[Music]
today is the last sunday of the year
i think you figured that out by now
but um i want to speak to you as church
family this morning
i just want to speak to you from the
heart today
i have some notes prepared
uh that have come i would say hot off
the press
if i could put it that way
and
this season is a
i think a monumental type of season it's
of course christmas it all begins with a
pure christian
holiday holy day and that's thanksgiving
purely christian thanksgiving
celebration is 100
christian
and then of course as we just celebrated
recognizing the coming of god earth
called christmas
and then now yet again
another holy
moment is upon us and that is this week
the calendar will change
when i say a holy moment it's because
the
the calendar date that changes to 2016
again signifies that
christ has come
the very calendar that you do business
with
testifies every day of the coming of the
lord jesus christ
we often forget that
the earth the world is much more than
2016 years old
and every time you date something or
write that check or place that order
online and you put in the calendar date
you're you're announcing you're
signifying the coming of christ into the
world interesting isn't it so today i i
do not want to get into the preaching
mode if i do raise your hand and say
jack just talk to us don't go normal on
us
but i'm going to ask you this morning to
grab your bibles if you would and let's
have a time of talking through the word
and that is in john chapter 14.
john chapter 14
this morning and the the title of
today's
talk
is let not your heart be troubled
let not your heart be troubled john 14
verse 1
and listen i'm i'm tempted to read the
first three verses i'll do that
but it's john 14 1 jesus said let not
your heart be troubled you believe in
god believe also in me in my father's
house are many mansions and if it were
not so i would have told you isn't that
great word
i go to repair a place for you
and if i go and prepare a place for you
i will come again and receive you to
myself that where i am
there you may be also
this is an amazing statement because
jesus was getting ready to go back to
heaven
he tells his disciples
don't let your heart be troubled
don't let your heart go through the
shift and the
seismic
eruption of the word meaning when the
wind hits the shore or the water and
really stirs up the sea
don't be like that
in fact when he says here let not
your heart the words let not mean
which is very practical i love it the
words mean stop it
you need to maybe write that down jesus
is saying stop it
he's not denying he's not trying to
spend some positive confession on us as
a as a people
uh jesus knows our hearts get erupted by
the trauma of life and jesus says just
stop it
we're prone to
get upset like that just stop it jesus
is saying you don't need to do that
and we would counter and we would say
why not it's the end of the year and
there's a new year coming and if the new
year is anything like the old year i
don't want it
or i've had a really good new uh old
year and i don't want the new year to be
any less than my good old year
and jesus says stop it
for for this reason
let not your heart be troubled you
believe in god
believe also in me
he was about to launch his disciples
into the world without him personally
and they were going to be taking on the
role of a pilgrim
a pilgrim
when we think about the word pilgrim the
description of the pilgrim it's more
than just quaker looking people on the
east coast of america with funny hats
and a
musket
those pilgrims that landed on the east
coast of america
they were separatists they were puritans
they themselves called themselves
pilgrims and if you've ever read their
history they call themselves pilgrims
based upon hebrews chapter 11.
john robbins their pastor in leiden
holland
with william bradford
from the book of hebrews chapter 11
verse 13 assume the title upon
themselves they said we're leaving this
world and we're going into a new one and
we are going to be pilgrims
and i read this verse today and i want
you to be thinking of yourself and i
speak to this house only i speak only to
the believer this morning
as a pilgrim
and i think the fact that we're pilgrims
might be more evident the year ahead of
us than ever in our christian experience
and i mean this sincerely and seriously
hebrews 11 13 says these all died in
faith not having received the promises
but having seen them afar off were
assured of them
embrace them and confess that they were
strangers and pilgrims
on earth
the bible also tells us in first peter
chapter one when peter spoke to the
faithful he says peter an apostle of
jesus christ to the pilgrims of the
dispersion or the diaspora
it means they were on a journey they
didn't have any place to lay their heads
in this world they were christians that
were being persecuted from town to town
from country to country and peter wrote
to them again in first peter chapter 2
verse 11 the bible says beloved i beg
you as soldiers and pilgrims
abstain from fleshly lust which war
against your soul
christian of this church family of god
of this church as a pilgrim
one of the great
signs of you and i beam pilgrims is that
you and i
uh are encountering a world constantly
that wars against our soul can you
silently admit that you could agree
today the world is warring against your
soul
constantly more than ever
and as regarding pilgrims
if you've been to the east coast of the
of the united states
and you've been to some of the pilgrim
settlements when you've been to
jamestown for example
and you see how they lived
in 1607 and 1611 and 1617 and 1620
and onward how they lived
if you've been there you know that they
were amazing survivors we could not
survive like they survived
they not only came to a hostile land
but listen the only way that they
survived is that they didn't think
fashion ladies and gentlemen they didn't
think hype they thanked survival that's
how they thought
and whatever they caught they used
everything of it down to the bone
whatever they ate they ate everything
down to the bone
and they survived and that they not only
survived but they created a nation
but i speak to us as believers at this
year's end because
i feel very very serious about preparing
you for what's coming
you see jack what's coming i don't know
i don't know what's coming but it's
going to be big
don't ask me what it is i don't know but
i sense it in my gut
but listen we're pilgrims
and so as we
today really put this year behind us
being the last sunday of the year
you ever think about this i get very
sentimental at years end for this reason
i've always thought of it in my mind
that we surrender we surrender listen we
surrender this year to the annals of
history we give it to god it's done you
guys you are not going to change one
thing now about this year it's over it's
done you and i had opportunities
to do things for god that we did
we had opportunities to do things for
god this year that we didn't do
it's over there's no reclaiming it it's
done it's written god writes it down in
malachi 3 he says he records it in his
book of remembrance
it's it's done
what does that make you feel like church
what regrets do you have this year
what great encouragement you have this
year
what is it that you've learned as a
church family what did we learn this
year
we cannot let this year go away without
extracting out of it great lessons
don't let the clock vandalize or
victimize you and you press hard
headlong into a new year
without learning things of the olds
and so i want to point out a few things
that mean something to me and maybe they
mean something to you i hope
if we're going to be the pilgrims that
god would have us to be in 2016 and if
we're going to fly under the banner of
let not your heart be troubled then you
know what i think we need to think of a
few things and number one is
we need to make sure that our hearts are
not troubled in the facing increasing
hostility towards jesus christ the way
the world is going in the face of
increasing hostility you guys
toward jesus christ how many were
christians this morning just raise your
hands in all honesty if you're not don't
raise your hand
listen those of us who are christians
it's it's time now that we stop playing
games and realize the world is
absolutely anti-jesus christ
in all kinds of ways shapes and forms
and the more biblical you're going to be
this year
the more you're going to be rejected
just like jesus is rejected
many of you are going to be pressured
into giving up this year
many of you are going to be pressured to
compromise your commitment and your
understanding of the word of god this
year and i want to i want to announce
that in advance so that maybe it can cut
that
line of poison off before it hits
ephesians chapter six now look
in in john 14
i'm going to keep going back to that but
now turn to ephesians chapter 6 and you
can stay there for the rest of the day
ephesians 6
beginning at verse 10.
and remember i'm not preaching i'm not
teaching we're just talking today
okay
i am not i am not playing games with you
today i'm not i don't play games with
you any day
i tell you like it is uh warts and all
right okay
uh so a lot of what i'm telling you
about is exactly what god wanted me to
know today to get ready for this week
okay
so ephesians chapter 6 verse 10 in the
face of increasing hostility towards
jesus christ what am i to do
you see
what am i supposed to do
thank god he's not left us without a
witness
this is what we're supposed to do
verse 10 finally my brethren be strong
in the lord number one be strong in the
lord circle it
this is your marching orders for 2016.
number one be strong in the lord
and in the power of his might notice not
your power not my power his power okay
verse 11 put on number two is put on put
on the whole armor of god we're tempted
to say where is it
where do i buy it
how do i get it
show me where
listen for those of you who know where
it is you know where it is for those of
you who do not know where it is you
don't know where it is
you say well that's pretty obvious
really listen
you only know where the armaments are to
put on for this year ahead if you read
your bible
if you do not read your bible then you
don't know what i'm talking about
i love you but listen you're not going
to survive 2016
unless you're in the bible you will not
make it
sex will steal you away from your
husband or your wife
money or the temptation of it will pull
you away from
more
serious or godly commitments
pressures of this world will crush you
in 2016 unless you have a foundation in
the bible
good thing for you the chapter we're
reading
tells you all about the weaponry and the
armaments that we're to wear
he says in verse 10 that you may be able
to stand against the wiles of the devil
devil ladies and gentlemen ephesians 6
10 through 11 is all that we need to
survive 2016 if we do it there's the
instruction here for us three ways be
strong put on be able
or else we're not going to make it
remember jesus says let not your heart
be troubled
okay jesus then with what's coming
with up with what i'm going to encounter
what do i do
be strong in him
put on the whole armor of god stand
and this is how you get dressed
by the way did you see the temperature
this morning
i thought it was the great tribulation
period today
it was 29 degrees coming down here this
morning
that's that's that's godless
that's sick right you cannot grow
coconuts in that kind of weather
so what'd you do you get dressed
those pilgrims got dressed before they
went out into the elements did they not
you bundle up listen you bundle up and
you go out into the winter air do you
not
well i want to bundle you up
in the word
and get you out there
john 15 verse 18 john 15 18
jesus said if the world hates you you
know that it hated me before it hated
you isn't that awesome
you could just hear jesus say suck it up
suck it up you guys because the world
hates me
you see and jesus would say to us this
morning there is an increasing hostility
against christians because christians
love me jesus would say
if you say you're a christian you don't
love jesus guess what first john says
you're not a christian
you can say you're a christian all you
want but
that doesn't make you a christian
you're a christian if you love jesus
and if you love jesus you're gonna be
hated
and in 2016 the pressure listen like a
screw it's going to come down on you to
compromise your love for jesus so that
you can be loved by your boss
so you can be loved by your co-workers
so you can be loved by the godless
family that you and i have who pressure
you into thinking like they do
and they're not going to be happy ladies
and gentlemen until you think like they
think
and you are under attack this year to
come
you say jack are you gonna encourage us
or what i am encouraging you
i am jesus says when that happens let
not your heart be troubled
the world's going to hate us you guys
because we don't talk like the world
they're going to hate us because we
don't act like them we don't think like
them we don't love them
in their sin we love them for god loves
them
but we don't love what they do
and we're going to be hated for that
we're going to be pilgrims in 2016 for
reason number two in the face of
increasing physical demonic influences
now this is one of those points where
people in the sanctuary right now are
going to be tempted to roll their eyes
back and
that sounded funny huh
they're going to be tempted to roll
their eyes back in their head and spew
green
soup out of their mouth and i'm kidding
this is one of those things where people
go oh brother
no no brother nothing
because first of all demonic
influences do not jump out in front of
you
with furry face and fangs hanging out of
their you know with pitchforks and stuff
demonic activity we know from scripture
that it manifests itself in first first
of all in ways that are not easily
noticeable at first could be could be a
a very bizarre unexplainable rift among
husband or wife or family
are unusually indescribable things that
are going on within the church where it
makes no sense
there's no explanation for this why is
this happening
and listen one of the great
attacks of the enemy spiritually in the
demonic realm is to get you to not
believe them i told you a couple weeks
ago did i not to make sure you get your
hands on the screw tape letters by c.s
lewis and read it
if you missed that exhortation a couple
weeks ago if you missed it i'm telling
you right now get your hands on c.s
lewis's book the screw tape letters
paul the apostle is telling the
believers at ephesus you need to be very
very wise and war against the wiles of
the devil
the devil's real jesus said he was real
and if he can get you to not believe
then he's got you
but he's real
verse 12 says in ephesians 6 we do not
wrestle against flesh and blood you can
almost hear the apostles say
that would be easy
you can shoot flesh and blood you can
stab it
you can drown it and choke it
how do you do that to an invisible foe
we do not wrestle against flesh and
blood but but against principalities
and against powers against the rulers of
the darkness of this age against
spiritual host of wickedness in the
heavenly places
invisible things
jesus said in the last days it's going
to increase the influence of evil is
going to increase listen you don't need
to answer me just think for a moment can
you think of anything that you can pin
the tail on the donkey
that says that's evil
is it is that evil can you think of an
evil can you say that's evil i can pin
evil
uh on this donkey right here i can take
i can pin i'm not asking you what it is
i'm just asking you can you
have you noticed it's increasing
i'm shocked to see how much things have
changed in the last three years
regarding evil let alone the last 10
years
jesus warned that there's going to be
increasing demonic influence as we
approach the end days the last the last
days
but listen i mean this as a loving
rebuke to all of us sadly due to a lack
of real true christian involvement in
the christian's life
most christians have absolutely zero
discernment regarding spiritual activity
they're very quick to blame their
husband or their wife or their mom or
their dad
or their kids for what's going on in the
world around them they're very very
quick to fall for the trap and for the
trick
they see everything in the physical well
you know what the whole thing's been
going crazy in this family because you
haven't been making enough money
everything's been going crazy because
ever since you started reading those
books what
uh-uh
the power is behind them
with every temptation if you listen
if you are out trying to poison
gophers in your backyard
you take poison and you put it in the
ground okay
listen the reason why there's poison in
the ground going after the gopher
is your motive
your motive is invisible is it not
ladies and gentlemen the gopher doesn't
sit there and go whoa
what could possibly be the motive behind
this
the gopher just goes all right wow this
is fantastic somebody put chocolate
in in this hole down here and this is
great
they don't know about the motive they
don't think they're not even thinking on
that plane but you have a motive what's
your motive kill the gopher
right
everything has a motive the temptations
that are going on in your life that's
going to come the issues that are going
to come to your door to your heart this
year to come
good bad or ugly just know this there's
invisible motives behind them
don't be the gopher
that's the second title of today's
message
don't be the gopher
let not your heart be troubled
in mark chapter 13 this is how we get
dressed
let not your heart be troubled we're
going to be pilgrims we're going out
there this is how you get dressed mark
13 21 if anyone says to you look here's
the christ
by the way jesus said in the last days
you're going to be hearing more of uh
people announcing that there they can
save the world they'll save the world
they're they can be the messiah
we never thought politicians would be
the ones saying that but they are
or look
he is there
do not believe it jesus says
for false christs and false prophets
will rise and show signs and wonders to
deceive if possible even the elect
but take heed see i've told you all
these things
beforehand do you see jesus wrapping you
and i up and getting us dressed
for a world
that is going to be demonically
deceptive and he sends us out in the
world listen he doesn't send us out to
be consumed by it he sends us out to go
rescue those who are lost in it
i'm a strong believer in the resiliency
of our christianity
i believe that as a christian
if we exercise our faith in all areas of
life we will be very very look we may
not be pretty but we will be beautifully
weathered saints
what do i mean by that i have a friend
of mine i think you know general boykin
you know he is
you know what i i can tell you this
because he's 3000 miles from here right
now but
have you ever seen that guy with his
shirt off
okay first of all if i'm 62 years old
i'd like to look like that with my shirt
off
but you know what you should see the
scars in that guy's body
massive
horrific shot twice with two 50-caliber
shells crashed in helicopters couple
times
unbelievable scars on this man's body
and he told me one time he said every
one of these have a story
and i'm proud of every one of them
it's never it's never left me
because think of a christian
oh you see that one i got that one in
the battle that's the battle of
of when my family was under attack
oh you see this this is where i got shot
by one of those darts by the enemy this
is when he was trying to take my wife
from me
oh this one right here man that's where
i got my side blown up when
satan was out to destroy my kids
do you hear what i'm saying
listen we listen i hope we finish this
course
weathered
i don't want to look like gi joe plastic
coming out of the box
right i want to look like i want you and
i want this church to finish where we've
got we're dirty you know what kind of
like those guys in in the private ryan
movie they were successful mission
accomplished but they've got some blood
splattered on them they're kind of half
shaven they're dirty they got a hole in
their outfit you know their their things
are broken up but you know what they're
standing there
don't you don't you feel that don't you
hear that when scripture says paul the
apostle laid his life down at the end
and said i fought the fight
i finished the chorus do you see him
bloody you see him bruised
we'll be listen we will be bruised of
the soul bruised of the spirit bruised
of the heart no doubt about it but
listen if we hang on to jesus in 2016 we
win
in first john chapter 2
first john 2 20 and 27 two verses
powerful
quite um
provocative it's not too strong of a
word first john 2 20 and
27
but you have an anointing from the holy
one
and you know all things he said what
does that mean
verse 20 means this but you have an
anointing from the holy one the holy
spirit the holy one in the context of
chapter two is the holy one is the holy
spirit what is the anointing the holy
spirit is upon the life of a believer
please listen everybody
listen if somebody is near you sleeping
let them sleep
don't wake them up seriously
but if you're awake right now and you're
hearing this listen
the bible teaches that god's kids
have got an anointing upon them that's
given to them by god and it is the holy
spirit who is the custodian of their
life
the holy spirit say what does that mean
it means
um
it means
that if if this pen is me and my body
would be the holy spirit it's he's like
this
he's like this with me he's like this
with you
always always
watching over me
okay watch this look at verse 27
but the anointing which you have
received from him abides in you
the holy spirit and you do not need that
anyone teach you
but as the same anointing teaches you
concerning all things and is true and is
not a lie
and just as it is taught you you will
abide in him translation what does that
mean the holy spirit watch this because
he dwells in you
if i teach something other than the
bible this is serious if i teach
something other than the bible
i would pray that everyone in this
church would say
whoa i don't know why that's wrong
i just know it's wrong
an alarm goes off
it's amazing
and the moment you became a christian he
was doing that in your life the moment
you said yes to jesus the holy spirit
took you and he he put you in his care
and if you heard the teachings of a cult
or something weird your antenna went up
even though you were so young in the
lord you couldn't explain why it was
wrong you knew it was wrong are you with
me are you with me
there are people who sit in churches
they don't know what i'm talking about
right now they're just church people
they're just religious people they don't
know anything about this anointing
they're just religious people
they're lost
they don't have them inside of them they
hear something it's like that's nice
oh isn't that sweet why don't i sent
them in
and it's totally godless
they don't have the anointing
you need to know that right now going
into the new year
there are going to be people i'm making
this up right now i hope there are there
are going to be people sitting right
next to you in church
that have no understanding they have no
anointing the word is would be
discernment
they don't get it
everything's fine with them oh did you
see i get listen oh boy am i gonna get
in trouble
i should have i should have bought it i
didn't want to give him my money though
i was at a i was at barnes noble this
week
and
the most famous man in all of
christianity
i mean you say something against him and
you're going to take on the
the hounds of what i don't know
but i couldn't walk away from the title
of the book
the title of the book was the power of i
am
in capital letters
i am in capital letters is the name of
god did you know that ego me
the eternal one
so i opened it up started reading
did you know that you have the power did
you know that if you
if you say i'm quoting now if you say
that
you're old
and you're tired
that you that
age
and fatigue will follow you all day long
until it consumes you did you know that
did you know that if you say i am
powerful
did you know that you'll be powerful all
day long
did you know that if you confess if you
declare by being your i am that you can
create what it is you need
now if the holy spirit is not sending an
alarm up regarding that in your life
then you don't have the anointing
because ladies and gentlemen that's
heresy
don't write me i'm not going to read
your letter
but you should get your money back
the third thing is
let not your heart be troubled church in
the face of increasing cultural evils
and godlessness
cultural evils man that's a loaded
cultural hero
evils that could be anything
we could spend forever talking about
this
ephesians 6 13 goes on to say therefore
take up the whole armor of god see you
guys god has given us everything we need
to get suited up to go out into the
elements
that you may be able to withstand in the
evil day do you think maybe we're living
at least in some form of an evil day
right now
it's going to get worse
but it's pretty bad out there and you
and i live in the best place in the
world right now
and it's still crazy
ladies and gentlemen
and having done all to stand
stand therefore oh my goodness
you guys listen to him speak to us
translation
stand
okay
but it's getting scary stand
it's getting it's getting loud stand the
wind is blowing stand
everybody hates me stand it's scary
stand
when's it gonna be over
what does he say stand there for
was it winston churchill who said it's
always too soon to quit
stand paul is saying stand and when you
think it's time to sit down stand again
i can't take it i can't yes you can take
it
jesus christ will never give you and i
more than what we can bear through him
are you guys listening to this
because i'm going to remind you in 2016
honestly when you come up and say i
don't know why this is happening to me
i'm going to say were you
were you there
cultural evils and godlessness
verse 14 stand therefore having girded
your waist with truth
truth
please circle the word truth it's look
it is
definite it's emphatic it's the truth of
god
truth
truth doesn't move with the wind
i have a barometer and a uh
variometer on my computer and it tells
me these weather things you can get it's
an app there's an app for that
and have you i know if you've noticed
but i knew
i knew based upon my app that the wind
was going to blow real hard yesterday
i knew a few days ago
chad you know that
because the app told me
there was a freeze warning i knew this
three days ago
because listen
through instrumentation
and through
the study of meteorology
you can make determinations
and
there's equipment that monitors
invisible things barometric pressure and
things like this
things can be known
and i want you to be thinking about the
fact that there are things
that are indicating storms approaching
there's a storm warning ladies and
gentlemen
number one
and this church should be smarter than
the average church i mean it
because you're sitting in a church that
in 2007
stood for the definition of
marriage based upon biola the bible
god's definition of marriage it's only
right to acknowledge god who invented
the concept and the institution of
marriage
it didn't exist without him he said this
is what it is
now you listen i'm telling you what god
says marriage is i'm not my opinion i'm
just telling i'm regurgitating to you
what god says marriage is but listen the
culture
i should change that not the culture
some within the culture
manipulated the day
and in the state of california one
homosexual judge overturned
6.7 million
votes
three weeks later resigned his judgeship
cultural evils ladies and gentlemen
look if you want to be a homosexual
that's your business you can go do that
you have the freedom in this country to
go do that but to change marriage
now you're going up against the god of
heaven
you can do whatever you want to do
but there was a sacred holy institution
that is now gone
cultural evils and godlessness
abortion
god says i create life
and no one has the right to take it but
god says
only him
and we as a culture have declared
ourselves to be god we decide who lives
we're no better than adolf hitler
we pick
gender determination god says again in
genesis i make them male and female
did you know that
even if someone's confused and my heart
goes out to someone who's confused
their biology will dictate though what
bathroom they should use and what
showers they should use
but not when cultural evils are running
the day
and godlessness is in office ladies and
gentlemen
i find it interesting that none of the
news reporters wanted to carry our
campaign and their news articles while
we were gathering signatures
until after we were defeated and now
we're front page
this church me
and our statewide effort they're very
happy and big mouth now to report that
we failed
hey listen
we will be able to say
when their kids are subjected to sexual
assault
and mental sexual mental abuse we told
you
in fact i'm asking everyone
to adjust their lifestyle
so that they can
get their kids into private school
or homeschooling
immediately
your children listen mom and dad you
have got to protect your 13 year old
daughter from being exposed to a 13 year
old boy now in the shower in school
while he's sexually aroused because it's
already happening
and in
listen
i've got school teachers who attend this
church
who have been reprimanded because
already kids kids were told kids were
told by their parents
kids go into the opposite bathroom now
at your right
and we have teachers in this church that
are having to cope
with that when they ask the kid why are
you in this bathroom my mom and dad said
i can
they're not even gender confused
mom and dad said go do it
ladies and gentlemen we told you this
was going to come
our hands are clean
we have exposed our children to evils
that the outcome are is yet unwritten
and it's not going to be good
get your kid out of the public school
system in california
it's going to get bad
second timothy 3 1 says know this then
the last days perilous times will come
for men will be lovers of themselves
i know what's right i want this for me
lovers of money
boasters proud blasphemers disobedient
to parents
unthankful unholy unloving unforgiving
slanders
without self-control
if you don't if you doubt any of this
turn on
turn on i i'm forgive me because i don't
watch this stuff but i i remember was
jerry springer even still alive he's not
on tv still is he
seriously
well that kind of junk
that's right out of second timothy
chapter three
that should be a commercial to
understand this program better read
second timothy chapter three
brutal despisers of good traitors
headstrong haughty lovers of pleasure
rather than lovers of god having a form
of godliness that's hilarious after
doing all that to go to church on sunday
but deny its power and from such turn
away get away from them
for of this sort are those who creep
into households and make captives of
gullible women
loaded down with sins
led away by various lust fifty shades of
gray
he said what's wrong with that you why
don't you join the ministry and i'll
show you what's wrong with that
perfectly good normal moms
getting into these neighborhood sex
clubs
as they read the books fifty shades of
gray
and then fantasizing and some of them
getting involved in lesbian
relationships or coming home and saying
i'm done with this marriage i want some
excitement you're boring
yeah why don't you sign up for ministry
because that's what's going on
amazing please jesus come
always learning and never able to come
to the knowledge of the truth
but here's what we can get dressed in
galatians 5 16 i say then walk in the
spirit surround yourself with the lord
and you shall not fulfill the lust of
the flesh for the flesh lusts against
the spirit the spirit against the flesh
listen christian i'm talking to the
christian this morning
we stand for jesus we live for jesus in
2016 the world's going to launch its
attack against us and we got to fight
it's going to be a fight
but thank god for the fight that means
you're alive
fight
number four
we're pilgrims and jesus says let not
your heart be troubled in the face of
increasing biblical ignorance and apathy
gallup helped me out this morning right
before service i walked out here got a
new a news notification on my phone
opened it up and the gallup poll this
morning says that for the for the first
time at this level in american history
there are less people attending church
in america now than any other time
apathy biblical ignorance
apathy
ephesians chapter 6 verse 15 says and
having shot your feet with the
preparation of the gospel of peace above
all taking the shield of faith which is
able to quench all the fiery darts of
the wicked one that satan launches at us
biblical ignorance and apathy
it's growing
big time amazing
but we can be wrapped in this here it is
we can be wrapped
in this fact knowing this
now that the spirit expressly says in
the last days some will depart from the
faith
wow
how come
giving heed to deceiving spirits and
doctrines of demons false doctrine
speaking lies and hypocrisy having their
own conscience seared with a hot iron
isn't that sad you guys people you and i
know are going to depart from the faith
in 2016.
family members friends
they're
listen they're going to depart from the
faith
the bible says in the last days there
are some going to walk out on the faith
because they're listening to stuff that
makes them feel better
gives them a temporary fix you know we
all go through this i i must confess i
really sinned this last few days hugely
i am i love eating health food i love it
sorry i love it people think oh you poor
thing don't poor thing me i love eating
healthy food i love it i feel good
i i like it i love it
i have hummus and broccoli in the
morning
oh that's my breakfast
oh you're going
but i send big time because you know
what it's christmas
and my wife makes the most demonic
poppy seed cake in the world
but she thought she'd try her hand at
making
cheesecake homemade cheesecake from
scratch
well
it's her first time making it it can't
be good
it was
perfect so what happened i ate i didn't
eat much i just my i'm such a
health virgin
i ate this cheesecake it was so good
and then 20 minutes later i'm like
oh i'm hurting i'm going through these
withdrawal i mean this is the sickness
oh my gosh sugar overload
look right in front of me i had the good
stuff to eat and i had this tempting
stuff to eat one makes you feel good for
days and days and days the other one in
five minutes gonna make you feel sick
but man it tastes way better than that
hummus and that broccoli
the bible says sin is pleasurable for a
season
oh come on
come on just take a bite
right
said satan to eve
just take a bite said lisa to jack no
i'm kidding
she's not here right now she's coming to
second service
but here's what we can put on so we know
what's going on romans 10 17 faith comes
by hearing hearing the word of god
and then number five we'll end with this
letting all your heart be troubled in
2016 church
in the face of increasing false
doctrines
and
emotionalism verses 17 and 18 but take
the helmet of salvation notice it goes
on your head aren't you glad
aren't you glad that the the implement
of salvation is not like a um like
underwear
okay the hell the salvation issue is not
shoes
the helmet the the salvation issue is
not elbow pads
it is the helmet of salvation that goes
on your head
you lose your head you lose everything
there's nothing worse listen the bible
says the the head of the church is jesus
but
i wonder how many churches have heads
false doctrine and emotionalism is
destroying people
false doctrine but i mean by this the
reinventing of jesus
well i view jesus this way
and
my my jesus would never say this it's
very amazing because they're describing
to jesus that you can't find in the
bible
but they but they got a bible underneath
their arm they have a bible say where is
that jesus in the bible you just talked
about
well i just believe you know
they've got jesus now back look many of
us survived the 70s they had jesus back
as a hippie
they got a rude awakening coming he's
coming back with this flame his eye is a
flame of fire and his out of his mouth
goes a sharp two-hit sword
the bible says jesus is coming back and
his robe is splattered in blood that
just freaks out the peace next these
days
ladies and gentlemen listen he's going
to come back and judge the wickedness of
this world
and emotionalism
it's killing the church
so here's what we put on an ending this
is what we put on i'll read it to you in
length first thessalonians 5 begin at
verse 1.
but concerning the times and the seasons
brethren you have no need that i should
write to you for you yourselves know
perfectly that the day of the lord so
comes as a thief in the night if i
stopped reading right there you would
think
that the lord would come as a thief in
the night
to you
but i'm not done reading
for when they say peace and safety then
sudden destruction comes upon them
as labor pains upon a pregnant woman
they shall not escape
but you brethren are not in darkness so
that this day should overtake you as a
thief you are all sons of light and sons
of the day we are not of the night nor
of darkness
therefore let us not sleep as others do
and let us not or but let us watch and
be sober for those who sleep sleep at
night
and those who get drunk get drunk at
night but let us who are of the day be
sober put in on the breastplate of faith
and love and as a helmet
the hope of salvation
for god do not appoint us to wrath but
to obtain salvation through our lord
jesus christ who died for us the whether
we live or die
wake or sleep we should live together
with him
isn't that awesome notice when somebody
when you look around this world in 2016
and you say wow
wow what's happening and we'll talk more
about this on new year's eve what's
going on with russia and the middle east
and syria and what is that with bible
prophecy man when you see this stuff
it's like okay
wow
i'm not surprised
i was sad when i said when san
bernardino
was attacked but i was surprised were
you surprised i wasn't surprised
if los angeles gets nuked by some
foreign
uh attacker or terrorist or nation i'll
be very sad but i'm not gonna be
surprised would you be surprised would
you be surprised if there was a massive
terrorist attack on washington dc you
wouldn't be surprised you'd be sad
but you're not going to be surprised but
there's going to be a lot of people
surprised
but what about jesus coming back
listen we're not going to be surprised
we feel it can you feel it it's like i
don't know when and i don't want to know
when and no man's no man knows the day
of the hour that's impossible but you
kind of got a gut feel something big
coming i don't know what it is
i hope it's him coming back
that'd be great
oh you christians always trying to
escape everything amen hallelujah
that's right
and then final verse of the day
joshua chapter 1 verse 9 have i not
commanded you be strong and have good
courage
do not be afraid nor be dismayed for the
lord your god is with you wherever you
go
i'm going to ask you to stand and i want
to um
[Music]
i want to commission you because i won't
be with you guys i mean i'm assuming
some of you will not be able to come on
new year's eve
so let's take advantage of this last
sunday
i'm going to ask you to bow your heads
in prayer i want to pray over you
now may the god of hope fill you with
all joy
and peace in believing
that you may abound in hope
by the power of the holy spirit and that
you may be filled with the knowledge of
his will
in all wisdom spiritual understanding
and that you may walk worthy of the lord
fully pleasing him being fruitful in
every good work and increasing in the
knowledge of god
that you would be strengthened with all
might according to his glorious power
turning from godless living and sinful
pleasures
we should live in this world
in holiness in righteousness devoted to
god
as we look forward with hope
to that wonderful moment
when the glory of our great god and
savior jesus christ returns for us
the lord bless you and keep you the lord
make his face to shine upon you and be
gracious unto you
the lord lift up his countenance upon
you
and give you peace and all god's people
said
amen
[Music]
you