(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

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