The Weapons of Our Warfare (John 18:1-11 Jeff Kliewer)

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Sermon Notes: notes.cornerstonesj.org The Weapons of Our Warfare

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There's some thrown into a sea without As they are many,
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His mercy Praise the Lord His mercy
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As they are many, His mercy Is more Constantly wrong
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What Father so tender Is calling us home
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He welcomes the weakest The vilest, the bold As they are many,
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His mercy Is more Praise the Lord Stretches of kindness
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He lavished on us His blood was the payment
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His life was the cost We stood beneath the death
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We could never Mercy is more
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As new as sin His mercy
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Is more As sin
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As they are many I believe in Christ Risen from the dead
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He now reigns victorious His kingdom knows no end
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Through His resurrection Death has lost its hold
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I know on that final day I'll rise as Jesus rose
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On that day We will see you Shining brighter than the sun
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This one Till that day We will praise you Good morning.
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Awesome to be together in fellowship with our brothers and sisters. I'm going to open us up with an amazing word of encouragement that comes out of Jeremiah chapter 21.
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Now to set it in context, the Jews are being judged for their disobedience, exile, that other stuff.
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But here's the thing, they are going to go through some very tough times, and it's going to feel very dark and dismal.
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But these are the words that God had of encouragement for them. For I know the plans
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I have for you, declares the Lord. These are words of encouragement to the nation of Israel, but to us as well.
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Whatever is happening in your life, it might be times of blessing, that was God. It might be times of distress.
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God knows the plans that He has for you. Now here's some of the words that continue on after verse 10.
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You will call on me and I will hear you. We know that when our heart is turned to God and we turn to God in sincerity,
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He promises to hear us. And it says, you will seek me and find me, and I will bring you back.
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And wherever you are in life, when you turn to God with sincerity and with an open heart,
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He knows you. You are His child. These are words of encouragement for us.
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God is sovereign, He is faithful, and when times are tough, when their exile was tough, it was not the end.
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It was only a period where He brought them back into relationship and restored them.
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He is our hope. Some words of announcement on the back in the foyer are the sign -up sheets for our
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Thanksgiving Fellowship dinner. I want to encourage you, if you haven't signed up, sign up for it.
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It is an amazing time, getting together with the brothers and sisters and celebrating what God has done for us.
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I would ask that you would sign up so that we know how many tables to set up.
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And if you sign up, there's also a sign -up for food. We could use people signing up for turkey and stuff like that.
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But we would love to spend that evening in fellowship with you. It's Saturday, November 18th.
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We are starting to fill up the wall on either side of the platform with Operation Christmas Child boxes.
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If you have yours and haven't completed it, or if you're thinking about it, there are more boxes available out in the foyer.
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Sandy and I were at, I think it's called Five Below. It's one of those stores where they have things that are of an affordable price.
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I guess it's at Senerton. We had a great time of fellowship. One of our sisters here at church was there and just sitting down and talking about what's going on.
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But then as we were checking out and we had our basket for stuff for a couple of boxes, the young man that was at the cash register, we just had an amazing moment of fellowship with him.
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He'd seen the boxes. He didn't know what they were about. And so we were able to share with him. It turns out he's a brother in the
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Lord. And what an amazing opportunity. Just an uplifting moment there in the store.
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These boxes are a great opportunity to give them to your neighbors. They very rarely say no to helping out to a child.
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Opens up the door to share the gospel message. We have another couple of weeks, I guess in two more weeks, we have to fill these out and bring these up Operation Christmas Child.
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I want to encourage you that if you have a desire, you're a second service person, maybe for a time come to the first service.
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Because there's a class going on in one of the rooms, it's Foundations of Christianity. It's in one of the classrooms being taught.
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If you're a new believer, young in your faith, it's a great opportunity to learn the basics of what this
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Christian faith is all about. If you are somebody who's been walking in the Lord for a while, but you'd like to reaffirm or maybe be part of helping others, the
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Foundations of Christianity class going on during second service in the classroom. Gentlemen, set your clocks tomorrow morning.
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It's an extra hour later, right? It's not 6 o 'clock, it's 7 o 'clock still. But join us at 6 o 'clock for our time of fellowship tomorrow morning here.
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And please come back today, tonight, at 6 o 'clock for our time of prayer. The emphasis on prayer,
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I think, is something, Jeff, you're going to talk about today. It is one of those powerful strengths, a weapon,
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I think is what you're going to call it, that we have. Join with us at 6 o 'clock tonight. We have a group that sits and prays for the needs of the church, for the needs of Christ's church here in Cornerstone.
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So join with us. Let's turn to prayer now. Lord, we come to you this morning with confidence, knowing you are sovereign, rejoicing that you are faithful.
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Everything you promise, you fulfill. We know that what we experience is within your sovereign will and what is in store for us, where we will go, where you would have us go, it's all according to your plan, determined from before time.
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Our profession, Lord, is that we surrender to you. We call on you. We know that the plans that you have for us ultimately bring glory to you.
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Father, as we near the celebration of the coming of your Son, we pray that we would keep our eyes focused on you and on the coming
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Messiah. We continue to pray, Lord, for your children in Israel.
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We ask for your protection in this time of conflict. We also pray,
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Lord, that you would be working in the hearts of individuals to turn to you. Be with us, we pray, this morning.
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Be with our pastor, Jeff. Give him the words that you would have him speak and prepare our hearts to hear and to follow.
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We pray in Jesus' name, amen. Will you stand with me?
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Amen.
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In the name of the Lord. Night and morning. Sing his glory.
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Now and forevermore. Earthly kingdoms.
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All dominions. Bow before him. Praise the name of the
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Lord. None as holy. None as worthy. Now and forevermore.
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Crowned with adoration. He is high above the nations.
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Who is like the Lord our God? Who is like the
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Lord our God? Our Lord Jesus.
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Wore our weakness. To redeem us. Praise the name of the
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Lord. In his kindness. He will keep us. Now and forevermore.
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Crowned with adoration. He is high above the nations.
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Who is like the Lord our God? Raised us. Raised us from the ashes.
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He has turned our grief to gladness. Who is like the
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Lord our God? Who is like the
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Lord our God? High and holy.
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Weak and lowly. There is no one like you.
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Our Messiah. Here beside us.
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There is no one like you. High and holy.
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Weak and lowly. There is no one like you.
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Our Messiah. Here beside us.
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There is no one like you. Crowned with adoration.
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He is high above the nations. Who is like the
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Lord our God? Raised us from the ashes.
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He has turned our grief to gladness. Who is like the
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Lord our God? Who is like the
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Lord our God? There is no one like our
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God. There is no one like our
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God. Amen. As we continue to sing, we sing that there is no other
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God before him because he took all of our shame on the cross.
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Let's continue to sing together about the cross and the pain and the suffering that he went through in preparation for communion this morning.
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Oh, to see the dawn of the darkest day.
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Christ on the road to salvary.
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Tied by sinful men. Torn and beaten then.
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Nailed to a cross of wood.
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This the power of the cross.
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Christ became sin for us.
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Took the blame. Bore the wrath.
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We stand forgiven at the cross.
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Oh, to see the pain written on your face.
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Bearing the awesome weight of sin.
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Every bitter thought. Every evil deed.
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Crowning your bloodstained brow.
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This the power of the cross.
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Christ became sin for us.
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Took the blame. Bore the wrath.
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We stand forgiven at the cross.
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Now the daylight flees.
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Now the ground beneath quakes at his maker.
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Bows his head. Curtain torn in two.
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Dead are raised to life. Finish the victory cry.
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This the power of the cross.
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Christ became sin for us.
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Took the blame. Bore the wrath.
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We stand forgiven at the cross.
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Oh, to seek my name written in the wounds.
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For through your suffering I am free.
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Death is crushed to death. Life is mine to live.
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Won through your selfless love.
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This the power of the cross.
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Son of God slain for us.
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What a love. What a cause.
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We stand forgiven at the cross.
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Lord, we stand before you, a redeemed people, only by your grace.
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It is by your grace that we are redeemed. It is by your grace that I am restored.
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Now I can freely walk into your arms.
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My Christ, my God, my Redeemer, my Savior, my
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Lord. Your grace that leads this sinner home from death to life forever and sings the song of righteousness by blood and not by merit.
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Your grace that reaches far and wide to every tribe and nation has called my heart to enter in the joy of your salvation.
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By grace I am redeemed. By grace
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I am restored. And now I freely walk into the arms of Christ my
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Lord. Your grace that I cannot explain not by my earthly wisdom.
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The prince of blood was traded for this sinner.
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By grace I am redeemed. By grace
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I am restored. And now I freely walk into the arms of Christ my
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Lord. Let praise rise up and overflow.
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My song resound forever. For grace will see me welcomed home to walk beside my
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Savior. By grace I am redeemed.
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By grace I am restored. And now
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I freely walk into the arms of Christ my
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Lord. By grace I am redeemed.
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By grace I am restored. And now
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I freely walk into the arms of Christ my
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Lord. By grace I am redeemed.
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By grace I am restored. And now
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I freely walk into the arms of Christ my
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Lord. Amen. You may be seated. That's a wonderful, wonderful doctrine, song.
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Good morning church. Good morning family. Good morning. Hi. I'm doing the reflections on our communion today.
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Our battle for joy. Is joy just a feeling or a divine presence?
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And we are fast approaching the holiday season and usually in the holiday season it presents a chance for us to love and care, be giving, be around family.
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And the one thing that seems to be missing, particularly in this year, is this idea of joy.
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We're living through a confusing time as the world is reflecting now and there just seems no joy in it.
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We're looking around us and we see wars and internal problems in our country.
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We're seeing the woke agenda. We're seeing all these different things. There's nothing that seems to be joyful that's coming out of that.
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And a lot of the things that people are trying to press here about joy is they want to replace it with this sort of sense of justice or social justice as they want to call it.
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As you may know here at Cornerstone we have a ministry called Agape and the goal is to help those who are amidst the suffering to come together as a family and uplift each other through love,
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God's word, and action. But ultimately we try to find joy through God's sovereign grace and providence.
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It's this everlasting truth that each of us need to embrace. But there's people here, right here, right now at Cornerstone that struggles to find joy in their
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Christian faith. They feel that life is destined to be full of sorrow and frustration.
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They suffer from the idea that God takes little to no part or interest in the affairs of mankind. And when it comes to our happiness or joy this issue goes beyond theology and doctrine.
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The idea the idea that God does not want us to have active joy in our lives is not only false but it's also the main tactic that Satan uses to sway believers of God's authority and power in our lives.
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Let me prove it. Starting way back in the beginning of Genesis in the garden
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Satan lied that God is holding back joy and leading them to committing man's first sin.
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And his tactic has always been to divide and conquer the believer, the church, the family.
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Yet God's truth is that he is actively involved in the presence of joy in the life of the believer.
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In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul acknowledges this. If in this life only we have hope in Christ we are of all men most miserable, but in fact
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Christ has been raised from the dead the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.
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For as in Adam all die so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
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So for the believer and the non -believer we would be miserable if this wasn't true.
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But it is. And we celebrate today a communion because of this. This doesn't mean that we diminish or ignore pain, depression or suffering.
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But if we want joy we need to know how. So let me give you four reasons what that means.
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First of all, don't settle for less. Don't make the mistake of searching for happiness instead of joy.
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You know, you say to yourself what is happiness? Understand joy is different than happiness. Happiness relates to words of what happens or is happenstance.
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It's what you feel when something good comes in your life. However, isn't it funny that happiness is fleeting?
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Our world constantly markets happiness yet it doesn't really explain it. What it does though is it tries to convince you to replace happiness with things, places, relationships for happiness.
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But joy is different. Joy comes from the Greek word chara and it's unrelated to the shifting circumstances of our lives.
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Joy resides deep down and is unchanged through the winds of struggle, the tribulations and the turmoils we go through.
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Chara is based solely on the divine realities that comes only through our
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Lord Jesus Christ, our God and the Holy Spirit. I'll give you an example. Paul and Silas.
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Joy allowed Paul and Silas to sing praises while in prison. In Acts 16, 23 and 25 it says
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And when they were inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them in the prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely.
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Having received this order, he put them in the inner prison, fastened their feet in the stocks. The Philippian jailer though converted about midnight.
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Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns and the prisoners were listening to them. The second thing is, understand that the source of joy is not dependent on circumstances but rises above them.
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It stems from our unshakable faith in God's goodness and his faithfulness. It's not a product of our life.
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It is produced by the one who gives life. Joy is the fruit of the Spirit as in Galatians 5 .22,
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meaning that this comes from in Christ as a quality that we will embrace. So we have a reason for joy.
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But what if we say to ourselves, we don't recognize joy in our life. Don't make the mistake of thinking that joy replaces faith.
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Our faith in Jesus is joy. Corrie Tenbaum, and if people are familiar with that, she wrote a book called
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The Hiding Place. Her ministry was to become leaders in the Dutch underground in hiding
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Jewish people in their homes, especially built rooms aiding their escape from the Nazis. She says this, if you look at the world, you'll be stressed.
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If you look within you, you'll be depressed. If you look at God, you'll be at rest.
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Romans 8 expands on that. It says, but God showed his love for us in that while we were still sinners,
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Christ died for us. So remember that our joy that we have is eternal.
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It's with us now, and it's going to be with us when we see him face to face. Psalms 5 .8
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says it like this, but let us, we take refuge in you, rejoice. Let them ever sing for joy and spread your protection over them that those who love your name may exalt you.
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So as we approach the holiday season, remember our joy comes from the one who came into the world to save us.
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Our joy is and will be forever in us, with us, and through us. May this joy arise in you today.
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Let's pray. Father, we thank you, Lord, for your truth, for your sacrifice that you gave, sending your son down to die on the cross for us.
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We thank you, Lord, for our family we have here, the opportunity and the privilege to partake in communion, to celebrate that, the resurrection of your son.
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We pray for each one of us, Lord, that if we struggle in this area in our walk, Lord, that you would just open our hearts and be open to continue to live according to what you want us to do.
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In your name, Jesus name, amen. So as a reminder, if you are, you're not obliged to take communion, so don't feel like you're being pressured to do that, but if you feel that it's appropriate, please do and partake in it.
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Okay. Let me pray here. Father, thank you, Lord, as we come to your table now to take the communion and we pray that each one of us reviews what is going on in our heart, have us to be right with you, help us to be honorable to you,
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Lord. In this we say, in your name, Jesus name, amen. 1
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Corinthians 11, 23 and 25, for I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the
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Lord Jesus on that night when he was betrayed took bread and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body which is for you, do this in remembrance of me.
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In the same way, he also he took the cup after supper saying, this is the cup the new covenant, do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.
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Well, good morning. Good morning. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father, thank you for the sacrifice of your son.
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Lord, as we take this bread and cup and remember the sacrifice that was made, all we can say is thank you,
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Lord. You have done it all. You have fought for us, paid for our sin in full.
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We bring nothing to the table. You bring your own body and blood,
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Jesus. Thank you. And now, Lord, as we open your word, we pray that you would sanctify us by the truth.
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Your word is truth. In Jesus' name, amen. Please open with me to Psalm chapter 2 where we will begin today simply by a reading of a psalm.
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The weapons of God's warfare are absolute, unmitigated power to bring to pass whatsoever
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God wills to do. When we talk about spiritual warfare, when we consider the unseen world, angels versus demons, good versus evil,
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I don't want you to think that God is locked up in a struggle and hoping to win, wringing his hands.
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I would rather you think like Psalm 2 that God has absolute, unmitigated power to win every victory.
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Let's read Psalm 2. Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
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The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the
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Lord and against his anointed, saying, Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.
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Listen, he who sits in the heavens laughs. The Lord holds them in derision.
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Then he will speak to them in his wrath and terrify them in his fury, saying, As for me,
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I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill. I will tell of the decree.
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The Lord said to me, You are my son. Today I have begotten you. Ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage and the ends of the earth your possession.
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You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.
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Now therefore, O kings, be wise. Be warned, O rulers of the earth.
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Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the sun, lest he be angry and you perish in the way.
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For his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
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The picture here is of the Son of God, the Anointed One, as referenced in verse 2.
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The begotten Son, verse 7. The Lord, verse 11. He is the
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Son of God. He is not presented here as weak and helpless in a war.
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Rather, quite the opposite. He is presented as the powerful Son of God who can dash to pieces every enemy and destroy them like a potter's vessel with a rod of iron.
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He is described here in absolute majesty and power.
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He conquers all enemies. Now notice then the call to all people in verse 12.
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Kiss the sun. As we turn to John 18 this morning, we will see
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Judas Iscariot kiss the sun. But it is not in humble submission.
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It is not bowing down in reverence. It is rather a feigned kiss. It is a false kiss.
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A false allegiance by which he betrays the Son of God. Now, the weapons of God's warfare are unmitigated power, but human weapons can be used for good or evil.
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And there is a struggle on earth between good and evil. Weapons are involved in this, often for good.
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In America's case, God through weaponry brought us victory in the Revolutionary War.
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Likewise, in the Civil War, God brought victory in World War I and World War II.
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And in each case, the human weaponry was part of that victory. Machine guns in trenches.
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And then by World War II, tanks and planes and even nuclear bombs.
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There are instruments of weaponry that are not even physical at play in the world today.
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Do you realize that very often when you're holding a device in your hand, there are forces seeking to persuade you of lies, to convince you of lies.
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TikTok, very famously controlled by the Chinese, will like to push a certain narrative about the
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Palestinians and about Israel. This is an instrument of information warfare.
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Right now in the war that's happening in Israel, there are weapons designed to kill.
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We saw the paragliders. We saw machine guns and all manner of destruction that came about because of that.
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In fact, Hamas has created an intricate system of tunnels under Gaza.
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Did you know though that Israel has created a weapon of its own to fight back against that weaponry?
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One of their weapons is a bomb that doesn't destroy but rather it releases a great amount of foam -like substance which then hardens into concrete and seals off the tunnel.
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Hamas' counteraction to that weapon is human shields. They will take hostages and bring innocent people down into the tunnels so that Israel cannot use that weapon sealing off the tunnel.
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Warfare taking place in our world. Weaponry, sometimes used for good and sometimes for evil.
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Israel will actually drop shaker bombs on buildings before they blow them up in order to warn the innocent people to get out.
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It's about an hour before the bomb hits, they'll drop something that shakes the building indicating that they're about to destroy that building because they're after Hamas, not innocent people.
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Conversely, Hamas is forcing people to remain in buildings or in that war zone because they're using them as human shields.
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Instruments of warfare, human weaponry. When you look at the war in Israel, you could stop there and just focus on the tactical, the physical war that's happening in Israel.
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But understand this, behind the physical warfare that's taking place in Israel right now, there is spiritual warfare associated with it.
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Michael the prince angel who is guardian over Israel, wars for Israel and demonic powers over wicked kingdoms make war in spiritual places.
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This is happening and has been since Abraham was called out of Ur of the
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Chaldees and called to be the chosen people of God. Satan has ever desired to destroy
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Abraham's descendants and so they have been targeted by wicked
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Haman and then more recently in the previous generation by the
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Nazi forces. Hitler was an occultist and a Darwinist and many of his people sought the destruction of the
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Jewish people of course. Spiritual forces at play, invisible in this world but very much affecting the world in which we live.
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The same is true about the spiritual wars that you and I fight.
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There is a temptation for us to deal only in the natural, in the physical.
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There could be a problem at work, some situation or at school or a relational conflict in your family or in your friend group.
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We very often observe the warfare, so to speak, going on in our lives as a physical issue when in fact there are spiritual foundational causes for the things that happen in this world.
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Turn with me to John chapter 18 and we are going to see this interplay between the spiritual and the physical.
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Judas will kiss the sun in betrayal betraying the son of God to the enemy.
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Peter will take out his sword and fight physically for the defense of Messiah.
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But meanwhile he will miss the real nature of the war in which he was called to fight which was prayer.
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The weapons of our warfare today we'll learn about prayer, the name of Jesus, the word of God, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but are mighty for the tearing down of strongholds.
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And the weapons that we wield are stronger than our enemy's weapons.
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How many of you have looked out at the world recently and been dismayed by the state of affairs?
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Wars all over the place and America very much funding these wars. War, rumors of war.
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I hear that the Euphrates River is all but dried up. What's happening there?
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Well, Revelation 16 .12 says that in the end time the Euphrates River will be dried up to allow a warring group from the east to come at Jerusalem.
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There is drama in the political world. There is unrest on college campuses.
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There is killing in American cities day after day to the point where it's almost become normal.
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And how much of our country has come to accept the brutalizing, the killing of innocent babies in the womb without batting an eye?
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This is a devastating situation if you look at it from the natural. But if you understand what
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Christ said, that the gates of hell shall not prevail against his church, you remember that the weapons that we wield, prayer, the name above all names, the word of God, these weapons of righteousness in our right hand and in our left are greater than the weapons the enemy wields.
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Greater is he who is in us than he who is in the world. Now God we know is omnipotent in power.
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Nothing that he purposes can be thwarted by the enemy. We are instruments in God's hands.
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And so whereas we experience defeat, Christians, Assyrian believers leading into World War I were led out in death marches into the wilderness in Turkey just before the fall of the
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Ottoman Empire. Over a million Christians died by genocide.
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And very often as you look at the physical, it looks like we're losing. Do you ever feel like the church is losing?
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Sometimes it looks that way. But greater is he who is in us. Peter only knew to take up the sword when he should have been praying.
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Let's read about it. John chapter 18. We'll take a couple of verses at a time and just read verses 1 to 11 as I preach through the passage.
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So let's begin with the first two verses. John 18, 1 and 2. And the first thing I want you to see is that meeting with Jesus in the peaceful garden prepares us for war.
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Of course you guys know the story. What were the disciples doing in the peaceful garden? Sleeping.
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And I'm sure nobody here has a problem with that. You set out to pray and the next thing you know you're just zonked out.
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I'm probably the only one who struggles with that, right? You go to a time of prayer and lay down before God and you're sleeping.
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Peter and the disciples knew what that was like. Verses 1 and 2. When Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the brook
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Kidron where there was a garden which he and his disciples entered.
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Now Judas who betrayed him also knew the place, Mark, the place for Jesus often met with his, there, with his disciples.
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Christian, you need a place to go meet with Jesus. For Daniel, it was on the banks of the
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Tigris River. He would go spend time in that unique place, Daniel 10, 4 and that's where God answered his prayer.
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He was in a 21 day fast and prayer time with God, but he had a place to go at a beautiful river.
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Maybe for you it will be down the shore or up to a mountain or maybe Mount Laurel which is actually considered a mount because it's called
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Mount Laurel. You know there's a mountain in Mount Laurel? Mount. Maybe go up there to pray.
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Not in the winter. But do you have a place to go meet with God?
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This garden, we are told, is where Jesus would often go to meet with his disciples.
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It was a place away from the world. A place of prayer. It was also a garden.
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I think that's significant. One, from Matthew, we know it was a mountain because it's the
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Mount of Olives, so the bottom portion of the mountain, and Jesus would go farther up the mountain to pray and again, the
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Mount of Olives is not like Mount Everest. It's pretty much like Mount Laurel or Mount Holly.
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Not so big. It's just a ridge east of Jerusalem. You cross this little brook called the
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Kidron and then you ascend up this little mountain. It was a place of prayer.
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It was also a garden. And it was a garden in which
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Adam and Eve rebelled against God. Adam was told not to eat of a certain tree of the garden, the fruit.
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Instead, he rebelled and sin entered the world. Now you have the
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Son of God go into a garden representing himself as the second Adam. He will sweat drops of blood in agony.
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I'm sure the devil tempting him all along not to go through with the cross.
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But just like Adam fell into sin, the second Adam will be victorious in the garden.
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The garden theme is clear from the text because verse 1 emphasizes that point where there was a garden.
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But did you know that the Garden of Eden was itself on a mountain? Did you know the garden was mountainous?
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Because we're told that the four rivers flowed down from it. And in Ezekiel, we learn that Lucifer was in the
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Garden of Eden and there it is called the Mountain of God. God establishes covenant on mountaintops.
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I found this so interesting as I was studying it. Every covenant of the six covenants in the
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Bible, each one was established associated with a mountain. A mountain.
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In Eden, which was raised up among the mountains according to Ezekiel, the
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Adamic covenant. Noah getting out of the boat where it rested on Mount Ararat received the
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Noahic covenant. Then you get Abraham called out of Ur of the Chaldees. He receives covenant.
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Then he goes up to the mountain Moriah after nearly sacrificing his son,
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Isaac. The covenant is reaffirmed on Mount Moriah. Moses, Mount Sinai.
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David, Mount Zion wanting to build a temple on the Temple Mount. And God gives him the
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Davidic covenant. Then Jesus here goes to the mountainside. Remembering the earlier covenants, all of them to be fulfilled in him, he obedient in the garden will then the very next day go to a mountain called
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Golgotha. On a hill far away stood the old rugged cross.
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And there up the mountain he will carry the wood of his cross just like Isaac had put the wood of his own sacrifice and carried it up the mountain.
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Jesus on the mount of the Lord it will be provided. He will lay down on the cross be lifted up on the mountain to be displayed and mocked among men.
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But in doing this, he would initiate the new covenant in his blood.
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The new covenant, the shedding of his blood for the forgiveness of sin. This would be accomplished the next day on the mountain.
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So here you see Jesus obedient in the garden because he knows where he's going.
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His hour has come. Now don't miss this point church. Peter at this point in time was called to pray.
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The disciples were meant to be in spiritual war. Jesus had told them in the garden, watch and pray that you fall not into temptation.
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But they failed to take that time to pray and instead they fall into temptation.
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Peter will deny him three times before the rooster crows. He should have been praying but he was sleeping.
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This is the first great lesson from this text. The weapon of prayer.
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This prepares us for the battles we fight. Notice next in verses three to five that the enemy's weapons are very intimidating and from all outward appearances look dominant over the forces of God.
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Look at verses three to five. So Judas having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the
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Pharisees went there with lanterns and torches and weapons.
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Then Jesus knowing all that would happen to him came forward and said to them, whom do you seek?
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They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said to them, I am he, Judas who betrayed him was standing with them.
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So picture Judas now no longer as a disciple, he is an enemy and he has brought with him enemies of the true
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God. It includes the Jewish chief priests assigned officers so these are kind of like the temple guard, policemen in the temple that Rome allowed the
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Jewish people to have. But notice also, verse three, it includes a band of soldiers.
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How many people is this? And what did they look like? Well, verse twelve will tell us the band of soldiers and their captain.
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A band of soldiers headed by a captain was called a spira. The Roman spira had 600 soldiers.
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They were based out of the Antonia fortress on the northwest corner of the temple.
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The Romans had built a high fortress and during the time of festivals the
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Romans would come in force to make sure they're able to keep the peace. And with all of these soldiers a detachment could have been as many as 600.
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Now it's possible they broke off say 200 troops or maybe a bit less. We don't know the number that came to the garden.
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But notice this from verse three. They've got lanterns and torches and weapons.
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They need the lanterns and the torches because you know what they're expecting? A manhunt.
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When they got to the garden to arrest Jesus they expected him to be on the run. And they were going to look under every olive tree with their lanterns and torches and find him.
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And drag him out. That's their expectation. They have swords on their side.
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They look extremely intimidating. This band of Roman soldiers with the Jewish soldiers and Judas the betrayer.
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Very intimidating. Church, listen to this. The world puts on airs.
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The world puffs up their chest in pride. The world flexes their muscles against the church.
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They wear weapons at their side and they seek to intimidate Christians in the world.
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We are in the world but not of it. In the days of Joshua there was a great battle to be fought.
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For God had given them the promised land. And they were willing to go take the hill country because they thought they could do it.
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But they looked at the plains and they refused to go into the plains because the people of the plains had iron chariots.
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And they were afraid of the iron chariots. How could they defeat? And we learn from history that these
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Phoenician people had great chariots. They even outnumbered what the Egyptians had.
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Many of them. When historians have looked at this claim from the
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Bible they mock Christianity and the claims of the Bible because they say this was prior to the
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Iron Age. How could there be iron chariots prior to the
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Iron Age? Seems like a difficult problem.
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They hadn't learned yet to heat the metals to create iron. So how was there iron chariots?
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They'll further mock and say chariots made of iron drawn by a horse is a scientific impossibility.
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It would be far too heavy. How could this chariot be drawn by a horse if it was made of iron?
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There is an archaeological institute called the Armstrong Institute of Biblical Archaeology.
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You want to know what they discovered? Iron did exist before the
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Iron Age. It was gathered profusely from meteors.
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Meteorites. There would be iron in meteorite remains and this was a metal that was gathered and regarded as a precious metal of ten times more valuable than diamonds or gold.
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You want to know what else they discovered about chariots? Chariots were often decorated with gold.
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Now I have a question for you. Does gold make a chariot more effective in war?
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No. It's decorative. And there is a metal ten times more valuable than gold in that time period and that was iron gleaned from meteorites.
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You know what I'm telling you? They took iron, what little bit they had, and put it on their chariots.
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It might be flashing here on one part. It might have been used to some degree to reinforce a joint or something like this, but the chariot itself was in fact made of wood decorated with iron.
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That's what historians have discovered and biblical archaeologists have affirmed. But I want to ask you, what did it look like in Judges 1, 18 and 19?
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So formidable in the eyes of the Israelites, just like when they were first told to take the
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Promised Land, they couldn't do it because we look like grasshoppers in our eyes, the giants in the land.
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It looked intimidating. There's no way they could conquer the Promised Land. There again when it was time,
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Judges 1, 18 and 19, they refused to fight in the plains for fear, fear of the iron chariot.
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The iron chariot from outside appearance was intimidating. They had hundreds of them, probably thousands.
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And iron was used at some part. That's why the Bible is true. It's exactly as described in the
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Bible. But the fear of the people was completely unfounded. In the same way, you are often, and I am often, locked in prison behind doors that we are able to break open.
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We are intimidated by this world. We live in fear over certain things that seem insurmountable.
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Mountains we could never climb. Weapons formed against us that seem too mighty to break.
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But we don't know the power of the weapons of righteousness in our right hand and in our left.
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Look what happened verses 6 to 9 when Jesus simply spoke a word.
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When Jesus said to them, I am He. They drew back and fell to the ground.
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Now you have to understand from John how this phrase has developed. In the
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Greek, you know it. Ego eimi. It simply is I am. Time and again,
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Jesus has proclaimed who He is. Ego eimi. I am the bread of life.
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I am the way, the truth, and the life. I am the light of the world. I am the door. I am the good shepherd.
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Now, when they come and ask for Him, He simply says I am.
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He's declaring who He is, the divine son, the anointed one of Psalm chapter 2.
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Every enemy formed against Him, He laughs.
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Psalm 2, He holds them in derision. They have no power over Him. Church, if you don't understand anything else about what's happening in John 18, get this.
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No one took His life. He gave it willingly. He had all power.
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Look what happens in verse 6. When He says ego eimi, I am. When He declares who
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He is, the soldiers, all of their weapons in tow, for all of their pomp and circumstance, they fall back on the ground like dead men, we're told in the other gospel synoptics.
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They're rendered completely powerless and helpless in the presence of the king. This is to show who holds all power.
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And so He asks them again, I love that, whom do you seek? And I can kind of imagine that the tone in their voice has changed a little bit at this point in the story.
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They come into the garden boastful and proud, seeking Jesus of Nazareth, and now
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He asks them again, and I think they can barely squeak out His name. Fearful, Jesus of Nazareth, and He answered,
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I told you that I am He. So He's willing now to go with them, but look what
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He does next. So if you seek Me, let these men go.
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He protects His own. He cares for His own. Not one of them will be lost.
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Some Christians live a lot like the
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Israelites in fear of every chariot, iron chariots. They look like grasshoppers in their own eyes.
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Other Christians live more like Jehaziel. In the day of Jehoshaphat, Israel once again was surrounded by enemies, the
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Moabites and the Ammonites, they joined forces to crush Israel, and Israel was scared, but they went and stood before the
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Lord and began to pray. The Bible tells us, 2 Chronicles chapter 20, that the
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Israelites, the men as well as the children, the little ones, they all went and stood before the
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Lord. They sought His face, and the Spirit of God fell upon Jehaziel, and He stood up and told the people, do not fear, this battle is not yours, it is the
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Lord's. The battle belongs to the Lord, stand firm, hold your position, see the salvation of the
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Lord on your behalf. O Judah and Jerusalem, do not be afraid and do not be dismayed, tomorrow go out against them, the
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Lord will be with you. How do you live your life?
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Are you fighting with physical weapons? That is your intellect, your natural abilities.
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When you see a problem, are you going to go tackle that problem in the flesh with carnal weapons?
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Or will you go before the Lord and seek His face and call upon His name? And the
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Spirit of the living God will fill you like He did them. And now, you're not fighting your battles, but the
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Spirit of the Lord is fighting for you. The battle belongs to the Lord. And so notice what happens next, verses 9 through 11.
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This was to fulfill the Word that He had spoken. Of those whom you gave
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Me, I have lost a few. Doesn't say that, right?
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I have lost not one. His high priestly prayer in the previous chapter,
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He prayed this way. And now to fulfill this, He is accomplishing this work.
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He is keeping them. Then Simon Peter. Oh, don't you love this part of the story? Remember, is
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Peter fighting the spiritual war by prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, or is he sleeping?
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Sleeping. So when he gets up and he sees the soldier, do you think he's going to come at this soldier with weapons of righteousness or of the flesh?
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He's had this struggle all along. Remember Matthew chapter 16? Jesus began to tell them that He must be handed over and suffer many things and be crucified and killed.
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And Peter said, Not so, Lord! It will never happen to you. And Jesus said,
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Get thee behind Me, Satan, for you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of man.
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Peter was living in the flesh very often. This is prior to Pentecost when he would receive the filling of the
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Spirit. But in the flesh, verses 10 and 11, Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant and cut off his right ear.
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I don't think he was swinging for the ear. He was going for the head, right? And the guy ducks his head, gets his ear chopped off.
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Jesus said to Peter, now we know Jesus also healed him at that moment, but He said to Peter, listen to these words,
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Put your sword into its sheath. Shall I not drink the cup that the
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Father has given Me? We have to be wise in the use of our weapons.
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Question for you. When there are pacifist Christians that say that you should never bear arms, is that biblical?
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Not at all. Did you notice something? Peter had a sword. He was armed.
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He was carrying a sword in a sheath. That means there is a time. If there is some wicked, perverted man trying to grab a child, it is time for you to go to war.
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You may have to grab the umbrella in your car or grab just your fist, whatever it is.
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You use everything at your disposal to fight that man. Physically fight him.
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Rescue that child. When there is a time for war, Ecclesiastes, it is a time for war.
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World War II, Hitler, go to war. But we must be wise in the use of these weapons.
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In fact, with these weapons, Jesus actually said, Luke 22 36, if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.
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Do you know that? There is wisdom in that because you will need this. There is a time for war.
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But this is not the time. Here he was to understand the will of the Father. Jesus had been teaching them this and he was going like a lamb to the slaughter.
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He himself, allowing himself to be led away and killed as a sacrifice. Peter should have known and submitted to the will of God.
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What he needed to be doing was fighting the spiritual battle. And so in closing, so it is with us.
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How many of you are fighting battles right now? I'm sure everybody has some kind of battle you're fighting.
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It might just be within yourself. It might be some depression. It might be some anxiety.
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It might be a physical illness. It might be relational. My question is, is this battle against your own flesh, against the world, against the devil?
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Are you trying to fight it like Peter fought his battles? Are you drawing a sword to fight a spiritual battle?
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God has given us weapons. Paul tells us we have weapons of righteousness in our right hand and in our left.
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And he says, 2 Corinthians 10 -4 and then into chapter 11, he says the weapons we fight with are not carnal.
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What does that mean? Not fleshly, not of this world. But they are mighty for the tearing down of strongholds.
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In that context, he goes on to say, we demolish arguments and we take them captive to make them obedient to Christ.
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The weapon there is our biblical knowledge. The knowledge of the word to tear down every deceitful spirit that teaches false doctrine.
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We have biblical knowledge to fight false teaching. He says he'll punish every disobedience.
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You have apostolic authority in the church to fight disobedience in the church, he'll go on to say.
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He talks about defeating deceit with truth. That's a weapon. And he says that he will take victory over the proud with humility.
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Your humble attitude in the world is one of the weapons with which you fight.
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But there are three in this passage that are the primary in view. Verses 1 and 2, you have the weapon of prayer.
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When's the last time you went alone? I'm not just talking about praying all day. You know, you're going for a run. You're driving to the store.
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You're praying. You're seeking God. Praying unceasingly. But here, there needs to be a place of prayer.
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Consecrated, where you go alone with God and you take time and you take up that weapon and you fight spiritual battles.
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Prayer. The second in the passage is the name. Who do you seek?
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Jesus of Nazareth. I am he. Do you wield the name of Jesus Christ in the wars you fight?
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I tell you what, when you bring Jesus into the equation, the whole dynamic of that argument changes quickly.
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Because there's power in the name. When you preach Christ, demons flee.
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Go out and evangelize and preach the name of Christ and you'll see everything in your spiritual life turn right side up.
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There's power in the name. And the third, you know it, the word of God. John 18 verse 9.
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This was to fulfill the word. The word. You have a sword.
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But it's not Peter's physical sword. Yes, it's good to be armed in case you're needing to fight off an intruder or go to war.
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But here we are talking about the spiritual sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. To take it up and read it daily.
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To meditate like Psalm 1 by the river spending time in the word.
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Drinking deeply from the words of scripture. When you're doing that, you're spiritually strong and you will win these battles.
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So what are your three weapons this morning? Prayer, the name and the word.
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Go take up those weapons because that's where our warfare is won. Let's pray. Amen.
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So Father God, first we do want to pray for Israel. Because we recognize the war that they're fighting is not just about bombs.
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Or these inventions that seal off tunnels with concrete. As awesome as those things are, and Lord we recognize that you were with them in developing those things.
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As awesome as they are, there is a spiritual component to the war in Israel. And it's happening even all around the world.
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A rising tide of hatred against the Jewish people, against Israel. On college campuses, what's happening right now is not merely carnal, but there is a spiritual deceit happening.
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And so Lord, right now as your church, we are praying for Israel. Lord, let there be no more
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Holocaust. Never again, Lord. Protect them from the evil one. God, we know there are spiritual forces at war right now.
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Demons in heavenly places. Angels in principalities at war.
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And so we, your church, are praying. Deploy angels, God. Give the victory.
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We pray for the complete elimination of Hamas in Palestine. And Lord, protect the
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Palestinian people that are innocent. The ones who are not involved in the fight. Allow them to escape the war zone.
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We pray for Israel. We also, more importantly, Lord, pray for the salvation of souls.
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Jew and Gentile alike, that they would believe the good news of Jesus Christ. And that the Jews would look upon the one they pierced and mourn for him.
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Send a mighty revival. This weapon of prayer, Lord, we wield it right now in the name of Jesus.
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Father, we also pray for those who are struggling this morning in some kind of battle. Some kind of struggle that they are in.
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Remind them, Lord, that they wrestle not against flesh and blood. But against these principalities and powers of darkness.
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And so, take on the whole armor of God. Lord, we pray that we would be soldiers. Make us soldiers,
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Lord. Give us the breastplate of righteousness. The helmet of salvation. Feet fitted with the gospel of peace.
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The shield of faith. The sword of the Spirit. Lord, equip us for the spiritual war. And help us to pray with all perseverance.
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And so, to stand. I pray for victory for your people. Whoever is struggling here this morning with some conflict,
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I pray for a breakthrough in Jesus' name. We pray for victory over the darkness.
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Deliverance for your people. Set us free, Lord. And give us the power of your
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Holy Spirit at work in us. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead, now dwelling in us.
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Fill us, Lord. Help us to fight these battles with weapons of righteousness.
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Prayer in the name and the word. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.
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I once was lost, but now
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I'm found. Was blind, but now
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I see. It was grace that taught my heart to fear.
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And grace my fears relieved.
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How precious did that grace appear.
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The hour I first believed. My chains are gone,
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I've been set free. My God, my Savior has ransomed me.
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And like a flood, His mercy reigns, unending love.
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Amazing grace. The Lord had promised good to me,
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His word my hope secures.
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He will now my shield and portion be, as long as life endures.
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My chains are gone, I've been set free.
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My God, my Savior has ransomed me.
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And like a flood, His mercy reigns, unending love.
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Amazing grace. The earth shall soon dissolve like snow, the sun forbear to shine.
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But God who called me here below will be forever mine.
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Will be forever mine.
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You are forever mine.
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Now to Him who is able to strengthen you, according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages, but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal
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God to bring about the obedience of faith. To the only wise
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God be glory forevermore, through Jesus Christ. Amen. We will know you as we lift our voices one till that day.
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We will praise you for your never -ending grace, and we will keep on singing on that glorious day.
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Eternity around us in His throne, though we grieve our losses at day.
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We will see you shining brighter than the sun on that day.
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Just one till that day.
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We will praise you for your never -ending grace, and we will keep on singing on that glorious day.
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We will see you shining brighter than the sun on that day.
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We will know you as we lift our voices one till that day.
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We will praise you for your never -ending grace, and we will keep on singing on that glorious day.
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On that day. We will see you shining brighter than the sun on that day.
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As we lift our voices one till that day.
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We will praise you for your never -ending singing on that glorious day.
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Singing on that glorious day. How deep the farce beyond that He should give
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His only Son to make a righteous treasure.
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How could I have seen Him turn