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

So I know we went through that whole chapter, but really what I want you to focus on is in verse 35 down to verse 38. So what the name of the sermon today is, Buy a Sword. Buy a Sword. There's a reason why I'm carrying today, which I'm always carrying, but there's a reason why I'm carrying a little more today. And I'm carrying two swords today, my friends, because that was enough, as the Bible says. But why, what do you mean by buy a sword? Do you need to go buy a claymore like William Wallace and put that on your back and go walking out? No, a sword back then was a weapon that they would use. And so I want to get into a sermon about what Christians, why we would need to be armed. Because there's a lot of stuff going on this day. Just last Sunday, some crazy person went into a church, into some Southern Baptist church, and shot up the place. So if you think that you're safe in church, think again when it comes to what people can do and what people can bring in. And so any crazy person comes into this church, they're going to get their head blown off before they get through that door. And there's a reason why we should have a sword, and you know what? We have the Second Amendment, right? And we believe in the Constitution. I believe the Constitution is a great thing. We live in America. We have the freedom of speech and religion, according to the First Amendment. And the Second Amendment says that we have the right to keep and bear arms and that shall not be infringed. Amen. Right? I'm all for that. But you know what? We have a higher commandment than the Constitution. And the Constitution is the highest law in this land. So if anybody tries to say, well, your state banned guns, well, nuts to the state because the Constitution is higher than that. The Bill of Rights is higher than that anyway. So if they try to come and say you shouldn't have a gun, they're defying the law of the land. They are against the law, and they should be punished for defying the law. But we have a higher law than the Constitution. And we'll get into this in our Romans 13 sermon, where we really get into the higher powers because everybody wants you to think that you should just bow down and obey the government. The reason the Second Amendment was written was to fight an oppressive government. They just got done taking out the King of England and the British. And so they wrote a law saying that, hey, it's necessary to have a militia to fight the government. And it didn't say that exactly, but why would you need a militia? Well, if your government went out of control, but how are you going to have a militia that's worth anything if the people aren't armed? But this comes back to the Word of God. Jesus said, if you don't have a sword, sell your garment. Sell your garment and buy one. That's pretty serious to say, I'm just going to take the shirt off my back and go shirtless to have a gun or a sword. Right now, when we say a sword in this time, a sword and a bow and arrow was the weapons of choice. Now, you may say, well, Pastor Robinson, it says sword, it doesn't say gun. Well, you better put a sword on your belt then, because that's what Jesus said to get. So if you say, well, you're going to be all extra spiritual and say, well, it doesn't really say you should have a gun, you should have a sword, then you better get your scabbard and get your claymore and put it on your belt and walk around with it. Now, you look nuts. Now, people may think I look nuts by wearing a gun, but you've got to really look crazy if you go around walking through town with a sword on your side, right? What I'm saying here is that this is serious. Now, notice that when Jesus was walking here on the earth, there was something special that was going on. He actually, they didn't carry around a sword, but they didn't carry around a lot of things too, because they had the Son of God at their right hand in the flesh. Remember, they tried to kill Jesus many times, but his hour has not yet come. Remember, they were going to throw him off the cliff. You know what Jesus did? He just walked through them and just said, get out of my way. He didn't say get out of my way, but he just walked through them. Now, he had the power to do that, and I believe he had the power to keep his disciples safe, but he's saying, hey, now it's not going to be that way. So people that want to say, well, back in the Old Testament, yeah, you were supposed to be armed. In the New Testament, we're supposed to just let people kill us. We're supposed to just let people just beat our family down and just be sheep for the slaughter in the New Testament. Is that what Jesus said? Because you know what? This is right when he's going to the cross. This is right before, this is the night before he goes to the cross. Remember, we were just reading about the Last Supper. Then he gets into saying, hey, listen, I'm going to be gone. The things concerning me have an end, meaning that he's going to die on the cross, and he says, it's time that you get armed, and notice what it says. It says in verse 35, and he said unto them, when I sent you without purse and script and shoes lacked ye anything, and they said nothing, what you got to understand is that when he sent them out two by two when he was here on the earth, he basically said, when you go into a town, don't take any food, don't take anything with you. Basically when you go there, it's going to be provided for you, but it's not going to be that way now, right? It's not going to be that way where all your lodging is going to be taken care of. When you go into this town, you don't have to worry about getting slain and hurt. Notice, do you remember ever seeing the disciples getting stoned when Jesus was here on the earth when he was walking in his ministry? What happened as soon as they got out, as soon as Jesus ascended up on high? Now they're going to prison, they're being brought before the judgment seats, so it's different once Jesus ascended up to the Father. But notice in Luke chapter 10, so go back a few chapters, and what you'll see here, this is actually the second group of people Jesus sent out to go preach the gospel, because first he sends out the 12 two by two, so you've got six groups of two with that, but then in chapter 10 he has another 70 people, so now you have 35 groups of two. So in Luke chapter 10 verse 1 it says, after these things the Lord appointed others 70 also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place whither he himself would come. Therefore said he unto them, the harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that he would send for laborers into his harvest. Go your ways, behold I send you forth as lambs among wolves, carrying neither purse nor script nor shoes, and salute no man by the way. So we know that at the beginning when he was sending these 12 out and sending the 70 out, so he has like 82 people going out two by two, and that's why we go two and two generally when we go out soloing, that's how Jesus did it, and so we try to at least go two and two, and he says don't take a purse, don't take a script, don't take shoes, I mean think about that. He's going out there with nothing, it's like going out there without your wallet, and that's what a purse is, it's a wallet, I'm not going to call my wallet a purse, but back then they had actual money, they actually had gold and silver, and so they would actually have to have a bag that they put it in, so you'd have a purse, so they didn't have anything, they would just go out and hopefully people would take care of them, and God promised that, Jesus said don't do that, it will be taken care of. But now we come to the end here where he's going to go to the cross and he says, yeah that's what I told you before, but notice in verse 36 of Luke 22, verse 36 of Luke 22 it says, then said he unto them, but now, but now, he that hath a purse let him take it, and likewise his script, and he that hath no sword let him sell his garment and buy one. So this is a serious commandment that he's telling us. Now I want men especially, and men that are fathers, listen up, we need to try to protect our family as much as we can. Now safety is of the Lord, but we need to make sure that we're going to be that protector as much as we can, and in a world that we live in where guns abound, you've got to fight fire with fire my friends, I'm not going to take a knife to a gun fight, and that goes for a sword too, that's why I'm going to have a gun on me, I'm not going to carry a claymore around and try to take out somebody with a gun. And so, just something to think about in this sermon, I just want you to think about this because if someone was in that church that had a gun, 26 people wouldn't have died. And thank God for a neighbor that came by and stopped him before maybe other people died. But you know what, he had an AR-15 which everybody's afraid of, but you know what, if I'm going to go into battle, you better believe I'm going to strap an AR-15 to my back with a hundred round clip. So I'm going to have the best firepower that I can have, but I'm going to go through some Bible on this and just kind of teach about the fact that they had weapons back then, God's people had weapons to defend themselves, and that's what we really get into is that we're not out to start a battle, I'm not saying that we're going to get a group of people that are going to start going after people, what we're talking about is self-defense. He's sending us out as lambs among wolves, but it doesn't mean that you have to let the wolves eat you. So why would he tell you to buy a sword if not that you need to use it at some point? So right after this, guess what happens? Peter chops the ear off of one of the high priest's family members, right? Do you think he was aiming for that ear? Or do you think that guy ducked when he was going for his neck? But in John chapter 18, so it's in Luke chapter 22, we already read it, but it doesn't say who it was, it just says one of his disciples. John chapter 18 specifically says which disciple it was. Peter, one of the upper three my friends, Peter, James and John, who's mentioned all the time is Peter, so this is one of his top guys, has a sword on him, and remember they said we have two swords, and he said it is enough. Now you could say that they each had two swords, or they, 12 had two swords, but why would you have two swords? Well it's interesting because he's telling them as they send them out two and two, they have two swords, so when they're going out two and two, each of them have a sword. So you could say well one-sixth of them has a sword, okay, well let's say we had 24 people in here, then we should have at least four swords in here somewhere, right? But personally I think it's either like you have two swords yourself, you know, I have two swords, I'm wearing two swords today my friends, and I don't think you have to have two swords when you go out, but if you have two people that are going door to door together and each of you have a sword, there's two swords, it is enough. And so, but John chapter 18, John chapter 18 verse 10, so we're in the same scenario that was in Luke 22, with being in the garden, it says, then Simon Peter having a sword drew it and smote the high priest's servant and cut off his right ear, and the servant's name was Malchus, then said Jesus unto Peter, put up thy sword into the sheath, the cup which my father hath given me, shall I not drink it? So he didn't rebuke him for having a sword, but he's saying to him, this has to be fulfilled, this isn't the time, this isn't the time, you know, to defend yourself or defend me because this has to be fulfilled. And so we see that he had a sword, and it wasn't a big surprise that he had a sword, especially when he said, sell your garment and buy one if you don't have one. So why would he say that unless maybe some of the people didn't have them, and he's telling them that. They had two swords already there with them, but he's saying, if you don't have one, sell your garment and buy one. And so it's an important issue, and the reason that it's important mostly, if you're single and you're going out and you're just like, you know what, I'm gonna, I don't care what happens to me, you know, I was like that too, I didn't care, but now I have a family and I have kids, you better believe that I want to be prepared if there is some kind of evil that would come upon my family. I want to be ready to be able to act. And so if someone tries to do something with my family or they try to come into this church, as long as I'm the pastor here, I will be caring. And if someone tries to come into our building and tries to cause some problems, and you know what, there may become a time where they don't like what I'm preaching, imagine that. They may not like what I have to say about the fags, and they may not like what I have to say about other churches in the area and how they're teaching Danville doctrines, and they may get their feathers ruffled enough to where some crazy person wants to try something, but I will not hesitate to blow off the head of somebody that comes in here. And so, and you say, well, that's not Christian, brother, that's not Christian to do that. No, that's Bible. That's Bible that you are allowed to defend yourself and you are innocent of that blood. And so we live in a time where Christians are just cowering under the government, whatever the government says, you can't defend yourself, just let someone slap, you know, like just take your children, rape your family. It's like, are you insane to think that I'm going to allow that to happen? And that the Bible even teaches that. The Bible says, arm yourselves, Jesus, the son of God, the meekest and lowliest person that walked upon this earth said, sell your garment and buy a sword. So go to Psalm chapter 18, here's a man after God's own heart, David, remember that a man after God's own heart was a man of war. Do you know that the Bible says that the Lord is a man of war? So you want to say, well, that's not, you know, that's not godly, that's not Christlike. Hogwash. You know what's going to happen at the Battle of Armageddon, we're going to come down on white horses with two edged swords in our hands and we're going to, and Jesus is going to kill every single person there until, and then all the fowls of the air are going to eat their flesh. That's how Christlike, well, that's Jesus Christ, the word of God coming down and excuse executing judgment upon this world. So in Psalm 18 verse 34 it says, he teaches my hands to war so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms. Now you got to understand is that he's saying that a bow of steel is broken by his arms. David was a strong guy. Think about that. Taking a bow of steel with his arms, now we think of Samson in the Bible and the stuff that he did, how he slew a thousand men with the jawbone of an ass, you know, and so the strength that he had that through the power of God, but David was the same way. It says he teaches my hands to war. Who's the he? God. So David was a man after God's own heart and there's many people in the Bible that God made men of valor, men of war. There is a time of war and there's a time of peace my friends and there is a time to defend your family and your friends and yourself. I'm not saying to go out looking for trouble and we're going to get into that because we're not to do that, but if the trouble comes to my doorstep then it's going to end not well for them. So Psalm 144 verse 1, it says, Psalm 144 verse 1, Psalm 144 verse 1, it says, blessed be the Lord my strength which teaches my hands to war and my fingers to fight. My goodness and my fortress, my high tower and my deliverer, my shield and he in whom I trust who subdue with my people under me. So what you've got to understand here is that people will say this, well you just need to trust in the Lord. You're not trusting in God enough to think that he's going to take care of you. Think of that stupid logic for a second. The fact is the Bible says that the righteous, if you seek righteousness and you seek first the kingdom of God, do not even take thoughtful food and raiment because he'll supply that for you. Do you think you'll do that if you just sit in your basement eating Cheetos off your chest and not working? Because the Bible says if you don't work, neither should you eat. What this is talking about, he says he teaches my hands to war and my fingers to fight but he's my deliverer. But you know what, he has to fight first in order for God to deliver him. You have to work first before God's going to reward you and that promise is going to be fulfilled. You can't just sit on your rear end and just hope that God miraculously takes care of everything in some miracle. And so God can take care of us. And I'm not afraid, you know it's not like I worry and lose sleep at night about what people are going to do. People are like, oh you're paranoid you carry a gun. No actually I'm pretty, I feel pretty good right now actually because I feel like that if someone came in here I'd be able to take care of that situation pretty quick. I'd be more paranoid if I wasn't wearing anything. So I'm not paranoid, I'm prepared. And I'm also obeying what God told us to do which is to buy a sword. Now this is particularly talking about when you're going out into the battle, right? You're going out soul winning. That's the battlefield. But I think this also applies in our lives to where, you know and we're living in perilous times, don't think that we're not. But the thing that people will parrot and it's just the fact that they just want to try to turn the Bible on its head. Go to Matthew chapter five, go to Matthew chapter five and what they'll say, well you're supposed to turn the other cheek, we're not supposed to ever fight anybody. Is that what the Bible says, that we're never supposed to like ever be in a fight with somebody? The Bible says that a pastor is not to be a brawler, not to be a striker. But there's a difference between getting in fights all the time and starting fights with people and you know being like a bar fighter and defending your family and having to get into a fight if you have to. There is a difference. So but what they'll say is well you turn the other cheek, turn the other cheek. Well let's look at that for a second in verse 38, so chapter five verse 38. So this is the famous Beatitudes chapter, this is the Sermon on the Mount and notice when he says you've heard the time pass, thou shall not commit adultery, now it's okay to commit adultery. Is that what it says? No, it says, it's adding to it okay. So what people want to say with this verse in verse 38 is that he's retracting the one and taking and putting in something else. About the whole time he's doing this he's just adding more light to it. But notice verse 38 it says, ye have heard that it hath been said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but I say unto you that ye resist not evil, but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. All therefore if someone comes up and punches you in the face and puts a gun in your face just give him the other cheek. Say here's my gun, just shoot me with this. So it's saying if someone smites you on the cheek, you know what this is the universal sign for? I challenge you to a fight. Think about all the times you look at just even in movies and stuff like that, if someone came up to you and took off their glove and slapped you in the face, if I slapped someone in the face am I going to really hurt them that bad, am I going to injure them? No, what's it going to do? It's going to make them want to fight me. So this is basically what this is saying is don't resist evil. Basically you're trying not to get into a fight. You're trying not to. That's basically saying if someone's challenging you to a fight you should not entice them. Basically if at all possible live peacefully with all men, we're going to get to that, but the thing is if someone slaps me in the face I should take it. Now if someone slaps my wife in the face they're going to get put on the ground, right? But if someone slaps me in the face, out-soul winning, let's say I'm out-soul winning and someone just like hits me in the face, now I'm not a perfect human being so I'm not saying that at all those times I'm going to act rightly, but what I should do is just be like, see you later. But what I shouldn't do is they slap me in the face and I pull out a gun and shoot them in the face. That's what I shouldn't do. What it's saying though is you're supposed to resist evil, meaning that you're supposed to basically just take it. Take that, you know, just a physical verbal abuse, that little slap in the face because that's not going to be, you're not injured, right? It's got a sting, right? You're not going to like it. No one likes getting slapped in the face. It's like this humiliation where you get slapped in the face, but you're supposed to take that and basically give them the other cheek and say, you know what, I'm not going to fight you and get out of the situation. That's what we should try to do in most situations. What this is teaching is that don't go into battle. Don't try to fight in fights. Don't try to find something to get into strife. You know, we're not supposed to meddle in strife. It says that he that meddles in strife, not belonging unto him, he is like a man to take as a dog by the ears. And so we're not to try to get into strife or get into things that don't belong to us, but go to Romans chapter 12, Romans chapter 12, because we're trying to live peaceably, right? But that guy that came into that church with an AR-15 and with other guns and was shooting up the place, do you think that there was any way out besides an act of physical force against them? No. No. The only course of action you can take is to take them down. There's no turning the other cheek in that instance, when you have women and children being shot up by some psychopath. And so the world, you know, and Christians are weak today, that's just what it comes down to. Christians are weak because they're not reading the Bible. The Bible, if you read the Bible, it is not weak. It does not teach you to lay down and just let your family get slaughtered. And it's just crazy to me that people think this and think this about the word of God, when the Bible is clearly telling us to arm ourselves. I mean, could you get anything out of that, what Jesus said in Luke 22, besides the fact that you need to arm yourself and that it's more important than your clothing? And clothing's pretty high up there, right? He said food and raiment, you know, those are the two things that, you know, we're going to take care of. And here's the thing, I don't believe that if you sold your garment and bought a sword, I believe God will give you more raiment, you know, I think He'll take care of that. So He's putting that up there. Food and raiment and a sword. Those are necessities. And so, Romans chapter 12, and verse 18. So this should be our motto, as Christians, in verse 18, it says, if it be possible as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. This should be what we're trying to do. So someone slaps you on the face, if it be possible, live peaceably with all men. As much as lieth in you, right? It's saying as much as lieth in you, let it go. Let it go. You know, don't let anybody try to provoke you to anger, provoke you to fight. You know, patience, long suffering. But is it always possible? It obviously isn't always possible to live peaceably with all men. As we read on there, it says, dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath, for it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord, therefore thine enemy, hunger, feed him, if he thirst, give him drink, for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head, be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. Now what people will say with this is they say, well, see, you're never supposed to avenge yourselves or you're never supposed to ever fight or anything like that. What it's talking about is the fact that if someone does something to you, we're not talking about killing people, right? We're not talking about murder. Murder should be put to death, according to Romans 13, if you just read a little further. So those people should be stoned with stones or hung on a tree. We're talking about someone doing you wrong. Someone hits your car and then they just drive off. Just suffer yourself to be defrauded. Someone just hates you and they key your car, they do something else. They're not physically hurting you. You're not in danger of your life. Your family's not in danger, but you're supposed to try to overcome evil with good. That's what our motto should be. If it be possible, overcome evil with good. But it's not always possible. It's not always possible. And so in those situations, we need to be prepared. Now this is something that God's people have had to deal with throughout the whole time of the earth. Go to Nehemiah chapter four. And by the way, I'm going to bring this up, go to Nehemiah chapter four. I was wrong in our Bible's category or Pictionary. It's Ezra that's standing on a pulpit of wood in Nehemiah chapter eight, not Nehemiah. So I said it, I was wrong. Nehemiah chapter eight, Ezra is standing on a pulpit of wood, not Nehemiah. So if you got that one and then you didn't know what to do with it, you know, my apologies. But let's be honest, who knew Ezra was standing on a pulpit of wood? So you know, that's a hard one either way. So anyway, so Nehemiah chapter four. Nehemiah is a great book. Nehemiah is where they're building, rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem or rebuilding Jerusalem. And so, but when they're rebuilding the temple before that and when they're rebuilding Jerusalem right after that, they had opposition of their enemies. They had enemies that didn't want this to happen. And they would come back and forth where the king would give them a commandment to go do the work. And then they'd have enemies like Tobiah and Samballat that would come back to the king and say, no, they're trying to come against you. And then they would stop the work and then they had to get another commandment to go and start the work again. But so this is where they're building the wall and they're restarting the building of the wall because their enemies are trying to stop them. But in Nehemiah chapter four and verse 15 it says, and it came to pass when our enemies heard that it was known unto us and God had brought their counsel to naught, that we returned all of us to the wall, every one unto his work. Notice what it says in verse 16, and it came to pass from that time forth that the half of my servants wrought in the work and the other half of them held both the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the haberjens, and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah. So notice verse 16 you have half the people holding all the weapons and then the other half's working. But that doesn't stop there. Let's keep reading. So you have half the people are now basically guarding the people that are working. Verse 17, they which builded the wall, so these are the other half that are doing the work, and they that bear burdens with those that lated, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work and with the other hand held a weapon. For the builders every one had his sword girded by his side and so builded and he that sounded the trumpet was by me. So we see here that when the enemies were around about them and when they were trying to build this wall that they had half the people that were just holding spears and swords. They were just literally guards and they weren't working in the work, they weren't building the wall, they were just literally there to attack somebody that was coming in. But not only that, the workers all had a sword on their side. With one hand they did the work, the other hand they held a weapon. They were armed doing the work, and this is a great chapter. These men had to mind the work and when we're out working for the Lord and his army, do you know what it calls us, the soldiers of Christ? Our weapons of warfare are not carnal because we're going after principalities, imaginations, we're trying to tear down the strongholds of the wickedness in this world, but when you're doing that work, which is the spiritual work, you need to have that weapon on your side. And so I'm not here to tell you that you're innocent if you're not carrying a gun. What I'm telling you is that God said if you sell your garment and buy a sword, and I think it's a very wise thing to heed what Jesus said. Because you know what, this was in trouble at times. In Daniel chapter nine, you don't have to turn there, but in Daniel chapter nine there's a prophecy of the fact of when Jerusalem was going to be rebuilt. They were in captivity for 70 years, well the temple was going to be rebuilt, but then Jerusalem and the wall was going to be rebuilt. In verse 25 it says, Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks and threescore and two weeks. The streets shall be built again and the wall even in troubleless times. So when that wall was built, it predicted it was going to be in troubleless times. That's why they had a sword on their side and their chisel or whatever they were doing in the other side, in the other hand. And so one hand was ready to fight, the other hand was ready to work, and then you had the other half of people that were just ready to fight because it was troubleless times. What does the Bible say about the last days? Is it going to be all goodness and light? Is it going to be just a bed of roses? The Bible says in 2 Timothy 3, 1, just know also that in the last days perilous times shall come. And the Bible says that God who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake time and time passed unto the fathers hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son. We are in the last days, and yes it's been 2,000 years since that was said, but we're still in the last days and it says in the last days perilous times shall come. So is it not a time to keep and bear arms? You know the founding fathers got something right. You know the founding fathers weren't all Satan worshippers, as everybody wants to say. There's a lot of people that were into weird stuff back then, but you know what? A lot of that stuff came straight out of the Bible. The right to keep and bear arms came from Luke chapter 22. They came from other places in the Bible where they would keep and bear arms. 2 Timothy 3, 12 says, yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution, but evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. You know it's only going to get worse? You know that, right? You know that if you think that what's going on in this world where there's mass shootings going on all over the place in churches and in places that you would never imagine, you know it's only going to get worse? It's going to get worse and worse. And so I'm only going to get more arm to arm then, because you know what, all that tells me is that the days are coming closer, the end times are getting closer, our salvation is nearer than when we believed, my friends, and that day is coming, and if it comes in our day, it's going to be a time of trouble which the world has never seen, great tribulation which the world has never seen, and I personally want to be prepared to defend my family if need be, with whatever ways that I can. Now I believe God will protect and I believe God will bless, you know if you're in the fight and you're doing his will, I do believe there's a hand of protection there, but he expects you to be ready. If not, then why does he say watch and be ready? What are you watching and being ready for, to just lay down on the street and let them run you over? You know that's what people think of Christianity these days, they think you're just to lay down and let people run you over. But the Bible teaches to buy a sword, sell your garment and buy a sword. So in Deuteronomy chapter 23, Deuteronomy chapter 23, God in Deuteronomy chapter 23 assumes you have a weapon, it's just assumed you have a weapon, because I'm going to show you a story here that he's talking about something else and he just assumes you have a weapon. In Deuteronomy 23 verse 12 it says, Thou shalt have a place also without the camp whither thou shalt go forth abroad. Now what this is talking about, this isn't a pleasant subject, but it's talking about using the restroom, it's talking about easing yourself, okay? And thou shalt have a paddle upon thy weapon, and it shall be when thou wilt ease thyself abroad, thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt turn back and cover that which cometh from thee. God walketh in the midst of thy camp to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee, therefore shalt thy camp be holy, that he see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee. The Bible just assumes you have a weapon, it says just put that with your weapon, because you always have that on you, right? He's just assuming that you're going to have that weapon on your side at all times so then if you have to go use the restroom, you're going to be able to get rid of it, right? Because you don't want to, this is back before they had running water and toilets, my friends, when they'd go around in their camps, and even now if you were going to go into some caravan of people into the wilderness, you're not going to have running water and plumbing, okay? But it just assumes, it just assumes, just put that with your weapon, just attach it to your weapon. So he's not thinking, well if you have a weapon put it with that, if you don't have a weapon put it over here, you know? He just assumes that everybody has a weapon. And there's stories in the Bible, basically where they got rid of their weapons when you think of Psalm with the Philistines and they got rid of all their swords and then when it came to the time of battle there was only two people that had a sword, Saul and Jonathan, and so it's not a good thing to be unarmed. And that's what our country wants, and when I say country I mean our government. Our wicked government, they want nothing more but to disarm everybody in this country because then they can take control of you. Then they can pass whatever their laws and enforce those laws with people that have guns. And you know what, you have these libtards out there in Hollywood and all these other high and mighty places that are always trying to get guns away from you. Don't make a mistake my friends, they want to take your guns. This whole idea of gun control, they'd never give one idea of gun control that would actually work as far as different laws that can be passed, they're finally coming out and saying that we need to get rid of the Second Amendment. We need to come and confiscate the guns. Why don't you ask those same people to tell all their bodyguards to lay down their guns? The bunch of hypocrites that they are, they have the money and the riches to stand there and have people guard around them and fight for their battles for them are telling everybody else no, you don't need guns, only I need them. They can go pound salt. And you know what, it's going to happen one day to where they're going to be without guns and where they're at and they're not always going to have a bodyguard with them and they're going to get their due rewards. So Song of Solomon, this kind of goes into that a little bit, Song of Solomon chapter 3, you're like good night, you're going to the Song of Solomon, that doesn't sound like a place where there's battle going on, this is a love song. But this goes into the fact of protecting your family because when is your family the most vulnerable at night? When you're sleeping. And so in Song of Solomon chapter 3 and verse 7, notice the woman is describing Solomon, describing what's about him. And Song of Solomon 3, 7, she's glad about this, she's praising and just rejoicing over this. Behold his bed, which is Solomon's, three score valiant men are about it, of the valiant of Israel. They all hold swords, being expert in war, every man hath his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night. Now this, you can look at the rich, now is Solomon rich? Was he a poor guy at this state? No, he was probably the richest person in the world at this point. His fame was going throughout the whole world of all his riches and everything that he did and everything that he, all the wisdom that he had, and so we know that he was rich. And so he could have three score valiant men. What's three score? Sixty. Sixty men that were about where his bed was at. I'm sure not in the room, but I'm sure around his chamber, right? But that all had swords and all were expert in war. Why? Because of fear in the night. Because at night, you can't see very well, you can't see what's going on, and so at night is probably the most dangerous time when it comes to what can happen to you and your family. Go to Exodus chapter 22 with that in mind, Exodus chapter 22. This isn't in a corner. This isn't something where I just pulled this out of Luke 22 in some obscure passage. This is throughout the Bible as far as defending yourself, as far as having a weapon, and having something to protect your family, and especially in the night, especially in your home in the night. So Exodus chapter 22, look at verse 2 there. Exodus 22 and verse 2, if a thief be found breaking up and be smitten that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him. So it's saying if someone comes into your house, and they're breaking up, meaning they broke into your house, and you kill them, you're innocent. Now notice what it says in the next verse. It says, if the son be risen upon him, there shall be bloodshed for him, for he should make full restitution. If he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft. So what this is saying is that at night, if someone's breaking into your house, and you kill them, you're innocent, because they broke into your house at night. Now if someone came up and tried to steal my car in broad daylight, and I knew they didn't have a gun, and they weren't trying to hurt me, I shouldn't just blow their head off. That's what it's saying. If the son be risen, theft is not punished by the death penalty in the Bible. And so theft, you're just supposed to get full restitution, you're supposed to pay back not only what you stole, but get out of fifth part, or fourth part, or whatever it is, depending on what it was, you'd have to give back even more than what you stole. And so they're supposed to give restitution, they're not to die for it, right? And so unless you steal a person, right, now if you steal somebody, if you abduct somebody, you're supposed to die for that. And so, but in this case, someone breaks into your house, you blow their head off, according to the Bible, you're innocent. So this is an exodus, my friends. How far back do you want me to go? How far forward do you want me to go into the Bible as far as it is perfectly okay to take care of your family, if at all costs. If you have to kill somebody to take care of them in self defense, the Bible says you're innocent. You're not even taking a, they're not even taking a goat for an offering, you know, like to take care of any type of sin or something like that. There's no sin involved in that. And so what we know is thou shall not kill is talking about murder. What that means is that if someone breaks into your house, and it's nighttime, and you don't know who it is, you don't even know if they're armed, they could be completely unarmed. You blow their head off. The Bible says you're justified. That's Bible. That's right. That's Bible. And here's the thing, if someone's in my house, and I don't know who they are, I'll assume they're trying to hurt my family. That's just the ultimate assumption. Why else would they be in my house in the middle of the night? And so if you're my friend and you want to try to trick me or scare me in the middle of the night, I would suggest not to do that. So obviously I'm going to try to see who I'm shooting at. I'm not going to just shoot into the darkness. And that's where we're going to get into the next point. Because I'm not saying everybody just needs to go out and buy a gun right now and just start wielding it around. Because you need to prove the weapon, you need to be trained in the weapon. Everybody should be allowed to own a gun, I believe. This is a commandment from God. There's no stipulations on this, but you need to know what you're doing with it. Go to 1 Samuel chapter 17, 1 Samuel chapter 17. So we know that the Bible says that we are to have a weapon, we are to carry, and in ultimate cases, even to take life if it's necessary. You know, Peter, again, I don't believe he's going after that ear. I believe he's going after the head. I believe he's going after the neck. I believe he's going for a fatal blow to defend his savior, to defend his friend. And so we see in the Bible that there are cases where it's not murder and you're innocent. And so it's talking about self-defense, though. This guy wasn't going out looking for trouble and killing somebody. So 1 Samuel chapter 17, this is a famous story of David and Goliath, and we're not going to read the whole chapter. Notice what it says, and we'll start in verse 37 there. So 1 Samuel chapter 17, verse 37. The Bible says, David said, Moreover, the Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go and the Lord be with thee. Notice, every time it talks about these weapons, it's saying the Lord's going to deliver me, that the Lord's going to deliver me, but you still have to have a weapon and you still have to fight. And that's what people don't get, is they think that the Lord's going to deliver me out of this without doing anything. That's just as much as saying that everybody's going to get saved and I don't go out and give the gospel. You know what? If you don't give out the gospel, no one's getting saved. The Great Commission isn't going to be done. We're not Calvinists. It's not just going to happen just by osmosis and just us talking about it here. You have to go out and do the work. So in verse 38 it says, And Saul armed David with his armor, and he put a helmet of brass upon his head. Also he armed him with a coat of mail, and David girded the sword upon his armor, and he assayed to go, for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these, for I have not proved them. And David put them off him, and he took his staff in his hand and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag, which he had even in a script, and his sling was in his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine. So notice David here, Saul saying, hey, take all my armor, take my sword, take everything I got here, and go after this guy, and he said, I can't, I can't. I have never used these before. And I think about this with shooting matches, and you always want to practice with what you're going to shoot. You don't want to go to a match and just pick up a gun and be like, all right, I'm going to shoot this thing now. You've got to sight it in, you've got to know that it works, you've got to know it functions, you've got to know everything's working about it. And one time just recently I went to a match and we were shooting this one pistol, and I changed the clips that I was using because they were easier to load, and I never shot them before that match with those clips in it. And I had a whole bunch of gun trouble. Now, I don't know if it was the clips, but that was not smart, right, because I had not proved it. And so you always want to prove the weapon. You want to, before you go out deer hunting, you want to go sight in your rifle. You want to make sure that that gun is functioning. You want to make sure that you can shoot, right? You want to practice and get good at doing what you're going to do with that weapon. You know, Holly carries a Ruger LCP-380. I carry the same thing all the time. It's small and you can carry it, but I wanted her to learn how to use it. I wanted to know that she could rack a round into the chamber, that she could shoot something decently without like spraying all over the place, that she knew how to hold it, she knew how to function it, she knew how to unload it, she knew how to use it. She had proved it, and it works, because if you're in a case where you're in a life or death situation, you want to be thinking to yourself, man, I hope this gun works. I hope I know how to use this thing. No, you want it to be second nature. And the men in the Bible that were men of war, do you think they didn't practice? Do you think they didn't have a whole bunch of training that they went through to make them men of valor and men of war? No, they went through a lot of training, a lot of time, and if you're going to carry, you need to go through that same course. I'm not saying just hand your kid a gun and say, go at it. No, you need to have training, you need to know how to be safe with it, you need to know what you're doing with it, you need to prove it. And proving it meaning, hey, you need to get good at it. Some people can shoot a gun, they know how to work it, but they couldn't hit the broad side of a barn, right? And you know what, I don't trust the police, I don't trust them for a lot of reasons, but I don't trust the police to be able to aim right, because I've seen police that can't shoot the broad side of a barn. And the thing is, is that I want to be able to, if there was a room full of people here and I had one person I had to shoot be able to be confident enough that I could shoot that person without hitting anybody else. And so you don't want to have a bunch of trigger happy people that have a whole bunch of guns that are just going to shoot randomly and have collateral damage, okay? You don't want to have friendly fire going on. And so all I have to say is that David said, no, I can't use this, I haven't proved it, I'm going to use what I know. I'm going to use the weapons that I know, and yes, they may be less effective, they may be less intimidating, but I know how to use it. And so that's what the Bible teaches about this. Now the last point I'm going to make here is where this is the utopia that the liberals want you to think that there can be a world without guns. It's not possible. Now if you could just somehow magically just make all guns disappear, okay, maybe we'll talk about that, okay? But it's not possible. You're never going to get rid of every gun in the world and the guys that are wanting to hurt everybody else, the evil people that are in this world, are always going to be able to find some weapon to use, some gun to use. So the only way to try to protect yourself is just to arm yourself and be ready for that person to fight and fire with fire. That's the world we live in, my friends, and the Bible teaches this. We know that we're not going to beat our swords into plowshares until Jesus comes and sets up his kingdom. And until that time I'm carrying a sword and I'm not going to beat my sword into a plowshare. I'm not going to melt it down like all these other countries that have melted it down because when war comes to their doorsteps they're going to be defenseless. They're going to be like Saul and Jonathan who are the only people that have swords and the rest of the country is just defenseless. But in Joel chapter 3 we know that people are going to have weapons until Jesus comes. Because Joel chapter 3 is talking about the battle of Armageddon. When he gathers all the armies of the world together and he's going to destroy them, notice what it says, what he's saying to those people that are coming into this battle. In Joel chapter 3 and verse 9, Joel chapter 3 and verse 9, Joel chapter 3 verse 9 it says, Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles, prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near, let them come up, beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears, let the weak say I am strong. Assemble yourselves and come all ye heathen and gather yourselves together round about thither cause thy mighty ones to come down to the Lord. So what's that last part talking about? We're coming down. God's mighty ones are going to come down to the mighty ones of the heathen and he's saying to them you better make yourself swords because you're going to battle. And this is at the very end, this is right before the millennial reign. Right before the millennial reign this last battle he's saying beat your plowshares into swords and come down to this battle because you're getting destroyed. And then right after that you get into the millennial reign, Micah 4, so you go a little further in your minor prophets there, Jonah, Micah, so you find the book of Jonah, you'll find Micah chapter 4 in the Bible and we'll look at verse 1 there. What's interesting about this chapter is how it starts off here. But in the last days it shall come to pass that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains and it shall be exalted above the hills and people shall flow unto it. And then it gets on, so we're talking about what we're going into here is the thousand year reign. This is where Jesus is going to reign. Notice verse 3 it says and he shall judge among many people and rebuke strong nations afar off. They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore, but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree and none shall make them afraid for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it. You want to know the day when there's going to be no guns? When Jesus is rolling and reigning for a thousand years. That's when you'll have no need of guns because there's going to be no more war and you'll not be afraid of anything because the king of kings is ruling from Jerusalem at that point and just judgments are going to be given out. And obviously at that point we're all going to be in spiritual bodies, we're all resurrected at that point because the rapture has happened before this happens. So as long as we're living here physically we need to have a sword. We need to be ready. And Isaiah 11 6 says the wolf shall also dwell with the lamb and the leopard shall lie down with the kid and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together and a little child shall lead them and the cow and the bear shall feed. Their young ones shall lie down together and the lion shall eat straw like the ox and the sucking child shall play on the whole of the asp and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. At that time there's going to be a lot of difference. No more war, no more fighting, all the animals are going to be eating vegetarian, there's going to be no more carnivores, meaning the lion's going to eat straw like an ox and everything's going to be, it's going to be this utopia of basically everything's in harmony. Now we know at the end of that thousand year reign there's going to be unsaved people and the devil's going to get those people to go against the saints and then Jesus is going to take them out. So and then we know the end of the story but we're not at that point yet. It's not time to beat your sword into a plowshare. It's not time. It's time to sell your garment and buy a sword. Let's end with a word of prayer. Lord we thank you for today. Thank you for your word. We just pray that you would protect us and Lord we hope we never have to use a gun. We hope we never have to ever use that in an actual circumstance Lord. We do pray that you would help us to be prepared if that ever were to happen. Lord that we would be able to take care of our families and take care of the church of God here and Lord just wherever we're at. Lord that you would keep us safe and Lord that you would allow us to be ready for those situations if they were to come. Lord we just thank you for the safety that you have given us and Lord we just pray that you continue to keep us safe and out of harm's way. Deliver us from any evil or unreasonable or wicked men and Lord just pray to be with us as we go out soul winning this afternoon and Lord we just love you and pray all this in Jesus Christ's name. Amen.