Amen. All right. Well, it's great to be here again. It's a
real blessing. Thank you. Pastor Shelly for sending me
down here again. It's been nice to be able to be with you guys
so often. I feel like we're actually getting to know each
other a little bit more rather than just having to leave and
drive 4 hours away really quick. So, I really appreciate
being down here and getting to know you guys better but this
morning, we're in first Kings chapter twenty and this is kind
of a very strange story. If you've read your Bible, this is
a really strange story in the Bible and we get this story of
King Ahab, the king of Israel and King Ben Hadad, the king of
Syria and both of these men are are wicked men. They're not
great godly saved men. They're both wicked men but we see that
Ahab is the king of Israel and even though he's a wicked man,
God does bless Ahab. God does give him the victory and says
that I want you to win so that I'll be glorified so that they
may know that I'm the lord and we see that Ahab is faced with
a conflict. Let's read verses one through three and Ben
Hadad, Ben Hadad, the king of Syria gathered all his hosts
together and there were thirty and two kings with him and
horses and chariots and he went up and besieged Samaria and
warred against it and he sent messengers to Ahab king of
Israel into the city and said unto him, thus saith Ben Hadad,
thy silver and thy gold is mine. Thy wives also and thy
children even the goodliest are mine. So, we see that Ahab is
faced with a conflict and you and I when we got saved whether
we realize it or not, we signed up in a conflict. We signed up
in a battle. We signed up for a spiritual battle. Go to
Ephesians chapter number six and we see here Ahab is about
to be confronted with a physical battle but us in the
New Testament, we're we're in a spiritual battle every single
day. Ephesians chapter six. Let's read verse ten. Finally,
my brethren be strong in the lord and in the power of his
might. Put on the whole armor of god that you may be able to
stand against the wiles of the devil for we wrestle not
against flesh and blood but against principalities, against
powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high places. So, you know, the
battle that we fight is just as real as any physical battle
that you read about in the Old Testament. There's casualties.
There's people that get hurt. There's people that fail.
There's people that succeed. There's people have victory.
The only difference is that our battle is a spiritual fight and
it's a battle that we fight every single day and I'll read
for you John chapter ten. This this verse reminds me because
Ben Hadad, what is he doing? He's coming to take everything
from Ahab. He's coming to take his wives, his children, all of
his possessions. He wants to take everything from him just
like the devil wants to take everything from us. John
chapter ten. I'll read for you verse ten. The Bible says, the
thief cometh not but for to steal and to kill and to
destroy. I am come that they might have life and that they
might have it more abundantly. So, our enemy, the devil, is
the same as Ben Hadad in this situation where he's coming to
take everything that we have and to destroy everything that
we have. He wants no good for us. He wants no good for our
families or for our homes or for anything. He wants to to
steal, to kill, and destroy. Now, the title of my sermon this
morning is Do's and Don'ts in Spiritual Warfare. Do's and
Don'ts in Spiritual Warfare. You know, even though this
story is a story about two wicked men, they're in a
conflict and there's a lot of principles that we can learn
from the conflict that they're in and apply it to our lives in
the spiritual fight that we are in. So, keep your finger in
first Kings chapter twenty throughout the sermon. We're
going to be staying there in first Kings chapter twenty and
then let's look what happens in verse number four. And the king
of Israel answered and said, my lord, oh king, according to
thy saying, I am thine and all that I have. So, think about
this. Think about how crazy this is. Ben Hadad just comes
up to to Ahab and says, give me your wives, give me your kids,
and give me everything that you have. And what is Ahab's
response? He says, my lord, oh king, all that I have is in
thine hand. He just rolls over. He just gives up and he
completely just obliges the request of this evil man. This
absolutely insane request. I mean, sometimes we read the
Bible and we're just like, oh yeah, we're reading another
Bible story but actually put yourself in that position.
Imagine if some man just came up to your house, knocked on
the door, and said, I'm coming to take your wives, your kids,
and everything that you had and you're like, my lord, the
king. Oh, everything I have is in your hands. Can you imagine
being that weak? Can you imagine being that type of man?
And this is the king of Israel is this week. So, the first
don't in spiritual warfare, don't be intimidated by the
demands of the wicked. Don't be intimidated by the demands of
the wicked because oftentimes, the wicked today or the devil
is not going to be as brazen as Ben Hadad is here. The devil's
not going to just come up to you. The wicked person is not
going to just come up to you and be like, hey, I'm about to
try to kidnap your children. You know, the public school
isn't going to come up to you and say, hey, we want to defile
your children and cause them to hate god by the time that they
graduate from this establishment. They're not
going to just come out and say that to you but the fact is the
threats are there. The threats are there and sometimes, you
know, you may actually get a brazen threat like this but
regardless, we should not be intimidated by the threats of
the wicked. What's a really wicked group that we see today
in our culture? The sodomites. The homos. It's it's one of the
biggest issues of our day and that's why unfortunately as
gross of a topic that it is, that's why we have to
constantly talk about it so much is because this group,
this these homos are trying to what? Take our wives, our
children, and everything that we have. That is their goal.
Mambla, Man Boy Love Association trying to lower the
age of consent below eighteen so that these homos can do
whatever they want to their children. This is a real group
of people that just like Ben Haydad is coming after our
children, coming after our wives, and coming after
everything that we have but you know what? A lot of pastors
today in this country remind me a lot of Ahab right here
where they're just rolling over where they're just rolling over
to the threats of the wicked. I'll read for you a quote from
this pastor, Pastor Mark Winfield. We'll just call him
Pastor Ahab from now on cuz that's what he is. Pastor Ahab
of Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas. This is a Texas
Baptist pastor. He voted for his church and his church voted
to allow homosexuals to come in and be full members of the
church and to be able to get married by the church and this
is what he said. He said any congregation that thinks
they're not going to deal with this issue. The issue of
homosexuals wanting to get married and become members are
living in a bubble that's going to burst. We want to open our
arms to as many people and say you're welcome here. Now tell
me is that not exactly like Ahab? Ben Haydad is just saying,
hey, I'm coming for you and he's just like we want to open
our arms to you and let you know that we love you. You know
my lord, the king, my lord, oh homos, my lord, oh faggots come
into come into our church and just have whatever you want
because that's what you're doing cuz that's what these
people are. They're predators. They they openly say that
they're predators and this pastor is just like come on in.
We want you in Pastor Ahab and a lot of pastors are like that
today. Go to Amos. You know, I think about Pastor Mejia. He's
literally getting death threats. He's literally getting
a bomb thrown into his church and do you see him being
intimidated by the threats of the wicked? Absolutely not. He's
actually a real man of god. He's not Pastor Ahab that we
see all over this country. Go to Amos chapter number five and
I'll read a couple verses for you before we get there. Psalm
97 ten, the Bible says, ye that love the lord hate evil. He
preserveth the souls of the saints. He deliver them out of
the hand of the wicked. The Bible says that if we love the
lord, we need to hate evil. Now, evil in the Bible is often
talking about harm and you know what is harmful? Someone coming
in and taking your your your wife and your kids and all that
you possess. That's evil, right? So, Ahab here, what was
he not doing? He was not hating evil. Of course, he didn't love
the lord. Elsewhere in the Bible, he's actually reference
to someone who hates the lord. Now, I don't know if that was
at this time in the story if if he had hated the lord but that
is something that the Bible says but the Bible says that we
should love the lord and hate evil. We should hate anyone
that would want to come do harm to our families and I'm not
just talking physically. I'm talking spiritually as well. We
should hate the evil that wants to infect our families and our
homes and our churches in turning them away from god. We
should hate and reject the evil. Matthew chapter ten, I'll
read for you. Verse twenty-eight, the Bible says,
and fear not them which kill the body but are not able to
kill to kill the soul but rather fear him which is able
to destroy both soul and body in hell. So, that's what Ahab
should have done. He should have sat there and fought to
the death for his wife, for his children, and for his
household but instead, at the first, the first request of
this wicked person, he just rolls over. He just gives
everything he has. You know, we should actually fear the lord
instead of the evil people in this world and realize that the
worst thing that they could do to us is kill us and then we're
gonna lift up our eyes and be in heaven. You know, when they
die, they're gonna lift up their eyes and be in hell. The
worst thing they could do to us is send us to heaven early.
Therefore, we should not be afraid of anything that they
can do to us and we should protect our families while
we're on this earth. Amos chapter five, verse fifteen,
the Bible says, hate the evil and love the good. Establish
judgment in the gate. It may be that the lord of hosts will be
gracious unto the remnant of Joseph. The Bible says, hate
the evil, love the good. But what do we see Ahab doing?
Loving evil and hating good. Hating his family. You know,
that's actually the state of a lot of pastors and a lot of
churches in our country today. Any pastor that would allow
homosexuals to come into their church hates their church,
period. They hate their church members because they're not
willing to protect them. They're not willing to protect
them from people that are gonna come in and molest the
children that are in that church. In fact, instead, the
pastor just wants to love the evil. Love the wicked person.
You know what? It's the same thing for parents that wanna
just drop their kids off with their uncle Sodomite. You're
hating your kids at that point. You need to protect your
children. Let's go to Romans chapter one. Romans chapter
one. The Bible describes these sodomites as the worst people,
the worst people that exist on the planet. The most vile
sinners that exist is how the Bible describes the sodomites
in Romans chapter one. Look at verse twenty-six. For this
cause, God gave them up unto vile affections for even their
women to change the natural use into that which is against
nature and likewise also the men leaving the natural use of
the woman burn in their lust one toward another men with
men working that which is unseemly and receiving in
themselves that recompense of their air which was meat. So
nobody can escape from this passage that this is talking
about the sodomites. No one can wiggle out of this. It's women
going after that which is against nature. It's men with
men burning in their lust one toward another. No one can
this passage and say that this is not talking about sodomites.
What does the Bible say about them? Verse number twenty-eight
and even as as they did not like to retain God in their
knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those
things which are not convenient. Now, now the Bible
is gonna describe what these people are like. Being filled
with all unrighteousness. All unrighteousness. Every wicked
thing that is possible for a human being to do. The Bible
says that sodomites are just full of all of it. Full of
all of it. Fornication, wickedness, covetousness,
maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate, deceit,
malignity, whispers, backbiters, haters of God,
despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things,
disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant
breakers, without natural affection, implacable,
unmerciful, who knowing the judgment of God that they
which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do
the same but have pleasure in them that do them. There's no
escaping this passage. There's no escaping the fact that the
Bible says that homosexuals invent evil things to do.
There's no escaping the fact that the Bible says that fags
hate God, that they're filled with all unrighteousness, that
they're filled with murder, that they're filled with all
these things. There's no escaping what the Bible says on
this. So, you know what it tells you about a pastor who
ignores what the Bible says on this and rather invites them
into their church. It tells you that they're like Ahab. It
tells you that they are intimidated by the enemy, that
they are intimidated by the threats of the wicked. Instead
of fearing God, you can tell that they fear man. That is
what I can immediately tell you about any pastor that does
that because guess what? If you've read this Bible, you
cannot come away with a stupid mentality that we should love
the homos. You cannot come away with a stupid mentality
that they're just like any other sinner and they're our
brother and we need to love them and we need to love them
to Christ. You cannot come away with that mentality from the
Bible. You come away from that mentality by being a fear of
man. By fearing man and not by fearing God and Ahab, he's not
gonna stand up and tell you, oh, the Bible tells me to allow
this wicked man to take my wife and kids. He's not gonna to
make such a stupid statement but yet pastors will make that
exact stupid statement about letting homos into their
church. Oh, the Bible says we should love them. No, actually
the Bible says that they're worthy of death in the New
Testament and actually the Bible says that they hate God
and they don't even wanna retain God in their knowledge.
Please tell me how if the church is an institution that
preaches about God and glorifies God and is all about
God, why the homos would wanna be here anyways? Oh yeah,
because they wanna infiltrate to molest children. That's why.
Has nothing to do with them wanting to love and serve God.
They don't wanna have any interest in that and you know
what? These pastors know that. A lot of these pastors know
that. They're just too cowardly to do anything about it.
They're too cowardly to face the music that they would face
with society since there's cultural pressure to accept the
homosexuals. They're too afraid to face that music than to
face the queers. It's sick. It's sad and you know what?
Every single pastor that lets homos in their church, I see
them like I see Ahab. A man that would just let some other
man come in and take his wife and his kids and all that he
has, that's how weak you are. If you're a pastor and you
allow homosexuals into your church. Let's go to, let's go
back to first kings. So, that's the first don't in spiritual
warfare. Hey, don't be afraid. Don't be intimidated by the
threats of the wicked. We're on the Lord's side. You know, can
no one can lay anything to the charge of God's elect. If God
before us, who can be against us, right? Don't be intimidated
by the wicked. Look at first kings chapter twenty. Let's
read verses five through six. And the messengers came again
and said, Thus speaketh Ben Hadad saying, although I have
sent unto thee saying, thou shalt deliver me thy silver and
thy gold and thy wives and thy children. Yet I will send my
servants unto thee tomorrow about this time and they shall
search thine house and the houses of thy servants and it
shall be that whatsoever is pleasant in thine eyes they
shall put in their hand and take it away. The next don't in
spiritual warfare, don't try to placate the implacable. Don't
try to placate the implacable. Notice Ahab was so stupid as to
say yes to this ridiculous request. This ridiculous
request to take his wives and his kids and all that he has
and Ben Hadad when he sees that Ahab agreed to that, he's like
actually, you know what? You know, at first I sent to you
for that but I actually want more than that. Not only do I
want your wives, not only do I want your kids, not only do I
want all your silver and gold, I want to enter into your home
and I want to enter into all your servants homes and
whatsoever is pleasant in your eyes, whatsoever you desire,
whatsoever you like Ahab, I want to take all of it and then
now then we see Ahab get a little upset in verse number
nine. We'll read this in a second but let's just read the
last part of this. I'm sorry which which verse is it here?
Verse seven, Mark, I pray you and see how this man seeketh
mischief. So Ahab, he says yes to the stupid request. Then
when he goes and asks for all of his stuff, he's like, oh
man, this guy is seeking mischief which mischief in the
Bible isn't like, oh, mischievous Tommy took the
cookies again. Mischief, the word mischief in the Bible is
an extremely wicked person, a very, very evil person and so
Ahab's like, oh, now I can tell that this guy is seeking for
mischief. Well, it's like, hey, idiots, don't placate the
implacable to begin with. To begin with, when the wicked
gives a demand to you, you know, whatever happened to the
phrase, we don't negotiate with terrorists. Why don't you
negotiate with terrorists? We don't negotiate with terrorists
because they're implacable because they're going to kill
themselves and everyone else. I mean, you can't you can't
reason with these people. You can't reason with reprobates.
You can't reason with the devil. You can't reason with
sin. You should not try to placate the implacable. We need
to draw the line where God draws the line on every
subject and not try to just, you know, okay, you know, I'll
just I'll have one drink. I'll just drink in moderation with
you. You know, the Bible says not to even look on the wine
when it's red. But what does the devil want to do? The devil
wants you to just start drinking socially or to start
drinking in moderation. You know, but we shouldn't try to
placate the implacable. The devil's not going to be ever
ever be satisfied with you sinning just a little. The
devil wants you to be as wicked as he is. The devil wants to as
many people to enter into hell with him as possible and he's
never going to be placated. You know, some people have really
wicked family members. You know, it's a horrible situation.
Some people may even have reprobate family members.
They're never going to be okay with you just sinning a little
bit. They're never going to be okay with you serving God. So
you shouldn't even try to placate them a little bit. The
Bible says that they're implacable in Romans chapter
one. You shouldn't try to give them an inch. They will take a
mile. They will take a mile and when you're dealing in life
with people like Ben Haydad, wicked people. If you try to
give in to any of their requests, they will just
request more so you might as well just make your stand on
what the word of God says. You know, the men of God took a lot
of great stands in the Bible when wicked men were trying to
get them to not preach in the name of of Jesus Christ. You
know, and Peter's like, we should obey God rather than
men. You know, Daniel, he didn't bow to Nebuchadnezzar's
idol. He worshiped the Lord. He didn't try to placate the
implacable. There's no point because they're never going to
be appeased. There's absolutely no point in doing so. You think
about all the stuff that the world wants us to do. You know,
the the message of the world is that fornication is okay just
as long as you love each other. You know, and in some places,
not even that. It's just totally fine no matter what but
don't ever don't ever buy that lie. The Bible says flee
fornication. Don't ever buy the lie that the devil's selling
you to try to get you into just a little bit of sin. No, he's
never going to be placated. The world's never going to be
placated. Just make your stand on what the Bible says for
every single subject and this will help you if you have
family members. You know, oh, just this one Sunday, come to
the barbecue. It's like, nope. It's never Sunday. It's never a
Sunday. I'm going to the family event. It's like, oh, come on.
It's it's Thursday night. Just come to the the family hangout.
It's like, no, it's it's never a Thursday night. Not one time.
Oh, just come on. Have one have one wine tasting event with us.
It's no, it's never happening. Not one single time because
guess what? They're never going to be satisfied with that and
they're just going to want it the next time. The next time
and the next time you have this mentality of never trying to
placate the implacable, you're going to be a lot stronger in
Christian warfare and Ahab was such a fool here to even say
yes to the to begin with and now he's upset that Ben Haydad is
asking for more. What do you expect? That's how the world is.
That's how the devil is. Let's go to first Kings chapter
twenty. Let's read verse number seven. Then the king of Israel
called all the elders of the land and said, Mark, I pray you
and see how this man seeketh mischief. For he sent for me,
for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver,
and for my gold, and I denied him not. So Ahab's upset. Why
not because that Ahab asked for his wives, his kids, his silver
and gold but because Ben Haydad sorry Ben Haydad asked to have
whatsoever is pleasant in Ahab's eyes. So, what is Ahab
worried about here? Is he worried about his family? No,
he's worried about his stuff. He's worried about the stuff
that he finds pleasant in his eyes. Here's another don't in
spiritual warfare. Don't worry about your worldly
possessions. Don't give any love or thought or care to
your worldly possessions because this life is a vapor.
It's going to go like this and none of it you can take with
you. None of it you're even going to remember. There's no
remembrance of former things. Ecclesiastes chapter one says
you're not going to remember your nice house. You're not
going to remember your cool car. You're not going to
remember your boat. You know what you're going to remember
the souls that you won to Christ. You know what you're
going to remember the times that you spent reading your
Bible and doing spiritual things. That's actually what's
going to matter in eternity but all of the things that are
pleasant in Ahab's eyes don't matter at all but yet as his
family is about to be taken away. What is he thinking about
the stuff that's pleasant in his eyes? It's absolutely sad.
Let's go to second Timothy chapter number three. Second
Timothy chapter number three.
Second Timothy chapter three or I'm sorry chapter number two
verse three. The Bible says, thou therefore endure hardness
as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warth
entangleth himself with the affairs of this life that he
may please him who have chosen him to be a soldier. So in
spiritual warfare in this in this battle that we're in every
single day, it makes no sense when we're in the midst of a
battle to be thinking about our 401s and our spiritual
our 401ks our retirement our homes and all the stuff and
we're we're in the midst of a battle. You know you are in the
military brother Nick. Could you imagine being in a firefight
people shooting at you your brother's dying around you and
you're like man. I wonder if I wonder if I'm going to get my
fence stained black or brown. Oh man. I wonder I wonder how
my 401k is doing man. I wonder I should really get a boat.
It'd be fun to have a boat. No you're not thinking about that
when you're in warfare. You're focused on war. You're focused
on the fact that there's a battle going around that
there's casualties happening around you. You're worried
about defeating the enemy. Hey, that's why the Bible says no
man that warth entangleth himself with the things of this
life. You cannot be a successful successful soldier
and be entangling yourself with all the garbage of this world.
You have to have a mindset that's focused on the battle
and that's why daily we have to crucify the flesh daily. We
have to put on the Lord Jesus Christ and put and and have
that in our minds because our carnal mind is not worried
about the spiritual battle. Our carnal mind wants to be
worried about all the things that are pleasant in our eyes.
The Bible says that the eyes of man are never satisfied. You
know the eyes are are are never going to be satisfied with
seeing your ears are never going to be filled with hearing the
Bible says, but yet we have to realize even though we can't
see it that we are in a battle at all times. If you're saved,
you're in that battle and if you're just a soldier that's
cared about the affairs of this life, then you're going to be
slaughtered. You're going to you're going to be strewn and
destroyed in the Christian life in warfare. If you're caring
about the things of this world, Matthew chapter thirteen verse
twenty-two Matthew chapter thirteen verse twenty-two.
The Bible says he also that received seed among the thorns
is he that heareth the word and the care of this world and the
deceitfulness of riches choke the word and he become unfruitful.
Jesus gives this parable and explains how if a person
receives the word of God, but the care of this world, the
deceitfulness of riches. If it gets into this person's heart,
that person is going to become unfruitful and so you show me a
Christian that loves money. You show me a Christian that cares
about the things of this world so much. I'll show you a
Christian that's unfruitful. I'll show you a Christian
that's not going soul winning. That's not worried about
reading his Bible because he's more worried about his money
and guess what you and I would not be the first Christian
destroyed by the love of money because it happens all the time,
especially in our country that is so blessed by God that is so
rich compared to how other people throughout history have
lived. Every single person in this country is a king is an
absolute king. You know I went to Mexico earlier this year and
Mexico is not even you know one of the most poor places in the
world. I mean it's not like certain places in Africa, but
yet their garbage disposal system was a man on a donkey
hauling a trailer and I'm just like wow we are spoiled. We
don't even realize I came back into the United States. I was
just like ready to kiss the ground. I mean it's just so
nice here so amazing here. You know what I mean, but us as
Americans, you know we're just we're so infected with the love
of money, but we should care about things that actually
matter. Here's a do in spiritual warfare actually care about the
things that matter. Colossians chapter three. Let's go over
there. Colossians. Colossians chapter number three.
Colossians three look at verse number one. If you then be
risen with Christ, seek those things which are above where
Christ sit on the right hand of God. Set your affection on
things above not on things on the earth. We are dead and your
life is hid with Christ and God. You know a lot of people
struggle with zeal in the Christian life and wanting to
serve God and wanting to read their Bible and it just shows
that their affection is not set on things above, but the more
that you put your what you put in front of your eyes. The
Bible says my eye affected my heart. You know if you're if
your affection is on a bunch of garbage, your affection is on
your truck on your house. All the things that you find
pleasant in the side of your eyes. It tells me you should
change what your eyes are looking at. If you want your
eyes to desire godly things, maybe you should just stick
that Bible in front of your face for 15 minutes a day. Do
that for a few months. Then you might actually start to enjoy
it and maybe you man. I want to read it 30 minutes. You know I
got a lot of time today. I want to read the Bible for an hour
today. Then you could actually have that be the desire of your
eyes and now like Colossians three says then your affection
can be on things above and not on things on the earth. It
makes no sense setting your affection on things that aren't
going to last. It makes no sense having your affection on
things that you're not even going to remember when you're
in heaven. It's a complete waste of time and Ahab is
willing to sacrifice his wife. Ahab is willing to sacrifice
his children and his entire household. Why for the things
that are pleasant in his sight because he's not actually
caring about the things that actually matter. You know a lot
of of dads they would never read a chapter of the Bible to
their children in the evening. They would never have a family
Bible time where they get together and they pay respect
and and and honor to the Lord Jesus Christ but that same man
would never miss a good business deal. He would never
let that that slip by. You know a man would never go out. A lot
of a lot of men in this country would never go out and spend a
Saturday out preaching the gospel of Lord Jesus Christ but
they would never ever miss an overtime shift that was offered
to them on Saturday. Why? Because their affection is on
the wrong things. That's why and when you as a Christian and
when I as a Christian, if we allow our heart and our eyes to
be affectionate towards the things of this world, you know,
we're setting ourselves up for failure in the Christian battle.
We need to actually care about things that matter. Go back to
1 Kings 20. I'll read for you. First Timothy chapter six verse
ten. The Bible says for the love of money is the root of
all evil which while some coveted after they've aired
from the faith and pierced themselves through with many
sorrows. You know, it's such a paradox because people are just
chasing after money. They want money. They want money. They
want money but the Bible says that it just pierces you
through with many sorrows. You know, it says that the it
drowns men in destruction and perdition. The Bible gives a
picture of just someone drowning. You think about
people in debt. They often describe it as I'm just
drowning in debt. It's funny how you use that language
because that's what the Bible describes loving money as your
life being like or being pierced through with many
sorrows. You know, more money, more problems. That's what
people say, right? And it's true. That's what the Bible
says. It's like you're just piercing yourself through with
many sorrows when your affections are on your money,
when your affections are on things that your eyes can
desire instead of on the lord. You're never gonna be pierced
through with many sorrows at the end of the day for loving
the lord Jesus Christ. You may have affliction. You may have
problem but at the end of the day, all things work together
for good to them that love god. You know, it's all gonna work
together for good but you know what? Your failed investments
aren't always gonna work together for good. Your truck
that you bought that breaks down or gets totaled the next
day. It's not always gonna work together for good but you know,
everything that you do for the lord will work together for
good in your life. Back to first kings chapter number 20
verse eight.
Verse eight, and all the elders and all the people said unto
him, hearken not unto him nor consent. I find this so funny.
Ahab's all upset that Ben Haydad's coming for him and he
he tells all of his elders and the people what's happening,
how Ben Haydad's seeking for mischief and you know what
their response is? They're like hearken not unto him nor
consent. It's like, wow, this is some groundbreaking advice
guys. Don't let him do it and Ahab's just like that's stupid
that he needs that kind of counsel but here's another do
in in spiritual warfare. Do resist the devil. Let's read
this verse again. Harken not unto him nor consent. It's
like, hey, when the enemy's coming for you, when the devil
is coming for you, when the world wants to get you to sin,
hearken not unto him nor consent. It really is that
simple. Now, it's hard but at least it's simple. It's simple.
We do need to resist the devil. Go to Matthew chapter number
four and I'll read for you James chapter four verse seven.
The Bible says, submit yourselves therefore to God.
Resist the devil and he will flee from you. It's actually
commandment of God for us to resist the devil and of course,
we're all gonna be tempted to sin but the difference is, do
you at least resist? Do you at least put up a fight? You know,
sometimes we're going to not be successful in in our fight with
the flesh and we're going to sin. Obviously, every single
person in here is going to sin until the day that they die but
do you at least resist? I feel like a lot of Christians don't
even resist when they're tempted to sin. It's just like
they wanna look. They look. They wanna drink. They drink.
They wanna go there. They go there. You know, they do all
the all of the lust of the flesh without even putting up a
fight and this is what the council that they're giving.
They're like, consent not unto him. Just say no. Resist the
devil. Matthew chapter four, I had you turn there and get
there myself. Matthew four, we get a story about Jesus being
tempted by the devil. Verse one, then was Jesus led up of the
spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. When
he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, he was afterward and
hungered and when the tempter came to him, he said, if thou
be the son of God, command that these stones be made bread but
he answered and said, it is written, man shall not live by
bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the
mouth of god. Then the devil taketh him up into the holy
city and said of him on a pinnacle of the temple and say
it unto him, if thou be the son of god, cast thyself down for
it is written, he shall give his angels charge concerning
thee and in their hands, they shall bear thee up lest at any
time, thou dash thy foot against the stone. Jesus said unto him,
it is written again, thou shalt not tempt the lord thy god and
again, the devil take them up into an exceeding high mountain
and show with him all the kingdoms of the world and the
glory of them and he saith unto them, all these things will I
give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus
unto him, get thee hence satan for it is written, thou shalt
worship the lord thy god and him only shalt thou serve and of
course, the lord Jesus Christ gives us the best example ever
of resisting the devil. The lord Jesus Christ obviously is
perfect and he never sinned. He was tempted in all points like
as we are yet without sin but when he was tempted of the
devil, he resisted the devil and how did he do that? With the
word of god, with the sword of the spirit, his weapon, the
sword of the spirit, the word of god. Obviously, Jesus is the
word of god. So, he has the ultimate advantage. He can just
quote anything at any time and that should motivate us to
memorize scripture right there because that's our weapon in
spiritual warfare. That is how we resist. The Ben hadas that
come into our life. It's by the word of god. Go to Ephesians
chapter six. I'll prove that to you. Ephesians chapter number
six. We get a list of the armor of god. Ephesians six. Look at
verse thirteen. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of god
that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and
having done all to stand. Stand therefore having your loins
girt about with truth and having on the breastplate of
righteousness and your feet shod with the preparation of
the gospel of peace. Above all taking the shield of faith
wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of
the wicked and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of
the spirit which is the word of god. Praying always with all
prayer and supplication in the spirit and watching thereunto
with all perseverance and supplications for all saints.
So, the Bible gives us a list of the full armor of god and
everything that we need and this list is full of a lot of
defensive pieces of the armor but the one offensive piece is
the sword and what is it? The word of god. That is how we
fight. That is how we resist the devil with the sword of the
spirit and Jesus gave us that perfect example in Matthew
chapter four. That's how he did it and so this advice that
they give to Ahab, you know, that's good advice for us
spiritually. Resist. Don't consent to the demands of the
enemy. Don't don't consent to your family that wants you to
go drink with them. That your family wants you to go and and
do all these wicked things with them. Don't consent to them.
Resist and how you do it? You do it with the word of god. I'll
read for you. Turn back to first Kings twenty. I'll read
for you first Peter chapter five. The Bible says, be sober,
be vigilant because your adversary the devil as a
roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour whom
resist steadfast in the faith knowing that the same
afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the
world. So, the Bible straight up says, you know, resist the
devil steadfast in your faith. Continuously do it. Don't ever
give up. Just continuously resist sin. Continuously resist
the devil. Continually resist evil people. Hey, I don't care
if we have to preach on the sodomites until Jesus comes.
We're going to continuously resist those people. We're
going to continuously and steadfastly resist the wicked
people that want to come in here. I don't care what Ben
Haydad demands of us. We're going to continuously resist
them with the sword of the spirit. First Kings chapter
number twenty three verse nine. And he came with her unto a cave
and lodge there. I'm sorry, wrong chapter. Verse number
nine. Wherefore he said unto the messengers of Ben Haydad,
tell my lord the king all that thou did ascend forward to thy
servant at the first will I do. So, he's still not resisting.
He's saying, okay, I'll do everything you said at the
beginning but this thing I may not do and the messengers
departed and brought him word again and Ben Haydad sent unto
him and said, the gods do so unto me and more also if the
dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people
that follow me. And the king of Israel answered and said, tell
him, let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as
he that put it off. And it came to pass when Ben Haydad heard
this message as he was drinking, he and the kings and the
pavilions that he said unto his servants, set yourselves in a
ray and they set themselves in a ray against the city. Another
don't in spiritual warfare is do not be prideful. Do not be
prideful. Notice what Ben Haydad says. This is actually a
pretty epic threat except it was an empty threat because he
got wrecked. This just goes to show why you shouldn't be
prideful but look what he says. He says, the gods do so unto me
and more also if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for
handfuls for all the people that follow me. He's saying,
I've got so many people following me. I've got so many
people that's coming after you Ahab that if each of them were
to pick up some handfuls of dust in the land of Samaria,
the dust will not be able to suffice for how many people I'm
coming at you with. I mean, that's big words, right? That's
a threat right there. It reminds me of the Russians,
okay? I used to live in an area with a lot of Russians. I worked
with Russians, worked for a Russian company and this is the
type of threats that they give. They're like just like
hardcore epic threats, right? But they do struggle with
pride, okay? So, we gotta preach against that kind of stuff.
This is a big threat but look what Ahab says in verse 11. Let
not him that Gurdathon has harnessed boast himself as he
that put it off. Now, like I said at the beginning of the
sermon, both of these kings are wicked but what Ahab said right
here is a very, very good quote. What he said is very
true. Let not him that put on his harness boast himself as
him that put it off. He's saying, hey, just because you're
getting ready to come to war doesn't mean that you're
walking out of here alive. Just because you're putting on, you
know, your AR-15, you're strapping up. Just because
you're putting on your chest rig and everything. Hey, don't
boast yourself as him that comes out of the battle wearing
those things because you might be laying dead in the battle. I
mean, that's true, right? And spiritually, in the Christian
life, if you're prideful, man, that is one of the biggest
mistakes you can make in spiritual warfare is being
prideful. Let's go to Proverbs chapter 11 and let's look at
some verses on pride. Pride is one of the quickest ways you
could destroy yourself in the Christian life. Proverbs
chapter 11 verse two. The Bible says, when pride cometh, then
cometh shame. But with the lowly is wisdom. When pride
cometh, then cometh shame. And what could be worse for a
prideful person than experiencing shame, right? Because
all they want to feel is glory and how great they are. But God
says, when you're prideful, you know what you're going to
experience? Shame. That is what Ben Haydad was going to
experience. Proverbs 16 verse 18. Flip over to the right.
Proverbs 16 18. The Bible says, pride goeth before destruction
and in haughty spirit before a fall. So, you know, if we're in
a Christian warfare and we want to succeed, we don't want to be
destroyed. We don't want to fall. The last thing we should
do is become prideful is to be to be lifted up about ourselves
or about our church or about our movement or about anything
about us and think that we're so great. Rather, we should be
humble. Proverbs 29. Flip over to write a few more pages.
Proverbs 29 verse 23. A man's pride shall bring him low, but
honor shall uphold the humble in spirit. So, the Bible is very
consistent about this. Those that are prideful, you're going
to be a base. You're going to be destroyed. It doesn't matter
how godly you were in the past and you gotta think about it.
Just because we're serving God today on this date in 2021 does
not mean that you will be on this date in 2022. Hey, just
because maybe you've been sober for two years, three years,
five years, however long, you know, you've been sober does
not mean that you cannot fall into that again in the future.
And just because, you know, you've been living a clean life
and you've been faithful to your spouse for a few years
does not mean that you can never fail again in the future.
And when we decide that we're so great and that we've arrived
spiritually and that we can never fall and, you know,
there's a lot of men in here. Praise God. They're learning to
preach and you're like, oh, you know, I'm a preacher now.
I'm on a whole different level. That's a horrible, horrible
mentality to have. The Lord Jesus Christ did not have that
mentality. He had the mindset of a servant. He humbled himself.
He was God in the flesh, yet he humbled himself. He had every
right to be prideful, but he was not. And not a single human
being on this earth has a right to be prideful period. I don't
care how good you think you are. I don't care how much Bible
you know. I don't care how many sermons you preach. I don't
care how many souls that you've won to Christ out there. None of
us are worthy of being prideful. In fact, if you do it,
you'll experience shame. You'll be, you'll be lowered. You'll be
destroyed. And so don't ever, don't ever say, you know, we're
coming at you from pure words Baptist Church. And you know
what? If you guys just picked up the dust of Houston, it
wouldn't suffice for us. It's like, no, no, don't boast
yourself. You know, don't boast yourself that you've already
won the battle. Basically is what Ahab says. Don't boast
yourself as if you've already won the battle. I'll read for
you. Galatians six three, the Bible says, for if a man think
himself to be something when he is nothing, pay attention to
this. He deceiveth himself, but let every man prove his own
work. And then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone and
not in another. One of the most frustrating things about pride
and one of the most frustrating things about prideful people is
that the the sin of pride is the most self-deceiving sin that
there is. Bible says that when you think yourself to be
something when you're nothing, you deceive yourself. And man,
it's so frustrating when everyone in the room can spot
the prideful person, but that person cannot cannot spot it in
himself. That person doesn't realize how prideful he's being,
yet everyone around can see and can usually hear that someone's
prideful by the things that come out of their mouth. And then I
like how the Bible says, let every man prove his own work.
Let every man prove his own work. This always makes me think
of like the single people that get on Facebook and want to
start like a marriage blog. And it's like, hey, what are you
doing? Like, you have no idea what you're talking about. It's
like, let it he that thinks himself to be something when
he's nothing, he deceives himself. Hey, let every man
prove his own work. Hey, why don't you just show me the
godly children that you've raised? And then maybe you can
teach people what the Bible says, or not what the Bible
says, but maybe some advice. Obviously, we should preach the
Bible's principles no matter what, no matter what stage in
life that you're at, or, you know, every every mom wants to
have her own blog, right? Every mom wants to have her own blog
about her breastfeeding and her child rearing, and she wants to
start the video blogs and teach everyone how to parent. And it's
like, you have no kids. Why don't you prove your own work?
You know, it's like you have one kid that was born yesterday.
Why don't you prove your own work for a while? Why don't you
just shut up and just be a godly person and just be humble
and just raise godly children and then prove your own work
and then you'll have rejoicing in yourself. How stupid would
it be for my oldest child to not even be two years old and
me be like, let me tell you something about raising
teenagers. Alright, I got this great advice. He's so stupid.
He's so stupid to boast myself going into the battle as
someone who's gone out of it. Why don't you listen to the
person who's been in the battle and has come out of it? You
know, that's the the prideful person is the person who's
never even experienced battle yet wants to tell you all about
it, right? The the YouTube commenters on all of all the
gun videos, right? That have that have seen combat on call
of duty so much, you know, and they're ready to tell you how
to go through Iraq and and kick down doors. It's so stupid but
people do this spiritually all the time. Child rearing, you
know, preaching, whatever it is, soul winning. Just be
humble. Just realize that no one has arrived. Nobody knows,
you know, all the best parenting methods. No one knows
all the best soul-winning methods. No one knows all the
best, you know, preaching tips and tricks. Rather, we should
just be humble. Do what the Bible says and get advice from
people who've actually gone through the battle and not just
get advice from every person that wants to open their mouth
to you. Let's go to First Kings chapter twenty. First Kings
twenty. Let's read verse twenty-three. So, we're gonna
we're gonna skip forward a little bit cuz we're talking
about his pride. They end up getting defeated and then they
have a second battle and notice we're gonna see if if his
attitude is changed after getting defeated. And the
servants of Syria said unto him, their gods are the gods of
the hills. Therefore, they were stronger than we but let us
fight against them in the plain and surely we shall be
stronger than they. And do this thing, take the kings away,
every man out of his place and put captains in their rooms.
And number thee an army like the army that thou has lost,
horse for horse and chariot for chariot and we will fight
against them in the plain and surely we but we shall be
stronger than they. And he hearkened unto their voice and
did so. And it came to pass at the return of the year that
Ben Hadad numbered the Syrians and went up to Aphec to fight
against Israel. And the children of Israel were
numbered and were all present and went against them and the
children of Israel pitched before them like two little
flocks of kids. But the Syrians filled the country and there
came a man of God and spake unto the king of Israel and
said, Thus saith the lord, because the Syrians have said,
the lord is god of the hills but he is not the god of the
valleys. Therefore, will I deliver all this great
multitude into thine hand and ye shall know that I am the
lord. And they pitched one over against the other seven days
and so it was that in the seventh day the battle was
joined and the children of Israel slew on the Syrians,
slew of the Syrians and hundred thousand footmen in one day.
But the rest fled to Aphec into the city and there a wall fell
upon twenty and seven thousand of the men that were left and
Ben Hadad fled and came into the city into an inner chamber.
So we see he was prideful at the beginning. He gets
destroyed. He's prideful again. He gets destroyed even harder,
right? And Israel pitched before this great host of
enemies and the Bible says that they were like two little
flocks of kids. Tiny number. Tiny number. But guess what?
When you're humble and you trust in the lord, it actually
gives glory to God when you win. When you're prideful and
you're talking about there's not even enough dust in this
country to suffice all of my soldiers and we're going to
destroy you. We're going to win. Well, when you win, then
you get all the glory because look at you run in your mouth,
right? But when you're humble, when you're two little flocks
of kids in front of the enemy and you do mighty things for
God, that gives glory to the lord. And that's what the
prophet said. He's coming and saying, hey, I'm going to let
you win so that you may know that I am the lord. And so that
encourages me when we're in a church that by the world's
standards, this is not a huge church. You know, when we when
we pitch our tent before Joel Osteen's church, we're like
two little flocks of kids, aren't we? But you know what?
We're going out and we're preaching the gospel and we
could turn this city upside down for God. We could
absolutely destroy the enemies. Hey, Texas is full of false
prophets. But you know what? When we're humble and we trust
in the lord with all our heart, lean not onto our own
understanding and acknowledge him in all our ways and he
shall direct our paths, the Bible says. So, hey, you know,
we can we can defeat all these false prophets with the lord's
help. And that's how we should always be. Not just like, oh
man, we could we could get everything done. We can knock
out that whole map. We could destroy every false prophet
because we're so awesome. No, it's not because we're so
awesome. It's because we have an awesome God. That's why, you
know, forgive me for using the very corny and cringy
illustration, but it is true. It absolutely is true. That
song had to ruin that phrase, but he is awesome. He does. He
is full of all our God is. And so, you know, I'm not going to
let them steal that phrase. We're going to take it back.
So do stay humble and trust the lord's promises. Do stay
humble and trust the lord's promises. Go to First
Corinthians chapter ten. First Corinthians chapter ten.
First Corinthians chapter ten verse twelve. The Bible says,
Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he
fall. And so those, you know, us in this church, you know, you
probably have come a long way from where you used to be in
your spiritual life. You guys have a great pastor that feeds
you the meat of the word. We're out here doing the work of God.
You know, you can't be in this church and not grow. But no
matter how much you've grown, you've grown, realize that you
can fall in the future. That you are a sinner. That you do
have weak flesh. I have weak flesh. I am a sinner. And even
though you may stand today, you may fall tomorrow. So instead
of being prideful about how much you've achieved, how far
you've come, how long you've been sober, rather just every
single day, you should just realize how weak you are and
put on the Lord Jesus Christ. Every single day realize that
where you are in life is nothing but by the grace of God,
nothing else. You think that the two little flocks of kids,
you know, how it looked in front of that army, do you think they
won because of their strength? Do you think they won because they had
better weapons? Absolutely not. They won because of the Lord.
And so it doesn't matter how weak and how fragile we are
because we are. If every day we're humble and realize that
God has put us where we were, where we are, and that God is
allowing us to do everything that we're doing, then we can
continue to have that victory. But the moment that we get
lifted up, expect to fall. The moment that you think you're
where you are because you've worked so hard and I've done so
much for the Lord and I help this church so much. No, rather
it's God is allowing me to do all these things and praise God
for it and keep that mentality and then you can live the rest
of your life and continuously be used by God and not have to
fall, not have to experience that shame, which none of us
want anyways. So we need to continuously stay humble. Go to
Proverbs chapter twenty-two. You know, back to my example of
child rearing and marriage and all that stuff. Instead of just
saying, you know what? I am gonna raise godly kids cuz I
found the best mom articles and I use the best essential oils
and I know everything about this. Rather, look at Proverbs
twenty-two verse six. It says, train up the child in the way
he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from
it. Rather, we should say, hey, you know, if I'm faithful in
doing what I'm supposed to do as a parent and if I raise up
the child in the ways he should go, then, hey, when he's old,
he won't depart from it. That we can confidently say, that's
not prideful. It's not prideful to say, hey, if we obey the
Bible, our kids will grow up and be godly children. That's
not prideful at all but it is prideful when it's like, oh,
well, if you don't do this method, you're gonna destroy it.
I gotta do this method. Same thing with marriage. Same thing
same thing with business. Same thing with soul winning. Same
thing with preaching. It's not us. It's not the arm of flesh
that gives us the victory. It is what the Bible says. It's
following the principles and the precepts of the Bible and
staying humble. You can't, you have to have both. You go, you
cannot follow the precepts of the Bible and be prideful
cuz you're not following all the precepts of the Bible at
that point, okay? So, you think you have to have both. I'll
read for you Philippians four thirteen. I can do all things
through Christ which strengtheneth me. So, it's
through Christ that we can do all things. We can defeat all
enemies. We could win all battles through Christ. Not
through ourself. Go back to first Kings chapter number
twenty. Let's look at verse number fourteen.
Let's let's get back to thirteen and behold, there came
a prophet unto Ahab, king of Israel, saying, thus saith the
lord, hast thou seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will
deliver it into thine hand this day. Thou shalt know that I am
the lord. So, the prophet says, you're gonna win the battle.
Look at verse fourteen. And Ahab said, by whom? And he said,
thus saith the lord, even by the young men of the princes of
the provinces. Then he said, who shall order the battle?
Well, that's a silly question, King Ahab. You are the king.
You are the leader. What kind of question is this? Hey, who's
gonna order the battle? Uh, thou. That's the answer. Thou.
And so, here's another do in spiritual warfare. Do take
action when you hear the word of God. Do take action when you
hear the word of God. This cracks me up. This story is
just so crazy on on every twist and turn of this story. It's
just mind blowing to me. And Ahab's just like, alright,
alright. So, we're gonna win. Who's gonna, who's gonna lead
the battle? You're the king, man. Vow, okay? But yet,
sometimes, we're just as dense. We hear sermon after sermon
after sermon and you're like, yeah, yeah, that's the truth.
That's what the Bible says. You know, someone really should
apply that to their lives. It's like, oh yeah, thou. You
should apply that to your life. You, the individual. I, the
individual. When we hear what the Bible says, it's like, oh,
thou, me, we should order the battle. Us as men, hey, we
should lead the battle in our homes. Even ladies, you should
be leading the battle when dad's not there raising the
children. All of us are leaders to an extent. Go to James
chapter one. James chapter number one.
Look at verse number twenty-two. Be ye doers of the
word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For
if any man be a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like
unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass. For he
beholdeth himself and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth
what manner of man he was. So, the Bible describes someone that
would read the Bible and that would learn how to read the
Someone that would read the Bible and that would learn
truth from it or that would hear the word of God preached
in church and would learn a truth and then them just hear
it, believe it, but not apply it to their life. That's like
someone that just walks into the mirror in the morning,
sees that they look like trash, sees that they need to shave,
see that they got a piece of macaroni and cheese stuck in
their in their teeth still or whatever and they're just like,
all right, let's go to work. It's like, Ahab, thou, lead the
battle, apply the word of God to yourself in your home. Every
single person needs to apply the Bible to themselves. I'll
read for you Psalms twelve one. The Bible says, Help, Lord, for
the godly man ceaseth for the faithful fail from among the
children of men. So, Ahab's asking this question, who's
going to lead? And the man of God tells him, thou. And that's
that's a great question in a lot of areas of life right now.
Who is going to lead? Where's the faithful man to lead our
country? I saw for a man but I found none. There's there's no
faithful man leading our country right now. It doesn't
exist, okay? Where are the faithful men to lead churches
all over America? Hey, the faithful fail from among the
children of men. There's very few. Help, Lord, for the godly
man ceaseth. There's a lot of people that are asking this
question that Ahab asked, who's going to lead the battle? And
the Lord's saying, thou, but a lot of people just aren't doing
it. A lot of people don't want to sacrifice and actually lead
the Lord's battle and not even in a church perspective. Even
in homes. I mean, America has a ceasing, a lack of godly men
to lead their homes. That's why we see our country falling
apart is because men are not leading their homes. That's the
reason. That's how you even raise a feminist to begin with.
Because dad didn't lead his home. There'd be no feminists
if there was godly men raising their homes. There'd be no
homos if godly men were all raising their homes. There'd be
no effeminate, weak men if godly men were all raising
people and and leading their homes. Same thing for ladies.
You know, where are all the faithful ladies in this country
to teach their children the Bible? But instead, a lot of
people just want to drop off their kids at the public school
and not teach them the Bible, which I realized for some
people, you know, that's that's inevitable. Maybe you're in a
situation where you can't homeschool. You know,
thankfully, because of the coronavirus, it's actually
helps a lot of people start homeschooling who maybe
couldn't have before. Now, it's just like everyone's
homeschooling. So, I don't even know if if there's people that
are still in that situation where they can't homeschool
but you know, we need faithful ladies today too to to stand up
and to lead the battle in their children and to instill into
them the word of god and instead of spending all of
their time on YouTube and on Facebook and wasting their
time to actually teach their children the Bible and
actually teach their children to be godly men and godly women
and to actually make something of their life. Hey, that's the
spiritual battle that ladies find themselves in today is the
battle of in the home, raising the next generation, which if
you ask me, that's the most important thing. That's more
important than being a pastor. That's more important than
almost anything is the next generation because if we don't
teach the next generation, then this church won't exist. You
know, God forbid when Pastor Shelley dies, there's no man
here at Pure Words Baptist Church to stand up and lead.
Let that not be said of Pure Words Baptist Church. Let that
not be said of Steadfast Baptist Church. We don't. We
don't. It's great to have a man and it's great to have a
faithful generation but we need to have another faithful
generation to come after us. Go to first Kings back to our
story. First Kings chapter twenty.
Verse fifteen, then he numbered the young men of the princes of
the provinces and there were 230 and two and after them, he
numbered all the people, even all the children of Israel
being 7000 and they went out at noon but Ben Haydad was
drinking himself drunk in the pavilions. He and the kings,
the thirty and two kings that helped him and the young men of
the princes of the provinces went out first and Ben Haydad
sent out and they told him saying there are men come out
of Samaria and he said, whether they become out for peace, take
them alive or whether they become out for war, take them
alive. So, these young men, the princes of the provinces came
out of the city in the army which followed them and they
slew everyone as man and the Syrians fled and Israel pursued
them and Ben Haydad, the king of Syria, escaped on a horse
with the horseman. So, what happens? Ben Haydad makes this
crazy threat and he's so prideful that him and all of
the leaders, all of the princes are getting drunk and then they
get destroyed. So, here's a don't in spiritual warfare.
Don't be drunken in the battle. Don't be drunken in the battle.
I'll read for you Ephesians 5 eighteen and be not drunk with
wine wherein is excess but be filled with the spirit. Go to
First Peter chapter five. First Peter chapter five. Do be
sober. I mean that in the most literal way and spiritually in
your mind as well. Being sober, being serious. First Peter
chapter five verse eight. Be sober. Be vigilant because your
adversary the devil as a roaring lion walketh about
seeking whom he devour. Let's think about about this
illustration again of warfare. I don't care how weak you are
or how inexperienced you are. If you went up against an army
of people that were just drunk, people that are just
intoxicated, people that are just passed out. I don't care
how weak you are. You will destroy that enemy, okay? And I
don't care how great and how strong you are as a Christian.
When you are drunk, the devil, you are just at his will. You
are absolutely just at the wicked's will when you are
drunk. You know, the Bible says thine eyes shall behold
strange women. You will utter perverse things. The Bible says
when you're drunken, you are asking to be destroyed as a
Christian. If you want to go and get drunk, I'll read for
you Habakkuk two fifteen. The Bible says woe unto him that
giveth his neighbor drink. So man giving another man drink
that put his thy bottle to him and makest him drunken also
that thou mayst look on their nakedness. The Bible describes
that actually one of the tactics of sodomites to do the
sick and perverted things that they do is to get you drunk.
That's why being at a bar is one of the worst places you can
be. Even if even if you are that unicorn who supposedly
drinks in moderation, who's to say that some fag doesn't just
poison your drink and just get you completely intoxicated?
Hey, I've heard of stories of that happening to people that
happens to people in college all the time. I don't even want
to get into the sick details because it's a shame to speak
of those things, but I'm telling you as a Christian. If
you go out and get drunk, it's only a matter of time before
you seriously damage your life. It's only a matter of time
before you go and kill someone in a drunk driving accident.
It's only a matter of time before you take someone's wife
away from them. Someone's mother away from them.
Someone's children away from them because of your
selfishness and the devil would love to destroy you with that
guilt for the rest of your life. The devil would love to
destroy you any way he can. That's why the very first thing
that the Bible says is be sober. Be vigilant. If your
adversary, the devil is as a roaring lion walking about
seeking whom he may devour. It'd be so easy to destroy
someone that is drunken. It's so easy and the devil knows
that if a Christian is drunken, he can go in and destroy them
any way he wants and it is a matter of time before you're
destroyed. I've seen people in my life that I thought for the
longest time. Man, these people are like the exception
to the rule. Seems like they always drink alcohol. Seems
like nothing ever bad happens to them and so when I first got
saved, it took me a long time to fully understand how bad
alcohol really is because all I had ever seen is what I
thought to be the exception to the rule. I'm like, man, these
people, they've never gotten in a drunk driving accident.
They've never gotten in a fight. They've never gotten
hurt. They've never lost their teeth. You know, they've never
committed adultery, all these things in the Bible but you
know what? That day did come and I did see these people's
lives destroyed because of alcohol and so, you know, for
the first 20 years of my life, I was like, man, I just don't
get it. I don't get why alcohol is so bad but then I saw it.
You know, the destruction comes suddenly and without remedy.
So, you wanna play with that fire. I'm telling you, there
will be a day where the devil will hurt you or the devil will
destroy you because of alcohol. So, you need to just stop that
now. Be sober now. If hey, if you've had mercy from God and
you've played around with that sin and you haven't had anything
seriously bad happen to you yet, praise God but you better
stop tempting the lord. You better stop tempting the lord
because I'm telling you, that will destroy you eventually
being drunken. It will happen and if you realize that we're
in a battle, back to our carnal illustration, if you realize
that there's people wanting wanting to shoot you out there
wanting to kill you, would you really be getting drunk right
now? No. What a stupid thing to do. You wouldn't be able to
defend yourself. You wouldn't be able to defend your family
but yet, we are in a battle that's just as real as a
physical battle if not even more serious. Yet, people want
to get drunk today. It's absolutely stupid. First King
chapter twenty verse twenty-two.
So, Israel wins the first battle and then the prophet
comes to to Ahab verse twenty-two and the prophet came
to the king of Israel and said unto him, go strengthen thyself
and mark and see what thou doest for at the return of the
year, the king of Syria will come up against thee. So, we
see he won the battle. Then, the prophet comes up to him
and says, hey, at the end of the year, he's going to come
fight you again and here's this, do continuously prepare
yourself for the next battle in life. Do continuously prepare
yourself for the next battle in life. The Christian life is a
series of battles of storms. You're always in a storm, going
into a storm, or coming out of a storm. You know, all of us,
we're always going to be having problems and fights and storms
in our life and when you get out of one battle, it's not
time to relax. It's not time to sit on your laurels and be
like, yeah, I won. No, it's time to prepare for Ben Haydad
coming again at the end of the year and to and to continuously
build that foundation. I think about like the job of of a
pastor, you know, or or someone who preaches three times a
week. I can't, that would be extremely hard, right? But
think about this, a pastor or someone who preaches three
times a week, they can't just finish their Sunday night
sermon and just be like, oh, alright, I can walk in the
flesh now. I delivered some sermons. You know, now, I'm
good to coast. I won the battle. It's like, no, now, it's
time to study the word of god again and get ready for
Thursday or get ready for Wednesday and continuously walk
in the spirit and continuously be walking with god to be ready
to fight that next battle. You know what? You and I, we not,
we may not have that exact battle where we know, oh, we're
preaching three sermons a week but we do have battles in our
lives. We do have children to raise. We do have to go preach
the gospel to the lost and when we're done with a battle, it's
not time to just relax and be like, oh, okay, now, I can go
serve the flesh. No, now, it's time to rebuild that foundation.
I'll read for you. First, go to Matthew chapter seven and
I'll read for you. First Corinthians 1558. The Bible
says, therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast,
unmovable, always abounding in the work of the lord for as
much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the
lord. That's a very, you know, strong verse. Be steadfast,
unmovable, always, always. There's never a time when you
should not be steadfast. There's never a time when you
shouldn't be reading your Bible or you shouldn't be going to
church or you shouldn't be praying or you shouldn't be
preaching the gospel. Being steadfast, hey, always working
for god. That's a tall order but that is what god expects of
us. Matthew chapter seven. Look at verse twenty-fourth.
Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and do
it them, I will liken him unto a wise man which built his
house upon a rock and the rains descended and the flood came
and the winds blew and beat upon that house and it fell
not for it was founded upon a rock and everyone that heareth
these sayings of mine and do it them not shall be likened
unto a foolish man which built his house upon the sand and
the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew
and beat upon that house and it fell and great was the fall of
it. So, you know what? We're trying to build our homes here.
We're trying to build our church on the word of god and
try to have that strong foundation that's built on a
rock and you know, when the storm passes through, what we
should be doing is repairing that foundation, building on
that foundation even more, being even more founded on the
rock, not just sitting back and relaxing and waiting for the
next storm to come through and wipe us out. You know, when
we're done working for god, we just gotta keep working for god
and keep working for god and keep working for god. That's
why church is so important. You know, Proverbs 2717 says,
iron sharpened with iron, so a man sharpened at the countenance
of his friend. You know, when we come together, when we
fellowship, when we're in church, we're sharpening each
other. We're getting stronger and building on our foundation
by each other but the person who never goes to church, you
know, that foundation is just deteriorating. It's just
getting more and more weak with every storm that they go
through and when you come out of a of a storm, all it shows,
it just reveals to everyone the foundation that you have. It
reveals to everybody if you actually were founded on the
rock or if you're founded on the sands. You know, you look
at the the protests that Verity Baptist Church had back in
2016. If you guys know about it, they're protested by the
sodomites for months and months and had like over 500
sodomites. It was a really, really big deal and you saw a
lot of people with that persecution fall away and quit
and it shows that they were not founded on the rock that they
were founded on the sand and even though they wore the same
suit and tie that we all wear and still carry the same
Bible as they walk in, you know, you can't see a person's
foundation until that storm tries them. So, we gotta always
make sure that we're preparing for the next battle. I'll try
to wrap up here. Let's go to first Kings chapter twenty.
We'll skip some parts here. We already read the Syrians got
prideful again. They got destroyed again and look at
verse thirty-one. So, Ben Haydad, he's fleeing in the
chariots and his servant said unto him, behold now, we have
heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful
kings. Let us, I pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins and
ropes upon our heads and go out to the king of Israel for
adventure. He will save thy life. So, they girded sackcloth
on their loins and put ropes on their heads and came to the
king of Israel and said, thy servant, Ben Haydad, saith, I
pray thee, let me live and he said, is he yet alive? He is my
brother. Now, the men did diligently observe whether
anything would come from him and did hastily catch it and
they said, thy brother, Ben Haydad. Then he said, go ye,
bring him. Then Ben Haydad came forth to him and he caused him
to come up into the chariot. So, here's a don't in spiritual
warfare. Don't be a bleeding heart. Don't be a bleeding
heart, okay? This is why women are not in charge, okay? This
is why ladies are not in charge because they sometimes have a
little bit too much of a caring heart. It's like if they were
in charge of killing the deer for the food, sometimes they
just wouldn't be able to do it cuz they don't wanna see Bambi
killed, right? We don't need, you know, women police chiefs
or women governors or women commander in chiefs or anything
like that. Women pastors, okay? Or Ahab pastors. There's a lot
of men that are weaker even than a lot of of women like
Ahab. Ahab is weaker than any woman in this room. I can
guarantee you that because back at the beginning of the
chapter, Ben Haydad's asking for all of his stuff and he
agrees. Then, Ben Haydad ups and he asks for more and he's
like, wow, look at how this guy is seeking for mischief. Now,
after the battles have taken place, now, he's calling him
his brother. Now, he's saying, oh, thy brother, Ben Haydad.
He's like, he is my brother. It's like, oh, yeah, sure. I'll
let him live. Ben Haydad asked, hey, will you let me live? And
he's like, I'll let him live. He is my brother. You know what
that is? That's being a bleeding heart. That's being a
bleeding heart. That's not being able to take action when
action needs to be taken. That's not being able to wipe
out a wicked person when a wicked person needs to be
destroyed and there are people that should not be showed
mercy. There are people that need to be destroyed and you
should not be calling them your brother like Ahab is acting
here. Go to go to Proverbs chapter seventeen and I'll
read for you again in the story. First Kings 2034. Ben
Haydad said unto him, the cities which my father took
from thy father, I will restore and thou shalt make streets for
thee in Damascus and my father made in Samaria. Then, said
Ahab, I will send him away with this covenant. So, he made a
covenant with him and send him away. So, he calls him his
brother. He's having soft feelings for him. Then, Ben
Haydad, he makes him a deal. He's saying, hey, I'm going to
give you all these cities back. So, he's bribing him,
right? So, on top of him being a bleeding heart, now, he's
bribing him. Proverbs seventeen twenty-three says, a wicked
man taketh a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of
judgment. You see, that's exactly what Ahab's doing. He's
perverting ways of judgment. He's not carrying out judgment
on Ben Haydad. He's not killing him. Instead, he's taking that
gift which the Bible says perverts the way of judgment.
First Timothy three, you can stay there. I'll read for you.
It says, a bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one
wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality,
apt to teach, not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of
filthy lucre, not greedy of filthy lucre, but patient, not a
brawler, not covetous. So, for a leader, specifically in the
Bible for a pastor, it can't be someone who's who's greedy and
guilty of filthy lucre because that's going to pervert their
judgment because maybe there's going to be a time where the
pastor needs to preach against something or preach against
someone and they could be bribed with a gift like Ahab
is bribing or being bribed by Ben Haydad right now. That's
like one of the worst things a leader can have is the
attribute of being a covetous person. So, Ahab has all these
tons of horrible qualities in a leader, right? Tons of horrible
qualities in a leader but let's go back to our story here.
First Kings chapter twenty verse thirty-five.
And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his
neighbor in the word of the lord smite me, I pray thee and
the man refused to smite him then said unto him because thou
has not obeyed the voice of the lord behold as soon as thou
are departed from me, a lion shall slay thee and as soon as
he was departed from him, a lion found him and slew him.
Looks like it's just better to obey you know the word of the
lord. I'd rather just obey the word of lord than get devoured
by the lion which represents the devil by the way. So, it
happens when you're not following the word of god. Let's
keep reading verse thirty-seven. Then he found
another man and said smite me, I pray thee and the man smote
him so that in smiting, he wounded him. You know, it's
like Joel Osean says, you know, if you're a man of god, you're
just gonna live your best life now. This man of god is asking
people to punch him in the face. You won't ever hear, you
know, Joel Osean preaching about that. It's not always easy, you
know, being being saved, being a Christian. Verse number
thirty-eight. So, the prophet departed and waited for the
king by the way and disguised himself with ashes upon his
face. As the king passed by, so this is talking about king
Ahab. He cried out unto the king and he said, thy servant
went out into the midst of the battle. Behold, a man turned
aside and brought a man unto me and said, keep this man for by
by any means he be missing. Then shall thy life be for his
life or else thou shalt pay a talent of silver. And thy
servant was busy here and there. He was gone and the king
of Israel said unto him, so shall thy judgment be thyself
has decided it and he hasted and took the ashes away from
his face and the king of Israel discerned him that he was of
the prophets and he said unto them, thus saith the lord
because thou hast let go out of thy hand, a man whom I
appointed for utter destruction. Therefore, thy life
shall go for his life and thy people for his people and the
king of Israel went to his house heavy and displeased and
came to Samaria. So the man of God, he approaches king Ahab
and he says, look, the lord had appointed for Ben Haydad to be
utterly destroyed, but you showed him mercy. Was God
happy about this? No. In fact, he says your life now is going
to go for his life. So, you know, in this culture we live
in, it's all about mercy, mercy, mercy, grace, grace, grace all
the time, but yet king Ahab is judged by God for being too
merciful to someone, for not destroying someone that God had
appointed for utter destruction. Like I was
saying, this is what a bleeding heart is. This is what a
bleeding heart is, is a person who knows someone's wicked, who
knows someone is appointed to destruction by the lord, yet
they will not fight against them, yet they will not take
them out. You know, I'm sick and tired of hearing. Go to 2 Peter
chapter two. I'm sick and tired of hearing this accusation
about our church or about our movement where it's like, oh,
the new IFB is so bloodthirsty. They're just so
bloodthirsty. They just always want to take people out.
They just always want to fight people. They just always want to
destroy people and to call out people's names and to just
defeat people in the spiritual battle, and it's like, hey, I
don't want the wrath of God upon me for not taking someone
out that God has appointed for utter destruction. You know,
there's some people I don't have to wonder if God has
appointed them for utter destruction. I don't have to
think, man, can this person have mercy or not? Hey, it's
called Romans chapter one. If someone's burning in their lust
with the same sex, they're a reprobate. They're appointed
for destruction. Hey, if someone's preaching a false
gospel, Galatians chapter one already told me they're
appointed for utter destruction. I don't have to
wonder if that's a person that I need to show mercy on. No, no
mercy for that person. Utter destruction for that person. I
told you to go to 2 Peter chapter two. Let me get there myself.
2 Peter chapter two verse six.
But chiefly, them that walk after the flesh in the lust of
uncleanness and despise government, presumptuous are
they, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of
dignities. Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might,
bring not a railing accusation against them before the Lord.
But these, referring to false prophets, reprobates, but these
as natural brute beasts, pay attention to this phrase, made
to be taken and destroyed. Speak evil of the things that
they understand not and shall utterly perish in their own
corruption. You know that the Bible tells us that there are
some people that are made to be taken and destroyed. They're
not to be taken into the house of God and love them to Christ
and try to preach them the gospel. No, there's some people
who have been turned over to a reprobate mind who can never
be saved and they are made to be taken and destroyed and a
pastor that does not take out and destroy the reprobates
that will not preach against false prophets, that will not
preach against the homos, but in fact, lets them come into
their church and says, my brother Ben Haydad, you're like
Pastor Ahab. That's what these people are like because they're
bleeding hearts and they're trying to be more merciful than
God. More merciful than God. This would be the last place I
have you turn Jeremiah chapter forty-eight. Jeremiah chapter
forty-eight.
Jeremiah forty-eight verse ten, the Bible says, cursed be he
that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully. The Bible is going
to define what that means to do the work of the Lord
deceitfully. Jeremiah forty-eight ten and cursed be
he that keepeth back his sword from blood. Oh, the new IV is
so bloodthirsty. Hey, my question is, why are you keeping
your sword back from blood? Why are you doing the work of the
Lord deceitfully? Who is it that you're fighting against?
Who is it that you're slaying with the sword? Who is it? Us?
Is that the only people you want to preach against? Because
you don't want to preach against the sodomites. You want
to invite them into your church, Wilshire Baptist Church
of Dallas, Texas. You don't want to fight against the false
prophets. You don't want to say that Joel Osteen is
definitively unsaved. You don't want to say that, you know,
Peter Ruckman is definitively unsaved. Manly Perry doesn't
want to say that Billy Graham is definitely unsaved. Manly
Perry, you know what that is? Doing the work of the Lord
deceitfully. Holding back their sword from blood. You want to
call us bloodthirsty? My question is, why is your sword
so clean, coward? Why is your sword so glittering and clean
looking like you just picked it up from the from the store? Why
don't you actually fight with it? Why don't you actually be a
man and lead and actually preach the word of God and
fight the enemy with the sword of the spirit today? Why are
pastors doing it? Why are preachers doing it? Why are
fathers doing it? Because they're cowards. That's why.
Because too many people represent Ahab today in this
world instead of being a godly Christian. And so there's a lot
in this chapter that we can learn. There's so much that
these men did wrong, but you know, obviously these are all
physical, physical truths that they're going through a
physical battle, but all of these things we can apply to us
in a spiritual sense and we can learn from the mistakes that
they made. You know, another good example of this is like,
hey, when Pastor Shelley when it's first Corinthians five and
someone is worthy of being thrown out of the church
according to the Bible, it's not time for you to be a
bleeding heart. It's time for you to back up the leader and
be thankful that you have a leader that's not going to just
be a bleeding heart and not just let a little leaven leaven
the whole lump in this church and be thankful that you have a
leader who's not going to just invite the reprobates in and
love them as they molest your kids. Don't be a bleeding heart
today. Hey, have a soft heart. Have a loving heart. Just don't
have a bleeding heart and if you have a bleeding heart, you
know what? You're just going to bleed out and die. You're just
going to bleed all over the floor and just die and fail in
your Christian life and fail in the spiritual battle that we
are in. So, practical application of the sermon.
Obviously, the practical application was made, you know,
throughout the sermon. A lot of different things we could
apply, but just lastly, this realize that every decision you
make, every single decision you make in your life can have a
huge impact on yourself and those around you. Let's look at
how King Ahab ended his life. There's actually one more verse
I want you to turn to. First Kings twenty-two. First Kings
twenty-two and I just want to show you how King Ahab ended
his life for being a bleeding heart. First Kings twenty-two
verse thirty-three. And it came to pass when the captains of
the chariots perceived that it was not the king of Israel that
they turned back from pursuing him and a certain man drew a
bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the
joints of the harness. So, he smites King Ahab. Wherefore, he
said unto the driver of his chariot, turn thine hand and
carry me out of the host for I am wounded. And the battle
increased that day and the king was stayed up in his chariot
against the Syrians and died at even and the blood ran out of
the wound into the midst of the chariot and there went out a
proclamation throughout the host about the going down of the
sun saying every man to his city and every man to his own
country. So, the king died and was brought to Samaria and they
bury they bury the king in Samaria and one washed the
chariot in the pool of Samaria and the dogs licked up his
blood and they washed his armor according unto the word of the
lord which he spake. We don't want to be this type of a
casualty in the spiritual warfare that we fight. We don't
want to just get smote by the enemy as a judgment of god for
you being a bleeding heart, for you being such a weak and
horrible leader. I think King Ahab and I just think one of
the worst leaders ever. Just absolute horrible example of a
leader and you know, he died getting smitten in between the
harnesses and dogs licking up his blood and that is not how I
want to go spiritually. That's not how I want my my warfare
credentials to look like. That's not the stripes that I
want on my chest spiritually speaking, okay? Was killed,
dogs licked blood, you know, Semper Fi. Good night. It's
like, no, that's not what I want, alright? So, let's make
sure we take the battle that we're in very seriously and
apply these things to our lives. Let's have a word of
prayer. Lord, thank you so much this day and thank you for
your word, how much it could teach us, Lord and I thank you
for Pure Words Baptist Church. Pray that you would raise up
here a generation of very strong men and women and
children that love you, that love your precepts, and that
would be doers of the word and not hearers only, Lord. That
you just strengthen us for the battle that we're in. In Jesus
name, we pray. Amen.