1 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:46,000 In a world full of broken dreams Where the truth is hard to find 2 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:57,000 For every promise that is kept There are many left behind 3 00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:12,000 Though it seems that nobody cares There is much that you can do 4 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:24,000 Cause there's a difference you can make But the choice is up to you 5 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:38,000 Will you be the one to answer to his call? And will you stand when laws around you fall? 6 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:51,000 Will you be the one to take his life And go with the other in the world? 7 00:01:51,000 --> 00:02:12,000 Will you be the one? Tell me will you be the one? 8 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:26,000 Though sometimes it's so hard to know Who is right and what is wrong 9 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:37,000 Where are you supposed to stand When the battle lines are drawn? 10 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:51,000 There's a voice that keeps calling out Someone who's not afraid 11 00:02:51,000 --> 00:03:03,000 Take a stand into the night Where a world has lost its way 12 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:18,000 Will you be the one to answer to his call? And will you stand when laws around you fall? 13 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:28,000 Will you be the one to take his life And go a darkened world? 14 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:37,000 Tell me will you be the one? There are battles that we must fight from day to day 15 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:46,000 But the Lord provides the power For us to stand and stay 16 00:03:46,000 --> 00:04:01,000 Yet I'll be the one to answer to his call And I will stand when laws around me fall 17 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:16,000 I will be the one to take his life And go a darkened world 18 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:39,000 Will you be the one? Yes I'll be the one 19 00:04:46,000 --> 00:05:04,000 Thank you Mike, thank you to all of our musicians who have led us this morning so powerfully in our worship time. 20 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:11,000 I want to remind you that this evening we have a very special service at our church. 21 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:19,000 We have a guest from out of town, Dr. Neil Anderson, a man that God is greatly using across our country today 22 00:05:19,000 --> 00:05:27,000 and helping people to understand and to enter into their freedom in Christ is going to be our guest at 6 o'clock tonight. 23 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:31,000 I urge all of you to be back and to bring someone along with you. 24 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:35,000 How many of you have read one of Dr. Anderson's books and or been to one of his seminars? 25 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:40,000 Would you lift your hand? Okay, that's probably 50 people in here. 26 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:44,000 We carry them in our bookstore, we use them in our discipling and our instruction here 27 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:49,000 because of the way that they help us to understand our position in Jesus Christ. 28 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:55,000 And I'm very excited about him being here on our 13th anniversary and it's a great way for us to celebrate together 29 00:05:55,000 --> 00:06:00,000 and having him minister to our congregation. He is in town for a conference later this week. 30 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:03,000 There's a flyer in your bulletin about that this morning. 31 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:09,000 And if you're free to be able to go to one or two of these public meetings later in the week, 32 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:15,000 I would encourage you to take advantage of hearing him again. 33 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:23,000 Nothing more important is happening in the Twin Cities today than that which is happening in the churches of Jesus Christ 34 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:28,000 where he is being exalted and his word is being proclaimed. 35 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:34,000 There may be events that are more noted on the news or which have even larger crowds, 36 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:43,000 but what's happening in the churches is eternally important because you see eternities hang in the balance. 37 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:49,000 Destinies of people are being determined throughout the Twin Cities this morning in the churches. 38 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:53,000 Lives are being changed. Homes are being brought back together. 39 00:06:53,000 --> 00:07:00,000 People are turning from the light to the light from the darkness and to God from Satan. 40 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:05,000 Nothing more important happening in all of the Twin Cities today than that which is happening 41 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:10,000 where the churches of Jesus Christ are gathering. 42 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:15,000 Grace Church Roosevelt has sought for the last 13 years to be the kind of a church 43 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:22,000 where the work of advancing the gospel is the primary priority. 44 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:29,000 There are a number of things we want to do, but the primary priority is advancing the gospel of Jesus Christ. 45 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:34,000 There's really no other agenda for God's work, it seems to me. 46 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:41,000 May it always be our first priority to see that people are one to faith in Christ 47 00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:46,000 and then nurtured or discipled in the faith of the Lord. 48 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:53,000 One thing we can say about God's work is that it is a supernatural work. 49 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:55,000 It is a supernatural work. 50 00:07:55,000 --> 00:08:05,000 Open your Bible to 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and you'll understand at least part of the reason why it is a supernatural work. 51 00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:11,000 What I'm saying is that we can't do God's work in our own strength, in our own wisdom, in our own power. 52 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:20,000 It requires something beyond human strength and power and wisdom. It's supernatural. 53 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:29,000 In verse 3 it says, And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 54 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:40,000 in whose case the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving that they might not see 55 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:45,000 the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 56 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:51,000 For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord. 57 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:57,000 You see, we are being opposed by a supernatural enemy. 58 00:08:57,000 --> 00:09:03,000 Not only are we working with the hearts of people that are sinners, 59 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:06,000 and therefore their hearts are deadened and darkened, 60 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:12,000 but there is a supernatural blindness that is cast upon those perishing, 61 00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:19,000 that they might not be able to see the light that is in Jesus Christ. 62 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:25,000 It is only the supernatural power of God who created the light in the beginning, 63 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:34,000 who can cause the light to shine into their eyes, so that that darkness is dispelled and they're able to see. 64 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:43,000 Back in chapter 2 of this same book, the apostle Paul says in verse 14, Thanks be to God. 65 00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:55,000 It is a supernatural ministry, but God enables us. He says, Thanks be to God, who always leads us in his triumph in Christ. 66 00:09:55,000 --> 00:10:02,000 We are not battling an enemy who is going to win. 67 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:09,000 He thinks he is, but he cannot because his victory has already been accomplished at the cross. 68 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:16,000 He's already defeated. Jesus Christ is already leading his triumph march, 69 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:24,000 like the Roman generals of old, who after their military victories would lead their soldiers into the capital city 70 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:33,000 with great pomp and circumstance, and back at the end of the line would be the prisoners of war that were taken. 71 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:42,000 And part of the celebration was the offering up of incense to the gods of Rome and in honor of the conquering general. 72 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:49,000 It was called a triumph march. Paul uses that picture and he applies it to Jesus Christ. 73 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:57,000 He says, He is our general and we are following him in his triumph march. 74 00:10:57,000 --> 00:11:07,000 He says, And he manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of him in every place. 75 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:18,000 For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. 76 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:25,000 To the one an aroma from death to death and to the other an aroma from life to life. 77 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:31,000 You see, when the conquering soldiers smelled that incense in the triumph march, to them it was a wonderful thing. 78 00:11:31,000 --> 00:11:37,000 Because it symbolized to them that they were the conquerors, they had triumph, they were the victors, 79 00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:41,000 and to them belonged the spoils, but to the people at the end of the line in chains. 80 00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:47,000 When they smelled the incense, they knew it was defeat. They knew it was death. 81 00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:50,000 They knew they were going to be killed. 82 00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:56,000 And so it is when believers live in the world, we are a fragrance to God. 83 00:11:56,000 --> 00:12:01,000 And to those who trust Christ and are being saved, we are the fragrance of life. 84 00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:12,000 But to those who are perishing, says Paul, the fragrance of our lives smells like death to them. 85 00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:16,000 And then he responds by saying, And who is adequate for these things? 86 00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:25,000 With that kind of pressure on you, with that kind of responsibility in the world, he says, Who is sufficient for these things? 87 00:12:25,000 --> 00:12:32,000 Well, in this whole book he talks about the fact that God makes us sufficient in this supernatural ministry. 88 00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:42,000 But back in chapter 1 in verse 18, he says, God is faithful. 89 00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:50,000 Who is sufficient for these things, for the ministry that causes us to battle against supernatural foes 90 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:58,000 and causes our very lives to be a fragrance to God that means salvation to some and death to others? 91 00:12:58,000 --> 00:13:04,000 Who is sufficient? Well, only God can make us sufficient. He says, God is faithful. 92 00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:07,000 And that's the theme I want to think about this morning. 93 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:15,000 We have this assurance as we stand on the verge of another year of ministry as Grace Church Roosevelt. 94 00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:20,000 The assurance is that God is faithful. God is faithful. 95 00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:27,000 He has proven it in the past, and he has pledged it in his Word. 96 00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:35,000 Turn back with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 1, where we're going to pick up this theme of the faithfulness of God 97 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:44,000 and see several of the ways in which God has pledged himself to be faithful. 98 00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:47,000 1 Corinthians chapter 1, beginning in verse 4, 99 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:54,000 I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, 100 00:13:54,000 --> 00:14:01,000 that in everything you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge, 101 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:11,000 even as the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you, so that you are not lacking in any gift. 102 00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:18,000 Awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall also confirm you to the end, 103 00:14:18,000 --> 00:14:24,000 blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ, God is faithful, 104 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:30,000 through whom you were called into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ. 105 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:37,000 God is faithful. In the first place, he is faithful in the church's provision. 106 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:48,000 In verses 4 through 7, he tells the Corinthians that God has given them everything they need to serve him. 107 00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:56,000 He says, you have been enriched by God in all of the spiritual gifts that you need to fulfill 108 00:14:56,000 --> 00:15:02,000 the supernatural ministry God has called you to as part of his kingdom. 109 00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:11,000 You don't lack anything that you need. God is faithful to you in the provision you need for ministry. 110 00:15:11,000 --> 00:15:14,000 That's good for us to know too. 111 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:21,000 We as a church, 2,000 years later, or something like the Corinthian church, not in a bad way I hope, 112 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:31,000 but in this way, that we too are not left to our own natural talents or abilities in serving God, 113 00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:38,000 but like them and like the people of God through the ages, we have been endowed by the Holy Spirit 114 00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:50,000 with spiritual gifts that when developed and under his control can accomplish the supernatural ministry of God. 115 00:15:50,000 --> 00:16:00,000 These gifts enable us to accomplish a permanent work in building the church, in advancing the gospel. 116 00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:08,000 So we dare not serve our God merely in our own wisdom and our own skills, 117 00:16:08,000 --> 00:16:18,000 although God is pleased to use the total us, but we want to serve him according to the giftedness that he's given us. 118 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:23,000 God is faithful in giving us the gifts that we need. 119 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:31,000 In this congregation, every Christian has spiritual gifts given by the Holy Spirit. 120 00:16:31,000 --> 00:16:38,000 These gifts, when developed and used in the power of the Holy Spirit, 121 00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:45,000 will do unbelievably good things in the work of Jesus Christ in this congregation. 122 00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:50,000 God is faithful in his provision to us. 123 00:16:50,000 --> 00:17:01,000 Of course, our job is to find out what the gifts are that God's given us and to employ those and to serve God in his strength in the church. 124 00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:06,000 And then in verses 7 and 8 we see a second way in which God is faithful. 125 00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:10,000 God is faithful in the church's prospect. 126 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:19,000 Although we are living in a world that is growing more and more hostile to the values of the Bible 127 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:25,000 and to the presence of the true church and to the preaching of the gospel, 128 00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:36,000 although we live in a world where persecution is now taking place in our nation, 129 00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:46,000 although we are living in a world where persecution is going to become more severe, perhaps soon, we do not fear. 130 00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:53,000 We do not lose hope because God is faithful in our prospect. 131 00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:58,000 Because our prospect is the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. 132 00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:04,000 It says we are awaiting eagerly his appearance. 133 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:12,000 That appearance will take place, he says, in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ, that is in the rapture, when Jesus comes for us. 134 00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:17,000 We today are looking for the return of the Lord Jesus. 135 00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:23,000 We are looking for him to come and to take us to our heavenly home, 136 00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:31,000 to deliver us from this world of ungodliness, which is under the judgment of God. 137 00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:36,000 We are looking for him to come and God is faithful in this prospect. 138 00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:38,000 He will bring his son. 139 00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:48,000 There is nothing that anyone can do to keep the prophecies of the Word of God from coming to pass. 140 00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:58,000 Should men try to build a scheme to prevent the coming of Christ, they would only fall right into God's plan. 141 00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:05,000 They cannot stop it. God's purposes will be accomplished. Jesus will return. Our prospect will be fulfilled. 142 00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:08,000 God is faithful. 143 00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:16,000 Now, I don't know if that's going to be this morning, or if it's going to be this fall, or next year, or a hundred years from now. 144 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:23,000 I don't know when it's going to be, but I know this, that Jesus Christ is coming again. 145 00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:28,000 That is our prospect. That is our blessed hope, his glorious appearing. And God is faithful. 146 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:34,000 He is going to send his son at just the right moment. 147 00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:42,000 There's a third way in which God is faithful to the church. We see this in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 13. 148 00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:47,000 No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man. 149 00:19:47,000 --> 00:20:01,000 And God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it. 150 00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:07,000 The people of Israel were under pressure in the wilderness. 151 00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:15,000 They were in a period of trial and testing, when God was seeing what their faith really was. 152 00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:28,000 Now Satan, as he always does, tempted them in that time of trial to turn away from God and to follow idols. 153 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:35,000 And they did. They did. 154 00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:49,000 And the Apostle Paul in this chapter recounts for us just a few of the lowlights, shall we say, not highlights, the lowlights of Israel's failure in the time of trial. 155 00:20:49,000 --> 00:21:03,000 And he tells us not once but twice, these things happened to them for your example, that you might learn from them. 156 00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:12,000 Never has the church been more in danger of idolatry than today. 157 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:28,000 Never has the culture of the world been so enticing and alluring to the church to leave the worship of Christ and obedience to God and to follow idols as today. 158 00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:41,000 Because you see, the idolatry of our day and our culture is not of wood or metal idols. It's the idolatry of self. 159 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:50,000 And so we worship ourselves and we give ourselves priority before God or His church or His Word. 160 00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:55,000 We are our own gods. 161 00:21:55,000 --> 00:22:02,000 That is the same kind of idolatry that Satan gave into when he was cast out of heaven. 162 00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:09,000 It is the same kind of idolatry he brought to Eve and to Adam in the garden to worship oneself. 163 00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:13,000 You'll be like God. 164 00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:19,000 Never have we as the church of Jesus Christ been more in danger of idolatry than today. 165 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:22,000 That's why this verse is good. 166 00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:26,000 Because what it tells us is that God is faithful. 167 00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:39,000 The kinds of trials that we're in today are like the trials, at least in character, which Christians have faced through the ages, to turn away from God. 168 00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:48,000 But he says God is faithful and he is not going to allow those trials to become more severe than we can deal with. 169 00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:55,000 He is going to make the way to escape those trials. That means the way to be able to pass through them 170 00:22:55,000 --> 00:23:03,000 so that we stand and we don't give in to the temptation of idolatry, to turn away from God. 171 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:09,000 God's faithful. God is faithful and the church's purity is my point. 172 00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:13,000 He is faithful to provide a way of escape. 173 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:18,000 You know that's true in your personal trials today. 174 00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:26,000 Whatever you're passing through, God is faithful not to allow that trial to overwhelm you. 175 00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:33,000 Now the response is, the key rather, is our response. 176 00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:39,000 You see, we can get into a trial and although God is carefully measuring it, we can just give up. 177 00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:51,000 We can fail to believe God, we can fail to be obedient to God, and the result is that we give in to Satan's temptation in the trial and we flunk out. 178 00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:58,000 But he says God nonetheless is faithful to us. He will carefully measure our trials 179 00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:06,000 so that if we will believe God and obey God, we will not be overcome by the trial, but we will pass through it victoriously. 180 00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:16,000 God is faithful. And his intent is that we be a pure church, that we be pure people and not give in to idolatry. 181 00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:20,000 But follow him and him alone. 182 00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:28,000 There's a fourth way in which God is faithful to his church. We go back now to 2 Corinthians chapter 1. 183 00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:39,000 Verse 18 I've read, God is faithful. In verse 20 he says, as many as may be the promises of God in him, in Christ, they are yes. 184 00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:46,000 Wherefore also by him is our amen to the glory of God through us. 185 00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:49,000 God is faithful in the church's promises. 186 00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:58,000 All of those promises of the word of God that are rightfully the church's have been affirmed by Jesus Christ. 187 00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:07,000 The promise of salvation, of freedom, of forgiveness, the promise related to our future, of God's presence with us now, 188 00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:14,000 of his power in our lives, his protection over us, all of those promises have been affirmed by Jesus Christ. 189 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:18,000 And we respond by saying, amen, I claim that. 190 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:24,000 God is faithful in our promises. He does not vacillate. 191 00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:32,000 With God there is no yes or no well maybe. When God says yes, he means yes. 192 00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:38,000 And in all of his promises to you and to me, God has said yes, I give you this in Christ. 193 00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:43,000 And our response to that is, Lord, amen. 194 00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:51,000 I take that promise, I appropriate that promise for myself, for my family, for my church. 195 00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:57,000 We need to live in the light of God's promises. God is faithful in the church's promises. 196 00:25:57,000 --> 00:26:09,000 One other place where we find the faithfulness of God explicitly stated that I want to look at this morning is in 2 Thessalonians chapter 3. 197 00:26:09,000 --> 00:26:25,000 In the third verse where the apostle says, but the Lord is faithful and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. 198 00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:31,000 Of course we have believed in the devil, we believe the Bible. 199 00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:38,000 Of course we assume that the devil is real because the Bible is true. 200 00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:46,000 But somehow that theology has often escaped our daily lives and our practice. 201 00:26:46,000 --> 00:26:57,000 We've said we've believed it, but we haven't faced it, we haven't lived it, we haven't utilized our spiritual weapons in the warfare. 202 00:26:57,000 --> 00:27:01,000 And so it's a theoretical battle, not a real one. 203 00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:10,000 The problem with that is that if we don't see the reality of it, we're already defeated because it's real. 204 00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:18,000 What he says here is, the Lord is faithful, he will protect you from the evil one. 205 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:22,000 God's faithfulness protects his own. 206 00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:30,000 There is no evil that can be done except as God for his own purpose and his own glory might permit that evil to be done. 207 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:32,000 We are protected by God. 208 00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:36,000 The word here means a military guard against violence. 209 00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:50,000 One of the names of God that has become precious to me in the last year or so is the name the Lord of Hosts, which means the Lord of the armies. 210 00:27:50,000 --> 00:28:05,000 He is talking about the armies of angels that are at the disposal of God and whom he sends forth to minister to those who shall be the heirs of salvation. 211 00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:13,000 You and I need not fear the evil one, and we don't. 212 00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:24,000 I think it's probably appropriate to say to you as a larger church body, as I have said to our Sunday night prayer group, 213 00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:33,000 that we have been in an intense battle spiritually as a church against the forces of darkness. 214 00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:39,000 And since Halloween Sunday, we've had Satanists visiting in our services. 215 00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:42,000 They may be here this morning. I haven't had a chance to look yet. 216 00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:46,000 Some of them we recognize. 217 00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:55,000 They have come in order to bring division and confusion and destruction to our church, 218 00:28:55,000 --> 00:29:03,000 but they've also come to intimidate one of their coven members who has come to faith in Jesus Christ 219 00:29:03,000 --> 00:29:09,000 and to whom we've been ministering and who has found wonderful freedom in Christ. 220 00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:16,000 I've shared a little of this with you last December when she shared her testimony here. 221 00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:29,000 I want you to know if you're here today as one of the followers of the evil one, that we are not afraid of your master. 222 00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:37,000 We intend to be vigilant and sober because he is like a roaring lion walking about seeking whom he may devour, 223 00:29:37,000 --> 00:29:44,000 and we recognize that if we are careless in this spiritual warfare, we leave ourselves vulnerable. 224 00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:50,000 But I want you to know that we are not afraid. 225 00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:56,000 And our prayer for you is that you will come to faith in Jesus Christ. 226 00:29:56,000 --> 00:30:02,000 Our prayer for you is that your ears will be opened and your eyes will be opened, 227 00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:13,000 that you may see the glory of God in Jesus Christ and repent of your sin and follow the true God. 228 00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:20,000 We as a church must be vigilant and on guard, but let's remember this. 229 00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:26,000 God is faithful, and he will protect us from the evil one. 230 00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:31,000 This is not theory, folks. This is truth. 231 00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:34,000 And God today is protecting this church. 232 00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:38,000 Some of us met for prayer this morning as we do every Sunday morning, 233 00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:44,000 and I believe with all of my heart that there are angels and perimeter around this building. 234 00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:51,000 They are present here in this service this morning, and they are holding in check the evil one and what he might like to do. 235 00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:55,000 We don't have to be afraid of the devil. 236 00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:59,000 This whole matter of spiritual warfare is crucial for us to understand, 237 00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:03,000 and that's one reason I want to encourage you to be back tonight, 238 00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:10,000 because you'll be hearing some things that will help you to begin to understand if you don't understand it. 239 00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:18,000 And there's training you can take so that you can be a spiritual warrior for Christ. 240 00:31:18,000 --> 00:31:22,000 Jesus Christ is faithful to his church. 241 00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:24,000 How can we be anything less? 242 00:31:24,000 --> 00:31:29,000 How dare we be anything less than seek to be faithful to him. 243 00:31:29,000 --> 00:31:33,000 To the suffering church in Smyrna, Jesus said, 244 00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:39,000 I know your tribulation and your poverty, but you are rich. 245 00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:41,000 He reminds them. 246 00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:48,000 And the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not but are a synagogue of Satan. 247 00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:52,000 Do not fear what you are about to suffer. 248 00:31:52,000 --> 00:31:59,000 Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, he says, that you may be tested. 249 00:31:59,000 --> 00:32:02,000 And you will have tribulation ten days. 250 00:32:02,000 --> 00:32:08,000 Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. 251 00:32:08,000 --> 00:32:18,000 And so our Lord tells us, be faithful, even if it's unto death, be faithful, and we'll receive from him the reward. 252 00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:25,000 What an appropriate time for us to come to the Lord's table as we close the service and to be open before God 253 00:32:25,000 --> 00:32:34,000 and allow him to examine our hearts so that we may confess unfaithfulness, 254 00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:39,000 repent of it, and give ourselves afresh to him this morning to be faithful. 255 00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:41,000 Let's pray. 256 00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:44,000 And now, fathers, we gather around this table. 257 00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:52,000 I pray that you, by the Holy Spirit, will minister to our hearts. 258 00:32:52,000 --> 00:33:01,000 In your faithfulness to us, show us where we have been idolaters, where our priorities have been wrong, 259 00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:06,000 where we have given in to sin. 260 00:33:06,000 --> 00:33:12,000 We would repent of that, that we might partake of these elements in obedience. 261 00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:21,000 And so we pray that you will bless us as we partake of this bread and drink this cup. 262 00:33:21,000 --> 00:33:28,000 We confess our sins to you, even as we bless you for your faithfulness. 263 00:33:28,000 --> 00:33:32,000 Because if we confess our sins, you're faithful. 264 00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:37,000 And just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 265 00:33:37,000 --> 00:33:42,000 Amen.