1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:02,360 Hi there Pastor Rivero from Liberty Baptist Church. 2 00:00:02,400 --> 00:00:04,560 Before we begin, I just want to let you know you're going to be 3 00:00:04,560 --> 00:00:07,920 listening to a sermon that is already in progress due to a 4 00:00:07,920 --> 00:00:09,680 recording issue we had at the church. 5 00:00:09,960 --> 00:00:12,920 We hope you enjoy the remainder of this sermon here at Liberty 6 00:00:12,920 --> 00:00:18,920 Baptist Church in Easton, MA. Welcome to the Liberty Baptist 7 00:00:18,920 --> 00:00:21,400 Sermon Archives. The message you're about to hear 8 00:00:21,400 --> 00:00:25,160 was preached at Liberty Baptist Church in Easton, MA. 9 00:00:25,520 --> 00:00:28,240 You can find out more about us or contact us at 10 00:00:28,440 --> 00:00:32,240 mylibertybaptist.org or just look us up on Facebook. 11 00:00:32,560 --> 00:00:35,240 And now we hope that this message from God's Word will be 12 00:00:35,240 --> 00:00:40,680 a blessing to you. We saw the quality of war that 13 00:00:40,680 --> 00:00:44,200 we were to war, what kind of warfare, a good warfare that we 14 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:48,360 were to fight in a biblical way. And we talked about what that 15 00:00:48,360 --> 00:00:50,960 was to look like as well. And that really our fight is a 16 00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:52,560 beautiful thing. Not because. 17 00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:54,680 And if you're online, welcome here to Liberty Baptist Church 18 00:00:54,680 --> 00:00:56,520 this evening. We've already been handing out 19 00:00:56,520 --> 00:00:58,560 $100 bills to everybody. And you just miss that. 20 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:00,840 I can always say that so many times it's not funny after I've 21 00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:02,760 done it a few times. But again, thank you. 22 00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:05,760 And thank you for the guys in the back for taking care of that 23 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:07,880 as well. That we were to fight a good 24 00:01:07,880 --> 00:01:10,920 warfare in the sense that it is a beautiful thing that when we 25 00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:13,560 fight in the way that God would deem us to fight. 26 00:01:13,560 --> 00:01:15,960 Then we talked about the tools of war, that they were to be 27 00:01:15,960 --> 00:01:18,960 faith and a good conscience. You can't fight the war of faith 28 00:01:18,960 --> 00:01:21,440 without having faith and a good conscience. 29 00:01:21,440 --> 00:01:23,800 And then the stakes of the war. Remember that there was the 30 00:01:23,800 --> 00:01:26,640 possibility that one could go no shipwreck, not that they would 31 00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:30,560 lose their salvation, but rather that they would lose that which 32 00:01:30,560 --> 00:01:33,680 they were trying to obtain here in this life and lose their 33 00:01:33,680 --> 00:01:37,400 testimony, lose their way, lose their peace, lose well, pretty 34 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:38,800 much everything but your salvation. 35 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:41,760 And so we saw that that was a real possibility as well. 36 00:01:41,760 --> 00:01:45,800 And then last week we gave 6 very practical applications that 37 00:01:45,800 --> 00:01:47,720 we were to prepare ourselves for battle. 38 00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:50,840 We were to guard our heart, that we weren't to ignore the 39 00:01:50,840 --> 00:01:53,640 battlefield of the mind. That we were to know the rules 40 00:01:53,640 --> 00:01:56,840 of engagement, that we're to clean tightly to the truth, and 41 00:01:56,840 --> 00:01:58,800 that we were to be willing to train. 42 00:01:58,800 --> 00:02:02,240 And we really based ourselves last week in Ephesians chapter 43 00:02:02,240 --> 00:02:05,920 #6 Remember finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord 44 00:02:06,120 --> 00:02:09,199 and in the power of His might, and to put on the whole armor of 45 00:02:09,199 --> 00:02:11,600 God to make sure that we're putting on every piece. 46 00:02:11,600 --> 00:02:15,120 And we saw that those were the loins girt about with truth, the 47 00:02:15,120 --> 00:02:18,600 breastplate of righteousness, feet shod with the preparation 48 00:02:18,600 --> 00:02:21,480 of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of 49 00:02:21,480 --> 00:02:24,800 salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of 50 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:26,960 God. Then each piece being put on 51 00:02:26,960 --> 00:02:29,080 with prayer. Of course, the hymn says that 52 00:02:29,080 --> 00:02:31,800 that we often sing, but that comes from the Word of God 53 00:02:31,800 --> 00:02:35,560 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, 54 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:39,480 and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication 55 00:02:39,640 --> 00:02:42,280 for All Saints. And so that's just by way of 56 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:44,200 review of what we looked at the last couple weeks. 57 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:46,480 And again, I think this is important for us, particularly 58 00:02:46,640 --> 00:02:49,720 as we approach a new year, to be thinking about the things that 59 00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:52,880 we want to improve on in our life, those places where we want 60 00:02:52,880 --> 00:02:55,400 to be spiritually fighting the good fight. 61 00:02:55,480 --> 00:02:57,320 And I hope these have been helpful to you. 62 00:02:57,320 --> 00:02:59,800 And that will be continue to have some thoughts tonight that 63 00:02:59,800 --> 00:03:02,160 will be helpful to you in a very practical way as well. 64 00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:05,200 But I want our jumping off place tonight to be second Timothy 65 00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:09,200 chapter #2 beginning in verse #1 where it says this Thou 66 00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:13,320 therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ 67 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:15,400 Jesus. And these things that thou hast 68 00:03:15,400 --> 00:03:18,840 heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou 69 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:22,360 to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also. 70 00:03:22,360 --> 00:03:25,760 Now look at this verse #3 we actually mentioned this last 71 00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:27,000 week near the end of the message. 72 00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:31,200 Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus 73 00:03:31,200 --> 00:03:32,800 Christ. Those who are called to be 74 00:03:32,800 --> 00:03:36,760 soldiers of the cross are not supposed to be those who are 75 00:03:36,760 --> 00:03:39,040 weak. They you say, Well pastor, you 76 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:41,400 mean that we're not to be weak. I mean, but we're weak 77 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:43,720 creatures. The Bible says we are but dust 78 00:03:43,720 --> 00:03:46,960 and certainly that is the case. And the Psalm says that he knows 79 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:49,960 our frame that we're but dust. And the wonderful thing about 80 00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:53,440 that is, is that he gives us the strength He gives us the armor. 81 00:03:53,440 --> 00:03:55,400 He gives us the courage that we need. 82 00:03:55,400 --> 00:03:58,120 Quits yourselves like men. The Bible says that doesn't mean 83 00:03:58,120 --> 00:04:00,280 just quit. It means to quit to equip 84 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:03,320 yourselves and to strengthen yourselves and be strong in the 85 00:04:03,320 --> 00:04:05,520 Lord and in the power of his might. 86 00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:09,800 So sure we are weak creatures. Sure we are but us, but yet we 87 00:04:09,800 --> 00:04:13,440 are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ that says endure 88 00:04:13,440 --> 00:04:16,440 hardness and that's why we have something like today that takes 89 00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:17,720 place. You know, we don't go into a 90 00:04:17,720 --> 00:04:20,079 corner and cry. Well, at least so I don't tell 91 00:04:20,079 --> 00:04:21,320 you if I go in the corner and cry. 92 00:04:21,320 --> 00:04:23,360 At least that's what it is. But we know what are we going to 93 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:24,160 do? We're still going to have 94 00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:25,760 church. And listen, I know not everyone 95 00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:27,520 can show up. In fact, there's a majority that 96 00:04:27,520 --> 00:04:29,240 can't for a whole host of different reasons. 97 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:31,840 That's why we let you know what the situation was. 98 00:04:31,840 --> 00:04:34,840 But I think sometimes we forget how good we have it as 99 00:04:34,840 --> 00:04:38,080 believers, and specifically how good we have it as believers in 100 00:04:38,080 --> 00:04:41,040 the United States of America, where our brethren around the 101 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:44,200 world are often persecuted in countries that we don't often 102 00:04:44,200 --> 00:04:46,160 think of. Where are there those who will 103 00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:48,200 walk great distances to go to church? 104 00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:50,040 No, I didn't say drive 5 great distances. 105 00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:53,240 They will walk great distances knowing the Lord's Day is really 106 00:04:53,240 --> 00:04:56,080 just for going to church. And when the pastor preaches, 107 00:04:56,080 --> 00:04:57,480 they hope he doesn't preach for an hour. 108 00:04:57,600 --> 00:04:59,920 They hope he preaches for two hours or for three hours. 109 00:04:59,920 --> 00:05:01,800 And some of you are saying, is that going to happen here 110 00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:02,720 tonight? Who knows? 111 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:04,200 It's warm. Who knows how long I can go 112 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:06,800 tonight, right? But the idea is this, when they 113 00:05:06,800 --> 00:05:09,400 get into the House of God, they are not trying to get back out 114 00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:11,400 of the House of God. They're trying to see what they 115 00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:14,520 can get out of their time being in the House of God. 116 00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:16,720 And they knew it took them an hour or two to get to church. 117 00:05:16,720 --> 00:05:18,800 It'll take them an hour or two to get back home, maybe in the 118 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:20,120 dark. So while they're there, they 119 00:05:20,120 --> 00:05:23,560 want to hear more of the word. And here in America we don't 120 00:05:23,560 --> 00:05:25,680 often deal with that the same way. 121 00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:28,960 But we're supposed to endure hardness as soldiers of Jesus 122 00:05:28,960 --> 00:05:31,680 Christ, good soldiers, mind you, verse 4. 123 00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:35,200 No man that woreth entangled himself with the affairs of this 124 00:05:35,200 --> 00:05:38,240 life that he may please him who have chosen him to be a soldier 125 00:05:38,240 --> 00:05:41,360 in verse 4 gives us a bit of the secret here, gives us a little 126 00:05:41,360 --> 00:05:44,560 bit of the secret sauce, if you will, of the spiritual life. 127 00:05:44,720 --> 00:05:47,560 If you want to make sure that you stay on the path that you 128 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:50,920 need to be on, well, you better be be aware and you better be 129 00:05:50,920 --> 00:05:53,880 engaged in spiritual warfare if you want to stay out of the 130 00:05:53,880 --> 00:05:57,160 traps that Satan sets for you. And by the way, he is very good 131 00:05:57,160 --> 00:05:58,800 at setting traps for us, isn't he? 132 00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:01,960 He sets traps in the mind. He sets traps physically. 133 00:06:02,080 --> 00:06:04,640 He sets traps in many hosts of different ways. 134 00:06:04,800 --> 00:06:07,320 But if you want to stay out of trouble, you need to be active 135 00:06:07,320 --> 00:06:10,560 and engaged in the fight for spiritual warfare. 136 00:06:10,680 --> 00:06:12,320 Why? So you can please yourself. 137 00:06:12,320 --> 00:06:14,840 And we talked about this morning, forget the issue of 138 00:06:14,840 --> 00:06:17,240 pleasing ourselves. What does it say that he may 139 00:06:17,240 --> 00:06:20,000 please him who has chosen him to be a soldier. 140 00:06:20,120 --> 00:06:21,560 You say, well, I don't want to be a soldier. 141 00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:24,960 Bad news man, if you're saved, guess what, you're a foot 142 00:06:24,960 --> 00:06:28,120 soldier for Jesus Christ. He has chosen you to be a 143 00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:31,480 soldier and again, he will make you victorious in the fight. 144 00:06:31,480 --> 00:06:34,040 So we're going to go ahead and have a word of prayer this 145 00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:37,720 evening and go ahead and as that bit of introductory to get us 146 00:06:37,720 --> 00:06:41,240 into our message, but let's have a word of prayer and then we'll 147 00:06:41,240 --> 00:06:44,360 continue with these other six items of the practicality of 148 00:06:44,360 --> 00:06:46,720 spiritual warfare. Heavenly Father, I do thank you 149 00:06:46,720 --> 00:06:49,280 for this evening and I thank you for all that you have done. 150 00:06:49,880 --> 00:06:52,120 They do pray that you would just be with us in the word. 151 00:06:52,200 --> 00:06:55,400 I pray that there's something here, something that's been said 152 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:58,200 the last few weeks that would just be very, very helpful to 153 00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:02,680 someone who may be on the edge, someone who may be experiencing 154 00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:05,000 some difficulty or maybe about to be experiencing some 155 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:06,160 difficulty. They don't even know it. 156 00:07:06,680 --> 00:07:08,520 There's something they can take from these lessons, these 157 00:07:08,520 --> 00:07:11,320 sermons that they can put away in their mind and pull out at 158 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:12,960 just the right time, be able to be a help. 159 00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:15,920 Lord, thank you for your word. And I pray to you, bless, as we 160 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:18,760 continue this evening. And we ask it in Jesus name, 161 00:07:19,280 --> 00:07:21,800 Amen. Well #7 this evening, as we 162 00:07:21,800 --> 00:07:24,840 continue with the six items that I just gave you a few moments 163 00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:27,360 ago in review #7 again, if you're writing these down, and I 164 00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:30,760 encourage you to do so #7 shore up your defenses. 165 00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:33,960 Shore up your defenses. That's one of the real keys of 166 00:07:33,960 --> 00:07:36,400 spiritual warfare. Listen, what are your weak 167 00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:37,600 points? Points when it comes to 168 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:39,760 temptation? What are your weak points when 169 00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:43,160 it comes to spiritual warfare? You say I don't know what they 170 00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:44,960 are. If that's the case, I got bad 171 00:07:44,960 --> 00:07:46,760 news for you. Satan knows what they are. 172 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:49,840 Satan's very aware of what your weak points are and he is 173 00:07:49,840 --> 00:07:52,600 constantly looking for the places in which to attack. 174 00:07:52,600 --> 00:07:55,600 Listen, if you don't know what your weaknesses are, you need to 175 00:07:55,600 --> 00:07:58,560 take some time in meditation, you take some time in prayer and 176 00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:01,760 truly consider those triggers. Truly consider those things that 177 00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:04,920 Satan can tempt you with and start to make a little bit of a 178 00:08:04,920 --> 00:08:07,320 battle plan. Start to be able to pile some 179 00:08:07,320 --> 00:08:10,200 things together to understand where he's going to attack and 180 00:08:10,200 --> 00:08:13,000 how you are going to counterattack when those times 181 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:15,080 come. Listen, we need to be wise about 182 00:08:15,080 --> 00:08:18,080 these things. Matthew 1016, Behold, I sent you 183 00:08:18,080 --> 00:08:20,040 forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. 184 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:23,840 Be there for wise as serpents and harmless as doves. 185 00:08:24,120 --> 00:08:27,600 The idea for us is that we had a better be wise as a serpent, but 186 00:08:27,600 --> 00:08:30,760 at the same time we are not to be harmful like the serpent, but 187 00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:34,679 rather harmless as a dove. Build standards in your life 188 00:08:34,679 --> 00:08:39,400 like bulwarks against these difficult areas when you know 189 00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:41,600 there's some places that need fortification. 190 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:45,080 Well, what would someone do back in the days when there needed to 191 00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:48,720 be fortified cities differently obviously, than today because of 192 00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:51,320 all the aerial warfare and different things like that, 193 00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:55,320 although the certainly there are still some similarities. 194 00:08:55,320 --> 00:08:57,640 But what would they do in those times when really warfare was 195 00:08:57,640 --> 00:08:59,560 hand to hand and those types of things? 196 00:08:59,560 --> 00:09:01,680 They would take the bulwarks and they would have to strengthen 197 00:09:01,680 --> 00:09:03,040 them. They would have to find the weak 198 00:09:03,040 --> 00:09:05,880 spots and they'd have to put more soldiers there or put more 199 00:09:05,880 --> 00:09:08,560 earthworks there or build stronger walls there. 200 00:09:08,560 --> 00:09:10,280 These are the things that they would do. 201 00:09:10,520 --> 00:09:13,880 Listen, if you have weak points in your wall of defense, you 202 00:09:13,880 --> 00:09:15,680 know what you need to do. You need to build them up. 203 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:18,520 You need to find ways the Lord will help you to be able to 204 00:09:18,520 --> 00:09:21,960 build up your defense. You might need to shore up your, 205 00:09:22,880 --> 00:09:26,320 your, your standards or your, your areas because of your life 206 00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:29,480 situation or because of a particular temptation. 207 00:09:29,640 --> 00:09:32,080 So it could be your life situation has caused some 208 00:09:32,520 --> 00:09:35,440 difficulties that you need to be guarded against, or it could 209 00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:37,960 just be some very particular temptations that you have in 210 00:09:37,960 --> 00:09:40,640 your life because these are the ones that Satan likes to deal 211 00:09:40,640 --> 00:09:42,680 with with you. Whatever they are, you do need 212 00:09:42,680 --> 00:09:45,280 to have some protection. And the best way for us to be 213 00:09:45,280 --> 00:09:47,800 able to do that is through biblical standards. 214 00:09:47,800 --> 00:09:50,960 Now listen, when I say the word standards, people's eyes start 215 00:09:50,960 --> 00:09:52,520 glazing over. They start thinking the 216 00:09:52,720 --> 00:09:56,240 Pharisees and things like that. No, no, I'm not talking about 217 00:09:56,240 --> 00:09:59,200 creating rules that the Bible does not talk about. 218 00:09:59,360 --> 00:10:02,440 We see what the word of God says is what we're to do that we are 219 00:10:02,440 --> 00:10:05,680 not to be like the Pharisees, that oral law, the Talmud where 220 00:10:05,680 --> 00:10:08,280 they just started creating laws out of thin air and expected 221 00:10:08,280 --> 00:10:11,240 everyone to live by them. But listen, only a fool would 222 00:10:11,240 --> 00:10:14,320 not live their Christian life without having some personal 223 00:10:14,320 --> 00:10:16,840 standards without understanding that there's some areas of 224 00:10:16,840 --> 00:10:19,080 temptation. There's an areas of weakness in 225 00:10:19,080 --> 00:10:21,960 my life and because of that, I'm going to make sure that I've 226 00:10:21,960 --> 00:10:24,400 done what I, I can to shore up my defenses. 227 00:10:24,400 --> 00:10:28,360 Listen, having standards is not a sign of weakness. 228 00:10:28,560 --> 00:10:30,320 It's actually a sign of spiritual strength. 229 00:10:30,600 --> 00:10:33,760 It means this, you recognize the areas you're weak, you recognize 230 00:10:33,760 --> 00:10:36,040 the areas you're deficient. And instead of arrogantly 231 00:10:36,040 --> 00:10:38,760 saying, well, nothing's going to hurt me, No, you say, well, 232 00:10:38,760 --> 00:10:42,080 there's some things that I need to do above and beyond because I 233 00:10:42,080 --> 00:10:45,680 know that if I get myself in a certain situation, if I get 234 00:10:45,680 --> 00:10:49,320 myself into these types of issues, listen, I need to have 235 00:10:49,320 --> 00:10:52,560 these standards in my life. It was a few years ago when and 236 00:10:52,560 --> 00:10:55,520 Vice President Mike Pence had just become vice president that 237 00:10:55,520 --> 00:10:59,040 some of you might remember he was openly mocked by people 238 00:10:59,040 --> 00:11:02,280 because he had made the stand both as governor of Indiana and 239 00:11:02,280 --> 00:11:04,440 then also as vice president that he was not going to be in a 240 00:11:04,440 --> 00:11:08,400 meeting alone with a woman. That was a standard that he had. 241 00:11:08,480 --> 00:11:11,400 Do you see book, chapter and verse where the Bible says if 242 00:11:11,400 --> 00:11:14,840 you are alone with a woman, you know, there's nothing that says 243 00:11:14,840 --> 00:11:17,560 in the word of God to do that. But is that a prudent standard? 244 00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:20,440 Certainly. So it could be not just because 245 00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:22,560 he was given to temptation that area. 246 00:11:22,560 --> 00:11:26,040 It could just be that in his very real place of power, he 247 00:11:26,040 --> 00:11:28,760 knew that it could be very simple for someone to come in 248 00:11:28,760 --> 00:11:31,160 and make a false accusation. Can I help you with something 249 00:11:31,160 --> 00:11:33,600 this evening? I don't meet with a woman alone 250 00:11:33,600 --> 00:11:36,720 in my office by myself. If there's a woman that is of 251 00:11:36,720 --> 00:11:41,640 any age near mine, even close to mine, at mine or below, unless 252 00:11:41,640 --> 00:11:45,280 someone could be my mother or my grandmother, you know what I do? 253 00:11:45,960 --> 00:11:48,440 I meet with my wife there. Why? 254 00:11:48,440 --> 00:11:52,000 Because it's important that I have some level of standard 255 00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:53,640 there. Because I'm afraid of myself. 256 00:11:53,640 --> 00:11:56,240 No, I just want to make sure that I'm doing right and it's 257 00:11:56,240 --> 00:11:58,280 not something I have to think about when the time comes. 258 00:11:58,280 --> 00:11:59,880 It's just it's always my standard. 259 00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:03,240 If you're a woman and I'm a man and we're alone, we're not going 260 00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:05,200 to be alone. That's just the way that it is. 261 00:12:05,440 --> 00:12:07,320 That that's, as you say, well, how does that work? 262 00:12:07,320 --> 00:12:09,320 No, we're just not going to be, that's the way that it's going 263 00:12:09,320 --> 00:12:12,080 to be. You know, there are all types of 264 00:12:12,080 --> 00:12:13,920 other standards. We have gotten to the place 265 00:12:13,920 --> 00:12:16,760 where we are. So the smartphone is so 266 00:12:16,880 --> 00:12:19,480 ubiquitous. It's it's everywhere is what I'm 267 00:12:19,480 --> 00:12:23,040 trying to say, that we feel like we have to have these with us 268 00:12:23,040 --> 00:12:24,800 all the time. Listen, smartphones aren't for 269 00:12:24,800 --> 00:12:27,080 everybody. The fact that you could be able 270 00:12:27,080 --> 00:12:29,840 to look up almost anything in the world at any moment at any 271 00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:32,200 given time, listen, that's a power that I don't know as we as 272 00:12:32,200 --> 00:12:33,600 humanity ought to be able to have. 273 00:12:34,840 --> 00:12:36,760 And it's caused a lot more problems of things that it's 274 00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:38,880 helped. It could be that maybe you don't 275 00:12:38,880 --> 00:12:40,760 need a smartphone. Why am I going to live without a 276 00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:42,440 smartphone? Maybe that you need to live 277 00:12:42,440 --> 00:12:44,880 without a smartphone. Or maybe that you need to 278 00:12:44,880 --> 00:12:47,720 restrict what you can do on your smartphone and give an 279 00:12:47,720 --> 00:12:49,720 accountability partner the password to your phone. 280 00:12:49,880 --> 00:12:52,520 So you can't download apps, you can't delete apps, those kind of 281 00:12:52,520 --> 00:12:54,600 things. You say that's crazy to be able 282 00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:56,920 to think like that. Well, it could just be you need 283 00:12:56,920 --> 00:12:59,960 some standards in your life to make sure that you're doing what 284 00:12:59,960 --> 00:13:01,720 you need to do. It could be that maybe having a 285 00:13:01,720 --> 00:13:03,320 television in your home is not such a great thing. 286 00:13:03,840 --> 00:13:06,080 Now, listen, I know that when you have a phone, basically have 287 00:13:06,080 --> 00:13:07,960 a television your home right from your phone, isn't it? 288 00:13:08,120 --> 00:13:10,440 That's the way that it can be. But these are things that you 289 00:13:10,440 --> 00:13:12,240 need to think about and these are things that you need to be 290 00:13:12,240 --> 00:13:14,280 praying about. And it could be something small. 291 00:13:14,280 --> 00:13:16,680 They could be something large. It could be that if you have a 292 00:13:16,680 --> 00:13:19,280 difficulty with alcohol that you're not going to go to a 293 00:13:19,280 --> 00:13:21,920 restaurant that serves alcohol. That could just be what you do. 294 00:13:22,160 --> 00:13:24,480 Our family, we don't drink alcohol because we believe what 295 00:13:24,480 --> 00:13:27,360 the Bible says about staying away from alcohol and not being 296 00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:29,600 deceived by alcohol. But there are certain 297 00:13:29,600 --> 00:13:31,680 restaurants that we go to that does serve alcohol. 298 00:13:31,680 --> 00:13:34,320 I'm not sitting at the bar, but it doesn't bother me to be able 299 00:13:34,320 --> 00:13:37,160 to be in the same building as where it is if I'm in a 300 00:13:37,160 --> 00:13:38,720 different location in the building. 301 00:13:38,920 --> 00:13:41,800 But listen, there's some people. That's not a good thing and you 302 00:13:41,800 --> 00:13:45,080 know what you need to do. Don't feel bad that you have 303 00:13:45,080 --> 00:13:46,600 made a decision of a stand in your life. 304 00:13:46,600 --> 00:13:48,400 I'm not going to eat somewhere. And by the way, if there is 305 00:13:48,400 --> 00:13:50,800 somebody that you know that has that standard, don't mock them. 306 00:13:51,400 --> 00:13:53,040 Don't make fun of them. Say, oh, come on, what's the 307 00:13:53,040 --> 00:13:55,280 matter with you? I really want to go to the 99. 308 00:13:55,280 --> 00:13:56,800 Listen, nobody wants to go to the 99. 309 00:13:56,840 --> 00:13:59,400 OK, That's no, that's not true. I like the 99. 310 00:13:59,760 --> 00:14:01,480 But just say don't, don't do that, all right? 311 00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:04,080 Don't make fun of somebody else because their standards are 312 00:14:04,080 --> 00:14:07,120 different than yours. And by the way, don't try to 313 00:14:07,120 --> 00:14:09,720 look down upon other people if your standards are higher than 314 00:14:09,720 --> 00:14:12,080 theirs, All right? We're not talking about what the 315 00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:14,280 Bible says. We're talking about principles 316 00:14:14,280 --> 00:14:16,920 and precepts. Principles rather, that are an 317 00:14:16,960 --> 00:14:20,200 outflow of what the Bible says. So be careful about that. 318 00:14:20,360 --> 00:14:23,800 Standards aren't a sign of weakness, but rather a sign of 319 00:14:23,800 --> 00:14:26,520 strength, as long as they're held in the proper place. 320 00:14:26,520 --> 00:14:32,120 So #7 shore up your defenses #8 be aware of dangerous 321 00:14:32,120 --> 00:14:35,160 situations. Be aware of dangerous 322 00:14:35,360 --> 00:14:40,480 situations, and I know I just mentioned one of them as a man 323 00:14:40,480 --> 00:14:42,920 to be alone with a woman, that's a dangerous situation. 324 00:14:42,920 --> 00:14:46,360 But I'm talking about even far beyond that as well. 325 00:14:47,120 --> 00:14:49,000 There's an acronym that I've heard of before. 326 00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:51,520 I'm not the one who made this up, just to be very clear about 327 00:14:51,520 --> 00:14:53,960 this, but I've heard it before and I've used it in teaching. 328 00:14:53,960 --> 00:14:56,760 I've used it in preaching, and it's the acronym HALT. 329 00:14:56,840 --> 00:15:01,320 HALT. It means this hungry, angry, 330 00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:06,120 lonely and tired, hungry, angry and I would even put with the a 331 00:15:06,120 --> 00:15:07,880 angry, I would put anxious as well. 332 00:15:08,200 --> 00:15:11,120 Hungry, angry or anxious, lonely and tired. 333 00:15:11,120 --> 00:15:14,680 Meaning this you better be careful in your decision making. 334 00:15:14,920 --> 00:15:18,760 When you're hungry, you're angry, you're lonely and you're 335 00:15:18,760 --> 00:15:20,320 tired. Listen, we know this. 336 00:15:20,320 --> 00:15:22,200 What do we tell everybody when it talks about? 337 00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:23,880 We talk about going to the grocery store. 338 00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:26,160 Don't go when you're hungry. Why? 339 00:15:26,360 --> 00:15:29,920 Because $100 bill at the grocery store, which you know $100 now 340 00:15:29,920 --> 00:15:32,240 buys you like, you know, 3 loaves of bread and some milk. 341 00:15:32,240 --> 00:15:35,280 I have something like that. I don't know, but $100 tab could 342 00:15:35,280 --> 00:15:38,720 end up being a $250 tab because you went in hungry. 343 00:15:38,720 --> 00:15:41,360 I made some bad decisions. You got home and you realized I 344 00:15:41,360 --> 00:15:43,520 don't need half this stuff. I don't even like half this 345 00:15:43,520 --> 00:15:45,120 stuff, but I bought it because I was hungry. 346 00:15:45,440 --> 00:15:47,520 Listen, when you're angry, you make bad decisions. 347 00:15:47,520 --> 00:15:49,640 You said Nah, that's not true. Are you for real? 348 00:15:49,640 --> 00:15:50,960 You're going to argue with me about that? 349 00:15:51,520 --> 00:15:54,160 We know that when we're angry, we make bad decisions. 350 00:15:54,280 --> 00:15:58,640 You know what road rage is? It's people who are angry making 351 00:15:58,640 --> 00:16:00,560 bad decisions, you know. Hey, you know what's a great 352 00:16:00,560 --> 00:16:03,320 idea while you're driving to put your car and park in the middle 353 00:16:03,320 --> 00:16:05,480 of the street and get out and start yelling at somebody? 354 00:16:05,480 --> 00:16:08,000 That's a great idea, right? Well, in the moment it is 355 00:16:08,000 --> 00:16:11,400 because you're angry. But when you calm down and cool 356 00:16:11,400 --> 00:16:13,680 down, you think, what on earth was I thinking? 357 00:16:13,880 --> 00:16:16,160 Why would I say that? Why would I yell at somebody? 358 00:16:16,160 --> 00:16:18,920 Why would I gesture that way? No, no, this is not the way of 359 00:16:18,920 --> 00:16:22,400 believers to act and to talk and to compose themselves. 360 00:16:22,400 --> 00:16:24,800 You, you're angry. You're making a bad decision 361 00:16:24,920 --> 00:16:26,320 when you're lonely. Listen. 362 00:16:27,120 --> 00:16:31,040 A mind that is alone is a mind that can be dangerous. 363 00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:34,680 Listen when you are alone, when you have a lot of alone time. 364 00:16:34,880 --> 00:16:37,720 Could I encourage you find something to do with your alone 365 00:16:37,720 --> 00:16:39,240 time. Exercise. 366 00:16:39,440 --> 00:16:41,000 Find something to do with your alone time. 367 00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:44,040 Listen or watch good preaching, good documentaries. 368 00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:47,600 Try to learn something, try to learn a new language, download 369 00:16:47,600 --> 00:16:49,440 an app and do something like that. 370 00:16:49,600 --> 00:16:52,240 Fix something, buy something and build it. 371 00:16:52,680 --> 00:16:54,520 Do anything like that. That will be healthy. 372 00:16:54,520 --> 00:16:58,040 But when you're lonely, listen. A lonely mind is the devil's 373 00:16:58,040 --> 00:17:01,560 workshop, and he will love to be able to tell you all these 374 00:17:01,560 --> 00:17:03,600 different things. If you're lonely, text someone 375 00:17:03,600 --> 00:17:04,800 else. Tell him you're praying for him. 376 00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:06,880 And by the way, if you text someone and tell him they're 377 00:17:06,880 --> 00:17:08,240 praying for him, here's something you ought to do. 378 00:17:08,760 --> 00:17:11,160 Pray for him. Don't just tell him you don't 379 00:17:11,160 --> 00:17:12,400 pray for him and don't pray for him. 380 00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:14,560 All right, I'm kind of lonely, so I'm just going to text a 381 00:17:14,560 --> 00:17:15,800 bunch of people, tell him I pray for him. 382 00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:17,640 Well, you better have a lot of time to pray for him then, 383 00:17:17,640 --> 00:17:19,839 because you're going to. You already wrote the check, all 384 00:17:19,839 --> 00:17:21,200 right? You need to sign it and you need 385 00:17:21,200 --> 00:17:22,640 to cash it. All right, That's what needs to 386 00:17:22,640 --> 00:17:24,440 happen. Don't just say you're going to, 387 00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:26,480 you need to do it and then tired. 388 00:17:26,480 --> 00:17:29,320 How many times have we made just poor decisions because we're 389 00:17:29,320 --> 00:17:31,160 sleepy? Poor decisions because maybe 390 00:17:31,160 --> 00:17:36,080 we're emotionally exhausted just because we may have been slept, 391 00:17:36,080 --> 00:17:38,920 but we haven't truly rested. You know, they say that you can 392 00:17:39,040 --> 00:17:41,960 sleep, but doesn't mean that you're necessarily going to 393 00:17:41,960 --> 00:17:43,680 rest. And boy, that's the truth, isn't 394 00:17:43,680 --> 00:17:45,400 it? That you can get sleep from a 395 00:17:45,400 --> 00:17:47,200 bottle, but you can't necessarily get rest from a 396 00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:48,880 bottle. Where does rest really come 397 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:51,200 from? Rest comes from the Lord for the 398 00:17:51,200 --> 00:17:53,560 heart of the believer. And so when you're hungry, 399 00:17:53,560 --> 00:17:55,840 you're angry, you're lonely, you're tired. 400 00:17:56,000 --> 00:18:00,800 Listen, you can make some very, very poor decisions, James 114 401 00:18:00,920 --> 00:18:04,920 but every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust 402 00:18:05,240 --> 00:18:06,840 and enticed. Be careful. 403 00:18:06,840 --> 00:18:09,960 This is what Satan wants to do. He wants to take you away from 404 00:18:09,960 --> 00:18:11,720 that which is good and that which is right. 405 00:18:11,920 --> 00:18:14,840 In those times when your defenses are down and get you to 406 00:18:14,840 --> 00:18:19,120 make a very, very poor decision. Be aware of these dangerous 407 00:18:19,120 --> 00:18:22,880 situations and listen. Don't be so naive to put 408 00:18:22,880 --> 00:18:25,600 yourself in a dangerous situation because you feel like, 409 00:18:25,800 --> 00:18:27,840 well, it's not like it's going to be a problem anyway. 410 00:18:28,080 --> 00:18:30,320 Can I give you an example that here at Liberty Baptist Church, 411 00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:32,840 we never have one person counting the offerings. 412 00:18:33,040 --> 00:18:35,840 We have never since the very beginning had one person 413 00:18:35,840 --> 00:18:38,120 counting the offerings. It was always me and someone 414 00:18:38,120 --> 00:18:39,960 else. And now over time, we have 415 00:18:39,960 --> 00:18:42,480 anywhere from two to three different people who can count, 416 00:18:42,480 --> 00:18:45,680 of which I am not one of them. You know why we do that? 417 00:18:46,080 --> 00:18:49,760 It's not because necessarily we are thinking that every single 418 00:18:49,760 --> 00:18:52,600 person that counts, at any moment, they could steal all the 419 00:18:52,600 --> 00:18:54,520 money. Although certainly I've been in 420 00:18:54,520 --> 00:18:57,200 a church, I've told you before, where someone did steal of the 421 00:18:57,200 --> 00:18:59,240 offerings. And it is a very real thing. 422 00:18:59,640 --> 00:19:03,560 I want to make sure that no one is in a situation in which they 423 00:19:03,560 --> 00:19:07,480 could be accused of a of a mispropriety and there be no one 424 00:19:07,480 --> 00:19:09,720 there to be able to give them an alibi. 425 00:19:10,240 --> 00:19:12,920 That's a dangerous situation. Once you get yourself in a place 426 00:19:13,120 --> 00:19:16,040 where literally no one can say that, no, that's not what they 427 00:19:16,040 --> 00:19:17,480 were doing. I could be alone. 428 00:19:17,520 --> 00:19:19,640 Can I be honestly, I could be alone with the money here at the 429 00:19:19,640 --> 00:19:21,160 church and not be tempted at all. 430 00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:23,680 Listen, I'm not worried about stealing your money. 431 00:19:23,680 --> 00:19:25,040 I'm not. That's the Lord's money. 432 00:19:25,040 --> 00:19:26,920 Are you kidding me? I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to 433 00:19:26,920 --> 00:19:28,800 make it out of the building without a lightning bolt coming 434 00:19:28,800 --> 00:19:31,480 down from heaven and striking me or worse. 435 00:19:31,880 --> 00:19:33,840 I'm not going to do that. I have no temptation. 436 00:19:34,160 --> 00:19:36,640 But what would happen if someone says I see pastor alone with the 437 00:19:36,640 --> 00:19:39,560 money all the time? I bet something's up with that. 438 00:19:40,120 --> 00:19:42,080 Would I have any way to say that's not true? 439 00:19:42,320 --> 00:19:44,240 I wouldn't, because I'm by myself. 440 00:19:44,520 --> 00:19:47,240 Listen, be careful of dangerous situations. 441 00:19:47,480 --> 00:19:50,600 The worst of accusations aren't even necessarily always the ones 442 00:19:50,920 --> 00:19:53,560 that are true. They're the ones that you can't 443 00:19:53,560 --> 00:19:56,680 refute because you've gotten yourself in a situation you 444 00:19:56,680 --> 00:20:00,960 ought not to be in. So avoid dangerous situations #9 445 00:20:01,280 --> 00:20:03,440 know this. You're on duty 24 hours a day. 446 00:20:04,280 --> 00:20:08,000 You were on duty 24 hours a day. Remember, we've looked at all of 447 00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:11,600 these verses about warfare, being a soldier, the armor of 448 00:20:11,600 --> 00:20:13,320 God. We've looked at these week after 449 00:20:13,320 --> 00:20:15,720 week. The military themes here are 450 00:20:15,720 --> 00:20:19,160 very, very easy for us to be able to understand whether we 451 00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:21,040 have been in the military or not. 452 00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:24,400 And listen, there are times of rest and relaxation in the 453 00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:27,360 Christian life. Even Jesus said to the disciples 454 00:20:27,560 --> 00:20:29,720 that we need to come apart and rest for a while. 455 00:20:29,720 --> 00:20:32,360 Although after he said that there was another burst of 456 00:20:32,360 --> 00:20:36,120 ministry that they got put into. But yet the theory or rather the 457 00:20:36,360 --> 00:20:40,200 the principle there is right that we need to come apart 458 00:20:40,520 --> 00:20:43,000 before we get torn apart. That's what we need to do. 459 00:20:43,160 --> 00:20:45,280 There are times when we need rest or relaxation. 460 00:20:45,280 --> 00:20:47,560 That's why it's important. I think as a pastor, take those 461 00:20:47,560 --> 00:20:50,960 vacations with my family or to have a day during the week where 462 00:20:50,960 --> 00:20:53,880 I am just a family man unless there's an emergency or 463 00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:55,600 something like that. Again, understanding that 464 00:20:55,840 --> 00:20:58,200 because I think it's important to make sure that I'm rested and 465 00:20:58,200 --> 00:21:01,120 recharged so I can be what I need to be for you all when the 466 00:21:01,120 --> 00:21:04,160 time comes. But I will say this, even in our 467 00:21:04,280 --> 00:21:07,560 times of rest and relaxation, listen, really, we're always on 468 00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:09,480 duty. Just as the same way as I'm a 469 00:21:09,480 --> 00:21:13,080 pastor, I can't say that certain times I'm clocking out. 470 00:21:13,280 --> 00:21:15,240 You know, on Friday. It would have been great on my 471 00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:16,840 day off. Remember I said that the offices 472 00:21:16,840 --> 00:21:18,800 would be closed Thursday, Friday, and Saturday? 473 00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:20,680 Guess where I was on Friday and Saturday? 474 00:21:20,840 --> 00:21:21,920 Here. You know why? 475 00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:24,360 Because I want us to have heat in the building on Sunday. 476 00:21:24,920 --> 00:21:26,520 I want to have electricity in the building on Sunday. 477 00:21:26,520 --> 00:21:28,400 To be honest, that's what I was thinking of in the first place. 478 00:21:28,920 --> 00:21:32,000 There was not an opportunity for me to clock out and say, well, 479 00:21:32,280 --> 00:21:33,560 I'll let someone else deal with it. 480 00:21:33,560 --> 00:21:35,320 Why? Because it's who I am. 481 00:21:35,320 --> 00:21:38,280 I'm a pastor and my family understands this and it's okay. 482 00:21:38,480 --> 00:21:40,560 And I try to compensate on the other side of it, so they 483 00:21:40,560 --> 00:21:42,600 understand that family is a priority as well. 484 00:21:42,600 --> 00:21:45,760 Because without having my family being what it needs to be, I 485 00:21:45,760 --> 00:21:47,240 can't be a pastor the way I need to be. 486 00:21:47,240 --> 00:21:50,680 Because having a family being what it ought to be is one of 487 00:21:50,680 --> 00:21:54,840 the requirements of a preacher In First Timothy chapter #3 But 488 00:21:54,840 --> 00:21:57,920 in saying that, listen, in the same way, just as I'm always a 489 00:21:57,920 --> 00:22:00,320 pastor, I'm also always a Christian. 490 00:22:01,120 --> 00:22:03,800 And you're always a Christian. You never get to tap out of 491 00:22:03,800 --> 00:22:06,920 being a Christian. You never get to say, hey today, 492 00:22:07,480 --> 00:22:08,640 I'm not going to act like a Christian. 493 00:22:08,840 --> 00:22:11,000 You know why? It's OK, Today is not a 494 00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:13,560 Christian day. But five days out of the week is 495 00:22:13,560 --> 00:22:16,080 fine. 40 hours a week. Being a Christian is fine, but 496 00:22:16,080 --> 00:22:19,200 not listen, it is 24 hours a day. 497 00:22:20,320 --> 00:22:24,120 I imagine in a war zone where soldiers would be, that there 498 00:22:24,120 --> 00:22:26,120 are times when soldiers do need to rest. 499 00:22:26,120 --> 00:22:28,400 There are times that they can't be out there on the front lines 500 00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:30,680 24 hours a day. But could you imagine some of 501 00:22:30,680 --> 00:22:34,400 them being in the barracks and an attack taking place and all 502 00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:37,440 of a sudden someone came to the barracks, said, guys, everyone 503 00:22:37,560 --> 00:22:40,040 get your weapon. Get out there on the front line. 504 00:22:40,040 --> 00:22:41,640 You're needed. And all of a sudden there's an 505 00:22:41,640 --> 00:22:43,640 uprising in the barracks and they say, are you kidding me? 506 00:22:43,920 --> 00:22:47,480 We're off right now. It's not time for us. 507 00:22:47,480 --> 00:22:50,520 Dave's laughing in the back. All right, hey, hey, Doc, we're 508 00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:52,800 not going out there. We've got we got at least 509 00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:55,120 another three hours before we're back on the lines. 510 00:22:55,120 --> 00:22:57,360 Somebody would say, are you insane? 511 00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:00,160 If you don't get out there, you may be dead. 512 00:23:00,560 --> 00:23:02,640 Everybody get your weapon and get out there. 513 00:23:02,800 --> 00:23:04,600 You may think you're off, but you're on. 514 00:23:04,640 --> 00:23:06,160 You know why? Because you're a soldier. 515 00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:10,680 And for us as believers, there's nowhere where the Bible says 516 00:23:10,680 --> 00:23:12,280 that Satan attacks us from 9:00 to 5:00. 517 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:15,560 In fact, as I just mentioned to you, it seems that Satan tries 518 00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:18,200 to attack us when we're out of our routine and when we were 519 00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:22,440 unregulated in our emotions or in our physicality or any of 520 00:23:22,440 --> 00:23:24,200 those things. This is when he loves to attack. 521 00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:28,120 So I'm saying is this, you are always on 24 hours a day. 522 00:23:28,440 --> 00:23:31,600 As a believer, you're always aware that there will be times 523 00:23:31,760 --> 00:23:34,960 when Satan will want to attack when you're alone, when you're 524 00:23:34,960 --> 00:23:37,600 awake at night, when you're on vacation, when you're taking a 525 00:23:37,600 --> 00:23:39,520 day off, when you're far from home. 526 00:23:39,720 --> 00:23:42,160 These are not the times to let your guard down. 527 00:23:42,160 --> 00:23:45,280 In fact, recognize that because you're out of your normal 528 00:23:45,280 --> 00:23:48,920 routine, Satan may be even more likely to attack you during 529 00:23:48,920 --> 00:23:52,320 those times because he likes to get you in a place where you are 530 00:23:52,320 --> 00:23:56,760 not thinking that things are are are that spiritual warfare is a 531 00:23:56,760 --> 00:23:59,880 reality in your life. Don't let him lull you to sleep. 532 00:23:59,880 --> 00:24:06,400 You are always on #10 Listen, don't go it alone #10 do not go 533 00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:09,040 it alone. A term that's often used for the 534 00:24:09,040 --> 00:24:10,680 military is something along these lines. 535 00:24:10,680 --> 00:24:14,560 A band of brothers, and to be able to see the camaraderie, to 536 00:24:14,560 --> 00:24:17,400 be able to see the closeness that veterans have that the 537 00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:19,800 military has isn't an incredible thing. 538 00:24:19,800 --> 00:24:22,080 And I've just been a party to just seeing a little bit of it 539 00:24:22,560 --> 00:24:26,160 from the outside, being invited in by some of our veterans here 540 00:24:26,160 --> 00:24:28,640 over the years at Liberty Baptist Church and particularly 541 00:24:28,920 --> 00:24:30,840 our brother Dave. But I will tell you this, 542 00:24:30,840 --> 00:24:33,720 there's a camaraderie and a closeness that the band of 543 00:24:33,720 --> 00:24:36,800 brothers will have ancestors that lasts for a lifetime. 544 00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:39,280 To be able to know there's someone that you serve with 545 00:24:39,280 --> 00:24:41,160 that's in need years and years later. 546 00:24:41,160 --> 00:24:44,440 Maybe someone's you didn't serve with, but you served in the same 547 00:24:45,440 --> 00:24:48,280 with the same branch or even just serving for the same 548 00:24:48,280 --> 00:24:49,880 country. There is something, there's a 549 00:24:49,880 --> 00:24:53,680 closeness there that I, I don't know that I can even properly 550 00:24:53,960 --> 00:24:55,960 explain because I don't understand it. 551 00:24:56,320 --> 00:24:58,880 I was taking Brother Abel's. Of course, you remember Brother 552 00:24:58,880 --> 00:25:01,360 Abel's here a few weeks ago, served in the United States Air 553 00:25:01,360 --> 00:25:05,160 Force before he left the Air Force and went into the 554 00:25:05,160 --> 00:25:07,880 ministry. But I was with him at Mansfield. 555 00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:10,480 We were getting ready to go on the train to go into Boston. 556 00:25:10,480 --> 00:25:13,760 He was talking to a gentleman and it was a veteran's day, I 557 00:25:13,760 --> 00:25:15,920 believe that day or the day before, somewhere along those 558 00:25:15,920 --> 00:25:18,520 lines. And he saw a man start talking 559 00:25:18,520 --> 00:25:20,880 to him. And they both had served in the 560 00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:22,960 Air Force. And these men have never met 561 00:25:22,960 --> 00:25:25,280 each other in their life. And you know what They left 562 00:25:25,480 --> 00:25:28,520 being, you know, friends be able to talk and to be able to 563 00:25:28,520 --> 00:25:30,920 exchange ideas and thoughts. And I'm just kind of standing 564 00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:32,840 there just kind of like, Yep, OK, I don't really know what 565 00:25:32,840 --> 00:25:33,880 you're talking about, but that's all right. 566 00:25:33,880 --> 00:25:35,920 You know, because they're they're giving letters like, you 567 00:25:35,920 --> 00:25:38,040 know, your PT seven O 6. They're like, Oh yeah, you know, 568 00:25:38,080 --> 00:25:43,600 I put a form FI7O2 like I, you know, like I don't know what you 569 00:25:43,600 --> 00:25:45,520 guys are talking about, but you seem like you're having a good 570 00:25:45,520 --> 00:25:48,080 time. Can I tell you, the only thing 571 00:25:48,080 --> 00:25:50,560 that I can think of that would be closer than something like 572 00:25:50,560 --> 00:25:53,560 that should be the closeness that we have as believers. 573 00:25:54,400 --> 00:25:56,280 The closeness that we have. And I'm not trying to equate 574 00:25:56,280 --> 00:25:58,920 what we are compared to the military because some of our 575 00:25:58,920 --> 00:26:01,520 military friends and family, they are believers. 576 00:26:01,800 --> 00:26:04,520 But I'm trying to tell you this, that we are a band of brothers 577 00:26:04,520 --> 00:26:07,400 and sisters in Christ as well. Don't go it alone. 578 00:26:07,640 --> 00:26:10,840 Satan wants to isolate. Satan wants to make you ashamed. 579 00:26:11,160 --> 00:26:14,280 Listen, there should be the space here at Liberty Baptist 580 00:26:14,280 --> 00:26:17,600 Church where someone can openly talk about the sin that they're 581 00:26:17,600 --> 00:26:21,320 dealing with and that brothers and sisters in Christ can help 582 00:26:21,320 --> 00:26:25,880 them, can pray for them, extend grace and also to extend a 583 00:26:25,880 --> 00:26:27,320 helping hand when they're in need. 584 00:26:27,720 --> 00:26:29,800 Now, I know that we don't want to say the deepest, darkest 585 00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:32,040 things that are within us and there's probably some prudence 586 00:26:32,040 --> 00:26:33,880 to that, isn't there? I know there's some 587 00:26:33,880 --> 00:26:36,520 appropriateness to that, that sometimes there's some things 588 00:26:36,520 --> 00:26:39,240 that men should only say to men and not in mixed company and 589 00:26:39,240 --> 00:26:41,600 ladies should only share with ladies and, and not in mixed 590 00:26:41,600 --> 00:26:43,200 company. I understand that. 591 00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:44,960 I'm not trying to diminish that whatsoever. 592 00:26:45,160 --> 00:26:48,280 But I will say this as you struggle and as I struggle just 593 00:26:48,280 --> 00:26:51,080 to be able to be more like Christ and we have some very 594 00:26:51,080 --> 00:26:53,640 particular struggles. You should be able to call one 595 00:26:53,640 --> 00:26:55,680 of your brothers on the phone, men, ladies. 596 00:26:55,680 --> 00:26:57,520 You should be able to text one of the other ladies in the 597 00:26:57,520 --> 00:26:59,480 church and to be able to let them know where you're 598 00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:03,800 struggling and have them pray for you and pray with you and to 599 00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:06,320 talk you through it and to give you counsel and to give you 600 00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:09,080 advice and to give you guidance. And you'd say, well, Pastor, I 601 00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:11,680 don't even know what I would do if somebody called me and talk 602 00:27:11,680 --> 00:27:13,560 to me like that. Well, I would tell you the best 603 00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:15,640 thing that you could do is to be like 1 of Job's friends. 604 00:27:16,120 --> 00:27:17,800 You say, weren't those the really bad guys? 605 00:27:17,800 --> 00:27:19,840 I mean, they didn't seem very helpful to him. 606 00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:23,000 Well, as I always say, Job's friends were the most helpful 607 00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:25,840 the first week when they sat there with him and said nothing. 608 00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:29,560 Once they started talking, they showed how foolish they were. 609 00:27:29,760 --> 00:27:31,240 You want to be like 1 of Job's friends? 610 00:27:31,240 --> 00:27:33,720 Here's what you do When someone comes to you and talks to you 611 00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:35,240 about some need. Just do a whole lot more 612 00:27:35,240 --> 00:27:37,760 listening than talking. You just listen to them. 613 00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:39,560 Pray for them. Maybe even say something like 614 00:27:39,560 --> 00:27:40,480 this. I don't even know how to help 615 00:27:40,480 --> 00:27:41,400 you. I'm gonna be honest with you. 616 00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:44,040 I don't even know how to unwrap what you just told me, but I'm 617 00:27:44,040 --> 00:27:46,080 gonna pray with you. I'm gonna pray that the Lord 618 00:27:46,080 --> 00:27:48,160 gives you wisdom. You can never go wrong with 619 00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:51,600 James 15. If any man lack wisdom, let him 620 00:27:51,600 --> 00:27:54,520 ask of God. If any man lack wisdom, that's 621 00:27:54,520 --> 00:27:56,720 all of us. We don't have all the wisdom we 622 00:27:56,720 --> 00:27:58,840 need. Ask of God, guess what, He will 623 00:27:58,840 --> 00:28:01,960 give it to you liberally. The Bible says He will upgrade 624 00:28:01,960 --> 00:28:05,200 you, not He won't chastise you for asking for help. 625 00:28:05,560 --> 00:28:08,360 And so as you ask on behalf of someone else, and maybe someone 626 00:28:08,360 --> 00:28:10,960 else asks on behalf of you, listen, there's a strengthening 627 00:28:10,960 --> 00:28:13,240 that takes place. And I'm thankful that our church 628 00:28:13,360 --> 00:28:16,240 has shown itself over the years to be a place of grace. 629 00:28:16,440 --> 00:28:19,600 Yes, when sin needs to be taken care of, it is taken care of. 630 00:28:19,600 --> 00:28:23,040 But when someone truly repents, when someone wants to get right 631 00:28:23,040 --> 00:28:26,080 with the Lord, that this church does not push them off, but 632 00:28:26,080 --> 00:28:29,400 rather puts arms of love, love around them, and says this, we 633 00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:32,720 are going to help you get right with the Lord, because there 634 00:28:32,720 --> 00:28:35,480 will be a time when you will hope that people will act the 635 00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:39,040 same way towards you. Ecclesiastes 4 verses 9 through 636 00:28:39,040 --> 00:28:42,320 12/2 are better than one because they have a good reward for 637 00:28:42,320 --> 00:28:44,640 their labor. For if they fall, the one will 638 00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:47,360 lift up his fellow. But woe to him that is alone 639 00:28:47,360 --> 00:28:50,920 when he falleth, for he hath not another to help him up again. 640 00:28:50,920 --> 00:28:54,200 If two lie together, then they have heat, but how can one be 641 00:28:54,200 --> 00:28:57,000 warm alone? And if one prevail against him, 642 00:28:57,200 --> 00:29:00,640 two shall shall withstand him. And a three fold cord is not 643 00:29:00,640 --> 00:29:03,240 quickly broken. I always look at my friend David 644 00:29:03,240 --> 00:29:05,560 Corley. He was just here in June for our 645 00:29:05,560 --> 00:29:09,040 20th anniversary of ministry. And my friend David Corley is 646 00:29:09,040 --> 00:29:12,200 that other friend that I have. He's the one since the 8th 647 00:29:12,200 --> 00:29:13,600 grade. We graduated high school 648 00:29:13,600 --> 00:29:15,320 together. We graduated college together. 649 00:29:15,480 --> 00:29:18,360 He just celebrated 20 years of ministry all at the same church, 650 00:29:18,360 --> 00:29:20,560 being the pastor just a couple months ago. 651 00:29:20,760 --> 00:29:23,360 And I look at him as someone that when I have a struggle, 652 00:29:23,360 --> 00:29:25,560 when I have a difficulty, when I just need something, when I need 653 00:29:25,560 --> 00:29:29,440 to complain, that he'll listen. Now he may rebuke me when I'm 654 00:29:29,440 --> 00:29:32,080 done for complaining, he'll do it in love, but he'll tell me 655 00:29:32,080 --> 00:29:34,640 what I need to hear, not what I want to hear. 656 00:29:35,160 --> 00:29:37,480 And everyone needs to have a friend in their life that tells 657 00:29:37,480 --> 00:29:40,680 them not what they want to hear, but what they need to hear. 658 00:29:40,720 --> 00:29:44,560 But then even then, doing it in love and kindness and godliness, 659 00:29:44,560 --> 00:29:49,040 speaking the truth in love. Don't go it alone #11 be a 660 00:29:49,040 --> 00:29:52,480 joyful warrior. Be a joyful warrior. 661 00:29:52,480 --> 00:29:56,680 Nehemiah 810 says the joy of the Lord is your strength. 662 00:29:56,800 --> 00:30:01,040 Listen, it's easy to get grizzled and bitter in the 663 00:30:01,040 --> 00:30:03,040 battle. Can I tell you, I've seen a lot 664 00:30:03,040 --> 00:30:04,920 of pastors that are older than I am. 665 00:30:05,520 --> 00:30:07,080 They've been in the battle a long time. 666 00:30:07,360 --> 00:30:08,800 They've dealt with a lot of stuff. 667 00:30:09,320 --> 00:30:12,360 And can I tell you, they get pretty bitter about the whole 668 00:30:12,560 --> 00:30:15,480 ministry thing? I've heard pastors say something 669 00:30:15,480 --> 00:30:16,720 like this. I've seen it all. 670 00:30:17,000 --> 00:30:20,240 And listen, there are times when I feel like I've seen it all, 671 00:30:20,240 --> 00:30:21,440 but then someone always shows me. 672 00:30:21,480 --> 00:30:24,880 I guess I haven't seen it all. You know what, I may have seen 673 00:30:24,880 --> 00:30:26,800 it all. Even if I have seen it all, I 674 00:30:26,800 --> 00:30:29,960 haven't seen everyone and I don't know everyone's heart. 675 00:30:30,560 --> 00:30:33,280 I, I've met different people and I, I would say that there's 676 00:30:33,280 --> 00:30:36,560 probably maybe 10 or 15 different characters, if you 677 00:30:36,560 --> 00:30:38,280 will, that you could find at any given church. 678 00:30:38,280 --> 00:30:41,000 You, you probably could say something along that line, maybe 679 00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:43,160 not characters, but characteristics, if you would, 680 00:30:43,360 --> 00:30:46,160 that you can find at any church. But I will say, even then I have 681 00:30:46,160 --> 00:30:47,760 to take each person as an individual. 682 00:30:48,560 --> 00:30:50,880 And you know what, I just don't want to be someone that's been 683 00:30:50,880 --> 00:30:55,880 in the ministry for twenty, 30-40 years and just get so old 684 00:30:55,880 --> 00:30:59,400 and bitter about things that really he's not only good for 685 00:30:59,400 --> 00:31:02,160 anything, but you know, there's a lot of Christians that get 686 00:31:02,160 --> 00:31:04,920 that way too. Just get tired with the fight. 687 00:31:05,520 --> 00:31:07,040 They get tired of the struggle. They're flesh. 688 00:31:07,040 --> 00:31:09,760 In fact, maybe they get tired of losing in their flesh and they 689 00:31:09,840 --> 00:31:11,960 just get to the place was like, well, what good is this even 690 00:31:11,960 --> 00:31:13,920 anyway? I try to do right for a few 691 00:31:13,920 --> 00:31:17,240 weeks and I just go right back to the same things I hear about 692 00:31:17,240 --> 00:31:19,440 revival, but I've never experienced revival before. 693 00:31:19,720 --> 00:31:22,080 It seems like other people are so much further ahead in the 694 00:31:22,080 --> 00:31:24,040 church than I am. Like, what's even the point? 695 00:31:24,040 --> 00:31:26,640 What am I even doing here? And you get so down, you get so 696 00:31:26,640 --> 00:31:28,560 discouraged. Listen in the fight. 697 00:31:28,560 --> 00:31:31,960 Don't lose your joy in the fight. 698 00:31:31,960 --> 00:31:36,280 Don't lose that bedrock joy that you have from Christ. 699 00:31:36,520 --> 00:31:39,000 Don't let any of the fighting diminish the joy. 700 00:31:39,200 --> 00:31:42,200 In fact, joy is a help in the fight. 701 00:31:42,200 --> 00:31:44,600 Listen, when you are down, discouraged and depressed, you 702 00:31:44,600 --> 00:31:46,800 don't want to fight. When you were down and 703 00:31:46,800 --> 00:31:47,960 discouraged and depressed, you know what? 704 00:31:48,200 --> 00:31:50,120 You know what I want to do? I want to get another carton of 705 00:31:50,120 --> 00:31:50,960 ice cream. That's what I want. 706 00:31:50,960 --> 00:31:53,320 When I'm down and discouraged or depressed, you know it's not 707 00:31:53,320 --> 00:31:55,200 going to help me, but it's going to feel good for about 30 708 00:31:55,200 --> 00:31:57,080 minutes and it's going to feel bad for about the next six 709 00:31:57,080 --> 00:31:59,560 hours, especially if it's at midnight when I ate it, you know 710 00:31:59,560 --> 00:32:01,880 what I'm saying? But this is what the world tells 711 00:32:01,880 --> 00:32:03,640 us. It's like you need that short 712 00:32:03,640 --> 00:32:05,920 little dopamine hit and everything will be feel better 713 00:32:06,120 --> 00:32:08,520 and you get that dopamine hit wherever you get it from. 714 00:32:08,720 --> 00:32:12,280 Listen, it can come from a bottle, it can come from a video 715 00:32:12,280 --> 00:32:15,720 or a photograph. It can come from a food, It can 716 00:32:15,720 --> 00:32:19,360 come even from things that aren't necessarily bad, but they 717 00:32:19,360 --> 00:32:21,640 have been taken into indulgence, like food. 718 00:32:22,640 --> 00:32:25,760 But listen, there's no joy to be found in those things. 719 00:32:25,760 --> 00:32:28,360 The joy of the Lord is our strength. 720 00:32:28,800 --> 00:32:32,480 Many warriors are broken by what they've seen, by what they've 721 00:32:32,480 --> 00:32:35,120 experienced. But our warfare is different. 722 00:32:35,640 --> 00:32:38,920 The more we war and the more victories we have, the more 723 00:32:38,920 --> 00:32:41,920 joyful we should become as Christians. 724 00:32:41,920 --> 00:32:44,080 The older we get in the Lord, the more joyful we should be. 725 00:32:44,120 --> 00:32:46,000 We should get say, well, things are getting worse. 726 00:32:46,200 --> 00:32:48,280 I can't give you a better example than Samuel. 727 00:32:49,040 --> 00:32:51,400 Samuel went through ministry and life. 728 00:32:52,240 --> 00:32:55,360 In many ways it would have seemed that he was a failure. 729 00:32:55,960 --> 00:32:58,840 His sons were not worthy to take over his judgeship. 730 00:32:59,160 --> 00:33:02,440 The Bible makes that clear. The people didn't want him 731 00:33:02,440 --> 00:33:04,680 anymore. In fact, they didn't just reject 732 00:33:04,680 --> 00:33:08,880 Samuel, they rejected the entire theocracy that God had set up 733 00:33:08,880 --> 00:33:11,960 all the way back from the wilderness 300 plus years ago. 734 00:33:12,400 --> 00:33:15,160 And they said what? They said, give us a king so 735 00:33:15,160 --> 00:33:17,000 that we can be like the other nations. 736 00:33:17,480 --> 00:33:21,360 It was a total rejection of him and of his family. 737 00:33:21,720 --> 00:33:23,440 But what did Samuel do at the end? 738 00:33:23,440 --> 00:33:26,040 He says, but I'll do what you say. 739 00:33:26,080 --> 00:33:28,400 I'll seek the Lord first. But I want you to know I'm going 740 00:33:28,400 --> 00:33:30,680 to pray for you. I'm going to help you. 741 00:33:31,120 --> 00:33:33,960 I'm going to do what I can. Samuel in his very end where it 742 00:33:33,960 --> 00:33:36,960 seemed like he was being rejected, still said this. 743 00:33:37,320 --> 00:33:40,360 They may be sour on me, but I'm not going to get sour on them 744 00:33:40,680 --> 00:33:43,720 because the Lord is too good for me to have that posture in my 745 00:33:43,720 --> 00:33:46,160 life. Listen, be a joyful warrior. 746 00:33:46,360 --> 00:33:49,240 And #12 and finally, listen, remember this, you're always 747 00:33:49,240 --> 00:33:52,360 going to be a soldier. You will always be a soldier. 748 00:33:52,360 --> 00:33:55,480 I remember the very first time I looked at my pastor, Pastor Pert 749 00:33:55,480 --> 00:33:58,080 back at Westgate, who served in the Marines for a few years 750 00:33:58,080 --> 00:34:01,120 before he went to into full time ministry. 751 00:34:01,120 --> 00:34:03,760 But I remember saying something to him about being an ex Marine 752 00:34:04,560 --> 00:34:07,600 and he looked at me and he straightened up in a way that I 753 00:34:07,600 --> 00:34:09,239 hadn't really seen him straighten up before. 754 00:34:09,520 --> 00:34:12,040 And he said there are no ex Marines. 755 00:34:13,000 --> 00:34:14,480 And I thought, well, but you're not a Marine. 756 00:34:14,480 --> 00:34:19,159 He says there are no ex Marines. And I kind of thought like, 757 00:34:19,760 --> 00:34:22,120 well, calm down man, like you, you're not a Marine anymore, you 758 00:34:22,120 --> 00:34:25,600 know what I'm saying? But his idea was as not original 759 00:34:25,600 --> 00:34:28,199 to him, by the way, that when you're a Marine, you're a Marine 760 00:34:28,199 --> 00:34:30,520 for life. That's the way that you're 761 00:34:30,520 --> 00:34:34,760 regarded amongst the brethren of the Marines, that when you are 762 00:34:34,760 --> 00:34:37,320 one, you are always 1. And that's the way that it is. 763 00:34:37,320 --> 00:34:41,520 You know, when I look at us as soldiers, you're always going to 764 00:34:41,520 --> 00:34:44,159 be a soldier. There will never be a time that 765 00:34:44,159 --> 00:34:46,760 you won't be a soldier. You're a soldier The day you got 766 00:34:46,760 --> 00:34:49,320 saved, you got put into the battle. 767 00:34:50,120 --> 00:34:51,520 You'll be a soldier through your life. 768 00:34:52,760 --> 00:34:56,360 And I would say to some of us who are younger than others, you 769 00:34:56,360 --> 00:34:58,480 might even look at those who are elder and say, I can't wait to 770 00:34:58,480 --> 00:35:00,760 get to that age and I won't, I won't fight anymore. 771 00:35:01,280 --> 00:35:03,920 And those who are elders say this is the fight ever going to 772 00:35:03,920 --> 00:35:06,520 end because it never ends, does it? 773 00:35:06,520 --> 00:35:10,200 In fact, it'll never end till you get to glory and you're with 774 00:35:10,200 --> 00:35:12,440 the Lord and the perfection that is heaven. 775 00:35:12,640 --> 00:35:15,240 It'll never end. But until that time, guess what? 776 00:35:15,640 --> 00:35:19,280 You're always a soldier. I think of seeing some of those 777 00:35:19,560 --> 00:35:22,400 soldiers, including here in our church, those who have served. 778 00:35:22,760 --> 00:35:26,040 And when you see them in their dress uniform, you know, when I 779 00:35:26,040 --> 00:35:28,240 see when I see someone in the military in the dress uniform, 780 00:35:28,240 --> 00:35:31,040 it almost makes me wish that, you know, I was in the military. 781 00:35:31,040 --> 00:35:34,240 You know, that I, I, because I look at that, it's so admirable 782 00:35:34,560 --> 00:35:38,240 because each one of those medals aren't just little trinkets. 783 00:35:38,840 --> 00:35:43,960 They represent someone or something or somewhere, every 784 00:35:43,960 --> 00:35:47,000 last one of them. And when you see a chest full of 785 00:35:47,000 --> 00:35:51,640 medals, you see someone, you say, man, that's meaningful. 786 00:35:52,240 --> 00:35:54,400 You know, we get to heaven. We're not going to get a chest 787 00:35:54,400 --> 00:35:56,880 of medals, but you know we will have. 788 00:35:57,360 --> 00:35:59,600 We'll have our works tried by fire at the great, at the 789 00:35:59,600 --> 00:36:02,480 judgment seat of Christ. Some will be wood, hay and 790 00:36:02,480 --> 00:36:05,400 stubble. Some will be gold, silver and 791 00:36:05,400 --> 00:36:08,960 precious stone. That's that's your medals that 792 00:36:08,960 --> 00:36:12,840 you'll receive. I've done military funerals 793 00:36:12,840 --> 00:36:15,640 before, and you've been here long enough, many of you. 794 00:36:16,320 --> 00:36:18,920 I'm not a weeper. I don't cry very much. 795 00:36:19,240 --> 00:36:22,760 I can probably count on very few occasions where I've actually 796 00:36:22,760 --> 00:36:25,800 openly wept. It's not that I think it's 797 00:36:25,800 --> 00:36:27,960 shameful for a man to cry or anything like that. 798 00:36:27,960 --> 00:36:30,720 In fact, I think that's a a really awful thing that often 799 00:36:30,720 --> 00:36:33,560 times men buy into. But the idea is that my tear 800 00:36:33,560 --> 00:36:35,480 ducts don't work like that. OK, I'm not saying that. 801 00:36:35,480 --> 00:36:38,200 I'm not, you know, I'm just, I'm so happy that I don't cry. 802 00:36:38,200 --> 00:36:39,640 No, no. It's just that doesn't seem like 803 00:36:39,640 --> 00:36:43,040 it squeezes out of my eyes very often, but it does happen. 804 00:36:43,800 --> 00:36:46,640 I'll tell you, one of the things that does bring tears to my 805 00:36:46,640 --> 00:36:48,920 eyes, and I've done this probably a dozen times over the 806 00:36:48,920 --> 00:36:52,720 years as a pastor, is any time I do a military funeral. 807 00:36:53,680 --> 00:36:55,800 Often times the military funerals I do are for people I 808 00:36:55,800 --> 00:36:59,000 don't know. It's usually for men and women 809 00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:02,600 who died here in our town or in this general area who don't have 810 00:37:02,600 --> 00:37:05,920 a pastor. And I get the call and I go and 811 00:37:05,920 --> 00:37:09,160 I help the family. But there's never been a time 812 00:37:09,920 --> 00:37:11,680 where I stand there and do what I do. 813 00:37:12,200 --> 00:37:17,720 And then they take that flag off the coffin and they fold it in 814 00:37:17,720 --> 00:37:20,480 the very particular way that only the military can fold it, 815 00:37:21,360 --> 00:37:25,760 and with such precision and with such care. 816 00:37:26,600 --> 00:37:31,760 They take that and they hand it to the widow or the widower and 817 00:37:31,760 --> 00:37:35,040 say that on the behalf of the United States of America, that 818 00:37:35,040 --> 00:37:39,560 we mourn your loss. And then what really gets me is 819 00:37:39,560 --> 00:37:45,560 when they play taps every single time, because I didn't know that 820 00:37:45,560 --> 00:37:47,920 person. I didn't know that man or that 821 00:37:47,920 --> 00:37:51,880 woman, but what that song represents is this. 822 00:37:52,400 --> 00:37:57,480 The fight's done, the fight's over, you're at rest. 823 00:37:58,440 --> 00:37:59,920 Now. We don't know spiritually if 824 00:37:59,920 --> 00:38:02,600 they're at rest or not, but you understand, just physically 825 00:38:02,600 --> 00:38:07,360 speaking, they are at rest. We don't get taps at the end of 826 00:38:07,360 --> 00:38:12,000 our lives, soldiers, but we do want to get this well done, thou 827 00:38:12,000 --> 00:38:15,120 good and faithful servant. That's what we're aiming for is 828 00:38:15,120 --> 00:38:18,080 soldiers of Christ, you know, not necessarily someone playing 829 00:38:18,080 --> 00:38:21,760 the trumpet, not necessarily someone playing some instrument, 830 00:38:22,360 --> 00:38:25,160 not a chest of medals or a flag that's folded up that we can put 831 00:38:25,160 --> 00:38:29,520 on a shelf or put into a case. You know, we want our Lord and 832 00:38:29,520 --> 00:38:32,520 Savior to be able to say, well done, thou good and faithful 833 00:38:32,520 --> 00:38:34,040 servant. How does that happen? 834 00:38:34,600 --> 00:38:36,880 Well, it happens by warring a good warfare. 835 00:38:37,640 --> 00:38:40,640 It happens by practically putting into place the things 836 00:38:40,800 --> 00:38:44,040 that we find in the Word of God. It doesn't make you weak. 837 00:38:44,080 --> 00:38:47,720 It's a sign of strength that you recognize that you have a weak 838 00:38:47,720 --> 00:38:51,840 flesh, but that God has given you the tools to be strong in a 839 00:38:51,840 --> 00:38:55,400 wicked, wicked world. Fight the good fight of faith. 840 00:38:56,200 --> 00:38:58,880 Thank you for listening to the sermon from the pulpit of 841 00:38:58,880 --> 00:39:01,760 Liberty Baptist Church. If this message was a blessing 842 00:39:01,760 --> 00:39:05,240 to you, or if there's any way we can serve you, please let us 843 00:39:05,240 --> 00:39:09,840 know by contacting us at info@mylibertybaptist.org. 844 00:39:10,120 --> 00:39:14,640 Or you can visit us this Sunday at 800 Washington St. in Easton, 845 00:39:14,640 --> 00:39:17,480 MA. May the Lord bless you as you 846 00:39:17,480 --> 00:39:18,680 grow in His Word.