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Welcome to the Liberty Baptist 
Sermon Archives. 

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The message you're about to hear
was preached at Liberty Baptist 

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Church in Easton, MA. 
You can find out more about us 

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or contact us at 
mylibertybaptist.org or just 

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look us up on Facebook. 
And now we hope that this 

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message from God's Word will be 
a blessing to you. 

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First Timothy chapter #1 This 
evening, as we look this week 

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and next week by the Lord's 
grace at this issue of spiritual

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warfare, the title of my message
is this. 

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Spiritual warfare is real. 
Spiritual warfare is real. 

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You know, I found that there are
two extremes when it comes to 

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the issue of spiritual warfare. 
I found there is one group that 

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is completely and totally as 
Christians focused on spiritual 

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warfare in every element of 
their life. 

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And I'm not saying that it's not
important for us to recognize 

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spiritual warfare. 
After all, it's what we're 

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preaching on here tonight. 
But they are so focused on, it's

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almost as if they are afraid to 
even be able to move outside of 

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their own little bubble because 
they were so afraid of Satan and

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the demons and those types of 
things that I would say that I 

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would categorically reject that 
line of thinking. 

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That we are so focused on it for
every moment, for every day that

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it gets us to the place that 
we're paralyzed. 

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Because again, as I mentioned 
this morning, greater is he 

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that's in us than he that is in 
the world. 

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And so we should be living from 
a place of victory, not from a 

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place of fear and defeat. 
So I think that is one side that

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I sometimes see Christians on, 
but the other extreme is what I 

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see far more Christians on. 
I see a lot more believers that 

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that will tend to this 
direction. 

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And that's the thought process 
of, well, it's not even really a

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thing. 
Or maybe that they give lip 

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service to acknowledging that 
spiritual warfare is a very real

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thing, but it really doesn't 
affect the way that they live 

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their daily life. 
Let me remind you, just as real 

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as the Lord is, Satan is real as
well. 

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Just as real as the angels are 
the demons, that fallen angels 

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are real as well, that spiritual
warfare is real. 

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Listen, God has been victorious,
God is victorious, and God will 

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be victorious. 
But that does not diminish the 

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fact that Satan desires to be 
able to take you and to be able 

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to take your life and to be able
to have you, to be able to 

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forfeit that joy, that peace, 
that testimony of which you 

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have. 
It's His desire, as the Bible 

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says, to sift you as wheat. 
This is what He wants for your 

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life. 
And spiritual warfare is a very 

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real thing. 
Just this morning, obviously we 

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saw how the Lord worked here at 
Liberty Baptist Church this 

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morning, but I was talking with 
my wife before service in 

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between the services, Sunday 
school and church, and I just 

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felt agitated in my spirit. 
And there were reasons for that.

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But really as really to do more 
with myself than anything else. 

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And my wife being the godly one 
of the two of us, said, you know

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what we ought to do. 
We ought to pray. 

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And I thought, you know, I'm the
pastor. 

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I should probably be thinking of
something like that. 

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Amen. 
But in that moment, what was 

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needed? 
Well, we really just needed to 

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take a moment to be able to pray
and ask the Lord to protect and 

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to help and to have my mind and 
our minds to be what it needed 

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to be. 
And well, why would Satan want 

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the preacher to be agitated on a
day like today? 

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Well, maybe it's because someone
needed to accept Jesus Christ as

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their Savior. 
Maybe it's because there were 

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lies that were hanging in the 
balance. 

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You say, oh, I see, pastor. 
Well, this is all about you. 

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This is spiritual warfare is 
about the preacher. 

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Well, I'll be honest with you. 
When Paul is talking to Timothy 

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tonight and first Timothy, it's 
Paul the apostle talking to a 

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young preacher. 
So there's no doubt there is an 

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element of the fact that Satan 
does want to attack the preacher

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because as the pastor goes, so 
can go the church if that's not 

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the case. 
But let's be honest, Satan's not

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just after pastors, he's after 
people. 

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Satan's not just after Adam 
Rivero at Liberty Baptist 

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Church, he's after Diane Rivero 
of Liberty Baptist Church and 

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Kaylee Rivero of Liberty Baptist
Church. 

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I almost said Bethenny Rivero, 
but Bethenny Folger. 

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That used to be of Liberty 
Baptist. 

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Church, and he's after all of 
you as well. 

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He doesn't want any of us to be 
successful in that life. 

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He can't take your salvation. 
Thank God for that. 

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He'll try to take everything 
else that He possibly can. 

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And so tonight, what I want us 
to look at, at the beginnings of

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the reality of spiritual warfare
and how it affects our life and 

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how we really should live in a 
way where we're more cognizant 

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of this battle so that we can be
prepared for the fight that is 

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ahead. 
Would you stand pleased for the 

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reading of God's Word? 
We're going to read 3 verses 

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just as we did this morning. 
First Timothy chapter #1 

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beginning in verse #18. 
And the word of God says, This 

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charge I commit unto thee, son 
Timothy, according to the 

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prophecies which went before on 
thee, that thou by them might 

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just war. 
A good warfare, holding faith 

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and a good conscience, which 
some having put away faith, or 

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put away concerning faith, have 
made shipwreck, of whom is 

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Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I 
have delivered unto Satan, that 

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they may learn not to blasphemy.
Verse #18 tells us where to war 

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good warfare. 
Verse #19 tells us that if we 

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don't, we'll go shipwreck In 
verse #20 gives the examples of 

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two men who did not heed that 
warning, and ended up having 

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dire consequences of their 
lives. 

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Spiritual warfare is real. 
We at least be seated. 

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Let's pray together. 
Heavenly Father, thank you again

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for this evening and thank you 
for your word. 

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Help us to see the gravity and 
the serious of this. 

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Let us not live in fear, Lord, 
Help us not to look at these 

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things tonight and to have it to
paralyze us, to be able to look 

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around every corner and to live 
in a way that just is, I don't 

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believe honoring to you either. 
But may we also just be very 

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aware of the reality of this and
know that we can have victory 

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through Christ because Christ, 
the Spirit of Christ, lives 

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within us and we're thankful for
that reality. 

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So be with us as we go through 
this message tonight and we do 

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ask it in Jesus name, Amen. 
Timothy was a young man whom God

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had called to preach and as a 
preacher, as I just mentioned, 

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he had a big target on his back.
Why is that? 

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Because Satan tries to get in 
deep into every church as he 

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possibly can. 
He tries to take from the 

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periphery. 
He tries to take from those who 

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are of the membership, but he 
tries to take, yes, even the 

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pastor and the pastor's family. 
He tries to attack in any way 

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possible because he knows the 
deeper he can go into the 

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church, the more havoc he can 
cause within the church. 

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And so here is Timothy. 
He's a young pastor. 

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He's been given a task by Paul 
that seems to be monumental, and

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certainly there's a great deal 
of fear within him and that is 

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talked about within the book 
itself. 

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And so he wants him to 
understand. 

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He wants Timothy to understand 
the stakes of what is ahead, and

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he wants him to understand the 
reality of spiritual warfare. 

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And so here it says that Paul is
giving him a charge. 

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By the way, do you know his 
verse 18? 

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This charge I commit unto thee, 
if you're here at men's prayer 

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and you say, well, why do we 
call it the men's charge? 

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Well, that charge is like an 
announcement or a command or a 

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mandate. 
And when you stand up, 

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gentlemen, at 9:00 on Sunday 
morning, you give a charge. 

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What are you doing to the other 
men? 

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You're making an announcement to
command a mandate of yourself. 

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No, from the word of God. 
And so here is Paul who says I'm

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charging you. 
I'm going to commit something to

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you, Timothy. 
There's something that you need 

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to know. 
There's something that I have 

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some knowledge that's within me 
that I need to pass to you 

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because you need to be 
understanding of it. 

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And listen tonight, you may not 
be a preacher, but the reality 

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of spiritual warfare in your own
life is just as applicable to 

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you as it was to Timothy over 
2000 years ago, almost 2000 

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years ago. 
So in our text, there's several 

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things that I see in the first 
is this. 

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I want us to look at the reality
of war. 

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The reality of war. 
Did you notice it says in verse 

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#18 It says this charge I commit
unto thee, son Timothy, 

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according to the prophecies 
which went before on thee, that 

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thou that by them. 
Let's try that again, that thou 

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by them. 
Midas war a good warfare. 

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So those 3 words, thou mightest 
war. 

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Now we might take that at first 
this idea, well, hey, maybe you 

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will have spiritual warfare, but
that's not what is being said 

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here, that you might come across
spiritual warfare in your life. 

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You might come across it, you 
might not, you never know. 

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That's not what it's saying at 
all. 

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Basically what it's saying is 
that when the battle comes, that

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you might handle yourself in a 
way that is becoming as a 

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believer that you might just war
a good warfare. 

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It's it's not that it could 
come, it's that it shall come. 

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And when it does, Paul is saying
that you need to equip yourself 

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and you handle yourself in a way
that is becoming of someone who 

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is a soldier. 
Listen, the reality of spiritual

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warfare is clear. 
It's found all throughout the 

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New Testament specifically, but 
you see it play out in the Old 

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Testament as well. 
You can go all the way to the 

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book of Job. 
You can look at the book of 

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Daniel where we see both of them
very graphically described for 

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us in both of those books. 
But consider First Timothy 6, 

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verse 12. 
Fight the good fight of faith. 

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Lay hold on eternal life, where 
unto thou art also called, and 

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has professed a good profession 
before many witnesses. 

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Second Corinthians 10, verses 3 
and 4. 

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For though we walk in the flesh,
we do not war after the flesh, 

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For the weapons of our warfare 
are not carnal, but mighty 

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through God to the pulling down 
of strongholds. 

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Second Timothy 2, verses 3 and 
four that thou thou. 

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May I'm having trouble tonight. 
Thou there 4 endure hardness as 

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a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 
No man that woreth entangles 

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himself with the affairs of this
life, that he may be pleased, 

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that he may please him with 
chosen him to be a soldier. 

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Ephesians 612. 
We wrestle not against flesh and

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blood, but against 
principalities and powers, 

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against the rulers of darkness 
of this world, against spiritual

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wickedness in high places. 
Listen, spiritual warfare is 

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real and a lot of people take 
from Ephesians chapter 6, verse 

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12 of the very first words of 
that. 

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We wrestle not and they say, oh,
I guess that's all there is to 

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it. 
Well, I guess we wrestle not 

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against those things. 
No, no, what it's saying is, is 

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that you have to understand that
when it comes to the issues of 

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this life, it's not about the 
things we see often times. 

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It's about the things that we 
cannot see in the background. 

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And that's why we need to fight 
in a way that has the Lord Jesus

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Christ front and center. 
And we'll look at Ephesians 6 

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next week and see what those 
weapons of the faith are, the 

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armor of God, as it's called. 
And we'll look at that in more 

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detail next week. 
But most Christians don't live 

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in the reality of that. 
Again, they leave lip service to

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it, but nothing more than that. 
You know, as a teenager and even

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as an adult, I guess, but I 
think of it more as a teenager. 

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There's a big craze going on 
during that time. 

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And that was laser tag. 
You know what I'm talking about 

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laser tag. 
You know, you got these big 

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battery packs and these guns and
you go around in this black lit 

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room and there's this, you know,
music and you're, you know, you 

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know, get to the home base, get 
to the home base. 

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Pew, Pew, Pew. 
You know you have to actually 

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make that sound when you know 
you don't make that sound. 

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But anyway. 
But you understand what I'm 

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saying. 
And people are rolling around, 

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and I remember you. 
Listen, look, there's no branch 

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of the military that would have 
wanted me. 

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But I was going around the laser
tag arena, rolling around, you 

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know, thinking that this was 
like, you know, some kind of a 

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battle. 
But you know why it was so easy 

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to be so brave during that? 
Because you knew after 5 or 10 

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minutes, however long it was, 
you walk out. 

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Nobody's hurt. 
You might sprain an ankle. 

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00:11:23,120 --> 00:11:24,680
I guess that's the worst thing 
that could happen to you. 

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But nobody's going to die. 
The stakes aren't real. 

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It's a game, that's all it is, 
and a lot of. 

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People treat this issue of 
spiritual warfare as a big game.

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00:11:36,400 --> 00:11:38,720
Like, they know it's out there. 
They know it's real. 

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Pew Pew. 
Pew. 

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00:11:39,640 --> 00:11:39,920
Pew. 
Pew. 

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00:11:39,920 --> 00:11:41,800
Pew. 
But there's not really. 

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Anything more to it than that 
and it never even crosses their 

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00:11:44,760 --> 00:11:50,000
mind as Satan desires to devour 
them in the Christian life. 

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00:11:50,360 --> 00:11:51,880
Could you imagine being on the 
battlefield? 

238
00:11:52,520 --> 00:11:56,000
And say I don't like this. 
This is insane. 

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00:11:56,520 --> 00:11:57,760
I'm talking about a real 
battlefield. 

240
00:11:57,760 --> 00:12:01,400
I'm not talking about my fake 
laser tag tag battlefields of 

241
00:12:01,400 --> 00:12:04,840
the 1990s in Tampa. 
I'm talking about a real 

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battlefield and saying I don't 
like this anymore. 

243
00:12:07,120 --> 00:12:10,280
I don't want to be here and just
closing your eyes and saying 

244
00:12:10,840 --> 00:12:13,960
there's no more battle. 
Well, you and I both know not 

245
00:12:13,960 --> 00:12:16,560
only with the fact that you 
closed your eyes not make the 

246
00:12:16,560 --> 00:12:20,560
battle go away, it would 
actually put you in more harm 

247
00:12:20,920 --> 00:12:22,920
than it would if your eyes were 
open. 

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00:12:23,520 --> 00:12:26,360
Listen, you can close your eyes 
to the realities of spiritual 

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00:12:26,360 --> 00:12:28,960
warfare. 
It doesn't take the reality of 

250
00:12:28,960 --> 00:12:32,920
spiritual warfare away that 
Satan wants to destroy you and 

251
00:12:32,920 --> 00:12:34,840
again, he can't take your 
salvation. 

252
00:12:34,840 --> 00:12:37,360
I want to be so very clear about
this tonight. 

253
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But he can and desires to take 
everything else from you. 

254
00:12:41,400 --> 00:12:43,200
By the way, he can't take it by 
force. 

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00:12:44,800 --> 00:12:47,560
We forfeit it. 
We forfeit these things because 

256
00:12:47,560 --> 00:12:49,920
he can attack us. 
He can tempt us, but we are the 

257
00:12:49,920 --> 00:12:51,560
ones that give into those 
attacks. 

258
00:12:51,720 --> 00:12:53,520
We're the ones that give into 
those temptations. 

259
00:12:53,520 --> 00:12:56,640
And that's why we need to be 
aware of what spiritual warfare 

260
00:12:56,640 --> 00:12:59,520
is all about. 
Listen, if a strong man comes up

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00:12:59,520 --> 00:13:02,840
to you and says give me all your
money, you're probably going to 

262
00:13:02,840 --> 00:13:04,160
end up giving them all your 
money. 

263
00:13:04,160 --> 00:13:06,280
At least I'm going to because 
it's like, I don't have much. 

264
00:13:06,280 --> 00:13:08,200
I'm like Peter said, you know, 
silver and gold. 

265
00:13:08,200 --> 00:13:09,640
Have I none? 
That's how I feel. 

266
00:13:10,360 --> 00:13:11,560
Take my wallet. 
That's fine. 

267
00:13:11,680 --> 00:13:12,760
Why? 
He's stronger. 

268
00:13:12,760 --> 00:13:14,840
I don't want to get hurt. 
Listen, when it comes to 

269
00:13:14,840 --> 00:13:17,000
spiritual warfare, you say, 
well, Satan's going to, he's 

270
00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:18,920
going to harm me because he's 
strong. 

271
00:13:18,920 --> 00:13:22,040
But listen, the Holy Spirit 
lives inside of you. 

272
00:13:22,040 --> 00:13:26,160
He can't take anything from you 
from what you forfeit freely. 

273
00:13:26,720 --> 00:13:28,040
I think that's an. 
Important thing for us to 

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00:13:28,040 --> 00:13:30,680
remember tonight. 
Well, Satan's just going to come

275
00:13:30,680 --> 00:13:31,680
in. 
He's going to, he's going to 

276
00:13:31,680 --> 00:13:33,760
ravage my life and take 
everything away. 

277
00:13:33,800 --> 00:13:38,120
Listen, he may say that he will 
take it away, but he can't take 

278
00:13:38,120 --> 00:13:42,920
it away without you giving in to
that temptation, without you 

279
00:13:42,920 --> 00:13:47,240
giving in to those issues. 
We have to open our eyes to 

280
00:13:47,240 --> 00:13:49,720
what's around us. 
Listen, even if it causes you to

281
00:13:49,720 --> 00:13:52,600
fear you, open your eyes. 
The reality is spiritual 

282
00:13:52,600 --> 00:13:54,800
warfare. 
Satan's trying to warn your 

283
00:13:54,800 --> 00:13:56,880
life. 
He puts things into our life 

284
00:13:56,880 --> 00:14:01,440
like fear of the future, doubts 
about our health, money, 

285
00:14:01,440 --> 00:14:09,400
trouble, false doctrine, love of
self, bitterness, arrogance, the

286
00:14:09,400 --> 00:14:12,480
lust of the flesh, the lust of 
the eyes, the pride of life. 

287
00:14:12,640 --> 00:14:14,880
And that's not even talking 
about some of the specific sins 

288
00:14:14,880 --> 00:14:17,640
that we could name tonight. 
And again, as I've mentioned 

289
00:14:17,640 --> 00:14:20,560
before, some of the sins that 
you deal with I probably don't 

290
00:14:20,560 --> 00:14:23,240
deal with, but some of the sins 
I deal with, you may not deal 

291
00:14:23,240 --> 00:14:24,680
with it. 
It's not because I'm a pastor 

292
00:14:24,680 --> 00:14:27,080
and you're not. 
It's because we all have sins 

293
00:14:27,080 --> 00:14:29,440
that does so easily beset us, 
The Bible says. 

294
00:14:29,440 --> 00:14:32,600
And what may tempt you may not 
tempt me, and what may tempt me 

295
00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:34,600
may not tempt you. 
But listen, we all have 

296
00:14:34,600 --> 00:14:37,360
temptations in our life. 
There's none of us that are 

297
00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:39,280
without them. 
And Satan knows which 

298
00:14:39,280 --> 00:14:43,040
temptations works on who and 
when they work and what times 

299
00:14:43,040 --> 00:14:45,040
they work and what times they're
not as effective. 

300
00:14:45,160 --> 00:14:49,600
He knows what to do. 
Understand the reality of this 

301
00:14:49,600 --> 00:14:52,680
spiritual warfare. 
Wake up to what is going around 

302
00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:56,520
you here tonight, that thou 
mightest war, a good warfare. 

303
00:14:56,520 --> 00:14:59,920
It's not that it might come, but
then when it comes, you might do

304
00:14:59,920 --> 00:15:03,360
it in a way that's pleasing to 
God, which speaks of this number

305
00:15:03,360 --> 00:15:07,400
2, the quality of the war. 
Not just the reality of the war,

306
00:15:07,400 --> 00:15:12,320
but #2 the quality of the war. 
So what kind of response to war 

307
00:15:12,320 --> 00:15:14,200
should we have? 
I just mentioned to you it's a 

308
00:15:14,200 --> 00:15:16,560
good warfare. 
But what does that mean? 

309
00:15:16,560 --> 00:15:19,240
Well, interestingly enough, if 
you were to look at that word 

310
00:15:19,280 --> 00:15:24,560
good in the Greek, it's literal 
sense is this beautiful that it 

311
00:15:24,560 --> 00:15:28,440
is a good warfare, but it is a 
beautiful warfare. 

312
00:15:28,720 --> 00:15:32,960
Now ask yourself this tonight. 
How could warfare be beautiful 

313
00:15:34,040 --> 00:15:36,040
now? 
Again, I speak as one who is 

314
00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:38,680
ignorant tonight, and I won't 
pretend to be anything 

315
00:15:38,680 --> 00:15:41,360
otherwise. 
In most ways, it's not 

316
00:15:41,360 --> 00:15:43,680
beautiful. 
I would even pretend that it 

317
00:15:43,680 --> 00:15:46,840
was. 
But I can maybe find some 

318
00:15:46,840 --> 00:15:49,720
commonality with an example like
this. 

319
00:15:50,880 --> 00:15:52,920
When we were on deputation, one 
of the things that I really 

320
00:15:52,920 --> 00:15:55,800
enjoyed us being able to do as a
family, and of course this was 

321
00:15:55,960 --> 00:15:59,840
13 years ago, was going to see 
places that likely we'd never 

322
00:15:59,960 --> 00:16:02,200
normally would get to see and 
taking the children to be able 

323
00:16:02,200 --> 00:16:04,320
to go see those places. 
And one of those places I was 

324
00:16:04,400 --> 00:16:06,640
really excited about, 
ironically, it's not incredibly 

325
00:16:06,640 --> 00:16:10,920
far from here, but was the 
Gettysburg, Gettysburg, PA. 

326
00:16:10,920 --> 00:16:17,520
To be able to see the area where
that great clash of the Union 

327
00:16:17,520 --> 00:16:20,200
and the Confederacy together. 
The Confederacy, one of the few 

328
00:16:20,200 --> 00:16:23,320
battles in which they tried to 
wage into the North, into 

329
00:16:23,320 --> 00:16:26,800
Pennsylvania and was able to go 
there for a day. 

330
00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:28,760
I kind of wish I could take the 
children again, because they 

331
00:16:28,760 --> 00:16:29,920
were so young. 
They really couldn't have 

332
00:16:29,920 --> 00:16:32,400
understood the gravity of what 
we were seeing. 

333
00:16:32,840 --> 00:16:38,840
But I remember standing at a 
place, we, we went to a museum 

334
00:16:38,840 --> 00:16:40,960
and looked around through the 
museum and that was really 

335
00:16:40,960 --> 00:16:42,360
interesting. 
But then we just got in the car 

336
00:16:42,360 --> 00:16:45,160
and drove and there were places 
and markers where you could 

337
00:16:45,160 --> 00:16:46,680
look. 
But I've done some reading on 

338
00:16:46,680 --> 00:16:50,480
Gettysburg and I enjoy Civil War
history and those types of 

339
00:16:50,480 --> 00:16:52,480
things. 
And so I remember getting to a 

340
00:16:52,480 --> 00:16:54,440
place that historically is 
called The Angle. 

341
00:16:55,080 --> 00:16:58,760
The Angle is the place where 
really some would consider to be

342
00:16:58,760 --> 00:17:01,040
the high mark of the 
Confederacy, meaning that was as

343
00:17:01,040 --> 00:17:04,240
close as they ever got to 
winning the Civil War was on the

344
00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:06,119
third day of the Battle of 
Gettysburg. 

345
00:17:06,560 --> 00:17:11,640
And as the men of Robert E Lee 
led by none other than George 

346
00:17:11,640 --> 00:17:16,960
Pickett came out of the tree 
line and went across this large 

347
00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:22,040
grassy expanse that slowly 
sloped upward toward a wall 

348
00:17:22,599 --> 00:17:25,720
known popularly were part of 
that wall was the angle because 

349
00:17:25,720 --> 00:17:30,240
it changed into a 90° angle. 
And it was at that point where 

350
00:17:30,240 --> 00:17:33,080
the Confederacy was able to 
breach that wall for a very 

351
00:17:33,080 --> 00:17:35,040
short. 
Period of time, but then will 

352
00:17:35,040 --> 00:17:38,720
rappel back and really that was 
as close as they ever got to 

353
00:17:38,720 --> 00:17:41,440
winning a Gettysburg, which is 
close they ever got to winning 

354
00:17:41,440 --> 00:17:43,440
the Civil War. 
And so some people even believe 

355
00:17:43,440 --> 00:17:45,720
that right there at that spot, 
at the angle. 

356
00:17:45,720 --> 00:17:49,680
Was literally the moment where 
the tide turned for the entire 

357
00:17:49,680 --> 00:17:52,640
Civil war. 
And so I remember standing there

358
00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:55,640
and again, the the children 
didn't understand this, but I 

359
00:17:55,640 --> 00:17:59,160
remember standing there and just
looking, it was a rainy day. 

360
00:17:59,160 --> 00:18:04,640
It was about 3233°. 
It was just not a very pretty 

361
00:18:04,640 --> 00:18:08,120
day by any stretch, but 
certainly kind of added to the 

362
00:18:08,360 --> 00:18:10,320
mystique of what was going on 
that day. 

363
00:18:10,320 --> 00:18:13,600
And I was just looking through 
the mist at that tree line. 

364
00:18:14,240 --> 00:18:17,600
I just imagined the rebels 
coming through with that rebel 

365
00:18:17,600 --> 00:18:20,520
yell that they said that they 
would have yelled and how 

366
00:18:20,520 --> 00:18:24,320
harrowing it would have been. 
And imagining the men standing 

367
00:18:24,320 --> 00:18:29,120
right where I was standing 
shoulder to shoulder, guns out, 

368
00:18:29,880 --> 00:18:35,480
bayonets are fixed, ready to 
defend this nation, ready to 

369
00:18:35,480 --> 00:18:39,200
defend this nation and the 
ideals of the Constitution of 

370
00:18:39,200 --> 00:18:43,240
the United States. 
And you just stand there and 

371
00:18:43,240 --> 00:18:47,200
it's there's no bodies. 
There was nobody there but us. 

372
00:18:48,120 --> 00:18:52,680
And the calmness, the stillness 
of that moment, there was 

373
00:18:52,680 --> 00:18:55,640
something beautiful about it. 
What happened? 

374
00:18:55,680 --> 00:19:00,080
No, what happened was horrific. 
I couldn't even imagine what 

375
00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:03,720
those men had to do and to go 
through on that day. 

376
00:19:04,360 --> 00:19:08,120
But what was beautiful was what 
was represented by what took 

377
00:19:08,120 --> 00:19:11,600
place that day, The ideals of 
what it meant to be an American,

378
00:19:12,120 --> 00:19:16,800
the ideals of what it meant to 
be free, what took place there. 

379
00:19:17,280 --> 00:19:19,920
It was something that, man, I 
don't know that I'll ever forget

380
00:19:19,920 --> 00:19:21,760
the rest of my life. 
I'm almost afraid to go back 

381
00:19:21,760 --> 00:19:25,160
because the memory that I have 
of that and that moment, I don't

382
00:19:25,160 --> 00:19:27,680
know could ever be compared if I
went back to it again. 

383
00:19:29,120 --> 00:19:32,360
It was, can we put it this way, 
a good warfare. 

384
00:19:33,520 --> 00:19:37,480
It was beautiful what you saw 
there, you know, not the things 

385
00:19:37,480 --> 00:19:39,720
that had to take place. 
They would have been atrocious 

386
00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:42,880
to imagine to our senses. 
I wouldn't want to bring that 

387
00:19:42,880 --> 00:19:45,520
before you tonight, but to 
consider. 

388
00:19:45,520 --> 00:19:49,200
What took place? 
And what it stood for, the honor

389
00:19:49,200 --> 00:19:54,360
of those men standing for a just
cause as the enemy swarmed, is 

390
00:19:54,360 --> 00:19:57,960
one of the most heroic, 
selfless, and yes, even 

391
00:19:57,960 --> 00:20:02,320
beautiful things that sinful 
humanity could ever accomplish. 

392
00:20:02,840 --> 00:20:06,680
That Romans 5 talks about that. 
That really, we don't like to 

393
00:20:06,680 --> 00:20:10,280
die for one another, do we? 
That that's not something that 

394
00:20:10,280 --> 00:20:13,680
we truly want to do. 
It's even difficult to be able 

395
00:20:13,680 --> 00:20:16,360
to do for those that we love. 
Romans 5 talks about this. 

396
00:20:16,360 --> 00:20:21,520
But Jesus, knowing who we were. 
Willingly gave himself for us, 

397
00:20:22,040 --> 00:20:24,320
but the beauty of the sacrifice 
that day. 

398
00:20:24,840 --> 00:20:26,160
So you say what? 
What does this have to do with 

399
00:20:26,160 --> 00:20:27,400
me, pastor? 
Well, the. 

400
00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:31,760
Warfare that we wore spiritually
should be good. 

401
00:20:32,720 --> 00:20:36,280
Meaning this we need to stand up
straight and tall against the 

402
00:20:36,280 --> 00:20:38,440
enemy. 
Do you realize that the enemy 

403
00:20:38,440 --> 00:20:43,040
that attacked us, the enemy that
attacks us, is the same enemy 

404
00:20:43,240 --> 00:20:47,760
that attacked our savior. 
The enemy that attacked us and 

405
00:20:47,760 --> 00:20:52,240
attacks us is the same enemy 
that attacks your family, that 

406
00:20:52,240 --> 00:20:55,000
attacks your friends. 
That attacks your church. 

407
00:20:55,040 --> 00:20:57,680
Do you know what we need to do? 
We need to war. 

408
00:20:57,840 --> 00:21:01,920
A good warfare, you say, Well, 
if he attacked Jesus Christ, 

409
00:21:01,920 --> 00:21:04,200
then then what am I going to do 
if he attacks me? 

410
00:21:04,240 --> 00:21:07,120
Well, what did Jesus Christ do? 
He could have snapped his 

411
00:21:07,120 --> 00:21:09,680
fingers and banished Satan away 
forever. 

412
00:21:09,840 --> 00:21:13,600
But what he did was, well, what 
he showed us that we can do when

413
00:21:13,600 --> 00:21:15,280
Satan attacks us. 
What did he do? 

414
00:21:15,360 --> 00:21:18,560
He quoted scripture after 
scripture after scripture, the 

415
00:21:18,560 --> 00:21:22,400
living Word, quoting the Word. 
He showed us the way that we can

416
00:21:22,400 --> 00:21:26,160
have victory through him. 
Yes, that is a good warfare. 

417
00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:28,560
And that we need to stand up and
say no. 

418
00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:32,360
I don't want to warm myself by 
the fires of the camps of the 

419
00:21:32,360 --> 00:21:34,600
enemy. 
No, no, I don't want to be with 

420
00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:37,760
what he is or what he wants to 
present himself as. 

421
00:21:37,760 --> 00:21:41,040
No, I want to stand up and I 
want to say no to these things 

422
00:21:41,040 --> 00:21:44,240
because I know that even if 
Satan whispers in my ear that he

423
00:21:44,240 --> 00:21:47,240
has something good for me, that 
he's a liar and there's nothing 

424
00:21:47,240 --> 00:21:49,840
true within his mouth. 
And I don't want to follow him. 

425
00:21:49,960 --> 00:21:53,040
I don't want to listen to him. 
I want to stand up strong and 

426
00:21:53,040 --> 00:21:55,480
listen if I see one of my 
brothers in Christ who has 

427
00:21:55,480 --> 00:21:59,040
fallen in their battle, What I'm
going to do is what a man would 

428
00:21:59,040 --> 00:22:00,960
do in the battlefield when 
someone fell. 

429
00:22:01,080 --> 00:22:04,120
I would pick him up and I would 
render aid and I would help them

430
00:22:04,120 --> 00:22:06,800
any way I could because I would 
hope if the situation was 

431
00:22:06,800 --> 00:22:08,720
opposite that they do the same 
for me. 

432
00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:13,080
Because we're all going to fall 
in our spiritual life. 

433
00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:16,080
You know, I'm not talking about 
falling all the way down or, or 

434
00:22:16,080 --> 00:22:17,720
having to go to the depths of 
depravity. 

435
00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:19,640
I'm just saying this. 
We're all going to have times of

436
00:22:19,640 --> 00:22:22,120
weaknesses, but we all have 
times of difficulties. 

437
00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:23,400
This is why you need to be in 
church. 

438
00:22:23,600 --> 00:22:27,680
This is this is reason 1000 out 
of about 5000 why you need to be

439
00:22:27,680 --> 00:22:31,000
coming to church, because you 
need brothers and sisters in 

440
00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:35,000
Christ to be able to help you. 1
lone Union soldier standing on 

441
00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:37,720
that wall against thousands 
would not have been able to 

442
00:22:37,720 --> 00:22:41,360
repel them, but together they 
won the day. 

443
00:22:42,360 --> 00:22:44,720
And I'm not saying that we can't
have spiritual victory because, 

444
00:22:44,720 --> 00:22:48,240
listen, you and Christ make up 
the majority, just the two of 

445
00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:52,680
you. 
But God in his sovereignty and 

446
00:22:52,680 --> 00:22:57,480
in his wisdom, gave us each 
other to be able to link arms 

447
00:22:57,480 --> 00:22:59,280
one with another, to be able to 
join. 

448
00:22:59,280 --> 00:23:02,200
Arms one with another and 
there's something beautiful 

449
00:23:02,200 --> 00:23:04,800
about that and that's why we 
must work to restore our 

450
00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:07,000
Christian brethren. 
That's why first Corinthians 

451
00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:10,440
chapter 5 and 2nd Corinthians 
chapter 2 are so important. 

452
00:23:10,560 --> 00:23:13,360
Here's a man who had to be 
removed from the church, but 

453
00:23:13,360 --> 00:23:15,800
what happened? 
They work to restore that man. 

454
00:23:15,800 --> 00:23:19,000
In fact, Paul says, listen, get 
with him and help him, because 

455
00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:20,920
if if you don't help him, he's 
going to be overtaken in 

456
00:23:20,920 --> 00:23:23,960
sorrows. 
Far too often, Christians are 

457
00:23:23,960 --> 00:23:27,360
willing to shoot each other in 
the back instead of being able 

458
00:23:27,360 --> 00:23:30,360
to help one another. 
You say, pastor, you're saying 

459
00:23:30,360 --> 00:23:32,280
we shouldn't deal with sin. 
Who said that? 

460
00:23:33,120 --> 00:23:34,720
You better believe. 
We have to deal with sin. 

461
00:23:34,760 --> 00:23:36,920
Paul made that pretty clear. 
First Corinthians chapter 5. 

462
00:23:37,560 --> 00:23:39,640
But why? 
Because we want him to get right

463
00:23:40,040 --> 00:23:41,120
so they can get back in the 
fight. 

464
00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:44,640
We want him to get patched up 
and cleaned up. 

465
00:23:45,160 --> 00:23:47,040
To get back in the fight. 
And by the way, that part of 

466
00:23:47,040 --> 00:23:48,920
that patching I'm cleaning up 
doesn't mean that you pretend 

467
00:23:48,920 --> 00:23:50,960
like they're not shot or they're
not hurt. 

468
00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:53,080
But listen, we don't need to 
have friendly fire between us 

469
00:23:53,120 --> 00:23:55,600
either. 
We need to have good warfare. 

470
00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:58,320
The quality of our warfare must 
be right. 

471
00:23:58,520 --> 00:24:01,720
There's the reality of war #1 
there's the quality of war #2 

472
00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:05,400
and then there's the tools of 
war #3 what are the tools? 

473
00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:07,760
Well, next week we'll be looking
at Ephesians chapter #6 

474
00:24:08,000 --> 00:24:10,720
Ephesians chapter #6 talks about
the armor of God. 

475
00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:13,520
And it talks about how we can 
build that armor of God within 

476
00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:15,520
our own life. 
And we'll take more, more time 

477
00:24:15,520 --> 00:24:18,400
to look at that next week, along
with the practical steps of 

478
00:24:18,400 --> 00:24:21,040
things we can do to be able to 
help us through spiritual 

479
00:24:21,040 --> 00:24:23,880
warfare. 
But yet we see 2 main tools here

480
00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:28,600
in our text as we go into verse 
#19 it says holding faith and a 

481
00:24:28,600 --> 00:24:31,560
good conscience, which some, 
having put away concerning 

482
00:24:31,560 --> 00:24:34,360
faith, have made shipwreck. 
So it says in the second-half of

483
00:24:34,360 --> 00:24:38,320
the verse that some having put 
away these two things have gone 

484
00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:40,480
shipwreck in the faith. 
Well, you don't have to know 

485
00:24:40,480 --> 00:24:43,320
exactly what the metaphor is 
that Paul is saying here to 

486
00:24:43,320 --> 00:24:45,800
understand this. 
That's not good because if 

487
00:24:45,800 --> 00:24:48,360
you're in a ship, you don't want
it to wreck. 

488
00:24:48,480 --> 00:24:49,960
I know that's deep stuff right 
there, isn't it? 

489
00:24:49,960 --> 00:24:53,240
All right, you are in a ship, 
you want to stay afloat, don't 

490
00:24:53,240 --> 00:24:54,640
you? 
So it says this, there's a 

491
00:24:54,640 --> 00:24:57,520
couple things. 
If you don't have them, you 

492
00:24:57,520 --> 00:25:00,000
could go shipwreck. 
So it seems like to me we need 

493
00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:02,840
to know what those tools are so 
we can be aware, so we don't go 

494
00:25:02,840 --> 00:25:04,680
shipwreck. 
And it says the first is this, 

495
00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:07,800
holding faith. 
Holding faith. 

496
00:25:08,320 --> 00:25:11,120
If you think you are too weak 
for this battle, I have good 

497
00:25:11,120 --> 00:25:14,280
news for you. 
Your primary tool is faith. 

498
00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:18,400
Ephesians 6 says this. 
And above all the shield of 

499
00:25:18,400 --> 00:25:21,560
faith. 
Exodus 14 verses 13 and 14. 

500
00:25:21,720 --> 00:25:25,640
Moses said unto the people, Fear
ye not, stand still and see the 

501
00:25:25,640 --> 00:25:28,920
salvation of the Lord, which He 
will show you today for the 

502
00:25:28,920 --> 00:25:31,280
Egyptians whom he have seen 
today. 

503
00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:33,640
You shall see them again no more
forever. 

504
00:25:33,760 --> 00:25:37,440
The Lord shall fight for you, 
and ye shall hold your peace. 

505
00:25:37,440 --> 00:25:40,480
Listen, when it came to the 
issue of spiritual warfare, if 

506
00:25:40,480 --> 00:25:44,320
it was me against Satan, I would
lose 100 times out of 100. 

507
00:25:44,320 --> 00:25:46,480
It would be the Harlem 
Globetrotters against the 

508
00:25:46,480 --> 00:25:48,680
Washington Generals every single
time. 

509
00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:51,040
In fact, the Washington Generals
would have a better chance of 

510
00:25:51,040 --> 00:25:54,160
beating the Harlem Globetrotters
than I would against Satan. 

511
00:25:54,160 --> 00:25:56,440
Why? 
Because in myself, I am weak. 

512
00:25:56,640 --> 00:25:59,640
I am fleshly. 
I mean well, no good thing. 

513
00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:01,640
My heart is evil and desperately
wicked. 

514
00:26:01,640 --> 00:26:04,000
Who can know it? 
If it's just me and myself, I 

515
00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:08,040
lose every single time but have 
faith. 

516
00:26:09,240 --> 00:26:10,600
So what do you mean have faith? 
Well. 

517
00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:15,280
Have faith in God. 
Let me ask you, do you trust Him

518
00:26:15,280 --> 00:26:18,960
enough to save you? 
No, no, I'll ask you a real 

519
00:26:18,960 --> 00:26:21,240
question tonight. 
This isn't even being sarcastic 

520
00:26:21,240 --> 00:26:22,920
or anything like that. 
Do you trust Him enough to save 

521
00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:23,840
you? 
Yes. 

522
00:26:24,520 --> 00:26:29,080
That faith will serve you well 
in the day-to-day life as well. 

523
00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:32,560
Do you not have faith that He 
can deliver you from the sin 

524
00:26:32,560 --> 00:26:36,080
that does so easily beset you? 
Do you not have faith that He 

525
00:26:36,080 --> 00:26:40,320
can deliver you from from the 
things that you struggle with in

526
00:26:40,320 --> 00:26:42,720
your life? 
Do you not have faith that He 

527
00:26:42,720 --> 00:26:45,720
can deliver you? 
When Satan tries to throw his 

528
00:26:45,760 --> 00:26:48,840
fiery darts at you, do you not 
have faith? 

529
00:26:49,520 --> 00:26:52,160
If we can trust him with our 
eternity, then why can't we 

530
00:26:52,160 --> 00:26:53,560
trust Him with the battles we 
have now? 

531
00:26:54,840 --> 00:26:57,440
God says that He will help us. 
God says He will protect us. 

532
00:26:57,600 --> 00:26:59,920
God says that He will strengthen
us. 

533
00:26:59,920 --> 00:27:03,920
He has given us these promises. 
Remember, He never forgets his 

534
00:27:03,920 --> 00:27:08,200
promises or every single time He
always gives his promises to us.

535
00:27:09,160 --> 00:27:11,440
Most Israelite battles in the 
Old Testament are a great 

536
00:27:11,440 --> 00:27:13,880
example of how we're to war a 
warfare of faith. 

537
00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:17,280
You know, the Old Testament is 
not just there to give us some 

538
00:27:17,320 --> 00:27:18,920
bedtime stories for our 
children. 

539
00:27:19,720 --> 00:27:22,720
They point to Jesus Christ and 
they also point to our 

540
00:27:22,720 --> 00:27:26,160
relationship with him now And in
the Old Testament, what was the 

541
00:27:26,160 --> 00:27:28,160
pattern? 
Israel was against 

542
00:27:28,160 --> 00:27:31,760
insurmountable odds. 
They had no way of winning on 

543
00:27:31,760 --> 00:27:36,080
their own. 
They call upon God, God delivers

544
00:27:36,080 --> 00:27:39,160
them, and they win in a way that
no one can explain. 

545
00:27:39,160 --> 00:27:43,600
But saying this but God. 
Now you can mix that up however 

546
00:27:43,600 --> 00:27:46,520
you want, but that happens 
dozens of times in the Old 

547
00:27:46,520 --> 00:27:48,760
Testament. 
But there are also times when 

548
00:27:48,760 --> 00:27:49,920
Israel said this. 
You know what? 

549
00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:52,560
God. 
We don't need you. 

550
00:27:53,800 --> 00:27:56,360
We're on our own. 
We're doing pretty well. 

551
00:27:57,400 --> 00:28:00,240
We can handle ourselves, that 
we've won a few battles in our 

552
00:28:00,240 --> 00:28:02,640
life so we can take care of this
ourselves. 

553
00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:05,280
And every single time they fell 
flat. 

554
00:28:05,880 --> 00:28:08,120
Is this not a picture of our 
spiritual life? 

555
00:28:08,720 --> 00:28:11,920
Is this not a picture of what we
deal with on a day-to-day basis?

556
00:28:12,280 --> 00:28:16,280
That yes, you are against 
insurmountable odds on your own 

557
00:28:16,280 --> 00:28:19,560
against Satan and his opinions, 
but with the Lord, with you 

558
00:28:19,560 --> 00:28:22,040
giving yourself completely and 
totally to him? 

559
00:28:22,120 --> 00:28:24,640
What can I put it this way? 
You can't lose. 

560
00:28:25,360 --> 00:28:27,680
You say, well, it seems like I'm
losing in the situation I'm in. 

561
00:28:27,680 --> 00:28:30,600
Listen, have faith. 
If you are doing what he wants 

562
00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:33,280
you to do, you may think you're 
losing, but he's still going to 

563
00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:34,840
bring it all to good in your 
life. 

564
00:28:35,280 --> 00:28:37,120
You have to trust him. 
And that also requires what 

565
00:28:37,440 --> 00:28:42,320
faith to be able to see what is 
ahead even when you can't see 

566
00:28:42,320 --> 00:28:44,680
it. 
That's what faith is, the 

567
00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:47,360
substance of things hoped for, 
the evidence of things not seen.

568
00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:50,920
That's how Abraham could see I'm
going the right way even though 

569
00:28:50,920 --> 00:28:52,000
he didn't know what the way it 
was. 

570
00:28:54,080 --> 00:28:57,560
That's how Moses could say, 
well, I guess we're doing right 

571
00:28:57,560 --> 00:29:00,520
even though I don't see how we 
I'm doing the right thing when 

572
00:29:00,520 --> 00:29:03,880
none of these Israelites are 
even listening to me because 

573
00:29:03,880 --> 00:29:06,920
they had faith that yes, the 
Lord who called us is the Lord 

574
00:29:06,920 --> 00:29:10,360
who's going to bring us through 
spiritual warfare for the 

575
00:29:10,360 --> 00:29:13,640
Israelites meant that God used 
Mulberry trees took. 

576
00:29:13,640 --> 00:29:18,640
Pools of water to simulate 
blood, made 300 lanterns to 

577
00:29:18,640 --> 00:29:23,400
scare 10s of thousands of people
and made the sun stand still. 

578
00:29:24,560 --> 00:29:28,560
None of those things make sense,
but God did it and more. 

579
00:29:29,080 --> 00:29:30,640
And listen, He'll deliver you as
well. 

580
00:29:31,280 --> 00:29:34,480
Say, well, I'm tired of 
struggling, I'm tired of 

581
00:29:34,480 --> 00:29:36,240
fighting, I'm tired of 
listening. 

582
00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:40,280
Is God the one who gives the 
victory or not God has made 

583
00:29:40,280 --> 00:29:44,080
provision for victory in your 
life that who is free. 

584
00:29:44,160 --> 00:29:46,080
He who is free, Jesus said is 
free. 

585
00:29:46,240 --> 00:29:50,040
Indeed, you can be victorious in
Jesus Christ, but you have to 

586
00:29:50,040 --> 00:29:53,680
understand that there's a battle
you have to fight a good warfare

587
00:29:53,720 --> 00:29:55,800
and understand the tools of war 
of faith. 

588
00:29:55,800 --> 00:29:59,120
But then also this a good 
conscience and a good 

589
00:29:59,120 --> 00:30:00,240
conscience. 
Now what does that have to do 

590
00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:02,400
with anything Pastor? 
A good conscience. 

591
00:30:02,400 --> 00:30:04,440
Well, actually Harkins back to 
the beginning of the book. 

592
00:30:04,640 --> 00:30:06,800
To go back to the beginning of 
the chapter first Timothy 

593
00:30:06,800 --> 00:30:15,320
chapter one look at verse one 
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ

594
00:30:15,320 --> 00:30:18,840
by the commandment of God our 
Savior and Lord Jesus Christ, 

595
00:30:19,120 --> 00:30:22,320
which is our hope unto Timothy 
mine own Son of the faith, 

596
00:30:22,320 --> 00:30:26,480
grace, mercy and peace from God 
our Father and Jesus Christ our 

597
00:30:26,480 --> 00:30:29,320
Lord as I besought thee to abide
still of Ephesus. 

598
00:30:29,320 --> 00:30:33,000
When I went into Macedonia that 
thou mightest charge some that 

599
00:30:33,000 --> 00:30:37,000
they teach no other doctrine 
neither give heed to fables and 

600
00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:40,240
endless genealogies which 
minister questions rather than 

601
00:30:40,240 --> 00:30:42,280
godly edifying, which is in 
faith. 

602
00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:47,440
So do what do we find that 
Timothy was in his job and being

603
00:30:47,440 --> 00:30:50,760
able to strengthen the churches 
of which he came in contact 

604
00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:52,880
with. 
He was coming across people who 

605
00:30:52,880 --> 00:30:55,760
are teaching false doctrine. 
He was coming across people who 

606
00:30:55,760 --> 00:30:59,040
are not teaching right things. 
And so verse 5 says this. 

607
00:30:59,040 --> 00:31:02,560
Now the end of the commandment 
is charity out of a pure heart 

608
00:31:02,760 --> 00:31:05,640
and of a good conscience and of 
faith unfeigned. 

609
00:31:05,640 --> 00:31:07,760
Well, there it is right there. 
What does it say? 

610
00:31:07,760 --> 00:31:10,400
The end of the commandment? 
How is he supposed to deal with 

611
00:31:10,400 --> 00:31:12,160
this? 
Paul says, let me just jump to 

612
00:31:12,160 --> 00:31:14,040
the end. 
Here's what you need to do to 

613
00:31:14,040 --> 00:31:15,920
deal with this. 
He says you need to have 

614
00:31:15,920 --> 00:31:17,720
charity. 
You said, well, how are you to 

615
00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:19,960
combat false belief with 
charity? 

616
00:31:19,960 --> 00:31:20,880
Well. 
I don't know you could. 

617
00:31:20,880 --> 00:31:24,960
Probably go to 1st Corinthians 
13 where it says this basically 

618
00:31:24,960 --> 00:31:29,800
that without charity, even with 
knowledge, even with the truth. 

619
00:31:29,800 --> 00:31:32,720
Listen, you are sounding brass 
and a tinkling symbol that you 

620
00:31:32,720 --> 00:31:36,120
need to be able to operate with 
love in your heart that it's not

621
00:31:36,120 --> 00:31:39,520
just about I know the truth and 
so I can act however I want know

622
00:31:39,640 --> 00:31:41,280
that you need to make sure that 
you war. 

623
00:31:41,280 --> 00:31:44,280
Can we put it this way, a good 
warfare and that you have the 

624
00:31:44,280 --> 00:31:48,080
right spirit through it, or that
you have charity out of a pure 

625
00:31:48,080 --> 00:31:50,480
heart that the motivation is 
right? 

626
00:31:50,480 --> 00:31:52,280
Well, you know what? 
I'm going to see that someone 

627
00:31:52,280 --> 00:31:53,480
else is doing right in their 
life. 

628
00:31:53,480 --> 00:31:54,120
And the reason? 
Why? 

629
00:31:54,120 --> 00:31:55,520
Is because I want to knock them 
down a peg. 

630
00:31:55,520 --> 00:31:59,440
That's not a pure heart, and 
neither is it what a good 

631
00:32:00,080 --> 00:32:04,000
conscience and a faith 
unfeigned. 

632
00:32:05,400 --> 00:32:09,440
To have a good conscience means 
to fight in a godly manner. 

633
00:32:11,320 --> 00:32:13,920
So we're in this warfare. 
But listen, it's not no holds 

634
00:32:13,920 --> 00:32:18,160
barred. 
It's we had to fight as 

635
00:32:18,160 --> 00:32:21,760
Christians and as Christians who
are fighting, we need to look 

636
00:32:21,760 --> 00:32:26,160
like Christians. 
I got to know my grandfather 

637
00:32:26,480 --> 00:32:29,800
only knew one of my 4 
grandparents, my grandfather, my

638
00:32:29,800 --> 00:32:32,720
dad's father and he passed away 
when I was in 8th grade. 

639
00:32:33,600 --> 00:32:36,400
My grandfather, Alvio Rivero, 
listen, you don't mess with a 

640
00:32:36,400 --> 00:32:38,360
guy named Alvio Rivero, you know
what I'm saying? 

641
00:32:38,640 --> 00:32:41,120
Alvio, Tulio Rivero, his middle 
name was Tulio. 

642
00:32:41,520 --> 00:32:46,640
And he, he was a man that was, 
he was a very interesting man. 

643
00:32:46,640 --> 00:32:50,120
He really was in so many ways. 
And I, I say that not even to be

644
00:32:50,120 --> 00:32:52,200
sarcastic. 
He was a very interesting man, 

645
00:32:52,640 --> 00:32:58,240
but he was also a amateur boxer 
and he kind of did that on the 

646
00:32:58,240 --> 00:32:59,680
side, you know, just for fun, 
you know. 

647
00:32:59,920 --> 00:33:03,800
And so one of the things that I 
remember hearing him say, I 

648
00:33:03,800 --> 00:33:06,200
heard it from my father and I 
heard him say it before as well.

649
00:33:06,440 --> 00:33:09,280
He said there's only one rule 
when it comes to fighting. 

650
00:33:10,080 --> 00:33:14,080
You know what that is when And 
it seems to me that when it 

651
00:33:14,080 --> 00:33:17,160
comes to boxing, there's a lot 
more rules than just when 

652
00:33:17,880 --> 00:33:20,280
because you know, there's you 
can't pull out weapons. 

653
00:33:21,240 --> 00:33:22,560
You know, you got to get out of 
steel chair. 

654
00:33:22,560 --> 00:33:25,360
I've heard that people try those
things and other pursuits, but 

655
00:33:25,360 --> 00:33:27,440
you can't just hit someone with 
a steel chair. 

656
00:33:27,880 --> 00:33:29,560
There are certain punches that 
are illegal. 

657
00:33:29,560 --> 00:33:32,560
You can't punch certain body 
parts because it's supposed to 

658
00:33:32,560 --> 00:33:34,640
be could. 
We put it this way, a fair fight

659
00:33:35,480 --> 00:33:37,000
they were real fighting is not 
fair. 

660
00:33:37,000 --> 00:33:41,000
Well, listen, we can take that 
attitude into our Christian 

661
00:33:41,000 --> 00:33:43,720
fight. 
And why do people not fight 

662
00:33:43,720 --> 00:33:45,080
fair? 
Usually because they feel like 

663
00:33:45,080 --> 00:33:47,720
they're at a disadvantage and 
that's the way that they have to

664
00:33:47,720 --> 00:33:51,040
even the score. 
If I remind you that we're at a 

665
00:33:51,040 --> 00:33:53,560
great advantage against Satan, 
what is that? 

666
00:33:53,920 --> 00:33:58,600
Well, we have Jesus, so why 
would we need to fight in a way 

667
00:33:58,720 --> 00:34:01,920
that was unchristian? 
Like, why would we have to put 

668
00:34:01,920 --> 00:34:05,080
away our good conscience? 
To be able to fight and listen, 

669
00:34:05,080 --> 00:34:07,520
he says this. 
There are some Timothy, he says,

670
00:34:07,520 --> 00:34:10,320
that are going to fight. 
And they put away the faith, and

671
00:34:10,320 --> 00:34:12,400
they put away good conscience, 
including, if you go back to 

672
00:34:12,400 --> 00:34:16,199
verse #20 it says Hymanius and 
Alexander, whom I've delivered 

673
00:34:16,199 --> 00:34:18,120
unto Satan, that they may. 
Learn not to blasphemy. 

674
00:34:18,120 --> 00:34:21,480
Now, I don't know who these men 
are with their thoughts about 

675
00:34:21,480 --> 00:34:23,199
who they are. 
We don't know exactly. 

676
00:34:23,360 --> 00:34:26,639
But I do know this, that these 
men got themselves in a bad way 

677
00:34:26,639 --> 00:34:30,639
against Satan because they put 
away faith and a good 

678
00:34:30,639 --> 00:34:33,480
conscience. 
God's given us these tools. 

679
00:34:33,480 --> 00:34:35,960
Listen, believers ought to fight
like believers. 

680
00:34:36,239 --> 00:34:38,600
Which means what? 
That we use the tools of a 

681
00:34:38,600 --> 00:34:40,440
believer? 
Like what? 

682
00:34:40,679 --> 00:34:43,600
Kind of like an armor of God 
that we'll look at next week. 

683
00:34:44,600 --> 00:34:46,560
There's the reality of the war. 
There's the quality of the war. 

684
00:34:46,560 --> 00:34:49,000
There's the tools of the war. 
Then also #4 and finally, 

685
00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:50,920
there's the stakes of the war. 
What's at stake? 

686
00:34:51,400 --> 00:34:54,159
Well, the end of verse #19, 
which some, having put away 

687
00:34:54,159 --> 00:34:56,840
concerning faith, have made what
shipwreck. 

688
00:34:57,880 --> 00:34:59,600
Paul knew a lot about 
shipwrecks, didn't he? 

689
00:35:00,560 --> 00:35:03,200
He had some problems with, 
listen, if I was on a boat with 

690
00:35:03,200 --> 00:35:06,440
Paul, I'd say this, hey, I'll 
grab the next boat, you know, 

691
00:35:06,440 --> 00:35:08,720
because it seemed like he had 
some problems getting from point

692
00:35:08,840 --> 00:35:11,800
A to point B in some of the 
ships that he got into. 

693
00:35:12,360 --> 00:35:14,960
But he said this, he says if you
don't have faith and you don't 

694
00:35:14,960 --> 00:35:18,800
have good conscience, you will 
end up going shipwreck. 

695
00:35:19,000 --> 00:35:23,760
The idea is this without faith 
as the rudder, without a good 

696
00:35:23,760 --> 00:35:26,600
conscience as the till, what do 
you find that it? 

697
00:35:26,880 --> 00:35:28,880
There's no telling where you 
could end up. 

698
00:35:30,080 --> 00:35:33,760
That you are literally at the 
mercy of the Seas, that you are 

699
00:35:33,760 --> 00:35:37,200
up and down and up and down. 
Listen, I'm not talking about 

700
00:35:37,200 --> 00:35:39,880
you losing your salvation. 
I'm talking about you making a 

701
00:35:39,880 --> 00:35:42,920
mess of your life. 
You ever? 

702
00:35:42,920 --> 00:35:45,360
Wonder it says, Pastor, it seems
like I'm out of control. 

703
00:35:46,000 --> 00:35:48,360
It seems like my life is just, 
it's just out of control. 

704
00:35:48,360 --> 00:35:51,760
I don't know what to do. 
Listen, could it be that you've 

705
00:35:51,760 --> 00:35:56,080
put away faith and a good 
conscience as God has asked you 

706
00:35:56,080 --> 00:35:57,640
to? 
Listen, you can be in 

707
00:35:57,640 --> 00:35:59,720
tempestuous seas and still be in
control. 

708
00:36:00,760 --> 00:36:03,240
You know, I'm not talking about 
the the you are in control in 

709
00:36:03,240 --> 00:36:06,160
and of yourself, but I'm talking
about if your faith is what it 

710
00:36:06,160 --> 00:36:10,120
needs to be and if you are 
fighting the fight properly with

711
00:36:10,120 --> 00:36:12,720
a good conscience that even in 
the midst of the storm, God can 

712
00:36:12,720 --> 00:36:15,520
give you peace. 
He can give you help. 

713
00:36:16,640 --> 00:36:19,320
Listen, it it, it's not just 
that you are bobbing up and down

714
00:36:19,320 --> 00:36:23,480
the water and you have nothing 
to do and you were just at it at

715
00:36:23,640 --> 00:36:25,560
His mercy. 
Listen, He's given you the tools

716
00:36:25,560 --> 00:36:29,280
to be able to cut through the 
water even in the toughest seas,

717
00:36:30,400 --> 00:36:32,720
but we can't do it our own way. 
And here's the issue. 

718
00:36:33,200 --> 00:36:36,200
Here's the real issue when it 
comes to spiritual warfare and 

719
00:36:36,200 --> 00:36:39,120
we're almost done. 
The real issue comes down to 

720
00:36:39,120 --> 00:36:43,360
this is that we want to fight 
our own way and then when it 

721
00:36:43,360 --> 00:36:46,000
doesn't work, we go to God and 
ask Him to fix our press that we

722
00:36:46,000 --> 00:36:49,240
made in the 1st place. 
Now listen, thank the Lord that 

723
00:36:49,240 --> 00:36:52,440
when we do make a mess of our 
lives, we can go to Him and He's

724
00:36:52,440 --> 00:36:54,600
faithful and just to forgive us 
our sins in the cleanse of all 

725
00:36:54,600 --> 00:36:56,400
righteousness. 
I'm not trying to discourage you

726
00:36:56,400 --> 00:36:57,760
from going to the Lord for 
forgiveness. 

727
00:36:57,840 --> 00:37:00,120
Heaven forbid. 
I want you to run to Him for 

728
00:37:00,120 --> 00:37:01,320
forgiveness if you need it 
tonight. 

729
00:37:01,440 --> 00:37:04,240
That's not what I'm saying. 
I'm saying wouldn't it be better

730
00:37:04,640 --> 00:37:07,560
that we just started from a 
place of saying, Lord, since I 

731
00:37:07,560 --> 00:37:11,080
trust You that you'll forgive me
for the sin, maybe I should just

732
00:37:11,080 --> 00:37:13,120
trust You to deliver me from the
sin in the first place. 

733
00:37:15,000 --> 00:37:16,800
Part of the problem when it 
comes down to the issue of 

734
00:37:16,800 --> 00:37:20,320
spiritual warfare and temptation
and all of those things is that 

735
00:37:20,320 --> 00:37:25,200
we say we want victory and we do
want victory, but we also want 

736
00:37:25,200 --> 00:37:29,080
the sin as well. 
And sometimes we just want the 

737
00:37:29,080 --> 00:37:33,200
sin a little bit more. 
You say, well I feel very 

738
00:37:33,200 --> 00:37:34,880
confused about that. 
What's because of double minded 

739
00:37:34,880 --> 00:37:39,000
man's unstable in all those ways
and like a man as I've told you 

740
00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:41,800
before, has 1 foot on a boat and
1 foot on a dock. 

741
00:37:41,800 --> 00:37:45,720
Listen, that's a very precarious
place to be because that dock 

742
00:37:45,720 --> 00:37:47,800
won't move, but that vote, that 
vote eventually will. 

743
00:37:48,680 --> 00:37:51,000
And you're going to go somewhere
and it's probably not going to 

744
00:37:51,000 --> 00:37:53,800
be on the dock or in the boat. 
It's going to be in the drink. 

745
00:37:56,080 --> 00:38:00,960
Listen, not taking spiritual 
warfare seriously has incredible

746
00:38:00,960 --> 00:38:04,360
consequences, far more than you 
can even imagine. 

747
00:38:05,840 --> 00:38:10,360
You know, I think not 
necessarily of 911, but I think 

748
00:38:10,360 --> 00:38:12,800
of 912. 
So what do you mean? 

749
00:38:13,600 --> 00:38:17,640
Of course we're all almost here,
old enough to remember the 

750
00:38:17,640 --> 00:38:20,640
horror of 911. 
But do you remember what it 

751
00:38:20,640 --> 00:38:25,240
looked like at the end of that 
day and the next day on 9/12? 

752
00:38:26,000 --> 00:38:32,480
The absolute destruction that 
was there, Blocks and blocks and

753
00:38:32,480 --> 00:38:38,000
blocks of rubble and steel and 
bodies. 

754
00:38:38,880 --> 00:38:43,440
Absolute wreckage. 
I, I can't even fathom. 

755
00:38:43,680 --> 00:38:47,720
We've been before to the 9/11 
memorial where there's these 

756
00:38:47,720 --> 00:38:50,880
pools that just mark the space 
where the tower stood. 

757
00:38:50,880 --> 00:38:53,680
And you can't even wrap your 
head around how immense those 

758
00:38:53,680 --> 00:38:58,960
buildings were and what took 
place on that day. 

759
00:39:00,200 --> 00:39:04,160
You know, I think of 912 and I 
think of what was left over. 

760
00:39:05,240 --> 00:39:08,160
And you know, in the ministry, 
myself and, and I would even 

761
00:39:08,160 --> 00:39:11,520
include my wife in this in 
ministry, we've had to go 

762
00:39:11,520 --> 00:39:15,920
through a lot of 912 moments 
with people say, what do you 

763
00:39:15,920 --> 00:39:19,520
mean? 
We've had to walk through the 

764
00:39:19,520 --> 00:39:25,600
wreckage with them and look 
around and it's bad. 

765
00:39:27,000 --> 00:39:33,160
It is so very bad. 
In fact, it's sometimes far 

766
00:39:33,160 --> 00:39:35,040
worse. 
They can even imagine you pull 

767
00:39:35,040 --> 00:39:39,160
up one layer and you realize 
there's more layers below, and 

768
00:39:39,160 --> 00:39:41,360
then you pull up those layers 
and you find even more below. 

769
00:39:42,360 --> 00:39:44,880
And there are times I could say 
just as a pastor, a pastor's 

770
00:39:44,880 --> 00:39:46,840
wife, it could be spiritually 
exhausting to be able to try to 

771
00:39:46,840 --> 00:39:49,080
help somebody because you so 
badly want to help them. 

772
00:39:49,080 --> 00:39:51,560
But you look at this and you 
say, what is this? 

773
00:39:52,520 --> 00:39:57,560
What has happened? 
Listen, if you don't fight 

774
00:39:57,560 --> 00:40:03,280
spiritual warfare, you could end
up looking at the rubble of a 

775
00:40:03,280 --> 00:40:13,000
life, of a family, of a child. 
Of a church, of a relationship, 

776
00:40:13,920 --> 00:40:18,000
of a situation, you'd say, how, 
how did we? 

777
00:40:18,440 --> 00:40:22,920
How do we get here? 
Well, because there was a threat

778
00:40:23,480 --> 00:40:27,080
that wasn't identified in time. 
And before you knew it, 

779
00:40:27,960 --> 00:40:30,240
something happened that you 
never would have anticipated 

780
00:40:30,240 --> 00:40:32,800
would have happened. 
And who would have on 9/11? 

781
00:40:34,080 --> 00:40:36,000
Who would have anticipated it? 
But it came. 

782
00:40:37,640 --> 00:40:39,880
It came and before you know it, 
that's what's left. 

783
00:40:40,240 --> 00:40:41,920
Say, pastor, you're laying it on
real thick. 

784
00:40:42,760 --> 00:40:46,080
I would dare say that what we're
talking about are matters not 

785
00:40:46,080 --> 00:40:48,160
even of life or death. 
We're talking about eternal 

786
00:40:48,160 --> 00:40:51,760
matters here. 
I'm, I'm not trying to belittle 

787
00:40:51,760 --> 00:40:53,360
what happened that day. 
Not at all. 

788
00:40:53,840 --> 00:40:57,000
An atrocity doesn't even begin 
to cover what took place on that

789
00:40:57,000 --> 00:40:58,240
day. 
That's that's not even a strong 

790
00:40:58,240 --> 00:40:59,840
enough word for what took place 
that day. 

791
00:41:00,120 --> 00:41:03,280
But I want you to understand 
that not fighting spiritual 

792
00:41:03,280 --> 00:41:07,360
warfare can lead to greater 
results that last for eternity 

793
00:41:08,280 --> 00:41:10,960
in your own life. 
But here's the good news. 

794
00:41:11,520 --> 00:41:14,240
The Lord will help you pick up 
the pieces. 

795
00:41:14,960 --> 00:41:16,960
But wouldn't it be better? 
Instead of picking up the 

796
00:41:16,960 --> 00:41:20,680
pieces, wouldn't it be better to
prepare yourself for when the 

797
00:41:20,680 --> 00:41:23,200
next attack comes? 
Because even if you do pick up 

798
00:41:23,200 --> 00:41:26,880
the pieces and you clean up and 
you get everything back to where

799
00:41:26,880 --> 00:41:31,120
it was before and you said 
everything just right, another 

800
00:41:31,120 --> 00:41:33,800
attack will come. 
So how long is this going to 

801
00:41:33,800 --> 00:41:35,040
happen? 
How long are? 

802
00:41:35,040 --> 00:41:37,560
You going to be here? 
I'm not talking about tonight 

803
00:41:37,560 --> 00:41:39,120
because we're like, we're not 
going to be here much longer. 

804
00:41:39,120 --> 00:41:41,800
I'm talking about as long as 
we're here on this plane that 

805
00:41:41,800 --> 00:41:46,720
we're on, on this earth, the 
attacks will keep coming. 

806
00:41:47,280 --> 00:41:49,560
Got to be ready. 
You got to be ready. 

807
00:41:50,520 --> 00:41:54,200
Don't wait to just pick up the 
rubble because there'll be 

808
00:41:54,200 --> 00:41:57,960
another attack again. 
Just say, hey, I'm planting my 

809
00:41:57,960 --> 00:42:00,280
flag right here. 
The battle is real. 

810
00:42:01,000 --> 00:42:03,600
I'm going to war a good warfare.
I'm going to use the tools that 

811
00:42:03,600 --> 00:42:07,160
God has given me because I don't
want to go shipwreck and I want 

812
00:42:07,160 --> 00:42:11,240
to stay right where God has me. 
Thank you for listening to the 

813
00:42:11,240 --> 00:42:13,880
sermon from the pulpit of 
Liberty Baptist Church. 

814
00:42:14,200 --> 00:42:17,480
If this message was a blessing 
to you, or if there's any way we

815
00:42:17,480 --> 00:42:20,600
can serve you, please let us 
know by contacting us at 

816
00:42:20,760 --> 00:42:25,480
info@mylibertybaptist.org. 
Or you can visit us this Sunday 

817
00:42:25,680 --> 00:42:29,400
at 800 Washington St. in Easton,
MA. 

818
00:42:29,680 --> 00:42:32,440
May the Lord bless you as you 
grow in His Word.