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

Okay, so please turn in your Bibles to 2 Samuel chapter 23, so 2 Samuel chapter 23, and starting out verse 1, now these be the last words of David, David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of God, of the God of Jacob, and a sweet psalmist of Israel said, the Spirit of the Lord spake by me and his word was in my tongue. The God of Israel said, the rock of Israel spake to me, he that ruleth over men must be just ruling in the fear of God, and he shall be as the light of the morning when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds, as a tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain. Although my house be not so with God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, orders in all things, and sure, for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it not to grow. But the sons of Belial shall be all of them as thorns thrust away because they cannot be taken with hands. But the man that shall touch them must be fenced with iron and the staff of a spear, and they shall be utterly burned with fire in the same place. These be the names of the mighty men whom David had, the tachmanite that sat in the seat chief among the captains. The same was Adonai the Esnite, he lift up his spear against eight hundred whom he slew at one time, and after him was Eliezer the son of Dodo the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David, when they defied the Philistines that were there gathered together to battle, and the men of Israel were gone away. He arose and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary and his hand claven to the sword, and the Lord wrought a great victory that day, and the people returned after him only to spoil. And after him was Shammah the son of Agee the Harorite, and the Philistine were gathered together into a troop, where was a piece of ground full of lentils, and the people fled from the Philistines. But he stood in the midst of the ground, and defended it, and slew the Philistines, and the Lord wrought a great victory. And the three of the thirty chief went down, and came to David in the harvest time unto the cave of Adullam, and the troop of the Philistines pitched in the valley of Rephaim. And David was then in an hold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. And David longed and said, O that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem which is by the gates. And the three mighty men break through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David. Nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the Lord. And he said, Be it far from me, O Lord, that I should do this. Is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? Therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mighty men. And Ebishai the brother of Joab the son of Zeruiah was chief among three, and he had lifted up his spear against three hundred, and slew them, and had the name among three. Was he not most honorable of three? Therefore he was their captain, howbeit he attained not unto the first three. And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabziel, who had done many acts, he slew two lion-like men of Moab, who went down also, and slew a lion in the midst of a pit in time of snow. And he slew an Egyptian, a goodly man, and the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, but he went down to him with a staff, and plucked a spear out of the Egyptians hand, and slew him with his own spear. These things did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and had the name among three mighty men. He was more honorable than the thirty, but he attained not to the first three, and David set him over his guard. As a hell the brother of Joab was one of the thirty, Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, Shammah the Herodite, Elichah the Herodite, Helas the Peltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekowite, Abiezer the Anathithite, Mabuni the Hushithite, Zalman the Ahohite, Mehari the Netophithite, Helab the son of Beyana, and Etephithite of Etei the son of Ribei, and of Gibeah of the children of Benjamin. Benaiah the Pyrithonite, Hidayi of the brooks of Gaiash, Eber-Yalbon the Arbethite, Asmapheth the Bahumite, Eliabah the Sharbanite of the sons of Jachun, Jonathan, Shammah the Harorite, Ahaim the son of Sharah the Harorite, Eliphileth the son of Ahaspai, the son of the Meachathite, Eliab the son of Ahithophel the Gileanite, Hezrei the Carmelite, Peorai the Arbeit, Igal the son of Nathan of Zobah, Benai the Gadite, Zilek the Ammonite, Nahari the Beyathrite, Armabearit the Joab the son of Zeruiah, Ira and Ithrait, Gairub and Ithrait, Uriah the Hittite, 30 and 7 in all. Brother Alex you mind praying for the service please brother. Dear father thank you so much for gathering all here safely and well please help us to learn from these words and make them many treasures out of them and please feel brotherly on this period which is not my aim. Amen. Wow well read by brother Dande, lucky I didn't give him that last minute but that was some that was some good bible reading. Amen. The title of my sermon is how to become a spiritual warrior, how to become a spiritual warrior and what a chapter of the bible that is. I don't know about you guys but I get really inspired reading that and you know for those who fancy themselves a bit of a fighter a bit of a tough guy or something else you've got to remember that now our war is obviously a spiritual war isn't it and we are we are now in a spiritual war and it something that actually brother Kenton we just spoke briefly about that the other week and it's making me think about that that spiritual war that we're in and yeah what a chapter of the bible now um turn to second Corinthians 10 will I read Ephesians 6 12 and Ephesians 6 12 we all know these verses says 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 and second Corinthians chapter 10 says for though we walk in the flesh is verse three sorry for though we walk in the flesh we do not war after the flesh for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ and we are we are battling a spiritual enemy all of us and it's not just the men here it's not you know just if you you look at David's mighty men well it's only us in the spiritual war no this is this goes across this you know the the feminists would love this because you can have women in this army as well um this is this is a spiritual battle and there's many areas of this and we'll talk about that a bit later um and we're all soldiers everyone here is a soldier just being here alone you're already a soldier um but there are levels of soldier I believe now as Christians there are obviously there's a kind of just about maybe more false Christians and I see them as maybe more like the cannon fodder they're the pawns that you send out these like street preachers that kind of you know just prove the law changes and stuff and take one for the team now you've got the saved non-churchgoers the soldiers sort of feigning injury aren't they they're kind of ones of the family exemptions they're not really getting involved they're finding a way out I look at the backsliders maybe they're a bit AWOL they're the ones that need the military police to come and round them up drag them along back into the war you've got um you've got the liberal Christians okay and for those saved ones those liberal Christians I see them as maybe those ones that kind of signed up for the catering corps or maybe the brass band or something else just trying to avoid the real warfare you've got the independent fundamental baptists and I see them as like the regular squadies yeah they're like your regular army personnel and then you've got the NIFB haven't you and we're the special forces yeah the SAS, SBS, the Delta Force, Spetsnaz and any other one you ever think of yeah and I was thinking about this and thinking about this country now it's hard to be patriotic about a lot of things and no offense to anyone it is a bit of a patriotic type I'm not for many reasons but I was thinking there's one thing that the British actually do quite well and that is army personnel they're pretty renowned for it around the world they have for example as brother Dan is testimony of they have one of the longest courses training training courses to go from zero to obviously a war marine commando which you don't get much else in the world and that basic course is one of the longest in the world the skill of UK soldiers is quite known around the world the SAS were actually known for training Delta Force at the beginning as well so any of not really well maybe Kenton is slightly American you know you know that's just the way it is the SAS trained them and it's not I want to glue off my modern war and its motives because I think there's a lot of wicked reasons for war but it is one thing the British I feel have always done well if you look back at our history and the British Empire it's pretty amazing what this small island has done and I think through through having pretty pretty amazing soldiers and I was thinking about the SAS especially it's quite famous and obviously it parallels with the SBS and there are I believe a lot of biblical equivalents to becoming a spiritual mighty man and what we've just read about there are spiritual mighty men aren't they they're this sorry David's mighty men are like the spiritual mighty men of today those spiritual special forces so how do we start the process so how do you how do you go on the road to start becoming like one of David's mighty men and our equivalent now in the New Testament well if you turn to first Samuel 22 so first Samuel chapter 22 and at the beginning David's men are sorry David's fleeing from Saul and from verse one and David spake unto the Lord the words of this song it's not sorry sorry sorry I've just gone a second so we first Samuel okay David therefore departed thence and escaped to the cave Adalem and when his brethren and all his father's house heard it they went down there to him and everyone that was in distress and everyone that was in debt and everyone that was discontented gathered themselves unto him and he became a captain over them and there were with him about 400 men okay so some of these down and outs are actually the men we've just read about as David's mighty men they started as these men discontented people in debt people in distress and eventually by the end of the book of second Samuel we're seeing these guys are described as we've just read about as David's mighty men so like I say how do you start the process how did they get to there from being these down and outs that just gather themselves with David in that cave well how do we Christians go from unsaved to spiritual warrior how does someone go in in military terminology they love to use these words I've known a few over the years go from a civvy you've probably all heard of that a civilian how do they go from a civvy to a member of the SAS for example now there are some basic requirements to start this off and again like I said there's many parallels here so I found this really interesting when I started looking into this now the British army has some basic requirements it says here restrictions and requirements I was looking at if you were applying and you wanted to get into the army you wanted to eventually make it to that to that high level of special forces first you'll need to meet the British army nationality and residency rules you'll need to pass a fitness test pass a medical check pass security checks and pass enhanced background checks now I was thinking about what's what's the difference how does it work with us well instead of meeting the British army nationality residency rules we you need to meet a same Christian first don't you know we also have to pass a fitness test but that fitness test result you fit for salvation obviously reprobate so I'm fit for service we also have to pass a medical check are you still alive there's no salvation afterwards we have to pass some some security checks as well and that's checking that you understand the gospel and there's one enhanced background check isn't there and that's how you put your faith in Jesus Christ alone now these special forces they always start off by excelling as a soldier so it's not that they just go from nothing straight in fast track they have to excel they have to go through being a soldier and what they say is that these guys not that they're just amazing one or two things they get trained in certain specifics but what they start off they start off by excelling at all points of being a soldier and then they're earmarked then they've got that chance to make it through what is a grueling process and I'll show you a bit about that in a bit okay so skills and knowledge to be a good soldier what you need to be to be a good soldier you'll need according to the British army physical fitness and endurance so if you turn to first timothy four first timothy chapter four physical fitness and endurance and first timothy four verse eight for bodily exercise profiteth little but godliness is profitable unto all things having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come now i think brother john mentioned this the other day and say how that really hurt him but that can be too negative it still profits a little okay yeah it's not it's not up there with godliness but it profit is little okay it's not a negative that's not a negative and again you can read it i prophesy it's only a little well no it still profits and i do believe we do we should be fit and healthy to serve the lord and even if it is just to make it to church regularly now we need self-discipline for that don't we and i'm not i'm not talking about looking good and there's a it's funny isn't it in this world being fit and healthy has kind of been swapped with how you look and there's a lot of guys that look what the world calls fit and healthy and they're not feeling healthy and i'm not talking about looking like this perfect guy and everything else i'm just talking about being fit and healthy eating healthily being fit being active and for some some of you guys you don't have manual jobs and that can make it harder you have to put extra time into doing that for those that do have manual jobs you still want to get your lungs going somewhere still want to be fit and when you're fit and healthy you're more you're more able to do the work of god so physical fitness is important now endurance we've got a different kind of endurance haven't we if you while you're in um if you go over to second timothy second timothy and again second timothy chapter four and verse verse eight is it oh sorry i think i've put down the wrong um the wrong scripture but okay um thou therefore endure hardness is a good soldier of jesus christ i've lost that reference does anyone know where that reference is don't worry for now okay so now therefore endure hardness is a good soldier of jesus christ now um there are some hard times as a christian and and we have to endure this hardness i've been through tough times myself i'm sure you all have especially after salvation a lot of people um a lot of people experience this don't they soon after salvation they go through some you know some people call it different things i remember hearing a sermon bit of a dodgy preacher but he was calling it the sifter and that really stuck with me that you go through the sifter after you're saved and i think we all go through some stuff but we've got to endure that hardness now mark four if you turn to mark four i have got the right reference if you turn to mark four and from verse 16 and these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground who when they have heard the word immediately receive it with gladness and have no root in themselves and so endure but for a time afterward when affliction or persecution arises for the word's sake immediately they are offended so straight away from the beginning we need to endure persecution affliction and just to even start meeting regularly and still calling ourselves you know save men of god and wanting to live for christ and wanting to let people know about that we have to have endured some persecution some affliction in our lives and a good way for me just just something to keep remembering just remember what christ endured just remember what he went through and our king he leads by example he's on the front line he was on the front line he still is because he works for all of us and he's there he's there with us he guides us through everything and that's a good thing to remember now number two number two for being good soldier is concentration skills and fast reactions concentration skills and fast reactions i turn to matthew 6 will i read proverb 16 3 proverb 16 3 says commit thy works unto the lord and thy thoughts shall be established we want our concentration our concentration skills are about concentrating on the right things matthew 6 from verse 31 the bible reads therefore take no thought saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or wherewithal shall we be clothed for after all these things that the gentiles seek for your heavenly father knoweth that you have need of all these things but seek ye first the kingdom of god and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you take therefore no thought for the morrow for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof okay so we need to be able to concentrate on the important things and the concentration skills we need as spiritual warriors christian soldiers we need to import constantly important things the kingdom of god which is our mission objective isn't it um if you turn to second timothy 2 second timothy 2 verse 4 says no man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life that he may please him who has chosen him to be a soldier okay so we are called to be soldiers this isn't an optional thing we're called to be soldiers and we need to act like one not on you don't see soldiers on the battlefield do you like worrying about oh i don't know if i'm still going to be able to pay my mortgage this month or worrying about the the finance getting rich or you know what they're going to buy next or all these silly things which jesus says when we set our sights on the kingdom of heaven all these things shall be added unto us he will look after us he will take care of these things and yeah of course you know i'm not saying you just just you know i'm not allowed to do anything i sit back jesus gonna pay for things no there's certain ways god wants us to live he wants us to be diligent in work he wants to provide for our own but we need to make sure that our main focus the main thing we're concentrating on our concentration skill is concentrating on jesus in the kingdom of heaven now what about fast reactions yeah we need some fast reactions okay well you know this is the thing that you won't find as much of in scripture because a lot of things we don't want to just suddenly rush into things and we don't want to be hasty but um how about this fast reaction if you turn to psalm 119 psalm 119 and from verse one we're just going to read the whole thing verse 59 got to get some context you know just just go from the beginning i thought on my ways and turned my feet unto thy testimonies i made haste and delayed not to keep thy commandments i made haste and delayed not to keep thy commandments and that's the sort of fast reactions we need to have don't we to to be quick and keep the commandments of god not to take us oh well i'll get around i'll change that eventually no make haste and keep his commandments we need to think about our behavior that we react quickly to change it don't give the enemy an inch because when you're living willfully in sin you're giving that enemy a real foothold okay so number three number three being a good soldier active listening skills and the ability to follow instructions quickly anyone heard of active listening skills before in any of their jobs or ever heard of this term before so this was new to me i had to look this up active listening skills are apparently active listening is a technique that is used in counseling training and solving disputes or conflicts it requires a listener to fully concentrate understand respond and then remember what is being said okay so basically we need to hear concentrate on what what you've heard understand it and then behave accordingly um basically be both a hearer and a doer hey brother so psalm 119 turn turn keep in psalm 119 and verse 9 to 16 wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed thereto according to thy word with my whole heart have i sought thee oh let me not wander from thy commandments thy word have i hid in mine heart that i might not sin against thee blessed art thou oh lord teach me thy statutes with my lips have i declared all the judgments of thy mouth i've rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies as much as in all riches i will meditate in thy precepts and have respect unto thy ways i will delight myself in thy statutes i will not forget thy word so yeah we need to concentrate here understand and obey our commanding officer the lord jesus head of the church um now under the commanding officer there is a chain of command though there has to be for things to work we know that we we talk about this we've talked about this with family life as well um and obviously at work as well submitting to the higher power can be a problem for many some women find it hard don't they in this feminazi society and you know we've probably all heard a lot of preach on that played it on repeat to our wives um but many men do too don't they in it because this is a pretty self-important egocentric society isn't it as well and a lot of us you know we've probably found it hard to submit to authority now all of us here we've all been pretty much ticking the box at church let's be honest sadly you know and i'm not just going to spend every service just railing on the churches here but um but we have we we've kind of ticked the box going to church and we're not really submitting with our hearts at least and it's something i've battled with and really tried to do just to submit to people that you know i don't it's not what i see as a church should be so it can be hard now we finally we finally have a church starting it is a church starting here you know i've started off well maybe hopefully well i'm confident this is going to become a church in the next few months probably sooner okay so there's a chain of command and if you turn a hebrew 13 turn a hebrew 13 okay so you've got jesus christ at the top and in our group now forming into a church you've then got pastor thompson pastor aaron thompson okay then you've got little old me underneath pastor aaron thompson and then you've got all of you guys now read verse 17 here chapter 13 verse 17 i have the rule over you and submit yourselves for they watch for your souls as they that must give account that they may do it with joy and not with grief for that is unprofitable for you so for me i've got to submit to aaron thompson pastor aaron thompson and give account to him and ultimately to god now pastor thompson wants to do this with joy i want to do it with joy because if it's with grief it's unprofitable for everyone and that's everyone here and that's everyone that eventually will come into it now this isn't like anyone in particular but it's a good reminder it needs to be said if you're unable to follow instructions you're going to be a lousy soldier in the same way if you're unable to follow instructions here as well then you're going to be no good as as one of the spiritual soldiers of christ of what's going to be a church here now if you're really just waiting here in the wings just until something better comes along or you know maybe you know even soon we'll have some other church you know maybe you know that'll be me or something else well you're not you're no one here is profiting it's going to be grief for me it's going to be grief for pastor thompson and it's ultimately going to be grief for the lord jesus christ our commanding officer there is a chain of command so we have to decide like if we want to be part of this and we want to be part of a successful church and we want to get people saved and we want to go out and be those spiritual warriors we have to decide right am i going to submit am i going to do this now am i going to start treating this like it is because like i said it's becoming a church so i've tried i've tried a bit carefully at the beginning because you know it's a new thing for a lot of people we've come in here and it's like okay well you know brother you know we're brothers here and now i'm starting to lead something and i you know i'm not just going to start reading the right act and it's not going to start talking down to people either but but in the same way now there has to be for something to work there has to be a chain of command and if that's not if that's not what you want if you're here thinking well i don't know i don't know if i can really i don't know if i want to submit to him i i'll do it for a little bit i don't know if pastor thompson made maybe you're thinking i don't know if pastor thompson's really you know i prefer if it's pastor anderson or whatever you know whatever it is if there's any of that you honestly we'd be better off with half the numbers here it wouldn't bother me i i know because i know that when you look at the army as well that morale is so much more important yeah morale is so much more important than numbers and we see example for example in scripture that as well don't we just a few men 300 men a gideon etc yeah and i don't mean the 300 on that silly movie with a lot of guys with long hair and skirts on okay trying to look trying to pretend that that's manliness so this army and this army and we we are going to be a big part of this aren't we this army here is fighting for people's eternal souls so i i'm not like for me it's not getting ruined by people that can't that can't submit to that so again you know again it's not anyone in particular but i know because i've spoken so speaking of past the tops this happened every time a group like this forms there will be people that be people that just can't do it they can't follow instructions they can't do it and like i say we it's even harder for us because there are no good churches we have spent time just not really like submitting in word but really in our minds are like i'm at a lousy place well now if that's how you feel still honestly that it's just going to ruin it it's too we've got too much at stake here okay so the ability to work well with others in the team and that leads right onto that doesn't it the ability to work well with others in the team so being part of this church okay we don't have to all be best friends here okay that's not how it works it's not oh we're all just you know you know they've got so much in common no but we should love each other we should love each other regardless of whether you want to hang out every day or not have sleepovers and the rest of it but we've got to love each other and we've got to all want to work for the church work for the team okay so turn to romans 12 romans 12 and from verse 3 for i say through the grace given unto me to every man is among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think but to think soberly according as god has dealt to every man a measure of faith for as we have many members in one body and all members have not the same office so we being many are one body in christ and every one members one of another having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us where the prophecy let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith or ministry let us wait on our ministry or he that teaches on teaching or he that exhorteth on exhortation he that giveth let him do it with simplicity he that ruleth with diligence he that show of mercy with cheerfulness let love be without dissimulation abhor that which is evil cleave to that which is good be kindly affection one to another with brotherly love in honor preferring one another not slothful in business fervent in spirit serving the lord so in verse 9 and 10 it says there's no fake love okay we're still going to dissimulation it's basically fake okay no fake love it's a command it's like like with husbands and wives it's a command you love your wife because you're told to not because she always makes you want to love her there's going to be problems in every relationship at times and in the same way with brothers in a church we love we should be loving for it loving each other we shouldn't be at home kind of you know talking to our wives family friends whatever the way they act or the way they behave we should be there playing for each other we should be yeah we're going to see faults in each other we should be praying for each other we should be wanting them to improve not wanting them to fail okay we should love our fellow soldier more than the worldly soldiers do and they're known for it aren't they you look at these soldiers and you look at especially things like the sas and whatnot if anyone's ever known people in these sort of groups like they have a lot of love for each other they're like us they call each other brother etc they you know these guys have some love for each other and they need to be and we're in a spiritual one we need to have love for each other we need to be brothers and sisters in christ here okay so just quickly as well verse 11 we've got to work hard not slothful in business and in battle you don't want sackers next to you do you you don't want to be in a battle whether it's physical or spiritual and have a slacker next to you in battle now number five patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations so stay in romans 12 and look at verse 12 now the next verse rejoicing in hope patient in tribulation continuing instant in prayer so when you're rejoicing in hope it helps you to be patient in tribulation especially when you continue instant in prayer we're told to glory in tribulations for tribulation work in patience doesn't it and it's not always easy is it sometimes you're having a hard time and it's not easy to glory in it but that's what we should be doing and it's not always easy but but patience is important our war isn't a quick battle it's not just a quick you know that's it five minutes you're done it's a war of attrition it's lifelong in fact it goes on beyond our lives um okay turn to psalm 37 psalm 37 and from verse seven rest in the lord await patiently for him fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass cease from anger and forsake wrath fret not thyself in any wise to do evil so we need to be calm to be effective so it makes me think of it you know unlike unlike you do you remember those uh those those terrible movies i think you're some of these kind of classic old action movies where the bad guys they're just always just running forward aren't they they're not trying to take cover they're not they're just getting shot by that one guy you know your arnold schwartz digger tights but we don't want to be that bad guy do he's just full of passion at the wrong time we need to be calm to be effective and and yeah there's a time for anger for righteous anger but we do need we need to be able to control our spirit turn to james chapter one james chapter one and verse 19 wherefore my beloved brethren let every man be swift to hear slow to speak slow to wrath for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of god when you let your temper go and for some it will be easier than others but when you let your temper go is rare that you're it's rare that you work in the righteousness of god um okay number six the ability to accept criticism and work well under pressure okay the ability to accept criticism work well under pressure so even without hard preaching even without hard preaching the bible is going to criticize you isn't it the bible will make you look at yourself and we need to accept that that criticism improves us because it does and we want to improve now the army's motto in britain is be the best army be the best i don't know if you ever see no sort of adverts and things like that well we have the holy spirit we actually have more ability to be the best than they do the than the majority of these worldly members of the army and we want to be the best but we have to respond to the criticism we have to accept the criticism to be the best now there's a time and a place i'll not say right everyone here you just got to start turning and criticize you should do this you should do that there's a time and a place you've got to and again you've got to make sure your motives are right is it to help them and something when you're preaching as well that that's like for me it has to be i want to help people and this is something that was said to me the other day is that your ultimate goal is to help people improve and sometimes that's going to be saying harsh things sometimes it's going to be saying encouraging things and same amongst each other when we're criticizing it should be to help and for some people they won't take it that well in a certain way and maybe it has to be in a gentler way but we really need to accept that criticism is going to help us imagine a soldier for example imagine a worldly soldier without the stakes that we have because our stakes are much higher going home to his wife maybe i think the drill sergeant was talking about me then not having that that's not going to happen is it they're going to submit they're going to accept the criticism they're going to respond to the criticism and that's how we need to do it turn to proverbs 13 a couple of good verses in proverbs 13 about this proverbs 13 verse 1 a wise son here with his father's instruction but a school here is not rebuke we do not want to be the school of proverbs what a character that is verse 18 of proverbs 13 poverty and shame shall be to him that refuseth instruction but he that regardeth reproof shall be honored a regarded reproof is responding to it isn't it is listening to it and and making change from it and we all need to be that that that regards reproof okay now there is there is pressure isn't there there's pressure as a christian from the world remember they said to work well under pressure and you know if you're you you're a soldier in battle i'm not talking about your liberal your liberal christians your worldly christians but when you're trying to live for god there is some pressure turn to james chapter four james chapter four and verse seven submit yourselves therefore to god resists the devil and he will flee from you draw nigh to god and he will draw nigh to you cleanse your hands ye sinners and purify your hearts you double-minded so the pressure is from our enemy the answer is to submit to god draw and i resist sin don't mock it work under the pressure to follow god's law and there is pressure isn't there there's pressure against us living for christ following his law every which way we can but when you do that it will be a route didn't just say i'll leave you alone it says he'll flee from you and we want it to be a route don't we okay number seven number seven thinking and reasoning skills and the confidence to act quickly so again this is what they say for to be a good soldier of the british army thinking and reasoning skills and the confidence to act quickly okay these are the thinking skills we need turn to philippians four philippians chapter four okay verse eight finally brethren whatsoever things are true whatsoever things are honest whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are pure whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are of good report if there be any virtue if there be any praise think on these things okay the ability to think on good things it's going to make such a difference to your lives it has to me you know especially right now it's so tempting to start thinking about where the world's going the conspiracies and there are a lot of conspiracies and don't get me wrong i i there are a lot of there a lot of these conspiracies have a lot of a lot of weight and anyone who thinks there are no conspiracies in the world is a naive fool but on the other hand do we want to be dwelling on these things we want to be thinking on these things no we want to be thinking on nice things what are we thinking of things that are true not the things that are unsure they're calling us they're doing this they're doing that no think about this word things that are honest things that are just and for me that really makes a difference this verse when i think about that and i get it wrong a lot but when i'm when i'm trying to work to be like that and i think about the good things it will really change your lives i believe test everything by scripture reason through the word of god like for example jesus temptation the wilderness example it's the word of god that we answer those attacks don't we because our enemy he wages a disinformation campaign and and we see that all the time don't we we see that in the world who constantly trying to trying to throw this lie at us that line it's not just us at the rest of the world as well and they're the battleground there um he wants this in constant fear but our confidence should be in the lord turn to psalm 18 and psalm 18 verse 30 as for god his way is perfect the word of the lord is tried he is a fuckler to all those that trust in him we need to be confident in our response and that comes from knowing the bible so when we're getting this stuff thrown at us it's knowing the bible knowing the word when people try the the vaccine's the mark of the beast or the the you know who bill gates is the anti-christ that doesn't line up with scripture at all and we need to be in this word and we need to be thinking on these things okay which leads on to number eight number eight is to be thorough and pay attention to detail that we need to study our war manual don't we we need to study our war manual turn to second timothy 2 15 famous verse second timothy 2 15 study to show thyself approved unto god a workman that needeth not to be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth we need to study this word if we're going to be successful we need to study eternal isaiah 28 isaiah 28 and from verse 9 isaiah 28 9 whom shall he teach knowledge and whom shall he make to understand doctrine them that are weaned from the milk and drawn from the breasts for precept must be upon preset precept upon precept line upon line line upon line here a little and there a little and we need to study to move on to the strong meat of the word so bible reading is great and it's something i'll just be talking about a bit with people recently but studying and meditating on scripture is really important as well and and don't get me wrong we should all be reading our bibles and we should all be reading them through cover to cover but the bible's clear that we should be studying as well and and studying the word of god is not just reading it cover to cover some people speed read i know myself sometimes when i'm reading the bible i will drift sometimes and i have to bring myself back that's that's the honest truth but when i'm studying the word it's different and it's slow sure and you can study topics you can study chapters you can study a verse at a time whatever you want to do the bible's clear that we should be studying to show ourselves approved under god okay so with that when we do that then when you go on to the battlefield turn to first peter five a lot of bible flicking today seeing how well you know your bibles for first peter chapter five so once we studied our war manual then from verse eight be sober be vigilant because you adversely the devil as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour so we need to not be ignorant of his device if we're thorough with our bibles with every detail we will be so much more effective we can see the attacks of the enemy okay so eight points that was eight points to be a good soldier you've got number one physical fitness and endurance number two concentration skills of fast reactions number three active listening skills and the ability to follow instructions quickly number four the ability to work well with others in a team number five patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations number six the ability to accept criticism and work well under pressure number seven thinking and reasoning skills and the confidence to act quickly and number eight to be thorough and pay attention to detail okay so once you excel once you excel at all of these now you're ready to apply for the sas if it's if it's the the modern army that we're doing here and if it's our spiritual warfare you want to be one of david's mighty men is spiritual now mighty men you now have to pass selection selection for the sas is like this so selection phase one i don't know if you guys ever looked into this i know this stuff's quite popular i haven't watched any of these sas shows but i'll run over it anyway so selection phase one endurance so back to this endurance so the first phase of selection is known as the endurance fitness and navigation or the hills stage this is the endurance portion of selection not only test the candidates physical fitness but also their mental stamina to pass this phase a high level of determination and self-reliance is vital okay so for the spiritual special forces i think we're talking about regular soul winning so many marathons bible through multiple times constant prayer regular fasting regular church okay selection phase two jungle training those who have passed stage one have to then pass jungle training training takes place in belize in the heart of deep jungles candidates learn the basics of surviving and patrolling in the harsh conditions sas jungle patrols have to live for weeks behind enemy lines in four-man patrols living on rations so this is our two-man patrols in unreceptive areas yeah okay jungle training weeds out those who can't handle the discipline required to keep themselves in their kit in good condition whilst on long range patrolling difficult conditions we'll keep that bible in good condition yeah again there is a mental component being tested not just a physical special forces teams need men who can work under relentless pressure in horrendous environments for weeks on end without a lifeline back to home base horrendous environments soul winning in jehovah's witness communes maybe or heavily islamic estates as well as sticking out in militant zionist pre-trip churches getting preached out week in week out horrendous environments yeah okay selection phase three escape and evasion and tactical questioning okay so the small number of candidates who have made it through endurance and jungle training now enter the final phase of selection the likelihood of a special operation going wrong behind enemy lines is quite high given the risks involved the sas wants soldiers who have the wherewithal and spirit required to escape and evade capture and resist interrogation okay for the escape and evasion e and e portion of the course the candidates are giving brief instructions on appropriate techniques this may include talks from former piws or special forces soldiers have been in e and e situation in the real world okay with our equivalent we're talking about endless sermons debunking full stock trade yeah okay next the candidates are let loose in the countryside wearing world war ii vintage coats with instructions to make their way to a series of waypoints without being captured by the hunter force or other soldiers this portion lasts for three days after which captured or not all candidates report fatigue that's tactical questioning okay so i think this is surviving at one of those churches without getting kicked out for being an andersonite okay so tactical questioning tests the perspective sas men's ability to resist interrogation they're treated roughly by their interrogators often made to stand in stress position for hours at a time while disorientating white noise is blasted at them so maybe i'm thinking here like debates with calvinists with maybe christian rock music in the background or something like that when their turn for questioning comes they must only answer with the so-called big four name rank serial number and date of birth so ours is i don't get derailed their sins taken them to hell jesus is god he paid for their sins it's by faith alone just keep going with the gospel okay all other questions must be answered but i cannot answer that question failure to do so results in failing the course the questions will use all sorts of tricks to try and get a reaction from their candidates we get that don't we out on the doors those tricks they try and use to try and derail it off the gospel they may act friendly and try to get their subjects chatting oh yeah faith alone yeah yeah agree with that yeah but what do you think about okay all they stand inches away from their subjects and scream unfavorable remarks about the habits of their mothers female interrogators may laugh at their anatomy of course a real interrogation would be a lot more harsh and the subject would know that they have that they get to leave alive when it's all over that said days of interrogations and enduring the stress positions a white noise break down a man's sense of time and reality and some of those doors can feel like an eternity can't they um the sas are looking for men who can withstand such dreamer long enough so the effects of revealing any operational information they might have can be lessened by headquarters okay so after all that a small number of many makers who select you receive the coveted beige beret with a distinctive wing dagger insignia as a newly badged member of the special surface they can feel justly proud they are not out of the woods however as they are now effectively on probation there's brand new members of the regiment they will be watched closely by the ds as they enter continuation training many sas soldiers are rtu so return to unit during training and sadly as a natural in spiritual warfare many soldiers can't kite in the long term now turn to james 1 12 james 1 verse 12 so forget the beret james 1 12 said blessed is a man that endureth temptation for when he has tried he shall receive the crown of life which the lord promised them to love him so i'm going for the crown of life and the battleground is our minds the battleground is our minds it's out soul winning in the highways and hedges it's in raising godly families it's defending the church it's fighting to tell the truth it's trying to keep keep relationships going in this world is it's all these things and we should be striving shouldn't we we should be striving to be like adino the the esni saying 800 spiritual enemies at once or benaiah of jehoiada takes you on the spiritual lines and like eliezer the aahite keep fighting until our hands cleave to the sword this is our sword isn't it i actually be cleaving to this sword okay turn to first corinthians 16 13 last one first corinthians chapter 16 and verse 13 the spiritual warriors the bible says watch ye stand fast in the faith quit you like men be strong let's pray heavenly father thank you for your word thank you for for all the many examples of many lessons you give us and and the examples of the old testament of great men of god and how we can take that forward in our spiritual battles please help us to all be all be strong spiritual soldiers help us to win those battles through you through your holy spirit through your word help us today help us today with the with the next little battle out in the out in the streets of south end giving the gospel help us to to win people to christ and in jesus name i pray amen