Welcome to Scherf Foundation Baptist Church. Please find your seats. If you don't have a hymn book, please raise your hand.
I shall hand you a hymn book. First song of the day is gonna be "Stand up, stand up for Jesus" song 413.
"Stand up, stand up for Jesus" song 413. We're gonna start on the first.
"Stand up for Jesus"
"Cross lift high, his Royce suffer"
Christian, can you please pray us into the service, please? Amen. Next song is gonna be 379, 379, "Bringing in the She's"
379, 379
"Sowing in the morning, sowing seeds of kindness, sowing in the noontide and the dew we eat"
"Waiting for the harvest and the time of reaping, we shall come rejoicing"
"Bringing in the She's"
"We shall come rejoicing"
"Bringing in the She's"
"We shall come rejoicing"
"Bringing in the She's"
"Sowing in the sunshine, sowing in the shadows"
"Wearing neither clouds, nor winter's chilling breeze"
"By and by the harvest, and the labor ended"
"We shall come rejoicing"
"Bringing in the She's"
"We shall come rejoicing"
"Bringing in the She's"
"We shall come rejoicing"
"Bringing in gold"
"Sowing for the master"
"Though the law sustains grief"
"When our weeping gold shall come to She's"
"We shall come rejoicing"
"The She's"
"Bringing in the She's"
"We shall come rejoicing"
"Bringing in the She's"
"Now some announcements"
"Come back to Sure Foundation Baptist Church"
"Raise your hand if you need a bulletin"
"And Asher will bring one to you"
"And I haven't seen some of you for two weeks"
"There's snow"
"And I put a snowy indie picture on the bulletin"
"To make you feel the weather"
"So the verse of the week"
"This week is 2 Timothy chapter 2 verse number 3"
"The Bible says thou therefore endure hardness"
"As a good soldier of Jesus Christ"
"That's a great verse saying that"
"Once you are saved"
"You are just enrolled in the Lord's army"
"And we're supposed to fight a good fight of faith"
"And let's look at the inside page"
"Please give us a follow on YouTube"
"Facebook, Rumble and X"
"So here today, Salvation 55"
"We have a great start for the year"
"Pray that we will see that number grow"
"And also pray for more baptisms this year as well"
"Make sure you are talking to your new converts about baptism"
"As well as church attendance"
"Upcoming events"
"This coming weekend, this coming Saturday and Sunday"
"Is our two year anniversary on February 7th and 8th"
"So please RSVP by emailing us"
"If you don't, there will be a consequence if you show up"
"And you can scan the QR code for more details"
"The QR code will bring you a video about the details"
"But basically on Saturday"
"This Saturday we'll meet at the church building at 9.30"
"To pair up for song winning"
"And then we're going to have lunch at the Chipotle"
"And then we're going to go bowling"
"Again, I'll give you more addresses when you show up"
"And feel free to only show up"
"If you have any traveling or concerns"
"You can show up at bowling or lounge"
"Just let me know, okay?"
"And then on that Sunday, Patrick Thompson will be preaching both services"
"And then, yesterday was the deadline for the New Testament challenge"
"So if you have done the challenge last month, please email us"
"And then we'll give you a small gift"
"Please email us by this Wednesday if you are done last month, okay?"
"And then you can go to our website for the soul winning marathons"
"And Brad Jerry is organizing some small town soul winning events"
"Also you can go to our website for the soul winning marathons planned out this year"
"And then please help us with the cleaning of the church building right after the service"
"So again, just to re-emphasize, the church anniversary is this coming weekend"
"This coming weekend, February 7th and 8th, for those people who don't read the bulletin, okay?"
"And please RSVP if you're planning on coming, please RSVP, please RSVP"
"And if you know people who are traveling, they can let me know because I can provide a hotel discount for you if you are staying overnight"
"So let's make this coming weekend a great time and a great service next Sunday when Patrick Thompson is here"
"And then you can read the rest on your own. On the back you can see the birthdays coming up"
"And people choose to have your birthdays in February. But if your dates are in February but not on the list"
"Please let me know or if there's any mistake please let me know so I can keep your information up to date"
"So with that being said, let's sing one more song and then we'll take up the offering"
"The next song is going to be 437 Battle Hymn of the Republic"
"437"
"I'm going to start on the first"
"My eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord"
"He is trampling out the vintage where the graves of wrath are stored"
"He have loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible sweet sword"
"His truth is marching on"
"Glory"
"Hallelujah"
"Glory"
"Truth is marching on"
"I have seen him in the watch fires of a hundred circling camps"
"They have builded him an altar in the evening dews and damps"
"I can read his righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps"
"His day is marching on"
"Glory"
"Has sounded forth the trumpet that can never sound retreat"
"He is sifting out the hearts of men before his judgments seep"
"Oh, be swift my soul to answer him, be jubilant my feet"
"Our God is marching on"
"Glory was born across the sea"
"With the glory and his bosom that transfigures you and me"
"As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free"
"While God..."
Great singing!
Usher, please come up for the offering.
Brother Matt, could you please play for the offering?
We'll be in Romans chapter 12 this morning.
Romans chapter 12. If you need a Bible, raise your hand.
And Usher will give one to you.
Romans chapter 12.
Romans chapter 12, the Bible reads,
"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,
that ye present in your bodies a living sacrifice,
holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
And be not conformed to this world,
but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.
They may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
For I say, through the grace given unto me to every man that is among you,
not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think,
but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office,
so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another,
having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us,
whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith,
or ministry, let us wait on our ministering, or he that teacheth on teaching,
or he that exhorteth on exhortation, he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity,
he that ruleth with diligence, he that showeth mercy with cheerfulness,
let love be without dissimulation, abhor that which is evil, cleave to that which is good,
be kindly affectioned to one another with brotherly love and honor, preferring one another,
not slothfulness and busyness, fervence and spirit serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patience and tribulation,
continuing instant in prayer, distributing to the necessity of saints, given to hospitality,
bless them which persecute you, bless and curse not, rejoice with them that do rejoice and weep with them that weep,
same mind one toward another, mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate,
be not wise in your own conceits, recompense to no man evil for evil, provide things honest in the sight of all men,
if it be possible, as much as alive in you, live peaceably with all men, dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves,
but rather give place unto wrath. For it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, save the Lord."
Therefore, if thine enemy hungers, feed him; if he thirsts, give him drink; for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
Brother Christian, could you praise him in his service?
In Romans chapter number 12, verse number 3, the Bible says, "For I say, through the grace given unto me to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, according as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith.
For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office, so we being many are one body in Christ, and everyone members one of another."
And this is a great passage about how to live our Christian life.
And the Christian life is a life of teamwork, okay, and we're supposed to preferring others above ourselves, trying to think about other people's feelings.
And then, like I said, the Christian life is a life of teamwork, and some people may hold positions of leadership, but we are all on the same team.
And roughly three weeks ago, our company had a company summit, that's a five-yearly meeting, and they invited a keynote speaker.
And the keynote speaker delivered a message on leadership, and he used the laws of comeback as his main points.
And I thought that was pretty interesting, and I want to share that with you and simply incorporate some of the biblical perspectives on leadership.
Now the title of the sermon this morning is "The Four Laws of Combat."
Who has heard about the laws of combat before? Yeah? Okay. Good. Some people.
Basically, the laws of combat trace their roots back to military doctrine and the officer training program.
And it's the US military leadership models and the law enforcement and the tactical training programs as well.
And their purpose is to explain how victory is achieved in conflict.
And most modern versions condense those laws of combat into four core laws.
Number one, cover and move. Number two, simple.
Number three, prioritize and execute.
Number four, decentralize command.
Obviously these four laws are not spelled out in the Bible.
But let's build them with a biblical perspective.
I think they can teach us some good lessons on leadership.
Because as Christians, we are automatically enrolled in the Lord's army whether you like it or not.
We don't even have a choice, okay?
Let me just read to you several verses.
1 Timothy 6-12 says, "Fight a good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses."
The Bible tells us to fight a good fight of faith.
2 Timothy 2-3 says this, "Thou therefore endure harness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ."
When you are saved, you are enrolled in the Lord's army.
You can certainly choose to leave the fight, but your commander, God himself, is going to punish you for leaving your duty.
Even in the secular ministry, if you go AWOL or just being a deserter, you will be punished severely, you will have a dishonorable discharge.
So if you choose to leave the fight in your Christian life, God will punish you for leaving your duty.
So not only that we are part of the Lord's army, but we are all leaders in some sort of capacity.
You may not have the leadership titles, but all of you have influences.
Think about a secular job at a construction company. Not everyone is an operation manager, project manager, but even a field worker are leading their own crew.
Everyone is leading in some sort of capacity. John Maxwell has this famous quote, "Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less."
What is influence? Influence is the ability to affect what people think, what people value, what people do, and what people follow.
So if someone's actions, decisions, or belief systems are shaped by you, you are leading that person, whether formally or informally.
And this means that even children are leaders because they influence people around them, especially other children.
But this also means that if no one is changed by your presence, no leadership is taking place, even if you do hold a title.
For example, a pastor may have the title "pastor," but if he is not influencing others, he's not a real leader, even though he may have the title "pastor."
So this morning I want to go over those four laws of combat and teach you some lessons on leadership.
Turn your Bible to Ecclesiastes, chapter number four. Ecclesiastes, chapter number four.
Now the first law of combat is called cover and move. Cover and move.
Now the principle is that no individual wins a battle alone.
Units succeed when they support one another. One element moves while the other provides protection.
Now I want to ask two volunteers. Who is going to be volunteers?
Brother Steven and let's see, brother Jared.
So if you guys want to come up here.
Now here's the scenario. Two of you are patrolling Minnesota and then an illegal immigrant is trying to shoot at you.
I think that's practical. So pretending Christian is the illegal Somalian trying to shoot at the ICE agent.
So if you want to stand here, just pretend you are holding a rifle in a low ready position.
And you guys are patrolling and Christian, this illegal immigrant, is trying to shoot at you.
And your goal is to go from this pulpit, which is a cover, to that water dispenser. What would you do?
Suppress the fire. You probably want to take cover here. Why don't you take cover?
You're going to provide cover fire and then Brother Jerrick will run to that water dispenser as Brother Stephen is covering for fire.
And then what happens as Brother Jerrick reaches that position?
You are providing cover fire for Stephen and Stephen is going to go to that position.
Thank you guys for your expert ice training who exercise great trigger control. No pun intended.
This may seem funny, but that's the principle of cover and move.
One provides cover fire while the other runs for cover.
Once your partner is safe, he is going to provide cover fire for you.
What if one of you runs away? Then probably both of you are going to die or some bad things are going to happen.
The core idea of cover and move is progress is impossible without protection and protection is useless without movement.
I think this principle is biblical because the Bible teaches the power of teamwork.
We are discouraged to be loners as Christians. You are in the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 4, verse number 9.
Here is a famous verse. The Bible says two are better than one because they have a good reward for their labor.
So having a partner is better than being a lone wolf. What's the reason? Because they have a good reward for their labor.
If you have more than one people, you have a better reward.
Now this is true in a physical sense that when you are working or simply carrying stuff, it's generally easier to have a partner to help you lift the weight, right?
And if you are working out in a gym, it's generally better to have a spotter. Two are better than one in a physical sense.
But this also makes me think about soul winning because the Lord Jesus Christ sent out the twelve by two and two.
And for some reason, people tend to get more people saved going soul winning in pairs than by themselves.
So indeed, they have a good reward for their labor if they have two soul winners rather than one soul winner.
And we play the cover and move tactic during soul winning too.
Just think about this. Sometimes your soul winning partner, your silent partner, they can distract the animals or kids or wicked people who are trying to stop the conversation.
That's the tactic cover and move in practice.
And if someone calls the cop, if they don't know how many people we have, one group can lead the cops to their cars and they drive away, making them think we have all left so the other teams can keep knocking on doors.
That's called cover and move.
And that also makes me think about the protest we had and we certainly used the cover and move tactic because we had people going out in groups just to divert the attention and we had the ushers accompanying people going in and out of a church.
That's cover and move, right?
In a literal sense, you know, what about my job as a leader to protect the flock?
When the news media picked on Brother Stephen and also Brother Wade, I tried to divert the attention to myself so that I would get a heed.
I did that by posting an official statement and just signed my name on it.
Now, I like my best buddy, Micah Beckwith.
I love the Lieutenant Governor's statement regarding the incident that took place in a Minneapolis church.
That's what he said.
In response to the Minneapolis church that was stormed by protesters,
the Gospel Coalition editorial board published an incredible naive take.
Pastors are shepherds, but shepherds are not passive observers.
In scripture, shepherds don't politely ignore wolves while the sheep are being attacked.
They confront them, protecting the flock as part of the calling.
A church is physically overrun by hostile aggressors.
That is precisely the moment for leadership to step up, not retreat into abstraction.
Courage, order, and protection are not opposed to the gospel.
They are often required to preserve it.
Churches should be prepared, spiritually and practically, to defend their people when chaos is forced through the doors.
Also, every church pastor and staff should be well armed and ready to take action if a wolf would enter the property.
That's a great statement because being a pastor, the job of a leader, of a pastor, is to shepherd the flock.
The one role of shepherding the flock is to protect the flock from the wolves.
And sometimes we need to take action, we need to confront the wolf in order to protect the sheepfold.
Look at verse number 10. The Bible says, "For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow, but woe to him that is alone when he falleth, for he hath not another to help him up."
Here's another benefit of being part of the team, because if you mess up your life, if you fall into sin, if you are at a low in your Christian life, your partner can lift you up.
However, if you are by yourself, nobody is going to encourage you. Nobody is going to hold you accountable.
By the way, that's the proper response when your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ fall. We should not rejoice in that.
Help them, pray for them, help them get back on track. And most importantly, take heed, lest ye fall as well.
And be careful not to flippantly judge someone just because they fall into sin. Examine yourself first, right?
Because with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged. So be careful when you are flippantly judging someone just because they fall.
Look at version 11. The Bible says, "Again, if two lie together, then they have heat. But how can one be warm alone?"
So in the most literal sense, if we are cold, then we can have a group hug and have heat. If two lie together, they have heat.
But in a spiritual sense, we need to keep each other fired up for God. That's why you come to this church, right?
So we all can have some spiritual heat. When we are lying together, spiritually speaking, we all have heat. We can get fired up for the Lord.
That's why we like to go out to eat and to fellowship, so we can have heat from the food and from the fellowship.
Look at verse number 12, "And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him, and the threefold court is not quickly broken."
Being in a team also offers protection, because if you are by yourself, you may be easily defeated.
Would you be in a gunfight by yourself or with a group of people?
So why do you isolate yourself in your Christian life?
Turn your Bible to Philippians chapter number one.
By the way, if you have any questions about life or the Bible, please feel free to ask me.
Because if you don't ask me, I don't know what you need.
Use your benefit of coming to a biblical church.
Philippians chapter one, verse twenty-seven.
The Bible says this, "Only let your conversation, that's your lifestyle, be as it becometh the gospel of Christ,
and whether I come and see you or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit,
that's unity, with one mind, that's also unity, striving together for the faith of the gospel."
Now, there's a lot I can say about unity, but I hope Shua Foundation India will have the toughest and the best group of Christians ever.
I hope we can all cover for each other, right?
We can all cover and move to provide safety, to provide protection for other people, encourage each other, help each other, and maybe even die for each other if necessary.
Let's strive together for the faith of the gospel.
So, the first law of combat is cover and move.
Now, the second law of combat is called simple, means easy, okay?
Turn it over to 1 Corinthians 14, 1 Corinthians 14.
The principle behind this law, simple, is that plans must be simple enough to survive chaos.
Because in combat, stress destroys complex instructions.
Let me give you a military example.
A platoon leader briefs a patrol before entering into a hostile village.
So instead of giving one clear mission, the leader says Alpha Squad advances on the left unless Bravo takes contact.
In which case, Alpha holds unless Charlie flanks, unless the threat is elevated.
Then Alpha falls back to phase-line red unless command updates the rules of engagement.
In which case, wait for further instructions.
Here's what's going to happen.
Control enters the village, shots are fired, radios are going back and forth, nobody knows what to do.
Alpha doesn't know whether to advance or to hold.
Bravo waits for orders that never come.
Charlie hesitates because Charlie is afraid of violating this plan.
Everyone is trained, everyone is willing, but no one is moving.
So in the end, the mission failed, not because the team is incapable or untrained,
but because the plan is complicated and confusing.
Because the leader could have said, Alpha moves, Bravo covers,
Charlie flanks, if being fired upon, if comms fail, push forward.
Everyone understands, everyone remembers, and everyone acts.
And that's a biblical principle too.
Look at 1 Corinthians 14, verse number 8.
The Bible says, "For if the trumpet gave an uncertain sound,"
now the trumpet is compared to preaching, "who shall prepare himself to the battle?"
"So likewise he, except he uttered by the tongue words easy to be understood,"
"how shall it be known what is spoken, for he shall speak into the air."
So if the preaching is confusing, you are speaking into the air,
nobody will be prepared for battle.
That's why this passage actually preaches against speaking in towns, speaking in towns,
because they are not easy to be understood.
Now, jump on to verse number 33, verse 14, verse 33.
The Bible says, "For God is not the author of confusion, but a peace as in all churches of the saints."
So we need to use words easy to be understood, especially concerning preaching behind the pulpit,
especially concerning Bible doctrines and spiritual directions.
For example, if I tell you this before we go sowning.
We are going to go sowning, but make sure you gauge the openness first.
Don't push too hard. Adjust your approach depending on their age, culture, and their receptiveness.
And simply avoid certain topics unless invited.
And if someone disagrees, redirect the conversation toward common ground unless your silent partner senses resistance,
in which case regroup and reassess.
Here's what's going to happen. You leave and go to another church.
I'm just kidding.
Here's what's going to happen as so many.
One group debates when to start a gospel presentation, and another group never gets to the gospel.
Some people avoid doors altogether, fearing they will do it wrong, and then other groups stop early just to regroup.
And here's the consequence. Few doors knocked, no clear gospel given, no follow-up context, people get discouraged.
By the way, that sounds a lot like how most churches do their soul-winding, right?
I could have said, two by two, knock every door, give the gospel, if they don't listen, move on.
Simple, right? Tell me about Proverbs chapter 8. Proverbs chapter 8.
So when giving directions as a leader, we need to give simple, clear directions.
Proverbs chapter 8. Look at verse number 8. Proverbs chapter number 8. Verse 8.
The Bible says this, "All the words of my mouth are in righteousness. There is nothing forward or perverse in them.
They are all plain to him that understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge."
Well, plain means without cunning, without disguise, without ornament or artificial embellishment, in a manner to be easily seen or comprehended.
Now, I mentioned this several Wednesday nights ago, that we need to use plain words, especially concerning salvation.
Because if it's not simple, then people may be confused and they may not be saved.
Salvation is very simple, by grace through faith, without works, everlasting life, eternal life, not repent of your sins, not asking Christ into your heart, not having a relationship, when you use clear biblical terminologies.
And what I find interesting is, whenever people try to make certain doctrines sound complicated, they are usually teaching false doctrines.
For example, pre-tribulation rapture. Since there's no verse in the Bible that teaches that, so they have to pull all these passages out of context and mix in Jewish fables.
They are making this complicated, right? What about dispensationalism? Knowing the Bible teaches there are seven dispensations, so they have to draw those complicated charts to make them look smart.
Because false doctrines usually are disguised by all these complications, okay? To make you feel dumb so you can believe what they are saying.
But the Bible is clear. God's will is clear. You know, thou shalt not kill. That's pretty clear, right? Thou shalt not commit adultery. That's clear.
Pray without ceasing. Rejoice evermore. In everything give thanks. Really clear. Be holy for I am holy. Flee for an occasion. Husbands love your wives. Children obey your husband. Children obey your parents.
Preach the word, right? So God's will is pretty clear. God's commands are not confusing. That's why disobedience is usually willful and not intellectual.
As I said, you can comprehend those simple commands in the Bible. And you can apply this principle in your life too.
If you are leading your crew at your job, or your wife, or at church, make sure your direction is easy to be understood.
Let's go back to Matthew chapter 6. So I said point number one, cover and move. Point number two, simple. Point number three, prioritize and execute.
Because you cannot solve every problem at once. As a leader, you must identify the most critical threat and deal with it immediately, then move on to the next.
The idea is that we should handle the biggest problem first and to handle that now. And why does that matter in combat?
Because time is limited. Threats compete for different attentions and indecision is often deadly.
Let me give you a scenario. You are on a mission and one of your partners got shot in the leg and could not move.
He is yelling and bleeding and asking you for help. What do you do?
Brother Jerry, what do you do if your partner is shot in the leg and crying for help? What do you do?
Try to stop the bleeding. Anyone else? Brother Steven?
And both of your responses are human. Emotional makes sense.
Stop the bleeding because your partner is shot in the leg, bleeding for help, and you want to help him.
You run to him, grab him, drag him out, stop the bleeding. But you're both wrong.
Here's the problem. The threat is still active. If you run to him, you just expose yourself, you may be drawing the fire, and you may get hit too.
So now, one wounded soldier becomes two. And you are in a way worse situation. Right? Think about this.
What you told me is reasonable, it's human, and it's emotional. So here's a lesson on how to make good decisions,
especially when there's a lot of stress. You must detach emotion from action.
Because the correct order is not to help your partner then deal with the enemy.
The correct order is stop the threat first and then help your partner so you don't get shot yourself.
You take cover, you return fire, you stop the shooter, only after the threat is neutralized, then you move on to your partner and render aid.
Because compassion without priority produces more casualties.
You cannot help the wounded while the enemy is still shooting, especially in that scenario.
And the most urgent need is usually, it's not always the first need, and that's a biblical principle as well.
You are in Matthew chapter 6, look at verse number 33, Matthew 6 verse 33.
Well, let's look at it together, Matthew 6, 33, the Bible says, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you."
So, for us to apply this law of comeback, prioritize and execute.
What if this job pays more money, but asks you to work on Sundays?
Hey, seek ye first the kingdom of God, right? Prioritize and execute.
Detach your emotions, you know, I want to make more money.
Hey, it might make sense to you, but we need to prioritize what's more important.
What if your family wants you to go to an unsafe Pentecostal church?
Hey, seek ye first the kingdom of God.
What if this relationship feels right, but ignores God's word?
Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers.
What if this business deal requires dishonesty?
Hey, provide things honest inside of all men.
What if comfort keeps you from obedience?
Take up the cross and follow me.
Prioritize what is right and simply execute that.
What if generosity or tithing feels risky financially?
Hey, give and it shall be given unto you.
Go to Matthew chapter 10.
The most urgent need for you is not always the first need.
Matthew chapter 10, look at verse 34.
Matthew chapter 10, verse 34.
The Bible says this, "Think not that I come to send peace on earth.
But a sword, for I am come to set a man at variance against his father,
and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
And a man's foes shall be day of his own household."
And to me that's true because sometimes your family members hinder you more than the enemies do.
Because it's emotional, right?
You don't want to offend your family, but the Bible says that,
"And a man's foes, a man's enemies, shall be day of his own household."
We need to detach the emotion and simply prioritize what is right.
Look at verse 37.
"He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me;
and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;
and he that taketh not his cross and falleth after me is not worthy of me;
he that findeth his life shall lose it, and he that loses his life for my sake shall find it."
Sometimes in your Christian life, you need to choose God over your own family.
But it doesn't feel right. They are my family.
He's crying for help. He's bleeding.
But we need to learn to prioritize and execute.
Otherwise, you may be in a worse situation.
Because if you are dragged by your family into a drink, wine tasting party, into an unsafe church, you may be in a worse situation.
Like in Nehemiah chapter 6. Now here's a practical example in the ministry.
When churches are small, what do people tend to do? They add more programs, they add more events to draw people in.
But here's the right priority. Both preaching and soul winning.
When you struggle with the same sin over and over again, the emotional response is to find excuses and comfort and affirmation.
But the right priority is to cut off access, remove temptations, and take radical action.
Prioritize and execute. Nehemiah chapter 6, look at verse number 1. Nehemiah 6.1.
"And now it came to pass, when Sambalit, and Tobiah, and Gershon, the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies,
heard that I had builded the wall, and that there was no breach left therein.
Though at that time I had not set up the doors upon the gates,
that Sambalit and Gershon sent on to me, saying,
'Tom, let us meet together in some one of the villages in the plain of -- oh no!'
But they thought to do me mischief.
So the context is that Nehemiah was doing great work.
They are building a wall. They are building a border. Amen?
But the enemies were trying to distract him.
They were trying to get him off the mission.
They were telling him to meet together at some other place,
just to distract him, just to get him off the mission.
What we see today is not necessarily physical enemies,
as they do exist.
What we see more is distractions from your families,
distractions from your friends, distractions from other churches.
Hey, do you know about the dramas at this church?
Do you know about the crazy things that this pastor has said?
And you get sucked into all these things,
and that affects your walk with the Lord.
So instead of "let us meet together in some of the villages",
let us meet together in this online chat.
Let's meet together at this unholy gathering, right?
Look at verse number three.
"And I, Nehemiah, sent messengers unto them, saying,
'I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down.
Why should the work cease, while I leave it and come down to you?'"
And we need to be careful not to allow ourselves to be distracted
and let the work of God cease.
Because we are doing a great work here.
Don't let yourself be distracted by your own family,
by your own friends, and by some other churches.
Because we see men of God falling and their kids turn out to be rotten.
And we can easily be distracted and be discouraged.
But what's the right attitude? Seek ye first the Kingdom of God.
Know your priorities. Don't let your emotions take over.
The Great Commission should always be our number one priority.
Praying and preaching outrank any program.
And sometimes leaders, we all are leaders,
sometimes leaders need to make decisions in time of great stress.
And we need to detach emotions and follow what is true.
Let's go to Exodus chapter 18. Exodus chapter 18.
So I said, number one, cover and move.
Number two, simple. Number three, prioritize and execute.
Number four, point number four, decentralized command.
Decentralized command.
Now the principle behind this law is that leadership authority is delegated downward
so the decisions can be made at the lowest effective level.
And the core idea is that the leaders cannot fight every battle personally.
So let me give you a military example.
A platoon is moving through a hostile area, Minneapolis.
The platoon leader gives a clear instruction to clear this block, secure the civilians, and push the enemy out.
And midway through this operation, gunfire erupts on one end of the street.
And a building needs to be cleared immediately.
And the platoon leader's radio goes down. There's no time to wait for orders.
So if this team is solely run by a centralized command, it will look like this.
They will say, "We don't have orders. We need permission. Let's wait for instructions."
And here's the result. Enemy escapes, civilians remain in danger, momentum is lost.
But a decentralized command will look very differently, right?
Maybe a squad leader steps up, because he already knows the intent of the mission.
Without asking permission, he just orders people to step up, clear the building,
and a different squad cover the street, and a third squad secure the civilians.
Here's my point. Leadership happens at the lowest level.
And that's important in combat because leaders sometimes lack full situational awareness.
Communication can break down.
The speed of decision saves lives, okay?
So this is biblical as well because I'm not downplaying leaders and authorities.
What I'm saying is good leaders need to learn to delegate.
And everyone needs to realize the intent of the mission and lead.
You are in Exodus 18, we'll have verse number 14.
Exodus 18, verse 14.
The Bible says, "And when Moses father-in-law saw all that he did to the people,
what is this thing that thou doest to the people?
Why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand by thee from morning unto evening?"
So Moses was judging everything pertaining to Israel by himself all day.
That is a lot of people.
Now look at verse number 15.
"And Moses said unto his father-in-law, Because the people come unto me to inquire of God,
if they have a matter, they come unto me, and I judge between one and another,
and I do make them know the statutes of God and His laws."
So Moses had good intent.
He wanted to help the people.
That's why he's spending all day and all night answering people's questions.
But look at verse number 17.
"And Moses' father-in-law said unto him, The thing that thou doest is not good."
Even though he had a good intent, but that's not good.
Here's the reason. Verse number 18.
"Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou and this people that is with thee, for this thing is too heavy for thee, thou art not able to perform it thyself alone."
So if you do everything by yourself, you may last a while, but eventually you will wear off and give up.
Low willing, one day this church will run, say, 200 people.
I could not deal with every one of your problems by myself.
I may last a year or two, but eventually I will either make some bad calls or I will just give up.
Look at verse 19.
Hark now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee.
Be thou for the people to Godward, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God,
and thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt show them the way wherein they must walk,
and the work that they must do.
So what's Moses supposed to do?
Moses is supposed to make the mission clear.
Moses is supposed to make sure that everyone is on the same page.
That's why he's teaching them ordinances and laws.
Look at verse 21.
"Moreover, thou shalt provide out of all the people able men,
such as fear, God, men of truth, hating covetousness,
and place such over them to be rulers of thousands and rulers of hundreds,
rulers of fifties and rulers of tens, and let them judge the people at all seasons.
And it shall be that every great matter they shall bring unto thee,
but every small matter they shall judge, so shall it be easier for thyself,
that they shall bear the burden with thee.
So what Moses' father told Moses was decentralized command.
Moses was still the leader. He's still the "pastor" overseeing the church in the wilderness,
but he delegated some of his responsibilities to take the load off himself.
And one important thing about decentralized command is training,
because Moses was supposed to teach them ordinances and laws,
to choose able men, not random men.
And Moses is, like I said, supposed to make the intent,
make the mission clear by teaching them the laws.
Because when the intent is clear, orders are not always needed.
Think about this. If there's something wrong with the sound system,
if you are properly trained, you don't have to ask me before you fix it.
You just fix it, right? Decentralized command.
If one usher is using the bathroom, I shouldn't ask another usher to step in
because you should do it automatically, right?
Again, you have to know the mission. You have to make it clear.
Turn about with your Acts chapter 6. Acts chapter 6.
I give you the general outline of a gospel presentation.
I may give you some pointers and things to emphasize,
but when the door opens unexpectedly,
a good soul winner doesn't wait for instruction. He just gives the gospel.
If you run into problems with someone else,
a centralized command waits for me to fix everything.
But a mature Christian goes through the decentralized command
by confronting that person privately, biblically, and lovingly.
Because I don't have time to be your advocate
to fix every problem that you have with someone else.
And then if it escalates, hey, let me know, maybe I can give you some pointers.
Acts chapter 6, verse number 1, Acts 6-1.
The Bible says, "And in those days when the number of the disciples was multiplied,
there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews,
because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration."
So here the Bible seems to indicate a "fight" in this body of believers
that the widows were neglected in the admin stuff.
Look at verse number 2, "Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them,
and said, 'It is not reason that we should leave the word of God and serve tables.'"
So the twelve apostles, disciples, they were the leaders.
They were saying that it doesn't make sense for us to leave from studying the word of God
and to just perform all these admin tasks.
Let's look at verse number three, "Worthful brethren, look ye out among you seven men
of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business,
but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the Word."
So why were these seven people, seven deacons chosen?
So that the twelve can focus on writing and delivering sermons,
so they can focus on the ministry of the Word and prayer.
I think in an ideal situation,
the only two primary jobs of a pastor are laboring in the Word of God and praying.
And that's the ideal position of a preacher, of a pastor.
Turn the Bible to 2 Timothy chapter 2, 2 Timothy chapter 2.
But what's the principle taught there?
Decentralized command, right? Decentralized command.
To take the load off, to make the intent clear,
so that leadership can happen at the lowest level.
In 2 Timothy chapter 2, look at verse number 1.
2 Timothy chapter 2, verse number 1.
The Bible says this, "Thou therefore my son,
be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus,
and the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses,
the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also."
Now the context is, you know, this is a pastoral epistle,
and Paul was charging Timothy to, you know,
to commit the things of God to other faithful men
so they can teach other people also,
and that's the job of a pastor, right, is to train other able men.
Now the same principle can be applied to general discipleship as well.
Yes, we should win souls to Christ,
but let's also not neglect training people so they can win souls to Christ too.
Let's not neglect training people and teaching people Bible doctrines
so they can teach others also.
Because it's way easier to do multiplication than addition.
Make a special effort this year to get people baptized and get them to church.
And we want to build a big army.
Not just random people, but people with the same mind.
People who love the Bible and souls.
There's nothing wrong with wanting to have a big church congregation
We are simply building a bigger army so we can multiply the work.
Amen. Go to Titus chapter 1.
Let me show you one more example of decentralized command.
Titus chapter 1, look at verse number 5.
Titus chapter 1 verse 5.
The Bible says, "For this cause left I thee in Crete."
So Apostle Paul left Titus in Crete that thou shouldest set in order
the things that are wanting and ordain elders in every city
as I had appointed thee.
So Paul ordained Titus to be an elder
and then he's telling Titus to ordain elders in every city.
This is decentralized command in action.
Starting churches and ordaining pastors, elders
are the prime example of decentralized command.
Think about this.
If Pastor Thompson chose to be centralized in the state of Washington
and he never took a chance in starting other churches,
then only Washington would have a good church.
But he would be neglecting the UK, Canada, and also Indiana, right?
And personally, I could not think of a better way to further the kingdom of God
than starting churches and ordaining elders in other cities and in other countries.
So we can multiply the work of God. Amen.
And some pastors, you know, they want to build their own church
by holding able men and simply refusing to send people out
because he's so prideful and he wants to withhold all these talents, right?
But the primary goal is to get people saved and preach sound doctrine.
And a good leader knows how to delegate
and everyone needs to learn how to fill the gaps
to make the work of God smoother and more effective.
So I said point number one, cover and move. Point number two, simple.
Point number three, prioritize and execute. Point number four, decentralized command.
So I hope you take those four laws of combat to heart
and make some personal applications because we are all leaders at some level.
So we can be better soldiers in the Lord's army.
That's closed in a word of prayer.
Thank you all for your work. I pray that we will be better leaders
that will make the intent clear.
That we will be good soldiers of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That will strengthen us and fill us with wisdom
so we can win more people to Christ.
And I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
All right. Amen. Great sermon.
And we're going to be singing a fitting song to that sermon.
Song 412. Onward Christian soldiers.
Song 412. 412. We're going to start on the first.
Song 412. Onward Christian soldiers. Marching as two whole.
Song 412. With the cross of Jesus going full.
Song 412. Christ the royal matter leads against the foe.
Song 412. Full battle see Christian soul.
Song 412. Marching as two whole.
Song 412. With the cross of Jesus going full.