Bro Bob Sunday School 3/18/12

Bro Bob Sunday School 3/18/12

God’s church is not a building, but it is made up of the redeemed.  We want Him to rule and reign over us, His church.  Thank God for a church at Paradise.  We can get together and worship together.  We are not ‘it’.  We are just a small part of it.  God has 7,000 that ‘have never bowed their knee to Baal’.  The church of God is big; the greatest part of it is probably in heaven.

We are creatures of choice.  We are what we choose to be.  We need to make right choices.  The Word of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ in His word gives clear instruction.  We must choose to believe it all.  We cannot leave any of it out.  It links together like a strong chain from the Old Testament to the New. 

Part of living the Gospel of Christ is that God has an army.  We need to choose to be in God’s Army.  Choose to be a soldier in Christ’s Army.  There is spiritual warfare in heavenly places.  Either we are in God’s army or we are in the other army and will be lost and damned.  We don’t want to be there and we don’t want anyone else to be in that other army.

Eph 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

Where Jesus is, it is heaven there.  God wants to be in His church. 

Rev 12:7  And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

Rev 12:8  And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

There is a war going on.  We need to make right choices.  We have an adversary.  There will always be war between light and darkness until one is crushed.  There will be war until the end of time.  This war is in heavenly places.  Satan was never in heaven.  We are in heavenly places here on earth. 

The war is among those that are serving God.  Satan is camped around the saints.  If we stay with God and His Son, we can win. 

Peace between God and evil is an impossibility.  The very thought of it would mean that Satan has won.  Michael will always war against darkness which is sin.  Sin will separate us from God.  The devil’s goal is to get us separated in sin and to be lost.  Jesus will always be the dragon’s foe.  He has full determination to exterminate all evil and so are we to have. 

We do this by staying in the Spirit of God.  The devil is out to get us by destroying our peace joy and love and getting us to do works of carnality.  We don’t have to go that way.  By the grace of God we don’t.

All the redeemed on earth must fight.  We are not there yet.  We are born to be warriors of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  We enter into a covenant never to make peace with evil.  We cannot even sympathize with it.  The Word of God comes close to our life and makes clear the difference between light and evil.  We can’t sympathize when our loved ones go that way.

God’s people are a war like company firm in defense and attack.  We will not win this battle lying down.  “All that live Godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”  Sometimes the ones that we love most on earth turn against us and it hurts.  Even though it hurts, stay sweet.  Stay in the Spirit.  It is not a carnal battle, but a spiritual battle.

The duty of every soldier in this Army in the Lord is a daily duty.  Every day we get up we need to choose to serve God this day.  Do all that we know to do.  Choose daily to serve God and with all your heart soul and strength to fight against the dragon and sin. 

The dragon and his angels are insistent in their onslaught, sparing no weapon.  We would be foolish to try to serve God without opposing them.  The Bible teaches us that there will be fiery trials.  We need to be thankful for the trial.  Every time we go through one we see where we are standing. 

To my own shame, I’m sorry for some of the trials that I had to go through more than once.  We need to come through right.  We can only do this by staying in the Spirit.  No carnality or the fruits of it can be allowed.  If we give into carnality we must do the first works over again.  We must be determined that at any cost we will go through these trials right, determined to serve God by His help and grace.

The more zealous we are the more sure we are to be attacked by the enemy of our soul.  We will not attain until we walk through those pearly gates.  The devil hates God’s church and would devour it if he could.  The warfare is real and it is today. 

Saints it is a bitter warfare.  We are in the last day, in this day the battle is the battle of Armageddon.  The blood is going to be up to the bridle reigns on the horses as it says in Revelations. 

False religions today teach that you have to sin and that there is no victory over sin.  What deception!  These are the Anti-Christ that devour the Word of God.

To dream of peace in this war that rages all around is futile.  We know the end of the war: the dragon will be cast out. 

Let’s sharpen our swords and pray the Holy Ghost to deliver us until the end of the conflict.  There has never been a battle that is more glorious.  Be soldiers of the Cross and let the Lord bruise Satan under your feet shortly.  Hold to your post.  Stay in the Spirit.  When we stay in the Spirit, God is able to give us the victory.

We need to be in the right battle.  We can be in battles that are not God’s battle.  This battle is not against flesh and blood.  We need to be in God’s battle.  God can help us.  Our part of the battle is to stay in the Spirit.

Whenever we enter into strife we are out of God’s battle.  “Love your enemies, do good to them that despitefully use you and persecute you.  Turn the other cheek.” 

When Jesus was accused, he opened not his mouth.  He chose to submit and let them do what they would.  With a word He could have slain them.  We need to rest in God as He did.  He is our example.

The threshing instrument spoken of in the prophets is the love of God, the Gospel that Jesus gave His life for.

When we stay in the Spirit and give the ones that are lost as much truth as we can, we sow beside all waters.  It will not return void but accomplish that which He desires.

We can come to the church of God faithfully and yet be Babylon.  We need to stay in the Spirit and obey the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  The way of salvation is simple, ‘a fool need not error therein’.

I’m not very smart but this Gospel of Peace came to where I was.  The sacrifice of Jesus Christ was for us so that we could have a new life.  I’m so glad that I’m not the creature that I used to be.  I had a hard heart, but when God showed me that He wanted me to love Him, I chose Him for my savior.  He suffered a terrible death.  He chose to suffer that for us when He could have called 10,000 angels. 

When our hearts, minds, and souls belong to God we stay in the Spirit and then are we members of God’s church.  Carnality will never get it.  Staying in the Spirit is our part of the battle.  When we do, then God can win the rest of the battle which is His. 

Sometimes we get caught up and snared by people that think that they are our enemy.  We don’t fight them carnally, we love them and let the Word and love of God work in their hearts and be that threshing instrument and work out what God would have.

Choose to stay in the Spirit.  We cannot let the Word of God become common to us.  It is our victory.

Gal 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

Gal 5:23  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Gal 5:24  And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

Gal 5:25  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

These fruits are not optional.  We cannot just do as we want and give people a piece of our mind.  If we continue we will be mindless.  We need to check our lives daily with this verse.  Is this where we are?  It needs to be.