Are You Resisting the Right Enemy? Discover the Secrets of Spiritual Warfare

Our latest episode dives deep into the heart of spiritual warfare, exploring the internal conflicts that lead to external quarrels. We uncover the battles we often face involving pride, envy, and the need for humility. 

• Highlighting the importance of prayer before daily news 
• Discussing inner demons and their impact on our lives 
• Sharing personal parenting stories and spiritual growth 
• Analyzing the teachings of James 4 and humility 
• Encouraging unity and love among believers 
• Practical steps to resist judgment and gossip 
• The significance of surrendering to God 
• Confronting societal pressures while staying true to faith 
• Inspiring listeners to deepen their prayer life and commitment to God

God bless!

Christian Warrior Talk is Sponsored by Trident Shield, your trusted ally in violence preparedness. Trident Shield helps safeguard your loved ones with expert training and consulting. Trident Shield, defending faith through empowered preparedness because together, we save lives."

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction and Happy Lord’s Day
• 9:25 The Habit of Prayer Before Daily News
• 15:43 Understanding Good vs. Evil in Today’s America
• 22:59 Donald Trump: A Flawed Vessel for Good
• 36:27 Spiritual Warfare: The Heart as the Battlefield
• 47:34 Parenting and Spiritual Battles in Children
• 1:00:26 James 4: The Importance of Humility and Submission
• 1:21:04 Confrontation: Resisting Judgement and Slander
• 1:39:54 Concluding Prayer and Reflection on God’s Power

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:39

Happy Lord's Day to you. I hope you are enjoying waking up every day in this new America as much as I am. It is hard to not. It's hard to not reach for the phone to check the good news in the morning before I pray and to get out of bed. So that's a good thing, you know, but I try to make it a habit before I do anything to pray and thank God for giving me another day and for protecting my family and farm and country before I do anything else. But, boy, I race to that news app to scroll to see how much you know. Good is winning for once in the world, and I'm not disappointed.

Speaker 1: 1:27

You can tell that America is moving in the right direction because all the demonic forces are freaking out. Everyone who pretends to be unicorn, butterflies and 152 genders and everything else is losing their mind and for the first time ever, one side of the issue is upset that they've been robbed of their money and we've been giving it away to corruption and enriching politicians and everything else. So normally that's something that we can all rally around, but I guess when you're completely turned over to a demonic ideology, you don't even care that you're stolen from anymore, as long as you know, you get to mutilate children and kill babies and do everything else that you want to do. So that's the world we live in. We are. You know. I thank God every day for Donald Trump, who's a very flawed man. Okay, he's not our savior, jesus is our savior. He is a flawed man who's being used by our Lord and Savior, jesus Christ, to do good things in America today Because a lot of people prayed. You know, if you remember Sodom and Gomorrah, abraham, pleading with God, started with a huge number and whittled it down to 10. He found 10 righteous people in all of the. You know, sodom and Gomorrah, that he wouldn't destroy it and he couldn't find him, couldn't find a one. Well, we have more righteous people than ten in America. You know there's a remnant and the path is narrow and it is small, but it is enough to where God gave us a chance to come back from the abyss where, before you'd even be able to say hello to someone, you'd have to look at all their pins and the color of their hair and figure it out to say whether good morning sir or good morning ma'am. That is all gone now.

Speaker 1: 3:38

Now in Tennessee, we don't really have that. So that's why we moved here. Okay, but for all you people in Massachusetts who happen to live in modern day Sodom and Gomorrah, or those in California and everything in between, we don't have that down here. Right? You know we, we, we say y'all. You know which is the most effective word in history? You know it's, it's the most. It's just so useful to be able to say y'all instead of use guys and all this and y'all. Just never in a million years, when I was a snobby northerner thought I would say y'all, but boy do I like that word now. So the other thing we don't see a lot here in the South is masks. The more I travel around this country doing active shooter, I didn't realize that there are still insane people at mass wearing masks and I'm not at like Catholic mask, although there's probably a bunch of people that are doing that too but like out in public 2025, people wearing masks and not even like surgical, you know, n95s or whatever the heck they're called, still wearing the face diaper. That's how sick people really are with their virtue signaling and how deep they are in the throes of this demonic movement that's out there. So again, praise the Lord, thank you.

Speaker 1: 5:06

God Protect Donald Trump. And I got to give you full confession. I wanted DeSantis to be my president. I thought he was the better moral character. I thought he was Trump without the baggage. But here's what he is not. He could not do what Donaldald trump is doing right now. He could not. He doesn't have the billions that where he wouldn't be beholden to someone. He needed money to get elected. Donald trump needed nothing and that allows him to take a hammer to the system because he has no special interest and, um, I am. You know, before Trump was shot, I said a lot of unkind things to him about dodging the draft, deferring a lot of things, because I doubted his courage. But I don't think anyone can doubt his courage after you saw the man get shot, get up and get right back at it and say fight, fight, fight. So again I was wrong, fight, fight. So again I was wrong. God was right. God's always right and I'm thankful for it, and I'm thankful every day for what I see, and I've never been so happy to be wrong in my life. So there's that All right. So let's get to church business now. Just the current events and things. I just thought it'd be good to lighten the mood.

Speaker 1: 6:26

Welcome to Christian Warrior Mission, a church home, church community ministry and farm that forges Christian Warriors for today's challenges. Okay, some announcements. Christian Warrior Talk is going to be on Wednesdays. We didn't have it last Wednesday, I didn't have enough time to turn it around. All right, but starting this Wednesday at 9 pm, we're going to be doing our fellowship show, which is a Bible study, right? So we're going to be doing a Bible study. That is not going to be like we're in the New Testament, we're in James right now. We're going to keep progressing through the Bible that way. This is probably going to be Old Testament Proverbs and all that stuff on Wednesdays. It's very informal. Old Testament Proverbs and all that stuff on Wednesdays is very informal. It's me sitting at a desk, it's not me doing this, and we actually have a good time with it and spend time in fellowship. So that is going to be a more formal Bible study. But we will also talk all things Christian life, prepping, homesteading tactics, as well as current events that we are all dealing with.

Speaker 1: 7:22

The problem with so much of the church is it doesn't tell most churches in a cowardly attempt to avoid being political and offending some of their donor base, don't tell you how to apply it to the news. Don't tell you how to deal with modern day things because, if they're honest, it's confronting a lot of their church members, particularly on one side of the aisle. So we don't do that here, all right. So some other news. Karen, our Black Angus cow, gave birth. She's an awesome mom and she did it without our help. We woke up in the morning and there was a baby cow there. That's the way you like it, not poor Lauren pulling a cow out in the middle of the freezing rain out there. That stuck. No, we showed up and boom, everything worked great. So that's why we keep Karen, because she's a great mom and she does deliveries like that, where it's like no drama, and she's super nurturing, super loving and amazing.

Speaker 1: 8:25

Now we have a baby girl. We didn't get the bull we wanted. We got a baby girl named Ruth, after Ruth Chris Steakhouse. So that tells you she might replace Karen, depending on how things go, you know, because Karen is getting older. But we're going to keep Karen. Until Karen doesn't really do anything anymore, we replace her. So we're going to I'm saying this now, but Lauren is probably going to her pie charts and all these things that she has on doing the herd and all this stuff. But I'm telling you, I'm laying the law down Right now. Lauren, I know you're watching on this side as well. We are keeping baby Ruth. See what I did there, baby Ruth, all right, so, anyways, all right.

Speaker 1: 9:12

Another announcement, this is another good one. Our first men's fellowship fire will be on Friday, march 21st, at 7 pm up at Warrior Warriors Rest Fire Pit. Please RSVP on Facebook, on our event page, so we can plan accordingly with refreshments and food. Alright, that's all. I got nice and easy and quick today, so let's go to prayer.

Speaker 1: 9:37

Dear Heavenly Father, lord, we thank you. We thank you for this day and we thank you for the blessing of being born in America. We hit the lottery, lord. We are here in the most powerful nation with the most responsibility, lord, we are in a full-scale war right now, a spiritual war for this country, and the demonic forces have been winning. But the tide is turning, lord, and there will be more battles and there will be setbacks, but we know and we believe that you win in the end. Lord, help us now while we have the wind at our backs, while we have the government not working against us, to take ground for your kingdom, to help make our country, our states, our cities and our communities more godly. Help us to hold our families accountable and help us to win the war that wages within us that we'll talk about today from your holy text in James 4. Lord, may we proclaim you with every word of our lungs, breath of our lungs, and serve you with every beat of our hearts. In Jesus' name we pray, amen, all right.

Speaker 1: 10:51

So for those of you who don't know how to pray, there is a manual in the book if you're wondering. If you're new to Christianity and God has called you home. None of us get here of our own, no matter what you think. Something sent you here. One of the great debates that I've had with some of my spiritual father even, is that he thinks that people are saved by good preaching. Good preaching helps them along that's part of the bread trail being leading you home but you're saved by God calling you home. The moment, whatever it was, that God used to turn you around, from walking away from him to walking towards him, that is the moment that God called you home. Now, it could have been a near-death experience. It could have been the death of a loved one. It could have been a sunrise, a Christian song, a movie. It could have been anything. God can use anything to start you on your journey back to him.

Speaker 1: 11:57

So if you're new and you want to know how to pray, get one of these things called the Bible. We've got about 1,000 of them over here Exaggerating it's not 1,000, but we've got a lot of them, and I've got a box behind there of even more. Turn to Matthew 6, 9 through 13, where Jesus' followers asked him how to pray, and here's his example. Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom, come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day, our daily Now. That's way better than mine, okay, and it's right there, and you can pray that anytime you want.

Speaker 1: 12:42

But also remember the rise words of Paul Washer. Paul Washer, who's one of the most repentant and touch humbled Christians you'll ever see, and because of that he can get away with a prayer like this. God, you know, you know, you know, you know, and because you know, because you're in control of all things, I can go to sleep or I can leave it in your hands. In Jesus' name, I pray amen. Now, I hope I didn't destroy his prayer too much, but that is as close as I can get to paraphrasing it. And it's amazing. And of course he was talking about struggling with some really big issues orphans in Afghanistan that were facing certain death and all kinds of other persecution in China, people going to prison and it's all in his lap. And if he can pray that, well, if your heart's aligned with God and you are humble, you can too.

Speaker 1: 13:41

All right, let's get into the text. We're going to be in James 4 today, james 4. So at home you can open your books. I'm going to read it and then we're going to break it down. I'm going to read it in its entirety and then I'm going to break it down. I'm reading out of the LSB. Most of the times I do the ESV and LSB. I just happen to be pulling from the LSB lately. Some of the words might be slightly different, but you guys will be right there. So while you guys are getting there, I want to talk about this.

Speaker 1: 14:12

The battle that begins in the heart facing the enemy within the epistle of James is often categorized as wisdom literature in the New Testament. James, the half-brother of Jesus writes to Jewish Christians scattered abroad James 1.1. We covered that four weeks ago. He addresses practical godliness and eternal consistency. Genuine faith results in actions and transformed conduct. As Christian warriors, the first battlefield that we have is in our heart. Okay, it's in our heart. James 4 will point us to the internal conflicts that lead us to external quarrels, showing we must overcome the desires within to walk faithfully without Now not all Christians' first battle is in the heart. If you have a non-Christian warrior household where you have not been properly discipled, where you have not been provided with a safe environment, where you are not exposed to the Bible, there is going to be countless battles, one of them being safety. But if you are in a godly household, being shepherded by godly men and women, then it truly is the heart. And the closest example of this I can give is something God set for us.

Speaker 1: 15:37

This morning my dear daughter Bea Brenna, who is coming up on 6th in May, comes up to me and tears in her eyes, repentant about bad smiles. Like what is bad smiles? You know she's confessing, like she's overly confessing right now. Right, because she is in that spiritual point where she is now aware of her sin For the first time in her life she realizes she's on the clock. At five and a half she's aware that she's on the clock and she doesn't know what to do with this. She's got tears in her eyes. She's like I am smiling because my sister is in trouble in her eyes. She's like I am smiling because my sister is in trouble. I'm smiling because my sister is doing bad things and it's making me smile. And that is a bad smile, right? So this was a drop everything moment in our house. Forget about preparing for Sunday service and go all in on my daughter. It was Lauren, was doing a million things and it was get over here, let's sit at the table. We need to pour into our daughter.

Speaker 1: 16:46

This is a maximum teaching moment of her first step, truly as a Christian, feeling sin and repentance, understanding that she doesn't want these feelings. She doesn't want to feel good about her sister being in trouble. And here she is fixating on it and then, like the enemy, now, it's constantly all she thinks about why am I thinking about this? So it's there. So we had to pray for her. We had to give her tools to deal with this. Right, and I just taught her a simple song to sing to Jesus. A simple prayer, right and then corrective action, told her I was proud of her.

Speaker 1: 17:35

She's not in trouble for having these thoughts and these feelings that we all battle with them. Do you want to know how I know that? Just look at your social media feeds and what you say and do on there. When you see something's happening, the joy that I take in good winning. But I better not be happy that evil is suffering, because we're all evil and we all deserve to suffer. I can be happy that evil is suffering because we're all evil and we all deserve to suffer. I can be happy that God is winning and that justice is being done. But do I truly want justice? Because if I truly want justice, I'm doomed, and so are all of you. Jesus Christ came and paid for our sins so we wouldn't have to deal with God's justice. That was a gift, okay.

Speaker 1: 18:29

So here is my five almost six-year-old daughter experiencing spiritual warfare for the first time and she's coming up and it's manifesting in different ways. So I prayed for her. I could tell that that didn't seem like it was enough for her. So I went and I's manifesting in different ways. So I prayed for her. I could tell that that didn't seem like it was enough for her. So I went and I got some anointing oil and I put anointing oil on her head and over her heart and that seemed to give her some strength. And you know, I prayed a John Eldredge prayer.

Speaker 1: 18:59

I'm not a charismatic casting out demons and devils and all that stuff, I'm not that guy. But I do believe that we can pray and put coverings over someone. So we prayed. I prayed over by the power and authority of Jesus Christ. I bring the body and the blood and the works of Jesus Christ over my daughter, of which, whom I have authority over. I cast out any fell spirits and demonic attacks against her. I call down angels to protect her. I call down the Holy Spirit to put a guard on her mouth so she doesn't smile at wicked things and doesn't say evil things. And I called again for the Holy Spirit to keep working on her because she started her sanctification today and that is so important. I'm so proud of her. I'm so proud of her.

Speaker 1: 19:58

It's such a complex thing for an adult to handle, never mind a five-and-a-half or almost six-year-old. So the battle starts in the heart with her today. So the battle starts in the heart with her. Today, she's got a strong heart and a good heart, as good as a human can be. But, as we know, in the Garden of Eden, when we acquired the knowledge of good and evil, we didn't have the wisdom to deal with the evil. Before we ate from the tree of knowledge, we only knew good. We didn't know nakedness, we didn't know shame. We didn't have the wisdom to deal with the evil. Before we ate from the tree of knowledge, we only knew good. We didn't know nakedness, we didn't know shame, we didn't know guilt, we didn't know any of these other things. And once we acquired that, we were not equipped to handle it, which is why we all fall, why we all sin, why we all struggle.

Speaker 1: 20:49

So again, I am proud of my daughter and now, as her disciplers, our game just got. We have to elevate our game even more now, like she's understanding complex things. She is on the clock. We are here to go all in to make sure that she understands. It's no longer just modeling, now, it's nurturing, instructing, discipling. So again, the first battle is for our hearts, and James 4 will point us to our internal conflicts, like Bema's experiencing, that lead to external quarrels. So the Bible reminds us in Proverbs 16, 18, that pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before stumbling. So here we go, james 4, again out of the LSB Legacy Standard Bible. You guys can be reading out of the ESV or wherever else. What is the source? So, again, james, I'll bring it down, I'll read it to you and then I'll bring it down.

Speaker 1: 21:58

What is the source of the quarrels and conflicts among you? It's not the source of your pleasures that wage war in your members, in your own body, right right within you. The source of your pleasure is not the source of your pleasures the war that wages in your, the war that wage war in your members. You lust and do not have, so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel.

Speaker 1: 22:25

You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives. How many of us have done that so that you may spend it on your pleasures? You adulterous or you adulteresses? Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world sets himself as an enemy of God.

Speaker 1: 23:09

Or do you think that the scripture speaks to no purpose when it says he jealously desires a spare which he has made to dwell in us, but he gives a greater grace. Therefore, it says God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble. That's why we spend so much time in the Bible study, starting to get a humble, grateful heart. Humility is the first step to having a good relationship with God. Submit, therefore, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your heart. You double-minded. Okay, we're talking about these people now. We're talking about sinners and double-minded people. Be miserable and mourn and weep. Why? Because they're sinners and they're double-minded. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and enjoy the gloom. Why, becoming humble instead of arrogant and boastful, enjoying their sin. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord and he will exalt you.

Speaker 1: 24:23

Do not slander one another, brothers. He who slanders a brother or judges his brother slanders the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge of it. There is only one law giver and judge, the one who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor? Come now. You say today or tomorrow. You to judge your neighbor? Come now. You say today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a city and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.

Speaker 1: 24:53

This is pretty confusing to some, and we're going to spend some serious time unpacking this. Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say that the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that, but as it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. Therefore, to one who knows to do right, to do the right thing, and does not do it, to him and his sin. So that James 4 can be very confusing. If you're reading this, particularly in the more accurate language, which is the LSB and the ESB, you can go into like the messenger and all these other things, and they try to make this make a lot of sense in ways when they can change the meanings when they do that. So it's better to read it true to its original nature and then, with help, unpack it through Bible study and exegesis, which is what we're doing now.

Speaker 1: 25:49

So let's break down the text into five major sections, examining the Greek vocabulary, which I put some time in people. I put some time in to try to pronounce these Greek words right. So I barely speak English right, which I don't. So I don't even speak English 100% grammatically correct. So God help me with Greek. But this is so. You know that I'm not just making this up.

Speaker 1: 26:14

And often, when we know the true meaning of the word, like you know, there might be a certain specific definition instead of definitions that have three, like when I say judge. Well, that's a job. A judge there's to judge something safe or unsafe Do I cross the street or do I not cross the street? And then there's judge when you're passing judgment, sending someone to prison or someone to hell. Right, judge is the same word. Which one am I talking about? That's why we need to know the original language to be able to go back and say this is what the tone and the text and the context, all right.

Speaker 1: 26:55

So the source of our conflicts the first four verses what is the source of the quarrels and conflicts among you? Is it not the source of your pleasures that wage war on your members. So let's look at the word quarrels. Okay, polemos I even had to write each syllable in here to get it right and conflicts, maque Polemos implies broader warfare or prolonged conflict. Okay, so quarrels is actually deep, long warfare. Okay, not me and my mom quarreling over something. Okay, well, my case suggests individual fights and skirmishes. Okay, so James wraps them both in to that one statement. Right? What is the source of the quarrels and conflicts among you? Okay, james is framing their disputes as military-like engagements, showing a community under spiritual siege from within. Okay, so, remember, the context that we're talking about here is they are dispersed, they are under persecution.

Speaker 1: 28:13

And what happens when life turns up? The heat on a group of people End fighting. Right, there's disagreements on leadership, there's disagreements on a ton of different things. So let's turn on each other. And when that happens, you're destroyed, right. So pleasures now, when we get, when that happens, you're destroyed, right.

Speaker 1: 28:31

So pleasures Now, when we get here in this, you know, is not the source of your pleasures? The weight of that wage war on your members. What are we talking about here? Pleasures? Well, we're talking about hedone, the root term for hedonism, indicating self-indulgent desires. Medone, the root term for hedonism, indicating self-indulgent desires. These passions place personal pleasure over God's will and over the will of others. Members, what are we talking about? Members, it's such a weird word to say there, right, and some other translations try to make it simple for you, but it's mele, okay. Mele refers to parts of the body, literal or figurative. So James is depicting a civil war happening in your own being, in your own body, which is what Bea was talking about. Why does she like when her sister's in trouble? Because she likes her praise, the praise that she gets for being good Pride in a five-year-old Okay.

Speaker 1: 29:35

So cultural and theological insights that we have to remember here. These believers are facing external persecution, like I said, and internal strife is a greater threat, and internal strife is a greater threat. The concept of uncontrolled desires aligns with both Jewish wisdom and Greco-Roman moral philosophy, like Stoicism, which sees its passions as root vices, which they are. What is our warrior application in this? Internal desires are the real enemy. As Christian warriors, not all battles are external. Friendly fire, which we talked about last week, arises when personal pleasure supersedes collective good, when you put your own personal pleasure over the collective good, and we see these with the knifing words that we talked about last week, that feel so good to say but do damage to our relationships.

Speaker 1: 30:29

We can even pray with the wrong motives. How many times we prayed to escape consequences when we were Christian-like, or even maybe even now? Praying for wealth doesn't work that way. God didn't start blessing me financially until I started praying. Help me deal with my sin of indebtedness. That is where miracles happen. Making it rain, not so much right. Even our prayers can become self-serving if not alive with God's glory. Are we bringing God's kingdom here with the prayers that we're saying? One more sinner. Getting out of debt, that is a good thing. That's a form of slavery. Getting a bigger house on the hill, not so much. To quote the wise John Calvin, our hearts are idle factories, forever forging new demands we make of God and man. What do we do in our lives with this? Ask yourself what motivated me today Selfish gratitude or God's glory? Surrender any motives that exalt self rather than Christ.

Speaker 1: 31:47

The next part, verses 4 through 6, james is talking about friendship with the world versus loyalty to God. So, verse 4, you, adulteresses, you do not know that friendship with the world is hostility towards God. The word adulteresses that he chose here is mocha, leides, feminine plural, referring to spiritual unfaithfulness, the greatest form of betrayal you can do. This echoes the Old Testament imagery from Hosea, where Israel, the state of Israel, is unfaithful to Yahweh as his bride bride. So do you not know that friendship in the world is hostility toward God? Friendship is philia, okay, implies intimate loyalty. So you're intimately loyal to the world. So you're intimately loyal to the world. Cosmos, okay, why do they use the word cosmos? It's not god's creation.

Speaker 1: 32:52

This refers to the fallen world system under satan's influence. Now, if you didn't know any of those words, you'd just be like you're friends with the world. What's the problem with being friends with mother nature? And blah, blah, blah and all the garbage paganism out there, which is bad in itself. The fallen world system under Satan's influence you're intimately loyal to that. That is problematic. Some might say that's a certain party that begins with a D, which is quite obvious.

Speaker 1: 33:28

So then we get into one of the more challenging verses, verse 5. He jealously desires the spirit which he has made to dwell on us. Okay, jealously, you know, we're always taught that jealous is such a bad word. But here God is jealous over our spirits. So can jealousy be good, absolutely, absolutely. God is a jealous lover yearning for our undivided devotion. He will not tolerate being second in any part of your life, just like your spouse should not be tolerant of being second in any part of your life. Second only to God, god, spouse, children, everything else. If you're out of that order, you're in big trouble. So again, what's the context?

Speaker 1: 34:32

Early Jewish Christians lived in a pluralistic Greco-Roman environment and faced pressures to compromise constantly. Orgies were everywhere. Everything you could ever want was legal Slavery. Everything was there you could satisfy. You didn't have money, anything you ever wanted, just walking out the door, prostitutes right outside your door.

Speaker 1: 34:57

James, echoing the Old Testament prophets, condemns divided allegiance. It is spiritual adultery. So what is our application as warriors? Divided allegiance is treason. You can't be in a war against China and be torn between your allegiance to America and China. You are a traitor to both in that circumstances, but most particularly to your true nation, which would be America. As warriors, we can't serve two masters Worldly pride versus godly commands. God opposes the proud. The Greek antitaso and again I might be messing that up suggests God lines up that battle. The word anti-tasso means it suggests that God lines up in battle against the proud, so not that he doesn't like them. He battles against proud people, sends out his legions, his armies, against proud people. And the quote the wise Martin Luther where Christ is truly known, he is also truly loved, and where love is, there is no friendship with the world.

Speaker 1: 36:19

So what do we do with this? We do an allegiance check. Identify one worldly habit craving status, envy-producing media, social media and break that tie, declaring loyalties to Christ alone. Are you scrolling on there envying other people's lives? Are we on there saying, oh, and then what do we do? Must be nice, not knowing how they got there Maybe they worked their butt off right. Must be nice? I've said that I see somebody whose ministry is doing better than mine. Must be nice? God gave them what God gave them and God gave me what I gave them. I need to focus on me and not them and then turn the other cheek. As my wife has said, social media is the ultimate crucible for that. Can you scroll by without posting that post where you own that person, where you get your jab in your knives? Come in as you're from your anonymous place online on Twitter. For those who do anonymous, I don't, everyone knows who I am, it's easy to see, or even a family.

Speaker 1: 37:41

So let's go to part three now. Resist the devil, draw near to God, 7 through 10. Submit, therefore, to God. Resist the devil. Draw near to God. Seven through ten. Submit, therefore, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord and he will exalt you. Submit who put a guitar? Who put a guitar? A military term, imagine that Meaning to rank under and obey. The Christian soldier must obey God's command. So again, it's so funny to me that the church, you know the infestation and the infiltration of the heresy of pacifism, when the language is a lot of the language in the Bible, is pure military language for a reason, because we are at war. Resist, okay, and again, resist the devil.

Speaker 1: 38:39

Anti, so anti, sorry, anti, anthistomy. Anthistomy which is the base for what? Antihistamine, your body's reaction to fighting right, also used in battle context, standing firm or opposing an attacking force, which is what your body does when it releases antihistamines. He will flee from you. He will flee from you, fuxitai, under God's authority, the devil retreats when met with firm resistance, not lackadaisical resistance, not kind of resistance, firm resistance through God. So what's the cultural, logical and theological insight into this?

Speaker 1: 39:31

Inish traditions, satan is the accuser in job one to two, the tempter in zechariah, three, james, four, seven parallels first peter, five, six through nine, linking humility and spiritual victory, drawn near to god, suggests temple imagery. Right, they had their temple, that you had to go to be with God, approaching God with cleansed hands, being clean. You couldn't go in to see God if you weren't made clean. So what's our warrior application of this? We must understand our chain of command. We can't fight Satan effectively if we're AWOL from God's authority. We must have active repentance. In verse 9.

Speaker 1: 40:10

Mourning over our sin? Now, culture tells you mourning over your sin is bad, but it is necessary for victory. My daughter coming to me at five, almost six, mourning over her sin, smiling at things that she shouldn't be smiling at, is a prime example of this. Some would stop her from feeling that pain. Absolutely not. That is the holy spirit working in your heart to convict you, lean into that. Feel that, because that's the only thing that's going to help you turn from it. To quote the wise AW Tozer, the devil's greatest weapon is man's pride in his own ability. True power comes only in the yielded heart to Christ. I added to Christ. But yielded heart is what he was talking about.

Speaker 1: 41:05

Prithical step, and I brought this up by every sermon that I've done recently. Kneel and pray discipline. Incorporate physical kneeling in your daily devotion, symbolizing your submission to God, to the universe, to the universe. There is no one who sees you praying on your knees, who doesn't see that you're submitting to God. It's not easy to do. As you get older it gets harder, it doesn't feel good, particularly when you get a new knee. So you get yourself a nice purple pillow that's got some shock absorbers on there and do it.

Speaker 1: 41:41

But my mind does not wander when I'm in that position. Anytime I try to pray in a comfortable position. I start off and next thing you know I'm thinking about anything but what I'm there for. In that position it's almost like you know, a globe of invulnerability goes around me. Nothing can get through. I'm focused on God because I am in obedience to him A hundred percent. Not. My mind and heart are there, but my body isn't, because I'm laying on my bed, I'm sitting in a chair, I'm standing there, I'm doing whatever. Watch your life change when that happens.

Speaker 1: 42:22

Part four Do not slander or judge one another. He who slanders a brother or judges his brother slanders the law. There's only one lawgiver and judge. Who are you to judge your neighbor? Let's paraphrase Slander, kata laleo, speaking down to someone, damaging unity. Judge krino can mean discernment or condemnation. Here it's about condemnatory judging that usurps God's authority. When I talked about judge the position, judge a situation and then casting judgment, this is casting judgment, casting judgment that they're going to hell. You don't get to decide that. Only God does. This echoes Leviticus 19, 16 through 18. You shall not go about as a slanderer. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Speaker 1: 43:31

James wields Mosaic law. To show true faith manifests in loving speech. That's our application as warriors. Gossip and slander injure fellow soldiers. It's blue on blue. We're hurting our own Loyalty demands. We cover each other. One lawgiver. We must defer final judgment to God. Our role is restorative, not condemning.

Speaker 1: 44:00

Does this mean that you can't confront somebody in their sin? Absolutely not. You can condemn someone in their sin. You can expose them to the truth. You are not called to be complicit in lie. This thou shall not judge has been heavily abused.

Speaker 1: 44:12

We're called to judge, discern right, wrong, godly, ungodly, everything, or else you won't know what's right or what's wrong. So we are called to judge everything, but we are not the judge of everything. I'm going to begin to quote the wise John Chrysostom. No matter how this crushed me, no matter how just your words may be, you ruin everything when you speak with anger. No matter how right you are, if you speak to them in anger, you ruin everything. And Augustine, he who scorns his brother scorns the God who made him.

Speaker 1: 45:05

So what can we do? What's a practical step we can do? Do 24-hour no negative speech. Try a vow of verbal trigger discipline for one day, as we talked about last week, or a week. Before speaking ask will this build up or tear down? Let's get to E now, the last part of this 13 through 17.

Speaker 1: 45:28

Fifth point the arrogance of self-sufficiency, which I struggle as a type A Navy SEAL door kicker doer struggle with. Come now those of you who say today or tomorrow you know and make a profit. You are a vapor. To one who knows to do the right thing and does not do it to him, it is sin. What is that whole part that we're talking about? 13 through 17. We have to understand the cultural aspects of this, because otherwise we're just going to get lost in it.

Speaker 1: 46:02

In the Roman Empire, diaspora Jews, dispersed Jews commonly travel for trade. James confronts merchants presuming on future success without acknowledging God, saying it's all going to be, them doing it. They're saying they're going to be rich, they're going to do things, they're going to be successful. Make a killing and without saying that God decides that you are a vapor. Vapor At meese suggest transience. A human life is brief and uncertain. This contrasts human presumption with divine providence. This contrasts human presumption with divine providence. If the Lord wills is not a mere phrase but a posture of reliance on God. Warrior application Battle plans versus God strategy. A soldier must consult headquarters, overconfidence is a liability. And then sins of omission. Not doing the right we know is still a sin. Remember that verse from last week the people you could have fed and helped are all murders that you've done.

Speaker 1: 47:14

I'm going to quote Charles Spurgeon here hold everything earthly with a loose hand, but grasp eternal things with a death-like grip. Now, this Lord willing thing. I've seen people treat that like a magic phrase. They say everything, lord willing, and it becomes cumbersome, and I think it's ridiculous. What they're talking about there is when you're planning, when you're in the planning phase. You're setting up your structure. It's Lord willing. Okay, you don't have to use it like something. I'm going to the store, lord willing. No, that's ridiculous. Okay, it's, you know me. I am going to the ACCS conference to, lord willing, get business, save lives, do all these things and all that stuff, and if the Lord blesses it, we'll do great. It's not on me, it's on him. Okay, versus, I'm going to rake the yard today, lord willing Just gets completely cumbersome, a mess and takes it totally out of the way it was intended. And the planning phase bring God into your planning phase is the message behind this.

Speaker 1: 48:25

As a Calvinist, I believe in God's sovereignty. So everything is Lord willing already. So incorporate the Lord wills in everyday planning. Post a reminder on your desk or phone. So when you're planning vacations, business deals, trying to figure out if you're going to pursue a friendship, bring God into the center of it.

Speaker 1: 48:49

Okay, now, rallying Christian warriors. Examine your heart daily. All right, here's a tool you can use a conflict journal to diagnose. If selfish desires cause quarrels, okay, renounce worldly alliances. Identify a worldly habit to break. Declare loyalty to Christ alone. Submit and resist. Practice kneeling in prayer. Memorize James 4.7. Guard your tongue A 24-hour or a week vow of verbal trigger discipline Plan. Humbly Say, lord willing and planning. Write it in a visible place. Remember God's sovereignty. All right, let's go ahead. And I got one last quote.

Speaker 1: 49:34

We'll go into some prayer here. No man is truly strong who has not mastered himself, and no man masters himself until he kneels before God, aw Tozer. So let's pray. Heavenly Commander, we stand in awe of your authority. Train our hands for war against the sin within. Expose the pride, envy and selfish desires hiding in our hearts. Help us daily submit to your command, resist the enemy, love one another in truth and save the Lord's wills. As we plan, may we be vigilant warriors drawing near to you, bearing fruit of humility and unity. In Jesus' mighty name, we pray, amen. All right, let's go ahead and pass out those things the communion, the bread and the wine. This is for baptized believer.

Speaker 1: 50:28

Here's some things that you guys might want to ask yourself this week. Some questions which desires wage war in your heart this week. How does viewing God as a jealous lover affect your outlook on flirting with worldly values? Why must we submit to God before resisting the devil? In what ways do we judge or slander our brothers without realizing it and how can we practice, if the Lord wills, in practical decisions. So the Lord's Supper. This is for baptized believers, and I'm going to explain why right now.

Speaker 1: 51:06

Go to the Lord in the Bible, 1 Corinthians 11, 27-32. Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks of the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and the blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup, for anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. So go ahead and close your eyes.

Speaker 1: 52:03

I want you now to take a moment to go to the Lord with any sin that you've had since last week, or any unrepentant sin that you've had. Examine yourself, find it Now. Let's get laser focused. What battles within are you battling? Is it pride? Is it jealousy? Whatever it is, lay it down and repent of it now. Turn away from it.

Speaker 1: 52:38

Now is a victory celebration of our God's victory over sin and death. Remember Jesus going to the cross, paying for your sin, bearing the wrath of God, going to the grave, rising three days later and ascending to God's right hand to judge the world. Now, as they were eating, jesus took bread and, after blessing it, broke it and gave it to the disciples and said Take, eat, this is my body. Go ahead and eat. And he took a cup and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying Drink of it. All of you, this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many, for the forgiveness of sins. Go ahead and drink.

Speaker 1: 53:28

Heavenly Father, lord, we thank you. We thank you for all your blessings. We thank you for the Bible, lord, that we may know you, that you gave us this amazing holy text to guide us home to you. Lord, help us to spend more time in your word. Help us to prioritize our lives in a way that puts you first and second to nothing. Help us model that behavior to our wives and children that God is first, that mom is second, that children are third and then every other thing is after that. God, help us, strengthen our fortifications, fill us with the Holy Spirit and help us strengthen our fortifications. Fill us with the Holy Spirit and help us to ward off the battles within ourselves. Strengthen our hearts to be able to resist the corruption that's there. Help us kill the parts of us and to die to the parts of us that are not of you, so that our heart of stone can be made a heart of flesh and that we can become more like you every day.

Speaker 1: 54:57

So, lord, I pray a prayer of protection over this fellowship and congregation, over the persecuted church, over our troops overseas, our first responders at home and our veterans of yesteryear. Lord, I pray for the world that we don't go into World War III. I pray for leadership in Donald Trump and our righteous leaders in our country who are fighting against the deep state, fighting against the enemies of our country within, the traitors within. Lastly, Lord, I pray for my beloved America. I pray that she would humble herself, turn from her sin, hit her knees and seek your face and that you would see her and heal her so we could once again be one nation under God. Indivisible liberty and justice for all.

Speaker 1: 55:46

Lastly, I call this fellowship to attention to put on the full armor of God, strap on the shield of faith, pick up the sword of the Spirit and to boldly walk forward, to join the shield wall of other believers, locking our shields to the left and right, as we march forward as your legions to take ground for your kingdom, for your glory forever. In Jesus' name, we pray Amen. Go ahead and rise for the benediction. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. God bless.