Maintaining Faith…Don’t Get Shipwrecked!

Maintaining Faith…Don’t Get Shipwrecked!                     By Kelly Durant  

 

1 Tim 1:18-2018 This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare; 19 Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:

20 Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.

 

2. We are entering into the summer, then soon the fall season! The European immigrants who arrived to this country were worried about getting food stored up for the winter or they were going to die, and sadly many in that first colony did die in that first winter! They did not die at sea but in the new land, which for them was a type of Promised Land escaping persecution.  

In the end all of us as strangers on this earth are preparing to migrate to heaven but some will not make it through the winter of the cold harsh persecutions on earth if not maintaining the faith in God which strengthens the soul, fighting to be uncontaminated by the world conserving their lives and of those of our loved ones and family! We have a daily fight!

   

This is a story about a poor young man, somewhat lazy, and an old rich man; the lesson in this story is applicable in real life today. The world is full of people, some like this young man, who do not think things through, to assess the whole picture. Observing the patterns of rule in dictatorships in Latin America and the Caribbean, we note that some people who are uneducated and unfaithful in little things believe they deserve position and power just for the fact that they are poor. The young man employed by the rich man in this conversation was envious that the rich man had a yacht, and it took a crew to maintain it in top running shape. The young man thought, “Life is not fair, why doesn’t someone give me a yacht? He thought, I deserve to have one as much as the rich man! He wanted one but he was not willing to work day and night like the rich man had to do to get it. 

 

The young man even thought, I am going to ask him to just give me his yacht! He has so much money he could give it to me and just get another one! 

So he spoke up the next day, “I think you have so much that you could just give me your yacht! Share the wealth, give me your yacht! The rich man paused a minute and then he answered quite wisely, “I could give you this yacht, and I have been generous in the past to people, but there is one big problem; if I give you my yacht, you would not be able to afford to maintain it!” For anything in life, a person must have the means and preparation to do the upkeep or it would be a waste and like sinking the ship! Each person must seek wisdom to measure and judge what they are capable of maintaining and with God you must do one step at a time to build up to greater things. Capacity and faith go hand in hand and it is a learning, growing, and applying timely process. 

 

3. Certain material things you and I are not trained in or called to maintain in this life such as a yacht but faith is not one of them! God requires faith from everyone! Faith requires work as we practice God’s Word and faith is something free strengthening anyone, rich or poor. The question today is: are you maintaining your faith? You as a Christian are as a rich man or woman with a promised eternal life in heaven, even having blessings on earth, but are you maintaining your yacht, an anecdote comparable to your soul, keeping it clean and pure and running for God as He expects? 

 

There are many people in life, sometimes like you and myself, that have at one time or another wanted things, and then more things, and then power and more power. 

It is quite sad when you and I see people killing their selves sacrificing their time with God and other with Christians in fellowship (on Sundays or any day) trying to catch hold of their material dreams, like reaching for the yacht of their dreams, only to wake up one day to see that they are shipwrecking their faith. 

 

Jesus stated “You cannot serve God and mammon” (the God of riches) and people saved by Jesus will always be fighting in the long process to subdue their flesh, seeking to overcome their weakness in faith.  The usual case is people have their own set of dreams and priorities but they’re not God’s, and they pursue the illusive rusting rotting material goods of this world that sink easily in a storm. How tragic that a majority of people are feeding their bodies yet starving their souls… shipwrecking their faith!

 

4. How disturbing that you and I see people with shipwrecked faith every day and they do not even see it! By not caring about God, their own soul and the salvation of others, these people have taken on so much water that they are sinking fast and they don’t perceive it! How many people do we see in and out of our Corps church doors? It is very sad they do not stay to learn to grow in faith! People are ignorant to the fact that their soul and relationship with God must be constantly maintained or it gets lost at sea! Maintaining faith is maintaining a good conscience as expressed in verse 19 of 1 Timothy today!

 

We must fight to keep it! This is what holiness is all about! William Booth stated that as long as men go in and out, in and out of prison as they do, I’ll fight, I’ll fight to the very end! We can apply that to church where God’s Word is studied too! We who have faith must fight to help those who do not have any! Our doctrine commands us to maintain salvation, which is in essence our faith. Doctrine 9 ‘We believe that continuance in a state of salvation depends upon continued obedient faith in Christ’. But it is more than one’s own faith at risk, it is our influence of helping others in their faith.

 

Many people have a shipwrecked faith and they do not even care or are aware of it! They are going nowhere in life! They come a while to church in certain times of the year when things are pretty, but they are not maintaining cleanliness in their lives and conscience as God wants them to.  They remain their same old carnal bad selves, and Jesus calls us to be changed, to be radically and totally like Him, humble, loving, and helpful being a new creation!  If a person continues in sin after learning of God’s word, then they ruin and sink their selves out of belligerence, not out of ignorance. 

 

5. Imagine that big yacht not maintained; it gets rusty in the hull, has the wood deck rotted from the sun and saltwater, and it could sink at any moment! This is what the scripture is referring to as it describes many people’s lives today. 

19 Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:

 

There are people in this church and in all the churches who think they are saved and Christian but they actually have little faith and few fruits to prove they are worthy enough to be called a good Christian. There is no Holy Spirit fire of conviction moving them! 

They are carnal and not spiritual. There are people who never read their Bibles during the week, and never pray for that matter! Their faith is not a lifestyle but rather far down the list of their priorities.

 

But when a true Christian loves God, that man or woman wants the whole world to know about it and they tell everybody! But some people are like a certain person who came to church for decades and after years later she invited her sister, and her sister came and said she never knew her sister went to church and that we, TSA were a church! Imagine, one of our own members here who never even told her own family about the blessings of God and salvation! That is hiding your faith under a bushel and not putting it on a hill to shine! 

 

6. We are shipwrecked in our faith if what, according to the scripture? If we have put away a good conscience! A conscience is your ability, with the Holy Spirit, to discern between right and wrong. And what is not right and wrong is not according to what we decide, it is right and wrong according to the way God defines it in His Holy Word!

 

The people of the world today, and the children in the churches, are rapidly having less and less conscientiousness of the Christian faith because it is not being taught and lived in their homes. We must teach and regain a conscience awareness of right and wrong because it is not being practiced by our governing authorities, being taught at schools, and not being enforced in the community so we must maintain it at home.

 

The child, relative, or neighbor that sees you or me go to church, but then suffers from your verbal abuse, or sees you or me sinning in some way, suddenly then believes that God and the faith do not really exist, that hypocrisy, not faith, is what Christianity is really all about! Being a hypocrite in your personal life is having a shipwrecked faith!

 

 7. How are carnal shipwrecked and hypocritical people? They stab you in the back after you have been good to them and taken care of them in a time when no one else would help them. They rob whatever they can from you, and even in the church some people have robbed things, thinking they deserve things just because you have them and they don’t, even though you worked for them and they did not. People who lose faith are arrogant and proud and unwilling to sacrifice their time to do anything to help anyone while expecting to get everything in return. They become as those who say they only got faith in their selves (implying not in God, which is humanism), and witnessing their miserable lives you and I conclude that their faith and philosophy is a sunken ship that’s bankrupt. 

Let’s read more about the character of people who are not sincere in their faith.

 

Rom 1:21-25

21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. 

24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator-who is forever praised. Amen. 

 

8. So how do we escape the judgment God has against those that are faithless and do not have a clean conscience but a shipwrecked faith? As Paul put it into words, fallen under Satan? Quite often people cannot appreciate the goodness and justice of God until they have been victim to the injustices of Satan and his people!

 

See Verse 20   Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.

 

Some people get confused by that verse that how could Paul want to give someone over to Satan like cursing them? But Paul is simply exposing that if someone leaves the faith by not maintaining it with a good conscience, if someone starts to blaspheme God by vile words or by wrong actions in their lives, doing damage to the saints, then they have chosen to leave God’s kingdom. The reality is that person is to blame for their consequences. There only exists God’s kingdom or Satan’s kingdom! Paul says he delivered these two, but that just means he gave up on them and they chose their own fate! At some point you and I cannot waste any more of our time with belligerent, rude, disrespectful, God insulting people who show off they prefer Satan’s ways! If they chose him and evil, they will have to pay the price! Better it is to keep them far away!

 

9. You and I are in an Army of God, but if someone chooses to be a traitor to what you believe in, no one, not even God will stop them; and Satan and his possessing demons will be there to welcome them.  You and I have a free will on what to choose in life.  But if anyone wants to go over to Satan’s side, it is like sliding down a wide highway full of people on their way to the bottom of self-destruction. Like the Titanic rapidly sinking down! But you and I and hundreds of people suffer and mourn when we lose a rebellious soul or a former Christian to a shipwrecked faith. 

 

There are pastors from time to time from mega-churches who get caught using illegal drugs and being with prostitutes, or preaching compromised heretical doctrines, and the damage gets done and people get offended. This is another example of those who shipwreck the faith.  How horrible to have to answer to God for that! When a ship goes down it often drowns the whole crew with it! A deserter of the faith could be anyone, so always be on guard!

 

Satan wants people to be offended at God and at his loving Christian people, but if you and me are maintaining our conscience, keeping the Holy Spirit close, then we will not have any Achilles heel and we will not become victim to having a shipwrecked faith!

 

10. So how will we make good warfare and defeat shipwrecks of faith? 

By maintaining a good conscience! And how do we do that?

We must live in contact with God who speaks to our conscience at all times.

And how do we do that? By daily reading God’s word and praying all day long!

And how will that protect us?

It will cause us to maintain our conscience clean and keep the faith by having the strength to resist the temptations of the world. It is like a bath of clean water, you will be cleaned every day and you will not desire to get dirty with sin! How did Jesus overcome temptation? He quoted God’s word to Satan when Satan tried to get him to switch sides. Satan fled!

 

All of us have something worth a whole lot more than a yacht, and that is our Salvation and eternal life in Jesus! We not only have eternal life, but we have many blessings on earth too. We have joy and love amongst ourselves and peace of mind due to our clean conscience; we also usually have more prosperity than the average person since we are wise with our money and God rewards our giving to Him and for serving others in need. 

 

If God spoke to you today, if you feel your yacht, or life and relationship with God and others is in need of repair, if you are embarrassed because you know God and others see the rust in your faith, then come forward to pray! Faith in God is everything!

Don’t let yourself get in such bad shape that the water gets in and sinks your ship and shipwrecks your faith all the way down to hell on earth and hell hereafter! 

Jesus’ Authority: Your Authority is Nothing without His!

Jesus’ Authority: Your Authority is Nothing without His!       By Kelly Durant 

 

Luke 22:24-30

 

24 Also a dispute arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. 25 Jesus said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. 26 But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. 27 For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. 28 You are those who have stood by me in my trials. 29 And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, 30 so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 

 

2. Have you ever had a problem with a bill or service and you call the company and the person on the other line of the phone keeps running you around in circles? In frustration, what do you do? You say, “Can I speak to the manager?!” It’s obvious that some people cannot resolve certain issues, right?

 

The story of the life of Jesus covers so many subjects before His arrest, trail and crucifixion! If you want to know more, He covers everything from the coming of the Holy Spirit, to the hypocrisy in the fake people of God, to the Signs of the final days of earth.

You can read all of these things between John chapters 12 to 18, or in Matthew 23 to 26.

 

Today, however we are going to focus in on something in Luke. Jesus made it clear He only acted upon the authority of is Father and today we will examine the problem all of us have with authority. Imagine, Jesus knows He will be crucified in a very cruel way in the next few days, and the disciples are not perceiving this by all that He is teaching them, they re too worried about who will be first in the kingdom of God! 

 

3. My wife and I had meetings before with the coaches of the soccer leagues we did programs with and do you know what the biggest problem was with the leagues? It was not the kids getting hurt, or the lack of no money for uniform needs, it was a problem with authority, of who is in charge! Who obeyed who was always an issue.

 

Apart from coaches not respecting one another, a coach may say to some by standers, “Hey, you are too close to the field”; and the people instead of replying, “Okay, sorry,” and move their reply was, “Who are you to tell us anything? I will stand where I want!” 

 

Not respecting authority also included the people using the other fields in the park that they do not have permission to, and then we had the problem of losing the city park’s permission due to the disrespect of these people. 

 

In today’s world a lack of respect towards authority is creating a lot of repercussions in society and in the church! Authority is not about who is the most arrogant bully to just appropriate it, it is about leadership as Jesus modeled it.

 

4. You may be aware that some Anglo Americans complain that certain immigrants do not respect their culture, that they do not respect our laws, and they do not even try to learn English. This is true for certain ones, but not all. I wish for you to see after this message today how a person can earn respect as a leader no matter the culture since we are covering leadership, and the way Jesus did it.   

 

To begin with, as we see with these passages, a leader and his authority is not determined by himself or herself, arguing amongst others as to who should have it. It is determined by God, by functional systems, and by their merits of how one serves others. 

 

Let’s look here again in verse 26 that says that the leader is the one who serves, not just the one who sits at the table and expects to be served. Jesus says it clear in verse 27 that He wants us to follow His example by serving as He served. 

 

5. There are plenty of unprepared people today who want to be in charge because of some idea they have that their race deserves it, that their money should buy it, or that their position should just be because they want it?! Even people in the church, amongst some church leaders today, want to be the big leaders so they have others serving and obeying them. This is what is wrong with politics today, people who assume power, but they are people full of greed and self-interests not qualified and then everything falls apart! 

 

Those that know Regina and I well know that we are the first to arrive and the last to go and real leaders carry out responsively their duties. Leaders are usually doing humble tasks that others could do but often don’t do so a real leader must step up and do them.

 

I want you to know as servant leaders, as appointed commissioned Majors, we are not too proud to load and unload trucks, to cook and wash dishes, to vacuum the floors, to clean the bathrooms, and to sit and listen to people a long time when they want our ear.

 

6. I know dozens of you respect us and you have caught the same vision to serve and you are humble not concerned over what you need to do to help and Regina and I are proud of you. Jesus even says right here that we will be judges in the Kingdom of God if we show the fruits of serving Jesus in a way that wins others to the Kingdom of God.

 

In the Salvation Army we teach others to serve Jesus by example and working hard, not being concerned if you are the leader or not, and it is the best way to follow Jesus. What is it we say? “Saved to Serve, and also Saved to Save”! Actually, we see by the verses of today that Jesus expects every Christian to be so thankful to have His truth, love and Salvation which came from the cross, that he or she is willing to do anything at any time for Him and others. 

We must be willing to take up our cross and follow God, serving others in love. 

 

A leader is one who is serving so well that he or she has experienced blood, sweat, and tears on their own body, as Jesus had, to prove that they love God.

 

7. I will tell you that even amongst ourselves, in all church Corps, there has been these conversations of who is the greatest. It happens everywhere in all circles. It is just the dynamic of fallen creatures and our corrupt human nature. But respect from God, and from a handful of others, will only come with hard work. A title, or a piece of paper means nothing if the people do not see you sacrificing yourself, truly loving them by being concerned for them. 

 

Do you pray for another when you see they need it? Do you pray when you see another being out of place? In the end it is God wo corrects us! Consider this verse, Hebrews 5:8

though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. If Jesus learned like that, we too will need to learn by suffering as well!

 

If you want to know how to make Jesus happy with you, look at the good examples we know. Observe the people who have served in the body of Christ not even wanting a title of leadership. Some people have served hundred hours for years, faithfully being here without pay and you and I know their reward is in heaven. 

Most of you know in your heart if you are serving God as He wants you to or not. 

 

8. Many of you give all of your free time to the Lord and you come very often to help and serve in many ways and this makes you be a leader by merit. Regina and I, and many people are very thankful for you, and you will be the ones who will have rewards in heaven!

 

Matthew 25: 44 “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” 

 

So, with us and with the Lord, anyone who wishes to be a leader and does not serve as Jesus did, will not be considered as one in this life nor the next. The proud will be abased, and the humble will be exalted.

Those that sit and want others to serve them at their table had better realize that Jesus expects them to be serving the table too! Who has authority in the eyes of Jesus? Only the ones who are obedient to submit and obey the rules, to do Jesus’ commands, serving others in love! Good followers make good leaders! 

Are you serving Jesus in love as we must do in The Salvation Army? Do you take up your cross daily and obey Jesus? Lead as Jesus led!

Comfort: Give it...& take it!

Comfort:  Give It & Take It!                                        By Kelly Durant 8-10-14 Re 5-24-26

Romans 1:11-12 For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established; 12 That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.

2. How many of you have ever heard the story about the person in the mental hospital that bangs their head on the wall and they do it off and on all day? The professionals and doctors decided to go into the padded cell and interview the crazy man, “Why do you bang your head on the wall every day?” The man looks at them dumbfounded and answered, “Don’t you know? Because it feels so good when I stop!”

Believe it or not, this pattern of seeking pain, then relief, is a reality for many people in this life who live without a connection to the Lord! People live on a treadmill of up and down because they have never known real love, healing, and comfort from God! I have known people who seem to thrive in life, not on encouragement and comfort, but thrive on discouragement and preventable pain! They seem to be energized running from one crisis to the next just to get attention!

Real life examples: I have dealt with a dozen or more people in my past who from week to week always have a life and death emergency crisis and they say, “Oh, pastor you must help me right now! I don’t have my rent money this week!” Then next week they’ll tell me someone robbed them, then the next week a car hit them, then after that they have to move and no one is there to help them, so I am expected to answer the call! My stomach use to churn when I would hear these opening words on the phone, “Oh pastor, you don’t know what happened to me now!” That phrase meant I was going to be interrupted and busy doing something unplanned for. I am not complaining about serving others, this is what I am here for, but my concern is how do we fix this situation that certain people have so many problems non-stop and seem energized living in the crisis mode? They need an extra supernatural dosage of comfort!

3. All of us confront problems in life, but it is how one handles them that matters! Crisis situations are not the whole problem, how one reacts and handles them determines if matters will calm down or if they will get worse! The reaction of most Christians is to ask for prayer and help from a brother or sister, and this is the way it is supposed to be.  We are supposed to help one another. Galatians 5:13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.  In other words, don’t abuse, but serve, or be served, and with love. Don’t be abusive in your flesh bringing on sin and pain.

The issue is many people without the Lord in their lives are weak and obsess over the things in this world. There are many TV shows on people’s addictions such as drugs or alcohol, or an addiction to hoarding things which is idolatry and materialism, or to eating, or politicians addicted to power and fraud of our tax money, or to Botox, or obsessed with music. Actually anything actually can become an obsession! People become extreme and crazy to lust and want and get, and to get attention, and why? It is because God’s love and Jesus does not fill their empty hearts so they get crazy trying to get satisfied with something, or just anything! They crave one more bite, one more drink, one more relationship, one more person helping them as a victim and yet nothing soothes the soul! They create wrecks and disasters over and over!

It is like that old song by the Rolling Stones (a song deemed #1 of the century?!) ‘I Can’t Get No Satisfaction’. When I was about 10 years old, I played that miserable song over and over non-stop for hours on a 45 record (making my mother crazy!) and I thought to myself, you mean he is a rich and famous rock star and he is not happy? No satisfaction in life?! Well, it is true, people without God, whether rich or poor, are never content, they are always obsessing, stressing, and creating drama if no drama is coming to them! It is a lifestyle! And a stressful one at that! There is no rest for the wicked!

4. So, if we look at the scripture today, Paul in Romans 1 is expressing that no matter how dark this world is, no matter how many horrible sins are taking place around you (see the rest of the chapter!), our comfort is in the encouragement and comfort we can give each other and get from God through the Holy Spirit!  Paul mentions “impart a spiritual gift” and what does that mean? Paul wants to empower every believer against the evil ones, problems, and hardships that attack each one of us as a Christian.  

The gifts of the spirit we have learned are in I Corinthians 12:8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; 9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; 10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:1 1 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

So basically, the Word of God encourages and comforts us, it tells us to seek the Spirit and no matter the problem we face, God will make a way for us to get by without us worrying, obsessing, or becoming crazy!  If we are ignorant on matters, God increases our knowledge, if we doubt the faith or need faith for our needs, God will supply it. When we are sick, God will often heal us and even do miracles! God’s Spirit can help us to discern between the true and false, and even help us to learn languages, or understand people speaking in the Spirit.  These are all Spirit gifts we share and they are all done within the context of us helping one another by praying and sharing them, practicing them within our community of brothers & sisters.

5. So why do we have such an abundance of craziness, obsessiveness, and drama in the world today? It is in great part because of the lack of (or rejection of) the knowledge of God (which Romans 1 makes clear), but also according to the verses today, we could conclude it is a lack of us comforting one another in hard times as we should be.  Paul says, “that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me”. Let’s look at comfort a bit deeper.

Paul is clearly saying here that it is our faith in Jesus that brings us comfort and we must comfort one another, he wants to give comfort and he wants us to receive it. How do you comfort another person? That depends, right? Comfort is a personal thing, you have to be with the person, you must communicate and share the faith together which implies praying, studying, and listening to what that person’s needs are. You may not have the answers to all their needs, but when you pray for them, God will answer somehow, right? The biggest problem is many people do not know how to express what their needs are because their life is comprised of carnal things, and not spiritual things. The people ask for the carnal things, rent or bill money, but the greater need they have is spiritual. People do not see that it is their way of life and habits that are impoverishing them. The wounded person must first be healed; soup, soap, and then salvation!

6. God comforts us to be encouraged and consoled but not for us to get comfortable! In carnal people’s ways (Romans 1 describes quite a few!) there is the selfishness factor of some people that they start wanting all your time and attention, or too much comfort. To the contrary, I think none of us get tired of serving a Christian brother or sister because if they are true, they will always appreciate it, and they serve you back when you need it! I personally have had to learn a balance to spend the more time with our leaders, planning and doing, instead of too much of my time with people who are always going to keep having one crisis after another!  If I help a person 5 times, then maybe it’s time that I choose a different person to help. But what can we do for the poor, old, single ones with no relatives in this country, and no welfare check?

The frustration is one is always trying to win someone to Christ and you serve them in their crisis, but then they may not even appreciate it! Often people want more and more and are abusive! I have had my kindness interpreted as stupidity a few times! Imagine a person almost homeless, you help them, and then they judge you as a dumb person to invest in them?! As I mentioned before, my commitment is to serve people with love and this implies doing things not very pleasant at times like going to represent them in the courts, helping pay late bills, visiting them in the hospitals, taking them to apply for jobs, and on and on. The factor is, neither you nor I can afford to get discouraged from dealing with the sufferings brought on by someone’s sin! Sin brings pain and when in pain, it’s an emergency! Life is like a battlefield and as Christians we are the only soldiers still well enough to go out and rescue the fallen ones!

Remember the 10 lepers that Jesus healed, and only 1 came back to thank Him! The general mission of all of us in life is to preach the gospel and do good matter what and that includes showing God’s love by comforting, healing and helping! We cannot focus on ourselves and any reward in this life, we just must simply comfort each other however needed whenever needed! 2 Corinthians 1:4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. 

7. All of this to get you to think about the following, do you know what the greatest human need is? It is to be loved! Everyone is hungry for love, each one of us wants comfort, we all want connectedness and a feeling of belonging! As Christians we have a lot of work to do to be able to have confidence amongst ourselves to build up trust and feel free to confess our weaknesses and needs to one another. Can we trust that the other person will listen, care, pray, and comfort us? We all need comfort in our pain and we should be able to get it!

The problem is the following, those immature in the faith are like little children, they are selfish, they have no consciousness of the needs of others, and they are not aware of their own carnality and abusiveness of what they expect from others. They want to get help and comfort, but they do not give any! They obsess only over their own self! With some you may help them 2 dozen times, but that one day you cannot help them then you suddenly become the bad guy! In the end, our help is for the needy, not the greedy! But we focus on the good ones, some people really do change, and this is our comfort to keep on ministering! The thankful make our day!

Love, which entails comfort should work like this: we as Christians are tapped into God’s system, like a water system that never runs dry and the Holy Spirit fills us and refills us again so we just keep pouring out on others. Those that are empty and receive God’s love get filled up, and if they allow God’s healing, then they become whole, and instead of remaining broken and leaking out the love given them, they retain it, appreciate it, and then after getting full, they too start overflowing on others as well. This is also a way of observing how holiness works, God’s Spirit of purity fills us up until there is no more emptiness and then we overflow on everyone!

8. Referring to whom to comfort, as a pastor I always try to focus in on the neediest persons in the group, the weakest and most vulnerable, the ones suffering the most.  A church should be a place where people arrive for love, comfort, and mercy! The mature are here to guide the immature; the strong are here to help the weak without a judgmental attitude. As believers we have all things common and we share with each other so that no one is suffering from a dire need. (Acts 2:44,45) It is the job of all Christians to know how everyone is doing spiritually and materially, and everyone should serve to show love and this brings comfort knowing that all areas are covered in our fellowship! 

Comfort is an expression of love and it is shown in many ways: it is a human need! Without natural affection babies have been known to die, so what about people?  Ask yourself right now, do I have the confidence to seek advice and comfort with a brother or sister near me? When is the last time you comforted another person who had a problem, something secret no one could know about?  Seriously, how do you serve others if you are not alleviating their distresses? It should be with acts of service and that is love in action! We need to establish closer relationships amongst ourselves so we have more love and confidence and God gives us our talents and the Holy Spirit to be used and shared.

All of us should do a better job of listening, understanding, and comforting others!  John 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. John 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.  This love implies that your whole life is wrapped around others!

9. Do you know of anyone suffering or of anyone who gets into crisis often? Do you know of anyone who obsesses over things because they don’t have the peace of God in their heart and they are trying to fill a void?  Someone with no satisfaction with anything?  There is a cure!

Philippians 4:7 “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” And this next verse is a promise I have claimed often…

Isaiah 26:3 “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you”.  Also, with the Holy Spirit anyone can access the gift of having a comforter or obtain the power needed to get through a trial… John 14:16 “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever;”

10. Despite God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit comforting us we still need each other for comfort! We love God but equally as important, we must love our neighbor as ourselves! Comfort may be expressed with encouragement from sharing God’s word, through prayer, through serving or giving or providing in the time of need, through hugging someone who needs it, through loving care and concern, and even just by your presence by being there for them when they need you most! Do you allow yourself to be available? Break down your defensive walls, and connect with people on a human level! 

Jesus warned us how it would be in the last days. Matthew 24:12 “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” Ask yourself, am I an indifferent, a self-protecting ‘stagnant water’ type of Christian? Or do I overflow the Spirit on to others? Do I obsess and worry too much and live in the crisis mode? Or am I one that pours out the love and comfort of the Holy Spirit freely onto others? The formula of God has always been that to receive you must give! People are dying for a lack of love and comfort, so do something! 

Do you know of anyone who really does have a need to be comforted? If you do, then just act! Call them, visit them, spend time with them! Don’t worry about how much Bible you know to share; people are comforted just by knowing you care! You are a living Bible representing the Holy Spirit and Jesus to them! Break your old habits, learn to comfort or you will suffer and many others will continue to suffer as well! 

Hypocrisy! The Plague we suffer in our Society

 

Hypocrisy!  The New/Old Plague in Our Society                         by Kelly Durant   

Matthew 15 Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying,² Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.³ But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?⁴ For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.⁵ But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;⁶ And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.⁷ Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,⁸ This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.⁹ But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.¹⁰ And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand¹¹ Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.¹² Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying?¹³ But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.¹⁴ Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.

   You have been around little kids when they fight, right? I recall a when my kids were little I don’t’ recall whose kids we were with but a big fight started up with tears and anger and screaming. We were discussing the move to Miami. One of the kids, jealous of the other, said, “No, it’s mine! It is not your “ami”, it is “my” “ami”, you shut up it is not yours, it is mine! LOL! The boy did not even know what they were talking about, he just wanted to be sure no one could have it but him! You can’t say “my” because it is mine!

Human nature is terrible! Everyone lives out the injustices of selfishness and hypocrisy repeated over and over in all societies throughout history. Everyone is so fast to attack and defend their miserable little piece of the world and so ready to fight anyone who threatens to take anything away. We must open our eyes to the fact we have an increased hypocrisy affecting our world. Hypocrisy is calling another person evil, selfish, and abusive when the real evil one is the one accusing!

In society all of us observe the hypocritical politicians, abusive bosses, disobedient children, unloving spouses, and compromised preachers. These are people who will suddenly explode and go on a verbal attack on others when they perceive that someone is discovering their schemes. They use their own convincing words to try to win you and anyone over to their way, (and it is their way or the highway) but once you see through them, you then feel taken advantage of, violated, dirty, defiled, and cheated!

How many of you have ever been used or taken advantage of? 

Let’s get into the scripture in Matt. 15. The Pharisees were a religious sect of the Jews, an authority that had set their selves up as the ones who could determine who had sin and who didn’t according to their interpretation of God’s word. They could with the law of God, justify an guilty person, or condemn an innocent one, like the lawyers of today can.  

In this case, Jesus and the disciples are gaining too much attention and admiration for their comfort. They decided they would attack the disciples in front of everyone and show once and for all that Jesus and his dirty band of followers were sinners and nor worthy of anyone’s respect. They wanted to prove how they were violating tradition; something they exalted was as sacred as the law. Their scheme backfired.

What did Jesus prove with his comments about honoring father and mother? He exposed how not washing your hands is not near as bad as the things they practiced! Let’s travel back to the conditions of his time. Back then there is no such thing as a social security check! There is no welfare from the government, there are no Salvation Army shelters caring for the homeless or elderly, it is a survival of the fittest type society. When you got old, sick, or disabled the only solution for you was starvation since you could not work!

The law of God was originally intended to be a solution to man’s injustice to man and there was a provision to help the elderly, it was that of honoring your father and mother. This law implied you would financially take care of them until they passed on. So what were the Pharisees teaching by tradition? That if you wanted to give a one-time gift you could be absolved from this law and be free. Be free from your responsibility for your parents?! How selfish is that!

 It basically was a provision that totally violated the original intent of the law. The law was strict demanding honor. As a matter of fact, anyone caught cursing his parents were put to the death, a penalty by stoning. So, let’s understand it; their traditions allowed for you to go to them, the Pharisees, and declare your gift and then abandon your parents knowing that they might starve to death?  Do you see how this is a thousand times worse than eating without washed hands?

Jesus then reminds them of the hypocrisy in the time of Isaiah, how the ones who should be loving God and others, defending the poor, and providing justice for the people were instead hypocrites providing for their own selfish ambitions of power and goods. 

What Is Worship? Most people really don’t know!

What Is Worship? Most people really don’t know!   By Kelly Durant 

John 4:19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. ²⁰ Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”²¹ “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. ²² You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. ²³ Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. ²⁴ God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in Spirit and in truth.”²⁵ The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”²⁶ Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”

 2.   So many cultures worship God in so many different ways! How many of you have ever visited a mosque? Or a Hindu temple? One time I went to a meditation (Hindu) service in college and outside of the room it sounded like a factory with a lot of machinery inside. There was a low, rather loud, humming noise. When I went inside and saw everyone sitting in the lotus position they were calling on god as they are accustomed with a constant repeating of “Ommm”. With more than a hundred people sounding “Ommm” it was strange indeed! 

3.   As Christians we would never worship God in this manner and this way of worship seems very strange and pointless to us. Repeating the same thing over and over wears a hole in the psyche and makes what should be a pleasure, the worship of God, become a torture!  Matt 6:7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

   Despite Jesus words, however, there still exists in worship today, in the majority of Christian churches, a great collection of reading and response liturgy from prayer or hymn books. If done in the right spirit, these types of repetitions can be unifying. Repetition in itself is not bad, after all songs are repetitions, it had just not be in vain.   

   We often think it is easy to spot how we should not worship God but in actuality it is not that simple. If you had grown up in India, and all you ever experienced was the “om” type of humming worship, that would be normal to you! Being able to worship God as we do as Christians is a privilege! All other religions seem to appear as pointless after experiencing the Holy Spirit! Their sacrifices and worship ways lead to acute frustration; Sadly, they are not connected to the source, the unique God of love, & his son Jesus! 

4.   What we should explore is why Christians today have lost their ability to discern what true worship is and what it is not, since the modern Christian culture has rapidly changed its formats of worship while at the same time some have frozen worship into a methodological tradition, limited to an ancient style, one they define as worship.

 To know about how Jesus wanted worship, we must refer back to the verses of John; and first notice that Jesus points out that the Samaritans do not have the correct way of worshipping since God for them it was limited to worshipping at only one certain so-called holy place. The first erroneous idea is that worship is limited to a certain place.

5.   Furthermore, what this means is that all ideas of the worship of God in all cultures upon the arrival of Jesus became invalid, there no longer exists specific holy places or temples on earth where there is more of God’s power or energy. There are no specific formulas or rituals either, and neither Machu Pichu, nor Jerusalem will you get you more of God.  22 “You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews”. Jesus also is confirming how the Jews were getting the salvation message through Him and He as well He is confirming the fact that the Samaritans and everyone else can also have it!

  Next Jesus points out in verse: 23 “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in Spirit and in truth.”  Jesus established a new way, just gather anywhere in groups of 2, 3 or more!

 6.  So if Jesus makes it clear that we are to worship “in spirit and in truth” then we should do our homework on what “in spirit and in truth” fully mean, right?

  The word “Spirit” brings with it many connotations each slightly different within each culture. For example, when you say in English that something was spirited, this implies full of action, movement, and passion. I think a majority of us prefer to worship God this way, in action doing something to physically show our passion in the worship, singing, praying, playing the tambourine or maracas, and even dancing.

   All of us are aware that there are many denominations to choose from in our preference of Christian worship. There are many styles of music, many types of meetings, some ultra-formal and serious, some, where anything goes, and some are loud, while others are quiet and calm. Some churches include their leaders to preach and lead, while others don’t allow anyone up front. Programs within the Christian world are very diverse. So how do we know what the best way is? 

7.   Should people of today choose a church to worship in by emotions, by how big it is, by how modern it is, or by how it makes them feel? Impressions and feelings in humans however, are often mis-lead. So many times scandals have happened when people have put their trust in the wrong charismatic pastors, or the wrong denomination or sect, and they have ended up manipulated, fleeced of their possessions, and confused. 

  Just because a church affirms, “Only we have the real truth and the spirit”, does not meant they really do have it! The fruits of the spirit to prove that, but you have to investigate them. So each person must be careful and prayerful to choose to worship only with people that are the close to being “in spirit and in truth”! With false churches the climate is you are to focus worship on their church, doctrine, and notoriety, and the focus is not on God and Jesus, principally.  Have you ever noticed that? These churches make some people feel good in mass, but our feelings often deceive us.

8.   Jesus makes it clear 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in Him in Spirit and in truth. To worship means to show worthiness to honor or reverence a supreme power. So how do we do it in spirit? Spirit is (Gk.word: pneuma) or the life force of God, the breath of God, a vapor or burning of His pure and Holy-ness. In spirit would imply being within the nature of the spirit, or essence of God. More properly defined this would mean within His spirit of pure love, since God’s spirit manifests itself to people by tangible expressions of love and he expects us to love in word and in deed as well. Worship today is diverse and so is God’s creation. What many people miss but we get is that worship is shown principally by service to God and others! 

9.  Any spirit of worship expression is valid as long as it is done for the purpose of exalting love to God. It should not be calling attention to yourself for vain glory! We should refrain from criticisms when we observe something new, different, or unfamiliar to us in worship as long as we know the purpose of it is for praising and honoring God. Never should anything be done to show off one’s own talent; all things are for God’s glory!

   Observing the nature of God in the different types of races of people and geography, it is very obvious God is not limited by any rigid unchanging worship demand. Worship in the O.T. included the sacrifice of one’s most prized farm animals. Today it should include not just singing a song or praying, but a life of service in love to others in need. Jesus spent time with His Father, then He went into the towns to heal and teach and do good works. He loved! Worship is a creative expression of love for God and others! 

10.  I personally am very thankful for the Salvation Army’s ample acceptance of diverse forms of worship. In the EBC we experienced sacred dance, responsive readings, incense, and every kind of music you can think of. We were taught to embrace the old and the new and this is not such a hard thing for a young officer to do, but it is a big problem with some. Many Corps people want things done in the same old way, in a rut.

   Speaking of different worship expressions, I have even cried hearing a slow moving worship song sang by a frail Soldier Korean lady and I didn’t even understand a word! It was her love, her sincerity, her dedication that was communicated to me by the spirit. She was not by running all over the stage, not yelling at the top of her voice, but God was there in that frail sweet voice and you knew it! Respect, worship has many forms!

   The sad thing is most people won’t join in the worship if it’s different!  Most people are inflexible and rigid and instead of appreciating and worshipping with something different from their liking, they reject and complain. Criticizing worship means the opposite of worship! Will Jesus bless those who reject joining in? Ask yourself, have I ever complained when I should have been worshipping? Jesus praises were a different style!

11.  But “the spirit” is something that you must bring to the church when we meet and you can bring it only when you have spent time with God worshipping Him already in your private life! You are to come as a candle and as a lit one to share the light!

   Let’s see what the spirit isn’t. Worship, for one, is not the disapproval of your brothers, the pastors, or of the denomination when it is not to your preference. People often make the mistake of exposing their emptiness and predispositions. For example, how many of you have heard someone say, “Oh, I didn’t feel the spirit here today; The spirit’s is not in the Salvation Army church; the pastors don’t have the Holy Ghost power because they don’t yell and make people fall over!” Have you heard comments like these? So, the question is, is the worship of God limited by either your or my feelings, expectations, cultural predispositions, judgments or ideas of what the church is supposed to do? No!

  When I hear people say they cannot feel the spirit, I want to ask them then, what is wrong with you? How can you deny that if 99% seemed to “feel” the spirit just fine the problem then must be with you and not with those around you. Criticism of worship to me shows immaturity, inadaptability, and a person’s dry-ness. Instead of contributing to the spirit, like bringing a happy heart, these kinds of words put the fire out! 

  I think a person would be embarrassed for lacking oil in their lamp thinking it is everyone else that has no oil in theirs. Each one of us must get the spirit oil first. We must pray, read God’s word, and get filled with the oil of the spirit and then bring that here and set others on fire with the oil and passion you share!  When you give of your spirit, then you receive back of God’s spirit, right?  

 12.  We are examining spirit and truth. Let’s look at truth because we do not want to end up false like these people in Isaiah 29:13 Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men.

   We all know what truth is, it is the evidence and proof positive of what’s real, factual or authentic. The truth is always pure and unadulterated. To worship in truth implies you are worshipping with a pure heart just to exalt God alone. No other motive! 

   Only you and God know the truth for you coming to worship Him in the church. People who worship by appearances do this so their peers will accept them thinking they need to appear religious. Some people worship God in the church because they, in the end, desire favors or benefits from the church. Some try to worship, even though they know in their heart they don’t feel it, hoping it will appease God enough to exempt them from His anger and punishments on them. I don’t know the truth of who is sincere and who is not, but God does. Ask yourself, is my worship done in truth & pureness of heart? 

13.  When we recall the very first worship of God we see the clear picture of one who worshipped in truth, Abel, and one who did not worship in truth, Cain. God accepted the sacrifice of Abel, why? Because it was authentic, and in truth, that Able with love gave to God what sacrifice He desired, a gift with a sincere pure heart full of honor and respect. The truth about Cain is he was giving to God but being false about it. He was worshipping but with an attitude of resentment, only fulfilling a duty. He really didn’t want to worship so he just gave what he wanted to, not what God requested. So when God wanted him to go and come back and try again with his worship & sacrifice, he did not humble and submit himself. Instead he exploded in rage and killed his brother! This still keeps happening in the church; true worshippers catch the rage of the false ones! 

  The danger to all of us is that the false is the aggressive enemy of the truth! Sincere truthful worshipping Christians will always have for their enemies the false Christians that will try to kill them with their hateful words, overtly or covertly. Jesus addressing the hypocrites says this… John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

14. So those in the truth are with God. Truthful ones do not lie, hate, kill, or attack others unjustly. Truth is central to the holiness of God. And everyone hates false-ness, even the false people dislike the other false people! Ever notice that?

   In the end worship amongst Christians can never be put in a box to appease a certain denominational format, formula, or a traditional habitual copy of a centuries old idea. Worship is done best, however, when it includes the basics of prayer, the reading of God’s word, and the singing of praises or hymns. And everyone appreciates special presentations but these require work and practice, which is a sacrifice. When was the last time you sacrificed yourself in preparation of worship and praise?

  How is your worship of God in the end? Are you bringing a joyful spirit full of love to God and others? Are you serving others knowing that God counts that as obedience which is worship as well? And your truthfulness?  The more truth you see about the evil in your own life, the closer you are to God. Truth begins at home. It is that simple! 

  Worship is what our spirits long for, to connect with God, our Father, our Creator whom we know has true pure love for us, so do it real, “in spirit and in truth”!  Let’s pray…

The Church: Attack or Retreat?

The Church: Attack or Retreat?  Lessons from the Past   Kelly Durant Re 4-19-26

Matthew 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.   

2. Many times we have heard jokes about St. Peter being at the gate of heaven asking questions of those that arrive in order to be allowed into heaven. The premise of these jokes is that Peter decides who gets in and who doesn’t because he holds the keys to heaven and hell. This is a false idea that has been coined for a long time.  All we need to do is look at Revelation to know that it is Jesus who holds the keys of heaven and hell. Revelation 1:18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. He also says he gives eternal life in John 10:28. 

The verse of today is quite a loaded verse. I could focus in on Peter, or I could focus in on the rock, or what is the church. Or I could highlight how heaven prevails against hell or I could focus in on the gates of hell. Let’s focus first on the gates of hell but just to clear a few things up, Jesus is the rock (the cornerstone as described in Romans 9:31-33) and it is Jesus who has the keys to heaven and hell, not Peter. Keys to the kingdom implies authority over the spirit realm.

3. In verse 19 Jesus gave to Peter authority to bring into God’s kingdom souls, to preach and win converts forever, but he was not given authority over who governs the eternal death in hell of souls, or who has eternal life. Peter is not heaven and hell’s gate keeper, Jesus is!

 Matt 16:19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Everyone, through Jesus, has a freewill control, and the binding up of sin, and the practice of living heavenly is what matters here as it is setting a constant for a continuum in the next existence.

4. Peter, and every Christian, has some measure of control over their future in heaven, so that if you bind your sins and live holy on earth, you retain that eternally in heaven. Or if loose and free yourself from sins, when you die, you keep that state of freedom forever. Your role in helping another do the same is your part of bringing on the kingdom of heaven.  Basically, it is Revelation 22:11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

Peter’s nickname was Petras; he was as stubborn as a rock at times but also one who learned his lessons. He had just affirmed that Jesus is the Christ. Jesus with a play of words then makes it clear that God’s people would have a rock foundation for the church, and symbolically Jesus was referred to Himself. Jesus is the rock, the cornerstone. Peter is a rock, but not “the” rock.

5. Jesus example of how the church should be governed was of one in that is in action, one that goes on the attack. In other words hell would be shaking in their boots from all the souls being won for God because of the blitz tactics of the disciples travelling from town to town preaching the “good news” and then escaping on to preach some more somewhere else. 

The idea that Jesus had was that hell would be shaking scared of the Christians message being preached in the world to the lost souls who would gladly accept God’s kingdom over the gates of hell but instead today we have many churches shaking scared feeling they are under attack.  They have their doors closed tight not letting in any new members for fear that Satan is going to corrupt them! Christians afraid of the world are happy just to be inside their comfortable rooms on Sunday but the church is not intended to be a barricade of defense; the church must be a front line of offensive in the battle front! Peter won 5,000 souls, not in a building, but out in the city!

6. Now I want to bring in some geographical information to supplement the historical cultural context of this profound statement from our Lord Jesus that “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” To understand this better, return to verse 13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?

7. Where was Jesus preaching? At Caesarea Philippi. When we were in the area of Caesarea Philippi in Israel we went just a couple of miles outside the city to an area called the Grotto of Pan. It is an opening to a cave that had the official name of “The Gates of Hell.”  Beginning in the 3rd century B.C., human sacrifices, in particular young virgins, were cast into the cave as offerings to the Greek god Pan.  The victims were thrown into the cave and they would fall into a drop off inside where they would die crashing on the rocks below inside and then their blood would flow out in the river stream in front. Horrible the practices of these people, right?

This large cave that was the center of pagan worship in the region and Pan, the half-man half-goat god of fright and he was honored in this Satanic manner. He was often depicted playing the flute.  In English we get the word "panic" from pan, and of course taking the life of innocent ones does invoke fear and panic! This town just down the road was known as Panias in antiquity but the name changed in the Arabic language to its modern-day name of Banias. 

8. Now that I described the area for you, and the customary horrible practices of the people of that region, do you see why Jesus chose the words “Gates of Hell?” He may have been preaching to his disciples very close to that cave, just right outside the city even speaking at the very moment they were practicing their horrific satanic rituals! 

The gates of hell are open wide as Jesus stated before, yet narrow is the path that leads to eternal life. If we do not take seriously the destruction of people’s bodies and souls from the demonic erroneous customs of their worship, then we will never appreciate what salvation, and eternal life, truly means. Jesus gave his disciples, and that applies to all his followers, authority to “storm the forts of darkness and bring them down.” (as in the hymn we sing in the Salvation Army)

9. It is our task as Christians to expose the evil in the community and those who bring the gates of hell to us and our children! Those who steal and commit fraud, that do  crime in gangs, those who practice witchcraft, or sell drugs, or porn, or pimping prostitutes (child-trafficking), these followers of Satan should be angry at us because we are exposing them and preaching Jesus converting the souls of their victims! We must keep on with our prayer marches and evangelism, it is our job! We must keep the attack up! The gates of hell should be trembling! 

10. The way this spiritual war works is that either the good is on the attack and winning, or the evil is carrying out the attacks and defeating the good. One is on the offensive, and the other is on the defensive. It is our job to be on the offensive. Sadly, we have seen this country fall into a state of remission; Christians are being corralled into their churches and told to practice their own faith privately without bothering anyone else. Christians as well are made fun of by the media as ignorant radicals! The lies, deceptions, and attacks on Christians are at an all-time high by the liberal press, the liberal colleges, and the liberal government who protects people practicing extreme perversion.  

I do not want us to ever be guilty of hiding our faith, of knowing to do good but then be sinning by not doing it! More than ever we must be prepared with an answer to reply to whoever attacks us over our faith.

11. Jesus knew that no one could win a defensive war! When the Jews mixed with the Romans in pre-Jesus time in Israel, they later started taking over to the point that the Jews responded defensively too late. They could not do an offensive attack so they closed their selves in in Jerusalem and they barely survived for 2 years until finally the Romans broke in and killed most of them and destroyed the Great Temple that Herod built. Solomon’s temple was destroyed several centuries earlier and now for a second time they lose their magnificent temple.

12. Do you recall how Jesus said that no one stone would be left? Matthew 24:2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, “There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down”. That prophecy happened in 70 AD. That was when all of Jerusalem was burned to the ground by the Romans and the Jews in Israel were scattered all over every continent. This was the great “diaspora” or the dispersing of the Jews throughout all the continents. Only loose stones are there today.

13.But a few Jews and their families escaped in the region and they fled to a high plateau fortress constructed by Herod called Masada and barricaded their selves inside. This was easy to do because there was only one way up and that was by a winding stairway about 20 stories high. How many of you know this story as told by Josephus the historian?

14. Then what happened? Again the Roman pride could not permit any one to rebel and get away with it so Flavius Silva marched from Rome with a regiment of men they and camped out for 3 years at the bottom of the cliff while his army built a ramp and a tower in order to invade the city in 70 AD. The people survived on pigeons and stored grains but when they knew the Romans would come they took a drastic decision the night before the invasion was sure to happen. 

The Jewish people had no escape and rather than allowing the children to be slaves, see the women be raped and killed, and the men die by the Roman swords, they all took an oath, as an act of heroism to kill their own selves! There was a mass suicide of 960 people. 

15. This tragedy in history in 73 AD proves a point, that if the enemy can surround you and you cannot fight back, then you might end up with no options like the ones in Masada. This is a sad lesson in history and we, as a Christian church, must keep the offensive going. We need leaders, men and women with conviction to always be ready to defend our faith in Jesus.

The Salvation Army started out as a movement taking the church preaching and literature to the streets seeking to save men’s souls. The offensive method worked! The movement preaching near the bars and brothels grew so fast that it is amazing to consider TSA can be found in most all US cities and in most major cities around the world only 160 years later.

16. The challenge today for each of us is how ‘attacking’ are you? Do others who are unjust and sinful feel intimidated when you are around? Do others know you will speak up and attack the modern day gates of hell?  It takes conviction and courage, but when we are reminded of all of Satan’s works, how horribly he loves to destroy lives, then you get the conviction to preach His love and salvation like never before.

When a person visits a SA rehab or shelter, as many of you have, you get reminded of how sin destroys people’s lives, you see 30 year olds appear as 60, you see how people lose all to an addiction, a vice, or a sin. That may not be the case for everyone as some people are victims of circumstances beyond their control but to see others suffering does make you wake up. You can see where Satan has attacked and won a victory. It makes you sad, mad, and convicted. 

17. And in many other countries (as here!) the child sex slave trade is alive and real for millions, so the destruction of innocent people in reality continues, but just in a different way from how the Greeks and Romans did it. The SA is active there helping many to escape.

Are you going to stand up for your faith no matter what? If you look closely at the lives of the faithless you will see they always leave behind a trail of pain and destruction. Our mission is to save others from their own destructive selves and from others who like Satan, try to control and manipulate and own souls for their own selfish gain. We, God’s called ones, free people to live heavenly lives.

Come now and pray for someone you know is oppressed. Pray to become solid like the rock. Pray to go on the attack and never let yourself be on the defensive. The more holiness you have the more power from God. When someone makes fun of your Christian faith and attacks you, do what Jesus did to the hypocrites, he attacked them back! Our faith is worth defending! When you compare our church with so many others like I have seen lately, we live a very blessed life!