(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.) you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful wonderful wonderful wonderful isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful wonderful and it's to me amen let's see alright good morning welcome to Shield of Faith Baptist Church if you don't have a bulletin just raise your hand and we'll have somebody get you one so let's go through these here real quick weekly church service time Sunday mornings at 1030 Sunday evenings are at 6 and Wednesdays are at 7pm underneath that's a list of our soul winning times we have soul winning at 1030 on Saturday mornings meeting right here and that very rarely ever changes all the other times are subject to change 2083915323 let's see here back page in Hebrews chapter number 2 this evening don't forget about the Old Testament Bible reading challenge the charts are still on the table not too late to start let's see here April 13th, Lord's Supper so that is this Wednesday right? this Wednesday? it's coming up quick Easter Sunday April 17th so next Sunday and then the following weekend is going to be Pastor Appreciation Weekend so we will have brother Oliver Gonzalez preaching for us on Friday April 22nd and Pastor Thompson will be preaching for us that Sunday April 24th so don't forget that week that has the 22nd in there the service will be moved from Wednesday to Friday birthdays and anniversaries for April so next up is baby Marilise so she's going to sing for us either way let's see here this week's memory verse is Hebrews chapter 10 verse 25 you guys might have something different on there I think I have an old back here but we will just read it anyway this was last week's memory verse Hebrews 10 25 which says not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the matter of some is but exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching we are a family integrated church and that means children and infants are always welcome in the service dads you got to use the break room from now on and moms the baby room is all set up senators good to go all set up and ready to go for you don't forget to turn your phone off or place it on silent so it's not a distraction and with that being said we are going to have one more song before we receive the offering alright let's turn this song to 176 we will sing it together Jesus loves the little children the song twice sing it twice through Jesus loves the little children 176 on the first Jesus loves the little children all the children of the world red and yellow black and white they are precious in his sight Jesus loves the little children of the world Jesus loves the little children all the children of the world red and yellow black and white they are precious in his sight Jesus loves the little children of the world amen alright let's go ahead and bow our heads and have a word of prayer thank you so much Lord for allowing us to be able to meet here this morning I just pray that you would bless the service Lord bless the tithes and offerings and the fellowship that we are going to have after the service please bring us back safely tonight in Jesus name I pray amen good morning everybody turn to me to Revelation chapter 19 Revelation chapter 19 Revelation chapter 19 last book in the Bible Revelation chapter 19 starting in verse 1 and after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven saying Alleluia salvation and glory and honor and power unto the Lord our God for true and righteous are his judgments for he have judged the great whore which did corrupt the earth with her fornication and have avenged the blood of the servants at her hand and ask again they said Alleluia and her smoke rose up forever and ever and the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshiped God that said Alleluia Alleluia and her smoke rose up forever and ever and the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshiped God that sat on the throne saying Amen Alleluia and a voice came out of the throne saying praise our God all ye servants and ye that fear him both small and great and I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude and as the voice of many waters and as the voice of mighty thundering saying Alleluia for the Lord our God omnipotent reigneth let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to him for the marriage of the Lamb has come and his wife hath made herself ready and her was granted that she would be arrayed in fine linen clean and white for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints and he saith unto me write blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb and he saith unto me these are the true sayings of God and I fell at his feet to worship him and he said unto me see thou do it not I am thy fellow servant and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus worship God for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy and I saw a heaven and I saw a heaven opened and behold a white horse and he that sat upon him was called faithful and true and in righteousness he doth judge and make war his eyes were as flame of fire and of his head were many crowns and he had a name written that no man knew but himself and he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood and his name is called the word of God and the armies which were in heaven followed him upon the white horses clothed in fine linen and white and clean and out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword that with it he should smite the nations and he shall rule them with a rod of iron and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of almighty God and he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written king of kings and lord of lords and I saw an angel standing in the sun and he cried with a loud voice saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God that ye may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of captains and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and them that sit on them and the flesh of all men both free and bond both small and great and I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against him that sat on horse and against his army and the beasts were taken and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him which before him with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast and them that worshipped his image these both were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with fire of brimstone and the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse which the sword preceded out of his mouth and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. Brother Jeremiah you want to pray for us? Alright Amen So Revelation chapter 19 if you would look down at verse number 15 So the Bible says and out of his mouth go with a sharp sword that with it he should smite the nations and he shall rule them with a rod of iron and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of almighty God. So continuing on with going back to the basics and today we're going to talk about the word of God about Bible reading and how to use the Bible give you some basic doctrine but through an advanced lens okay so I know everybody's like oh yeah we've already gone over this but you know this is going to be from a little bit of a different angle this morning this is an idea that I've had for quite a while and it's time to preach this and get this out of the way but the title of the sermon this morning is live by the sword die by the sword we're going to talk about what that means for the believer what that means for the world and obviously you can see that here taking place at the end times right before the millennial reign of Christ you see the word of God coming and out of his mouth is a sharp sword and what does it do it smites the nations it devours the nations and so obviously you can see some application there right you can see that the word of God that we have available for us today supersedes any worldly weapon but does that mean that we can't use the world's weapons or the world's tools of course not there has to be balance we're going to talk about that today so you can leave your place there and go to Revelation chapter number 13 Revelation chapter number 13 and so again talking about using the word of God how important is the word of God for the believer well I would say it's the most important thing after salvation obviously you know going to church we would love to see people come to church and stuff but it's not always possible for people some people have health issues some people just don't live near a church we talked about this last week but what is something that could keep them on fire for God what is something that could keep them improving you know and that goes back to the Bible it goes back to the word of God you know sometimes people ask me like you know how is it possible that like so and so I know he's not reading the Bible as much as me or if everybody keeps coming to church and keeps doing all these things why doesn't he quit you know what's going on there well it's because when they come to church they're paying attention they're listening to the word of God you know and the word of God is very powerful now I'm not saying you shouldn't read the Bible throughout the week but there are some people that do that you know and they listen to preaching and they get the word of God that way okay look the idea look the idea is to get the word of God to read it for yourself but you know when you come to church and if you're in a church that's preaching the word of God it's going to benefit you you know that is how powerful the Bible is you say well again why is this so important we have to understand 98% of people that call themselves Christians have never read even a full chapter of the Bible that's 98% okay I looked at all these different polls these people that go out and survey Christian churches and take surveys 98% of people polled that just I mean these are people just say they're Christian 98% have never read even a full chapter of the Bible okay so what does that tell you we're in big trouble we're in big trouble as a nation now what would that statistic look like for those of us that are actually saved how many people who are saved have ever read the Bible from front to back we don't know okay because you know Barna and all these other polling agencies aren't calling independent fundamental Baptist churches and asking people diligently right they're not making a diligent inquiry but really the proof is in the pudding and you can kind of just tell by talking with people and reasoning with people seeing decisions that people make and you can figure it out for yourself so we're going to get to this question here in a moment and that is why does the Bible tell us that Jesus will come back and smite the nations you probably already know but going back to the subject of Bible reading you know I can honestly say throughout my life this is something that I struggled with early on and it's still something that I struggle with I'm human you know there are some days where I'm like man I'm reading and I'm just like what did I just read you know I'll read a paragraph and I'm like hold on I am not focused right now and I have to put it down and either take a nap or go do something and come back to it now I told you guys last week I don't get the opportunity to skip church that just would be horrible same thing with the Bible I don't get the opportunity to not read the Bible I absolutely have to but you know what you shouldn't look at me like be like haha sucks to be you right that should be your attitude I don't get the opportunity to miss a day of Bible reading now I'm not saying that if you don't read four chapters or five chapters or 40 pages a day you're a garbage Christian because there are people out there that are full of pride that will tell you that you know I've been in churches before like ours where people will come around how many chapters you read today right and they're like literally trying to grill you like if you didn't read as many as them that you're somehow less of a Christian and that is not true every time I hear someone say that six months a year two years they're out the door okay pride will only carry you so far and then it will lead to destruction so there have been different seasons throughout my life where I've been able to read more Bible when I worked for the government I could read 10 15 chapters a day and get a lot of knowledge I had like I think it was 20 different sermon outlines written at one different point you know brother Stuckey a long time ago he preached a sermon about being prepared and saying you know that God uses people that are prepared and I was like well I'm going to put that to the test so I wrote down a sermon outline and then Pastor Menes called out of the blue and said you know I heard you're coming down for a visit this was many years ago and was like would you like to preach a little sermon for solving you know and I was like wow that worked you know and I took that same advice I was like well I wonder what happens if I you know read some more and get some more sermons prepared same thing you know Verity Baptist Vancouver started and Pastor Thompson was like hey you know I could really use some help we're just starting this church you know would you be willing to preach every Sunday night you know and for like the first I don't know 15 20 weeks I had sermon outlines done and then after that I was you know scratching my head like what am I going to say next the idea is reading the Bible always always always always always yields fruit to the believer okay I mean think about this we did the New Testament Bible reading challenge and we changed it up from the two previous years and we spread it out over two months everybody said that they liked that better it felt like you could apply more think about it more and you got a deeper understanding and we're kind of looking around and asking questions and talking and it seems like that's definitely the case right so for our church it seems to be the right balance okay but now don't just give up after that right take that chart over there and if you've never read through the Old Testament read through that thing and make this year the first year that you've read the Bible from front to back it is very doable just one time it's very very doable and it will only increase your learning your wisdom your understanding all of that stuff it's going to make you a better believer okay so again why does the Bible tell us that Jesus is going to come back and smite the nations during Revelation chapter number 13 I'm going to read for you real quickly Genesis 9 6 okay beginning of the Bible first book of the Bible says this who so shedeth man's blood by man shall his blood be shed for in the image of God made he man so obviously we have to understand that what goes around comes around the world reaps violence they sow violence and they reap violence that is what is going on in today's day and age okay every media outlet every TV show practically every avenue of social media is geared towards using the sword of deception the sword of sodomy the sword of all kinds of wickedness to destroy society and you know what there's coming a day where Jesus will come back and absolutely smite the nations and destroy the nations you see that concept being brought up in the first book of the Bible and you see it being brought up in the last book of the Bible look at Revelation 13 verse number 10 the Bible says this he that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity let's stop right there isn't that exactly what we have going on today but how many Christians today can actually and honestly look at what's going on today and and really proclaim to you why it's happening and what's going to happen as a result of that not very many right and why is that it's because they don't know how to use the sword okay it is absolutely mind boggling to me when you talk to a Christian I'm talking about somebody who is absolutely saved and they see no problem with things like Disney you know what I mean they see no problem well it's just cute little Mickey Mouse and all these other guys and you know and the ducks and all that garbage I don't even know who's a Disney character anymore you know and it's like look if you haven't heard by now what their agenda is look I'll just tell you it's to make people into queers that's really what it is it's to it's to turn people inside out for the devil that's what it is that organization and they're not alone right they are geared towards taking people into captivity okay and how do how do we fight out of that captivity how do we rescue people out of that captivity by the sword of the word of God okay but because believers today aren't using it they aren't reading it they cannot see that and so they'll look at us and be like you're just a little too extreme it's really not that big of a deal okay you know that all kinds of kids go missing every year from Disneyland from Disney World right and it doesn't all get reported on I mean think about it think about it why wouldn't it get reported well one because the media is evil okay and two because money okay the people that run Disney not only do they love wickedness but they love money okay and the love of money is what yeah the root of all evil doesn't say that money is the root of all evil but the love of it because people are willing to do whatever it takes to get that dollar okay and in that process there is a an agenda to lead people into captivity and this is why it's so important today for us to understand the word of God to be in the word of God to use our sword so the rest of the verse there he says this he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword here is the patience and the faith of the saints okay so again why is it that one Christian can be going through trials tribulations persecutions looking at the world and being like yeah all this bad stuff is happening but hey that's okay because we have the Lord Jesus Christ we're gonna keep preaching we're gonna keep doing right and then you got the other believer over here that's just in constant panic doesn't know what to do and it's just out of his mind and it all goes back to the last part of this verse here is the patience and faith of the saints you have to realize that justice will be served why does Jesus show up in revelation 19 and open up his mouth and a sword comes out and smites the nations it's for justice okay it is for righteousness it's to fulfill all righteousness and to purge the world of evil and wickedness okay but again that idea is definitely out of season today it is way out of season it is not talked about it is not preached about in most churches go to Matthew chapter number 26 and that is why we need sermons like this okay most Christians today have literally abandoned the word of God they do not want to read it they don't want to hear it they just want to take the grace and run and I'm telling you that is going to have great grave implications on this nation you can already see that happening now I'm gonna give you the main theme for the sermon this morning and it's this the sword of the world is for information and the sword of the Lord is for transformation you know I love it when people will email or they'll text and like you know you need to use more sermons or not more sermons you need to use more Bible verses in your sermons and it's like who do you think you are you know what I mean obviously you're not really reading the Bible to say something like that you know because if you think about it what's the job of a teacher the job of a teacher is to convey information nothing in the world wrong with that ok but the job of a preacher is totally different ok it's not only to convey information but it's to convey transformation and this is something that a lot of these uh sermon auditors if you will online these template pushers just don't understand well this preacher used this many verses you only use like 20 or 30 so you're garbage ok it's like first of all you can't even handle 10 if I asked you next week how many verses did I use and I preached a sermon using 10 verses you're not gonna know ok you're gonna barely remember the bottom line and that's not a diss on anybody that's just how humans work there's not a soul in here that's paying attention from the moment I get up here and start talking to the very end and you could just regurgitate everything back if there is you're probably close to being a genius ok but everybody in here learns everybody in here gets something ok now I'm not saying I'm just gonna get up here and use half a Bible verse ok but if that were the case then you know what if that produces transformation then that's a win that's a good thing ok so what is what in the world am I talking about here what I'm saying is the sword of the world is for information the sword of the Lord is for transformation you have to have balance in the Christian life ok I'm not getting up here and saying hey look the only thing that you should read and talk about is the Bible because that's what a lot of these worldly Christians out here will tell you you know they'll say oh you guys get mad if we have a conversation that's not talking about the Bible that's not true at all ok we have all manner of conversations when church is over talk about all sorts of things we talk about the Bible we talk about other things in the world ok why is that it's because we want balance ok it's the pharisaical legalist type person that's like oh I went to that church and I heard people talking about the weather or I heard people talking about their jobs I heard people talking about carpets and how to install trim and you know you know what I'm talking about that's a wicked mindset and that's not ok right but flip that around and go to some of these other churches and they don't even preach the Bible you go talk to these Christians and they don't want to talk about the Bible at all ok so again we have to learn as God's children how to properly have balance when it comes to the Bible and Bible reading and obviously part of that balance honestly is getting as much as you possibly can handle as much as you possibly can ok so we're going to talk about Matthew chapter number 26 we're going to start reading in verse number 47 here and this is taking place after the disciples you know Peter, James and John are conked out in the garden of Gethsemane and Jesus is like alright hey you know the individual here that's going to betray me has showed up just wake up and let's just get this let's just get this going right because he's trying to show them an example and they just keep falling asleep here they just keep racking out but there's some interesting interesting doctrine in these verses that we're about to read regarding the sword of the Lord and the word of God so let's pick it up here in verse number 47 so the Bible says this so what we have going on here is obviously the world trying to use their weapons their sword to attack the real sword, the eternal sword, the word of God ok now how do you think that's going to work out it doesn't work out ok but I want you to notice the response of a certain disciple here ok look at verse number 48 it says this that betrayed him gave them a sign saying whomsoever I shall kiss that same is he hold him fast what does that prove well that proves that at that time Jesus looked like everyone else in the area ok people are always trying to say oh you know the Bible says that he had long hair I've been told that several times in my life the Bible says that he was white or the Bible says he was black or the Bible says this it doesn't say anything like that right obviously by the context here you can tell he looked like everyone else but look at verse 49 it says and forthwith he came to Jesus and said hail master and kissed him verse number 50 you know that kind of reminds me of the NIV right there you know the NIV or the ESV these modern Bible versions are kind of like that you know they kind of get right up to Jesus hail master right we believe in you here's the son of God here's the word of God but those things are lies those things are crafted by liars the NIV the ESV all these modern versions are nothing more than a perverted commentary on the Bible ok that's what those are verse number 50 it says this and Jesus said unto him friend wherefore art thou come then came they and laid hands on Jesus and took him and that's exactly what you have going on today with modern Bible versions this is why when you go to these liberal type churches this is pretty much the attitude that you have you have a person who gets up in front of a congregation of people a gathering of people and says hail master but the whole time what they're trying to do is to take the real Jesus away from the people ok they're using the sword of man look at verse 51 it says and behold one of them which were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew don't miss this his sword you see that drew his sword and struck a servant of the high priest and smote off his ear now funny that his buddy John you know his good friend John you know the three that were in the inner circle there with Jesus Peter James and John John dimes him out and says that was Peter right Matthew is a little bit more respectful not to say that John was disrespectful but you can tell that they definitely have a closeness there where they can you know be like that with each other but Matthew is just like yeah a servant drew out he's like oh I don't want to bring up any names ok whereas John's like yeah it was Peter it was definitely Peter ok keep your place there and go to Luke chapter number 22 Luke chapter number 22 so what do we have here ok well we have people show up with swords with staves to the actual sword to the word of God to Jesus Christ himself and then through that exchange there through that process we have one of Jesus' disciples what does he do what sword does he choose to pull out in order to solve the situation in his mind he pulls out the sword of the world he pulls out a physical sword because he thinks that that is going to solve the issue that is going to remedy this problem that we have and nothing could be further from the truth and we're all about to get a lesson on what that means now obviously this is at the end of Jesus' ministry here so these guys have been with Jesus for a long time and they still have swords so the question is now is there anything wrong with having a weapon is there anything wrong with self defense is there anything wrong with having a sword of the world or using the world for a tool and the answer is obviously no we understand that but the application here is we have to learn properly how to use the weapons of this world they still have their place we'll look at that so Luke chapter number 22 this is literally the same day the same account but just written from a different perspective it's written by the physician Luke who by the way we talked about this before wasn't even physically present here but yet gives us great insight and great detail into the things of Christ so let's pick it up here in verse 35 so in verse 35 takes place after Peter's like doing his thing like I will never forsake you I'm going to be with you for the end and Jesus is like no you're going to deny me this day here so let's pick it up in verse 35 it says this says and he said unto them when I sent you without purse and script and shoes lack ye anything and they said nothing so he's trying to teach him he's trying to get them back into the proper mindset because if you remember for example I think it's Matthew chapter 10 where Jesus is choosing the disciples to go out on a mission he sends them out two by two and he says hey don't bring your script don't bring you know your bags don't bring anything here basically what you're going to do is you're going to go out soul winning and I'm going to be with you in spirit I'm going to help you you're going to do signs you're going to do wonders you're going to get people saved and he gives them all of that wisdom and all of that instruction right and he's telling him here in this passage hey I'm about to depart here you're about to get a whole revelation of what all this really means that the kingdom is not about the here and now it's not about the temporal it's about the eternal and he's putting their minds trying to put their minds in the right perspective okay and he's trying to tell them hey I sent you without all of this stuff but now you're going to need this stuff so look at verse 36 he says then said he unto them but now he that hath a purse let him take it and likewise his script and he that hath no sword let him sell his garment and buy one okay very easy to understand what's going on here you know because we still have people that call themselves Christians today and they'll say yeah I get a word of knowledge from the Lord God told me this you know and they'll try to run their services like the special mission that Jesus gave his disciples and his apostles and they'll say well we don't need the word of God we don't need preparation the Holy Ghost just fills me up and tells me what to say okay yeah that doesn't happen we are commanded to study to show ourselves approved unto God right a workman why are we called to be workmen to rightly divide the word of truth to study these things so that we could communicate not only information but transformation and Jesus is trying to get them to understand this concept he's saying guys look you need to have balance you need to understand the sword of the Lord versus the sword of the world he says take your garment sell it and buy yourself a physical sword but he doesn't give them that option or that implication when it comes to the script when it comes to the word of God he says let him take it and likewise his script make sure that you have the word of God for now because that mission was a sign confirming that I'm here look at verse 37 he says for I say unto you that this that is written yet must be accomplished in me and he was reckoned among the transgressors for the things concerning me have an end so what is the priority here it's the written word of God it's the sword of the Lord that is the priority right so he's trying to get their minds back into that focused on that look at verse 38 it says and they said Lord behold here are two swords and he said unto them it is enough okay kind of funny huh like he just gets done telling them about the sword of the Lord and the word of God and how important it is and how now this ought to be the priority this ought to be the abundance of your thinking and they're like yeah hey we got these two swords over here double edge I got one samurai you know I got one that looks like you know something crazy and he's like it's enough okay that's it just I wish I could just be a fly on the wall there you know just be in a crowd just kind of look at facial expressions look at the Lord's face when he says that it's like that's enough but that's how we are isn't it we're no better than these apostles here understand that this is the attitude a lot of times that we have we start reading the Bible we get on fire a little bit we come to church and then all of a sudden our minds and that old man starts to focus on that physical sword the sword of the world and Jesus is telling us hey hey understand there's nothing wrong with that right but not too much of that don't you don't want to go overboard with that now go to Matthew chapter number six Matthew chapter number six so all of that to basically say this Bible reading will bring balance in to the believer's life okay you want to have that spiritual and that physical balance and I'm telling you right now it only comes from the word of God it only comes from the Bible okay reading the Bible hearing preaching and hearing teaching as well you know the Bible says that there is a place for teachers that he gave us teachers and he gave us preachers every preacher that is alive today that's preaching the word of God some of them maybe have a little bit more of a gift to teach some of them maybe have a little bit more of a gift to preach some of them are kind of more balanced maybe in the middle but the point is to have that balance and that understanding okay that the sword of the world is for information okay the sword of the Lord is for transformation that's what this is all about okay these people you you should use 50 60 70 verses okay you're not going to get much transformation like what do you want me to do do you want me to just get up here and read you the whole book of Matthew and then just bounce look how much effort you know that would be great that would make my life easy to just read it no explanation and walk out the door let's go to pojo's now let's go to the trampoline park I did my part I conveyed to you information do you think the Lord would be very happy with me if that's how it was and I'm not accusing any of our preachers or preacher friends of doing that they don't do that okay but there are some people out there that pretty much do that I've been to churches before you know where they just will it's like I don't even know what you're talking about like like they'll write they'll just read Bible verses no explanation has anybody ever been through something like that you know you ever see a little clip of a Catholic church service you know that's that's kind of what it's like you know in some of these churches out there they're just like and they'll just like write some stuff down maybe a little bit explanation and just read it okay and then you you wonder to yourself why there's ever never any transformation that's my goal that's a preacher's goal is to get people to apply the word of God if you're not applying you're dying that's that's bottom line right there okay and again people ask this question it's always a good question I can't get to church right there are people that live in brother Scoke's old nation you know South Africa where they have no option they've got no option but they can still grow they still can they can still benefit in their current situation and they're going to do that by understanding balance by understanding the word of God you had do you have access to a Bible if you do look you can read you can grow you can listen to sermons online you can apply things in your life so the main point I want to bring up out of this passage right now is that Bible reading will bring balance to your life so many of us struggle with this because we're human because we're in the world we have to work we have family we have people that know us and so on and so forth we have all this pressure from the outside right how do you maintain that perfect balance you do it by understanding and reading the word of God every single day of your life this should be more necessary to you more of a priority to you than your very own food right we don't skip too many meals around here do we especially as Baptist man we got that reputation and it's honest and true but we have no problems like I'll get to that chapter tomorrow you know I'll get to that tomorrow we should never be like that as God's people we have to have to have to make the word of God a priority in our lives Bible reading is key and you're going to see that even more powerful as we go through this here you don't have to turn there but 1 Corinthians 7 31 says this and they that use this world as not abusing it for the fashion of this world passeth away ok Paul's telling the Corinthians different things in this chapter here regarding marriage but he makes this statement and it's so true says you know we ought to be like those that use the world but don't abuse it ok there's nothing wrong with using the world but we don't want to abuse it and hey what's the best way to learn how to use the world from the word of God from the person who designed the world from the person who created it right from the word of God I mean how many people in here have gotten some great wisdom and application just from reading Proverbs reading the Proverbs today right I mean that alone there is going to help you tremendously in how to use the sword of the world right because think about it that's what Jesus is telling Peter you know he cuts this guy's ear off cuts Malchus' ear off and Jesus is like put that thing away don't you know that if you live by the sword you die by the sword have you not gotten that through your head yet Peter and luckily eventually he gets it and he understands but the point is balance we need to learn how to balance these two in our lives ok you're there in Matthew chapter number 6 I want to show you very quickly how to do that look at verse 31 Matthew 6 verse 31 says this it says therefore take no thought saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or whether all or wherewithal shall we be clothed so again ever struggling with anxiety being anxious in your life read Matthew 6 real quick stop what you're doing read Matthew 6 meditate on these things and it's going to put everything back into perspective for you ok Jesus is saying hey if you want to grow if you want to flourish in this world stop taking thought about the things that I already know that you need stop worrying about it stop dwelling on it because by doing that you're out of balance you're all over the place look at verse 32 for after all these things do the Gentiles seek now do we want to be looked at amongst our peers and amongst the world as being the same as the world no way absolutely not but when God's children don't understand these principles written in the word of God that's how we appear to the world we're worried about everything worried about our cars worried about our houses worried about this worried about that it does absolutely no good all it does is make us look exactly like the world we're taking the sword of the world at that point and using it inappropriately look at verse 33 but seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you go back to Matthew chapter number 26 you say how do I know for sure that I'm in balance I don't feel quite right what do I do about it you do one very simple thing and that is you stop dwelling on the things of the world that's it you stop taking thought for the things of the world you start seeking the things of the kingdom of God right and that starts with opening up the pages of this book and reading and determining in your heart that you're going to make whatever change that that book tells you you see you may think you're reading the Bible but the Bible's reading you that's what's really going on and that's what we need that's what we better understand as God's people you don't have to turn there but 3 John verse number 2 says this beloved I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health even as thy soul prospereth so again we want to make it very clear that I'm not standing up here week after week saying you know what we ought to just only talk with each other it's funny you know set up basically this Jonestown thing you know I get a lot of flack from you know old uncle Uncle Jones out in you know the out in the wilderness or wherever he was ruling and reigning back in the 70's Jim Jones that's what his name is Jim Jones you know it's funny Pastor Mena's dad you always joke with me like hey you know Jim it took me a minute to figure out the first time he said this what he meant by that and he said do you have the Jews oh you talk about Uncle Jim's Kool-Aid he's like yeah yeah yeah I was like he's my uncle and he's like no every time I see him now I'm like hey I got family recipe man you want some Kool-Aid it's the best recipe you've ever had in your life he just starts laughing cause it's so hilarious I just roll with it can't help the last name it is what it is and I have no idea why I'm talking about this right now so whatever oh yeah 3 John verse 2 beloved I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health right so even John right you know the Epistles of John right 1 John 2 John 3 John as a church we went through these ok you guys know what the goal of those Epistles was fellowship right so you see we can still have fellowship with God fellowship with each other and still prosper physically right because if we're not prospering physically if we're unhealthy we've got issues you know that slows the work of God down doesn't it right so he's saying hey I want you to prosper and be in good health right he's like I want your finances to be great I want your physical health to be great but I want you to have that balance and the only way you're going to get it is by the word of God ok by understanding these things so number 1 Bible reading will bring balance to your life ok let's move on here look at verse 52 Matthew 26 look at verse number 52 so right after Peter does his Benaiah the son of Jehoiada kind of moment here he says this then said Jesus unto him put up again thy sword into his place for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword and so again the question eventually is going to be well why is the word of God called a sword and what does that mean for us we're going to get to that here in a second but Jesus tells him the basic principle of the word of God that's found from Genesis to Revelation hey if you want to live by the sword you will die by the sword right interesting though put this in the back of your heads we're called to live by the sword ok we're called to live by the sword but what does Peter's sword in this moment represent the world ok the world and what did we just learn he was told yes it's permissible for you to have a sword right hey make sure that now that I'm about to depart and I'm about to start building my church I want you to have the word of God I want you to have a physical sword as well ok their minds went all up in that physical sword well here's two that's good enough ok and they're probably thinking like well there's twelve of us you know how are we going to practice and what if we get ambushed and you know all this stuff he's like that's enough ok that should be our attitude when it comes to the sword of the world you know what that's enough ok that's enough that is definitely enough but what's the other thing that's going on here I mean think about this Jesus just got done telling them hey it's not about the temporal this kingdom's not physical anymore it's not going to be like that you better understand I'm about to go and die on the cross and I will rise from the dead and I will draw all men unto myself hint hint you understand what's going on here Peter doesn't get it he pulls out the sword in that instant without even thinking and just tries to take Malchus's head off but he cuts his ear off so what is the problem in this moment now we already talked about balance so he's out of balance but what else is out of balance and that is timing ok it is timing that's what's going on here Bible reading provides the believer with perfect timing ok again they're commanded said hey you can have a sword you should have a sword you need to be in the world you need to use this world you just don't need to abuse it right what happens when we don't well we just learned we're out of balance but number two is timing timing is everything again think about it why do we read in Revelation about so many people up there like Lord when are you going to avenge us right don't you know what these people did and then the angel has to tell them hey just relax you know they'll be avenged once your brethren suffer the death and all these things are going to happen to them ok timing what does timing bring the believer patience patience ok because it's so tempting for us I used to have a pastor say this all the time and I could totally relate he'd say you know what I get up here and I preach to you guys patience and all this and that he's like but don't be surprised if I go down in a blaze of glory when the cops show up to my house and try to mess with me he would say stuff like that and it's like yeah I get you I understand right but how do we avoid that how do we avoid getting you know involved too deeply in the world's physical fights and battles what's by the word of God it's by understanding timing ok understanding that the Lord will avenge us it's a promise we read it in Genesis 9 we read it in Revelation chapter number 13 you live by the sword you die by the sword God will fulfill all justice and all righteousness look at what he says next here in verse 53 thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my father and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels you see that why does Jesus say that because it's not the right time for him to use that physical sword it's the time now to use the sword of the Lord and how would that be used in this situation by simply understanding how would this look think about this how would this whole story have looked if they got it if they really understood the timing and the fact that Jesus had to be delivered up right Simeon understood in Luke chapter number 2 didn't he Simeon understood when Jesus was just born and he told Mary hey a sword's gonna pierce through your heart he understood that how would this look different now if the apostles understood if the disciples understood well you're gonna see here in a second look at verse 54 but how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled that thus it must be so what must be in this moment the sword of man the tool of man or the sword of the Lord the word of God well obviously it's the word of God look at verse 55 it says in that same hour said Jesus to the multitudes are you come out are you come out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take me I sat daily with you teaching in the temple and you laid no hold on me interesting you know he's he's just basically trying to tell these guys do you really think that you can come to the creator of the universe with your feeble weapons and it's gonna do anything but that's the agenda of today's military the agenda of today's military and SpaceX it may be oh to defend our nation and defend our rights and our sovereignty and this and that really their goal and you better believe me and you better understand this cause I know this for a fact it is to someday in their minds fight against God Almighty all of their research all of these sick twisted disgusting things that they're developing and I've seen some of them and you better listen to me right now it is not just to destroy this planet it's because they in their minds think that they can beat the Lord Jesus Christ they think that they can beat God in heaven there are there are people that are that high minded in our government and in our military that honestly in their souls believe that that is a fact look at verse 56 and let's see what's the result though let's go back to what we're talking about what's the result of getting these things wrong what's the result of not having that timing that the believer just desperately needs yep look at this verse 56 but all this was done that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled so this is what Jesus again trying to teach Peter what happens next then all the disciples forsook him and fled you see that you don't have timing down you're out does it say that all the people that didn't believe and weren't saved and weren't truly saved because they weren't doing the works they're the ones that left no then all the disciples forsook him and fled because they didn't have balance and they didn't have timing because they didn't understand the word of God they hadn't yet been transformed and that's not the Lord's fault that's man's fault that's us that's man's fault that's us okay that is us this is us here this isn't just Peter James John Thaddeus you know Thomas this isn't just all the apostles no this is how we are when we don't understand the word of God when we're not seeking to apply and we're not gaining that wisdom what happens you forsake you bounce you dip we talked about that last week no word of God no service okay I mean think about how we are so tempted to be drawn to the physical swords right they're appealing because we can see them they're right in front of us we were looking at swords yesterday at one of the U shops Kate and I had like this Legend of Zelda sword there and I was like I don't play Zelda anymore but that's kind of cool it reminds me of being a kid there it is all I got to do is pay 160 bucks for it instead of 160 hours trying to beat it on the NES you know it's just stupid but the point here is very simple Bible reading provides the believer with perfect timing and why do we need timing because bad things happen to us right bad things happen to us the world comes at us our families come at us life comes at us and when we fail to understand why these things are happening and the moment of truth comes and shows up and an answer is required of thee of you and you don't have it because you don't read the Bible because you're not in church you're not learning then all the disciples forsook him and fled all and any one of us could be found in verse 56 here so number two Bible reading provides the believer with perfect timing you know I wish we had more time right now because we could get into Ecclesiastes and talk about the timing and you know as it applies to life but those have to be sermons for another day my point right now is to get you to understand the urgency and what will happen to you when you do not get the word of God into your eyeballs and into your ears down into your new man you will forsake the Lord it's that simple people leave all the time they leave these types of churches all the time and they've got a million and one reasons why but this is it right here anytime someone tries to come at you with this excuse that excuse whatever okay no it's Matthew 26 56 that's why it's then all the disciples forsook him and fled because they didn't understand there's something yeah you may have come to church for four years five years but at some point you stopped your ears at some point you stopped your eyeballs at some point the acting just wasn't enough anymore okay and when the moment of truth come you didn't understand and you dipped that's what happened you forsook and you fled it's not my fault it's not our fault it's your fault it's on you oh but I you're not exactly like the other preachers yeah thank God God made me different I have different life experiences I have a different way of viewing information I've been hitting the head a lot I've got some issues okay it is what it is but you know what there's we're still in a room full of people that have had their lives change you know we get emails all the time and text messages all the time for people that don't even go to this church that say that their life has been changed because it's not me it's the word of God right it's the word of God that will transform you but you need to have them ears open you need to have them eyeballs open you need to have it in your heart that you're going to learn that you're going to understand you know what this book is reading me right now I'm the one that's messed up it's not the preacher although sometimes it is you know depending on where you go or what season of life it is but you have to understand that it's you it's me it's us we are these apostles here we this is us and we have to fight and we have to learn and we have to struggle to not be like that because the Bible's telling us hey it's not just them okay it's not like this is just Peter you know no one's like Peter he's just kind of a one of a kind dude no we all have Peter moments we all try to cut the head off and miss and hit the ear and then have to have our friend be like I told you that was you you know that was you let's back up here let's move on let's back up and look at verse 52 again because all of this does beg the question well if you live by the sword and you die by the sword and we're commanded to live by the sword of the Lord what does that mean does that mean we're guaranteed to get killed physically like what's going on well let's take a look at that verse 52 then said Jesus unto him that is Peter put up again thy sword into his place for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword go to Ephesians chapter number 6 Ephesians chapter number 6 so first part of the verse there put up again thy sword into his place let's talk about that metaphorically okay what does that mean for the believer metaphorically well that means that the sword of the world has its place put it in its proper place and that means that the sword of the Lord has its place but the question for you and the question for me is is it in that place and where is it Ephesians 6 17 real quickly look what it says and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit which is the word of God now thank God that we don't serve a commander that we don't serve a king that gives us bad weaponry that doesn't give us a dull sword that doesn't give us a rifle with blanks in it you know what I mean you know the government a long time ago decided you know we're going to go to this AR system the AR AR-15 you know we're going to get the M4 and give our troops the 5.56 round meanwhile the rest of the nations have a larger caliber round they use typically the AK or the 7.62 that's not to say that we don't have that same thing but I believe personally that it was a mistake that it shouldn't have been that way because what was the primary weapon in the beginning of the Vietnam war anybody know yeah the reason why I'm asking is because it just left my mind I forgot but anyways the point the point is that it shot a I believe a 7.62 type caliber okay this is terrible because my dad used to talk about that rifle all the time and I used to dream and I've even shot it this is this is bad but this is what happens when you get older okay but you still get the point which means you can still get the transformation okay they got away from that I mean that had stopping power okay that's the point that had stopping power when people heard that rifle go off heads went down you know but there are stories you can ask brother Kevin there are stories you know people in Afghanistan and Iraq getting shot and they have thick wool coats on getting shot by our modern weapons AR-556 and the rounds just getting stuck in their thick wool coats and you know a lot of times our troops feel betrayed you know because our weapons jam up easier and so on and so forth but the reason why we do win most wars is because of financial reasons okay it's because we have fire superiority we have more rounds we have more money more weapons and again that is a sermon for another day but the point is you know our government doesn't care about its troops they will do whatever they seem fit whatever suits their agenda right but our king our god says hey I'm giving you a sword and that sword is the word of the lord and it's sharper than any two edged sword but yet most believers most so called Christians today nope gotta go back to the Greek nope gotta go back to the Hebrew nope you gotta wait you gotta wait on these scholars right original manuscript that's where it's at no that's a dull sword the NIV is a dull sword if you can even call it a sword it's like a butter knife it's a piece of junk the ESV all of that stuff we don't serve that god we just don't serve him our god says hey I care about my troops I care about my church I'm the commander I'm giving you a weapon and it's sharp and you better understand how to use it because it's going to give you that balance it's going to give you that timing and guess what you're going to have to learn how to die by that sword go to Psalm chapter 119 so again Matthew 2652 you go to Psalm 119 we're almost done getting ready to wrap this up he says put up again thy sword into his place so we get that we realize that you know what we do have to use this world but the goal is to not abuse this world that's the sword of man that's the sword of the world it has its place and do we know where that place is and that place is below the word of god that's where it is it's below the word of god it's in its sheath and it only comes out in the proper timing it only comes out when it needs to come out when we need to use it it doesn't come out to solve the world's problems when the world is attacking Christianity we don't go to the world to use their weapons to fight the world we use the word we use the sword we use the weapon that god gave us which is the sword of the spirit capital S which is sharper than any two-edged sword okay so again this title of the sermon live by the sword die by the sword we understand what that means you want to live by the world sword you will die by the world sword that is a promise that is a guarantee but we're called to live by the sword of the word of god okay well first of all we need to know where that place is if you're in Psalm 119 look at verse number 11 thy word have I hid in mine heart that I might not sin against thee so again Jesus said to Peter hey put that thing up in its place what does that mean metaphorically for the believer well I just told you we need to make sure that the sword of the world is in its place it comes out at the right time and with right balance but the sword of the spirit the sword of the lord needs to be in our hearts okay when you read an ordinary book which I do all the time I think I read like I don't know somewhere between 10 and 15 just regular books last year outside of the bible okay all of that stuff went up here okay but when you read the word of god it reads you it goes into your heart when you allow it to go through your eyes and you allow it to go through your ears guess what it goes into your heart that's why David said thy word have I hid in mine heart that I might not sin against thee so when Jesus told Peter hey put that thing in its place the question we have to ask ourselves is do you have the word of god in its proper place do you have the sword of the lord the sword of the spirit in its proper place which is inside of your heart which only happens through application through letting this book read you and you making those changes on a daily basis okay we'll just listen to this here last part of that verse there in Matthew 26 52 so he says put up again thy sword into his place for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword you don't have to turn there but what does that mean for the believer well it means a couple different things but primarily it means this you don't have to turn there 1 Corinthians 15 31 Paul says this protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our lord I die daily I die daily we are commanded as believers to die to self on a daily basis we are commanded to take up our cross daily not to earn salvation not to stay saved not to maintain salvation but in order to be a valuable member in this kingdom in order to go out and edify people and evangelize people we absolutely have to die daily so we need to live by the sword of the lord so that we can die daily so again the title of the sermon has two meanings live by the sword die by the sword which one do you want how do you want to go out you want to go out using the sword of the world or do you want to go out on a daily basis using the sword of the lord you're in Psalm 119 look at verse number 9 it says this again we're done right here wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed thereto according to thy word that's what the Bible says how does a young man and this means a young man a young woman how does a young believer transform his or her life it's by taking heed through the word of God through the Bible basic instructions before leaving earth right somebody said that a long time ago and that's always stuck with me we are commanded to live by the sword and die by the sword and Jesus is saying hey I don't want you to live by the physical sword so that you die by the physical sword right I want you to be careful I want you to live by the sword of the spirit so that you can die daily that's the point of Bible reading that's the point of coming to church sanctification okay that's why I said look without reading the word of God you will not grow and you will not sow right how about that maybe I should have titled that I don't know that's a bottom line for you there we need to develop like a quote book I think maybe that's pride I don't know but remember this the sword of the world is for transformation I'm sorry for information edit that part out Kaden the sword of the world is for information the sword of the Lord is for transformation wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed thereto according to thy word it all goes back to the word of God no word of God that balance is gone no word of God that timing's gone what do we see happen when they didn't get the timing they all forsook right Peter made an attempt you know he was the only guy there was like well I guess the kingdom starts today right that would have been a cool movie line I guess if you're worldly and watch movies you know I guess the kingdom of God starts right now when he takes that out Jesus is like put that thing away right you notice that Jesus didn't even say hey get rid of that thing right believers shouldn't have guns they shouldn't have rifles they shouldn't have knives and swords they shouldn't take classes on how to defend themselves no he's like hey that stuff's got value you know that stuff's got value you know there's value in teaching these kids on how to physically defend themselves look even before I knew a lot of the stuff about the reprobate doctrine when Kaden was even little I used to take him and put a knife in his hand you know we would practice using the knife and I would tell him if I'm ever not around and you have this knife you stick it right in that bladder and you twist it with everything that you have I'm sure that's going to get me in trouble next you know but hey that's better than the fate of being taken by a child molester isn't it that's a lot better and do you think that's justifiable absolutely you want to live by the sword of being a stinking pedophile you know what you should die by that same standard you should I mean and our government is definitely definitely not taking that route it's not going down that road and so knowing that and understanding that that's written in the bible we were warned about it but do you understand it if you do guess what you're going to get that balance you're going to be okay this is where we're at this is what's going on I get it now what do I do about it well I learn from the word of God the dangers of these people how they are and I stay away from them right I stay away from them we learn as parents to watch our children and to keep a good eye on them and guess what now we can use timing and so when these unforeseen circumstances happen to us we will not forsake the Lord we won't dip out on them we won't leave we will be right there because we understand that the sword of the world is for information and the sword of the spirit is for transformation so without any further ado we're done I'm going to leave it right there let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer thank you so much Lord for your word I just want to pray Lord that even though this is basic stuff that we would all take heed to this and never lose our zeal for bible reading Lord and that you would continue to help us to apply these things in our lives and please be with us soul ending today the fellowship and bring us back safely tonight in Jesus name I pray Amen Alright so for our final hymn this morning let's grab those hymn books and we'll turn to song number 175 it's just like his great love let's go out singing strong 175 it's just like his great love On the first friend I have called Jesus whose love is long and true and never fails how where tis tried no matter what I do I've sinned against this love of his but when I knell to pray confessing all my guilt to him the sin clouds roll away it's just like Jesus rolling clouds away it's just like Jesus to keep in me my name it's just like Jesus all along the way it's just like his great love sometimes the clouds of trouble be dim the sky above I cannot see my savior's face I doubt his wondrous love but he from heaven's mercy seat beholding my despair in pity first the clouds between and shows me he is there it's just like Jesus to roll the clouds away it's just like Jesus to keep me day my name it's just like Jesus all along the way it's just like his great love when sorrows clouds o'er take me and break upon my head when lies seem worse than useless and I were better dead I take my grief to Jesus then how do I go in vain for heavenly hope he gives that cheers like sunshine after rain it's just like Jesus to roll the clouds away it's just like Jesus to keep me day my name it's just like Jesus all along the way it's just like his great love oh I could sing forever of Jesus far behind all along his care and tenderness for this life of mine his love is in and over all and when that waves obey when Jesus whispers peace be still and rolls the clouds away it's just like Jesus to roll the clouds away it's just like Jesus to keep me day my name it's just like Jesus all along the way it's just like his great love Amen Brother David we have a close word here please Dear Father God we just thank you for this service thank you for the sermon that you laid on past this heart to preach for us this morning will we just ask you to please and give us all of our hearts to apply this message to our lives be not weary be not tossed to and fro depending on the cares of this world that we stay we say our hearts on your word and we just pray that you bless the fellowship to come and service this evening and solely to come in Jesus' name we pray Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen