Spiritual Warfare

Wow.

Wow.

Wow.

We have one more.

We have one more recitation

before we finish Ephesians chapter 6.

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

And Mary Ellen,

your Sunday school class is next.

When you are ready,

like next week.

No, I...

We'll work at that.

But hasn't this been a blessing, right?

It's been a great, great blessing.

And we all want Gabe in the future

to introduce our various little parts

of the Scripture.

In case you're wondering,

Gabe is a very quiet, shy young man.

And so we appreciate that.

I trust what you will do

is take your Bibles

and turn in them to Ephesians chapter 6.

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

And follow along with me

as I read there in verse 16 and 17.

In all circumstances,

take up the shield of faith

with which you can extinguish

all the flaming darts of the evil one

and take the helmet of salvation

and the sword of the Spirit,

which is the Word of God.

Let us pray.

Our Father God,

this morning as we take this Word in our hand,

we recognize that it is given to us

by revelation,

that the Holy Spirit has given it to us

that we may profit by it.

And furthermore,

we are mindful, Lord,

that we who are Your children

are heavily dependent,

even at this moment,

both in the preaching of the Word

and also in the comprehension

and application of the Word

on the ministry of the Spirit of God

who dwells within.

And so this morning,

we ask that we would be

enabled and strengthened

by Your Spirit

to both comprehend

and declare

the sweetness

and the glory

of the truth that reflects

our Lord Jesus Christ

and His love for us.

And we ask this in His name.

Amen.

We are in our third lesson,

I believe,

on the subject of spiritual warfare.

And I confess that it may seem

a little longer than most,

but when I stop and consider

the significance

and the importance of it,

I believe that it has bearing

on all of your lives.

And as I have spent

the last week in prayer

and thinking about this passage,

I couldn't help but have

many of your hearts

and my pastoral relationship

with you come to mind.

I cannot think about

the issue of spiritual warfare

and not think about,

first of all,

the enemy and his hatred for me

and his desire to harm me,

but I also cannot

come to this passage

and not think about you

and recognize that

in pastoral ministry,

you end up being aware

of some of the heartaches

and challenges

and the afflictions

of the enemy

who at one point or another

has harmed and aims

to hurt you.

Furthermore,

I cannot help but think

of our young men

this week as I was praying.

I thought about Will

and I thought about Sam

and I thought about Isaac

going off to basic training.

I thought about Seth

and I thought about Kevin,

one in Afghanistan

and the other in Cuba.

and I found myself praying

not only for their physical safety

but for their spiritual well-being.

And my desire and my prayer

has been that the Word of God

would be the thing

that would be a comfort

and a help to them

and that they would,

in those circumstances

that they will find themselves,

they would put on

the whole armor of God

that they will be able

to stand against

the wiles of the devil

in the wicked and evil day

that we are.

Now as we look at this passage

we come to

the last set of pieces

and very thankfully

I have some illustrations here

of those things.

I'm going to draw

their attention to them.

For one,

we have a shield.

I'm going to get

these things set where,

what happened to the chairs?

Here they are.

I'm going to put the helmet

out here for you.

But a shield was something

that since people

were always trying

to hurt you

and stick you

and poke little things in you,

the shield was something

that protected you

and was very,

very vital

to ancient warfare.

In fact,

a soldier was most often

referred to

as a shield wearer

or a shield carrier.

And ancient warfare

and much of the,

I wouldn't use

the word mythology,

but all the mystique

surrounding it

had to do with a shield.

One of the things

that a Spartan mother

and father would say

to their son

when he was going

off to warfare

was either come back

with your shield

or on it.

That is not rumor.

That's fact.

And the attitude was

is that your shield

was probably one

of the most important

items of defense

because it was what

protected you

from those who were

bent on your destruction.

In addition to the shield,

there was the helmet

and we were looking

at that this morning.

This is one example

of a helmet

and the helmet

was something

that you didn't wear

for casual entertainment

or when you were

mowing the lawn.

You only put it on

when you were involved

in conflict.

It was hot.

It was sticky.

It was messy.

It was heavy.

I mean,

the modern helmets

that men wear today

in battle

has nothing to do

with that old lump

of metal

that was stuck

on top of your head

for your safety.

Third,

and I have

very thankfully

a sword here

that,

there it is.

Sword was

very,

very important

and for the most part

in ancient warfare

they did not use swords

the way they use them

on TV.

Now what I mean by that

in TV,

how are swords used?

Oh,

it's clatter and clang

all over the place

and big strokes

and swings

and all that kind of stuff

but the truth of the matter

is the sword

was used primarily

for putting five

or six inch

little holes in people.

Straightforward,

okay?

Let me tell you something.

A slashing wound

that is two feet long

and half an inch deep

is not quite as dangerous

to an individual

as a five inch penetration

in his core

because guess what happens

when there's a penetration

in your core,

in your thorax?

It all begins

to shut down,

okay?

And you begin

to lose oxygen,

you begin to lose blood,

there are all kinds

of nasty little ugly things

that happen

when that sword

ends up being stuck

inside you.

And this morning

as we think about

ancient warfare,

we recognize

that this passage

was written

not to just give us

a little introduction

to history

but to remind us

that we here

are engaged

in active warfare

and we have an enemy

that is bent

on causing us harm.

And one of the things

that we saw

as we look at the passage

earlier

is over there

in verse 12,

Paul says this,

we do not wrestle

against flesh and blood.

We do not wrestle

against flesh and blood.

And over and over again

the enemy

inclines us to think

that the problems

we have in life

have to do

with other people

and things that other people

are doing to us,

circumstances,

events,

all those things

surrounding us

and here

the Spirit of God

says to us,

hey, let's get this straight.

The real battle,

the real conflict

is not with people,

it's with something

more profound than that

and there is an enemy,

there is an enemy

of your soul

that is desperately

interested in causing

you harm.

And as a result of that

we come to the last

three pieces

and we find here

that the first thing

that we find

in this passage

in verse 16

is that we're to put

on the shield of faith.

Now the shield

that I have here

is probably a shield

that would,

if it had been used

and this is a modern shield

in case you're wondering,

it was just put together

this week,

but,

last week,

but if you were dealing

with an ancient shield

this kind of shield

would have been used

by those who are

riding on horses

as a general rule

or involved

in individual

personal conflict.

The shield

that Paul refers to

was much larger.

It was four feet tall

and two and a half feet wide

and it was kind of sloped

like this,

kind of a concave

and you would stand

behind that,

you had a brace

so you could hold on to it

and it weighed about

twenty some pounds.

It was a very,

very heavy thing

and because of that

as you look

in this passage

it says in all circumstances

take up.

You had to pick it up.

You had to hold on to it

and what the ancient shield

was used for

was primarily

for a defensive posture

of guarding yourself

against the enemy

that was coming at you

as this mass of individuals

or was firing arrows

and throwing darts

or throwing spears

and trying to stick you

and kill you

and the large shield

was something

that the soldier

stood behind

and he used that shield

to protect him

against the things

that the enemy

was throwing at him.

Remember I said

that ancient warfare

for the most part

was a brutal pushing match

in which one side

tried to push the other over

and then when they had

their backs turned

or had bowled them over

guess what they would do?

They would slaughter them.

They'd stick,

stick, stick, stick

and kill them

as a result of that.

And so that ancient shield

was how the men

would lock together

10, 20, 30 of them

in a row

and they would lock

those shields

and then they would bear

against the weight coming

and as that enemy

came right up against them

then what they would do

is use that sword

and they would stick

in between

and find the little gaps

in the other person's armor

and they would

poke holes in them

and allow him to die.

And as we look

at this passage

the apostle says

listen I want you

to understand

that in all circumstances

all circumstances

you are to take up

the shield of faith

with which you are

to extinguish

the flaming darts

of the evil one.

So let me draw

several truths out

from this

that you can apply

into your own life.

For one

I think you sitting here

need to understand

that Satan hates you

and he's bent

on your destruction.

Satan hates you

you

and he is bent

on your destruction.

You may not realize it

you may find yourself

indifferent to it

but I want you

to understand

that Satan

is interested

in your personal harm

and he wants

to trash your life.

You're a believer.

Most of you here

this morning

know Christ

as your personal Savior

but that does not mean

that you are exempt

from the attacks

of the enemy

and as you stop

and think about it

it's important

for us to recognize

that a lot of the things

that we go through

are really not just

the consequences

of who we are

but they're also

something that

the enemy

is bent

on harming

you with.

So let's stop

and think

of some of the little

things that we deal

with on a daily basis

that are more than

just what they seem

on the surface.

Sometimes we find

ourselves blindsided

by events.

We didn't plan it.

Something happens

in our life

and all the order

and structure

that we had

and how many of you

realize that

for the most part

we do rely upon

order and structure

to keep balance.

Isn't that right?

And along comes

something that just

completely throws

everything out of turmoil

and when we are

in that state

of turmoil

and flux

we have a tendency

to become more

vulnerable

to Satan's attacks.

Isn't that right?

And we need to

understand that

behind those

circumstantial

challenges

is really an enemy

who's interested

in causing you harm.

Now does God

let things happen

to us

without weighing

whether or not

we can endure them.

What's the answer?

1 Corinthians 10, 13

There's not a single thing

that happens in your life

that God has not

already evaluated

and weighed

and He considers

your ability

to handle it

and He will not

let you be tested

above

what you can handle

and He will

with that testing

provide a means

of dealing with it

enduring it

standing up under it.

So I want you

to understand

that when circumstances

come and seem

to just overthrow us

for a moment

remember Satan's

behind that

and he wants

to harm you.

What about those times

when you find yourself

suddenly reviewing

something that

someone said

that was a little snarky

and you get caught up

and a little embittered

and how many of you

ever play that game

I should have said

any of you out here

do the I should have said

or I wish I'd said

or you know

we just kind of play

and we let that thing

kind of

kind of

inside

and no

that's not just

something happening

it's the enemy

who's also interested

in harming us

by that

or you're sitting

there watching TV

and suddenly

there's that ad

on the TV

or there's the

little scene

in the program

and you think

man that is just

so godless

it's perverse

and instead of

responding to it

and really cutting it down

and shutting it off

you just kind of said

oh well whatever

it happens all the time

and you go on

and you're desensitizing

yourself

to what the enemy

of your soul

is interested in doing

in your harming

your heart

there you sit

and beloved

understand that

Satan is in the mix

in that moment

and he is interested

in your harm

so what do you do

here in this passage

it says that we're

to pick up

the shield of faith

the spirit

who is deeply

interested

in your spiritual

well-being

says pick it up

and use it

that means

that there has

to be a conscious

and deliberate

choice

to pick up

that shield

when we find

ourselves in that

adversity

and do something

with what is

the shield of faith

so let's ask ourselves

what is the shield

of faith

that's important

to know

is faith

something that is

kind of abstract

or it's just

kind of one of those

ethereal ideas

that well it's got

some benefit

it's very interesting

the other day

I was speaking

with an individual

and asking them

why they were doing

a certain thing

and the person

as they pondered

it for a moment

they says

well I guess

I'm doing this

because of heaven

really

well what is heaven

you can have

all different ideas

one of the things

I was actually doing

this morning

as I was finishing

up my devotions

is I googled

the idea

of how common

it is

in history

for people

to have ideas

and visions

and write

little stories

of visiting heaven

how many of you

realize it's a fairly

popular thing

and do you realize

that surprisingly enough

it's not something

that's happened only

in the 20th

or 21st century

people have always

had little fantasies

and ideas

about what heaven is

and they get carried

away with it

and they don't

really rely upon

that which the word

of God

has revealed

regarding it

and so here's

this person saying

well the reason

I'm doing this

is because of heaven

and when I pressed

in a little bit

on it

I discovered

that this idea

of heaven

was something

that was kind

of ill-defined

and just kind

of like an attitude

you know

well someday

it's going to be

better

I got to tell you

when we're dealing

with an enemy

having some abstract

idea of

well someday

it's going to be

better

a little positive

mental attitude

is not the key

I want you to

understand that

faith really

is a very

personal

issue

in that

it really

rests in the

person

and the nature

of God

himself

I want you

to get that

anchored in your

mind

when it says

that we are

to take up

the shield

of faith

it's not

talking about

faith as an

abstract

it's talking

about a

very real

understanding

of the person

and nature

of God

himself

let me illustrate

that for you

I want you to

look first of all

if you would

at Romans chapter

Romans 4:19–21

4 verse 19

through 21

we are looking

at the fact

that when we

take up the

shield of faith

we are actually

referring to

our thinking

about the

person and

the nature

of God

Romans chapter

Romans 4:19–21

4 verse 19

through 21

it's talking

about Abraham

being the

father of faith

and there in

verse 19

it says

he did not

weaken in faith

when he

considered his

own body

which was as

good as dead

since he was

about a hundred

years old

or when he

considered the

barrenness

of Sarah's

womb

no distrust

made him

waver

concerning

the promise

of God

for he grew

strong in his

faith as he

gave glory

to God

fully convinced

that God

was able

to do

what he

had

promised

faith

faith

is not

an abstract

sense

of positive

mental attitude

faith

is

believing

God

is who

he says

he is

and believing

that he

is the one

who keeps

his promises

and does

exactly what

he says

he will do

and so

when we

find ourselves

under attack

from Satan

and he is

seeking to

unhinge us

and harm us

it's not just

a matter of

having a little

bit

well

I think

it's going

to work

out

alright

it's a matter

of believing

that God

is who

he says

he is

and he's

going to

do

what he

says

he will

I want

you to

look at

another

passage

in relationship

to this

and turn

over in

your Bible

to

Hebrews

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

chapter

11

Hebrews

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

chapter

11

Hebrews

Hebrews 11:1

chapter

11

verse 1

it says

now faith

is the

assurance

of things

hoped

for

the conviction

of things

not seen

I've got

complete

confidence

in how

my story

will end

do you have

that confidence

do you have

complete confidence

that if you

were to die

this morning

as you were

driving home

that instead

of spending

eternity

in hell

you would

spend

eternity

in heaven

why

do you

have

that

confidence

do you

have

that

confidence

because

you're

a great

person

and there's

nobody

else

like you

and you've

earned

your way

into heaven

well that's

a lie

from hell

if you

believe

that

the reason

I have

confidence

is not

because of

who I

am

but because

of who

Jesus

is

and what

he said

and we

look at

this passage

it says

hey listen

faith is

the assurance

of things

hoped for

the conviction

of things

not seen

now look

forward

if you

will

to verse

6

and without

faith

it is

impossible

to please

him

for whoever

would draw

near to

God

must

believe

that

he

exists

and

that

he

rewards

those

who

seek

him

so now

I want

you to

recognize

that what

Paul

is teaching

us

is that

when we

face the

adversary

that we

do

that we're

to pick

up the

shield

of faith

and the

shield

of faith

is our

conscious

and deliberate

thinking

about the

person

and the

work

of

Christ

now I

play that

out for

you in a

couple

different ways

so you

can kind

of see

it in

real time

when

Joseph

was tempted

by Potiphar's

wife to

have sex

back in

Genesis

how did

he respond

to

Potiphar's

wife

where

he said

no no

no

if I

do

this

it's

probably

going to

be a

career

ender

I'm

going to

get in

trouble

and I

don't

want

to

do

this

is

that

what

he

said

no

did he

that if

I'm

engaged

in

unprotected

sex

that there

could be

some

consequences

I could

end up

with an

STD

or I

could have

some

real bad

things happen

to me

is that

what he

said

no

what did

he

say

how

can

I

do

this

against

God

God

in the

center

of his

faith

was his

belief

in the

person

and nature

of God

and he

understood

that if

he fell

into

this

sin

he

would

harm

his

relationship

and his

communion

with his

father

and he

said

I

don't

want

to

do

that

to

my

father

let me

have you

think of

an

opposite

illustration

after

David

fell

into

sin

with

Bathsheba

and

then

subsequent

a child

was born

and he

thought

that the

reasonable

way

to

cover

up

this

sin

was

to

murder

the

woman's

husband

and

then

marry

her

in

this

quick

little

event

so

that

he

could

pretend

that

well

she

had

a

little

bit

of a

premature

birth

or

whatever

else

and hide

his sin

did it work

out

no

and eventually

Nathan the prophet shows up

and you know what Nathan says to him

how could you do this to God

you have been

you have been the one

that has harmed the reputation and testimony of God

and so when Satan is attacking

and he is trying to unhinge you

or he's trying to discourage you

or he comes in and he says listen

the things that are happening to you

are indications that God really doesn't care

he's not paying attention

those are lies from Satan

and when you give in to them

in essence what you are doing

listen to me carefully

you are denying

what your faith

believes and knows about God the Father

will God let something bad happen to his children

to their harm and their detriment

what's the answer from God's people

no

and so when you sit there with your pouty attitude

kind of fretting of the fact that God doesn't love you

what are you saying about the scriptures that you say you know

you're denying them

and what you need to do is pick up that shield of faith

and say I am not going there

I know who my Father is

and I know how he cares for me

so when you find yourself tempted by the enemy

who wants to harm you

think often of your Father's person

and promises

and guard yourself from sin

think about your Father's person

and his promises

and guard yourself from sin

I want you to ponder with me just for a moment

what it must be like to be Pastor Saeed

as he is in prison in Iran

or I think about the woman

we heard that she has been

she has been forgiven or whatever

and she may be released from prison

but just days ago

Miriam, what's her name, Abraham

anticipated that eventually

she was going to be executed by hanging

for her faith in the Lord Jesus Christ

and as she languished there in jail

what do you think she took confidence in?

not just a positive mental attitude

she was believing in the character

and the nature of her Father

and she trusted in His promises

the second thing that we find there in Ephesians chapter 6

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

is that we're to take on the helmet of salvation

here's the helmet

and what the helmet did was it protected the head

I'll tell you something

if you have ever been bumped on the head

or hit on the head

what does it do to your capacity to think clearly?

it kind of messes it up

there's a reason why we have all this attention now

in the football league to concussions

because it causes individuals to not be able to think clearly

and so here in ancient warfare

man, if you could hit a guy a good lick on the head

he rung his bell

and not only that

he couldn't think

and Satan is always interested in hitting us in the head

so that he can affect the way we think

and our understanding of things

and just as the ancient helmet protected the head

where thought was generated

so the helmet of salvation

is designed by God

to protect our head

and our thinking

from the attacks of Satan

and so look at what it says here

it tells us a little bit of what this helmet is

it says it is the helmet of salvation

verse 17

take on the helmet of salvation

and I want you to think with me

that I believe that this issue of the helmet of salvation

is not just the matter that you're saved

that's true

it is important to recognize that you're saved

but there's more in peace

than just the matter of your salvation

so let me talk a little bit

about the broad sense

in which I believe this issue of the helmet of salvation

protects the believer

from the attack of Satan against his mind

for one thing

salvation delivers us

from the penalty of sin

the sinner lives a quiet

life of anxiety

and terror

from the eventual judgment of God

that doesn't mean that all that the sinner does

is under this pall

and under this cloud

but I will tell you

that in the quiet moments

when those individuals are alone

their conscience bears witness

against the sin that they've committed

and they live with a certain fear

and anxiety

that judgment's someday coming

and we who know the Lord Jesus Christ

understand that the scripture tells us

that because of what Christ Jesus has done for us

that we have been delivered from the penalty of sin

I want you to turn over your Bible just a little bit

go to Colossians chapter 2

Colossians 2 · chapter mention

and look with me at verses 13 and 14

in relationship to this

Colossians chapter 2 verse 13 and 14

Colossians 2:13

and you who were dead in your trespasses

and the uncircumcision of your flesh

God made alive together with him

having forgiven us all our trespasses

having forgiven us all our trespasses

by canceling the record of debt

that stood against us with its legal demands

this he set aside

nailing it to the cross

in the ancient world

when a debt was satisfied

the thing that happened with that document of debt

was that in a different sense from our world

by the way

when you pay off your mortgage

what happens?

you get a title to your home

how many of you have had the joy

of having the Bureau of Motor Vehicles

send you a copy of the title to your car?

how many of you like that?

it's a good thing

I want you to know that in the ancient world

when you satisfied a debt

that document was taken

and was nailed in a public place

so that everybody knew

you were free of that obligation

salvation

and in the Bible

what it tells us is that

salvation has delivered us

from the penalty of sin

salvation has taken away

the right of the enemy

to come and remind your conscience

that you stand condemned

before a holy God

and that you should live in

holy terror of his judgment

I want you to understand also

that salvation delivers us

from the power of sin

now think with me carefully

follow me carefully here

prior to conversion

the sinner cannot help himself

but

sin

does that make sense?

the sinner cannot help himself

but sin

in fact there are some of you

sitting here this morning

perhaps that

that secretly inside

now you wouldn't admit it

at this point

but secretly inside

your life has been

one ongoing frustrating

experience

of trying your very best

to do right

and you never get there

the reason you never get there

is because you don't know

Christ as your Savior

you do not have the

indwelling spirit of God

that is actively engaged

in helping you overcome

the enemy

and not fall into sin

and you're toast

you're a little bit like

the lion

who by virtue of being

a carnivore

right

is just not into vegetables

and so

every time

Satan kind of drags

a little piece of meat by

guess what

you're saying

no I'm going vegan now

it's like

boom

there you are

you're all over it

because that's your nature

the unregenerate person

cannot help but sin

the person who has been

saved by the grace of God

has received a new heart

and a new mind

and has the ability

to not sin

this morning as I was driving

to church

and it seemed that there were

quite a few of my neighbors

who decided that it was time

to jog

and they were jogging

in fairly scanty clothes

because you know

it's insufferably hot

and so you know

that's the best way to jog

and I am

you know what I'm doing

I'm reciting passages

of scripture

to help me with my thought life

does anybody understand

what I'm saying

okay

and one of the passages

that I grabbed a hold of

and hung on to

was this passage

in Galatians chapter 5

Galatians 5:16

verse 16

it says

they that walk

by the spirit

shall not fulfill

the lusts of the flesh

I could say to myself

I don't have to do that

why

because God

has saved me

and I enjoy

the blessing

of that deliverance

but there's another part

coming

listen to me

salvation will deliver us

from the presence

of sin

the day is coming

when the believer

will no longer face

that daily battle

with sin

turn with me

just for a moment

to 1st John chapter 3

John 3 · chapter mention

just want to read

that passage to you

1st John chapter 3

John 3 · chapter mention

let me have you look at it

here's what it says

in chapter 3

verse 1

it says

see what kind of love

the father has given

to us

that we should be

called the children

of God

hey listen

if you are a child

of God

you should never

get over

absolutely being

blown away

by the fact

that God

has made you

his child

John says

see

now what is he saying

in essence

he's saying

in our contemporary

lingo

he says

wow

see what manner

of love

the father

has given

to us

that we should

be called

the children

of God

and so we are

the reason

why the world

does not know us

is that it did

not know him

beloved

we are now

God's children

and what we

will be

has not yet

appeared

but we know

that when he

appears

we shall be

like him

can I stop

there just for

a second

when he

appears

we shall

be what

like him

if that

doesn't

overwhelm you

there's something

going on in your

heart that needs

to be remedied

when we see him

we shall be

what

like him

the best

the most precious

the most real

most satisfying

thing of all

eternity

will be seeing

the Lord

Jesus Christ

and in

seeing him

my soul

will be satisfied

and I

will

be

like

him

and then

look at

verse 3

and it

says

and everyone

who thus

hopes

in him

purifies

himself

your

ambition

your

futuristic

thinking

about the

day that

you will

see

Jesus

Christ

makes

all the

difference

in the

world

in your

spiritual

life

life

and coming

back to that

passage in

Ephesians

where the

apostle says

put on the

helmet of

salvation

thinking about

the fact that

you've been

delivered from

sin

thinking about

the fact that

sin has no

right to

control your

life anymore

and thinking

about the

fact that

the day is

coming when

you will see

Jesus face

to face

and that

protects your

mind and your

heart from the

attacks of an

enemy that

wants to

trash your

life

finally

we look

there in the

passage and

it says

and take

up the

sword of

the spirit

which is

the word

of God

now

like I

said TV

has given

us to a

large degree

a misunderstanding

of what

swords were

for

I can tell

you that it's

not just

this sword

here

that would

probably not

do well

I'm sorry

Josh

forgive me

but I can

tell you that

if Josh and

one of his

neighbor friends

armed equally

with a sword

what does it

say here

there's a

I forget

it's an

elven script

and I can't

read that

today

it's not

Greek

and it's

not Hindi

so I'm

stuck

but you

know

Josh and

his friend

out there

in the yard

going through

the drama

of these

whoo choo

whoo choo

crack

smash

about three

or four

strokes into

it the sword

would be bent

or whacked

in half

how many of you

understand that

I mean

for the most

part swords

were really

not designed

for smacking

other swords

they were

designed for

putting holes

in people

do you

follow that

all about

poke

poke

poke

poke

and

you know

here it

says

take up

the sword

the sword

of the spirit

of the word

of God

I gotta tell you

that the word

of God

is not some

certain

warm set

of fuzzy

feelings

it's the

authority

it's the

express

written

revelation

of what

God

who abides

in heaven

knows to be

true

and tells us

is right

and we

ought to

take him

seriously

I bump

into people

all the time

today

that

the wishy-washy

lack of

clarity

on what

the Bible

has to say

is befuddling

to me

you know

what

when the

Bible

says

don't

be

unequally

yoked

do you

know

what

that

means

it

means

believers

and

unbelievers

should

not

be

engaged

in

relationships

should

a

Christian

boy

date

a

non

Christian

girl

what's

the

answer

the

Bible

says

no

it's

not

Tim

Kenoyer

that

thinks

that

it's

the

Bible

one

of the

reasons

why

periodically

I

say to

you

as a

congregation

hey

don't

ask me

to do

a

wedding

ceremony

where

there

is

a

believer

and

a

non

believer

that

are

thinking

about

getting

married

I

can't

do

it

God

doesn't

allow

me

and

if

God

wouldn't

allow

the

pastor

to

perform

the

ceremony

should

parents

allow

the

dating

what's

the

answer

no

God's