"When Faith is the only thing between you and disaster!"
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 4 viewsNotes
Transcript
I. Introduction
I. Introduction
Cosmos: Under Pressure.
Have you ever felt as though the entire world is against you?
Ever felt like that?
It’s not a good feeling!
Nobody likes to be backed up into a corner and yet, life has a way of doing just that!
The NT Greek word for world is cosmos and it means essentially everything!
So for example:
Matthew 4:8 (KJV 1900)
Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world… (cosmos)
Matthew 16:26 (KJV 1900)
For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole (cosmos, the whole world,) and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
John 1:10 (KJV 1900)
He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the (cosmos) knew him not.
1 John 2:15 (KJV 1900)
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the (cosmos) , the love of the Father is not in him.
Cosmos! The World!
Cosmos is the ungodly multitude; the whole mass of men alienated from God, and therefore hostile to the cause of Christ
It is world affairs, the aggregate of things earthly
the whole circle of earthly goods, endowments riches, advantages, pleasures, etc, which although hollow and frail and fleeting, stir desire, seduce from God and are obstacles to the cause of Christ.
And sometimes it feels as though all that is against you!
Has anyone here ever been knocked out?
Everything goes black!
I saw a guy get tackled so hard once, I’ll never forget it, we were all looking down at him laying on his back, staring into the sun and saying with panic in his voice: “Guys, I can’t see anything!”
Thankfully, it all came back after a few minutes, but at first, with eyes wide open, he couldn’t see anything!
It is possible to get so beat down by the world, that you feel just like that:
Your vision is constricted to a pinpoint until it goes black!
It’s pressure.
Pressure from all sides that seems to try and squeeze the life out of you!
Job pressure.
Family pressure. That’s a hard one. Pressure from the ones we love!
Life can be so complicated!
Relationships,
Unmet expectations.
Bills that keep coming till you simply hate the mail box!
Your studies, work life balance, so many factors!
It’s everything!
It’s cosmos!
It feels as though everything is designed to squeeze all the happiness out of your life!
Until you quite literally feel the weight of the world crushing you!
Where’s this all coming from?
I’ll tell you: It’s cosmos.
But I’ll tell you something else also:
I have a perscription for you: 1 John 5:4!
Before you throw up your hands in despair and give up, friend, listen to the Word of God:
For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
I thank God for the ability to believe in something I cannot see!
I thank God for a gift from heaven called faith!
A wave of hope that lifts you from the brink of despair at the very moment of disaster!
There have been moments in my life and no doubt in yours, where things were so dark, the weight of the cosmos so heavy, that we were overwhelmed!
But then the Grace of God flowed to you in that moment of panic and you felt a jolt of faith!!!
Now that is the good stuff!!!!!
I did a job some years ago, operating heavy equipment out in the sticks.
We were working on a river, sleeping in tents, and running equipment all day.
That month and a half, Jonathan was living on burritos and rockstar energy drinks!
We bought them by the case at costco! BTW, not a good idea!!!
Hey, but the best kind of shot that you can ever get, is when God sends you a jolt of faith!
And all of the sudden, you realize: “Hey, things aren’t so bad!”
“I can do this!”
“I’m gonna make it!”
“Everything is going to be alright!”
“I have a great big God who is looking out for me!!!!”
“My Jesus is still in charge!”
“He knows when a sparrow falls from the sky!”
“He orders the seas, the wind and waves and He knows my name!”
All of the sudden, that faith comes to you, and jumpstarts your internal batteries and experiences, and gets you back on track!!!!
That I say, that is what we all need once in a while!!!
Not just a general faith in God, but a robust, active faith to believe God for the impossible!!!
To believe that God can sort my situation!
To believe that God can rehabilitate and restore and design and create and make new!!!
Thank God for a measure of faith!!!!
You and I need to learn how to protect our faith!
How to steward our faith and not allow the enmy to drain it!
Sometimes it is the only thing between you and disaster!!!!
So the Apsotle Paul was explaining some things to the early church and he described faith as a shield.
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
Paul was a highly educated and well travelled man.
He knew his world and how to communicate.
He told the church that we are in a Spiritual battle!
And he likened our spiritual resources to to the arms and armor of a Roman soldier.
He knew this was a strong point of reference for his audience who had seen Roman soldiers all of their lives.
Everyone knew of the might of Rome’s legions and their unique, distinctive kit.
Even today, we think of the Distinctive belt worn only by soldiers.
Everything hung on and was connected to that belt.
We think of the caligae, hob nailed battle sandels, the Lorica hamata chain mail or Lorica segmentata, segmented armor.
The short stabbing sword, that won empires and vanquished kings!
But this shield now, this piece of kit is really something!
One ancient writer from the time described it this way:
The Roman panoply consists firstly of a shield (scutum), the convex surface of which measures two and a half feet in width and four feet in length, the thickness at the rim being a palm's breadth. It is made of two planks glued together, the outer surface being then covered first with canvas and then with calfskin. Its upper and lower rims are strengthened by an iron edging that protects it from descending blows and from injury when rested on the ground. It also has an iron shield boss (umbo) fixed to it which turns aside the most formidable blows of stones, pikes, and heavy missiles in general.
The shield was part of a system of fighting.
And Roman warfare was a system!
Unlike so many of their heroic opponents who fought as individuals, Roman infantry fought in formation.
The formation was everything!
The Roman manipular infantry tactics relied entirely on the use of shields.
The tactics that won battle after battle with enemies often much larger in stature, relied on this convex rectangle that you kept between you and the bad guy!
The idea was that every time he swung his sword, it would hit your shield and not you!
Paul knew his audience understood this.
Roman infantry would lock their shields together, creating a shield wall!
The rear ranks would lift their shields ovehead creating a “testudo” or tortoise formation.
Countless enemies found that the Testudo was almost unstopable!
See, when you were fighting in the shiled wall, the guy next to you was covering you with his shield and you were doing the same for the one on your other side!
From behind walls of wood and leather, the Roman gladii would stab out in concert, hungry for the life flow of the major arteries: impaling, piercing, neck, armpit and thigh.
Over and over, the short, sharp swords flickered out from behind the shield wall agaln and again and again!
It was the shield of the other guy that saved you!
And it was your shield that saved your neighbor!
Working in concert! Working together!
Of course, nobody can keep that up indefinately!
When a soldier fell, another filled the rank from behind.
And the front line fought in shifts.
Centurions rotated their front line!
You did not stay there from start to finish in a large set piece battle.
You fought until the order was given for the rank behind you to rotate you out and give you some respite before going back in.
All of this was possible because of the shield.
Faith.
And friend, there are times, when your faith is the only thing between you and disaster!!!!
Thank God that faith is up to the job!!!
Did you bring your faith today?
Do you ever wake up early and practice wielding your faith?
Do you drill your faith?
You might want to!
Your ability to hold faith between you and the enemy can keep you safe and the ones closest to you!!!
Men! Your wife depends on you to keep faith up and protect her!
Ladies, your faith protects you and the ones closest to you!!!!
Perhaps some of us have only survived this long because others were covering for us!
Prayers and fastings!
hedges of protection!
But now you’ve gotta step it up and fight for yourself!!!!
It’s your turn to protect another!!!
Get your faith up!!!!
Get that faith between you and bitterness!
Don’t let the enemy victimise you!
He wants to rob and kill and destroy!
Get faith up between you and anger!
Make sure that doubt has no access to your vitals!!!
Hey! sometimes I gotta pep talk myself!!!
Encourage yourself in the Lord!!!!
Satan wants to burn you up!!!
He wants to consume you!
He sends fiery darts so you need to be prepared!
Get faith between you and the fiery darts of the enemy!
Quit yourself like men!!!
Get faith front and center!
Tell the enemy: “I shall not die, but live and declare the works of the Lord!”
For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
The Just shall live by faith!!!
Protect your faith!
Sometimes it is the only thing between you and disaster!
Don’t listen to voices of doubt!
Don’t let yourself be distracted!
Your life depends on it!
That one on your left and on your right, they are depending on you!!!!
They need your faith up as much as you do!
We all know that the fiery darts are gonna come. That’s a given.
But how you respond makes all the difference!
Let your faith absorb the blows of the enemy!
Let him waste his energy beating your faith, so that you can stay safe and set yourself up for progress!
At the whistle from the Centurion, the front line would step back in formation!
The savage hordes that were pressed against them suddenly found themselves off balance!
At another whistle from the Centurion, the whole line stepped forward again, ramming the heavy brass bosses of their shields into the enemy, shattering bone!
Faster than a viper, out stabbed rows of blood splattered gladii to sever and rob life!
And friend, while you are searching for the right scripture to use on your problem,
While you are memorizing the right passage, and you’re just about to use that sword of the Spirit, there is rest and there is a moment’s respite behind your shield of faith!!!
You just remind yourself:
“What can seperate me from the love of God?
“Hey! I am more than a conqueror through him that loves me!!!”
Pep talk yourself!!
“All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
“I am a child of the King!”
“Who cares what the cosmos says?”
Who cares what the cosmos wants to rob from me!”
I have been baptized in the name of Jesus!
I have been baptized with His Holy Spirit!
The Blood of Jesus has been applied to my life!
He has washed away my stain!
He has comforted me with the balm of Gilead!
He has taken my name and given His name to me!
He put me in a family!
And if I’ll just stay in the family!
If I’ll stay in the place God has designed for me, everything is gonna be alright!
Hey, you belong in this church!!!
This is your battle line!
This is the family of God!
We rely on eath other here!
We protect each other!
Thank God the rapture is not far off!
But for now, you need the family!
Sometimes we all need to rotate out!
Let your brother take a few blows so you can get your breath!
Perhaps God called you here today to take the pressure off someone else!
Let the cosmos wail on you for a while so your brother, your sister can rest!
Maybe God has raised you up to bear your brother’s burden today and fulfill the law of Christ!
“Above all, take the shield of faith!”
God expects you to do something!!!
Pick up your faith and get in line!!!
Jesus for Sonoma County!!!!
Jesus for my family!
Jesus for my mind!
Jesus for my ambtions, my hopes, my dreams!!!
Listen: God can do anything!!!!
Nothing is too big for God!!!!
He is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think!!!
Is the cosmos pressing down on you today?
Why don’t you exercise the authority of the Name of Jesus and push it back!!!
And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
Don’t say “Woe is me!”
Rather, you oughtta say: “God has raised me up and put me here for such a time as this!!!”
I’m not gonna waste his investment in me!
I’m gonna stand in this battle line and push for the victory!!!!
“The weapons we use are not bombs and guns, worship is the way that the battle is won, this is the way that we fight, we’re praising for the victory!!!!!
Tell you what, let’s do that right now!!!
Let’s wrap up this service in praise!!!!
There is victory in your praise!!!
This is the victory that overcometh the world: Even our faith!!!
Take that cosmos!!!
I love Jesus and He loves me!
Maybe you oughta remind your problems of somethinhg:
You oughtta tell your problems who Jesus is:
“Let me tell you who Jesus is: He’s the rock of all ages! He’s the Alpha and the Omega, He’s the heaveny father!!!!!
