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

I want to first start off by thanking Pastor Jonathan Shelley for the opportunity to be here. It really means a lot that he would give me this chance. He's our pastor. I'm from Steadfast Baptist Church, for those of you who don't know. My name is Benjamin Naim, and he's the pastor of Steadfast. Obviously, you all know that, and he's also your pastor. But I consider him to be a friend and a mentor as well, and I look forward to being under his leadership for years to come. So you're there in Jude. Let's focus on verse three in this book. The Bible says in Jude, verse three, Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. So the Bible says here that we should contend for the faith that was delivered unto the saints. And here's the thing, folks, when you're going to contend for the faith, when you're going to live the Christian life, one thing you'll notice, in fact, perhaps the first thing you'll notice is that the Christian life consists of battle after battle after battle after battle. And that's why the title of my sermon this morning is Prepare for Battle. Prepare for Battle. We must prepare to contend for the faith. We must put ourselves in the best position possible to contend for the faith, to fight the good fight of faith, because there's no more important time than right now to be prepared to fight the good fight of faith, to be prepared to contend for the faith. I mean, look at this plaza alone. Just a few storefront, just a few stores down, you've got these wacky Pentecostals with their rock music, juking and jiving in there. That's not church. Those people aren't contending for the faith. This church is contending for the faith, because it's this church that goes out each and every week with the gospel of Jesus Christ and the goal to get people saved. This is the church that has men of God standing behind this pulpit, preaching the word of God, not flopping around like psychopaths over there. And so we have to prepare, we have to put ourselves in the best position possible to contend. Now the Bible, or I should say the dictionary definition of the word contend is to exert an intense or strenuous effort on behalf of something, to struggle for something, to fight for something. And folks, we need a righteous remnant today to contend for the truth of God's word, because at the end of the day, if it's not going to be us, then who will it be? The majority of churches have fallen away. I believe we are living right now in the falling away, which must come first before the rapture. And we can't rely on these bunch of lame Baptist churches to get the job done. They're too busy acting like a bunch of queer baits, inviting the perverts and the sodomites and the God haters into their church. They're too busy hanging door hangers and wasting their time. We can't rely on them. We have to do the work. We have to be ready. We have to be prepared for battle. You say, how do we do that? Well, the first step is that we must hate every false way. We must hate every false way. You can't fight for what's right if you don't hate that which is false. I'm going to repeat that one more time if you're taking notes. You can't fight for what's right if you don't hate that which is false. If you love the truth, you hate lies. You hate false religion. You hate false doctrine. If you would go to 2 Chronicles chapter 34. Thank you. 2 Chronicles chapter number 34. Let's look at an example of a man who hated every false way. You say, where's that phrase come from? Psalm 119 says, while you're turning to 2 Chronicles chapter number 34, the Bible says in Psalm 119, therefore, I love thy commandments above gold, yea above fine gold. Therefore, I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right. And I hate every false way. We must hate sin today. We must hate that which opposes God. And here's an example of that. It's something we dealt with in Jacksonville. For whatever reason, Jacksonville seems to be ground zero for heretics. And one of them is valiant Baptist so-called pretend Pentecostal Church. This oneness doctrine, we must hate the oneness doctrine. We must hate doctrines that oppose that which is right, that oppose what the Bible actually teaches. Oneness isn't just another way at looking at the nature of God, folks. It's a serious heresy. It's damnable heresy. It's satanic false doctrine. And we need to with every fiber of our being stand against it. We must hate oneness. We must hate work salvation. We must hate false doctrine. We must hate everything that these false prophets are permeating because they're doing it to pull people down to hell with them, to make others do fold more the child of hell than themselves. Galatians chapter one says, but though we are an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that you have received, let him be accursed. There is no fellowship with false teachers. Let them be accursed. And here's an example of somebody who hated every false way. Second Chronicles chapter number 34. We're going to look at King Josiah who hated lies. He brought revival back to Judah. He broke down the satanic groves. Look at verse one. The Bible reads there. Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign and he reigned in Jerusalem one in 30 years. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord and walked in the ways of David, his father, and declined neither to the right hand nor to the left. For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David, his father. And in the 12th year, he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places and the groves and the carved images and the molten images. So much for ecumenicalism, right? These false religions brought down, these satanic groves brought down by Josiah and the Bible says he did that which was right because he hated every false way and he put himself in a position as a result to contend for the faith and to be prepared for battle. These groves are wiped out because Josiah hated Luciferianism. Look at verse number four in this chapter. The Bible reads and they break down the altars of Balaam in his presence and the images that were on high above them, he cut down and the groves and the carved images and the molten images, he break in pieces and made dust of them and strode it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them. And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. Folks, if you hate the false religions out there, it will be rocket fuel that will help you to proclaim and defend that which is righteous to contend for the faith. Josiah didn't play nice with these people. He broke down their groves. He broke down their altars. He hated the satanic cult that was in the land at the time. And we do that spiritually when we debunk what these false religions teach. We do that from a spiritual standpoint when we're debunking Islam, however you pronounce it, when we're debunking the false religion of Judaism, which says blasphemous things about the Lord Jesus Christ in their Talmud, which belongs in a garbage can, which should be burned. When we debunk Mormonism, when we debunk the Jehovah's Witnesses, we're breaking down these groves, we're breaking down these satanic idols in a spiritual sense. Go to 1 Kings 18. Let's look at another example of a great man of God who hated every false way. And this particular person, Elijah, we see that the prophecy of him coming before Jesus Christ was fulfilled by John the Baptist, who came by the spirit and power of Elijah. In 1 Kings 18, he convinces Ahab to gather the prophets of Baal together. He tests the legitimacy of their cult. And look what the Bible says in verse number 25. 1 Kings 18 and verse number 25, the Bible says there, and Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, choose you one bullock for yourselves and dress it first, for you are many and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under. And they took the bullock which was given them and they dressed it and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon saying, O Baal hear us. But there was no voice nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made. And it came to pass at noon that Elijah mocked them and said, cry aloud for he is a God. Either he is talking or he is pursuing or he is in a journey or a pair adventure, he sleepeth and must be awake. Elijah is mocking their false God. He doesn't have any respect for their religion. He has no respect whatsoever because it's a lie. You know, people will say, oh you can't say Muhammad was a pedophile. That's mean. That's going to hurt people's feelings. Well, Muhammad was a pedophile, slept with a nine-year-old girl. And Allah is a false God. Allah will lead people to hell. The Mormon God will lead people to hell. The God of Judaism will lead people to hell. These are false satanic lies and there's nothing wrong with mocking them just like Elijah did here. Elijah hated every false way and he was equipped to contend for the faith as a result. Look, I don't want you to get confused. I love people who are deceived by these false religions. I want them to be saved. I love the common man stuck in the Islamic world who doesn't know any better. I love the deceived, but I hate the deceivers and that's the mentality we should have. Love the deceived, hate the deceivers, hate the people at the top of these false religions. Skip down to verse number 38 for sake of time. So Elijah here, he proves that the God of Israel is true. It says in verse 38, then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and they said, the Lord, he is the God, the Lord, he is the God. And Elijah said unto them, take the prophets of Baal, let not one of them escape. And they took them and Elijah brought them down to the Brook Kaishon and slew them there. Now folks, here's what I want you to take out of this. Elijah doesn't have any fellowship time with these prophets of the devil. They're slain. Yes. Why? Because Elijah hated that which is false. He hated deception. Okay. Here's the reality of the situation. He didn't go out and have tea with these people. He didn't go out and you know, have lunch with them, hang out for a cup of coffee. He destroyed them. Go back, go to Acts chapter 13. Let's look at one other example here. Acts chapter 13 as I move on to my next point. If you want to equip yourself to prepare for battle, if you want to be prepared to contend for the faith, the first thing you must do is hate that which is false. We looked at Josiah, we looked at Elijah, but the next thing we should do to be prepared for battle is clothe ourselves with boldness. And we're going to look at the boldness of Paul here. Remember the Christian life is a series of battles and we cannot be prepared to fight those battles if we're acting like a bunch of cowards. You say, how do I go soul winning and proclaim the gospel? Boldness. How do I preach from the highest hilltop I can find that which is righteous? Boldness. See, how do I take a stand against these sodomite perverts who've ruined our culture? And the answer is the same, boldness. You take a stand. You fill yourself with the Holy Spirit. You allow God to fill you with the Holy Spirit, I should say, and you take a stand and you're bold. You clothe yourself with boldness. Look at verse number four. Let's see how Paul did this. Look what the Bible says. So they, talking about Paul and Barnabas, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed into Seleucia, and from thence they sailed to Cyprus. And when they had gone through the aisle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus. Now the Jew Bar-Jesus, the Bible refers to him as a false prophet. He comes in contact with Paul and Barnabas here. Let's see how they react. And we should also pay attention to what this false prophet is doing. What's he doing here? Look at verse seven. Which was with the deputy of the country, Sergus Paulus, a prudent man who called for Barnabas and Saul and desired to hear the word of God. But Elemis the sorcerer, for so is his name by interpretation, withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith. Notice what the Bible says, that he was seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith. And that's what these false prophets do. That's why I refer to them as spiritual predators. They're spiritual predators and their prey are those they believe they can beguile, those they believe they can deceive, those they believe they can lead down a bobsled straight to hell. They hunt for unstable souls, they hunt for people they can confuse. The devil himself, the Bible says, is the author of confusion. Elemis the sorcerer here, bar Jesus, was no exception to this rule. And the Bible says that Paul had the boldness to stand up to him. He looked into his eyes. He called him a child of the devil. We're going to read it here in moments. John the Baptist did the same thing to the political establishment at the time. These men of God, man, have they set the bar high. I don't know if we'll ever reach it, but we should try. Look at verse nine. Then Saul, who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him and said, O full of all subtlety and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord? And now behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness. And he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand. This false prophet struck with blindness. And it kind of reminds me about these people who would reject the gospel over and over again, who hate and reject the Lord. God strikes them with blindness in a spiritual sense. They will never see. They will never open their eyes. Paul says, thou enemy of all righteousness. He says, thou child of the devil. And that should be our mentality. Tyler Baker, enemy of all righteousness. Ray Comfort, that's another one, likes to prance around like he's this nice friendly guy, but he's an enemy of all righteousness. He's an enemy of the gospel. He's a child of the devil. How about Jesse Lee Peterson? Guy can barely string a sentence together. He's got a radio show telling Pastor Anderson that he stopped sinning. Meanwhile, he's wearing a t-shirt designed by a faggot, enemy of all righteousness. Don't hold back. These people deserve it. They deserve all of your vitriol. Now notice how the deputy responds to Paul's boldness. He asks, why are you doing that? Are you just telling me to be mean to people for the sake of it? No, I'm not. Look at what happens as a direct result of Paul's boldness. Look at verse number 12. Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord. It was Paul's boldness, his willingness to contend for the faith, which he had because of his boldness. And it led to the deputy being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord. And that should be us because here's the thing. When people see your zeal, when people see your boldness, when people see just how much you care about the word of God, for the sake of the hearer, they might say, wow, I'm astonished at the doctrine of the Lord. Show me the gospel. I want to be saved. I want to see what this is all about. And the reason why Paul was in this position is because he contended for the faith. He contended for the gospel. He contended for the truth. Ultimately, Paul was ready for battle in Acts chapter number 13. And my goal for you this morning is that you similarly would be prepared for battle as well. You say, how do I acquire boldness? I referred to this just a few moments ago. Be filled with the Holy Spirit of God. You don't have to turn there. In Acts chapter four, the Bible reads, and when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. And they spake the word of God with boldness. So Peter, John, and the other believers, the Bible says they were filled with the Holy Spirit of God. And folks, the result of that isn't flopping around like a fish out of water. When you're filled with the Holy Spirit, the result, the fruit of that is boldness. You say, man, I just can't work up the courage to go door knocking. I can't, you know, I get too nervous. I'm just, it's not for me. I'm too shy. Well, why don't you try getting filled with the Spirit first? How do I do that? You walk in the Spirit rather than the flesh. You come and you listen to the word of God being preached, and then you'll work up the boldness. You'll be filled with the Spirit, and you'll be equipped to go out and preach the gospel. And you know, would to God that more men and women of God would purge themselves from this, from the sins of this world. They would purge themselves from the filth and the degeneracy of this world. And they would choose to serve God with their lives and walk in the Spirit and be filled with the Spirit because only then can you acquire the boldness. We saw Paul exhibit in Acts chapter 13, and only then can you be prepared for battle. Only then can you be prepared to do mighty works for God. The sermon is called Prepare for Battle. So far, I've talked about how we must hate every false way. I talked about how we must clothe ourselves with boldness. We must be bold. And in order to do that, we have to be filled with the Spirit. Next, I'm going to talk about how we must cast out fear. This is the number one thing I believe that holds people back from fighting the good fight of faith. Fear. You cannot be a contender for the faith if you're acting like a coward. You cannot be a contender for the faith if you don't stand on Bible doctrine. You cannot be a contender for the faith if you're too afraid to stand up, if you're too afraid to speak up, if you're too afraid to proclaim what this says, whether the world makes fun of you for it or not. You say, well, what if people start calling me names? If I take this Christianity thing seriously, my friends might make fun of me because I don't go drinking at the bar with them anymore. Good. You know what that means? You're doing something right. You say, what if my family starts discouraging me about this lifestyle I'm trying to live? They start making fun of me for going to church three times a week. I've had it happen. It seems like every time someone from my family calls, I'm either on my way to church or leaving church. And so they'll ask me, man, are you there all the time? They'll try and discourage me. I think you're taking this a little too seriously. Here's the best one. I think you're an extremist. You're turning into an extremist. Well, thanks for the compliment. I like being an extremist. God's an extremist. He that believeth on the sun hath everlasting life. And he that believeth not the sun shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. It's pretty extreme. Now, if your family tries to discourage you, if you've got unsafe family or even worldly family members who are trying to discourage you from what you're doing, then you know what? Good. You're doing something right. Don't be discouraged by that. Don't be afraid. Go to Deuteronomy chapter 20. Deuteronomy chapter number 20. If people give you a hard time because you're a little bit peculiar, then that means you're filled with the spirit. That means you're walking in the spirit. Don't be afraid of that. Cast out fear. Let's look at the laws concerning warfare that was given to the children of Israel. The Bible says in Psalm 46, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, will not we fear though the earth be removed and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea. God is our refuge, folks. Therefore, we should cast out fear because what can man really do to us? Not even a 10th of what God can do. Deuteronomy chapter 20. Look at verse one. The Bible says, when thou goest out to battle against thine enemies and seest horses and chariots and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them. For the Lord thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. So the Israelites, the Bible says, they were commissioned to wipe out the heathen nations completely. And God told them, be not afraid of your enemies. Be not afraid of those who are currently occupying the promised land, because I'm going to give you the power to destroy them. And folks, whether it's sin in your life, or whether it's people who are trying to discourage you from coming to church, or whether it's some form, any form of obstacle in your way, preventing you from walking in the spirit and being an on fire Christian and servant for the Lord, fear not, because if you place your trust in God, he will help you to overcome that, just like he helped the Israelites to overcome a seemingly insurmountable obstacle, which was to wipe out these strong heathen nations that were occupying the land at this time. You say, well, we're outnumbered. There are way more false churches than there are good churches. There are way more wicked people than there are righteous people. It doesn't matter. God's with us. And if the Lord is with us, who can be against us? Look at verse number two. And it shall be when ye are come nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people and shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies. Let not your hearts faint. Fear not and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them. For the Lord your God is he, excuse me, for the Lord your God is he that goeth with you to fight for you against your enemies. The Lord will fight for the Israelites is what he's saying here. He will help them against their enemies. And folks, if you're seeking God, if you're putting him first, God will fight for you too, no matter who your opposition is. Skip down to verse number eight. The Bible says in Deuteronomy 20 verse eight, and the officer shall speak further unto the people and they shall say, what man is there that is fearful and faint-hearted? Let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren's heart faint as well as his heart. And it shall be when the officers have made an end of speaking unto the people, that they shall make captains of the armies to lead the people. So if a man is fearful, if a man is faint-hearted, he's commanded to go back home. He's commanded to go sit on the bench and not take part in this battle. Why? Because that fear might spread throughout the congregation. It might permeate through the congregation and other people might be discouraged at that one man and his faint-heartedness and his fear, okay? The Israelites, remember, they were commanded to destroy the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, the Jebusites, and that's not a job for cowards. That's a true physical battle and God needed men of fortitude who were ready to fight. Well here in the New Testament, God needs men and women of fortitude to be ready to fight this spiritual battle because the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. Now it was carnal back then but it's not anymore. So if you want to be on the front lines of Christianity at a church like this, at a church like Pure Words Baptist Church, you have to contend or I should say you have to cast out fear because contending for the faith, like I said already, it means that you're not afraid of personal attacks. So what if they call you names? So what if they try and discourage you? So what if they mock you? Christians have been mocked for centuries. Don't be afraid of the protesters. Don't be afraid of the discouragement from friends or family or those that you thought were closest to you. Don't be afraid of standing against even the Judas Iscariots who might uncloak themselves within your congregation. Don't be afraid at all. Cast out fear and then you'll put yourself in a position to be prepared for battle. Okay, the problem with the men who had fear in Deuteronomy chapter 20 is they were told to go sit on the bench. They were told to go home because, like I said, that fear might permeate the rest of the congregation and the reason why I'm preaching this this morning is because if you have fear, God might send you home. God might bench you. God might not use you to accomplish amazing things. If you want to be a vessel under honor, cast out fear. If you don't want to be benched, like the men in Deuteronomy 20 who were fearful were benched, they were sent home. If you don't want to be that guy, cast out fear. Go to 1 Samuel 17. The Bible says in Psalm 27, the Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? The Bible asks the question, of whom shall I be afraid? And the answer is no one, no man, no circumstance. You guys have been tried by fire here at Pure Words Baptist Church. We have as well. What happened a few months ago was something none of us saw coming, but you're still here. You still came to church. You're still sitting in the pew on a Sunday morning because it's not about the messenger. It's about the message and you love the Lord. So keep it up. You're here, even though I'm here. Okay. That tells me that you have, you know, dedication. Okay. Look at 1 Samuel 17. This is a famous story. David and Goliath. Look at verse number two. And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together and pitched by the Valley of Elah and set the battle in array against the Philistines. And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side. And there was a valley between them. And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. So notice the Bible says that Goliath was a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, his height, six cubits and a span. We're talking over nine feet tall here. Nine, over nine feet tall. This was a big guy. Skip down to verse number 10. And the Philistines said, I defy the armies of Israel this day. Give me a man that we may fight together. When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed. And listen to this and greatly afraid. Saul and Israel greatly afraid at this wicked Philistine who defied Israel. He defied the armies of Israel. Now despite being much smaller in stature, despite not having the same strength as Goliath being much smaller, probably much skinnier, probably doesn't have the carnal strength that Goliath had, no doubt about that, David still stepped up to the plate and said, I'll take him on. I'll do it. Look at verse 22. And David left his carriage in the hand of the keeper of the carriage and ran into the army and came and saluted his brethren. And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Goliath, or I should say the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines and spake according to the same words. And David heard them and all the men of Israel when they saw the man fled from him and were sore afraid. So everyone else is too afraid to face Goliath. Everyone else is too afraid to look at the opposition head on. And there are a lot of churches today who are too afraid to face the Goliath that is the world, the entire world, folks, the entire world's against us. And there are too many churches out there who are too afraid to look on the opposition head on like David did. But pure words, Baptist church isn't afraid. How about David? How does he react? Look at verse 25. And the men of Israel said, have you seen this man that has come up? Surely to defy Israel as he come up. And it shall be that the man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches and will give him his father's house free in Israel. And David spake to the men that stood by him saying, what shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine and taketh away the reproach from Israel for who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God. David is asking here, who is this wicked man who's defying the armies of God. He wants to contend. He wants to fight. He casts out fear to prepare for battle. He trusted in God and cast out fear. That's what we should do. Trust in the Lord, cast out fear. Look at verse 41. And the Philistine came and drew near unto David. Skip down to verse 41. And the man that bared the shield went before him. And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained him for he was but a youth and ruddy and of a fair countenance. But he disdained him because, you know, David didn't have this fancy look. It kind of reminds me of how our churches, they're in storefronts. We don't have the fancy building. We don't have the giant tower steeple, whatever it's called. We're here in a storefront and we're happy to be here. Look at verse number 43. And the Philistine said unto David, am I a dog that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. And the Philistine said to David, come to me and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air and to the beasts of the field. So the arrogance of this Philistine Goliath is on display here. The Bible says in first Samuel chapter 17, he says, I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air. He's already assuming that he's going to slay David, that he's going to defeat David and that the fowls, the birds of the air will feast on his dead body. Look at verse 45. Then said David to the Philistine, thou comest to me with a sword and with a spear and with a shield. But I came to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. So David says, you defied the armies of Israel. And you know what? That's God's army. He takes it personally. He takes it personally that Goliath defied the armies of God. And let me tell you something right now. If anyone were to talk the smack that Goliath did here in first Samuel chapter 17 against anyone in this church, our mentality should be, if you're talking smack about Nick Gomez, you're talking smack about me. If you're defying our brothers and sisters in Christ, we're God's spiritual army. Anybody who would defy this spiritual army I'm looking at this morning is defying God. And we should take it just as personally as David did in first Samuel chapter 17. We should take it personally. It's a commandment of God to love our brothers and sisters in Christ. And just as sure as I enjoy preaching Leviticus 2013 is just as sure as we should all enjoy standing for the tons of scriptures in the Bible that command us to love our brothers and sisters in Christ. And if anyone is mocked here, our mentality should be, hey, you mock him, you're mocking me. I don't know very too many people's names here, but I know Nick Gomez. That's why I used him as an example. Look at verse 46. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand and I will smite thee and take thine head from thee and I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel and all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear for the battle is the Lord's and he will give you into our hands and it came to pass when the Philistine arose and came and drew nigh to meet David that David hasted and ran toward the enemy to meet the Philistine and David put his hand in his bag and took fence of stone and slang it and smote the Philistine in his forehead that the stone sunk in his forehead and he fell upon the face of the earth Goliath is slain here his head is eventually cut off by David the courage of David the uh you know David dedicating himself to casting fear it paid off he won this battle he destroyed Goliath he cut his head off he decapitated him despite the fact that Goliath was a huge opponent our opposition in a spiritual sense it's pretty big as well how about the entire world folks but David because he trusted in God because he cast out fear he was prepared for battle and he won he stood up to a mocker he stood up to a wicked man who defied the armies of Israel and he took it personally just like we should if somebody were to disrespect anybody in this church first chronicles 12 the bible says you don't have to turn there and the Gadites there separated themselves unto David into the hold of to the wilderness men of might and men of war fit for the battle that could handle shield and buckler whose faces were like the faces of lions and were as swift as the rose upon the mountains these are mighty men prepared for war and what what I wanted you to notice is that they had shield they had buckler and in the new testament like I said the like I said the weapons of a warfare are not carnal we should arm ourselves with the shield of faith with the helmet of salvation if you would go to first Samuel chapter 19 first Samuel chapter 19 we need to put on valor we need to put on the shield of faith we need to be prepared for battle and so I've talked about how if you want to be prepared for battle you're going to first Samuel chapter 19 if you want to be prepared for battle if you want to be prepared to contend for the faith to fight the good fight of faith like the bible commands us to do in Jude verse 3 and other places you must hate every false way just like Elijah did Josiah was another example I gave you must be bold as bold as Paul was who rebuked barred Jesus to his face as bold as John the Baptist was I didn't go over that but you all know the story he rebuked the political establishment at the time we must clothe ourselves with that boldness and in order to do that we should be filled with the spirit because one of the fruits of the spirit is boldness cast out fear like David did with Goliath despite the fact that he was at a severe disadvantage he won because he cast out fear and he trust the Lord he was prepared for battle and finally don't be distracted this world is full of distractions this world is full of things that could divert your attention from the battle that actually matters the spiritual battle folks look I struggle with this too but we can't be super zealous on Facebook and just only post spiritual things and talk about how much you love the bible but then not actually read the bible because what you're doing behind closed doors that's what really matters not what you're saying outwardly in public what are you doing behind closed doors if you're posting incessantly on social media about how much you love God's word about how much you love your church well are you reading God's word are you coming to church we should walk the walk not just talk the talk I almost forgot that so folks to prepare for battle we can't be distracted but you know what else we need to do we need to purge ourselves from the sins that might be holding us back the bible says in proverbs chapter 28 they that forsake the law praise the wicked but such as keep the law contend with them so those who forsake the law they praise the wicked these are the milquetoast christians praising the wicked god haters of this world why because they've forsaken God's law but those who keep God's law the bible says they contend with them you want to be prepared to contend for the faith then the bible says keep God's law we should be keeping God's law not for salvation but if you want to be blessed if you want to earn rewards in heaven if you want to be prepared for the faith I'll be the first one to admit if I spent the week and I didn't read my bible like I should which has happened before well I'll go through a week and because of work and because of the fact that I'm just thinking about carnal things throughout the week you're at work most of the day if you're a man right and if you're not at work and you're a man that's a problem but anyway that's a different sermon for a different time you're at work all week you're thinking about carnal things you might slack off in your bible reading I've been there I've done it and the weeks where I'm slacking off on reading this the weeks where I'm not praying like I should be the weeks where I'm not spending as much time memorizing scripture you know what I noticed I don't feel as prepared to go soul winning that week I don't feel as prepared to preach the word of God behind the pulpit I don't feel as prepared to serve the Lord on the weekend for church because I didn't spend enough time throughout the week being filled with the spirit and walking with the spirit and so we can't allow ourselves to fall back into carnality the bible says in second you're still in first samuel where I told you to turn chapter 19 the bible says in second timothy 2 study to show thyself approved unto God a workman that needeth not be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth we have to study why we believe what we believe we can't be distracted from study time you know I can tell people who don't study their bible like the pre-tribbers of our world because they can't give you a single verse most of the time all they can give you are slogans right the pre-tribulation rapture believers all they got are slogans well God God not a white beater I don't know why I gave him a southern accent but God not a white beater man folks they don't know why they believe what they believe they just go by stupid commentaries and books written by people who aren't even saved half the time they don't know why they believe the pre-tribulation rapture they don't know why they believe in Zionism they don't know why they keep repeating ad nauseam you got pray for Israel pray for well why have you read galatians chapter 3 have you read galatians chapter 4 have you studied what Jesus Christ said when he said the kingdom shall be taken from you and given forth to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof or given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof Jesus believe in replacement theology now the sermon's not about replacement theology but I'm kind of venting a little bit here at these people who don't study their bible all they do is regurgitate these slogans you here's why folks they're not reading the bible they're not studying the bible they're distracted by things of the world I was at work the other day somebody asked me came up to me like hey did you see game of thrones apparently game of thrones is ending or ended or uh the last episode aired and I said no okay I was nice about it in my head I'm like you mean pornography that's what it is and you know what there are Christians today instead of studying their bible they're watching game of thrones okay they're watching these these these filthy tv shows filled with a bunch of smut and degeneracy and deviancy and wickedness and sin and they're wasting their time sitting there watching hbo while their bible collects dust you know there are people who would die to be able to own one of these but here in the united states we have the freedom to own one and for most Christians it's just sitting on the desk sitting on the nightstand collecting dust they're not studying the bible because if they were they'd be able to actually give you a verse to defend what they believe not just these innocuous slogans okay but they're too busy watching their little tv shows just like the world or they're too busy watching sean hannity or they're too busy listening to rush limbaugh get in your bible turn that crap off we can't be distracted by worldliness the bible says in james chapter four i'm going to read it real quick you don't have to turn there in james chapter number four it says ye adulterers and adulteresses know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with god whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of god saul was the enemy of god it's possible for a saved christian to find themselves in that predicament and saul was saved and so those who are consumed with worldliness are distracted and we can't be distracted if we're going to be prepared for battle we can't be distracted by the television set we can't be distracted by social media i can't tell you how many times i sat down to read my bible and i'm like let me just check facebook for a little bit first and then 30 minutes later i'm still scrolling through facebook okay we can't be distracted by social media we can't be distracted by anything that would divert our attention from what really matters the battle that really matters let's look at king saul here first samuel chapter 19 and let's see if saul was distracted look what it says in verse number one and saul spake to jonathan his son and to all his servants that they should kill david but jonathan saul's son delighted much in david and jonathan told david saying saul my father seek it to kill thee now therefore i pray thee take heed to thyself until the morning and abide in a secret place and hide thyself and i will go out and stand beside my father in the field where thou art and i will commune with my father of thee and what i see that will i tell thee and jonathan spake good to of david unto saul his father and said unto him let not the king sin against his servant against david because he hath not sinned against thee and because his works have been to the word very good so saul is targeting david out of envy remember david slew goliath david had a very good notoriety amongst the children of israel david was someone who was getting the acclaim rightfully so saul didn't like that he was envious of that and so he seeks to kill him which is wicked as hell look at look at verse four one more time and jonathan spake good of david unto saul his father and sent him let not the king sin against his servant jonathan tries to defend his buddy jonathan tries to defend his his friend here and actually what it works because saul repents temporarily he changes his mind about chasing david to kill him temporarily but look down at verse number 10 skip down to verse number 10 saul just goes back and forth okay i'm going to kill them i'm going to get rid of this guy out of envy but then you know he'll repent and then you'll go right back to wanting to kill him again he can't figure out what he wants to do verse number 10 and saul sought to smite david even to the wall with the javelin so obviously he went right back to wanting to kill him but he slipped away out of saul's presence and he smoked the javelin into the wall and david fled and escaped that night saul also sent messengers into david's house to watch him and to slay him in the morning and michael david's wife told him saying if thou save not thy life tonight tomorrow thou shalt be slain so saul throws a javelin at david he misses him he sends messengers to watch him and slay him in the morning and it was david who was warned of this imminent threat that's why he flees go to first samuel chapter 24 first samuel chapter 24 and i'll get to my point here in a moment the reason why i want to cover the story is to show you how distracted saul really was from the battle that actually matters look at verse one in first samuel chapter 24 the bible says and it came to pass when saul was returned from following the philistines that it was told him saying behold david is in the wilderness of engedi then saul took three thousand chosen men of all israel you hear that three thousand chosen men of all out of all israel and went to seek david and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats and he came to the sheep coats by the way where was a cave and saul went in to cover his feet and david and his men remained in the sides of the cave so saul is pursuing david out of envy he wants to kill him but i want you to notice it says he took three thousand men out of all israel now was that really necessary was it really necessary to waste the time of these three thousand men who could have been fighting a battle that actually matters instead they're going after a man after god's own heart because they're distracted with something they shouldn't be distracted with and it reminds me of these churches today who even though they're saved and they preach the right gospel just like us they'll attack us why because of our beliefs on the timing of the rapture because of our beliefs on the reprobate doctrine because of our beliefs on the jews and it's a waste of time they're wasting their resources saul wasted the resources of the kingdom of israel here three thousand men to seek out a man after god's own heart makes me sick and it was all done out of envy folks when the israelites were commissioned to go wipe out the heat of the nations like i talked about earlier on in this sermon that was a battle that truly mattered because they were procuring the promised land but saul distracted with something that's totally useless now if you would turn to ephishians chapter six and we'll be done ephishians chapter six you say what's the point of that instead of contending for the faith instead of fighting the good fight of faith instead of this defending the god of israel saul's chasing after david saul's totally wasting his time and these other baptist churches who agree with us on salvation who agree with us on the essential fundamental truths of the christian faith they're too distracted fighting us they won't join forces with us at the you know for the mega marathon they won't join forces with us to put together soul-winning marathons soul-winning days where we can go out and reach the gospel of jesus christ together because of pettiness and you know what i think it is they're also envious they're envious of the fact that our churches are filled with young men and women young and old young and old every demographic black white green yellow doesn't matter young old people who love the lord and their churches are struggling heavily for that severely for that that's why they think they're in the land to see in church age so how about speak for yourself buddy we're not in the land to see in church age we're in the on fire for god church age they don't like that so they're envious that's why saul out of envy chased david and these lame milk toast baptist churches are fighting us and they're attacking us and they won't join forces with us to fight a battle that actually matters now there are other battles that we as christians can get distracted with that might prevent us from being prepared to contend for the faith to fight the good fight of faith and i'm gonna get one now i'm gonna mention one now that might offend some people but i'm gonna do it anyway look i believe 9 11 is an inside job okay i have look i've studied it out and and i believe it with all my heart it was a total inside job designed as a pretext to get us into the war in iraq but we can't allow ourselves to be completely distracted with trying to evangelize 9 11 truth we can't allow ourselves to be completely distracted with trying to get everyone to believe that 9 11 was an inside job and when i first found out about it that's what i was doing i'd go around with my little 9 11 truth hat everywhere within my community and you know how we try and evangelize the gospel of jesus christ we'll walk up to people hey uh here's a church invite you go to church anywhere and we try and lead it to the gospel well i used to do the same thing with 9 11 truth i'd walk around my hat hey uh so you hear about the how you know 9 11 is an inside job check check out these videos that's like totally useless because if people think about this folks if they change their mind about that but they go to hell they die and go to hell anyway what did you really accomplish nothing and so i'm not against conspiracies i think they're great i don't have an issue with people who would research them but we can't let it take over our lives to the point that we're totally distracted by them here's another one that christians get distracted with a battle that we shouldn't be fighting a battle that's distracting us from being prepared to contend for the faith how about politics how about all these flag-waving american flag-waving fox news baptist getting involved in politics getting involved trying to get everyone to go vote that's their gospel vote for the republican party well news flash for you they're both wicked they both serve the devil another battle that christians get distracted with here's another example how about these christians who spend all their time doing apologetics and debating a bunch of atheists with these pseudo-intellectual arguments here's how you win somebody to the lord you go to romans chapter 3 you go to romans chapter 3 verse 10 romans chapter 3 verse 23 i prefer the romans road not the apologetics road which doesn't lead anybody to salvation all it does is give you an opportunity to look good in front of people it's a battle we shouldn't be involved with it's a battle that distracts us from the battle that actually matters because guess what no matter what pseudo-intellectual argument you make that atheist who hates and rejects god ain't gonna change his mind folks ain't gonna change his mind it's a distraction and so if we want to be prepared for battle if we want to be prepared to fight the good fight of faith don't get distracted by fighting people that we shouldn't be fighting like saul did with david don't waste your resources don't get involved in battles that don't profit anything evangelizing the conspiracies evangelizing you know the apologetics these little argument debates people have bible says reprobates are full of debate okay i have no interest in debating anyway i get those requests all the time debate me you could be no i have better things to do go to ephesians chapter 6 i already told you to do that the devil wants you to go off into the corner and be distracted by something doesn't matter because then you're not soul winning then you're not learning bible doctrine okay so in conclusion you want to be prepared for battle you want to be prepared to contend for the faith take these steps hate every false way be bold by being filled with the holy spirit cast out fear and don't be distracted by things that don't matter and waste your resources like saul did with the three thousand men of israel now you're there in ephesians 6 look what the bible says in verse 11 as we come to a close here this morning thank you for your attentiveness look at verse number 11 put on the whole armor of god so 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 this is not a physical war folks it's a spiritual one and i'm glad to see people here even though this church has been tried by fire even though this church went through something that you all didn't sign up for you're still here keep up the fight you guys are prepared for battle my goal here is just to exhort you to keep going down this road look at verse 13 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 you 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 there unto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints and for me the utterance may be given unto me that i may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel you want to be prepared put on the shield of faith put on the helmet of salvation and arm yourself with the sword of the spirit arm yourself with the word of god but you got to be able to use it in order to actually accomplish something and that takes study which we talked about moments ago but something else that ephesians chapter 6 referred to is pray pray we have to be in constant prayer with the lord the bible says pray without ceasing we should do that if we want to be prepared for the faith the old testament men of valor we read about it earlier on in the sermon they put on physical equipment they put on the physical weapons of war well we should put on the spiritual paraphernalia described here in ephesians chapter 6 if we want to be ready to fight the spiritual battle commissioned for us to fight in the new testament so in conclusion folks the reason why i preached the sermon is because i want you to be prepared to contend for the faith i want you to be prepared to fight this spiritual battle that we find ourselves in why because folks here's the thing okay there's nothing more important today i said it to start you have all these full false churches deceiving people you've got these false churches making a mockery of the word of god and if you ever find yourself slipping back into carnality getting a little lukewarm getting a little you know milk toast i want you to remember this your brothers and sisters here at pure words baptist church they need you to be on fire for the lord they need you they need you to be plugged in they need you for fellowship the bible says iron sharpens iron your brothers and sisters in christ here at pure words baptist church needs you pastor jonathan shelley our pastor myself included he needs us and he needs you to go out and reach the lost he needs you to go out and knock each and every solitary solitary door in the city of houston he needs you to hold the fort here at pure words baptist church he needs you to be plugged in he needs you to go proclaim righteousness and proclaim the gospel but you know what else it doesn't end with your brothers and sisters in christ it doesn't end with pastor shelley you know who else needs you god god needs you to destroy the lies that are out there in the world god needs you to be on fire for him god needs you to be prepared for battle and so my prayer for this church and my hope is that after this sermon if you did feel yourself kind of slipping back that you say in your mind hey today's a new day the sun is up i'm going to be prepared for battle i'm going to be prepared to contend for the faith i'm going to be prepared to fight the good fight of faith pastor shelley our brothers and sisters in christ and god himself needs us together myself included to be on fire and to prepare for battle let's pray father god i thank you so much for this church i love this church i pray that everyone here would keep going not fall back and lord that you would help us to take these steps to cast out fear to hate every false way to not be distracted by sin and worldliness and battles that don't actually matter and instead get in your world and preach and teach and get people saved and come to church each and every week and be on fire because we know you need us we know pastor shelley needs us and we know our fellow brethren need us to do that which is right because there's no more important time than now with the falling away going on all around us for us to be plugged in i pray this prayer in the name of jesus christ amen