this
little hold that he has would completely break
away. We know he comes to steal, to kill and
to destroy Jesus. But as this verse says, you
come so that way we may have life, God. So I
pray that anybody listening to this, anyone who
has ears to hear would listen and know that you
come to give life, Father. You come so that way
we may have life and that way we may have it
to the full, Jesus. Lord, we invite you into
our lives, God, so that way you may guide us.
Send your Holy Spirit protection over us, protection
over our thoughts, over our hearts, over our
actions, Jesus. So that way we can have a life
with you. God, a life that reflects and glorifies
you, Jesus. I thank you, Jesus, and I pray this
in your name, Father. Amen. Well, that was pretty
much everything I have. Again, I'd just like
to say a quick thank you to Pastor Burton Romiger.
It was really just a complete blessing and such
an amazing opportunity. I've never been able
to do something like this, aside from the chapel
services that we have at this school, this high
school, middle school. Again, just praise God,
and thank you. Pastor Burton Rominger for giving
me this opportunity to speak on this podcast.
I hope, you know, anyone who listens would reflect
on this, reflect on the message, the words, maybe
read the scripture verses again, look back and
find something new. Right. Because I know what
it says. I know what it stands out to me. I know
what it means to me. Right. But I know there
are verses that might mean something to different
people. And again, I invite you to look back
and read. If you're taking notes, I encourage
that. That's amazing. Well, I just hope you guys
have a great rest of your day, night, morning,
whatever time it might be. And again, thank you
for this opportunity. You guys have a blessed
day. Thank you for joining us at Healing Scars
with Pastor Burton. Until next time, take care
and God bless.