Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Turn with me, will you, to the Book of Acts, chapter eight, as we continue our series on the highly flammable church. I believe that God started the church with a group of people that were set on fire for Jesus. And it's that fire that has traveled the globe. It's that fire that has changed lives. It's that fire that transforms communities. And God is looking not for a tame, weak, dry church today, but he's looking for a church that's on fire for him. And as we continue this series, let's look at Acts chapter eight. I'm going to read twice as much as we're going to look at today because the second half is going to be next week's topic, but let's look at it together. Acts eight, verse one.
[00:00:49] Saul agreed with putting him to death.
[00:00:54] Who's? Him. That's Stephen in the previous chapter, who we know as the first Christian martyr, the first person who died for believing in Jesus.
[00:01:04] Saul agreed with putting him to death. On that day, a severe persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the land of Judea and Samaria. Devout men buried Stephen and mourned deeply over him. Saul, however, was ravaging the church. He would enter house after house, dragging off men and women and put them in prison.
[00:01:37] So those who were scattered went on their way, preaching the word. Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah to them. The crowds were all paying attention to what Philip said, and as they listened and saw the signs he was performing for unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice came out of many who were possessed and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. So there was great joy in that city.
[00:02:09] What an incredible amount of activity we read in those eight verses from verse four to eight. We're going to look at that next week particularly. We're going to look at unclean spirits, demons deliverance, being set free, how to live and walk in freedom. A lot of our life groups are going to be looking at freedom in Christ in the months ahead, and we're going to look at what that means. Can Christians have demons? How do you get free from them? How do you help other people to get free? We're going to look at that next week. That's a little bit of a cliffhanger to get you back.
[00:02:45] But this week we're going to look at a fairly sobering topic.
[00:02:50] We're going to look at this character. That's the first name in this chapter.
[00:02:59] It's pretty significant that the very first word in this chapter was the name of a person and this person was an enemy of the church. It says Saul.
[00:03:14] We're first introduced to Paul in the previous chapter.
[00:03:17] We are told in chapter seven, verse 58, these words, they dragged him out of the city. That's Stephen again. And they began to stone him.
[00:03:30] And the witnesses laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.
[00:03:38] That's the first introduction we have to this man. That later, and we look at future chapters, had an incredible miraculous experience and came to faith in Jesus and ended up being a significant part of the Gospel spreading around the world. That's for another day. But here what we've just read in chapter eight that Paul is ravaging the church. He wasn't just the keeper of the coats, he wasn't just looking after the handbags while they stoned Stephen. He was a schemer behind this. He was ravaging.
[00:04:15] It would be like the equivalent of someone breaking into our church database, getting all of your names and your addresses, arriving at your home, breaking down your door and dragging you out, forcing you into the back of a van and taking you to the local prison after roughing you up a little bit. This is what was happening in this early church.
[00:04:43] Paul, who had later become Paul Saul, was ravaging the church. He was an enemy of the church. And we look forward to the next chapter, chapter nine, where we see that this wasn't a momentary thing with Saul's life. It says in the next chapter now, saul was still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. I remember seeing a poster on the church I grew up in and it said, if someone arrested you for being a follower of Jesus, would there be enough evidence to convict you?
[00:05:22] Here? The people of God were being pursued and chased because of their faith in Jesus alone.
[00:05:31] The church was being ravaged.
[00:05:34] Now, you and I have all faced at some time in our life, enemies.
[00:05:44] There will be when I mention that word, there will be some of you who that will have people come to mind that feel like they've been your nemesis, feel like they've been your opposition, they've been ravaging your life, they have been hurting you. Or maybe they're people that maybe don't quite fit into the category of enemy, but they're people that you feel suspicious of.
[00:06:08] Enemies are a part of life.
[00:06:13] And I love that the Bible doesn't skirt around difficult issues because this is not a rah, rah sermon today. This is a preparation for the strength of God to be so present in your life and my life that nothing will be able to take away what the Lord is doing.
[00:06:35] Because some of us, when we get a whisper of an enemy, we run for cover and God says, no, I have strength for you, I have life for you.
[00:06:51] And the Bible doesn't skirt away from the topic of enemies. It gives us things that we need to do with enemies.
[00:07:02] Let's look at them together.
[00:07:04] Matthew's Gospel Chapter five. The words of Jesus in verse 44 say these words, but I tell you, love your enemies.
[00:07:18] Oh, that person that came to mind when I mentioned the word enemy earlier on somehow is now maybe taking on a different complexion.
[00:07:26] Love your enemies.
[00:07:29] Then let's look at a way that we can respond as well, in order not to agitate or retaliate against our enemies. In Proverbs 15, verse one, it says these words a gentle answer turns away anger, but a harsh word stirs up wrath.
[00:07:54] I see a perpetual cycle of anger and hurt and angst in our society where people, they carry on upping the ante with one another until it can go no further.
[00:08:10] There's such an anger around in the world, there's such a short fuse in people's lives.
[00:08:17] And maybe I remember once in a supermarket, just trying to get the trolley through the door and it just clipped this guy on the back of the ankle. And he turned around to me and he said, I'm going to I can't say what he said, but he was angry. I knew he was angry.
[00:08:37] And what was it that made him angry? It didn't hurt him, it was just a little clip of the end of the trolley. It wasn't a major issue, but he was already angry. He was already his fuse was already lit. And we live in that sort of world where there's a lot of people whose fuses are already lit. And the Bible says, if we can bring a gentle answer to people if I'd gone to him and said, hey, mate, what do you think you're doing talking to me like that?
[00:09:10] He's a big guy. Actually, I didn't fancy my chances.
[00:09:14] My sons were a bit shorter in those days and couldn't get them on the case.
[00:09:20] Hey, mate, I'm really sorry, there was an accident. I'm really sorry, so sorry.
[00:09:25] And it did what it says here. A gentle answer turns away anger, but a harsh word stirs up wrath. What else do we do with our enemies? Let's look back at Matthew five again, verse 44, because it says, I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Love them and pray for them.
[00:09:49] Number four, if you've struggled this far, you are going to hate this next one.
[00:09:57] Because in Luke six, this is not the ideas of rediscovered church, this is Jesus teaching. And by the way, just because you hear it and see it doesn't mean to say you're listening. Jesus often when he said tough things, he said, let those who have ears to hear, hear what the Spirit is saying. Well, please open your ears, open your hearts and stop being so arrogant and think you know better than Jesus and start listening to his words right now. Because there's a lot of sense in this. It's the key to transforming our hearts. Because what he says in Luke six, verses 27 to 28 is but I say to you who listen, are you listening?
[00:10:38] Love your enemies and do what is good to those who hate you.
[00:10:48] Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
[00:10:57] We're nothing special, but sometimes in roles of leadership, and many of you will have leadership roles in industry and work and church and other forums that you're in and university life and so on. And I believe we're all leaders. I believe all of us are leaders. We all got influence in our life. We all have people who look to us. You might sit at the back and think on a Sunday you can sort of slink back and not worship. But do you know there are people that look around the room and if everyone sort of stood bolt upright like that in the worship, it influences your worship, encourages other people, because we're all leaders. All of us are leaders. But sometimes in sort of church leadership, there are decisions you make that are not popular. There are things you need to decide on. Sometimes I need to confront people about issues in their life, and I always seek to do it lovingly and caringly and with grace. But sometimes people don't like that. And so there are people that I wouldn't be surprised if they changed their faith. They had a voodoo doll in the shape of Mark Pugh and sometimes they stick pins in it. It's just one of those things. It's okay, I don't panic about it. I don't worry about it. I like to be liked by everybody, don't you? Hands up if you don't like to be liked by everybody. And we're going to pray for you because there's something hard in your heart. We all want to be liked by everyone, okay? Nothing wrong with that. But the reality is people, not everybody will like you. And there are sometimes we have to make decisions for what's righteous, not what's popular.
[00:12:24] And over the years, there have been various places of ministry. Over the years, there have been people that have not liked decisions we've made, things we've done, and I think they've been really offended and so they've stormed off. And the first we know of it is they unfriend us on Facebook.
[00:12:45] That's the new way that people leave churches these days. They unfriend the pastor on Facebook.
[00:12:51] And I remember there was one instance where someone just really carrying all sorts of angst about something that we tried to attend to, we try to help with, but we became like the epitome of their issue. And I remember we try to love them, we try to pray for them.
[00:13:14] And then I read this one day, do good.
[00:13:17] And I felt, let's send them some flowers.
[00:13:23] Not with my name on it or our name, they'll just throw them in the bin, but let's send them anonymously just to bless them, send some flowers.
[00:13:36] And that's a decision of the will. And you think, Why would you do that? Just concentrate on those who are for you. Why would you do that? Because the scripture says while we were yet enemies of God. He died for us. He did good while we were his enemy.
[00:13:56] And what happens is Jesus is not inviting us into anything that he doesn't live.
[00:14:02] And when we live like he lives, he teaches us a depth of grace that we've never experienced before. And you see, if you want to hold on to your angst, if you want to hold on to your judgment, if you want to hold on to that sense of rightness, well, how dare they think that about me? How dare they say that about me? If you want to hold on to that, then you will be depriving yourself of learning about the depths of the grace of God. But when you open up and say, how can I bless them? How can I do? Good.
[00:14:33] I tell you what, it won't be easy. But when you do it, there will be a new openness of your heart that the spirit of the Lord will come in and he'll teach you something really rich. You will learn about how precious you are in his sight.
[00:14:49] So come on now, dig for grace. Dig the truth of what's saying here. And you can't experience this by listening to sermons. You can't experience this by being prayed for. You have to live this in order to find the reality of it.
[00:15:06] But it goes further.
[00:15:08] Jesus goes further. In Matthew six, verse 14, he says, for if you forgive people their wrongdoing, your Heavenly Father will forgive you as well.
[00:15:22] We all know the story, the parable of the person who'd been forgiven of much because they had a massive debt that there was no way they could repay and they were forgiven. And then they went out from their they went out and the first thing they did with their freedom is to find someone who owed them a little bit and to demand that they pay.
[00:15:42] That is such a wonderful parable, such a wonderful true reality of you and I. We have been forgiven a debt in eternity that we would never be able to repay. None of us are here by anything other than grace in the Lord Jesus Christ that we find so rich and so free. And how dare we hold those offenses that others I'm not saying they didn't hurt you. I'm not saying that what they did wasn't wrong. But come on, out of the abundance of what's been poured into you, at least let a little bit of it flow. Now, come on. It's time to get rid of those resentments and those pains and those hurts. It's time to let go. It's time to mature up church. It's time to release people that we've been holding on to for years. It's time to start loving them, to start praying for them, to start releasing them, to start doing good things for them and to start forgiving them.
[00:16:41] Because when we do so, we discover a richer vein of grace in our life than we ever discovered before. And you cannot wait for that to happen before you do it. You choose to do it. It's a decision. And then the grace of the Lord teaches you something deeper.
[00:17:01] And then there's one more thing with your enemies. Romans twelve, verse 19 says, trust God with your enemies, friends. Do not avenge yourselves.
[00:17:13] Come on. There's no avengers in the church, no superheroes of avenging. God is the one that says, vengeance belongs to me. And this verse, it doesn't mean that we say yes. Smite them, O God.
[00:17:29] Burn them up, O God. Destroy their life for what they did to me.
[00:17:34] What it says is, god, you are the only fair judge in the universe.
[00:17:44] I trust your decisions and your ways, and I give this to your hands.
[00:17:53] And we trust God.
[00:17:58] Let's come back to Saul, the enemy of the church.
[00:18:07] When we look at the early church, we see that there were ebbs and flows.
[00:18:12] We say there were good days and there were bad days. And just a few chapters before this, there were really good days.
[00:18:18] We read that they were meeting publicly together daily, breaking bread, praying, worshipping. They were meeting regularly and seeing healings and salvations and deliverances. They were seeing all sorts of amazing things. Thousands of people were being added to their number.
[00:18:35] It was a revolution.
[00:18:37] And it says in Acts chapter two, just six chapters before this, it says, they enjoyed the favor of all the people, all of them.
[00:18:50] And here they are now being dragged out their homes into prison.
[00:18:55] Isn't that surely grounds for an inquest?
[00:18:59] What's happened?
[00:19:01] What have we done wrong? What's gone wrong? Where's the favor of God?
[00:19:06] Jesus, we get it that you're in the miracles. We get it that you're in the power. We get it that thousands are being added to the church. But come on now, God. Come on.
[00:19:18] Have you failed? Have we failed? What's going on? Do you really love us? Do you not love us?
[00:19:23] Come on, God. This is inconsistent because they'd not really seen much in this regard until this moment. Or the apostles had been arrested at times, so they knew there were enemies. But this was the first time it literally came to their homes.
[00:19:42] And remember that just a few verses previously, they were grieving the loss of their friend Stephen, this leader in their community.
[00:19:51] They were grieving the shock of seeing one of their own dying murdered, and to be consented by society around them. What that must have done to them, I can only imagine. But we read in verse two they were mourning deeply over him.
[00:20:12] But my watch, I changed the gear a little bit. I probably should have changed a bit better than that, but my watch here sometimes sends me little messages.
[00:20:22] We were walking through the rain yesterday and it came up with a little my wrist beeped and I looked at it and it said, might be worth taking a broly with you today, but if you'd sent that a few hours ago, that might have been quite helpful. But I'm in the middle of rain right now.
[00:20:39] Little bit too little too late. Like, if you can invent it, I can press a button and a broly appears. That would be super cool.
[00:20:49] But Jesus warned them that this would happen.
[00:20:52] He told them it was going to rain. He told them they needed a broly. He told them there were things that were coming that weren't all beautiful, wonderful, simple, miraculous things we read in Matthew's, Gospel, chapter five, verse eleven. Jesus said this to his disciples you are blessed when they insult you and persecute you and falsely say every kind of evil against you.
[00:21:26] Look at these last three words because of me.
[00:21:31] Let me clear something up. Just because you're a Christian and people have an issue with you doesn't mean that's persecution.
[00:21:42] You may have just been a right pig with them.
[00:21:51] Just because you attend a church and declare and sing the name of Jesus, if you park on double yellow lines on a Sunday and you leave and get a ticket, I'm sorry about that, but the clue was in the double yellow lines.
[00:22:14] It's not persecution because of your faith. Dare I say it? It's stupidity for not knowing the rules.
[00:22:26] I meet people over the years that, oh, I'm having a tough time at work because I'm a Christian. No, it's because you're not very good at your job.
[00:22:37] It's because you're really nasty to your colleagues.
[00:22:42] It's because you never share in the coffee rotor. It's because there's an arrogance about you that's not Jesus.
[00:22:53] That's not the persecution that Jesus is talking about. That means that there are areas of your life that are unyielded to the Spirit of God, that you need to lay before Him in repentance and say, lord, I need your help with this.
[00:23:08] If you see a pattern developing in your life that is unhealthy and ungodly, if you see people regularly reacting to you in a certain way, then that's an invitation for you to invite the spirit of God to change. The pattern to change the behavior, to get help to allow the liberty of Christ, the lordship of Christ to come and teach you something about the richness of his grace.
[00:23:36] He doesn't come to condemn, but he does come to liberate.
[00:23:43] And liberation involves us being free from those unhealthy patterns of behavior.
[00:23:49] So please do not say that you're being persecuted because of your folly.
[00:23:57] Jesus was talking about enemies that we gain because of Him in us and not because of us.
[00:24:08] If people are offended by our loose words, our anger, our lack of compassion, our selfishness, then I guarantee those are not the traits of Jesus.
[00:24:18] That's our uncrucified flesh, and we want to be loved and popular. Hebrews 1214 says, make every effort to live at peace with everybody. Everyone. So if there are awkward people in your workplace, the Bible gives you a mandate what to do with them.
[00:24:41] Make every effort to live at peace with them.
[00:24:45] Don't ostracize, don't exclude.
[00:24:51] Make every effort.
[00:24:53] And if you come to a place where you think there's just nothing else I can try, then maybe you fulfilled that. Because we're not going to be able to make everybody be peaceful with us.
[00:25:06] But the enemies of Jesus who is in us are offended not by our speech or our language, they are offended by the cross.
[00:25:18] One Corinthians 118 says, for the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is the power of God to us who are being saved. The cross is offensive.
[00:25:34] It tells people that they need a savior. That's offensive. If you've never accepted Jesus in your life, then I'm not going to say that it's going to be this wonderful lift. You've got to get low first and realize that you're drowning and you need help.
[00:25:53] Don't swim around in the sea thinking, oh, I hope someday I'll find an island and I'll be safe. You're not going to find it without Jesus.
[00:26:02] He puts his hand and he picks us out from the waves that are enveloping around us and he saves our souls. He is our SOS the cross is foolishness.
[00:26:17] The other thing that people are offended by in us is his righteousness.
[00:26:21] His righteousness not living our way, our lives in a judgmental way, but his righteousness just radiating through our life.
[00:26:31] People are offended by the call to repent.
[00:26:35] Lots of questions around today as to what sin is.
[00:26:39] Have the boundaries to sin changed? No, they haven't, and neither have the consequences. The Bible says for the wages of sin, even in this hyperinflation day, the wages of sin are still death.
[00:26:52] And repentance is the key to turn around from that and to put our hand into the hand of a Savior as he lifts us out of the waves and he sets our feet on a solid rock and he changes our world and changes our lives.
[00:27:07] But regarding our enemies, we love, we don't retaliate, we pray for, we do good to, we forgive, and we trust God regarding them. But a weakness of modern day Western Church is that we are desperately unprepared to have enemies.
[00:27:27] We want to live at peace. We want everybody to think well of us.
[00:27:32] We want those days where thousands are being added and the community are celebrating. The front page of the newspapers are celebrating, wow, this amazing. Seems to be some miracles happening. And we love those moments. Wow, the blessing of God falling down like rain from heaven. But we're not prepared. That when enemies spring up. It's like I don't know if you've watched any of those horrible videos that they lull you into a false sense of security. It's a quiet country lane Drive and there's some beautiful orchestrated music that's playing in the background and you're looking through the window, the dashboard of a car to all this luscious green countryside while this beautiful music is playing. And then suddenly it's been edited. So there's a ghoul of some sort that jumps onto the screen and it's the shock of it that surprises you. It's just a picture on a screen, but you weren't expecting it and the surprise shocks you. Listen, I want to just emphasize the words of Jesus. There will be enemies, there will be persecution.
[00:28:42] And we need to be not shocked and run and hide, but to be confident and strong.
[00:28:49] And I as sobering as this word is.
[00:28:53] I hope it helps prepare the disciples of Jesus to be ready.
[00:29:01] Because the Bible talks a lot about enemy. We've seen Saul introduce the first word of this chapter, but the real enemy in the Scriptures is Satan.
[00:29:11] And we see that Jesus confronted Satan numerous times and in numerous ways. We see that Jesus confronted Satan directly.
[00:29:24] Jesus was fasting for 40 days in the wilderness and Satan came three times to Jesus and tempted him.
[00:29:33] If you're the Son of God, turn these stones into bread. If you're the Son of God, then throw yourself down from this high place. If you're the Son of God, then battle and worship me and I'll give you all of this. You notice the enemy when he speaks. He usually goes for identity. He usually wants to challenge. If you're really a Christian, if you're really loved, goes for identity. And Jesus addressed Satan and it was the word of God.
[00:30:01] It is written, the power of knowing, the revelation of the word of God in your life is so powerful. And we're going to end with that in just a moment.
[00:30:09] But there was the direct approach. Now, I think a lot of us I don't think I've ever had a confrontation with Satan. And I viewed this illustration before, but I love the Smith Wigglesworth story of where he's laying in bed one night and it's dark and he senses something in his room and he opens his eyes, put the lamp on and then there's Satan at the end of the bed, satan himself at the end of bed. Smith Wigglesworth looks at Satan and says, oh, it's only you. Switches the lights off and go back to sleep. That's someone who knew who he was.
[00:30:41] Satan came to see me. It was a demon.
[00:30:44] So what greater is he that's in us than he that's in the world.
[00:30:49] Satan is not the evil twin brother of Jesus. He's a created being. He has no authority and power over the people of God.
[00:30:57] God in us all. Powerful, almighty, supreme.
[00:31:07] But I think if Satan appeared to you or I, if we were expecting it and we'd sort of deal with it in a wigglesworth sort of way, and he begins to say, you're not very good, are you? We'd say, get away from me, Satan. Get behind me, Satan. Because we're not having any of that. But a lot of the time he doesn't come directly to us, he comes through others.
[00:31:29] And it feels like it's a little less suspecting on our part.
[00:31:36] And there were times that Jesus was confronted by the enemy of Satan through people whose hearts had sinful partnership with the enemy. So, for example, Herod tried to kill all the young boys. What was it that caused him to do that? Well, on a natural sense, it was like his fear of a king being born and challenging his throne. But there was a hunger for power in his heart that was sinful. And then the enemy used that doorway of that pride in his heart to get in and give him the idea of killing all the young boys. There's a partnership, the enemy looks for those sinful doorway, partnerships in people's lives. Those could be things like greed, so on, and control and power, selfishness. But there was a third sort of expression of Satan that Jesus encountered. And we read about it in Mark's Gospel chapter eight, and it's in relation to Jesus very devout follower, Peter, his friend.
[00:32:40] And he says these words, turning around and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, get behind me, Satan.
[00:32:56] Imagine, imagine if someone after church was speaking to you and you said something and they said, get behind me, Satan.
[00:33:07] Imagine Jesus saying that.
[00:33:10] Wow, what was going on here?
[00:33:14] Well, the clue is, in the next bit, Jesus says to Peter, you are not thinking about God's concerns, but human concerns.
[00:33:26] I've seen churches split over the years, I've seen people fall out, I've seen ministries crumble.
[00:33:32] And my observations, I obviously haven't investigated all of them, but my observations, anecdotal observations are the ones I see is that somewhere beneath the fallout of all that takes place, there are people who have concerns of human issues and not heaven.
[00:33:53] Because we've all got wills, we've all got desires, we've all got wants, we've all got ideas, we've all got strategies, but that's not the issue is what does he want, what's his strategy, what's his plan, what's his will? It's not like God may my will be done, my kingdom come. It's your will be done, your kingdom come.
[00:34:12] And Peter for a moment, had his concerns about earthly things, not heavenly things. And the agenda of Satan was to infiltrate Peter's thinking and words, because he was thinking not of God's things. Colossians three two says, set your mind on things above, not on earthly things.
[00:34:36] There's a lot of discussion around discernment today. We need discernment. Discernment is a gift of the spirit. But I believe that there are far too many people who have what they call discernment. And really what they're operating out of is something fleshly that they might make judgments and opinions about things they. Might misjudge a situation or circumstance. And there's something fleshy at the very heart of it. And it's not discernment. It's just your feelings, it's your ideas, it's your manifested fears, concerns, anxieties or preferences.
[00:35:11] Spiritual discernment can only operate in our lives when our minds are set on things above, not on things on earth.
[00:35:19] Discernment doesn't come by measuring something according to our earthly experience. It comes by measuring something against God's will. And that can only happen when we are thinking on things above just quickly. In conclusion, Satan is our real enemy, whether it's direct through demons, principalities and powers, through the world, or through even other believers. And doesn't it hurt most when it comes to other believers because we're not expecting it. It feels like we're looking at that country lane through that beautiful music lens. And we come to church full of hope and expectations, full of a desire to worship God, and someone says something that just crushes you, and boy, it hurts.
[00:36:03] But we must be aware that it's the enemy of our souls. Because as it says in Ephesians six, our struggle is not against flesh and blood. It's not Peter, it's Satan that was operating behind that fleshly thought in Peter. Our wrestle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, the authorities, the powers in this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in their heavenly realms. So put on the full armor of God.
[00:36:33] Hang about, Mark. These were being dragged from their homes, weren't they? Wearing the armor of God?
[00:36:40] Yeah, they were.
[00:36:44] Because the armor of God may not stop your door being knocked down.
[00:36:51] It may not stop some challenges around the periphery of your life. It may not keep all of your possessions and belongings together.
[00:36:59] But the armor of God makes sure that there are some things eternal that will never be taken.
[00:37:04] The joy of the Lord is my strength, the peace of God which passes understanding.
[00:37:11] And there's a fragility in our walk with the Lord. If our circumstances have to be surrounded by blessing in order for us to feel loved by God, get over it. You are loved by Him whatever is taking place around you. And he brings joy and peace and righteousness in our lives. And it doesn't matter what is taking place around us if we have the armor of God. There is no one who can steal my joy. There is no one who can rob the peace of God in my life.
[00:37:43] The armor of God protects those eternal things within our life. It protects his interest, not ours.
[00:37:50] Our interest may be our homes, our jobs, our possessions, and I believe in praying for the well being of those things. But we mustn't be crushed if something happens as a curveball and think, I don't believe this God. Where are you? He's in you.
[00:38:06] He's with you.
[00:38:08] He's in the flame with you.
[00:38:11] There was a fourth person in the flame with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
[00:38:16] God is with us, and he may not stop us going into the flames, but praise God, he holds us in them.
[00:38:28] The advancement of the Gospel, the glory of the Lord filling the earth. These things will not be possible if every time we have an enemy, we direct our attention to those things rather than fix our eyes on heavenly matters.
[00:38:45] Blessed are those who are persecuted because of Him.
[00:38:53] It may rain today. You might need a coat with you.
[00:38:56] You might need a brawley. You may face persecution this week. You need to be ready.
[00:39:02] You need to be ready with your love, with your prayers, with your doing good, with your kindness, with your forgiveness.
[00:39:10] You may need that coat this week, but it's okay.
[00:39:14] You're loved Immeasurably more than you will ever fully comprehend.
[00:39:19] So whether it's a direct attack of Satan, whether it's an attack through others, whether it's an attack through others in the body of Christ, let's keep our armor on. Let's keep our discernment high. Let's keep loving, not retaliating, praying for, doing good, to forgive, in and trusting God. And finally, I'm going to put the words of a psalmist on the screen. Psalm 118, verse six.
[00:39:48] Because many of the saints through the Scriptures have experienced difficulties and persecution, and these words were not written as some nice poem or as a nice song.
[00:40:02] They were written as a revelation.
[00:40:05] The Lord is for me.
[00:40:11] In a moment, I'm going to invite us to stand and I'm going to invite us not just to read these words, I'm going to ask us to eat them.
[00:40:22] I'm going to ask us to eat these words and let them digest deep into your spirit and then to declare them, I will not be afraid. Why?
[00:40:34] Because I'm free from trouble? No. Because the Lord is for me.
[00:40:41] What can a me immortal do to me? Let's stand together, please, just before we eat and confess these words.
[00:40:54] Is there anyone in the room this morning that hasn't given their life to Jesus? They haven't put their hand up to say, S-O-S-I need your help. Bible says that you and I, we need forgiveness for the sins in our life, that we can't earn it. But Jesus died on the cross in order to pay the price for that sin. And if you will swap your mess, he will give you his goodness, his righteousness.
[00:41:16] Is there anyone this morning that would like to reach out to Jesus? If so, why don't you just lift a hand, say, God, reach out to me.
[00:41:25] Wherever you are, other people will see it and they'll cheer you and they'll say, yes, you're saved as well. Yes, you are going to discover Jesus for yourself. Is there anyone here this morning?
[00:41:37] Just put your hand I know it's a bold thing to do, but when we're in need, I'm not going to stay in an ocean that's chopping around with the waves and say, I'm not going to put my hand up. Someone's looking.
[00:41:50] It's like, if you know what's going on here, you're going to take saving, you're going to take it. Is there anyone want to reach out your hand and say, jesus, I give my life to you, just nice and high, if that's you.
[00:42:08] Hallelujah.
[00:42:11] Okay, let's pray this prayer.
[00:42:16] Say this after me, would you? The Lord is for me.
[00:42:24] Now, just let that digest in you a little bit longer. Don't just let the taste of it go. Let it permeate. Now. The Lord is for me.
[00:42:34] He's for me. He is actually for you. Zoe is for you.
[00:42:41] Jeremy, he's for you. All that you've been through in your life, he's still for you.
[00:42:47] Hallelujah.
[00:42:50] It's for you, margaret, he's for you. Isn't he? Isn't he amazing?
[00:42:58] Simon is for you.
[00:43:02] Watching online. He's for you. Come on. Let's say it together. Let's say it bold. Let's say it like, this is the biggest understanding and revelation of our life and it's going to break all of that doubt. The Lord is for me. Come on. And again, the Lord is for me. And again, the Lord is for me.
[00:43:24] And therefore I will not be afraid. Come on, declare that into your week now. Think ahead. I will not be afraid. Hallelujah.
[00:43:35] That you've been afraid of. Come on. No longer. Now. I will not be afraid. Be set free from every fear over your life that sought to intimidate you, every conspiracy of the enemy that has tried to tie you in. In the name of Jesus, I speak the liberty of God over your life. I will not be afraid.
