urning on the Lights! Tuesday July 30, 2024. The Enemy, the Watchers, and the People of God
Good Morning, Good Morning!
Wow, what a time to be a Christian! So much going on in culture today – so much that is openly anti-Christian. The question is, “How does the ‘average’ Christian respond?” What does the word of God have to say about such things?
We open just one part of scripture (and there are many) that addresses these issues and more – Isaiah 55 and 56.
Join us and hear the prophesy. Join us and be strengthened by the promises of God. Be filled with that power and live BOLDLY as a follower of Christ in the anti-Christian world.
May God bless you and keep you always – and in all ways.
This is a video recorded copy of the FaceBook Live event of Turning on the Lights! – Tuesday, July 30, 2024. Watch here via the YouTube link!
This is an audio recorded copy of the FaceBook Live event of Turning on the Lights! – Tuesday, July 30, 2024. Listen here or through your favorite podcast app!
This is a transcript from the audio of this episode of Turning on the Lights! – Tuesday, July 30, 2024
Good morning, good morning, my brothers and my sisters. You are looking live at the sanctuary of the Church Town Church of God. It is Tuesday, July 30, 2024, and you have joined us on Turning on the Lights. Whether you are joining us live or will be joining us live, whether or not you will be checking out the YouTube video, or maybe you’re watching it on YouTube, or whether you’ll be checking out the podcast, welcome to Turning on the Lights. Welcome to the Church Town Church of God. If you go to the YouTube channel, if you’re not going to watch it live, you can see what it looks like. Good morning, Sandy. Beautiful little sanctuary, beautiful stained glass windows, over 30% of the wall space is a stained glass window. Over there is a little overflow room. We got that going on. We got an upstairs with a few rooms in it, one of which we are now converting to a new toddler room because we have so many babies. Good morning, Taylor. So many babies in the sanctuary that we want to take our baby/toddler room, and it’s going to be baby room, right? Baby and one year old, two year old, that sort of thing. But when you get old enough to want to play, now we want everybody in the sanctuary, but you know how kids are. Sometimes they just go pop and they’re gone. They’re kids. So you’ve got to have a little space. Now, in the summertime, you can always go down to the pavilion. You can run around. We’ve got all kinds of people who have all kinds of credentials and background checks and all those sorts of things to help care for when the kids go pop. But there’s nothing better than having — good morning, Wanda — nothing better than having babies in the sanctuary. This Sunday, as a matter of fact, we had our two newest Chamley members together. One was like a week and a half old. The other one was four or five weeks old. And I just said at the beginning of the service, I said, “Look, the babies are in the sanctuary. You go look at those babies now, because we’re not going to do this throughout the whole course of the service.” Every time one of those little babies goes, “Coo, coo, coo,” and I lose everybody. Morning, Kim. It’s kind of a running — I don’t say it’s a joke. It’s a thing. But it’s a lot of fun, right? It’s a lot of fun. Buenos dias! Blessings to you, my friend. Buenos dias. So here we are. You may hear in my voice a little something. I woke up — I mean, I get Monday morning — I call it Monday morning voice. And you’ve heard it as well on Tuesday. You know, after you expend your voice on Sunday, it needs a little bit of rest. But then last night we went for a nice ride up through the North Mountain. And, man, last evening I think it was just a significant allergy attack. Maybe all the tree pollen, all the weeds, all the whatever. But, boy, heavens, howdy, my head went pew! Good morning, sister. So once again, you will hear me coughing and trying to get through this. I don’t think I have a cold. But last night was a long night. I’m ready to go back to bed. I tell you what. We’re going to not — we’re not going into — we’ve been in Matthew and Luke. And we’ve been looking at the parables and the kingdom of God. And how God is telling us about himself through the parables. And I hope that you see that in pretty much everything that we do. And this week I’m going to devote ourselves to a little bit — I’m going to take a little bit of a different tack. And just talk about our responsibilities as a Christian in this wicked culture. Of course, that is headline news today. The mockery of Christianity. The mockery of, you know, Da Vinci’s painting. The mockery of all of — you know, who Christ is. What Christ looks like. The purpose of the Christ. All of those things are openly mocked in debauchery and just — you can’t even call it artistic interpretation. I almost made that mistake. It is an intentional disrespect. It is an intentional mockery. It is an intentional display of Antichrist behavior. And I must say that we look at the whole larger picture. We’ve been talking about this for a while. First of all, Lord, thank you for the time to be together today. May your word go out and may your word be fruitful in the hearts and minds of all who hear it. In Jesus’ name. Amen. We’re praying for our brothers and sisters today. Praying for you. That you may — whatever you may be going through. And I know that we have a couple individuals in the sanctuary. One in particular having a knee replacement today. Several are recovering. Lord, we pray for your blessing over their lives, their body, physically, spiritually, emotionally, that they may be healed. Amen. What we just did there is openly mocked by culture. And that part is OK. Who are you praying to? Some sky daddy that you think is going to help you? OK, whatever. That has always been part of the equation. We know that from scripture. We understand the teachings of Jesus. We understand the teachings of Paul. My goodness, we’re in Isaiah in our read through right now. And I’m in Isaiah. I have a tendency not to follow the plan. Like if we’re in the book of Isaiah, I read the book of Isaiah. And then I just go through each day and click it off. I can’t just read a little chunk. Sometimes I can. But anyway, so my goodness, you can go to Isaiah six and you can look at his calling when he’s called. We talked about holiness. Barb, you spoke of holiness. He’s not holy. He can’t be in the presence of God. God cleanses him with the coal. He’s in the presence of God. And he’s told that he’s going to go forth and share the word of God and that the very fact that he’s going to go forth and share the word of God. Ears will be closed. Next will be stiffened. Hearts will be hardened. And he will be sharing the word primarily, mostly in vain. Doing it simply because God said, do it. And then God says, are you willing? And Isaiah says, here I am. So we know that the word of God runs contrary to the flow of culture. And we know this from the very, very beginning. We can go back to the Garden of Eden. The word of God literally is there in the garden with them. They’re speaking with God because they are still in a holy condition. And you can view the serpent and the fallen angel as the flow of culture who wins. Well, I mean, not who wins big picture, who wins that little battle there with the human ego. Well, the flow of culture does. Did God really say? So what do we do when we read through scripture? You say this is 2000 years old, yet he’s speaking to Ephesus. He’s speaking to Corinth. He’s speaking to Thessalonia. How about we do that? And he’s telling them persevere. He’s telling them people have come as false. You get into John. People have come bearing false witness, false testimony, a false gospel. There’s nothing new under the sun. Ecclesiastes three. One of the things that we’re talking about being nothing new under the sun is this spiritual warfare between good and evil. Demonstrated here between truth and lie. Now, I know that we’re not talking about the Last Supper. We’re talking about a picture that some Italian guy painted of the Last Supper. But the intent behind that is what we’re talking about. How do you openly simply just openly mock that religion? How come you’re not mocking Mormonism? How come you’re not mocking Judaism? How come you’re not mocking Islam? How come you’re not mocking Hinduism? How come you’re not doing those things? Well, because inherent in the Christian faith is this idea of turning the other cheek. The idea loving thy neighbors regardless. The idea that the one of the best ways that we can demonstrate the love of Christ is to absorb the punishment. Punishment. Now, that wasn’t punishment for us. But you understand what I’m saying metaphorically. Absorb that as Christ absorbed his punishment and then ultimately led to resurrection and the ultimate example of redemption. Right. The ultimate example of power of God. The ultimate example of holiness. The ultimate example. The first of what will be many. But is there a balance? Is there anything that we should do? Is it proper to simply say nothing? Retreat back into your sanctuaries and do what you do? And I’m not pooh-poohing any of these ideas. I’m asking or these you know, I’m asking legitimate questions. What does a Christian do with social media? It’s easy to get on and say a bunch of junk. And then you feel better about yourself. Is that OK? Is that what you should do? Short of rising up in some sort of physical rebellion and putting down all of the mockers, which isn’t that’s not our job. We understand that if you’ve read Isaiah, too. I posted that this week because we’ve been in Isaiah and are reading. The Lord can take care of himself. Thank you very much. But what does a Christian do in this culture? And I’m going to propose in Isaiah 56, among other many places, and we can go into we could go into the gospels, we can go into the letters. But the answer, the short answer is that the Christian lives boldly. We live as Christians boldly in this wicked world. It means that much like the battle of the satan and the Christ, the satan may think he’s winning, but you know better because the power of God lives in you. He may think that he is telling lies and upsetting you and turning your heart inside out, making you fret and worry, making you think about. But you are not. You are living boldly. And when you are spoken to, because you are immersed in the word of God, you are able to respond in a truthful, godly, yet bold manner. If you read Isaiah 55, 55 and 56, you’ve got to let them go hand in hand because 55 is all about the power of God to save. And it is all about the prophecy that all will be saved, moving beyond the Hebrew people, moving beyond Israel. The power of God to save is coming. The day of the Lord is coming. The day of salvation and the day of reckoning. It’s okay, Rosie, we don’t require notes around here if you’re going to be late. You’re all good. Now in 56, he’s talking about, okay, here, there, 55, there it is, this will happen. We know it will happen. We trust in the Lord and all he does and who he is and his promises and the prophecies thereof, all of that. 56, he talks about how all of that will be corrupted by what is noted as and is a hard interpretation because you don’t want to interpret it just as like illegal immigrants or something, but foreign corruption getting into that body of Christ, right? Those people of God, there will be these foreigners, not immigrants and so forth, those who are antithetical, anti-Christian, anti-God, anti-Yahweh, anti-word, the foreigners getting in there to corrupt. Now we see that. We know that that prophecy is true. We are, they have experienced that. We are experiencing that whether you’re talking about deism in general or whether you’re talking about atheism in general, there is no God. Or whether you’re talking specifically anti-Christian. We understand that these foreign agents are introduced into the equation to sow lies, to sow discord, to create turbulence in the hearts of the believer. They will share worthless words and worthless testimony and they will do all that they can to break up and break down everything that is promised in chapter 55. So there’s your homework, 55, 56. And understanding how they relate one to the other. And the story throughout scripture, whether it’s Isaiah speaking of it or whether it’s Jesus speaking of it, is always complete. The gospel is always complete. The picture, the worldview, as we like to say in this day and age, is always complete. Good and evil, right and wrong, truth and lie. Scripture does not pull any punches when scripture speaks of, when the word of God speaks of what we are, quote unquote, up against as followers, as believers. Scripture does not also pull any punches when it speaks of the power of God within us and the necessity to persevere and live boldly as followers of Yahweh. New Testament followers of Yahweh through the redemption made possible through Jesus Christ. So I hope that that makes sense. 56, 56, he talks about, don’t let foreigners who commit themselves to the Lord say, the Lord will never let me be a part of his people. And don’t let the eunuch say, I’m a dried up tree with no children and no future, for this is what the Lord says. I will bless those eunuchs who keep my Sabbath days holy and who choose to do what pleases me and commit their lives to me. I will give them within the walls of my house, a memorial and a name far greater than sons and daughters could give. For the name I give them is an everlasting one. It will never disappear. I will also bless the foreigners who commit themselves to the Lord, who serve him and love his name, who worship him and do not desecrate the Sabbath day of rest and who hold fast to my covenant. So come on in. If you’re not a child of God now, come on in. Here, repent, believe. You may have done heinous things before. You may have entered into the presence of the body of believers with the intent of doing harm, sowing discord. And the Lord says, still, I will bless you. When you give me your heart. I will accept their burnt offerings and sacrifices because my temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations. So this is amazing. The people of God, the chosen people of God. The foreigners and some of whom Israel, Judah have reached out to in order to make treaties with unholy alliances and all of that. Some whom have invaded and even the good kings of Israel and Judah, they do not tear down the high places of Baal worship, all of these different things. But yet redemption is available to all. For the sovereign Lord who brings back the outcasts of Israel says, I will bring others to beside my people, Israel. So before we get to the last passage, part of living boldly means understanding the prophecy and believing the prophecy. The wicked and the wickedest, if that is even a word of the people who are out there pushing culture and pressing in against Christian faith are not beyond redemption. But we do not and we’re going to learn this here in a second. We do not just have to sit in our sanctuaries and pray for their redemption. We understand the power of God will accept that foreigner. And as they give their lives to God, he will give his life to them. So this is this is one of the fundamental foundational principles upon which we as Christians must operate. Does it mean that we are doormats? No. Does it mean that again, we just sit in our sanctuary and wring our hands and cry about culture and people’s making fun of us? No, it means we are in. We are the living embodiment of the power of God and the kingdom of God goes wherever we go and we go and we live boldly as Christians. And when those foreigners continue the prophecy or the prophetic picture, I guess I should say, when those foreigners, then they do make fun of you, they do say this. They do say that they do call you this name and that name. And I’ve been called every name in the book as a Christian pastor. You continue to walk among that evil as the only good that evil may ever experience. The embodiment of that evil, that human being who has given themselves over to that evil, the only good they may ever experience is your presence because you’re not a coward and you’re there with them. And if they have questions, if they want to actually hear a response, you are steeped in the word of God and able to share the word of God. Prophesying means speaking the word of God. Are you able to do that? That in many ways takes way more courage because you’re making yourself vulnerable at the same time you are living boldly as a Christian. Come, wild animals of the field. Come, wild animals of the forest. Come and devour my people. Listen to this now. Now we’re talking about, right? The corruption that foreigners bring to the body of believers. Here’s the leaders of my people. For the leaders of my people. Verse 10, the Lord’s watchman. His shepherds. Are blind and ignorant. They are like silent watchdogs that give no warning when danger comes. They love to lie around sleeping and dreaming like greedy dogs. They are never satisfied. They are ignorant shepherds, all following their own path and intent on personal gain. Before we say, before the last verse. Oh, my goodness. So when the anti-Christian culture presses on in, what does it mean? Not all, but in good measure, it needs a soft, unwilling, unknowledgeable, biblically illiterate church. And for those who may be listening on the podcast right now, those are air quotes. And the prophecy is this. The enemies of the church are not beyond redemption. Come, let them hear the word of God. Let them give their lives to God. Let their sacrifices be received by God and let his blessings fall upon them. How by hearing the word of God, by those who are living boldly in the power of God, by those who will not shrink and will not cower by those who are steeped in the word of God and able as living representations of God on earth. What we say in the New Testament, living representations of the temple of God within your heart, the kingdom of God, wherever you go. Living boldly, how many times have I said that? As Christians, unafraid. But what do these foreigners encounter when they attack the church? They encounter soft, self-centered, shallow, weak Christians and churches. Because over these many millennia, Satan has done his work and he’s turned church into an industry. He’s turned church into a lifestyle. There’s a whole movement out there called lifestyle Christianity. It’s my lifestyle. There’s a whole movement out there about all being delivered from this or that or the other thing and Christians who are demon possessed. You can’t be a Christian and demon possessed. But you can make a living off of it. If you tell people that all of their issues are not their issues, they’re demonically possessed. You can’t when you come in to a church that has only ever heard sugar coated preaching and does not know the full gospel and the heaven and hell and truth and lie and right and wrong. And when you come into a church environment as the enemy, as the enemy coming into that environment and those people don’t know how to respond, it’s a killing field for Satan. And the prophecy is one, all people, there are none. And we talked about this last week, right? In the 11th hour. So it really relates. There are none who are beyond redemption. Two, how are they redeemed by those who know the word of God and those who live in the word of God and those who boldly walk as children of God, representatives of God on Earth? Three, what will the enemy find? What will these foreigners find when they invade with the intent of doing harm? They will find a soft bellied body in which they can do a lot of harm. And notice one last little thing. Although it is the responsibility of every professing Christian, and I know that we’re in the New Testament, Old Testament, you can hear the one word, one pointing to one purpose. Who does God blame in this prophecy? The leaders. Those. Allergies. Those who are anointed by him. And those self professing leaders. Those so-called leaders. Doesn’t blame. He doesn’t say people of God stand and walk boldly in the word, he says, you’re in this condition because your leaders are weak. They will not tell the truth. They will. They they treat this body of Christ as a cruise ship, not a battleship. They do not understand, nor are they willing. To equip the people of God to live boldly in the truth. To be biblically literate, to know the word of God. Last verse. This is talking about the leaders of the church come, they say, let’s get some wine and have a party. Let’s all get drunk. Then tomorrow we’ll do it again and have an even bigger party. Your charge today is look at 55 and 56. Look at all of the salvation and the power of God that is in 55 the promises of God. And we know that these promises are true. And then as we go into 56, we hear about these foreign invaders to the body. We hear about these foreign invaders to the people of God, and we learn that they are not beyond redemption. And we learn how are they not beyond redemption. It is when they know they come up against the true authentic word of God. They are the beings who are living boldly in the word of God. And then the prophecy moves on to say, and when these foreign invaders come, will they in large measure find individuals who are equipped, will they find watchmen who call it out and live boldly in the word of God. And in large measure, they will find the body vulnerable, soft, shallow, weak, unwilling, and courageous. And as far as these false leaders, these false prophets, these people who have led the people of God into this abhorrent condition of cowardice, the truth is told, that was a good day. And I’ve kicked in a lot of bucks. Let’s go get drunk. We’ll go do it again tomorrow. It’ll be even a better day. So there you go. Right and wrong good and evil truth lie, you got it. I can’t stand in front of the mirror for you and decide where you stand. I can’t stand in front of the mirror for you, wherever I can’t be wherever you are. Believe me, I was in good heavens public school. You want to talk about Antichrist. You know, being in that environment, will you live boldly as a Christian if you’re in an environment that is just anti Christian, just a secular progressive, they force you into all these different trainings and will you still live boldly in the word of God? I can’t make those decisions for you, but I know that the satan, the opposer of God’s will has softened the body of Christ to the point that foreign invaders find a killing field among the church. Because there are because Christians, in large measure can’t defend themselves. Talk about the armor of God, both of the offensive and the defensive weaponry and armor of God. Well, there you go. I’m going to take me and my allergies and get out of here for today. I do hope that that was encouraging. I hope that it was challenging up you’re sitting there going right now like kind of a Christian Am I? How do I live? Am I when you go to your secular venue to work today? When you are wherever you are, are you recognize the fact and I love this statement. Do you recognize the fact that you may be the only Bible somebody ever reads? Are you capable of being that he may be easy and even better question. Wake up church. The enemy is already inside the gates. Father God, we pray that you would wake your bride up and let her live boldly in the word of God shine brightly as the life giving kingdom of God on Earth in Jesus name. Amen. Good Lord willing in the creek don’t rise. We will see you Friday for turning on the lights got a busy busy busy busy week. We’ve got meetings and we’ve got weddings and we’ve got all kinds of things going on this week, but I should have some time carved out Friday morning and we will touch base again then God bless and have an amazing day.
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