Good morning, church, open your Bibles to Acts chapter 13. Our text today will be Acts 13 beginning in verse four through verse 12. Let us pray. Father in heaven we thank you that you call us to worship you. We thank you that you command us to assemble together as your people and Father here we are assembled in your name to worship you to receive from you to be equipped for the work you've called each of us to. Father open our hearts to your word may find entrance to mold and to shape and to transform us by the renewing of our minds. May you do this that your church would be a glorious witness to you in this earth. A glorious witness to your name that your name and the knowledge of your glory would fill the earth even as the waters cover the sea. Thank you Father for making us a part of that work. May we do it with joy may we do it with glory and may you equip us for that work even now through your word in Jesus' name we pray amen. Okay we're working our way through Acts and here in Acts chapter 13 we see Barnabas and Saul are sent out by the Holy Spirit to begin and earnest the work they have been set apart for God or to set apart by God this work they've been called to do to disciple the nations that work continues today and you are a part of that work therefore you also are called to be on mission. Acts chapter 13 verses 4 through 12 hear the word of the Lord so being sent out by the Holy Spirit they went down to Salusia and from there they sailed to Cyprus and when they arrived at Salamis they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews they also had John as their assistant now when they had gone through the island of Patvos I'm sorry when they had gone through the island to Patvos they found a certain sorcerer a false prophet a Jew whose name was Bar Jesus who was with the Procouncil, Sir Gius Paulus, an intelligent man and this man called for Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God but Eli must elumas the sorcerer for so his name is translated withstood them seeking to turn the Procouncil away from the faith then Saul who also was called Paul filled with the Holy Spirit looked intently at him and said O full of all deceit and all fraud you son of the devil you enemy of all righteousness will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord and now indeed the hand of the Lord is upon you and you shall be blind not seeing the sun for a time and immediately a dark mist fell on him and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand then the Procouncil believed when he saw what had been done being astonished at the teaching of the Lord this is the word of the Lord so we saw last week at the beginning of chapter 13 that Paul and Barnabas or as it as it is written by Luke at the beginning of chapter 13 Barnabas and Saul were sent out from Antioch so it's interesting now Antioch not Jerusalem or the rest of the book of Acts Antioch is going to be the city in focus but the work in focus transcends any city whether Jerusalem or Antioch the work in focus is the great commission the work in focus is discipling the nations and this is what Barnabas and Saul were sent out to do this is the first missionary journey of the Apostle Paul as we more commonly know him and in the beginning of our text here verse four begins with so being sent out by the Holy Spirit they went down to Salusia and from there they sailed to Cyprus so they're leaving the Asian continent sailing to Cyprus and we'll see eventually in Paul's missionary journeys he goes from Asia to Europe and the rest is history and here we are today as a result of Paul's obedience to the call of God on his life so being sent out by the Holy Spirit it was the Spirit that sent Barnabas and Saul through the sanctioning of the church it is the Spirit that sends you it is the Spirit that compels you it is by the Spirit you and I are to walk today walking by the Spirit therefore no longer fulfilling the lust of the flesh so the Spirit sent Barnabas and Saul through the sanctioning of the church and the work of the Spirit and the work of the church are complimentary they're not competitive the church is not competing with the Holy Spirit the church works in concert with the Holy Spirit the Spirit birth church the Spirit birth the church and it empowers the church to carry out the plan and purpose the very will of God revealed to us in God's Word so we don't have to wonder what God's will is we need to go to the Word to find His will and then walk in it you say yeah but Pastor Jeff the Bible doesn't tell us everything it tells us everything we need to know and from the wisdom that we gain from the scripture from the transformation that takes place through the renewing of our mind Paul writes you have the mind of Christ our problem is we also have a carnal mind that's not been renewed to the mind of Christ that we have how do you renew that mind to the mind of Christ you renew it to the mind of Christ through the Word of God and when you and as you renew your mind to the Word of God God gives you wisdom and if you don't think you have enough wisdom James writes if you don't have enough wisdom ask God and he'll give you more and he'll give it to you liberally so as your mind is renewed as you are being transformed and conformed to the very image of Jesus as you are gaining the wisdom of God you've got everything you need to make wise decisions to know if you are in the will of God or not if you don't know whether you're in the will of God or not there you are is where God wills you to be stay right where you are until you have the assurance that God is moving you are doing something different so they go down they leave Antioch and they go to this city this port city called Salusia it's on the Mediterranean Sea west of Antioch and they sail across the sea to the island of Cyprus not a far journey but if you remember Cyprus is where Barnabas was from so they sail from Celucia across to the city the port city called Salamis if you know your history you might be wondering is this where the great battle was fought between the Persians and the Greeks no that's a different Salamis they arrived in Salamis they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews Luke tells us and they had also taken with them John or John Mark so when they arrived at Salamis they arrived in the port city they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews which was a very natural and logical thing for them to do Barnabas and Saul were both Jews and Luke also tells us that they were prophets and teachers they're listed with those men that he called prophets and teachers that were in the church at Antioch that means they were proclaimers and expounders of the word of God in the gospel of Christ and they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews the synagogues of the Jews was the logical place to start this is the first missionary journey Barnabas and Saul were both Jews and Saul was a Jew from Tarsus which was just across the the Mediterranean Sea on the southern coast of Turkey but Barnabas was actually from the island of Cyprus if you remember in the earlier chapters in Acts it tells us that Barnabas comes he's a Levi from Cyprus he sold his land and then gave the money to the church there were many Jews who lived on the island of Cyprus and so going to the synagogues going to this homeland of Barnabas was fertile ground on which to begin their missionary efforts and as Jews Barnabas and Saul would both have been well familiar with the synagogue thus it was an appropriate starting point for the mission John was with them this is John Mark or Mark who bears the name of one of the four gospel accounts the gospel according to Mark it is this mark that has gone with Barnabas and Saul on this first missionary journey verse six now when they had gone through the island of Papus they found a certain sorcerer a false prophet a Jew whose name was Bar Jesus they began in Salamis where they first arrived on the eastern coast of the island of Cyprus and they began to work their way across the island moving west and as they went along the way they found this sorcerer they went from Salamis to Papus which is on the very southwest end of the island at that time in the first century Papus was the capital city of Cyprus and Luke tells us they found a certain sorcerer a false prophet the Jew whose name was Bar Jesus Luke first describes this certain man as a sorcerer the word here is Magos like the Magi who came to see Jesus this was the same word used to describe the wise man who searched out the baby Jesus but this sorcerer unlike those men those men searched out Jesus to worship him this man was of the same occupation but he was very much unlike those men who sought out Jesus who came from Persia who came from the east they may or may not have been Jewish likely they were Persian but this man is a Jew and a sorcerer which was unusual and if he was in the same occupation even if he was in the same occupation he was not of the same character for the Magi who sought out Jesus came to worship him this Magos Luke tells us stood in opposition to the gospel of Christ then Luke calls him a false prophet a certain sorcerer who is also a false prophet literally a pseudo prophet pseudo meaning false are lying thus he was a false a lying prophet and he was called out as such by the Apostle Paul as we'll see so always called prophet and a teacher in the church of Jesus Christ this sorcerer here is called a false prophet therefore a false teacher who was opposed to Christ and the message of the gospel and then finally in his tri-fold description of this certain man Luke tells us he was a Jew and that his name was Bar Jesus a sorcerer a false prophet and a Jew involved in false religion idolatry and witchcraft the word Magos can also describe one who is a wizard he was in every way contrary to his identity as a Jew it is ironic that his name was Bar Jesus Bar means son of Simon Bar Jonah means Simon son of Jonah Bar Jesus here means son of Jesus interestingly he was the antithesis to Jesus the son of God this Bar Jesus stands in stark contrast to Jesus the son of God and that contrast will become even more stark very quickly as we move through our text today verse seven this Bar Jesus this sorcerer was with the Pro-Consult Sergius Paulus who Luke calls an intelligent man and this man this Pro-Consult verse seven tells us that called for this man called for Barnabas and Saul to come and to deliver to him the word of the Lord the word of God this Bar Jesus was with the Pro-Consult Sergius Paulus a Pro-Consult was an appointed ruler by the Roman Senate so there were rulers appointed by the Emperor there were rumors rulers appointed by the Senate the Senate appointed this ruler who was like the governor of the island of Cyprus he governed the island under the authority of Rome this Pro-Consult was named Sergius Paulus and Luke describes him as an intelligent man we actually have archeological evidence that confirms the biblical record here that Sergius Paulus was indeed Pro-Consult of Cyprus at this time in the first century you might ask why does an intelligent man have a wizard to serve him well the answer to that question is that at this time especially in the pagan world superstitions was was a very very common people lived with all kinds of superstitions and so this wasn't seen as a goofy thing or a weird thing it was seen as a very normal it's what an intelligent man would do who doesn't know Jesus who doesn't know the most high God who's living according to what he knows so this is why the sorcerer held such sway with the people this is why Jesus was sent to the world filled with such darkness to shine the light of truth and to deliver people from such darkness this man this intelligent man this Pro-Consult called for Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God Luke's description of Sergius Paulus as an intelligent man was fitting in light of the fact that he called for Barnabas and Saul in order to hear the word of God as Pro-Consult of Cyprus by the time Barnabas saw a land at Salamis and worked their way across the island literally from one end on the east side to the other end on the west side you could imagine that this Pro-Consult if he's a good ruler and he obviously was would have been aware that these men who had come from the mainland who have turned the world upside down this these Christians they've now come here and they are preaching this gospel on the island of Cyprus his response was one of curiosity and desire to hear the word of God for himself and that truly is the mark of an intelligent man he didn't make a rash or a rush judgment he says I want to hear these men I want to hear what they have to say I want to hear the word of God verse 8 but he lumus the sorcerer for so his name is translated was stood them seeking to turn the Pro-Consult away from the faith so this sorcerer who is called Illumus which means wise man Illumus means wise man it is an Arabic name so Illumus is the Arabic name of this false prophet this sorcerer who in Hebrew his Jewish name is Bar Jesus son of Jesus remember Jesus was not an uncommon name among the Jews because everybody wanted to believe that their little boy would grow up to be the Messiah now this sorcerer was not simply a street magician with cheap tricks he was considered much more sophisticated than a simple magician or street sorcerer out there collecting money doing tricks for people that's not who this guy was he was considered a man a wise man that's why his name was he was called Illumus he was considered a wise man he was a Magus a Magi which was associated with wise men yes also wizards men with powers but they weren't just witches or wizards or warlocks they were very intelligent men they were men of science they were men we don't know that much about this guy other than he's called wise man but we know what Paul calls him we know what Luke records about him he is a sorcerer which is not good he's a false prophet which is not good he's a Jew which means him being a sorcerer in the false prophet and being a Jew is not good it means he's disobeying God he's disobeying the word of God but he was considered wise a wizard a man that possessed power and as we look at what what Paul says about him how Paul describes him we understand that he was very manipulative and he used his powers of manipulation he used the knowledge he had and he had no scruples about him to do whatever he needed to do to gain whatever position he deemed necessary for him to gain he was a completely unscrupulous man and he had gained the ear of the Procounsel of this entire island nation because of the gospel he was now in danger of losing his position with the Procouncils surgeous Paulus it was to preserve his position of power and favor with the Procouncil that he withstood Barnabas and Saul and sought to keep the Procouncil from the faith verse 9 then Saul who also is called Paul filled with the Holy Spirit look intently at him now right here in verse 9 there is a transition that's made in the book of Acts Luke records these words then Saul who also is called Paul it is from this point in the book of Acts that Saul of Tarsus is called Paul you won't see him called Saul again he won't be referred to as Saul by the disciples he makes by the churches he establishes in Luke's record he's now Paul the Apostle and Luke makes that transition right here Saul who also is called Paul Saul of Tarsus is now Paul the Apostle Saul's name was not changed you know a lot of people believe Paul's name or Saul's name was changed on the road to Damascus when he had his experience with the Lord and that God changed his name that's actually not true his name was not changed on the road to Damascus his name had always been Paul just as it had always been Saul it was very common in the world at that time in the Greco Roman world because Alexander the great Hellenized the world or he Greekified the world for lack of a better term if you don't know what Hellenization means it's the Greekification of the world and Alexander the great when he took over the world more than the Persians or the Babylonians before him even even the Romans they just took different portions but the portions that they ruled over had been Hellenized Greek culture filled the Roman Empire and so Jews were born with a Hebrew name but Jews of the diaspora who had been sent out dispersed throughout the known world and lived not in Jerusalem not in Israel but lived in other parts of the various empires that conquered them and sent them out and they were born and raised in these certain cities but they they were Jews they kept their Jewish identity but they lived in a Greek world in a Greek culture so many of them more than lived in Israel many of them adopted Greek culture they adopted Greek names Paul was the Greek name or the Roman name of Saul of Tarsus when he was and he was called himself the Hebrew Hebrews when he was with his people he was Saul of Tarsus when he's with the nations the Gentiles he's Paul and so he was Saul also who was also called Paul so he didn't have a name change he just started going by his other name his Greek name his Greco-Roman name if you will so Saul is sent out to be immersed in the Greek culture of the Roman Empire ministering to the Gentiles and so he would be called by his Greco Roman name Paul then Saul who also was called Paul filled with the Holy Spirit looked intently at this sorcerer Paul the prophet and teacher was filled with the Holy Spirit here Luke presents a contrast of Paul who was filled with the Holy Spirit and in Luma who is filled with an unholy spirit who you think's gonna win the Holy are the unholy let me tell you the Holy always wins light always dispels darkness as a Christian as a believer you should never ever ever be afraid of darkness you should never ever ever be afraid of the enemy it's not that you can't be deceived you can be if you give yourself to deception but the enemy is defeated he can't deceive you unless you allow him to you have to give him permission to deceive you he can't sneak up on you and and just take you captive he can't do that he cannot possess you if you are possessed by the Holy Spirit you can't have an unclean spirit and the Holy Spirit living in you you can be oppressed by unholy spirits but you can't be filled with an unholy spirit while at the same time being filled with the Holy Spirit it can't do that because you're not the one in charge you belong to Jesus you are bought with the price purchased by the blood of Jesus now the enemy wants you to believe that's not true the enemy wants you to be afraid of him the enemy wants you to believe that he can take possession of you and do things to you but he can't not if you are filled with the Spirit Christian do you belong to Jesus have you been born again do you love do you trust in Jesus the only way you can do that is forgot to have poured his holy spirit into your heart and if the Holy Spirit is living in you poured into your heart to be filled with the Spirit means you are submitted to living under the control of the Spirit the Spirit is never not in you he's always in you God is always with you he doesn't come and go from you he you don't go one place and he goes another place if you are in Christ then Christ is in you and he is your hope of glory and wherever you go he goes with you you don't have to give him permission to go with you he doesn't belong to you Jesus isn't a lucky charm you carry around with you no you belong to him and he never let's go of you never ever ever ever if you are his elect chosen in him before the foundation of the world you can be certain of that and you must be certain of that because the enemy wants to lie to you and make you believe that's not true don't be deceived again this is why you must renew your mind to this word right here don't believe the myths of men don't believe heretical theologies believe the Bible don't believe your experience believe the Bible don't believe your heart the Bible says your heart is wicked and it's sceptive above all things so why would you believe your heart but Pastor Jeff my heart tells me why are you listening to your heart it's wicked listen to the word of God read the word of God renew your heart to this word right here renew your mind to this word right here yeah but no forget the but go to the word go to the word Paul filled with the Holy Spirit looks intently at this false prophet this word here looks at him intently this is the same word used to describe how Peter looked at the layman at the gate beautiful when Peter and John are going up to prayer at the ninth hour and they see the layman begging alms and Luke writes that Peter fixed his eyes on the layman and Peter says to the layman what do you remember silver silver and gold have I none but what I have I give to you arise in the name of Jesus so I don't have any silver or gold but I do have Jesus and I'm going to give you something better than silver and gold well this is how Paul looks at this sorcerer Paul has fixed his eyes to administer judgment upon this sorcerer by the Holy Spirit and he says oh full of deceit and all fraud you son of the devil you enemy of all righteousness will you not seize perverting the straight ways of the Lord Paul by the power of the Holy Spirit exposed the truth of who this Jewish sorcerer and false prophet truly was he was full of all deceit and all fraud he was a son of the devil he was an enemy of all righteousness who does not seize perverting the straight ways of the Lord and describing him as being full of all deceit and all fraud in other translations that word all fraud is translated as villainy or mischief Luke describes the ease with which this man did all manner of wicked and unrighteous things it seems that his conscience had been seared because of the ease with which he engaged in unrighteousness in perversion of the straight ways of the Lord when we sin we should feel conviction and no we have perverted the straight ways of the Lord it is not the conviction of our sin it's not the distress we feel because of our sin that we should lament no that's a good thing if you feel convicted for your sin that's good you should rejoice that you feel such conviction it's when there is no conviction of sin when there is no distress over our perversion of the Lord's straight ways that we should fear that's where this guy was conviction of sin is from the Holy Spirit and that's part of the ministry of the Spirit to convict us of sin to lead our soul in the paths of righteousness for his namesake and we should feel the conviction and distress of sin we should also know his mercies are new every morning and that his grace is more than sufficient for us the blood of Jesus spilled for us at Calvary is more than sufficient for our sins in fact it is sufficient for the sins of the whole world though that blood is applied only to those for whom the Lord died his elect chosen in him before the foundation of the world from every tribe from every tongue from every nation God will save has saved a world full of people from every tribe from every tongue from every nation it was this gospel message that this sorcerer opposed he sought to keep surges as Paulus the Procouncil from embracing this gospel for it would mean a rejection of his false prophecies his perverted wisdom and his wizardry wizardry for by the power of the Holy Spirit indwelling the believer with the word of God there would be no need for a wizard who would have something much better he would have the Holy Spirit alimus was right was rightly he rightly saw the days of his favored position were numbered and light of the gospel john the Baptist came into a crooked world to make straight the way of the Lord he prepared a way for Jesus here Paul identifies this sorcerer as one who does not stop perverting the straight ways of the Lord bar Jesus is an anti Christ one who is anti one who opposes Jesus the Christ the son of God one who does not cease to pervert the straight ways of the Lord verse 11 and now indeed the hand of the Lord is upon you and you shall be blind not seeing the son for a time Paul pronounces over this sorcerer over this false prophet Paul pronounces judgment and you should be you shall be blind not seeing the son for a time this judgment is in keeping with the word of God in Deuteronomy chapter 28 listen to the warning that God gives his people as a consequence of not obeying his word Deuteronomy 28 28 and 29 in the lists of curses that will come upon Israel God's people for not obeying his word Moses writes in Deuteronomy 28 28 the Lord will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of heart and you shall grow up at noon day as a blind man groves and darkness and no one shall save you and this is exactly what happened to this false prophet this sorcerer bar Jesus who was a Jew an Israelite and instead of embracing the word of God he rejected the word of God and now Paul is pronouncing the very judgment God said would fall on those of his people who reject him and reject his word he disobeyed the Lord and now he would face judgment we're not told what became of him but only what immediately happened as a result of him opposing the gospel disobeying the word and trying to keep surgesous Paulus from coming to faith in Christ and immediately Luke writes a dark mist fell upon him and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand here is more irony upon believing in the Lord Jesus on the road to Damascus all of Tarsus was blinded here we see this sorcerer blinded due to his opposition to Christ and direct opposition to God's word just as the word of God in Deuteronomy warned God struck Bar Jesus with blindness and he went around seeking for someone to lead him by the hand Luke tells us a dark mist fell on him this happened because he opposed the true light the light that had come into the world he loved darkness so God gave him literal darkness not only is not only his own rejection but even worse his efforts to keep others from trusting in Jesus the darkness fell upon him was only a reflection of the darkness within him and this darkness fell on Bar Jesus because he rejected the covenant and the Christ of the covenant and this once powerful sorcerer now had to grow up around seeking someone to lead him by the hand the darkness that he had to yield the darkness he had the darkness he was in had to yield to the light and as Patrick Shiner writes in his commentary on acts his power was stripped by a greater power and a greater spirit verse 12 when the Pro-Council believed when he saw what had been done being astonished at the teaching of the Lord when he saw what happened to Bar Jesus he believed being astonished Luke writes at the teaching of the Lord then the Pro-Council believed here is the intelligence of surjius Paulus made manifests in the most important and profound way through his faith in Jesus Christ and when he saw what had been done when he saw that the power of God was greater than the power of his wizard he did not harden his heart but he yielded his heart and surrender to Christ Luke tells us the Pro-Council believed when he saw what had been done he believed when he saw the light overcome the darkness many of us believed and realized that the light overcame our darkness in our lives manifest that transformation as ones who once walked in darkness now we walk as children of light when he saw what had been done he believed but Luke doesn't just say that we we may want to focus on that but I want you to focus on the very next statement let me read the entire verse to you then the Pro-Council believed when he saw what had been done being astonished at the teaching of the Lord it was not only when he saw what had been done that he believed he believed being astonished at the teaching of the Lord as Paul writes in Romans 1 verse 16 the gospel is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes it's not just seeing his sorcerer come under God's manifest judgment Luke tells us it was his astonishment at the teaching of the Lord miracles come and go but the word of the Lord will never pass away God can use any means he chooses but ultimately it is no miracle it is no supernatural manifestation you can see or touch or feel but it is the gospel of Jesus Christ it is the plain unadulterated word of God that is the means by which God chooses to save us by the power of the Holy Spirit many speculate about what happened to Surgeeus Paulus but what we know for certain is what the Bible reveals scripture reveals that the Pro-Council believed he believed when he saw what had been done being astonished at the teaching of the Lord he believed when he heard the gospel the gospel which is the power of God to salvation powerfully saved this man I believe Luke links what he saw with what he heard being astonished at the teaching of the Lord his trust in Jesus is founded on the word of God and the teaching of the Lord as should hours be beyond Surgeeus Paulus we are not told who are how many believed on the island of Cyprus God revealed what we need to know God doesn't always reveal what we wish we knew God doesn't always reveal all we want to know but he reveals exactly what we need to know Surgeeus Paulus is the first named Gentile convert on the first mission of Paul and Barnabas Surgeeus Paulus was trapped in darkness under the spell of a sorcerer and a false prophet and Paul comes with the light of Christ and sets him free from his darkness and God translated him from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his light as Paul and Barnabas set out on this first mission to take the gospel to the nations they were met by the forces of darkness who opposed them yet light triumphs over darkness and the message of the gospel is preached and obstacles to spread to the spread of the gospel or overcome the gospel will always be met with obstacles but God will always overcome those obstacles if we will trust him if we will persevere I didn't say they would be easily overcome I said they would be overcome and we have history to prove it just since the day of pinnacles two thousand years ago we have two thousand years of history to see just how powerful the gospel is how much of the world was transformed by the gospel two thousand years ago not not a lot of it how much of the world today has been transformed by the gospel would you say more of the world than not has been transformed by the gospel touched by the gospel you should say that because that's the truth and we are here today products of that transformation so we're not looking for the great escape we're looking for the great reformation the great revival because we are still doing the work of discipling the nations we are living in times when much darkness seems present all around obstacles to spread to the spread of the gospel are as real today as ever we are called to be a people who walk circumspecly not as fools but as wise redeeming the time for the days are evil those are Paul's words from Ephesians 5 verses 15 and 16 Paul pinned those words some two thousand years ago but they still apply to us today they're still true today the forces of darkness could not then nor can they today stop the spread of the gospel as the church obeys her Lord if the church will obey Jesus and go and make disciples we will find that the greatest obstacle to the spread of the gospel and overcoming the darkness in this world is not demonic it's actually human the devil has been defeated already he's not your problem you know who your problem is I see him every morning I look in the mirror I see my real problem every morning I look in the mirror when I look at myself you are your own worst enemy you are your worst problem not the devil stop blaming the devil no it's it's human apathy it's human complacency it's human excuses it's human unbelief and I could go on but I won't but you get the picture the devil is defeated if you think different than you have been deceived by him exactly as he wants you to be deceived he can deceive you if you allow it but he cannot defeat you if your life is hid with Christ in God stop allowing the devil to deceive you stop believing his lies man I love the internet some of you just need to like get off the internet I mean we are notorious for every time we have a problem we run to the internet and we become our own doctors we become our own counselors and we read all the lies on the internet we can't even discern what's true or what's not true anymore and the enemy takes that and uses that and builds imaginations that become mountains in our minds and we convince ourselves of things that are no more true than saying that the the moon is made of blue cheese well I read it on the internet says it is yeah it also says there's a big ice wall around the flat earth and you know a lot of people believe that again go to the word go to the word surrender to God surrender to his truth do the hard things stop being apathetic stop being complacent stop making excuses stop operating an unbelief and start walking by faith in the son of God the greatest obstacle we must overcome is our cell we with our simple tendencies or our own worst enemy it sounds so simple and it is much more simple than we might think it is as simple as this if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land second chronicle 714 that is simple not necessarily easy but simple yet this is what we must do there is no other way no other home there is no political solution there is no military solution there is no social solution this is a spiritual problem and the only solution is spiritual a lot of people are I'll just say a lot of Christians are fearful today because I believe Islam is going to take over the world take over America and we look at Muslims with hate instead of love and pity and we hate them because they are going to take over our nation Islam is not who you should fear Muslims are not who you should be worried about you know who you need to fear you need to fear God God is who we should be worried about if Islam ever took over this nation the only way it would happen is because God sent the judgment this nation deserved because she because of her rejection of Christ because of her rejection of the gospel we don't need to go fight a war against the Muslims what we need to do is fall on our face before God and humble ourselves and repent of our sin and if you believe the word of God God says exactly what he'll do he'll hear from heaven and he'll hear our land you got people who profess to be Christians sitting at home today now you may have a legitimate excuse to be at home today but I personally know a lot of people who profess to be Christians who say well you know I love Jesus I just go out to the lake on Sundays and have my time with God really show me that in the Bible somewhere show me in the Bible where God says it's okay to not assemble with his people and me and God are going to do our own thing on the lake show me that in the Bible you see those are the Christians who are the problem those are the Christians who are causing this nation to fall under God's judgment because they refuse to obey God's word and they in their humanity they're fallen humanity they make excuses human excuses well I love Jesus I just don't love the church oh really that's like saying then I like you pastor Jeff but I hate you why what kind of friendship are we gonna have if you love me but you hate my wife we're not gonna have a very good friendship because I love my wife and I'm not gonna love someone who hates my wife you think Jesus is okay with you not loving his church his bride his wife my promise you he is not okay with that so whatever issues Christians have with the church they better get that worked out with their God because the problem is not between them and the church the problem is between them and God and until the church his people that's who his people are called by his name until the church gets all that worked out and that's part of what what salt what what is written here in chronicles when it says if my people called by my name will humble themselves pray and seek my face to what end that they would turn from their wicked ways and God says when you do that I'll hear your prayers and I'll come and I will heal your land do you know in a New York minute God to send the revival and all the Muslims were afraid of will become our brothers instead of our enemies and we want to go take up arms and start killing people now you better fall on your face before God and humble yourself in repent of such wickedness let's let's try what the Bible prescribes before we rush off with a human solution as you read the Bible you'll notice every time God's people tried the human solution it didn't work out so well for him so I would recommend that we learn from history and we learn even more importantly from the Bible and start doing what God has prescribed in His Word and if we do that we might just discover something we didn't know that that God's work actually works it does and you should believe it well all that is simple but not necessarily easy but it is what we must do there was no other way there's no need to pray about what we must do only pray that we actually do what is necessary for God to hear from heaven forgive our sin and heal our land it is in His Word and all that weights is our obedience in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit I'm in let us prepare to come to the Lord's table and men here is your charge you are the people of the covenant the new covenant to be specific the covenant made and sealed by the blood of Jesus just as you are a new creation made and sealed by the Holy Spirit and cleansed by His blood like Paul and Barnabas you too have been sent out by the Holy Spirit it is written in His Word written for you you are on a mission you have been given a commission from your Lord Jesus Christ this is not a mission you have yet to embark on this is a mission you have been born again into by the Spirit if you are in Christ you have been born to new life and born to this mission there is no ship to get on and sell to any place you live in it you have been born to go in all your going and all your living even in the most mundane and ordinary of all your life in all this world wherever and whenever you go and whatever you do you are always on mission I hope I pray therefore live as such an obedience to your Lord Jesus gave his all for you even unto death so that you may live for him and to him and through him this is your life in all of your living in all of life may you live well always on mission always to the glory of his name the adventure has long begun God has brought you into it by birth may you join it with joy and rejoicing with his peace with his love knowing you can achieve nothing less than victory for Jesus is Lord and he has conquered all even in death amen let us sing our thanks to God holy the Lord bless you and keep you the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace the Lord be with you