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[0:00] Faith, and to understand what it's supposed to look like and what it'll yield in our lives as we learn to walk by faith, to exercise faith. And so last week we were in verse 29, where they passed through the Red Sea, as by dry land, by faith.

[0:18] We saw that God made a way in the Red Sea, a way that was unseeable. When Pharaoh thought they were tangled, he didn't see a way. The Israelites thought they were dead meat. They didn't see a way.

[0:29] But God made a way, an unseeable way. Moses had faith, but he thought God was going to destroy the Egyptians. He said, stand still and see. He's going to fight for you. And so God's way there was unpredictable, as Moses expected something different.

[0:44] And then it was also a stable way. It was dry land in verse 29, revealing that God's way is not a gamble. It's a sure thing. It's not a risk in any way.

[0:57] If you need a way, you're just going to have to wait on the Lord to make a way. And when he does, you'll know it. And so now we're going to continue in the chapter for one more verse, verse 30.

[1:08] And so find Hebrews 11, verse 30. And in this chapter, we've covered events in the book of Genesis and events, several of them in the book of Exodus. And now this is going to bring us into the book of Hebrews, or I'm sorry, in the book of Joshua.

[1:21] We are in Hebrews. So verse number 30. By faith, the walls of Jericho fell down. Now if you read your Bible, you read the book of Joshua, when you get there, this story should come to mind immediately.

[1:41] The nation of Israel crossed over the Jordan River, and there they find themselves in the new land. They find themselves with a new leader, Joshua. Moses is gone.

[1:54] As a matter of fact, the generation that left Egypt 40 years ago, they're also gone and died in the wilderness as they went around and around and around. And now it's a new generation with a new leader crossing over into a new land.

[2:09] And you might say that this is a new day for the nation of Israel because it's the promised land. They've arrived. They're in the land. This is God covenant coming to pass what he covenanted with Abraham, with Isaac, with Jacob.

[2:24] It's finally hundreds of years have gone by, and it's finally come to pass and being realized. And now the children of Israel have to conquer the land and remove the current inhabitants.

[2:35] And the first obstacle, the first foe, the first battle is going to be the city of Jericho. It's not a little city.

[2:45] It's not a little city. And nothing about looking at that city looks easy. The walls are large and tall. It says in the book of Joshua that there's a certain woman named Rahab.

[2:56] She had her house upon the wall of the city. That's a big wall, to have a house upon the wall. It says that she had a window in her home, and she let spies down, and she let them down the wall with a cord.

[3:10] That tells me that they didn't just jump out of the window, but it had to be up there pretty high, that they had to be let down by a cord. This is a massive, massive wall, and a real fortress is what they're looking at here in the city of Jericho.

[3:26] But the Bible says, by faith, the walls of Jericho fell down after they were compassed about seven days. So there's a lesson for us to learn about faith from that passage back in Joshua chapter 6.

[3:43] And we'll get there in a few minutes. But the lesson is going to involve bringing down some walls. By faith, what happened?

[3:53] The walls of Jericho fell down. And there's something to consider, or to be considered by that statement and by the story that we read. And I want to relate this to some of the walls that you and I face in the Christian life.

[4:07] Because I think there's some real important truths that we can pull out and extract and understand. So before we do, let's get familiar with this passage a little bit. Go back to Joshua chapter 6.

[4:18] And let's just read just a few verses to get yourself kind of caught up to the very text of what the writer of Hebrews is even talking about.

[4:29] It's Joshua 6. And I'll just read with you the first five verses when you find your place. Joshua, the sixth book in the Bible. They've crossed over the river already.

[4:44] They're in the land. And verse number 1 says, Now Jericho was straightly shut up because of the children of Israel. None went out, and none came in.

[4:56] And the Lord said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valor. And ye shall come past the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once.

[5:09] Thus shalt thou do six days. And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of ram's horns. And the seventh day ye shall come past the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets.

[5:23] And it shall come to pass that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout. And the wall of the city shall fall down flat.

[5:37] And the people shall ascend up every man straight before him. Now we're going to just give you a heads up here. We're going to cover some scripture tonight. If you want to put a little marker in that place, we'll come back to it later.

[5:49] But just giving you a heads up, we're not going to spend a lot of time there, but bounce a good bit here. So what you're reading in Joshua, as I already said, this is a new day for the children of Israel.

[5:59] And this new day is going to be marked by doing things a new way. Joshua is not meeting with the captains. He's not meeting with the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds and formulating a battle plan.

[6:13] He's not dividing the troops up. He doesn't have a maneuver to pull off here. No military tactic from Joshua. They're not going to flank the city. Later on in the next two chapters later in Ai, they do.

[6:27] They go to battle and then they run away and they draw them out of the city. And then another one comes in and that laid, what's the word? They laid weight for the city and then they came up and they set it on fire.

[6:38] And they had a battle plan for Ai, but that's not the case here. The battle wasn't going to be won by outsmarting the enemy. The battle wasn't going to be won by overpowering the enemy.

[6:50] The walls were going to come down by faith. When they obey what God told them to do, come past the city one time around, six days in a row, and then on the seventh day, do it seven times.

[7:06] What a wild and strange... I want to call it a battle plan, but it's really not. I don't know what it is. Instructions from God. This is what I want you to do.

[7:19] The very first battle they face. This is how God instructs them. March around the city. Now we'll look at some more things about that in a little bit. But for now I want you to understand that this new day for the children of Israel is going to be marked by a new way of living and doing things.

[7:38] And that same concept is going to hold true for the believer. Because the Christian life is a new life. It's not the old life. It's not the life that you grew up in, living in sin, fulfilling the flesh, or the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and by nature the children of wrath.

[7:53] No, this is a new life that Jesus Christ gives you. Eternal life. The righteousness of God. Created in righteousness and true holiness in the inner man. It's a brand new life.

[8:05] And there's a new set of battles for the believer. And there's a new way of fighting those battles. And you need to learn this as soon as possible or you'll be frustrated or you'll be defeated.

[8:18] So take your Bible and find 2 Corinthians chapter number 10. I want to take you through some scripture and outline a little bit of thought about this new life and the new battles for the believer.

[8:32] Because they're not the same as the ones you fought before. 2 Corinthians in the New Testament chapter number 10. And let's read the first couple verses here together.

[8:44] And I'll begin in verse 1 reading down to verse 4. 2 Corinthians 10. Verse 1.

[8:58] Now I, Paul, myself, beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ. Listen to those two words. They're important. Meekness and gentleness of Christ.

[9:08] Who in presence am base among you. But being absent and bold towards you. But I beseech you that I may not be bold when I'm present with that confidence.

[9:19] Wherewith I think to be bold against some. Which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. For though we walk in the flesh. We do not war after the flesh.

[9:31] For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. But mighty through God. Notice to the pulling down of strongholds.

[9:43] If we could liken that to the city of Jericho. The Christians weapons. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal. They're not guns. They're not tanks.

[9:53] They're not drones. They're not bows and arrows and spears and swords. They're not explosive blowing the wall. But we can through God. Mighty through God.

[10:06] We can pull down the same strongholds. And watch the same walls come down flat. Paul didn't desire. Earlier in this text here I read. He didn't desire to be the biggest mouth.

[10:16] When he walked into the room. When he arrived. He didn't want to dominate anybody that way. He wanted to be meek. He wanted to be gentle. And he wanted to be base. He wanted to be a low.

[10:28] A quiet humility. He wanted to allow the power of God to speak for him. He wanted the power of God to be at work and to persuade men.

[10:39] And in this passage it's key that we see in verse 4. That the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. They're not carnal. They're mighty through God.

[10:50] So there's a new style of warfare. Now turn back to the book to the left. And find 1 Corinthians chapter 2. 1 Corinthians chapter number 2.

[11:03] The Christian has a new set of battles. And a new way of fighting them. It's a new style of warfare. In 1 Corinthians chapter 2.

[11:13] Notice some similar language of how the apostle Paul desired to approach them. Verse number 1. And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.

[11:27] For I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.

[11:41] And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and of power that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

[11:55] What am I showing you? I'm showing you there's something different about Paul's tactics. He's showing himself to be weak. He's reliant rather than upon his wit and his wisdom and strength and might and boldness.

[12:09] He's reliant on the power of God. That's what he wants to be known of and wants to have seen when he shows up. If you want to see walls come down when it comes to your lost family members and your lost friends who don't know Jesus Christ, they've never been saved, they don't want to hear it, they won't listen.

[12:29] If you want to see them get saved, it's not going to happen by the usual tactics and strategies. You can't change people's minds by shouting at them, by being the loudest one in the room, by winning the argument or by setting them straight in some way and getting the better of them.

[12:49] You can't prove to them that you are at peace with God and they are not. You cannot wrestle with them to get them to follow what you have to say.

[12:59] You can't give them money to bribe them to receive Jesus Christ. Why can't you do those things? Because it's spiritual warfare and it requires new tactics, spiritual tactics.

[13:12] And God gave us a new weapon, faith. He gave us faith. And I want to show you three little things here by way of this weapon of faith, how it can be deployed and used in certain ways to not only to reach the lost for Christ, but to just to deal with the battles that you face in this life and the people that don't agree with you and on and on and on.

[13:38] The first thing I want to say is God gave you faith to preach Jesus Christ, to preach the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't that what Paul said? For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord.

[13:52] And ourselves, your servants for Jesus' sake. When we go to speak with somebody, we don't go for the jugular so that we can win the debate and set them in their place.

[14:04] But our goal is not to destroy all opposition with being the smartest person in the room and the intellectual argument. The power of God is contained in what?

[14:17] What do we have that contains the power of God? In this passage, Paul mentioned in verse 2, in chapter 2, verse 2, that I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

[14:36] Now look earlier in the previous chapter of 1 Corinthians chapter 1. And let's run a few verses here. Because you're going to find out the power of God is in preaching Jesus Christ.

[14:49] In verse 17, Paul said, For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.

[15:02] For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved, it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.

[15:18] Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God.

[15:31] It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. What is the preaching? What are we preaching to save them?

[15:41] The Jews require sign. The Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified. Unto the Jews a stumbling block. Unto the Greeks foolishness. But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God.

[15:57] Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men. And the weakness of God is stronger than men. There's something different about Paul's tactics.

[16:08] He's preaching Christ. He's exercising faith to preach Jesus Christ, believing that that's the best I can actually do. It's not show up being wiser than them.

[16:20] It's not showing up being bolder than them. But it's showing up meek and gentle and base and pointing to the Lord Jesus Christ alone. There's power in that message.

[16:32] If that message can't get the job done, what are we doing? What are we going to do? Make disciples of ourselves? Like the Pharisees were doing? Making one proselyte?

[16:44] Accompasing sea and land to make one proselyte? No, we preach to the Lord Jesus Christ. You know Romans chapter 1 and verse 16 where Paul said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation unto everyone that believeth.

[17:00] You want to win your loss to Christ? You want to see those walls of resistance and those walls of unbelief come down? There is one thing that's going to get that job done. That's the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[17:12] That's preaching the cross. But that's not how we fight most battles. Being meek, being base, being gentle. In the ages past, the Roman Catholic Church in Europe attempted to convert countries, full-on countries to their religious system by conquering them with the sword.

[17:35] By uniting kingdoms with kingdoms based upon their blanket of religion. It's the wrong kingdom.

[17:46] That's the wrong kingdom spreading it the wrong way. The kingdom of God cometh not with observation. The kingdom of God is within you. And here they are pretending to spread it with a sword.

[17:59] They're fighting the wrong battle. This is very important that the believer understand that the obstacles and the foes that you face cannot be engaged in the manner that would work in other areas of life.

[18:12] It's not a carnal operation. It cannot be won. These battles can't be won with physical strength. They can't be won with mental genius. You can't outwit the devil. You don't even understand his ability and capability.

[18:26] Much less enter into the ring with him. Look over at 2 Corinthians again. Look at chapter 4. I quoted this verse, but let's read this verse. 2 Corinthians 4. The devil has the ability to blind the minds of them which believe not.

[18:45] He's a deceiver. He can hide the gospel from somebody. In verse number 3, this is where we'll just look at a few verses here.

[18:55] Verse 3, 4, 3. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost. Well, how is the gospel hid? It's in the Bible. It's in plain sight.

[19:05] It's so easy and accessible. Here's how. Verse 4, In whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not. Lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

[19:20] For we preach not ourselves, but there it is. That's how the gospel shines. We preach Christ Jesus the Lord. In verse 6, God commanded the light to shine out of darkness hath shined in our hearts.

[19:31] Because we were once blinded in our hearts. Our minds were blinded. We were full of deceit. Until the gospel shined unto us. It can shine unto them too.

[19:43] But Jesus Christ has got to be preached. I'll just read this verse to you from Acts chapter 26. When Paul was commissioned, the Lord told him that he wanted him to open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins.

[20:05] So we preach Jesus Christ. Because that's the spiritual manner in which we engage in this battle, to see the lost saved, to see them turn to God.

[20:16] We don't try to dictate, this is how it is and you have to follow us. We don't try to twist their arms and make them sit and believe it and nod their heads. You can't force your kids to get saved. You can't force a lost man or woman in the world to get saved.

[20:28] You can't force your parents or anybody to get saved. But you can preach the gospel because that's where it's at. It's in the book. It's in the word of God. So to engage in a spiritual battle, you've got to employ spiritual tactics.

[20:44] There's another one I want to show you. If you look at Ephesians, find the book of Ephesians in chapter number 6. Ephesians chapter 6.

[21:05] And just for time's sake, I'm going to read from 10 down a good portion. And what I want you to do is follow along and listen for the command to you and I as believers, what we're supposed to do.

[21:19] Listen to what we're supposed to do. Because we're talking about engaging in spiritual battle and employing spiritual tactics. So let's notice the action here and see if we can make sense of it as we go.

[21:33] Because it's going to sound very vague over and over and over again. But watch this. Verse 10. Finally, my brethren. Here's a command. Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.

[21:46] Okay. So that's what we need to do, right? Be strong. Okay. How do we do that? Be strong in the Lord. I can tell you that, but does that help you to do that? What is that?

[21:57] Verse 11. Put on the whole armor of God. Okay. So do that. Do that next. How do you do that? What is that? Put on the whole armor of God that ye may be able to stand.

[22:11] So God wants me to stand against the wiles of the devil. And I can do that when I'm suited with the armor of God. Verse 12. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities.

[22:26] So we're wrestling here. Wrestling against a foe that I can't see. Principalities. Against powers. Against the rulers of the darkness of this world.

[22:37] Against spiritual wickedness. In high places. How can I engage and wrestle against spiritual wickedness? Verse 13.

[22:49] Wherefore take unto you. And now you're going to see this over and over. This is repeating. Verse 11. Put on the whole armor of God. Take unto you.

[23:01] Where am I? Verse 13. The whole armor of God. That ye may be able to withstand in the evil day. Having done all to stand. Stand therefore. Having your loins girt about with truth.

[23:13] So how am I doing this? Am I going to go out into the parking lot and stand? You're not going to budge me, Satan? What does that look like?

[23:27] Who am I standing? Am I going to go to the Vons over here and go inside and take a stand for God? How do I do that? I'm going to have my loins girt about with truth?

[23:37] What does this look like at all? Let's keep reading. Verse 14. Having on the breastplate of righteousness. And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel peace. Above all, taking the shield of faith.

[23:50] Wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit. Which is the word of God. And I've got all these things. Doing what?

[24:01] And then the next verse tells you the command. Something you can do. Praying. Always. With all prayer. And supplication in the Spirit.

[24:12] And watching thereunto. With all perseverance and supplication. For all saints. That's something I can do. That's something you can do. Be strong in the Lord.

[24:24] Okay. Put on the armor. Okay. Have the loins girt about. Okay. Take the shield. Take the sword. Okay. And do what? Where? How? Verse 18 is how.

[24:36] And where? And what? It's praying. You can engage in spiritual battle. And to do so you're going to have to employ spiritual tactics.

[24:46] And another one of them is praying. Look at Colossians chapter 4. Just to your right a few pages. Colossians chapter 4. And look at verse 2.

[24:58] You'll see the same two words that Ephesians chapter 6 had there. About praying and watching. Verse 2. Continue in prayer.

[25:10] And watch in the same. With thanksgiving. With all praying also for us. And gives reasons to pray for them. That's a military word.

[25:20] To watch. To be vigilant. And aware. And alert. On guard. And you watch in the same. What's that mean? In the same prayer. Verse 2.

[25:32] Continue in prayer. And watch in the same. So there's a spiritual engagement. A battle going on. And one of the tactics. Is preaching Christ.

[25:44] Another one of the tactics. Is prayer. Preaching the gospel is powerful. We've already seen. That's where the power of God is. But don't overlook prayer.

[25:56] Brothers and sister. It's easy to neglect. Prayer. Prayer. It's easy to underestimate. The power. Of prayer. Because you can't sense.

[26:06] Its power. You can't feel it. Coursing through your veins. You don't get the adrenaline rush. When you get down on your knees. To pray. It's like. How is whispering in my closet.

[26:19] Doing anything. You don't feel the power. And yet. The Bible informs us. Of its effectiveness. In one case.

[26:29] In James. The effectual. Fervent prayer. Of a righteous man. Availeth. Much. Much. The Bible says.

[26:40] It availeth much. You want to do something. That's going to have some. Substance. Some fruit. Some. You want to get involved. And do something.

[26:50] Then there's one. Prayer. The Bible says. It's effective. The Bible teaches us. A different kind of battle. We're in.

[27:01] And it teaches us. How to get involved in it. There's greater potential. In your prayers. Than in all the branches. Of the United States military. Put together. There's greater potential.

[27:12] Because your prayers. Can move the hand of God. To work in ways. Greater than you can ask. Or think. You want to see some walls. Come down. You better learn. How to pray.

[27:24] You better learn. How to pray. You better discipline. Discipline yourself. To engage. This powerful. Spiritual weapon.

[27:34] That has been proven effective. That the word of God. Calls effective. And God calls for you. And me to pray. He instructs us to pray. He commands us.

[27:45] To call unto him. Let your requests. Be made known unto God. To pray always. To pray without ceasing. So exercise faith.

[27:56] In prayer. You won't pray. If you don't believe it'll work. You won't pray. If you don't believe God's listening. You won't pray. If you just feel like. There's no hope.

[28:06] There's no chance. You just won't do it. So exercise faith. The Bible tells you to do it. God desires you to do it. He calls you to do it.

[28:18] So believe it. And start praying. Get in the battle. It's a new way of engaging an enemy. It's a new kind of strength. And it's up to you and I.

[28:29] To believe in its power. It's not just wishful thinking. It's we have the word of God on it. So what else do we need? Shame on us. If we neglect it. Now come back to Joshua.

[28:40] Actually. If you're in Colossians. Flip over to Titus. And then you can flip back to Joshua. As well. I'm going to take you to just. One more place in the New Testament. Titus chapter 2.

[28:52] And then. Let's go back to Joshua. Before we get there. And I want to show you one more thing. There's. This. What am I calling that?

[29:03] This weapon of faith. Can be used in preaching Christ. Believing that that's where the power is. That that's where the effectiveness is.

[29:13] It can be implemented in prayer. This is a different battlefield. It's not one where you just argue until your face is red. But this is one where you pray. And you continue in it.

[29:25] And then there's a third thing I want to point out. And I'll use the chapter 6 to show you this. When these were marching around that city. They did it one time. And we'll just pretend it was Monday.

[29:36] I don't know if it even mentions what day of the week. And so Monday they walk around one time. Tuesday they walk around one time. And so forth. Until the seventh day seven times. Notice something about this.

[29:47] A peculiar. And a very specific command. With this. This compassing the city round about. Verse 10. And Joshua had commanded the people saying.

[29:58] Ye shall not shout. Nor make any noise with your voice. Neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth. Until the day I bid you shout.

[30:10] Then shall ye shout. It wasn't their words. Or their threats. That caused the enemy's walls to fall down.

[30:20] They simply walked around the city. How odd that must have been. Walked around the city. And went back to their tent.

[30:31] Got up the next morning. And walked around the city. And back to their tents. All the while the priests are blowing with the trumpets. They're carrying the ark of God. But the people didn't make a sound.

[30:41] Day after day. After day. Just walk around. And back to their tents. We're talking about a very different form of combat.

[30:54] The battle started for these Israelites. The first day they walked around the city. By faith. The first day. The walls weren't down yet. But the very first day the battle started.

[31:06] They engaged by faith. Obeying. The passage said. By faith the walls of Jericho fell down. After they were compassed about. Seven days.

[31:18] So what's the point of this? Well I want to say it like this. Let your walk. Do the talking. Your new life in Christ.

[31:30] Exercise faith in your testimony. In the power of a godly testimony. Because that thing speaks to the world. That speaks to your family.

[31:42] That speaks to your co-workers and to your friends. When you just plain do right. When your language is clean. When your attitude is right. When your appearance is right.

[31:53] When your heart is clean. When you're not gossiping. When you're not deceitful. When you're not showing up late. When you're not lying about things. Let your testimony.

[32:05] Be used to engage in this. Be careful to guard your testimony. I might add. And display good works. Now I want to show you this in Titus chapter 2. Titus 2.

[32:17] I feel like I could cover a lot of ground here. But this one passage says a lot. I'm going to read a portion. Start in verse 7. And go into chapter 3. So follow along with Titus chapter 2 verse 7.

[32:31] In all things. Showing thyself a pattern of good works. In doctrine showing uncorruptness. Gravity. Sincerity. Sound speech that cannot be condemned.

[32:43] That he that is of the contrary part. May be ashamed. Having no evil thing to say of you. Exhort servants to be obedient. Under their own masters. And to please them well in all things.

[32:53] Not answering again. Not purloining. But showing all good fidelity. That they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things. For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men.

[33:08] Teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts. We should live soberly. Righteously. And godly in this present world.

[33:19] Looking for that blessed hope. And the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. Who gave himself for us. That he might redeem us from all iniquity.

[33:30] And purify unto himself a peculiar people. Zealous of good works. These things speak and exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.

[33:40] Chapter 3. Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers. To obey magistrates. To be ready to every good work.

[33:52] To speak evil of no man. To be no brawlers but gentle. Showing all meekness unto all men. For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish.

[34:03] Disobedient. Deceived. Serving diverse lusts and pleasures. Living in malice and envy. Hateful and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared.

[34:15] Not by works of righteousness which we have done. But according to his mercy he saved us. By the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior.

[34:28] That being justified by his grace. We should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a faithful saying. And these things I will that thou affirm constantly.

[34:40] That they which have believed in God. Might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.

[34:51] But avoid foolish questions and genealogies and contentions and strivings about the law. For they are unprofitable and vain. God doesn't want us to win the arguments with our words.

[35:04] But rather to do it with our conduct. I am imploring you this evening to do right. One day at a time.

[35:16] And back to your tents. And one day let your walk do the talking. And back to your tents. And let them see you walk.

[35:28] And let them see you maintain a godly testimony toward them that are without. Walk with God and walk with the people of God. I believe it will speak in ways that your words cannot. This is not the standard way to fight.

[35:42] This is called the fight of faith. In 1 Timothy 6 we are called to fight the good fight of faith. And so in Hebrews 11. By faith the walls of Jericho fell down.

[35:54] After they were compassed about. Seven days. It didn't happen because they were smarter. Or stronger. Than their enemies. It happened because they obeyed God by faith.

[36:06] If you want to see some walls come down. You can't force other people to get saved. But you can preach Christ. You can let them know where the power is. What can cleanse their filthy heart of sin.

[36:20] And make them clean before God and justified. You can preach Christ. You can't force them to agree with you. You can't force them to do things the way you want them to do them. But you can pray.

[36:30] And you can live soberly. And righteously. And godly in front of them. You can let them see that God made a change in you.

[36:41] This is a new life. With new battles. With new weapons. And it's up to you to learn how to engage them. Because part of the Christian life is learning first.

[36:51] And then doing. And so learn to believe that these tactics are God's tactics for the Christian. And they work. These are the means by which God works.

[37:02] And it's all by faith. Now, the other day, Mark mentioned something to me. He asked me a question about, I think it was your mother-in-law. All that. Yeah. He's trying to witness to his mother-in-law.

[37:13] And just want to see her get saved. And he just had a question. I'm not sure how he formed it. But it was just like, how do you get her to see? Just like out of frustration. Like we're trying and we're trying.

[37:24] And nothing's working. What's the secret? And it's kind of like, well, if I knew that. You know, if we all knew that. Well, we'd all have them. But as we were talking.

[37:37] I just, the Lord brought something to mind. And I've already related some of the story of my parents to you. But this one really just, I related it to him. And it seemed to make sense in the moment.

[37:48] Was when my mom and dad, they grew up Roman Catholic. And going to mass. And they were lost on their way to hell. And they couldn't get rid of their sin. Just talking to a man behind a box didn't do it.

[38:00] And so they come to knowledge of salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. They both got saved. They both went back home to their families and told them about it. Told their brothers and sisters. Told their moms and dads.

[38:11] Tried to invite them out of the Catholic Church to this new church where they were preaching the Bible. And they were singing about Jesus. And they were so happy and so much life. And their parents didn't want to hear it.

[38:21] Their brothers didn't want to hear it. And so my mom and dad, they get married. And they continue witnessing to my mother's parents, Jim and Rita O'Malley.

[38:33] And Jim O'Malley was a deacon in his local, what do they call it, the local diocese or something like that. And so he got to put on the white robes and go stand in front of the church and read the scripture and give mass.

[38:48] And even at the local airport, O'Hare Airport, which one time was the busiest airport in the world. There was a chapel there. And he was the chaplain of it certain days of the week. He would go do masses.

[38:59] And they called him Father O'Malley. And he walked around the airport in his white robes and all that. And that was him. He was priest O'Malley, deacon O'Malley, whatever they called him.

[39:10] And so he's sitting there. And, of course, he and his wife said, We don't want you talking anymore about this born-again stuff to us.

[39:21] No more. If you bring it up again, you're not welcome in our home. And, of course, my folks, they moved away. They would come back and visit. They'd bring us, the kids. We were little growing up.

[39:32] We'd visit Chicago. Probably every six months to a year, we'd go in the summer, go on the Christmas vacation, go visit grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins. And we'd always try to get to Chicago.

[39:42] And so they made a decision, well, they're not going to let us preach Christ to them anymore. And the thought was, do we just say, well, you know, anathema maranatha.

[39:54] We're not coming back here anymore. But, no, they decided we want to have them as part of our life. So we're going to pray. We're not going to beat down the door with the gospel.

[40:06] We're going to just live our lives. And what I'm getting at is they saw that third thing as valuable. The last two. They tried preaching Christ and they wouldn't receive it.

[40:16] So they prayed and they walked. Not with their words but with their Christian life. They lived soberly, righteously, and godly in front of them every chance they had.

[40:27] So fast forward to where I'm about, I think I'm about 18 years old. And I was in Chicago one more time with my sisters and my mom and dad. And my mom and dad are about to leave the United States to go to Poland to be missionaries.

[40:42] And this just fired up my grandfather. Because Poland was Catholic. Like 96% Catholic. And that just grated on him so badly that they would go through a Catholic.

[40:57] It was almost like we're just slapping him in the face. That's how he was so offended by it. And in that day the Pope was Catholic. The Pope was Polish. You know the Pope was Catholic. The Pope was Polish.

[41:09] And so they were just livid that Mike and Peggy are going to go to Poland and tell everybody about Jesus. And so we're sitting around this dining room table about to have a meal.

[41:26] And my grandfather starts on this little spiel. And it just got awkward. It's like, oh, here we go. He's going to impart his frustration and his wisdom onto this family.

[41:38] Now I grew up in a Christian home with a Bible. I knew more Bible than my grandfather did. And my grandmother put together. As holy as they felt they were in the Catholic faith, I could shut them down if I wanted.

[41:49] And I wasn't even into it. That's the gift of God, you know, growing up in church. And there I sat just thinking, this guy, he's lost. He doesn't know it. And he's going to just spew out his frustration on my dad and mom one more time before they leave.

[42:05] And he sat there and he said, Mike and Peggy, I'm very saddened. And I don't have the words exactly. But he's expressing his disappointment for what their choice was.

[42:16] And he was expressing that he doesn't understand why they would go there. However, he feels offended by that personally as a good, faithful, devout Catholic. But then he turned and said something that shocked us all.

[42:31] And he said, I look at you two and I see that you've been doing this thing, this whatever you call it, born-again Christianity for these 20 years. And you've stuck with it.

[42:42] I thought it might be a fad, but it wasn't. You stuck with it all the way till now. And you really believe what you're doing. And he said, but I also look at your kids. And your kids are different than he mentioned his son's kids and his two older sons and their kids.

[43:01] And he mentioned them by name. And he said, all they seem to care about is money and getting good jobs and getting high-paying jobs and having things. But your kids aren't like that.

[43:13] Your kids are good kids. And they're respectful. And they don't talk back to you. And they don't talk back to us when they're here. And they always have good attitudes. And they're always helpful.

[43:25] And he went on to say, there's such a difference in Mike and Peggy's children, these born-again Christian family, than my other Catholic kids and my grandchildren through them.

[43:36] And he did not know what to make of it. But he couldn't deny it was real. And I realized right there, I was like, they couldn't preach Christ to them anymore.

[43:48] But as they continued to pray, they could walk and live the Christian life in front of them every chance they got. And that, there was fruit in that. Down the road, they got to see and realize there is something different about that family that all my other kids, they don't have.

[44:06] They're not as devout to the Catholic faith as I am. And I can't figure out why not. But these guys, they've got something. And so I want to end with that illustration to show you that these things work.

[44:19] And maybe you can't force them to receive the gospel. You can pray for God to soften their heart and you can guard your testimony.

[44:30] You can, without words, you can live the Christian life and show them what's different about you. How the word of God has sanctified you and changed you and renewed your mind and changed your mouth and changed what you do on Sundays and on Wednesdays and when we have special services here.

[44:47] And that you get excited about that. You talk about church. You can't wait to go to church. And it means something to you. And they can't understand it. But they'll see there's something different.

[44:58] They have something. It might take 20 years. So just one last thought was my sister, years later, she was probably, this might have been like another 20 years down the road.

[45:13] My sister got an opportunity to sit in the home, in the little den with my grandmother. And she had a Bible.

[45:24] And it was her Catholic Bible. And she read a verse in John 5, 24. And I don't know the exact wording she had in her version. But it said that, believe on him that sent me, he hath passed from death unto life.

[45:36] And she said to my sister, my older sister, she said, Joy, what do you think that means? And Joy was like, oh, I got a chance.

[45:47] My grandmother is asking me, what does this Bible verse about believing on Jesus mean? And she, in the best way she could, she was open to listen to her granddaughter talk to her about the word of God.

[46:00] She was so close to her daughter and son-in-law. But down the road of living that life, she started to open and want to hear something from her. And I don't have a story to tell you beyond that.

[46:12] That's all I know of it was that Joy got to talk to her a little bit about what that verse means. And Joy knows what that verse means. And so that was a blessing, but that only came because they decided to let their testimony, their walk around daily, do the talking for them.

[46:31] So there's some thoughts this evening about bringing some walls down and engaging in a new kind of battle. One that you've never engaged in before. It's a brand new one.

[46:42] And I hope you see that the weapon of faith can be implemented in more than one way. It can be implemented in preaching Jesus Christ, believing that's the only way. It can be implemented in prayer.

[46:54] Don't overlook it because God wants you to do it. And it can be implemented in walking that walk of faith with your testimony and letting them see that. So I hope that helps you and I hope you're able to implement that today.

[47:08] And as you go to work tomorrow and you're around your family and your friends, use this. Understand this is a different battle. I can't win it by yelling at them. I can't win it by arm wrestling. It's going to have to be something spiritual.

[47:21] Father in heaven, we believe these truths from the word of God. Help us then to engage in these battles. And Lord, may we be strong in your spirit.

[47:32] May you lead us as we seek to please you and win the lost. Would you strengthen us in prayer and drive us to our knees.

[47:42] Remind us when we skip and help us to maintain a godly testimony. Lord, forgive us where we are lazy and from where we're weak.

[47:54] And we pray that you'll strengthen us and increase our faith. And we pray that ultimately the Lord Jesus Christ would get something out of our efforts. Not for us, not for reward, just for what he suffered for.

[48:06]  May some soul come to Christ and may he be rewarded with that soul. We pray these things in Christ's name. Amen. Amen. Amen.