the marks of the Lord Jesus the title of my sermon this morning is battle scars
battle scars let's pray Heavenly Father we thank you so much for this wonderful
day how beautiful it is outside just pray that you would bless the services
this morning I pray Lord that people would take this message to heart I pray
you fill me with your spirit and boldness and the power of the Holy
Spirit in Jesus name I pray amen all right so battle scars is the title of
the sermon and I got that from verse 17 it says I bear in my body the marks of
the Lord Jesus and if anybody in here knows anything about the Apostle Paul
the Apostle Paul went through a lot of problems didn't he he actually did
probably have literal scars on his body because of all the things and
persecutions that he had to go through and so you could probably look at the
Apostle Paul and he probably didn't look like the prettiest guy on the on the
planet did he and so because and I'll show you kind of what Paul he kind of
goes through a list of things that happened to him and he he basically just
breaks down basically all the scars that he endured and what if you looked at the
Apostle Paul you would see these marks it says he I bear in my body the marks
of the Lord Jesus now marks would be like scars right so that's why I titled
battle scars because every single person this room probably has a battle or not a
battle scar but like a scar of some kind who here has a scar on their body I got
a ringing coming through this can you guys mess with the volume here okay that
sounds better all right so who in here has a scar that they have from something
maybe it was something dumb you did when you're a kid or just you fell off your
skateboard okay yeah so everybody in here probably has some kind of scar and
if you don't you're probably gonna get one someday now scars can come from a
lot of different things it can be just simply living life because we live in a
fallen world and you know we as fallen people we do dumb things or we you know
maybe just something happens it's an accident you know and and we get a scar
from that so my purse so the Apostle Paul like I said I'm gonna go through a
list of the things that were scars on his life and look some people have more
than just outward appearance scars or marks on their body that you can see as
a scar but some people have mental scars don't they some people go through
trials and tribulations or just even everyday life can give you some kind of
a scar and people that have problems emotional problems and things like that
or you know they've had some kind of scarring maybe it was from their
upbringing maybe some terrible things happen to them but everybody every one
of us has scars in our lives but what I want to talk about mainly today is
spiritual scars that you get but those spiritual scars well spiritual and
physical scars that you can get from the Christian life now so I just want to
list my personal accumulated scars and none of them came from soul I did blow
my knee out playing the indoor soccer as a church leader one time but that's
about the extent of my my war wounds from church but you know back in the
days of the Apostles they were getting beaten they were getting chased and the
Apostle Paul probably had you know a lot of scars but I'll just give you my
accumulation these are the ones I could think of all right so I have on my right
arm a scar right here from a football helmet in a tackling drill just the the
side of the helmet just ripped my arm open and probably should have had
stitches but it's not that bad of a scar but it's just a scar so I have on my
left thigh and my back some scars from a motorcycle accident and one of them
you know and a lot of us you'll remember the scars that you have and what
happened in that particular moment like I remember the motorcycle accident I got
hit by a 66 Dodge Dart I flew through the air for like 30 feet and then my
friend landed on top of me I was driving around and so he broke his leg so he got
away worse he broke his femur like where the car hit it hit right on his leg but
I had road rash over 90% of my back anybody ever had road rash before well
when I got to the hospital they gave me a morphine shot for pain and that did
not help you know very much because then take a toothbrush and and like get all
the gravel out of like some of the wounds like there's like there's still
gravel indented in my back so there's like little you can see the spots where
the gravel is still there but she literally had to take a toothbrush and I
don't know if it was a soft one or not it didn't feel like a soft one I felt
like a hard one but I'll remember that for the rest of my life let's see I hit
my head on a bucket in the backseat of my dad's station wagon when I was two
and I have like it looks like a chicken attacked me or something but it was
actually from a bucket probably should have had stitches on that one too bottom
of my right foot I stepped on a you know those diecast toy airplanes you know
what I'm talking about well somehow I stepped on it and the wing went right
into the bottom of my foot and so I went in about that that deep into the bottom
of my foot and I was like I don't know maybe nine years old when that happened
but yeah that one hurt but you can't see that scar because I'm not gonna show you
the bottom of my feet but anyway I got one and then I got a rut my right knee
was cut when I was like sliding down this hill one time I had wrist surgery
so I have a little scar on this wrist here had surgery I'm I had a hernia
surgery so I mean I just got I got scars and accumulation of 46 years I have some
scars and I'm probably forgetting some of them but you get the point is it
throughout our life we're gonna have physical scars that happen to us but in
the Christian life that can also happen too because persecution is a real thing
and right now in America we're not being attacked and churches aren't being
burned but in Canada they are there and there's other countries where Christians
are killed for their faith and in some day the devil is gonna be able to you
know how overcome the Saints you know before during the tribulation time
Christians will be killed during that time and it could happen before that
here I mean they're already you know things have already ramped up we had a
guy in our church get attacked so any one time we've gotten threatened out
solely multiple times so I mean it just it's it's gonna it could happen in our
lifetime you know things could just things have gotten pretty ugly in the
last couple years here I mean we're basically the United States is basically
a communist dictatorship right now isn't it I'm not trying to get all political
here but the politics that are ruling this nation right now are telling us
that we have to get some jab mandated this COVID vaccine or you're gonna lose
your job you know most of the people that feel that way a lot of the people
have a Christian reason for doing that some people just don't like the fact
that there's an experimental you know shot that they haven't even totally
proven yet that people are getting sick from that people have died from and so
it's like basically you're playing Russian roulette with your own body and
they're they're telling you you have to do this you know whatever happened to my
body my choice I mean that just goes out the window when the dictators of this
country want to tell us what to do it's wicked but we're gonna experience scars
over our lifetime and scars that people can't even see some people just have you
know issues because of the things and the trauma that they've gone through you
know in their soul in their mind and so as Christians we need to realize that
getting scarred up in the Christian life is something that we're gonna have to
face and we'd like to say hey we don't want to deal with this persecution we
don't want to deal with hard times we don't want to have these battle scars in
our lives but you know Jesus Christ has some battle scars didn't he he's our
leader he's the one we're supposed to follow and I'm not saying that we should
just go out intentionally and trying to get these scars and try to get people to
kill us or whatever but people are gonna hate us whether we like it or not why
because they hated Jesus Christ didn't they and so if he if they hated Jesus
Christ they're gonna hate his followers too let's turn to Genesis chapter 32
though I want to show you an example of a great man of God Jacob and he wrestled
with the angel of the Lord who I believe was the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ look
at Genesis chapter 32 24 we can get scars from serving the Lord but what
happens in Genesis chapter 32 verse 24 says Jacob and Jacob was left alone and
there he wrestled a man with him until the breaking of day and when he saw that
he prevailed not against him he touched the hollow of his thigh and the hollow
of Jacob's thigh was out of joint as he wrestled with him so I mean this is what
guys do right you get in wrestling matches sometimes and you know it's a
manly thing to do but he's wrestling with who I believe like I said is the
Lord Jesus Christ pre-incarnate it says is the angel of the Lord but so his his
hollow his it's basically the first MMA match the first jiu-jitsu match or
something so Jesus applied the submission hold popped his popped his
hip out of socket and there we have it the first recorded MMA match you know
there was no strikes being thrown maybe it was just I just said they were
wrestling but you know in wrestling you don't usually apply a submission hold
that pops someone's bones out of joint anyway well there was 26 it says and he
said let me go for the day breaketh and he said I will not let thee go except
thou bless me and he said unto him what is thy name and he said Jacob and he
said thy name shall be called no more Jacob but Israel for as a prince hast
thou power with God and with men and hast prevailed and Jacob asked him and
said tell me I pray thee thy name and he said wherefore is it that thou dost ask
after my name and he blessed him there and Jacob called the name of the place
peniel for I have seen God face to face and my life is preserved so that's why I
think it was Jesus because no man can see the face of the Father and live but
Jesus Christ the Son people did see his face and live right it says and as he
passed over peniel the Son rose upon him and what to say he halted upon his
thigh so this is a battle you know he's battling with the Lord so to speak he's
doing something great for God he's wrestling until he gets a blessing but
sometimes when we are going out to do the Lord's work we might get some kind
of an injury that halts us he halted upon his thigh and it says therefore the
children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank which is upon the
hollow of the thigh unto this day because he touched the hollow of Jacob's
thigh in the sinew that shrank so this this wrestling match that he got in with
the Lord permanently damaged him and so he walked around so when it says halted
upon his thigh it means that he was limping so Jacob you know had this
injury from wrestling and and obviously Jacob was trying to do a great thing
wasn't he he's trying to get a blessing from God so and and we can get you know
you hear the term PTSD and I don't want to throw around this lightly but you
know because soldiers really do get post-traumatic stress disorder they come
back from war and they have problems and issues because of the horrible things
that they've done and seen or you know witnessed so you know you can get
post-traumatic stress disorder it's a real thing but here's the thing you can
get that as a spiritual Christian you can get PTSD Christianity you can get
spiritual PTSD you know I was just thinking about how everything Paul went
through so he's going to all these new places that nobody's ever preached the
gospel before I mean do you think he might have had a little bit of like you
know I don't know about this town I mean after going through what he went through
I'm sure he felt that way sometimes everybody feels fear at some point if
you're going into like a super ghetto neighborhood to go soul-winning there
there is probably a little bit of a fear before you do something like that like
the Compton soul-winning marathon but you know when we go out during the day
this is a good point you know we go out and we preach the gospel during the day
we probably wouldn't want to go to Compton and go soul-winning at night
though would we because you know that's the time when you know when darkness
falls that's when a lot of dark things start to happen but spiritual PTSD is
a reality and it can be from physical and internal scars that you suffer in
the Christian life now I'll just give you a couple PTSD of just normal life
that I went through my wrestling PTSD so unlike G I wasn't as good a wrestler as
Jacob was what my first my freshman year I went out for wrestling and I didn't
know anything about it like I had zero experience and the guy that I faced was
a state champion okay and wrestling isn't exactly a sport that you want to
wrestle against the state champion if you've never wrestled in your life you
have no moves I was in it for a week I went to the first match and this guy
just creamed me he smashed my face into the mat gave me a really bad bloody
nose and the referees like are you ready to continue it was like yeah those
before AIDS was a big thing or whatever but my blood all over me
excuse me blood all over me from my nose being smashed into the mat and
right away like when you when you someone's a wrestler they have a core
strength that most people don't have and so obviously I wasn't wrestling my whole
life I didn't have this strength that this guy had when you're wrestling you
get like chimpanzee strength you can grab a hold of people and just you know
there it's just it's a different sport and you have to be trained and
knowledgeable in order to do it and I wasn't and so I got destroyed and at one
point I just let him pin me I mean I was just like take me out I'm done so well
this will say I didn't wrestle again after that I got PTSD from him so but do
you think that was wise for my coach to just put me into that situation where
I'm wrestling a state champion maybe he was trying to get me to quit I don't
know but it worked when I another one was baseball I had never played
baseball again after the season where I got smashed in the face trying out for
first I was trying out for first base I was in third grade or second grade going
I think I was in second grade but the the town I lived in was a small town and
everybody they had different age groups you know obviously you go majors and
there's minors majors and all that well I went straight from t-ball to majors
and so that's not a jump that you should make it's kind of like the
wrestling thing you know I went from hitting a ball off of a tee to fast
balls being thrown at me you know the next time I played so everybody was
trying out for first base and the coaches is hitting dingers out to us
right and I went to catch the ball and the ball went right past the front of my
glove and hit me right now right in the nose and right in the eyeball and it was
like one of the last days of school I think when that happened and maybe it
was I think it was in spring actually but anyway I had I had the stitch marks
from that ball on my face for a long time it blackened both my eyes so I
looked like Rocky the raccoon and from that time on I was afraid of the ball
I'll admit it I had PTSD like they even tried to put like try to do all these
techniques to make sure that you know I could get in there and and do it again
but a lot of that happens to people you know I know people that were you know
I've heard I've heard people that were college baseball players went all the
way up took and played college baseball and then they played softball and they
got smashed in the face with a softball and they never played again after that
because they were afraid of the ball so and softballs aren't soft in case you've
ever played they're not really soft they're just big giant hard balls is
what they really are and so when you get hit in the face with one of those you
know from an aluminum bat or something it's gonna leave a mark it's gonna leave
some and it's gonna give you PTSD so it's just a couple things that I could
think of that I was like yeah I don't want no more of this but number one you
know and this is kind of introduction but number one today you know all great
churches if they're doing right will experience multiple battles and so this
church is not you know above that I mean well I think our church is a great
church and I think that we are doing right and I think we're doing great
works here but when you have a church that's doing great works and doing great
things for God you're gonna get into some battles it's gonna happen you know
and sometimes we get a little battle weary and a little bit of spiritual PTSD
because of some of the trials and battles that we go through look at Acts
chapter 8 verse 3 see the church the church the early church was huge but God
said for all those guys to go out and preach the gospel to every creature go
out and preach the gospel to the nations around them but they were just kind of
sitting there in Jerusalem and not going out like they were supposed to and so
this persecution happens and and one of them is Saul Saul is the one that
actually had this big persecution going on and before he became Paul it says in
Acts 8 3 it says as for Saul he made havoc of the church entering into every
house and hailing men and women committed them to prison what was their
crime being a Christian what was their crime believing on the Lord Jesus Christ
so why did Paul do that well he was ignorant he was ignorant of the truth
and he's actually the biggest persecutor at that time of the church when
obviously you know that changed but to create havoc is to lay waste or to
devastate so Paul before he was Paul he was Saul and he was laying waste to the
church he was getting people to recant their faith he was kind of like a Roman
Inquisition guy or something he was like you know hurting people and you know he
sat there and held everybody's coats while Stephen was stoned to death I mean
he wasn't a good guy at this time but the Bible says that he did it
ignorantly and in unbelief and that's why God had mercy on him but God also
chose him and he said he's gonna show what great things he must suffer for his
namesake and so the Apostle Paul started out as a major persecutor of the church
but then you know God did show what great things he had to suffer for his
namesake but Paul just went through and you know what he finished the race he
finished his course but you know a lot of people you know when they're going
through trials and tribulations and or when their church is being attacked by
people you know people are just attacking even people in our church and
this happens you know people these people that like to make videos they'll
take videos of our other people in our church and put that stuff online and
just do all kinds of weird stuff they want to these there's people that hate
us they hate our church and they want it to be destroyed and we have to
understand that you know we might get some scars we might get some spiritual
PTSD because of what we're going through but you know it's not like no other
Christian has had to go through this before it's not like we're the first
ones you know and it might seem like well why are all the wire why is our
church always getting harassed why is our church always getting persecuted
why is our church hated so much well because we're trying to do the things
that God wants us to do that's why we have a big target on the back of this
church and if you go to this church you've been you've been through some
battles if you've been here for a long time you've been through battles and you
know what I'm talking about but don't get spiritual PTSD from that you know we
just need to hunker down and we need to you know let God be our fortress let's
fall on you know under the shadow of his wings let him be our buckler let him be
our shield because the things that these wicked people want to do to our church
you know they're gonna come to naught but so but what's the devil want to do
he wants to attack he wants to sew wolves in amongst the sheep and he wants
those sheep to drag or to be dragged out by the wolves and sometimes when a wolf
and sheep's clothing is revealed they drag good people out with them I think
Remy made this point about when leaven leaves the church you know the leaven is
the bad thing you're supposed to remove from the church but with that leaven
you're pulling some good dough out with it and that does happen you know some
people just can't handle the battles or they they lose sight or lose track of
what's really going on and what's important and we have to understand that
all great churches if they're doing right will experience multiple battles
and our churches is is one of those churches that is going to experience
battles number two all pastors and leaders getting the work done will get
persecuted and falsely accused again number two all pastors and church leaders
getting the work done will get persecuted and falsely accused let's
look at 1st Corinthians chapter 16 verse 9 1st Corinthians chapter 16 verse number
9 the Bible says for a great door and effectual is open unto me and there are
many adversaries see the Apostle Paul he had great doors open to him he did great
works for God he went all over planting churches and you know teaching the
disciples fulfilling the Great Commission making sure that people got
baptized all that stuff but with the open door that we have we also have many
adversaries as I say a few no it says we have many adversaries so this is
something that we got to get used to is having many adversaries and your pastor
having many adversaries church leaders evangelists Paul was an evangelist he
was an apostle but would you say he had a lot of adversaries he literally had
people stalking him from town to town trying to kill him he had people that
took oaths and saying we're not going to eat or drink anything until the Apostle
Paul is dead so there's people out there that will stop at nothing to try to
destroy this church and to destroy the pastor and that's the way it's going to
be at any church that's doing great things that's getting the work done look
at Luke chapter 6 verse 21 Luke chapter 6 verse 21 it says blessed are ye that
hunger now for ye shall be filled blessed are ye that weep now for ye
shall laugh some of the things that we go through in the Christian life you
know it makes us want to cry it makes us want to weep but there's gonna be a day
when we're gonna be laughing you know God laughs in the Bible you know and he
laughs at the wicked when they try to do all these all these things because
you know you know contrary to what some people believe God and the devil are not
equals God is way God made the devil and so they're nowhere near equal and so
these wicked imaginations that people have against our church and against your
pastor and against you personally as a Christian they're gonna come to not look
at what it says in verse 22 blessed are ye when men shall hate you it doesn't
say if men shall hate you it says when men shall hate you see if you're a
Christian today men will hate you there's people out there that will hate
you why because you believe in Christ because you're saved because you're
doing mighty and wonderful works for God it says and when they shall separate
from your from their separate you from their company there's gonna be people
that don't want to have anything to do with you they're gonna hate you and it
says and shall reproach you and cast out your name as evil it says for the
Son of Man's sake see it's for Jesus sake that people hate us the reason why
people would separate from our company that's why family members will discard
you and not want to have anything to do with you people that raised you people
that fed you milk people that you grew up in their house will separate you from
their company and it says and shall reproach you and cast out your name as
evil for the Son of Man's sake rejoice ye in that day and leap for joy for
behold your ward is great in heaven for in the like manner did their fathers
unto the prophets so see this is nothing new this has been going on for thousands
of years anybody that wants to name the name of Christ any prophet in the in the
past that worked for the Lord Jesus Christ that worked for God you know they
did the same things to them that you see happening now when you see our church
getting attacked when you see your pastor getting attacked when you're
getting attacked and called all manner of evil things and people want to
separate themselves from you just realize it's nothing new you're not
experiencing anything that somebody else hasn't ever experienced you're
experiencing probably less than what they experienced because there's a lot
of places where they'll just straight-up kill you and that'll leave a scar right
so let's look at 2nd Timothy chapter 1 and you know like it seems like no
matter how much I preach about stuff like this that people just don't get the
message it's like it just goes right over their head like why are we being
attacked I don't know you must be doing something wrong no it sounds to be like
we must be doing something right it says the Lord give mercy unto the house of
one syphorus for he oft refreshed me and he was not ashamed of my chain you know
there's people that just didn't want to be around Paul because he was in jail
they acted like he was some kind of a reproach because he had was chained to a
Roman soldier what was he chained to the Roman soldier for preaching the Word of
God starting churches doing great works persecution is gonna come folks it says
but when he was in Rome he sought me out very digit diligently and found me you
know it's really what I what's really encouraging is when I'm going through a
battle when someone seeks me out and says hey I'm praying for you hey what
can I do to help you and those those are the people that I really appreciate
because this says he sought me out very diligently like he went and found the
Apostle Paul and tried to do anything he could to help him out a lot of times
when you're going through battles it seems like you're alone it seems that
way but like even when the Apostle Paul was going through a hard time it said no
man stood with me but the Lord stood with me the Lord helped me the Lord
comforted me so you know we shouldn't be ashamed don't you know don't be a
shamed of me if I'm getting some kind of battle thrown my way you know don't
just automatically jumped jump to conclusions because there's a lot of
people out there they might seem like they're right they might sound really
good but that's the fair speeches that these wolves like to give and to try to
just persecute and and and come after you know pastors what why because if you
take down the pastor you're harming the rest of the church because pastors are
given to you as a gift just like an evangelist and look I'm not saying I'm
like you know unwrap me here's your present okay just saying that God you
know you know there's no bow on me okay I'll be a real ugly present but what I'm
saying you know but God does give the positions of leadership as a gift to the
congregation and and it's just like well you know if you can knock the pastor off
then then you're gonna be able to destroy that church that's the ultimate
goal isn't it we have a lot of enemies out there that just want to destroy this
church and you know and they're in their way seemed like it was maybe righteous
to some people at first but now look what these people are doing I mean it's
it doesn't just stop with me folks doesn't just stop with me it start it's
the whole thing is an agenda to pull the whole thing down to rip it down and to
destroy it but some people just don't have eyes to see that they're just fooled
by it every little thing over here that someone wants to put up and makes make
it seem like things are happening that really aren't so I'll look at Proverbs
chapter 26 verse 23 Proverbs chapter 26 verse 23 and these are there's the Bible
talks a lot about what he's gonna do to wicked people and you know this stuff
doesn't really get preached at a lot of churches because for some reason
pastors just like to go away from anything that's negative in the Bible
but know this that there are many adversaries if that's not really
happening in your church then obviously the devil doesn't have a problem with
you the devil doesn't have a problem with your church the devil doesn't have
a problem with your pastor if you're doing nothing for God I mean that's what
the Bible teaches folks if you have a great door and effects will open up to
you we're doing great works we're going to different countries and preaching the
gospel and setting up churches all over these places and when people you know
they creep in unawares they they they pretend like they're one of us and like
you know at the beginning it wasn't as bad but it's ramped up folks it's ramped
up and it's like it's not the ones you you know we always think we can spot the
heretic as they walk in the door well you know they're kind of you know we're
a little bit goofy with some of their answers or whatever you know we just we
need to watch that person it's like those aren't the people you need to
worry about it's the ones that you don't detect it's the ones that you don't know
and obviously we're not going around trying to heretic hunt in our church
okay but you know they will come in Paul says he ceased not to warn them night
and day of these grievous wolves would come in not sparing the flock look at
Proverbs 26 verse 23 it says burning lips and a wicked heart are like a
potsherd covered with silver dross he that hateth dissemblest with his lips
and layeth up deceit within him when he speaketh fair believe him not it's
talking about people that are wicked believe him not for there are set for
seven abominations in his heart see people like to speak fairly these wolves
and sheep's clothing and it seems like they're great people but the Bible says
believe him not you know once you see that someone's wicked and then they're
like oh I'm just doing this for you I'm doing this to try to help you you guys
are in a cold let me help you out that's like no deceit is in their heart they
have seven abominations in their heart and they want to rip you out of church
that's what they want to do they want to get you to quit they want to get you to
go to some lame-o Church that's not doing anything for God that's how the
devil works he he walketh about like a lion seeking whom he may devour he said
Jesus told Peter he wanted to the devil want to sift him like wheat you know
what a sifting is that's when you're just making big things into little
things he wants to do that the devil wants to sift you like wheat you know
but Jesus said I have prayed for thee so and obviously we have a protector in
the Lord Jesus Christ he's only gonna let so much happen to us but hey even if
he did allow us to die you know we get a better resurrection for that it when
we're persecuted when we take it like we were supposed to take it then we're
gonna get rewarded for that great is our reward it says whose hatred is covered
look at verse 26 it says whose hatred is covered by deceit see they cover up the
hate that they have by deceiving his wickedness shall be showed before the
whole congregation and we kind of seen that happen this weekend haven't we the
wicked his wickedness shall be showed before the whole congregation who so dig
at the pit shall fall therein and he that rolleth a stone it will return upon
him you know what the the great advantage of you know there's people
that are smarter than us and they're more resourceful than us and they
devise all these wicked imaginations that they try to do to the church but
the one thing that we got that they don't have we have God we have God to
help us and so he's gonna make sure that they dig a pit for us to fall into
they're gonna fall in it the blind are gonna lead the other blind and he the
roll at the stone it'll return upon him they roll a stone to try to get it to
fall on you or whatever God's gonna make sure that they get trapped into their
own deceit their own hatred the Bible says a lying tongue in verse 28 hateth
those that are afflicted by it think about that statement for a second a
lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it see these people like to
afflict with their tongue and they hate you they don't love you they hate you if
someone's premise is to start off with lying about everything they're not your
friend they're trying to deceive you they don't love this church they don't
love this pastor they don't love you it says in a flattery mouth worketh ruin so
beware of people that flatter you flattery is like a really big indicator
of what someone has inside their heart they're a wicked person now number three
all good or bad Christians will go through major battles in their life and
suffer scarring so we covered the church we covered the pastors or the leaders
and now I'm just talking about Christians in general turn to John
chapter 15 verse 18 John chapter 15 verse number 18 the Bible says in John
15 18 it says if the world hate you you know that it hated me before it hated
you it's the Lord Jesus Christ talking if you have a red letter edition he's
saying if the world hate you you know that it hated me before it hated you if
you were of the world the world would love his own but because you're not of
the world but I have chosen you out of the world therefore the world hateth you
once you get saved you know the world is going to hate you they're not going to
agree with your doctrine they're not going to agree with your new politics
which should be on the conservative side I'm not saying like be a Fox News
Baptist or what is it Newsbreak or what's it called Newsmax yeah look I'm
not promoting politics I'm just saying that once you get saved your politics do
change as far as hey I used to believe it was a woman's right to choose and now
I believe that killing a baby in the womb is murder and so those are the
tickets that people like to run on in politics but you know Paulie means many
and a tick is a blood-sucking creature so just remember that that you know
politicians are blood-sucking creatures they really don't have your best
interest at heart you know the you know where revival is gonna start in the
church house you know where America is gonna get saved in the church house it's
not gonna be the White House so look at verse 20 it says remember the word that
I said unto you the servant is not greater than his Lord if they have
persecuted me they will also persecute you if they have kept my saying they
will keep yours also so hey the servant is not above his Lord did they persecute
Jesus are you one of his disciples then guess what they're gonna persecute you
too and if you're not getting persecuted then there's a problem in your
Christianity or maybe your time has just not yet come because I think that God
gives us things in waves now usually when you first go soul-wanting it's not
as not so bad but every once in a while someone goes soul-wanting and it's like
somebody cusses them out the first door or something you know I mean things like
that happen but for the most part God lets you you know absorb things and
levels it's just like you know new levels new devils new things happen in
your life you're advancing in your Christian life and more trials are
gonna come your way you know why is that happening well because you know you
know maybe God's just trying to prove what kind of person you are but also it
could be traps that are laid for you by the wicked to try to get you to leave
church well I can't believe God will allow this to happen in my life well
what happened in Jesus life he was falsely accused he was maligned he was
lied about he was stalked at his every turn I mean they literally stopped he
couldn't even go walk through the cities anymore because they were seeking to
kill him wherever he went so he had to go on the outside and desert places and
dwell there because he was so popular that people were thronging him and also
because these bad guys were following him everywhere he went and trying to
catch him in his words trying to catch him doing something that they didn't
like you know he said he'd build you know he would destroy the temple and
build it up in three days is that really true they accused them of all
kinds of false things you know they accused them of breaking the Sabbath
they accused them of you know not not eating with washed hands you know like
that's just the crime of the century or something you know five-second rule
whatever but you know we have to understand that we're not gonna escape
persecution we're not gonna escape tribulation affliction that our lives
are gonna be afflicted at some point and you know you're not gonna always be
going through a storm God all God will give you relief but when you're going
through a storm you who here's who you don't blame you don't blame God for
going through your storm so God's gonna get you through the storm and he's with
you maybe you don't see that because when you're going through something
hard then you don't you don't always see things the way you should see them you
don't always you know you don't always think about that you think why is this
happening to me a lot of people feel that way and I understand that feeling
because I felt it too it's like why is this happening but the Bible tells us
why it happens it's very clear look at 2nd Timothy chapter 3 verse 10 we're
gonna go through things that are gonna scar us in the Christian life we're
gonna go through trials and tribulations and there could be literal physical
scars from serving the Lord look at 2nd Timothy chapter 3 verse 10 it says but
thou has fully known my doctrine manner of life purpose faith long-suffering
charity patience about so Paul's telling Timothy hey you've seen you know I've
showed you my doctor my doctrines right out in the open the way I live my life
the purpose that I have the faith I have the long-suffering the charity the
patience persecutions afflictions which came unto me at Antioch at Iconium and
at Lystra what persecutions I endured but out of them all the Lord delivered
me yeah and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution so
if you're living godly in Christ Jesus what's the Bible say shall suffer
persecution it's a fact folks it's going to happen and if it happens don't let
that be a reason for you to just quit the Christian life people always want to
blame God for the things that they're going through but it's the world that
hates you because you're saved because you love Jesus because you've come out
of the world and you're saying I'm not gonna be conformed to this world anymore
I want to be different and once you start trying to be different then the
sifter comes doesn't he and he wants to just sift you like wheat he wants to
tear you apart like a the lion that he is the devil you know people will be
like I really I'm gonna come to church this week you know people at the door
will say hey I really want to come to church and you know it's a lot of times
they don't why do you think that is because their tire got flat their car
broke down their wife started fighting with them the kids were you know sick or
whatever the devil will put anything in your path to get you to stop coming to
church especially when you first start trying because he knows when you come to
a church like this you're gonna have the Bible preached to you and it's gonna
start helping you to live the Christian life we put programs in place so that
you can succeed as a Christian at this church but if you can't even get out the
front door the devil knows you're never gonna come to this church and learn that
they're gonna get stuck and you go oh it's just too hard some people it's too
hard to just leave their front room but if you purpose and sometimes I've seen
where people like I really wanted to come with this this and this happen it's
just like you got a fight through it hey get a lift get an uber something make
sure you get to church don't just let anything trip you up and fall on the
devil look the devil knows that some people it doesn't take much you know I
got milk in the fridge it's gonna expire I got to drink it by the end of the day
you know I can't go to church I gotta make sure to drink this milk you know
because when you don't want to do something any excuse is a good excuse to
that person and that's a dumb excuse so it says he endured all these things but
out of them the Lord delivered me yay and all that live godly in Christ Jesus
shall suffer persecution look what it says though verse 13 but evil men and
seducers shall get less and less is that what it says no it says shall wax worse
and worse deceiving and being deceived so let me ask you a question are we
about 2,000 years removed from this statement here so if it was already
getting worse and worse in Paul's time how bad do you think it is now how many
false teachers are out there now spreading lies teaching lies about
salvation even Baptist like even Baptist and you're like well you think
Baptists are better than everybody well I don't know anybody besides Baptists
that are knocking people's doors and trying to get them saved except for
false prophets like the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Mormons but the Bible
says we're supposed to go daily from house to house and cease not to teach
and preach the Lord Jesus so you know they're gonna these evil seducers are
gonna wax worse and worse and they want to give you scars they want to destroy
your life they want to get inside your head and and and make you think things
that aren't true I just thinking of some battles that have gone on since we've
been at this church there was a big Trinity battle you know and that
happened at faith forward but there was also a calling upon the name of the Lord
battle remember that one I mean and what the battle was over swiftly because you
know it's easy to prove that you must call upon the name of the Lord to be
saved but how about the flat earth the flat tarred battle I mean I thought it
was over but then I saw some things that I just couldn't believe when I heard him
out of my own ears but you know now we have new battles going on what's next
hey bring it on bring it on because there's always gonna be another battle
on the horizon and if you're weary and well doing you're weary and doing these
and getting into these battles hey lick your wounds in between and get ready for
the next one you know these battleships that they have that are in navies and
stuff they go through battles don't they and they have battle scars on them too
you know we're like Zion's old ship you know going into battle this church is
like just a battleship here you know what we're gonna have scars on the
outside of our ship sometimes we're gonna get into some battles we didn't
get into the Lord's army to just look pretty in our nice little uniforms did
we you know the the the governments of the world don't set up big battleships
so they can just look pretty they set them up because they're ready to battle
they have the guns ready the missiles ready and whatever else goes on them but
back in the old days it was like cannonballs and stuff like that my point
is is that we're in the Lord's army and so armies battle don't they and I'm not
saying battle physically I'm saying battle spiritually because we're in a
spiritual battle sometimes it turns physical because of them we're not to
ever be physical in our battle scheme but there's lots of battles are gonna
happen hey this is just one battle that we've gone through what about the next
one what's it gonna be next I don't know but I'm sure there's gonna be another
one and so if you're if you're weary of being in battles all the time well maybe
go to another church the Lord said hey if you don't want to be in the army if
you're afraid and faint-hearted then just go he didn't say he doesn't want
cowards in his army he doesn't want people that are afraid to go into battle
in his army he says go home go be with your wife go you know whatever you're
gonna do but just don't don't put your weakness into our military because
eventually that weak person is gonna make other people weak to that weak
person is gonna be cowardly and afraid when a battle comes oh what should we do
I can't believe this is happening believe it it's in the Bible that's what
it says it's gonna happen now we also have battles that happen and scars that
happen from our own families and friends look at Matthew chapter 10 verse 34
there's all caught we're getting hit on all sides but you know what God is the
ultimate power in this universe God can protect us from all that stuff look at
Matthew chapter 10 verse 34 says think not that I am come to send peace on
earth I came not to send peace but a sword sounds like the Lord wants us to
fight doesn't it and I'm not saying be a nasty jerk all the time or something I'm
just he wants us to fight the good fight of faith look at verse 35 it says for I
come to set a man at variance against his father and the daughter against her
mother and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law that's that happens
naturally too but and a man's foes shall be they of his own household even within
your own household you can go through these types of battles these divisions
the Word of God causes division doesn't it what is the sword of the Lord that's
something that's a you know it's sharper than any two-edged sword and so
when this the Word of God makes divisions it makes them it severs
things doesn't it if it's sharper than any two-edged sword it can sever any
relationship it can it can sever even parents you know from their children
because ultimately God is the most important thing he's the one that we
should serve we're supposed to keep him number one in our hearts and so it says
in verse 37 he that loveth his father or mother more than me is what not
worthy of me and he that love his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of
me you know how many times I've seen or family members will pull people out of
our churches well it happens all the time well they think that we're in a
cult pastor well here's the thing I don't force people to stay here contrary
to popular belief I don't have any recording devices in your house I don't
have an alarm that goes off in the corner that says hey come to the time to
cut why aren't you in church I don't do that you know I you know now if you're
mistaking me being a trying to be a good shepherd and if you haven't been in
church in a while say hey yeah is everything okay you know you know
because sometimes things can get you out of church it's like I wouldn't be a good
pastor you know pastors someone that watches over a flock would I be a good
pastor if I just never checked up on you if you just left it well it's a lot of
time here's I've heard this in my past to not me as a pastor but other people
well you know we we weren't there for about three weeks and the pastor never
called I've heard that my whole I've heard that my whole Christian life
sometimes people just want to know that their pastor cares about them and so if
you get a call from me you haven't been in church in a couple weeks it's not me
you know I'm being nosy it's me just wanting to make sure you're okay it's my
job so it says and he that taketh not his cross and followeth after me is not
worthy of me he that findeth his life shall lose it you want to go back to
your old life you're not gonna be able to reclaim that whole life you're saved
it's gonna be different you're supposed to be different God wants you to be
different it says and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it look
at 2nd Timothy chapter 2 verse 3 2nd Timothy chapter 2 verse 3 2nd Timothy
chapter 2 verse 3 says thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of
Jesus Christ what are we supposed to endure hardness things are gonna get
hard sometimes and what are we supposed to do we're supposed to endure it not
quit not give up endure as a good soldier whether you do this or not when
you got saved you became a soldier of Christ and he expects his soldiers to be
in the battle sometimes says no man that warth entangle with himself and the
affairs of this life that he may please him who has chosen him to be a soldier
God's already chosen you to be a soldier he says don't be involved with the
things that are going on in this life worldly things it says and if a man also
strive for masteries yet he is not crowned except he strive lawfully so you
know and here's the thing about like just mentioned being a pastor like
people do all these wicked things against us people say all kinds of
manner of evil against us but you know I'm not gonna fight every battle that
way I don't I don't have to respond to you you know who are you I don't even
know you you're hiding behind a fake name and a fake picture like what do I
owe you I owe you nothing I don't know you crap and I'm not going to give it to
you because that's what you want you know and and it that just drives people
bonkers it does Jesus when he didn't answer pilots like aren't you gonna
answer any of these things you know it's no he didn't even say anything you know
he only answered what he wanted to answer so so it says that we have to
strive lawfully hey if we're striving for math you know for masteries we're
trying to be the best Christian we could be the best soldier we can be you're not
crowned except for you strive lawfully you can't fake your way around basic
training you have to stick you have to do it the right way and so sometimes
these battles happen it's like I know things about those people that have
turned against me that they would never want me to repeat in public and I won't
repeat it in public because that's you know even though they're the worst scum
on the face of the planet you know I'm not gonna reveal all the things that are
wrong with their marriage or all the things that they told me in confidence
in counseling I'm not gonna do that because I actually have some integrity
unlike those scumbags I'm not gonna sit there and tell all the dirty nasty
secrets that I know about you but that's not how so we have to strive lawfully
they don't have to they don't have rules that they have to play by because
they're scum look at second second Samuel chapter 17 this is a story about
when when Absalom was trait betraying his own father and trying to murder him
and take his kingdom but Absalom you know he there's a guy named Mahathah
fell and he was this great counselor and it says that his his counsel is like
going to the oracles of God like it was just like basically going to the Bible
almost that's how good of a counselor he was but he betrayed David and so
David sent one of his own guys in to be like a counterintelligence against him
and you know David prayed that that the council of a hit the fell would come to
not basically he said you know you know Lord you know be don't let the council
stand so it says in verse 7 so who shy is David's guy and he's pretending like
he's friends with Absalom who it says and who shy said to Absalom the council
of a hit the fell that a head the fell is given is not good at this time
because the head the fell said let's go in and kill him right away let's take
our thousands of people and and go against David and his mighty man and
just overcome them but only we're gonna just kill the king and that's it and
everybody else will scatter so look at what who shy said though and what who
shy says is really profound to me here it says for said who shy thou knowest
thy father and his men that they be mighty men and they be chafed in their
minds so what is you know chafing is you know you walk and you get sweaty
sometimes or you know your arms you know you get this chafing that can happen
marathon runners you know they have to take special protection when they're
running a marathon because anything that moves for that long is gonna make these
chafing rashes on you but but look at who shy said that that his father and
his men were mighty men and they be chafed in their minds that they got they
got some they've been through some battles they've been through some wars
it says as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field and thy father is a man of
war and will not lodge with his people behold he is hid now in some pit or in
some other place and it will come to pass when some of them be overthrown at
the first that whosoever heareth it will say there is a slaughter among the
people that follow Absalom so he's like basically countering Ahithophel's wisdom
here and Ahithophel if he would have followed Ahithophel's counsel David
would have been dead but God turned the counsel of Ahithophel against him and he
hearkened and Absalom hearkened unto Hushai's counsel and why am I bringing
this up well it says and he also that is valiant whose heart is as the heart of a
lion shall utterly melt for all Israel knoweth that thy father is a mighty man
and that they which be with him are valiant men and hey when you go through
a lot of battles you're gonna get a little battle hardened you're gonna get
battle tested and you're gonna get chafed in your mind and so some of these
people that just like want to come against us these rookie clowns that hide
behind fake profile pictures and stuff you know you better realize that there's
mighty men in this church and mighty women in this church and you know you're
gonna you're messing around with the wrong type of people and you know a lot
of our people are chafed in their minds too we've been through some battles
folks but we're gonna go through more so the more we go through the more
battle-hard we're gonna we're gonna be and ready to to fight back and to
overcome these these wars that we're going through these bad guys these
wicked guys will get scars too they'll need some burn cream in the end right
won't they because their ultimate destination is hell
Philippians Philippians chapter 1 verse 28 says and nothing terrified by your
adversaries which is to them an evident token of perdition but to you of
salvation and that of God hey the enemies want the the adversaries want to
terrify us they want to say all these manner of things to scare us and that
and the Bible says it's an evident token of their perdition so when these clowns
leave our church or so other churches and they try to come against us and try
to terrorize us it just shows that they're not saved it shows that they're
Devils Proverbs chapter 18 verse number 5 says it is not good to accept the
person of the wicked to overthrow the righteous in judgment a fool's lips
enter into contention and his mouth calleth for strokes this pastor Jones
life verse there he loves that verse but you know what's it saying hey when a
fool's lip and enter into a contention their mouth calls for strokes you know
you just be careful you might get dropped right a fool's mouth is his
destruction and his lips are the snare of his soul these people that speak evil
against us these people that come against us and try to destroy us you
know and I don't have time I know that my time is running short here but you
know the Bible talks about in the Psalms how David prays these in precatory
prayers against people telling God asking God to break their teeth out and
asking them to melt them like a snail you know what how do you melt a snail
you pour some salt on it right you know and and so God is going to do that the
Bible says in Psalm 58 verse 10 says the righteous shall rejoice when he see
it the vengeance he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked so that a man
may shall say yeah so that a man shall say barely there's a reward for the
righteous verily he is a God that judges in the earth one of my favorite
scriptures because in the end the righteous are going to rejoice you know
what and we're going to see the vengeance that God takes against these
people and the Bible says we'll wash our feet in the blood of the wicked that
sounds pretty gross but you know we know that God judges in the earth we
know that God has our back and ultimately even if we get all these
scars and all these things happen to us we're going to be protected in the end
we're going to heaven whatever happens to our body though they kill our bodies
it doesn't matter whether we go through all these persecutions or these scars
that we have to endure in our minds through these battles God still has our
back and sometimes it might not seem like that it might seem like the enemy's
winning but even if they did win they still lose we win have you read the book
of Revelation at the very end it says we win right and that anybody that's a
hater of God they're gonna bow their knee to God and call him Lord and
they're gonna get thrown on the leg of fire so scars you know we can get scars
from being punished the Bible talks about us being you know if we it says
the servant which knew his Lord's will and prepared not himself neither did
according to his will shall be beaten with many stripes see if we know what
the right thing to do is and we don't do it God is gonna take that out on us so
in a church like this you're gonna get more knowledge than you would at another
church I'm not look I'm not trying to elevate our church above all these other
churches I'm just saying that at our church just know when you come in you're
gonna have the Bible preached to you and you know when you know what the
Bible says and then you say you know what I just don't want to be a part of
this battle anymore then you know you're gonna get beaten with many stripes that's
what the Bible says you know in the book of Hebrews it talks about enduring
chastening and things like that but I wanted to finish off with Paul what he
went through in his persecution let's look at 2nd Corinthians chapter 11 2nd
Corinthians chapter 11 here's what Paul endured remember at the beginning of the
sermon I talked about how God showed Paul the great things that he must
suffer for his namesake for God's namesake for the namesake of Christ look
what it says are they Hebrews verse 22 so am I are they Israelites so am I are
they the seed of Abraham so am I are they ministers of Christ I speak as a
fool I am more and labors more abundant and stripes above measure and prisons
more frequent and deaths oft of the Jews five times received I have 40 stripes
save one so he was beaten with with whips five times by the Jews 39 39
lashes and I'm sure that it wasn't just like you know a roll of newspaper okay
he's getting beaten by a whip look verse 25 thrice that means three times was I
beaten with rods once was I stoned thrice I suffered shipwreck a day in a
night have I been in the deep and you think well that's not really that big of
a deal well try treading water for that long with sharks around you I mean just
the shark factor alone would be enough to freak you to give me some some
battle scars for the rest of my life some PTSD I'm afraid of sharks I'm sure
most people are nobody wants to pet them or anything but Paul went through a lot
it says in journeys often in perils of waters and perils of robbers and perils
of mine own countrymen and perils by the heat and in perils in the city and
perils in the wilderness and perils of the sea and perils amongst what to say
false brethren and weariness and painfulness and watchings often and
hunger and thirst and fastings often and cold and nakedness besides those things
that are without that which cometh upon me daily the care of all the churches so
even he's even saying that the care of all the churches is a hard thing for him
look all these things are gonna leave scars whether it's a mental scar or
whether it's a physical scar but I would say and submit to you this that the
Apostle Paul was a what he bear he truly did bear the marks of the Lord Jesus in
his body so you know we got to understand that even though even though
we're going through battles that we got to stick with it and I'm gonna close on
this Jesus Christ was beaten worse than anybody's ever been beaten you know how
I know that because the Bible says it the Bible says his face look you can
just we'll turn to this last verse and just think about this like when when he
resurrected go ahead and turn to Isaiah 52 verse 14 but when Jesus resurrected
he still had the scars didn't he he still had the scars in his hands and in
his side and Thomas said that he wouldn't believe unless he actually got
to put his hands in the in the prints of his hands and put his and thrust in his
hand and put it in Jesus aside and then Jesus came back and said go ahead and do
it our Lord suffered more scars than anybody else our Lord suffered more than
we'll ever suffer so you know what we should count it joy when we suffer for
the name of Christ no matter whether it's in word or something that somebody
does to you or something that somebody hurts you with you know we will never
amount to the sufferings that he went through he's called the man of sorrows
acquainted with grief look at Isaiah chapter 52 verse 14 it says as many as
were astonished at the his visage that means his face was so marred that means
beat you know disfigured marred means disfigured visage means face his this is
was so marred more than any man and his form more than the sons of men so he
took the worst beating the worst thing that anybody else has ever taken so
shall he sprinkle many nations the Kings shall shut their mouths at him for
that which had not been told them shall they see and that which they had not
heard shall they consider Jesus Christ's visage was marred more than any man he
still bears in his body the marks that were put upon him by not just the Jews
but every single person in this room every single person in the world that
put him on that cross and I don't see why it's such a hard thing for us to
think that we know our bat you know that we can't go through battles also I'm so
tired of all the battles well go home lick your wounds and get ready for the
next one because that's the way the Christian life is you know I would be
giving you a disservice I'd be I'd be telling you a disservice if I said don't
worry about it you know Jesus is gonna come back at any minute and whisk us
away on a nice little comfy pillow you know it's pillow time that's what we
got to see next no the Bible says that the Antichrist is gonna come and he's
coming back after the tribulation well that's what the Bible says so we will
have to endure hardness we will have to endure hard things so what's the main
point of the sermon well that there's multiple ways to get scars and let's
remember that it's a blessing and an honor to suffer for Christ that's what
the Apostles said isn't it they counted it as a good thing not as a bad thing
and so we need to learn to suffer because life is tough life is hard it's
not always going to be easy and so church life can be tough but it's also
good I don't want to just be all negative there's many blessings that we
get there's many blessings that we get in our lives as Christians but you know
there is a balance it's not just always going to be good it's not just always
gonna be bad it's gonna be a balance so let's just make sure that we're serving
God for the right reasons and remember that battle scars are a fact of the
Christian life let's pray Heavenly Father we thank you Lord so much for
this great church Lord I pray you'd help us Lord and strengthen us and Lord
sometimes it is hard to go through battles and some of us have the scars to
prove it in one way shape or form I pray Lord that you just help us as a church
to just always consider these things before we would just walk away and leave
the Christ that we love Jesus name we pray amen