Rejoicing in God Your Savior

Luke 1:46-55.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on May 9, 2021, Mother’s Day.

Today, as we honor moms, we recognize The One who gave them the honorable position that they hold.

There are many days in the course of being a parent that would easily be classified as “not-rejoicing-days.”  However, there is one thing that moms can always rejoice in, no matter what kind of day it has been.  When you realize that our God is also our Savior, you can rejoice in the midst of very difficult times.

Let us remember as we look at our passage that Mary speaks these things and rejoices even though, culturally and socially, she is in a tough place.  It is the character and work of God that fills her heart with joy.

Let’s look at our passage.

Mary worshipped God

We do not know the full situation of Mary’s background.  She is from a small village in northern Israel with a population between 200 and 400 people.  We do know that Mary was a devout follower of God who found His favor.  She would be the woman through whom the Messiah entered the world.

In verses 46-47, Mary breaks out into praise and worship of God.  There are many today who try to teach us to worship Mary, and say of her that she was without sin, but the real Mary teaches us just who she really is, a worshipper of God.  There are two aspects emphasized in her worship.  She magnifies Him from her soul, and she rejoices in Him as her savior.  None of us can make God greater in being, but we can speak out how great He is and lift up His reputation. 

In a world that is cynical, may we be a people who are worshipping God, by magnifying Him before others.  Moms, your focus is often on husbands and children, but make it your primary duty to worship God.  Worship is a whole life endeavor to declare to God that you know that He is worthy of being the center of our lives.

Mary also saw God as her savior.  This seems to be what makes her rejoice.  Who was she in Israel?  Yet, the Lord chose her to be the mother of the messiah.  This would be seen as a huge social changer.  The Messiah was destined to be the king of Israel.  Of course, we don’t know all that Mary was thinking.

There is a clear parallel between Mary’s worshipful praise in this chapter and the same type of thing from Hannah in 1 Samuel chapter two.  Some of the wording is similar, and perhaps Mary is thinking of Hannah’s situation when she found out that she would finally have a child.  Clearly, Mary’s situation is different from Hannah’s, but it reminds us that there is more to the story.

Mary isn’t just declaring that she is a saved person spiritually.  She is declaring that God is the one who saves her when she needs saving, past, present, and future.  All moms need a spiritual savior, and it would seem a near impossible task if God were not with you.  This seems to blow the idea out of the water that Mary was without sin at birth.  She had a savior because she was human like us and needed one.  She found for herself that God saw here lowly state and was blessing her.  So, moms also need one who can deliver them, or help them, in those moments that threaten to overwhelm them.  God had let Mary know that she was valuable to Him and that she had found His favor.  In Jesus, all moms can know that they have found the favor of God.  You don’t have to have the perfect child to get it.

In verse 50, we see that Mary feared God.  God’s mercy is on those who fear Him.  We’ve talked about this concept of fearing God before.  It is that recognition and understanding of the position and power that God holds.  It is a reverence that does not dwell in a place of fear, but shrinks back from the thought of walking away from God.  To walk away from God is to walk away from the source of all goodness in this universe.  It is to shut yourself off from that goodness and to become your own source.  Becoming the only source of goodness that you depend on in this life should fill you with dread, and a desire to run back to God our savior.  Mary clearly saw herself as receiving God’s mercy along with the rest of the remnant of Israel who feared God too much to cast off the Bible and follow the ways of the world.  They were waiting upon the Lord, though it seemed that He tarried.

In verse 52, Mary once again references the lowly and the mighty.  Mary sees herself as a part of those who are humble in circumstance, but she also has been humble in spirit because she looks to God to be her savior.  Too many people are grasping at life trying to save themselves, or find a new guy to be the latest greatest savior in their life.  Instead, we must humble ourselves and wait upon the Lord.  We must let Him lift us up in the proper time.  God is not enamored with men or women who are in high and mighty positions.  Rather, He identifies with those who are in lowly positions, which begs the question.  Does the exaltation that we want bring out the best in us when we get it?  Let God determine the proper time to lift you up and rejoice in His wisdom.  Besides, the only exaltation that truly matters in the end is the resurrection from the dead. 

Many times, we may feel like God has forgotten that He is merciful. Yet, Mary recognized the mercy of God.  In verse 54 and following, she is not just focused on herself.  She is rejoicing because God has not abandoned Israel, despite the many cynical voices within Israel.

How many moms have lived through the centuries where it seemed like God had forgotten Israel?  Here, we have a testimony from a woman 2,000 years ago saying, “He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy!”  Listen, God is not just concerned with Israel.  He is concerned with you too.  He is concerned with America and all of the other nations.  It is sad to see the gentile nations turning away from the Gospel as an answer, but in the midst of these nations, there is a remnant of those who still trust in God, who rejoice in Him as their savior that knows just when to deliver, and deliver He shall! 

Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, for His mercy endures forever!

Rejoicing in your Savior audio

The Lord of Life

Mark 16:1-14.  This sermon was preached on Resurrection Sunday by Pastor Marty Bonner on April 4, 2021.

There are those in the Church who only value Jesus as an inspiring tale of love and hope.  Similarly, they value the Bible as a text that can inspire us to great good, but which does not place any truth claims upon us.  To them, it is not important what the Bible claims to be true, but only what it inspires us to do.

If you have never run into such a person then be thankful.  The problem with this view is that it somehow thinks the greatest problem of mankind is that we are without a good vision, or are simply short-sighted.  However, the claim of the Bible is that our true problem lies deep within our soul, and it is sin.  We are all bent away from that which is good and towards satisfying the selfish desires of our flesh.  If Jesus was not resurrected from the grave then we are still stuck without an answer to this “sin problem.”  If Jesus was only showing us a supreme example of love, and not the power of One who was saving us by it, then we are still stuck in our sins, and the world is without hope.

It is sad to see the world continually doubling down upon the idea that we can save ourselves.  Whether through science and technology, or the progress of our great wisdom, we continue to think that we can fix every problem, if we only gave more power to the right people.  Such solutions are destined to fail in the same dust bin of all that have gone on before because in the end all men, women, boys, and girls fall short of that which is right and good.  We need a savior, and Jesus is God’s answer for the sin problem that we all have.

They discover that the tomb is empty

Our passage starts on Sunday morning at dawn, when it will be found that Jesus is no longer in the tomb.  Mark clearly emphasizes the female followers of Jesus in these last two chapters.  In chapter 15, he remarks that it was they who stood at a distance when Jesus died, and followed to see where he would be buried.  Where are the men?  They are hiding.  Yes, John was at the cross for a time, but it appears he leaves with Mary the mother of Jesus at some point.  This opening scene of chapter 16 has these women going to the tomb early on Sunday morning. 

So, who are these women?  The women listed are Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the lesser, and Salome (we know from Matthew that she is the mother of James and John the sons of Zebedee).  All of them, were deeply impacted by the healing and teaching of Jesus.

Of course, technically the Sabbath would be over on Saturday evening.  However, these women needed light to do the work that they intend, which is to put spices upon and around the body of Jesus.  Why?  This was done to cut down on the smell of decomposition while family members visited and grieved their loved one.  It was not an attempt at mummification at all.  This type of tomb would have a place where the dead body would be laid.  It would be left in this location until decomposition had left only bones.  The bones would then be put into an ossuary, or bone box, and stored in the tomb.  Thus, a whole family could be buried within the same tomb.

Notice that there is no indication that these women are thinking that Jesus might be resurrected.  They are not coming on the third day to check if Jesus had risen from the dead like he said he would.  They are simply coming to do for their master teacher what they could in such a bad situation.  Jesus was dead and they believe that he will remain dead, decompose, and be buried in a bone box.  It is one of the worse days of their lives.  However, Resurrection Sunday teaches us that sometimes the worst day of our lives turns out to be the best.  Christians are called to be a people of hope in the most dire of situations because we know that even in death things are not over for us!

The main problem on their mind as they approach the tomb is the stone.  How are they going to get the stone moved from the mouth of the tomb so that they can get in?  Perhaps they intend to ask the guards, but are not sure the guards will help them.  The Gospel of Matthew tells us that there was an earthquake that morning and that an angel came down and moved the stone aside.  It is unclear whether this happens as the women arrive or that it has happened just before they arrived.  I like to think that the resurrection happened at that earthquake.  The stone is not being moved so that the risen Lord can get out, but so that the women can get in and witness that Jesus is no longer there.  The guards are scared to death by the earthquake and the angel and take off.

Thus, the women find the tomb open and they go in, only to find “a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side.”  This has them in a state of alarm, unsure of what is going on.  From the other Gospels, we know that this young man is a heavenly messenger, an angel.  Why would Mark call him a young man when other accounts call him an angel?  Is this a contradiction?  No, it is not.  Rather, this follows a typical Old Testament pattern.  Most angels appeared to look like men and are often initially called such until they are identified as heavenly by their activity. 

An example of this is in Judges 13.  There the story of Samson’s parents is found when they encounter the Angel of the LORD.  The narrator lets us know up front that Samson’s parents are interacting with an angel, but the woman and the man think he is a “man of God.”  It is not until the “man of God” ascended in the flame of an offering to God that they were burning that they realized they had seen the Angel of the LORD.  We see the same thing in Genesis 18 and 19, when Abraham is visited by “three men.”  By the end of the story, we find out that two of the “men” were angels who went down to Sodom to deliver Lot, and the third “man” was the LORD Himself.  The only heavenly beings described as having wings are the throne guardians referred to as Cherubim and Seraphim.

I take the time to go through this because there is a lot of confusion in this area of understanding angels and heavenly beings.  Angels who were sent to be messengers for God appeared to be men and were typically called such until their activity made it clear that they were heavenly messengers (not just a man of God, but an actual heavenly being).

So, what does the angel in the tomb tell them?  First, he tells them that they are looking for Jesus, but he is risen and not there.  The tomb is empty and Jesus has risen from the dead.  It is amazing how Jesus has a tendency not to stay in the boxes that we try to put him in.  They tried to get rid of the problem of Jesus by putting him in the grave, but that didn’t work.  People are still trying to put Jesus in boxes today, whether unbelievers or believers.  Be careful of thinking that you have Jesus all figured out.  He is the Lord of Life and we would all do well to be very humble in how we think about him.

The angel then tells them to go tell the disciples, and Peter, that Jesus is planning to meet them in Galilee.  I think the angel purposefully adds Peter’s name separate to the disciples.  It both emphasizes the reality of what Peter has done, and the reality of what Peter feels like, separated from what he was a part of.  Jesus had told them before his death that he would rise again and meet them on a certain mountain in Galilee.  However, their unbelief regarding what would happen got in the way of their understanding.

The descriptions of these women are understandable: trembled, amazed, and afraid.  Oh, that moment when your natural mind is assailed by the supernatural power of Jesus.  It is enough to make you quite afraid, but that is not where Jesus intended to leave them, or us.  A new relationship with the risen Lord has begun, and they don’t even know the half of it yet.

Jesus appears to his disciples

Mark does not give a timeline with details of the post-resurrection visitations of Jesus, but he does note a least three of them.  Each time, the unbelieving response of the disciples is highlighted.  These were not bold tomb-robbers trying to invent a new religion, as some try to accuse, nor were they giants of faith, ready to receive the good word.  They were just like we would be in the moment, freaked out and unbelieving at first.

Jesus first appears to Mary Magdalene.  I believe the first appearance has nothing to do with conspiracy ideas that circulate today.  Contrary to the conspiracy theories, Mary Magdalene was not a romantic interest of Jesus.  Even the gnostic text that is used as proof that she was, does not say this, and it is clearly not from the first century and from eye-witnesses.  I believe that God is here rebuking their society and his disciples by appearing to a woman first.  She was not only a woman, but was a woman who had been possessed by 7 demons.  Jesus purposefully picks one who they would not look up to, nor believe.  God is the God of the lowly and humble, those whom society often has little time for.  He did not appear to Herod, Pilate, Caiaphas, or Caesar for that matter.  He appeared to someone who may have been possessed by demons, but was now set free.  She had used her income to help support the ministry of Jesus, and was faithful even in his death.  This is the testimony of the risen Lord to you today.  It matters not how bad your history is, or how low you are viewed in this society.  What matters is that Jesus wants to reveal his power over death, his power over your sin, and his love for you, to you.

Mark does not describe the interaction, but focuses on Mary’s attempt to tell the disciples that she had seen Jesus alive.  She enters the place where the disciples are weeping and mourning, and tells them that Jesus is alive, that she has seen him!  However, they did not believe her.  Why not?  Maybe it seemed preposterous that he would be alive at all, or maybe it was preposterous that he would appear to her before them?  Whatever the reason, they did not believe her.

Mark then relates that Jesus secondly appeared to two disciples on the road outside of Jerusalem.  This is clearly the two men on the road to Emmaus that are mentioned in Luke 24:13-35.  Emmaus is described as a village that is about 7 miles from Jerusalem.  Jesus walks up to them and talks with them, has a meal with them when they reach Emmaus, and vanishes from the table after blessing the bread.  They hadn’t recognized him at first, but they did when he blessed the bread and handed it to them.  It was close to evening, but they ran back to Jerusalem and told the disciples what they had seen.  However, again, Mark emphasizes that the disciples did not believe these men either.  

The unbelief of The Eleven at this point can help us to understand why Jesus purposefully does not appear to them first.  Even we can complain that Jesus didn’t appear to us personally.  Why must I only believe upon the witness of others?  Many today proudly state that if God did something spectacular for them then they would believe, but these guys had seen Jesus do all manner of spectacular things, and yet they didn’t believe.  Are we lying to ourselves, and to God, when we make such bold statements?  Most likely, we are.  Our pride needs to be humbled before we are ready to meet the risen Lord!

Lastly, Jesus finally appears to The Eleven (verse 14).  He rebukes their unbelief and their hardness of heart.  This is the hallmark of the Gospel to this very day.  Jesus is always being introduced by those who have encountered him to those who have not yet.

If you find yourself wrestling with unbelief then know that you are not alone.  However, that is not a place to stay and hang out.  Unbelief in the face of so much evidence is not just being careful.  It often is more than that; it is having a hard heart.  May God help us by softening our hearts this morning to see just who Jesus is.  He is the Lord of Life.  He has the command of life and power over death.

This generation is chomping at the bit of moving past Jesus as an answer to this world’s problems, but he is the only answer.  Revolutions and new laws will not fix this world because the real problem is inside each and every one of us.  It has nothing to do with your gender, skin color, sexual preference, economic station, or political party.  It is the fact that each and everyone of us has a sin problem that cannot be solved through justice.  It can only be solved through letting go of justice and embracing the grace of Jesus Christ, who alone gives eternal life!

Lord of Life audio

The Most Excellent Way

Romans 12:9-10.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on February 7, 2021.

In Mark 12:29-31, Jesus gave us the two greatest commandments, which are really two sides of the same coin.  We are to love God with all of our being (heart, soul, mind, and strength), and we are to love our neighbor as ourselves.  Later, Jesus modified this second command among his disciples.  “Love one another, as I have loved you.”  That is quite the qualifier.  It is one thing to love one another as we think we should, but to love in the way Jesus did would be to love sacrificially and selflessly.

I say that these two commands are two sides of the same coin because the Apostle John challenges us in his first letter with this.  How can you say you love God, whom you haven’t seen, when you can’t even love your brother, whom you have?  Yes, it is easy to give lip service to loving God because he is not physically on this earth.  It is more difficult to test.  In fact, shouldn’t we see the second command as the litmus test of whether or not we truly love God?  I think so.

Let’s remind ourselves today to strengthen this duty that we have to love one another, the duty to love.

We are to love without hypocrisy

The command to love one anther is simple enough, but throughout Scripture, we are given qualifiers from time to time.  In Romans 12:9, it is qualified with a negative phrase, “without hypocrisy.”  Some translations have chosen to emphasize the positive implication of this phrase.  NIV says, “Love must be sincere.”  ESV says, “Let love be genuine.”  The NLT attempts to put both the negative phrase and its positive implication together.  “Don’t just pretend to love others.  Really love them.”

The reason that we need these qualifiers is because the actions of people do not always match up with their words.  There is an irony in our country today that, while we talk more and more of loving each other and being united, we are seeing more and more anger and hatred.  This is not a new thing.  There have always been those who said they were loving, but in the end they were not.  They weren’t sincere, or genuine.  In short, they were hypocrites.

The word hypocrisy, that we are not supposed to mix in with our loving of one another, was a word that came from acting in plays.  The New Testament writers took the word and used it to refer the moral evil of a person merely acting as if they are doing good.  Such people were wearing the acting mask of love, but behind that external mask, there were unloving motivations.

Acting is a powerful medium for getting a message across when people know that it is an act.  It helps us to think about the same situation as a group.  Of course, it can be manipulated to try and pressure the group to think certain things, which is itself a form of hypocrisy.  It pretends to open up discussion on a situation, but in truth is trying to force all to think the same. 

Let’s just say the obvious.  Christians are not called to make an amazing movie about love, whether on a screen or in our lives.  We are to be doing it, for real.  In other words, we are to live a life of love that is worthy of a movie, not to give a performance that people are willing to watch.  It is the difference between being an actor and being the real thing.  If Hollywood stars are any measure of actors, we know that actors are often empty of the good things that they portray, or at least fall very short of it.

Wearing masks with one another and having a superficial love is not God’s plan, and we need the help of the Holy Spirit to be brave enough to take them off.  Warning- when you try to take of masks, those who are still wearing them will be uncomfortable with it (even you will be uncomfortable with it).

Paul then describes what hypocrisy-free love looks like with two verbal phrases.  The first is “abhor that which is bad.”  While we love one another, we should be abhorring, or detesting, that which is evil.  Paul chooses a strong word here.  Christians are not to treat moral evil lightly.  In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul also writes, “love does not delight in evil, but rejoices in the truth.”

Moral evil is defined throughout Scriptures, and it is all those negative vices and activities that God warns against, of which hypocrisy is just one.  This is not just an instruction for me about the other person and their sin.  Rather, it starts with me.  I must detest and shrink back from the tendency to be insincere, or any other moral evil, in my “love.”  I must fight the internal battle of keeping my heart pure towards God and my fellow man.

Of course, when loving others, we will have to face their imperfections and sinful tendencies (and they ours).  Love never means coddling that which is evil.  Our society likes to pick and choose who it loves and what evil is protected.  This must never be among Christians, those who say that they are following Christ, rather than our culture. 

An example of this has to do with public advice that is often given to people in difficult situations.  A case in point is a letter that was written to Dear Abbey.  A mother’s adult daughter, who had been raised to be a Christian, had embraced homosexuality.  The mom was struggling with what it means to continue to love her daughter when she was embracing something that was morally evil (by Christ’s definition).  Dear Abbey’s advice was a surrender to cultural influence in which she was counselled to embrace her daughter and the homosexual lifestyle she was living.  Ultimately, our hearts can be pulled into evil even out of a misguided love.  Loving someone in this situation is something Christians should do, but not in a way that embraces the harmful choices of the individual.  I know that this is 180 degrees the opposite of today’s “wisdom,” but we are followers of Jesus, not today’s culture (or are we?).

The second verbal phrase is the positive implication of the previous.  We must love while holding fast, or clinging, to that which is good.  Most people tend to one side or the other.  We can focus only on detesting evil, and it becomes an excuse to disregard and ignore people who God loves.  On the other hand, we can focus only on clinging to what is good, and ignore the moral evil that is piling up around us.  Christians are called to the hard road of truly loving others, as Jesus loved us.  It is hypocrisy to say that we love someone, but then not really face sin in our life or theirs.  It is hypocrisy to call this love, or to pretend that love calls us to overlook sin, or at least redefine it.  It is also hypocrisy to write someone off because of their sins and failures, and not try to lift that which is good.

This tension is mentioned by Paul in Galatians 6:1, “Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently.  But watch yourselves, or you may also be tempted.”  Jude mentions this tension in verses 22 and 23 of his letter.  “Be merciful to those who are doubting; but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by flesh.”  Even a person who is so destroyed by sin that they are essentially being thrown into the fire of destruction, we are to attempt to save, yet being careful not to be caught up in their sin.  This is a love that is tough on the person doing it and tough on the person receiving it.  However, it is only truth that can set you free.  Fake love helps no one, period.

We are to love as family

Another qualifier is given for our love in verse 10 of Romans 12.  We must love each other with the love that we would have for family members.  Christians are called the “household of faith,” “the children of God,” and we are destined to be the adult Sons and Daughters of God in eternity.  It is not that we pretend that the other is family.  In Christ, we actually are.  Paul uses two words that refer to this family love.  “Brotherly love” is the obvious one.  However, the “kindly affectioned” phrase is actually a word that speaks of the love between parents and children.

Our biological families are a microcosm of the larger family of God that we join when we become followers of Christ.  Even our local church is simply a microcosm of the larger family of God worldwide, and history-wide.  Like Israel coming out of Egypt, we are a part of a large nation of very different people who all will inherit form the same Father, who loves us all.  It is easy to forget that we are family in Christ, and that our Father wants us to learn to get along and love each other.  This is not a suggestion, or something that we can work on when everything else is done.  It is the litmus test of our love for God.  “Do you love me?  Then, feed my sheep,” aka, love my children.

Lastly, Paul speaks of humbly honoring others.  Sibling rivalry, or just family squabbles, are destined to happen because none of us are perfect yet.  Even those who are spiritual elders are not perfected yet.  It is easy to chafe at other believers, like siblings, and it is easy to have tensions between spiritual elders and young believers.  These things are a natural part of being family.  However, we are to work on them with the kind of attitude that takes the lead in honoring the other.  The NKJV translates, “preferring one another.”  This misses the mark in my opinion.  The word being translated has the concept of going ahead of others in this area of honoring.  The clash is that our tendency is to honor ourselves and “go ahead” by pushing ourselves above others.  If we are to “go ahead of others,” it is not to be in honoring ourselves, but in honoring them.

Honor has to do with value and worth.  We love what has value and worth to us, and yet, in our imperfection, we often value things that we shouldn’t and disvalue, dishonor, what we shouldn’t.  Believers have a value to one another that isn’t always understood by us because we get wrapped up in the thinking of our age.  Instead of seeing one another through God’s yes, and through His purposes, we can only see through the world’s eyes and its purposes, or our own selfish purposes.  The challenge to love in today’s atmosphere is only becoming more difficult.  This cannot be used as an excuse.  There are attempts from the culture to polarize and divide God’s people.  May God help us to resist these blatant attacks on God’s Church, and to remain in fellowship with the Spirit of God and His people.

Excellent Way Audio

Instructions on the Battlefield

Various Passages.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on November 08, 2020.

Today, I want to pause and speak to Christians within these United States of America.  There is a battle for the soul of the world that is happening, and the current election is just a skirmish in this overall battle.

Let’s start by looking at a passage in 1 Samuel chapter 8, particularly from verse 4 and following.

The greater battle is in the spiritual realm

We are at the end of a long line of human history.  While there are important things that have happened in the natural realm, we must never lose sight of the more important battles that have happened in the spiritual realm.

The battle in the natural realm has an individual aspect to it and a group or corporate aspect.  The issue has always been between tyranny and freedom.  Adam and Eve were free from tyranny in the garden, but they listened to the devil.  At that point, the world descended into a chaotic mix of sin and violence.

The individual loss in battle spreads out to the group losing the spiritual battle.

So then, God judged the ancient world and started over with Noah; “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the whole earth.”  However, Satan found another individual named Nimrod to resist the plan of God and mislead the multitudes of humanity.  They refused to fill the earth in order to make a great name for themselves.

The prophets Daniel and the Apostle John showed us that history is basically a story of Satan’s attempts to raise up a leader that dominates mankind and harnesses it to do his will, in the name of greatness of course.  Each time he is at the brink of succeeding in his plan, God casts his beastly empire into the dustbin of history.  At Babel, God confused the language of mankind and forced us to spread into nations.  Our individual nations, language, and culture thereby becoming a barrier, more so a protection, against this global, tyrannical plan of Satan.

1 Samuel 8 shows us that Israel was being seduced to follow the same path as the nations around them.  They wanted a king who could help them be great and defend them.  Up until that point, God had been their king.  So, God tells Samuel in verse 7, “they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.  When God rules over us, we are free because He is not a tyrant.  However, Satan promises freedom, but delivers a boot to the face every time.

There is always a seduction of tyranny before there is the brute force of tyranny.  Just think of what we could do if everybody did what we wanted?  Our founding fathers understood this tyrannical impulse within mankind.  It is not only that we want our will to dominate, but that we are fascinated with tyrannical men who make us feel potent by joining their side.  If we can’t be the star of the team then at least we can have the pride of being a part of the team. 

Even today, we are like Esau, willing to sell our birthright for a pot of beans.  We tell ourselves that we are dying and must sell it in order to have food, but we are not dying anymore than Esau was dying.  This is called freedom, and freedom is tough.  Freedom takes guts.  Freedom requires you to face the consequences of your decisions and find a way through them.

America cannot save the world, and no leader can save America.  However, if we toe the line in this battle, we can hold tyranny back a little longer from plunging the whole world into the final, global beast-kingdom.

In any battle, there is a side that you cannot see, the spiritual side.  We must learn to use prayer and God’s Word in order to draw life from Jesus, and thereby, the strength to battle the spiritual powers running roughshod over our world.  Parents do their best to teach their kids and train them in the natural, but the greater battle is the spiritual battle for their hearts and minds.  Our nation is not polarized between two human individuals.  We are polarized between two very different world views.  One looks to government control to save mankind, and the other looks to self-control to save self and as many others around us that we can influence.  Even then, self-control without Jesus is not enough.  It too falls short, and yet is better than tyrannical government.

When a child is grown up, a parent has very little to do in the natural realm, and so is left with mainly praying for them and continuing to be a good example.  The ballots of the 2020 presidential election have been cast.  It is no longer in our hands in the natural.  Over the next 2 months, it will be in the hands of investigators, lawyers, judges, legislatures, etc.  As Christians, we must never lose sight that the battle does not belong to whomever is the strongest in the natural.  It belongs to the Lord.  This election will go one way or the other at the command of King Jesus, not human beings.  We do not deserve mercy as a nation, but we serve a God who is full of mercy and grace.  We can pray for His mercy and not give up.

This reminds me of King David when he was praying for the life of Bathsheba’s baby.  God had decreed that the baby would die because it represented the fruit of David’s willful sin.  However, David knew that God was merciful.  As long as the baby was alive, there was hope that God would relent and heal the baby.  So, we also should pray and fast as David did.  We must fight the spiritual battle by appealing to the Lord Jesus for mercy.  The Lord’s answer will eventually become clear, and then we should wash our face and get back to the work that He has given us to do.  It is never easy bearing the consequences of our sin, whether as an individual or as a group, but, if we will do it out of faith in Jesus, we will find life on the other side.

Because Israel chose to be like all the other nations and have a man of the flesh that they could follow, they later found themselves facing the Philistine army with a Giant of a man called Goliath.  This part of the story is found in 1 Samuel 17.  The great Saul, who was head and shoulder above all other Israelites and very handsome- the kind of leader that lesser men love to attach themselves to- was suddenly faced with an even bigger man.  Now, they were all hiding in their tents, “dismayed and greatly afraid.”

This is exactly what Satan wants for God’s people.  He wants you afraid and staying safe at home while his forces take over your life, your family, your nation, and even our world.  There is a Goliath spirit loose in our land today.  The time of seduction is over and the time for brute force is here.  This spirit shouts out threats to God’s people and seeks to intimidate us.  It wants us to keep our heads down, and l et the forces of Satan take over this land.

Just as it was a critical moment in the history of Israel, so this is a critical moment in America.  The die has been cast.  There may come more opportunities in the natural for us to do something, but if you are hiding in fear, you will miss them through paralysis.  Until then, we need to go to war on our knees seeking God for wisdom and mercy.  Satan’s plan is that America reject freedom, embrace political tyranny, and, thereby, help the world raise up the final global empire.  If we will not do that then his plan is that we economically and politically implode, and become a symbol to the world of those who resist the “better path.”  We would then be the cautionary tale to any other nation that would dare oppose the global Goliath and its global empire under the United Nations or some similar entity.  You must answer this question for yourself, as a free child of God, and in response to the Holy Spirit, not because the religious leader tells you to do so.  At best, I can only be a fellow brother in the fight, saying “Don’t give up!  There is still hope in God!”

What Character do I display

Christians, we must always be aware that we represent Christ to the world around us.  Many people, who have already been captured in sin and plundered of freedom by the enemy, are looking around for hope.  We have a duty from God to walk in His freedom, not the false freedom of Satan.

There is no one character that falls short of Christ.  Worldly character can be many things from fearful hiding to angry rioting.  Israel was fearful and hiding before the Philistines.  There trust was in natural things, King Saul, and so they were made to fear by natural things, Goliath.  This is not the Spirit of Christ.  He was not fearful and hiding.  Neither was he angry and rioting.  Whose image am I displaying?

We are told by Jesus to be wise as serpents, but harmless as doves (Matthew 10:16).  Ultimately, we need to be like him.  To the worldly minded, the life of Jesus was full of hope.  He was a miracle worker and had an intellect that none could stand against.  Yet, to them, he wasted his life by getting himself killed.  Dying on a cross to save the world is not what most people want.  The way of Jesus calls us to repentance and spiritual maturity.  It calls us to responsibility.  It calls us to the freedom that belongs to the sons of God, not the infants of God.  If you are looking for someone to rise up and legislate all your problems away then you have already spiritually surrendered to the seduction of the enemy.

Just who is Jesus?  Let me just read the words of the Apostle Paul in Philippians 2:5-11.

5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus was humble and lowly, yet also bold and courageous.  God is calling us to the bravery of serving people around us.  In order to do that, we are going to have to humble ourselves and die to things that we could have if we just kept silent and let them continue being lost.

Humble and lowly does not equal fearful and hiding in your tents.  Jesus was humble and lowly because he chose to be.  On the other hand, we are actually humble and lowly, even though we are full of ourselves, arrogant, and obnoxious.  There is a boldness and courage that can only be found in not pretending to be anything great, but simply being a person who has faith in Jesus, who knows that He is the King of kings and Lord of lords.  Because of this, we can rise up like David against a behemoth that no tour de force could defeat, except God Himself help us.  We overcome the world through our faith in Jesus, not through our natural abilities. 

Now, we know that not every story of faith ends with a dead giant, conquered enemy, or the shutting of the mouths of lions.  Sometimes our story goes the route of martyrdom.  However, at the Resurrection, Jesus shows us that even stories that seem to end at a cross are not over.  We can be bold and courageous because our victory is not just about getting what we want in the natural realm, but is about overcoming the spiritual seduction of tyranny.  It is about faithfulness to the God who created us and died for us on the cross.  We will be resurrected and reign with Him in the coming Kingdom of Heaven.  Which kingdom do you want to participate in: the kingdom of Satan or the Kingdom of Jesus?  Our choices and the character we display demonstrate which direction we are walking.

Next week we will talk about what those who claim to be prophets are saying about this time in the USA.

Battlefield audio