Spiritual Warfare – The Full Armor of God – 4

Spiritual Warfare – The Full Armor of God – 4

Subject – The Belt of Truth

By Rick Welborne

Ephesians 6:10-14 (NIV) ¹⁰  Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
¹¹  Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.
¹²  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
¹³  Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
¹⁴  Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist…

--Please understand that whenever the Word speaks of the belt of truth or about truth in general, it is talking about Jesus Christ…listen to the Old Testament:

Isaiah 11:1-5 (NIV) ¹ A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
²  The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him-- the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD--
³  and he will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears;
⁴  but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
⁵  Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness (or truth) the sash around his waist. 

--Listen to the New Testament:

John 14:6 (NLT)
⁶  Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.

1. Jesus and Holy Spirit are Our Foundation for the Belt of Truth.

--Isaiah prophesizes about Jesus… the Spirit of the LORD will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. 

--The Spirit of the Lord will rest upon Him which is the Holy Spirit of God. The Spirit of truth.

John 15:26 (NKJV) ²⁶ "But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.

--He is armed with the Spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, and the fear of the Lord. No wonder Jesus could say I am the way, the truth, and the life.

--The belt had two purposes -- to hold their weapons and to show others what rank they carry in the Roman Army. Exactly what truth does! Truth says that when attacks come, the truth will set us free. 

John 8:31-32 (NKJV)
³¹  Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. ³²  And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
 

--Truth says that when everything else is lost, the truth of what Jesus did on the cross and therefore what awaits us when we die is nothing scary or negative, but a beautiful eternity with our Savior. 

John 16:13 (NKJV)                                                                                                                                  ¹³ However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.

--Truth also tells the world our rank in the Army of God -- we are all sons and daughters of God! Princes and Princesses of the Most High King hold a very high rank indeed.

John 1:12-14 (NKJV) ¹² But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:
¹³  who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
¹⁴  And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. 

2. The Belt of Truth Holds Everything Together.

--The belt of truth in the Roman armor would hold his tunic tight so he might be free with his movements. 

--Many feel that they are free when they get away from God but nothing could be more messed up than that…what they eventually find is the opposite of truth (bondage) and deception.

--Look at what King David said when his sin was exposed by Nathan the prophet…repentance.

Psalm 51:1-6 (NKJV) ¹ Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions.
²  Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin.
³  For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me.
⁴  Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight-- That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge.
⁵  Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.
⁶  Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.

--The belt of truth also provided a place for the soldier to hang his sword…the Sword of the Spirit is the Word of God…if you will walk in truth, you will walk in the Word of God.

--Example of a lady who came to me telling me that even though the Word of God said she was walking in sin, God had spoken something different to her…I told her she was not walking in truth.

Matthew 12:36-37 (NKJV)
³⁶  But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. 

³⁷  For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."

--The imagery here is that truth holds together all other virtues, making them effective. Putting on God’s truth means living out his Word, honest and sincere in our faith. Christian character and integrity.

--The belt of truth is the first of the defensive weapons listed. The mention of this defensive weapon, I believe reveals two ways that Satan may try to attack us.

--First, I think that Satan may try to attack us with false beliefs or untruth. This makes sense because if we’re on the offensive and we’re building God’s Kingdom then Satan loses. 

--But anything that is not for God is against God. So if Satan can get people to fight for what they think is God’s Kingdom or what they perceive as truth but really is not, then he wins. Muslim extremists. 

--They think that when they perform their acts of terrorism, they are advancing Allah’s kingdom. They believe that they are doing God’s will when they do this. Many times they are successful in their mission. 

--The trouble is that they don’t have truth. While they are successful in advancing their cause, they have been deceived into advancing a false cause or an untruth. They are following a false God.

--You could use Jehovah’s Witnesses or Mormons as examples. They think that they are fighting for God’s Kingdom, and they’re even finding success. However, they are not fighting for truth.

--The belt of truth can help us hold things together when we are confronted with erroneous teachings or untruths. To the Roman soldier the belt was to keep his robe tied out of the way during battle.

--Paul says we are to run the race…when the soldier needed to run the bottom of the robe was brought up and tucked into the belt to keep him from tripping.

--Most important was the armor hooked to the belt…without the belt the rest of the armor would fall off. Again, it represents Jesus and without Him we would fall.

Jude 1:24-25 (NIV) ²⁴ To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy--
²⁵  to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. 

3. The Belt is for One Purpose. To Keep Your Pants Up. 

--And I would propose that’s what the truth does in spiritual warfare. When you don’t wear a belt, your pants may fall down and you’re “exposed” to the world in what is a pretty embarrassing situation. 

--And the fact is, that if you allow anything less than truth to reign in your spiritual warfare, you will eventually be exposed and at great cost to God’s kingdom, embarrassed and ashamed. 

--However, if you always have the truth by your side, no matter how much Satan wants to embarrass you, he can’t, because you have truth protecting you.

--Paul, as he sat in jail, saw the belt around the soldier’s waist. The soldier’s sword hung from the belt, providing him quick access to his weapon even in the dark. 

--Paul tells us, Fasten the belt of truth around your waist. Other people may guess and grope, but Christians live confidently, because we know the truth…Jesus is the truth on whom we stand.

Psalm 86:11 (NLT) ¹¹  Teach me your ways, O LORD, that I may live according to your truth! Grant me purity of heart, so that I may honor you. 

--Remember the woman at the well who had an encounter with Jesus…what did this woman who had five husbands and the man she was with was not her husband need? She needed the truth.

--Now days it would be said that all she needed was grace but she would have never found her way to the grace of God until she was confronted with the truth of where she was and Who Jesus was.

--Once her sin was exposed and she admitted her need for Jesus, her life was changed…matter of fact, the truth she received changed her whole town. They were exposed to the Gospel.

John 4:23-24 (NCV) ²³ The time is coming when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, and that time is here already. You see, the Father too is actively seeking such people to worship him.
²⁴  God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.“

John 8:32 (NCV) ³² Then you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.“ 

The Meaning of the Stones – 2

The Meaning of the Stones – 2

Subject – God’s Blessings for Land

By Rick Welborne

Joshua 4:1-7 (NKJV) ¹  And it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed over the Jordan, that the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying:
²  "Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from every tribe,
³  and command them, saying, 'Take for yourselves twelve stones from here, out of the midst of the Jordan, from the place where the priests' feet stood firm. You shall carry them over with you and leave them in the lodging place where you lodge tonight.' "
⁴  Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the children of Israel, one man from every tribe;
⁵  and Joshua said to them: "Cross over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel,
⁶  that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, 'What do these stones mean to you?'
⁷  Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever." 

--As we move closer and closer to the transition on January 25 and we continue to pray and fast seeking the Lord with all our hearts, we continue to thank Him for memorial stones.

--I believe that sensitivity to Holy Spirit is vitally important to those of us who follow Christ, especially those who are in leadership. Today I want us to look at the land around Life Church.

--We had only been here for just a couple of weeks as the Youth Pastors and Pastor Dykes took me to South Street to look at property the church was purchasing to re-locate.

--As we walked on the property, I felt Holy Spirit speak to me and it was very strong. “Purchasing this property was not my idea.”

--I spoke to Pastor Dykes and told him what I felt. He said he concurred with me but the time was not good to deal with the issue. The purchase was draining the church.

--Fast forward two years. Pastor Dykes went to the District Office to be the New Church Planting Director for the Decade of Harvest and I am voted in as the Pastor.

1. The Miracles Begin.

--Please do not tell me God is not interested in land. He has been defending a small piece of land called Israel for a long time. Many times the phrase “Possess the Land.” Was used.

Deuteronomy 4:1 (NIV)
¹  Hear now, O Israel, the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. 

--I am in my first Board Meeting which I had never attended or been invited, I said to the men, “I want to see if you are going to follow my leadership or not.”

--I told them my feelings about the South Street Property (Not God’s Will) and that we should stay where we are. Can we get more property here? I don’t know. Land locked.

--Blaine Kimes (Wimpy) said let’s pray right now. The phone begins to ring over and over again.

--The man asked me, are you the pastor. I said barely. About two weeks. He said I have two acres right next to the church and I will sell it to you real cheap. We rejoiced. A memorial stone. 

--We sold the property on South Street and God helped us get totally out of debt. I hate debt. 

2. More Property.

--Four acres became available right next to the two we just purchased. The man was not very kind and his price was ridiculous. Lived out of state. I kept calling. I was nice.

Luke 18:3-5 (NKJV)
³  Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, 'Get justice for me from my adversary.'
⁴  And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, 'Though I do not fear God nor regard man,
⁵  yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.' "

--I was wearing him out. He died. Oops. I called his widow several times and never said anything about the land. I would just pray for her and be kind. She sold it to us real cheap. Memorial stone.

--On the south side of us was a house and two and a half acres owned by a widow. She would not sell. I was very nice to her (widow) but she was determined. She died. Oops!

--Her son asked me to do her funeral and I told story after story about her that made them all laugh. They said, you really knew our mom. We will sell the property to you cheap. Memorial stone.

--A house and land next to that property was owned by a family in our church. Bill Mahan asked me if we wanted it. I said how much? He said free. I said yes! Memorial stone.

--On the north side of the property we had purchased from the man who died was the first missions house and the House of Hope. About 21/2 acres. He wouldn’t sell. In his 50s.

--He died. Oops! His family sold it to us during the financial downturn of 2008 for $225,000. Because we were giving to missions…we paid cash for the house. God had blessed us so much.

--As a side note, our giving to missions increased year after and our GF kept growing more and more. I even asked God why. He said you will know when it happens.

--When the financial crash of 2008 hit we had around $850,000 in the GF at our disposal. Not only did God sustain us, He helped us purchase the house and the HOH property.

--Early one Monday morning not very long after the purchase of the Missions House and the HOH building, a man walks in the front door of the office and He is very loud.

--Being concerned about the ladies in the office, brave pastor that I am, I decided to see what was going on. I walk in the office foyer and the man asked if I was the pastor?

--I said, yes, please come back to my office. How can I help you, sir? He said, most of my family are Mormons and I went to their church and no one was there.

--I said to myself, that church on Picciola Road is the nearest to my property so I will go there. So, I’m here. I  want to give you my property. Tired of Taxes. 

Proverbs 13:22 (NIV)
²²  A good man leaves an inheritance for his children's children, but a sinner's wealth is stored up for the righteous. 

--I asked him where the property was and he said, come with me. So I went. I didn’t know him from Adam’s house cat but I went with him in his truck.

--This property was on the other side of mission’s house two which we had not purchased at that time. It was about 31/2 acres with lake access. 

--He asked me if I thought the Board of the church would let him give it to us. I said, sir, if they don’t want free property that you are willing to give, they shouldn’t be on the Board.

--He was a business man. He said, I like you. I drove to Orlando and signed a few papers and the property was ours. We had all been praying the prayer of Jabez. 

1 Chronicles 4:10 (NKJV) ¹⁰ And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, "Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!" So God granted him what he requested. 

--God was enlarging our territory and was indeed blessing us. His hand was with us.

3. Mission’s House 2

--Alonso Hensley lived on the north side of Mission’s House 1 and between the property the man from Orlando had given us. He was a good neighbor.

--I would go to the hospital to see his wife when she was there. We were connecting in a great way. He would even let my sons and I use his boat to go fishing. I would visit in their home.

--He had been watching the church for years purchasing property but he evidently had taken notice of how some of the people who wouldn’t sell to us were dying.

--He never came to my office but this particular day he did. He said, Preacher, if you want my property, you don’t have to kill me. I will sell it at a good price.

--We are getting older so we will move back to Kentucky to be close to family. He kept his word and sold us the property way below market value. This made all of our land contiguous. Connected.

--On the screen, the land we had 35 years ago and the land we have now. Someone should give the Lord praise for what He has done.

--Remember the question by the Board Member Blaine Kimes 35 years ago, Pastor, can we get more property here? Yes, sir! We can and we did. 2 Mission’s Houses and the HOH.

Psalm 103:1-5 (NLT2)
¹ Let all that I am praise the LORD; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.
²  Let all that I am praise the LORD; may I never forget the good things he does for me.
³  He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases.
⁴  He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies.
⁵  He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle’s! 

Revelation 5:12-13 (NKJV)
¹²  "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!"
¹³  And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: "Blessing and honor and glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and ever!" 

The Meaning of the Stones – 1

The Meaning of the Stones – 1

Subject – God’s Faithfulness

By Rick Welborne

Joshua 4:1-7 (NKJV) ¹  And it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed over the Jordan, that the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying:
²  "Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from every tribe,
³  and command them, saying, 'Take for yourselves twelve stones from here, out of the midst of the Jordan, from the place where the priests' feet stood firm. You shall carry them over with you and leave them in the lodging place where you lodge tonight.' "
⁴  Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the children of Israel, one man from every tribe;
⁵  and Joshua said to them: "Cross over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel,
⁶  that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, 'What do these stones mean to you?'
⁷  Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever." 

--The children of Israel came to the Jordan which had overflowed its banks and God said He was about to do wonders in the sight of Israel.

--The Lord also told Joshua that He would exalt him before the people as He had promised.

Joshua 1:9 (NKJV) ⁹ Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." 

--Today, I want to start a series of reminiscing, not about me, but about God and His faithfulness. Hopefully, we will see what these stones mean for Life Church and its future.

--To set up memorials in you and your kids’ lives, you will have to tell the stories over again and again. Remind them when they were saved, baptized, filled with Holy Spirit…get it in their spirit.

--I do apologize in advance to many of you who have heard these stories so many times but I believe it is important for our new folks to know how we got here.

1. Salvation.

--I was not raised in a Christian home and we only heard God’s name used in a cursing manner. There was much verbal and physical abuse. Not much love.

--Because of the situation at home, I began searching for fulfillment in other places. Insecurity was built into my DNA because of not feeling loved or wanted.

--I began to hang out with the wrong people and began to do things that had me in trouble with the law. I was introduced to drugs which almost took my life.

--I did go to church. I would break into a local church and use their telephone to call my girlfriend in another city. Of course, I had to use the pastor’s office. Felt cool and powerful.

--But something happened, God brought a man into my life who was a real Christian. Real Christians don’t let real sinners go to hell. Ronnie Chunn was filled with grace and truth.

Romans 5:20-21 (NLT2) ²⁰  God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant.
²¹  So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

--I was Ronnie’s assignment. Poor guy. He took much abuse. He had his whole church praying for me. His words were like a dagger to my heart. Such conviction.

John 16:7-8 (NKJV) ⁷  Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.
⁸  And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:

--Finally, I agreed to go to a revival service with him but only if he promised to leave me alone. I wanted to live for God but knew I couldn’t. The evangelist came after me.

Gal. 2:20 (NKJV) ²⁰  I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

--I was born again. My addictions were broken and I was totally set free. Three months later I was baptized with Holy Spirit power. I was witnessing to everyone. Oh, what freedom!

--Stones were being set up in my life, all of which I could go back and remember with thankfulness.

2. The Calling

--Growing up with a horrible speech impediment, the desire to preach or pastor was never on my radar. All I knew was that I loved God with everything inside of me.

--About three months after being baptized with Holy Spirit I was at work (Paper Mill) and I was worshiping God. I remember where I was and what I was doing.

--Heading to the water fountain, I felt a tap on my shoulder. No one there. Then, again. No one there. After the third time, I said Lord, if it is you, I am listening. Remembered Samuel.

1 Corinthians 9:16 (NKJV) ¹⁶ … woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!

--I broke down and began to weep because I knew God had called me to preach. Like Moses, I told Him He could do much better. I knew I had to do God’s will.

--When things get difficult in ministry, I go back to this memorial boulder and remind God of His calling and remind myself to trust God because of it.

--A confirmation. After God called me (I had only told a few people) I was sitting on the front pew praying and asking God what these stones mean and a man approached me.

--I was sitting on the back pew praying and God spoke to me and told me to tell you, if you want to go to Bible School, I will pay your way. He walked away. What? Another stone.

2 Corinthians 5:7 (NKJV) ⁷ For we walk by faith, not by sight.

--I quit the paper mill, left my house with $37, while my dad was cussing at me and hitting me through my car window. I heard someone say:

--“Being right in the center of God’s will is the safest place to be.” No, ask the martyrs. Being right in the center of God’s will is the best place to be. Not necessarily the safest.

--By the way, the Christian life is not always easy. The man died before he sent any money to the school.

Isaiah 43:15-16 (NKJV) ¹⁵ I am the LORD, your Holy One, The Creator of Israel, your King."
¹⁶  Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea And a path through the mighty waters, 

--God will make a way where there seems to be no way. Again, though it was difficult, I went to work and the school helped with scholarships. What do these stones mean?

3. A Heart for Missions.

--Bastrop First Assembly of God was the church I was saved in and where I was introduced to missions. Our pastor and his wife often went on mission’s trips and we had guest missionaries.

--It made sense to me that if God cared enough to save me, I should care about seeing others saved. No one had to tell me to witness to my friends & co-workers. I had to tell them.

--The pastor kept talking about Faith Promises and the Great Commission. I remember my first FP. It was for $5 a month. That was above my tithe. To this day I have never questioned tithing and missions.

Matthew 28:19-20 (NKJV) ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
²⁰  teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.

Romans 10:13-15 (NKJV) ¹³ For "whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved."
¹⁴  How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?
¹⁵  And how shall they preach unless they are sent? 

--These were memorial stones set up early in my Christian journey. Obviously, they are still there. Fast forward and now I am the youth pastor for the pastor who planted missions in my heart. 

--We started going on mission’s trips. Preparing for the night service I am praying, seeking God, and begging Him to let me be a missionary. The atmosphere changed. Another memorial stone.

--God spoke to me, “You will go back to the states and you will eventually become a lead pastor. Your job will be to make that church a great mission’s church.” Just be faithful.

--In 1988 we come to Fruitland Park to help Tricia’s brother move into his house. When we were leaving to go home, we were crossing over the Picciola bridge…God spoke again.

--I knew we were coming here to be the YPs. Six months later we were here. Two years later, Milton Dykes resigns to become a District official. Shortly after, we are voted in as lead pastors.

--I will be the first to admit that I had no idea how to pastor a church. One thing a did know, one of my memorial stones given to me by God was to make this a great mission’s church.

--The first big event we planned with Margaret Belew (Mission’s Director) was a mission’s convention. We started adding more and more missionaries every year. God was in it.

--Nine missionaries became 237 and a ten thousand dollars a year budget became close to a half million dollars. 

Matthew 16:18 (NLT2) ¹⁸ Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.

--Jesus is the greatest memorial stone and He has become our chief cornerstone. What do these stones mean? Souls for God’s Kingdom.