Right, this morning I want to continue the series that I started which was called Weapons
of the Enemy.
So we did the first one a few weeks back which was Weapons of the Enemy and that was Fear.
What's the point of this series?
Well, to give us basically more of a knowledge of our opponents, okay, and that's a pretty
sensible thing to do, that's something that we see in many other areas of battle, in sports.
I was thinking about it with fight sports a lot of the time, you want to get that balance
right between studying the opponent, studying maybe if you're coaching someone, studying
the opponent that they're going to be up against, studying them if you're about to go into some
sort of fight sport or something like that, a combat sport against someone, and obviously
going too far and just dwelling and focusing too much on their strengths and not on anything
else.
But we want to study them, we want to see what they have, we want to see the sort of
things that are going to be used against us, the weapons that are going to be used
against us, but not to the point where we get fearful about it as well.
So the trick is to get that right balance between knowing your opponent and then obviously
focusing too much on their strengths.
These sermons, they're not here to worry you but hopefully to empower you to recognise
common attacks and how to deal with them, okay, and the Bible gives us many, many, many
different examples of ways that men of God and things that we can apply to our life to
help us in these areas.
Because in warfare it's common for an army to study their opposition's weaponry, okay,
that's very common to do that.
Today we're going to study another weapon used against Bible-believing Christians such
as ourselves because we're in a war, okay, if you're newly saved or maybe you've been
saved for a while but you're not used to this sort of terminology in a church, you mean
it's not just a social club where we all just meet and slap each other on the back and say
how much better our lives are because we're saved?
No, when you got saved, when you got saved you were enlisted.
Now a lot of people sadly go AWOL, yeah, and a lot of people get saved and don't do anything
for God and they're not in the war but if you want to live for God you're in a war,
okay, you're in a spiritual war, you're in a war, you're fighting for God and this is
in the UK, this is headquarters, okay, this is headquarters and when you're turning up
here on a Sunday you're turning up to say, yep, I'm part of the forces, I'm in a war
and that's everyone here, that's from young to old, whoever's here you're in a war, okay,
we have a very equal opportunities like God there, he's happy to have women in his spiritual
army, he's happy to have children in his spiritual army and we're all in this spiritual army.
The title of my sermon today is Weapons of the Enemy, demoralisation, weapons of the
enemy and the weapon today is demoralisation, let's go to the Lord in the word of prayer
before we get started, Father I thank you for your word, I thank you for this church,
I thank you for this room full of warriors, I mean that in a good sense, full of this
army of the Lord and I hope that you'll just help me now, I pray that you'll help me to
just show clearly the sort of weapons that are used against us, to fill me with your
spirit, to help me to preach boldly, accurately, to help people to take this message in and
to want to act upon this message as well and I pray all of these things in Jesus' name,
Amen.
Okay, so what does it mean to demoralise?
Because it's not actually a word in the Bible, demoralise, a dictionary definition here is
to deprive a person or persons of spirit, courage, discipline etc, destroy the morale
of, so an example is a continuous barrage demoralising infantry, to throw a person into
disorder or confusion, bewilder is another way to use it, to corrupt or undermine the
morals of, so like I said we don't see this in the Bible, we do see the words discouraged
and dismayed used and I think as an alternative to them, in fact demoralisation used to mean
a bit different, it was basically to just lower the morals of and whereas now we see
it in, we use it in our modern day like I just said there, to deprive a personal person
of spirit, courage, discipline, destroy the morale of, but that term the continuous barrage
demoralised the infantry, demoralisation is also a weapon used in physical warfare isn't
it, propaganda campaigns are waged to win the battle of mines aren't they, yeah we've
seen that throughout war, many people who have looked into war, study war will see that,
Joan of Arc said all battles are first won or lost in the mind and you could probably
apply that to many areas of life couldn't you, the battleground in the Christian life
is often in our minds isn't it, yeah the battleground is often in our minds, now look down the book
of Numbers where it all appears to be a bit of a mess there in chapter 14 yeah, that was
a pretty strong chapter wasn't it, how did it get to that point for the children of Israel,
to that point where they're now banned for 40 years, all this punishment, all this anger
from God, well go back to chapter 13, so God's commanded Moses to send 12 leaders out,
one from each tribe beside Levi that is, to spy out the promised land okay, and from Numbers
chapter 13 and verse 17 we see this, and Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan and
said unto them get ye up this way southward and go up into the mountain and see the land
what it is and the people that dwelleth therein whether they be strong or weak few or many
and what the land is that they dwell in whether it be good or bad and what cities they be
that they dwell in whether in tents or in strongholds and what the land is whether it
be fat or lean whether there be wood therein or not and be ye of good courage and bring
of the fruit of the land now the time was a time of the first ripe grapes, so basically
Moses commanded them to see how strong the people are, how accessible the land is, how
good their defences are, how fruitful the land is, look at verse 21, so they went up
and searched the land from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob as men come to Hamath and
they ascended by the south and came unto Hebron where Ahima and Shishai and Talmai the children
of Anak were, now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt and they came unto the
brook of Eshkol and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes and they
bare it between two upon a staff and they brought of the pomegranates and of the figs
and place was called the brook Eshkol because of the cluster of grapes which the children
of Israel cut down from thence and they returned from searching the land after 40 days, so
these 12 men they spent 40 days searching the land and they returned with grapes pomegranates
and figs and they went and came to Moses and to Aaron and to all the congregation of the
children of Israel unto the wilderness of Paran to Kadesh and brought back word unto
them and unto all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land and they told him
and said we came unto the land whither thou sent us and surely it floweth with milk and
honey and this is the fruit of it, so they're saying yes it's a fertile productive land.
Nevertheless verse 28 the people be strong that dwell in the land the cities are walled
and very great and moreover we saw the children of Anak there the Amalekites dwell in the
land of the south and the Hittites and the Jebusites then the Amorites dwell in the mountains
and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and by the coast of Jordan, so they're saying the
people are strong the cities are big and well defended and there are the Anakims there.
There are multiple wicked nations that we'll have to fight and Caleb stilled the people
before Moses and said let us go up at once and possess it for we are well able to overcome
it I like Caleb here yeah he's a sight calm down lads yeah calm down let's get stuck in
yeah he's just like one of those guys you have around it's just positive he's just he's
not worried about these people at all he's he's just saying come on let's get stuck in
verse 31 but the men that went up with him said we be not able to go up against the people
for they're stronger than we so Caleb has tried to rally everyone so they're now stepping
it up again now aren't they they said we be not able yeah they are stronger than us so
first it was well it doesn't look that great they're they're strong now it's look we're
not able we're stronger so they've ramped it up now verse 32 and they brought up an
evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel saying the land
through which we have gone to search it is a land that eateth up the inhabitants there
of and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature so they're now saying
in fact the land is hazardous you won't you know you won't get out of there alive is what
they're saying all the people are huge they're going no no no wait a second they're not just
they're this big yeah they're so big I mean every single one of them they're scary they're
big that we got no chance they said in verse 33 and there we saw the Giants the sons of
Anak which come of the Giants and we were in our own site as grasshoppers and so we
were in their site and this is where now you know the the the people that love to make
out like they're these 50-foot Giants take this super literally no but look there's a
lot of people are look at and I think that person's a giant yeah and there are some people
there were nations where there are a lot of big people yeah and when we look at our pastor
I suppose a lot of people here look up and think that's a giant yeah and and these guys
according to the men here are Giants now whether or not they're telling the truth well we'll
see but so basically they said they're so big that we we're like insects compared to
them yeah we're they're so big we're like insects now look at the result Numbers chapter
14 verse 1 and all the congregation lifted up their voice and cried and the people wept
that night so they're demoralized aren't they yeah they're demoralized their spirit courage
discipline morale all destroyed yeah and all the children of Israel murmured against Moses
and against Aaron and the whole congregation said unto them would God that we had died
in the land of Egypt or would God we had died in this wilderness so the Tony on Moses and
Aaron and basically the Tony on God here yeah verse 3 and therefore had the Lord brought
us in unto this land to fall by the sword that our wives and our children should be
a prey were it not better for us to return into Egypt don't forget what their life was
like in Egypt but they seem to have done and they said one to another let us make it captain
and let us return into Egypt and that's rebellion verse 5 the most and Aaron fell on their faces
before the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel and Joshua the son
of none and Caleb the son of Jephani which were of them that search the land rent their
clothes so these are the two good guys out of them all yeah and they spake unto all the
company of the children of Israel saying the land which we pass through to search it is an
exceeding good land if the Lord delighted us and he will bring us into this land and give
it us a land which floweth with milk and honey only rebelled not ye against the Lord neither
fear ye the people of the land for they are bred for us their defenses departed for them
and the Lord is with us fear them not that should have done it shouldn't it that should
have done it these guys were there these guys were witnesses to the land a bit of straight
talking well no because the demoralization already done its job by this point verse 10
but all the congregation bade stone them with stones and the glory of the Lord appeared in
the tabernacle of the congregation before the children of Israel and the Lord said unto Moses
how long will this people provoke me and how long will it be here they believe me for all these
signs which I have showed among them I will smite them with the pestilence and disinherit them and
will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they now you can look at this and think oh
well sometimes these things happen people just get a bit spooked they've gone over there they've
probably seen these you know these strong nations they've seen these big guys and they just saw no
maybe they just reported what they saw because you could look at this at first glance just go
what the guys just reported what they saw and it was just there they were a little bit negative
weren't they well not according to verses 36 to 37 in Numbers 14 there where it says and the men
which Moses sent to search the land who returned and made all the made all the congregation to
murmur against him by bringing up a slander upon the land they were lying okay they were lying they
brought up a slander now whether or not it was just absolutely an outright outright lie or probably
more likely an exaggeration and a little changing a little exaggeration of the truth even those men
that did bring up the evil report upon the land died by the plague before the Lord pretty clear
what God thought about them yeah they lied they exaggerated they did it on purpose didn't they turn
over to numbers 32 because there was nothing accidental about this in Numbers chapter 32 and
from verse 6 it's 40 years later the children of Gad and Reuben don't want to cross Jordan into the
promised land and instead want to basically just take the land that's before the crossing over
Jordan so they kind of they're like look we fancy staying in this land we don't want to go over into
the promised land it's now 40 years down the line and look at verse 6 and Moses said unto the
children of Gad unto the children of Reuben shall your brethren go to war and shall ye sit here and
wherefore discourage ye the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the
Lord had given them so and then what he says now is I saw this behavior 40 years ago thus did your
fathers when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to see the land for when they went up unto the valley of
Eshkol saw the land they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel that they should not go
into the land which the Lord had given them reading that for me it was on purpose yeah it was on
purpose they did not want them to go and they discouraged them on purpose they brought up a
slander they brought up an evil report so according to Moses back in number 13 that's what they were
doing yeah they were doing that they were they discouraged the heart the children of Israel and
they succeeded too because even though these wicked men were to blame initially the children
of Israel were still responsible for their own actions weren't they okay because they weren't
there was still the voice of reason and truth there in Joshua and Caleb but no they accepted it
and in fact they then went into pure wickedness themselves for example because people can look
at this guy well the poor things they got deceived but I don't know if if the Russians now got so
demoralized by the lack of McDonald's yeah and and all the rest of the uh all the rest of the
propaganda we're seeing in the media yeah they got so demoralized end up just capitulating would
everyone go oh the poor things they were just victims of the propaganda campaign they go you
idiots what are you doing what happened they go what why did you why did you let that get to you
a week they would be saying wouldn't they you're weak you didn't able to resist the propaganda
well it's the same with us we have a we have a manual here we have a manual here to warn us
about this weapon of the enemy we have preaching like this to warn us there is no excuses there's
no excuse when we get demoralized by the enemy because we need to be aware of it don't we need
to be aware of it the title is weapons of the enemy demoralization how do we get demoralized
as god's spiritual army in the 20 what are we 21st century 21st how do we get demoralized
now in modern day britain and and just in the world as a whole what are the areas where we're
targeted then well there's nothing new under the sun and it's still the same ways yeah it's always
the same ways and these that's why the bible's just so amazing because you can look at things
from thousands of years ago and see that relevant to our day to day look at numbers chapter 13 and
verse 26 says and they went and came to moses and to aaron and to all the congregation of the
children of israel unto the wilderness of paren to kadesh and brought back word unto them and
unto all the congregation showed them the fruit of the land and they told him and said we came
unto the land with our census and surely it should flow through milk and honey and it's the fruit of
it nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land the cities are walled and very great and
moreover we saw the children of anak there so like i said weapons of the enemy demoralization
number one demoralized about the word of god demoralized about the word of god in verse 26
there it's looking good isn't it look at the fruit they showed them the fruit of the land verse 27
they're going oh yeah yeah god was right god was right about it being a fruitful land surely it
floweth with milk and honey this is the fruit of it look at verse 28 nevertheless yeah never
the less they're saying but they're saying regardless regardless of all of that regardless
of what god said turn to genesis chapter three they're saying yes god's word in exodus 6 8 was
and i will bring you into the land concerned that which i did swear to give it to abraham to isaac
and to jacob and i will give you for an inheritance for an heritage sorry i am the lord
they're saying yes in exodus 13 11 when he said and it shall be when the lord shall bring thee
into the land of the kain knights as he swear unto thee and to thy fathers and shall give it
thee but nevertheless he was wrong nevertheless you can't trust his word
yes god's swear unto your fathers but nevertheless nevertheless we know better
yes god's swear through the psalmist in psalm 12 verse 6 that the words of the lord are pure words
as silver tried in the furnace purified seven times thou shalt keep them oh lord thou shalt
preserve them from this generation forever he swore that didn't he he swore that yeah he might
have sworn that but he can't really trust his word but he can't really trust him but he didn't really
mean that but well yeah that bit was right but this bit was wrong of course the attack on god's
word has gone on from the beginning hasn't it yeah it's gone on from the beginning the demoralization
about the word of god has gone on from the beginning look at genesis chapter 3 and verse 1
where it says now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the lord god
had made he said unto the woman yea hath god said you shall not eat of the of of every tree of the
garden so this is the first appearance of the devil in the bible the first thing he says is
yea hath god said yea hath god said are you sure that's what he said are you sure that god really
said that you sure that's what he really meant and first appearances are important aren't they
first spirits in life are important a lot of the time you you a lot of the time we'll make a
judgment on something in first appearance won't we and the devil's giving us a clear way to make
a judgment of him here the first thing he did a tactic of the devil the first tactic we see in the
bible is questioning god's word and the woman said unto the serpent we may eat of the fruit of
the trees of the garden but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden god has
said ye shall not eat of it neither shall you touch it lest you die and the serpent said unto
the woman ye shall not surely die so first he said did he really said that did he really say
that now it's you can't trust what god says you cannot trust what god says you can't trust those
preserved words of god trusted for over 400 years in this country yeah you can't trust them you
can't trust that word of god that's been used for 400 years in this country you can't trust those
manuscripts that have been used for over 2 000 years no no we got something better we got
something better we got something older that we found it no what no one was using no no we got
something better in fact we've got something that will really help you understand it better
yeah well it's easier to read easier to understand it's much easier look at verse five for god does
know that in a day you eat thereof then your eyes shall be open you shall be as god's knowing good
and evil we will help you understand good and evil with our easier to read version verse six
and when a woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eyes and a
tree to be desired to make one wise she took of the fruit thereof and did eat and gave also unto
her husband with her and he did eat and nothing has changed has it the attack on god's word
continued to this day yeah turn to first peter one because this is what it boils down to
for me when jesus said in matthew four four man shall not live by bread alone but by every word
that proceeded out of the mouth of god amen he was saying that we need every word he was saying
that we need every word of god wasn't he yeah that's what he was saying when jesus said in
matthew 24 35 heaven and earth shall pass away but my words shall not pass away
he was saying that he will preserve every single word wasn't he every single word not not every
gist not every general sort of you know just just similarity he said every word every word he said
my words shall not pass away and here in first peter one and verse 23 it says being born again
not a corruptible seed but of incorruptible by the word of god which liveth and abideth for
and abideth forever he's saying you need that incorruptible word of god to get saved
don't you for all flesh is as grass and all the glory of man is the flower grass the grass with
and the flower thereof falleth away but the word of the lord endureth forever and this is a word
which by the gospel is preached unto you basically it boils down to this point you either believe
that god is able to keep his promise to preserve his words or you call him a liar that's what it
comes down to you either believe that when god said he preserved his word that he was able to do
it or you believe that he was lying when he said he was doing it or you're just going to accept it
yeah what are you going to do you're going to accept it you're just going to accept god for
what he says because he promised to preserve it he promised to keep it can you show me someone saved
in inverted commas by the niv the esv the rsv the nrsv the abcdefg you name it and i'll show
you someone that believes that they've got to repent of their sins and i'll show you someone
that believes they've got to make jesus lord of their life that they've got to endure till the
end and the rest of the false work salvations out there and that's what it comes down to doesn't it
that's what it comes down to what do you believe but for most of us here we're not going to go down
we're not going to go and you know drop our king james bibles and pick up the easiest to read
latest fad yeah i hope most people here are grounded enough to pick up the latest error
strewn fad yeah because they are all error strewn as well aren't they yeah but there are more subtle
attacks so than that for example anyone been to a church where their king james bible preferred
anyone seen that yeah i've been to a church yeah well we prefer we think it's an excellent
translation so they pull you in because you're like well at least they use the king james bible
but then that that those same preachers all every few sermons or so just start correcting the bible
just start saying what it should have said and in fact no no because when you go back to the greek
because that guy you know he's such an expert isn't he in greek yeah can't even speak greek
but when you go back to the greek apparently basically when you go back to a concordance
of someone else who's not one of the translators that that did the king james well when you go
back to them they say something else and i'm going to make out like i say something else
because then i sound really intelligent and then everyone in the church would be like well thus
said the pastor and then they're basically giving more credibility to what the pastor says and not
to what the word of god says kjv preferred and i was at a church like that and it didn't wind me up
and it really made me angry when you're sitting there and he's going yeah well the king james bible
when they use the word baptize you know they were basically they weren't strong enough to to use a
word immerse it's like what are you talking about no they use the word baptize and we all know that
baptizing is immersion because the bible is clear about that and many other sort of subtle attacks
on the word of god and again i don't think you're going to get any of that you know any
that nonsense around anyone here but we have to watch out for the inside demoralizers as well okay
with this and that will happen there'll be people that want to just shake your faith a little bit
have you ever noticed just this little discrepancy you know ever know oh well i was studying the
bible i just noticed well how do you explain this how do you explain that to just random church
members in the church why would people do that why do people do that people do do that in churches
you know they they they want to well well you know i don't know i was just just having to read through
my bible i noticed you think there's an area go and study it yeah first things first before you
go up to anyone and start trying to demoralize them go home yeah study your bible and if you
can't work it out come and see me and go and if i can't work it out i'll go and study it
yeah and i'll tell you what every single attack of the king james bible is always always proven wrong
yeah always because it's the pure word of god but it's easy to go up on an internet list like you
get these muslim samples they're trying to preach the gospel to them and they start going on their
phone and go what about and they're trying to come up with like the latest list of so-called
discrepancies or something else yeah but they're all answerable sometimes you might need a bit of
time to go and answer it if you're not aware of that latest attack but don't start discussing it
you know like you're just just wondering just wondering what half the church thinks about that
yeah just wondering what half the church thinks about this just wondering you know what about
this one though well you know i did it the christian way but it all went wrong yeah how
about that one to demoralize you about the word of god yeah well i did what the bible says and my
life went but did you really do what the bible says yeah because that's another way people will
demoralize christians you know well well you know i i submitted to my husband and he walked all over
me and cheated on me oh funny that because you married an unsafe person yeah oh funny that because
yeah because that guy's wicked he wasn't doing what he should have done yeah like and and you'll
see it the other way well you know i i did everything i was told to do and she just ended
up being a wicked witch okay but did you really do everything you're told to do because every single
one of us gets it wrong okay the word of god's not the problem we're the problem oh i raised much
i raised my children exactly i i smacked their bottom yeah but you didn't give them any love
yeah you just came them for like 15 years and then you wonder why they hate you yeah oh well
it's the word of god no it's not the word of god it's you yeah you're the problem yeah and again
you know that's ways and i'm not saying everyone that's going to come up with that stuff is
is that's it they're the most wicked you know infiltrator because we can all be used can't we
we can all be used by the devil our own sin our own pride and everything else can make us be used
by the devil to demoralize others um how about you know i gave up work i gave up work and was
a stay-at-home mum and we're just always skin yeah funny that because you you online shop every day
yeah or whatever else and there's many different ways aren't there's many different ways where
people can basically use what the word of god how the word of god tells us to live and start trying
to then demoralize people about putting their faith in that and we've got to be careful of
things like that because psalm 1830 says as for god his way is perfect the word of the lord is
tried he is a buckler to all those that trusted him his word's not the problem you're the problem
yeah we're the problem look back at number 13 in verse 27 number 13 27 says and they told him and
said we came unto the lamb whether thou sent us and surely it floweth with milk and honey and this
is the fruit of it nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land the cities are
walled and very great and moreover we saw the children of anak there the amalekites dwell in
the land of the south and the hitites and the jebuzites and the amorites dwell in the mountains
and the kain knights dwell by the sea and by the coast of jordan and caleb stilled the people
before moses and said let us go up at once and possess it for we are well able to overcome it
but the men that went up with him said we be not able to go up against the people
for they are stronger than we and the title of my sermon like you know is weapons of the enemy
demoralization number one was demoralized about the word of god demoralized about the word of god
number two is demoralized about working for god demoralized about working for god because god
here promised to give them the land but these demoralizers are saying you can't succeed you
can't see they're much stronger than us that's what they're saying here you can't plant a church
there the godless are just so many there's too many there's too many there or you can't succeed
as a bible preaching church they're stronger than us in that nation or you can't go soul winning
there it's too dangerous yeah people get a bit like that sometimes you want to go there start
trying to demoralize you about that turn over to first samuel 17 for a famous story where the enemy
tried to demoralize a man of god
if the enemies failed at stopping you getting saved they failed at demoralize you about the
weapon you've been given well they'll try to demoralize you about the mission at hand
that's their next their next target demoralize you about the mission at hand first samuel 17 and from
verse four and there went out a champion out of the camp of the philistine named goliath of gath
whose height was six cubits and a span this is a big guy okay he's like the best part of ten foot
here that's a big guy and he had an helmet of brass upon his head and he was armed with a coat
of mail and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass and he had greaves
of brass upon his legs and the target of brass between his shoulders and the staff of his spear
was like a weaver's beam and his spear's head weighed 600 shekels of iron and one bearing a
shield went before him and he stood and cried unto the armies of israel and said unto them
why are you come out to set your battle in array am not i a philistine and ye servants to saul
choose you a man for you and let him come down to me if he be able to fight me and to kill me
then will we be your servants but if i prevail against him and kill him then shall ye be our
servants and serve us and the philistine said i defy the armies of israel this day give me a man
that we may fight together when saul and all israel heard those words of philistine they were
dismayed and greatly afraid so saul and israel are dismayed you could say demoralized here
they're also greatly afraid but then what happens well the young david who's been sent with some
food for his older brothers who are fighting in the battle he turns up jump forward to verse 25
and the men of israel said have you seen this man that has come up surely to defy israel as he come
up talking about goliath here and it shall be that the man who killeth him the king will enrich
him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father's house free in israel
and david spake to the men that stood by him saying what shall be done to the man that killeth
philistine and take away the reproach from israel for who is this uncircumcised philistine that he
should defy the armies of the living god it seems like david is saying wow there's a reward
he's like this guy is nothing we're baptists so we're baptists who is this guy yeah he's going to
come up against us verse 27 and the people answer him after this man is saying so shall it be done
to the man that killeth him and eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men eliab's
anger was kindled against david and he said why came with sow down hither and with whom has thou
left those few sheep in the wilderness i know thy pride in the naughtiness of thine heart for thou
come down that thou mightest see the battle so what's eliab saying he's saying you're just a
shepherd who are you to fight for god yeah who are you to fight in the armies of israel
you're just uh you know you name it you're you're just uh you name the job in this room yeah you
name the job in this room and i don't think many people here have this glorious job where everyone's
like wow what a what an intellect or anything else yeah we're just one of the mill people aren't we
yeah you're just a you name it you're just a mum you're just a stay-at-home mum they love that one
just a stay-at-home mum are you just a stay-at-home mum you know you're just you're just a kid you're
just a kid you're just a child you're just who are you you're not even an adult who are you to
tell me the gospel and we get that sometimes who are you to tell me the gospel because or what did
dr so-and-so say yeah well what about what or what do the theologians say yeah what what did nelson
i had a woman once yeah i was talking about this it was years ago some homeschool thing so
well yeah but nelson darby said that you could lose your salvation
oh well oh solved then nelson darby said it you know and this is but this is this is the logic
isn't it but but but that guy's really well known and and he's written some books what did he in
fact he wrote his own bible didn't he the wicked reprobate but but what did they say what did he
say what does the guy with a theology degree say yeah what does he say because he's got a degree
he must know better yeah he must know better because he's been trained by the world he's
been trained in a worldly institution about the word of god he must know and look on that quickly
if you're sitting there going wait a second brother ian are you not university educated
are you qualified to be up behind a pulpit with the word of god and you haven't read
a thousand books about the word of god and been poisoned with a load of damnable heresy
and just lies and wickedness and pride to make me think that i somehow know the bible better than
the translators i know the language better because i did a little bit of greek there or maybe because
i i've been told some other intellectual sounding things no going to university when it comes to the
word of god is completely the opposite yeah for us here and for bible believing christians we
look at it and we go you went to university to study the word of god and usually that person's
closely being written off aren't they yeah a lot of the time and they better show that they haven't
been poisoned by that junk yeah anyway david's then brought before king saul and david said to
saul let no man's heart fail because of him thy servant will go and fight with this philistine
so he's saying yeah don't you know don't worry you know forget all those theology degree
educated people he said i'll go and deal with this i'll go and deal deal with this because i
know the word of god yeah because i know god verse 33 and saul said to david thou art not
able to go against this philistine to fight with him for thou art but a youth and he a man of war
from his youth so it's the same old thing here isn't it and here it's the king of israel saying
it isn't it so it's the king of israel and at this point you know saul's not into full wickedness as
he does get go pretty off the rails doesn't he but he's a saved man of god and here he he's again
he's demoralizing david isn't he but you're just a man of you know you're just a youth you're just
young who are you to take on this guy jump forward to verse 42 because it's not just the king of israel
obviously the enemies do it as well verse 42 and when the philistine looked about and saw
david he disdained him for he was but a youth and ruddy and of a fair countenance we get a bit of
that when we knock on doors don't we a bit of disdain yeah yeah yeah you all had a bit of
disdain it varies doesn't it the sort of disdain you get i had a i had a funny one last week and
the lady say to me i knocked on the door and she was kind of trying to just cut me off quickly and
i just said okay well lost you know because she said she wanted interest in church or something
and then i said well look more importantly what we do like to ask people is this question you know
if you die today you're 100 sure you go to heaven she said oh how fun how fun how fun no not
interesting bye bye but how fun how fun actually as she was as she went to say no she said well
it's a lot more fun than down there but look how fun how fun you know what a fun thing what a fun
conversation to have that'd be utterly utterly fun wouldn't it but that's what she would say how fun
how you know what a quaint what a cute thing to talk about you moron that's what she's really
saying you idiot you're brainwashed idiot yeah yeah yeah because you know how how could i
believe the preserved word of god but yeah people like to demoralize you i like to disdain you don't
they like to mock you in various ways they like to demoralize us verse 43 the philistine said
unto david am i a dog that thou comest to me with staves and the philistine cursed david by his gods
and the philistine said to david come to me and i will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air
to the beasts of the field so then david gets slapped about a bit doesn't he embarrassed for
trusting god is that what happens no it's not he cuts goliath's head off yeah he ends up cutting
goliath's head off and after all of that though you could have understood that david just packed
up and gone home couldn't you yeah he's got his older brother he's got the king of israel he's
then got goliath just everyone's just mocking him mocking him demoralizing him and like i said it's
something that can affect us when we're out soul winning yeah i bet most people here i'm sure many
here have had times where you're feeling a bit demoralized when those rejections are just that
little bit harsh when sometimes it can be demoralizing when you you think you're getting
to the end with someone and then the fowls just come in swoop in and you're like wow i nearly got
that person saved and it can there are many times so winning when we can feel demoralized can't we
and look he like i said he got it from three different angles there and it was obvious but
it could be subtle too can't it so the demoralization when you're working for god
can be subtle it's not just about soul winning and there are other ways it's done turn to ezekiel
chapter two soul winning obviously is our primary job for christ but there's other ways that people
work for god aren't there you might have a job to do at church where the enemy will try to demoralize
you maybe our music team have had demoralization at times through through various ways i'm not
saying it's always by someone evil is doing it but there'll be ways that they'll be demoralized at
times the enemy wants to demoralize us maybe some of our bible readers have had times that they
felt a bit demoralized before there's maybe a reason sometimes it might be that they're up here
and maybe maybe there could be people out there trying to demoralize them maybe smirking when
someone makes an error or maybe maybe with the music something there could be times when a little
look a little face and it might just be that they they're not really thinking what they're doing can
demoralize people when you're doing things for the church when you do things when when when
ladies here maybe have decided to to out of their own free time and money bake a load of stuff for
the church and then people are making loud insulting comments and things like that it's it
could be demoralizing couldn't it you're trying to do something for the church you're doing something
people who you know they they maybe set up something someone set up something for people
here or try to do something nice for someone and there'll be some nasty comment nasty dig weird
comments weird behavior about it bizarre but ordained leaders obviously will be major
targets too for this yeah okay we are we have a sign on our back yeah anyone leading preaching
is going to have that okay anyone preaching regularly is going to have that i remember
before the first ever service here the first official service that night i got messages on
on through youtube and then then they were deleted straight after basically attacking our pastor
attacking our pastor's friends attacking myself attacking my family just all of that the first
before that first official service and i'm not saying get the little violin out because it was
water off a duck's back you know it's going to happen don't you the word of god warns you it's
going to happen um and you get that in many different ways as well and and there are various
ways that the enemy will try to demoralize pastors leaders preachers etc ezekiel here in ezekiel 2
he's being sent to what's a rebellious people and ezekiel 2 and verse 1 it says and he said unto me
son of man talking to ezekiel here stand upon thy feet and i will speak unto thee and the spirit
entered into me when he spake unto me and set me upon my feet that i heard him that spake unto me
and he said unto me son of man i send thee to the children of israel to a rebellious nation that
has rebelled against me they and their fathers have transgressed against me even unto this very
day for they are impudent children and stiff-hearted i do send thee unto them for
thou shalt say unto them thus saith the lord god and they whether they will hear or whether they
will forbear for they are rebellious house yet shall know that there has been a prophet among
them and thou son of man be not afraid of them neither be afraid of their words though brides
and thorns be with thee and thou does dwell among scorpions be not afraid of their words nor be
dismayed at their looks though they be a rebellious house so even through their looks here yeah even
through their looks that he can be dismayed he could be demoralized by their looks yeah
and look it's an um i don't know any of you guys that have preached here and preached especially
when you got the whole church here and not when we just had like sort of seven or eight of us before
the men's preaching that it could be pretty interesting watching the faces can't it yeah
and and i'm not saying you're studying and coming up to a conclusion but it it can make a difference
to you can't it yeah and i'll be honest here i've had people literally when i've preached do things
like this i just give you a couple of things now now i'm not saying you have to have a complete
poker face although it would help yeah that's hell yeah and i'm not saying you can't support or
anything else yeah nothing wrong with it i've had people go like this go but honestly yeah i've had
people go like this go i've had people go to someone next to them yeah people go when i've
made what could be a contentious point i've had people i've had people like make a little chuckle
or something else as well i've had people um this is one when when it's something that's clearly like
you know when you're preaching something which if you're preaching wrong would be a damnable heresy
so i'm preaching on the trinity i'm preaching on something to his salvation eternal security or
something else suddenly like this at me while i'm doing it just like yeah like they're just like
come on come on make my day i'm not saying they're all just you know and sometimes it might just be
it's a serious subject yeah but you get some really weird stuff yeah really weird stuff when
you're preaching okay and you've got to not be demoralized by that yeah you've got to not be
dismayed by that and everyone here when you start preaching more and you're preaching even when
you're preaching you know that 10-minute service you need to make sure you're not being demoralized
by the look because people sometimes will demoralize you yeah and obviously if you're
preaching some complete nonsense and tough yeah you need demoralizing yeah but but but it does
doesn't it now here it's through their looks he says and thou shalt speak my words unto them
whether they will hear or whether they will forbear for they are most rebellious but thou
son and man hear what i send for they be not their rebellious like that rebellious house
open thy mouth and eat that i give thee and really let's let's be honest talk about the word of god
here so regardless we have to preach the word of god don't we and sometimes the word of god is
going to hurt people sometimes when you apply it to their lives you're showing them their sin it's
going to hurt them it's going to affect them they're going to react they're going to sometimes
try and demoralize you from from literally a few meters away i'm thinking about calling it out
sometimes actually i'm getting to that point now where now and again when i say i'm just going to
problem everything all right there but it does happen now again this isn't to get the violin
out i actually find it quite amusing okay and it for me it just makes it makes me want to preach
harder okay but back to numbers chapter imagine what they're doing behind the screen there you
know okay go back to numbers chapter 13 so that's demoralizing about about working for god about
your job for god that could be in many different ways can't it but but obviously soul winning is a
big one there we get that a lot back to number 13 and caleb stilled the people uh verse 30 sorry
number 13 verse 30 and caleb stilled the people before moses said let us go up at once and possess
it for we are well able to overcome it but the men that went up with him said we be not able to
go up against the people for they are stronger than we and they brought up an evil report of the
land which they had searched unto the children of israel saying the land through which we have gone
to search in is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof and all the people that we
saw in it are men of great stature and there we saw the giants the sons of anak which come of the
giants and we were in our own site as grasshoppers and so we were in their sight so like i said it's
weapons of the enemy demoralization number one was demoralized about the word of god number two
was demoralized about working for god and number three is demoralized about where you worship god
demoralized about where you worship god verse 32 they're saying that the place that god has
given us is no good yeah the land through which we've gone to search it is a land that eateth
up the inhabitants thereof that it's a waste of time that we've got no chance thriving there turn
of second kings 18 because the demoralized will attack the place that god has given you to worship
him it's a cult because they don't believe in work salvation like every other false religion
in the world yeah there are only two religions and we must be a cult because broad is the way
that leads to destruction and many there be which go in their act right because we believe what the
word of god says and we don't change it to fit in with the world's false work salvation repent of
your sins give your life to christ or whatever other cute way they've got of saying it it's a
cult they try that one don't they it's a cult because we believe that god preserved his word
when he said i'm going to preserve my word yeah it's not a real church because the building
doesn't cost millions of pounds yeah it's not a real church you haven't got stained glass windows
it's not a real church because someone hasn't spent millions and millions of pounds on on on
some sort of listed building it's a dictatorship because they won't let you do as you please
like every other old ifb church anyone's been in here where you couldn't do what you please
but now now at least oh now it's a dictatorship yeah because i can't just do what i want here
because there are rules yeah there are rules in a church aren't there in second kings 18 here the
king of asiria has laid siege to jerusalem and he sends basically his top men to demoralize king
hezekiah and his army says in verse 19 and rab shaky so second kings 18 and verse 19 and rab
shaky said unto them speak ye now to hezekiah thus saith the great king the king of asiria
what confidence is this we're in now trust this thou sayest but they are but vain words i have
counsel strength for the war now and whom does thou trust that thou rebelest against me now behold
thou trust us upon the staff of this bruised reed even upon egypt on which if a man lean it will go
into his hand and pierce it so is pharaoh king of egypt unto all that that trust on him but if you
say unto me we trust in the lord our god it's not that he whose high places and whose altars
hezekiah have taken away and has said to juda and jerusalem you shall worship before this altar
in jerusalem so he's saying he's saying well you might trust in god but your leader is controlling
you he's making you worship only in jerusalem yeah he's not letting you do the high places
verse 23 now therefore i pray thee give pledges to my lord the king of asiria
and i will deliver thee two thousand horses if they'll be able on thy part to set riders upon
them how will them wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the lease and my master servants
put thy trust in egypt for chariots and for horsemen am i now come up without the lord
against this place destroy it the lord said to me go up against this land and destroy it because
the demoralizer here is trying to claim that he's of god isn't he that speaking against their god
ordained leader is actually god's will yeah it's actually god's will that he does this verse 26
he's actually very holy he's a holy person yeah you've got to trust what he's saying here verse
26 then said alike him the son of hilcar and shebner and joe unto rabshakhi speak i pray thee
to thy servants in the syrian language for we understand it and talk not with us in the jews
language in the ears of the people that are on the wall so saying we don't want our people to
hear this but the the enemies often know how to speak like one of god's people don't they
okay they often know how to speak and appear to be like one of god's people
verse 27 but rabshakhi said unto them have my master sent me to thy master to lead speak these
words it's not about it's not about him is it's not about it's not about hezekiah what's it about
have you not sent me to the men which sit on the wall that they may eat their own dung and drink
their own piss with you i swore no i didn't i'm preaching the words of god here yeah there's
nothing wrong with the word piss because it's one of god's preserved words okay he said he said here
that basically he wasn't just sent he wasn't sent to their master it's about the people isn't it's
about the people okay then rabshakhi stood and cried with a loud voice in the jews language
saying hear the word of the great king the king of asyria thus saith the king let not hezekiah
deceive you for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand neither let hezekiah make
you trust in the lord saying the lord will surely deliver us and this city shall not be delivered
into the hand of the king of asyria hearken not to hezekiah for thus saith the king of asyria make
an agreement with me by a present and come out to me and then eat ye every man of his own vine
every one of his fig tree and drink ye every one the waters of his cistern until i come and take
your way to a land like your own land a land of corn and wine a land of bread and vineyards a
land of all olive and of honey that you may live and not die and harken not unto hezekiah
when he persuadeth you saying the lord will deliver us so he's saying leave jerusalem come
with me and you'll be much happier yeah that's what he's saying well we see that today from the
outside don't we like hearing second kings 18 the worldly family members trying to demoralize you
trying to demean do you really have to go to church do you have to go every week do you really
have to go on a sunday yeah eventually it'll be you go to three times a week you know what
sort of weirdo are you yeah what sort of church is this what sort of cult is this yeah and that's
the sort of stuff we we get don't we and many people have had similar stuff the demoralization
from the outside so-called christians on the outside trying to demoralize you about our
sort of church don't they and that's what a lot of the kind of if anyone's interested in the sort
of youtube and i'd imagine it's the same on facebook for the facebook comments trying to
demoralize you trying to criticize what we believe here and everything else and usually very badly
but they're like a dog with a bone they just won't stop and they'll just get more deceitful with the
word of god and more insulting and it's a lot of the times that honderman that hominem sorry attacks
and it's always just just you know they always got a new angle a new attack a new attack and
sometimes you've just got to not bother with them but you also get it from the inside like in number
13 okay you will also get it from the inside like in number 13 so turn back there turn back
to number 13 that was from the outside there in second kings 18 those 10 of the 12 spies
were supposed to be men of god weren't they weren't they and they did their best to look
like it look at verse 23 they make a show of their so-called fruits don't they and they came
unto the brook of eschol and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes and bear it
between two upon a staff and they brought of the pomegranates and of the figs so basically it looks
like they're you know they're fruitful christians aren't they in verse 26 jump forward they're
showing their fruits the whole congregation and they went and came to moses and to aaron and to
all the congregation of the children of israel under the wilderness of paren to cadish and brought
that word unto them and unto all the congregation showed them the fruit of the land it's convincing
they've tried their best but really it was all for show jump forward to chapter 14
to see what their desired result was chapter 14 verse 1 and all the congregation lifted up their
voice and cried and the people wept that night and all the children of israel murmured against moses
and against aaron and the whole congregation said unto them would god that we had died in the land
of egypt or would god we had died in this wilderness and wherefore had the lord brought us
into this land to fall by the sword that our wives and our children should be a prey were it not
better for us to return into egypt and they said one to another let us make a captain let us return
into egypt so they basically all turned on moses aaron god and the goal is to rebel isn't it and
ultimately end up back in egypt yeah ultimately to end up back in egypt which is a common picture
in the bible of going back to the world okay so basically it's really to scatter the sheep yeah
that's a long-term goal it seems oh well they'll have their own leader it will be better they'll
go back and they'll be happier but really the ultimate goal is to scatter the sheep
and these sorts of people these demoralizers that want to scatter the sheep they work inside
churches okay they work inside churches demoralizing people causing division whispering
about other church members the church the leadership and sometimes there can be a lot of them
here it was 10 out of the 12 spies that were lying okay they were chosen from each tribe 10 out of 12
were lying now were all of them completely wicked do you think do you think every single
one was a literal secret child abelial i don't think so i think there were probably a few
maybe there were and i think they all eventually went up against god though didn't they so some
were wicked and some were just willing idiots yeah some of them got deceived by these guys however it
was didn't fancy it wanted just just got involved in it got involved in the slander and everything
else and look what happens in the end to them so they all end up dying by the plague it's not like
well he only took the worst ones he only took the most influential ones no they all ended up
dying by the plague so i'm going to tell you about a couple of tactics used in our church here
okay so a couple of tactics that that have come to light that have been used
in our church now it's so pathetic yeah that it wouldn't even be worth mentioning if it wasn't
for what the goal of it is okay because it's so pathetic you would just think what on earth yeah
because we're talking real scraping the barrel type stuff here yeah but it's worth it's worth
mentioning because of the motivation of it okay so just to give you a quick background here
and again this isn't this isn't to get praise just to explain to you like what what happens on a
weekly basis and many people are aware of this so from about 9am me and my family turn up here every
sunday and my family start preparing the church between us we get things done we get the church
prepared until pretty much until the service starts yeah at the end of the day yeah in the
evening at the end of a long hard day my family my children and my wife they clean the church okay
they clean the church we tidy the church we we do everything and usually this goes on if anyone's
ever been back here with us before till probably around half seven between half seven and eight
yeah okay and like i said this is something we chose to do because there was this bizarre
situation at the beginning when we had when we first started the church where we just had this
rotor and it you know what could be more simple just a road to put your name down if you want to
help but it just got really weird really political yeah there was just bizarre just it was just
bizarre and people then started to try and re-plan it and do all this weird stuff we're just like look
just forget it if you want to help in a day helping today we'll just do the evening clean
okay so that's how it's always been if you want to do anything in the church yeah if you want to
do anything you're welcome yeah never said no if you want to in terms of any clean you see something
that needs cleaning you see an area clean it by all means yeah no problem and and look at the end
of the evening though at 6 30 once the doors are closed we do the last bit because it's again it
was dangerous people like hoovering with people around and wires out and everything else so we
try and get people to come into this part start doing the back sometimes so we're not here too
late okay so that's the background here so apparently this this is a funny bit yeah someone
in our church is claiming that the reason during cold and flu season yeah during cold and flu bear
mind we've at the end of cold and flu season the reason apparently that people have been getting
ill in our church and let me just explain something quickly people are getting ill all
over the country yeah so many family members and friends that we speak to are like had another
illness had this now whether or not that's to do with everyone being cooped up for two years
whether it's to do with some people just walking around with some dodgy vaccine inside them or
whether it's a combination of those two and the fact that it's flu season i don't know yeah i
don't know but someone is claiming that the reason that people are getting ill is because the church
isn't clean enough yeah the church isn't clean enough yeah which is why people are getting ill
yeah now there has been another little rumor that apparently because the church is big enough as
well yeah and obviously that was slight what part of that angle was about you know it still hasn't
got a new church and we've just explained where that has eventually ended up now yeah which has
been a great blessing from god but regardless the main one that we're hearing right now is because
the church isn't clean enough so i mean it's hardly some sort of festering bacteria cesspit
yeah okay is it yeah is anyone looking around going wow you could just see the bacteria
breeding people coming home with like these weird like strap is it straffle staph infections and
just weird bacterial infection no okay it's ridiculous yeah absolutely ridiculous
but what what's their motivation anyone here what's the motivation of going around telling
people from the church that they're getting ill demoralization and what's the ultimate goal
people not to want to come to church yeah it's to start putting in your head that i'm going to get
sick and ill if i come to church yeah that is wicked isn't it but isn't that like those like
those 10 men yeah like those 10 men uh the spies do you know what's as wicked is if anyone said
that to you is not coming and seeing me because what's the goal what's the goal to get you out
of church to stop you wanting to come to church to demoralize you to talk back to demoralize my
wife and my kids my kid like by the way when we have the downstairs my kids are no longer cleaning
this church yeah because it's too big we're going to have to have people we're going to we're going
to try again to actually have some sort of rotor and some sort of team and not have people start
trying to complain and make new roads and everything else and just put their name down
and clean when they say so or don't yeah okay but we're going to have that but because i don't want
my kids to look back at church and start resenting coming to church but but look at the end of day
it just got to the point where it's like this is ridiculous we'll just do it okay because it just
became weird okay now okay but regardless yeah is anyone really getting ill from the church i mean
yes it's a bit of a rundown building but it gets cleaned yeah yeah and if you're really that
worried wouldn't you just come with your marigolds and clean it yeah stay back one day go sole
winning in the week stay back on a sunday and clean the church great idea do some nooks and
crannies and corners because no we can't always do that and some churches do a spring clean actually
yeah and they'll do like once a year i remember i was at one church where they kind of get lots of
people to get them to do once a year but we just never thought we're going to be here so we just
never really but now we're going to be here yeah we do want it we want it nice we want it to be
presentable now we know we've got six to nine months okay but again like i said it's to
demoralize about going to church and like i said it's not it doesn't matter how scraping the barrel
it is yeah it doesn't matter how pathetic and and just ridiculous and laughable the attempt is
it's a motivation because they don't care about you okay it's not that they're oh well they just
won't they don't care they want you out of church you've got to understand that when people do this
stuff it's not oh well brother ian's just a bit worried that they're trying to discredit him no
it's not it's it's you it's you they want it's the sheep they want out of church and people have
to get that through the head it doesn't matter how good of friends you feel you are with someone
if they're whispering to you stuff about the church stuff about the leadership stuff about
my family stuff about other people in the church they hate you they want you out of church yeah
they want you out of the only proper church that we've got in this nation pretty much yeah i don't
want to sell oh there's no such other they're an absolute joke the other churches they won't they
want you out okay it's oh but but they're my friend they told me about when someone was talking
about me and wouldn't tell me who what yeah great friend great friend they're demoralizing you
they're trying to pull you out of church yeah you understand that yeah okay because then here's
another one i heard here's another one so does anyone remember on our group chat on um or the
other week that absolute clown yeah that absolute clown called costa yeah who was just textbook
bad infiltrator we've had a couple of bad ones just to get us warmed up haven't we because you
couldn't even make it into the church building yeah you can't even make any friendships with
anyone to for them to like put more trust in him and then be shocked and not accept it when he's
exposed yeah okay so this guy this guy he he um he basically he said um if if you didn't get this
this is this is basically a summary at 12 30 at night he said oh um i've uh i've got a question
okay hey everyone i've got a question okay now when someone says i have a question singular
how long do you think that message is likely to be sentence maybe a paragraph at best if he
really needs to explain the sentence okay cue what was it about a dozen paragraphs scriptures
basically a thesis yeah cure thesis on why basically we're all work salvationists and
that calling on the name of the lord is actually a work and that when you have faith in christ you
calling him is apparently a work yeah and it's work salvation yeah ridiculous yeah funny that
because the bible says whosoever shall call upon the name of the lord shall be saved but forget
that yeah so this guy comes on at 12 30 leaves this long thing okay now like i said he says i
have a question then just proceeds to basically not only come up with this nonsense yeah he's
then railing on men of god yeah he's railing on them basically saying they're preaching this at
their works basically their work salvationists railing on the nifb which is what we're
categorized as our sort of church with our beliefs etc um and then finishes it with oh my question
is by the way you know people now saying this is required for salvation you know blah blah blah
okay what was the sensible response of our pastor rebuke remove yeah pretty sensible wouldn't you
say yeah anyone what anyone look at that and go that was a bit harsh he just removed him from our
group he's like who on earth is this guy yeah who on earth this guy and like i said to you hands up
when it when he when he joined uh sorry when i let him come onto our group i actually thought that he
was going to be part of our church that he was i didn't even realize he lives in china he didn't
even come to the uk yeah so it's bizarre but he knew a lot of people from our church then it got
to the point where you have to be careful leadership because if i just said pull him off
the guy was already sob stories before and everything else i thought then he's going
to try and poison those people he does know and go how mean it was to not let him be involved
but he was already there were a lot of red flags him already so anyway someone from our church
apparently seems to think that um that our pastor that it made him think wouldn't want to ask our
pastor a question and said that to another church member so what's their motivation
that's cringe it's cringe demoralize that person about our pastor yeah demoralize people in the
church and i hope to god they haven't said it to other people again if they if someone said
that to you if someone's gone to you going well that was a bit harsh or that was they're talking
back they're talking smack about our pastor yeah yeah who who look the guy and it was even more
loveable is it the guy afterwards sure enough he had a he had a an attack video sort of an out and
what was it a day later yeah within a few hours he's messaging people privately off our church
group chat then he's got his stupid lying attack video not happening to mention that he's never
actually been to our church what a surprise so he's clear as hell boss was 100 right but who
on earth comes away from that just looks at that and turns around says this i don't know you know
it doesn't make me want to ask our pastor question what's that person's motivation
huh division yeah demoralize you about your leadership demoralize you about your pastor
pull you out and again anyone complicit is just as bad as the people in that anyone not coming
up to me and saying this is what people are saying this is what someone said you're a problem as well
do you understand that yeah yeah you understand that anyone who's had someone whispering to them
about the church being dirty or something else you're a problem yeah you're a problem
either if some if you really believe that get your marigolds out do some cleaning or shut up yeah
shut up and stop trying to pull people out of our church because we've worked i've worked hard
a lot of people here have worked hard to have this church yeah to make this church work
and we're not having people poisoned and ruined over like with this nonsense when it could have
easier being sold by someone just coming up and saying look yeah but but but but they had fruits
they brought back fruits above their head they're such a good christian it doesn't matter it doesn't
matter they want you out of church they want to demoralize you you understand that yeah and and
it will go from a couple to 10 out of 12 very quickly very quickly and then to the point where
there's a couple of people then the two out of 12 saying but that's a lie that's rubbish buried yeah
does anyone here believe that that sort of thing is just innocent is that just innocent oh just a
bit annoyed about you know i i saw like a dirty surface i'm just a bit annoyed that a carpet which
by the way i steam cleaned back in september yeah most of the stains didn't even come out of it
okay they're old stains but we had it steam cleaned there's all sorts of it's not yeah
you would never have this carpet if you chose a church yeah but like i said it was always a
temporary building yeah now that we're going to have downstairs we're going to try and make it
a bit better we've got a bit longer it's worth putting the time and effort into it okay maybe
i was maybe yeah i'll hold my hand up maybe i was in error a year ago or whatever else we first came
in and maybe i should have just said right all hands to deck let's just make it nice even if
we're only here for a couple of months yeah maybe i should have done but but regardless now i know
that we're here longer term yeah we're going to make it nice but regardless no one's getting ill
because of that yeah no one's getting ill because well they're they're not shampooing the carpet
every week yeah no one's getting ill because there's a bit of paint peeling off the wall
and anyone who suggests that it's not only a complete imbecile yeah because but but what's
again what's their motivation to demoralize you to pull you out of church and i don't care i don't
care if it's your best friend yeah you come and see me or you're a problem as well okay like i
said we've worked hard we're not having it poisoned so title of my sermon today was weapons of the
enemy demoralization demoralized about the word of god number two is demoralized about working
for god number three is demoralized about where you worship god three w's there for weapons
hopefully it's easy to remember what are our defenses and sorry we've gone a little bit over
time today but it was worthwhile yeah what are our defenses what is the answer to the propaganda
campaign do we spread our own disinformation is that the answer do we shut off from all forms of
communication no turn to first kings 19 when we see one of the greatest prophets in the bible
feeling demoralized so elijah here has just had 450 prophets of bale killed it's the equivalent
of if only you could just round up 450 false prophets and have them all strung up yeah yeah
wouldn't it be great well elijah's just done that great job okay he's just had it had it done he's
overseen it so he's done a great work of god here and now he's being hunted down look at first kings
chapter 19 and verse 1 and ahab told jezebel all that elijah had done and with all how he
had slain all the prophets with the sword then jezebel sent a messenger unto elijah saying
so let the gods do to me and more also if i make not thy life as a life of one of them by tomorrow
about this time and when he saw that he arose and went for his life and came to be a shiva which
belongeth to judah and left his servants there but he himself went a day's journey into the
wilderness and came and sat down under a juniper tree and he requested for himself that he might
die and said it is enough now oh lord take away my life for i am not better than my father so
he's asking to die he's giving up isn't he he's basically got the queen of israel in effect
swearing to kill him within a day okay she's hunting him he knows it's going to be gruesome
and he's just thinking i've done i've done it i've done what i can he's tired he's probably
worn out he's demoralized yeah what's the answer verse five and as he lay and slept under a juniper
tree behold then an angel touched him and said unto him arise and eat so basically get up and
get prepared for some more yeah look at verse six and he looked and behold there was a cake
baking on the coals and a cruiser walter at his head and he did eat and drink and laid him down
again so look he gets a quick feeding and then look verse seven and the angel of the lord came
again the second time and touched him and said arise and eat because the journey is too great
for you said you need to get you need to eat again and it's time for work yeah time for work
i don't care how demoralized you are get prepared get ready and he arose and did eat and drink and
went in the strength of that meat 40 days and 40 nights under horrib the mount of god so you're
feeling a bit demoralized are you time to get busy and you might as well go on a 40-day fast while
you're at it yeah you could say you could say get spiritual yeah get spiritual you're feeling
demoralized get spiritual because i think a 40-day fast you're going to be feeling pretty
spiritual right yeah well god then speaks to him yeah god then speaks to him and elijah answers
in verse 14 yeah and he said i have been very jealous for the lord god of hosts because the
children of israel have forsaken thy covenant throw down their altars and slain thy prophets
with the sword and i even i only am left and they seek my life to take it away and the lord said unto
him go return on their way to the wilderness of damascus and when thou comest anoint hasael to be
king over syria and jahu the son of nimshi shout thou anoint to be king over israel and elijah the
son of shafat of albema hola shout thou anoint to be prophet in thy room and it shall come to pass
that him that escapeth the sword of hasael shall jahu slay and him that escapes from the sword of
jahu shall elijah slay so the lord says to him yeah you might be feeling a bit discouraged yeah
so go and get busy for me go and get busy and get some good fellowship when you're in there too
look at verse 18 he says yeah i have left me seven thousand in israel all the knees which
have not bowed unto bale and every mouth which has not kissed him god said basically there's
more of you out there you're not alone yeah you're not alone when you're demoralized yeah when you're
sitting there in the christian life in the christian wall and you're feeling demoralized
realize you're not alone yeah you're not the only one and there's plenty of us out here
plenty about out and where are you going to find those people in church when you're feeling
demoralized you need to be in the in the house of god you need to be around those others that
haven't bad there need to bail yeah you need to be around those other people to get strengthened
to get that camaraderie to get that morale boosted up and not to then be demoralized yeah and that
could be whether it's about the word of god that could be whether it's about your work of god and
that could be whether it's about where you worship god get there get your morale up yeah get around
other people and and get busy make sure you're busy because the most demoralized you'll feel
is when you're sitting there languishing when you're sitting there staring at a wall just
feeling crap about yourself you're going to feel worse and worse and worse aren't you get busy get
up get busy get spiritual get around other people get around other people of god and that for me is
a solution to all three of those points yeah get when people are trying to demoralize you about
the word of god get around other people that know about the word of god when people are trying to
demoralize you about doing the work of god get around other people that work for god yeah don't
get around the the false lazy christians the part-time believer yeah when you're feeling
demoralized about the place where you worship god go to that place where you worship god be
around other people that are happy to come here and serve and worship god yeah get around those
other people that have not bad they need to bail yeah and for me that that's the that's the answer
don't let them pull you out of church because that's ultimately the goal that's where the
work's being done we've said this time and time again you've got many people around the world
that think they're such a great christian because they've read the bible however many times because
they can memorize some scripture because they can answer a few debates or something else
but what's the real work the real work comes from the church sending you out to preach the gospel
yeah and that's that's why they don't want you here that's why ultimately it's all to weaken
you to pull you out of church that what that's what it's all about and that's why the answer
is to make sure you're in church yeah make sure you're in church make sure you're doing
the things for god like i said weapons of the enemy demoralization number one was about the
word of god number two is about work for god number three was about where you worship god
and the answer is to get moralized around god's people yeah let's get moralized around god's
people on that let's pray father i thank you for all the great lessons we get in the bible
all the great examples of things that we go through in our modern day um i thank you that
you make it clear how the enemy likes to attack us the different ways of attacking us the different
slightly just subtle differences between fear and demoralization and we're going to see other
other ways as we go forward over the next couple of months and just how we can how we can defend
against and help everyone here to not only to want to defend themselves against that and i need to
have a strong mind to also to want to defend the rest of the church to care about the church to
care about the people to care about what god thinks of them to when people do this to come
and come and expose them to come and come to me come to the leadership for me for me between
myself and pastor thompson to then be able to then take action and and look without people
doing that unfortunately people can carry on carry on with this sort of work and this sort
of wickedness and we pray that you just help expose those types of people as and when they
come into our church but also lord that you you just help us all not to be just on a hair trigger
to to want to just get you know to accuse people left right and center as well help us to to love
each other as well to want to be around other believers to want to just be good church members
to want this church to thrive to help this church to thrive um obviously going forward with a new
building now as well to at least a new way of having this building and a bigger part of this
building help us to to just make that what you'd want it to be to to make it a great place where
people enjoy coming and they're happy to come and worship you and um in jesus name we pray all of
this amen