Embrace Your Role as a Warrior for Christ

Sermon/outline by Dr. Rachel Pendergraft

A grave concern to our white Christian brothers and sisters around the world is how quickly our society is changing, and clearly for the worse.

We now live in what is being called a Judeo-
Christian era.

Without basing the laws of our nation upon Biblical principles as our beloved country once did, it is now becoming completely Judaized through the schools, the movie houses, the financial centers, our courtrooms, and our legislatures.

As a result, we are first-hand witnesses to a 21st-century Sodom and Gomorrah –worldwide.

As in the Days of Noah, race mixing is even promoted and flaunted in the churches – not just here in America – but worldwide.

Abortion, rape, theft, unhappy marriages, and juvenile delinquency. All the result of Humanism/the product of Judaism. Each decides right or wrong for themselves – ignoring the Holy Word.

How then, while in such a world as this, should we as Christians, with the knowledge that we are the sons and daughters of God, joint heirs, waiting in expectation of God’s government here on earth, react to the depravity of the world?

Should We-

Form political parties or work in the political arena?

Separate ourselves

Work to educate others as to the problems

Warn those in need of repentance

Of course, we may be called to do any of those things or perhaps many others. We each have our talent – And Christ has a plan for each of us – if we will listen closely, pray, and ask for guidance.

Paul took up a similar topic in a letter he wrote to the Philippians.

This was a city heavily influenced by paganism, intellectualism, immorality, and traditions of the elders – carried over from the mingling of the Babylonian captivity.

In Philippians Chapter 2 – 12-16

Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

For it is God who worketh in you both to will and to do his good pleasure.

Do all things without murmurings and disputings:

That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world:

Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain.

Here, he provides directions, hope, and warnings that will help us to “shine as lights in the world.”

First, in order to shine as a light, and that really means being used by God as a tool, in some way, either great or small, we will be used to glorify him and make way for his kingdom.

We must begin by working out our own salvation first.

God wants a well-tuned instrument.

As Jesus put it in Matthew 7: 1-6 First remove the plank from your own eye.”

Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye: and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?

Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye: and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.

This passage has often been misused to prevent any proper judging, but it really emphasizes the importance of getting your own act together first.

Notice that once you have removed the beam from your own eye, then you can see clearly to cast it out of thy brother’s eye.

In these last days before the bodily return of Jesus Christ, we have a very important duty to fulfill, yet by not living each day as a more Christian life, we shortchange ourselves and our Savior. God has called us to live up to our full potential. He wants to use us to bring his children to repentance, but how can we fulfill our assignment if we ourselves are unrepentant?

We are to develop a Christ-like character and Christ-like service.

It is important to notice that Paul said we should do this “with fear and trembling.”

In writing about the early church, Luke recorded in Acts 9:31

Then had the churches rest throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied.

They were walking in the “fear of the Lord,” and then the Lord multiplied them.

Many Judeo/Christian preachers today disapprove of the concept of fear and trembling. It is not popular to say that we should fear the Lord.

If we point to God’s righteous indignation and justice, they may say, “Well, my God is not like that!”

In Hebrew, the word fear is “Yir’ah and is used in the Old Testament to describe:

fear, terror
awesome or terrifying thing
fear of God, respect, reverence, piety

The Greek word is “phobos” and it is used to describe
fear, dread, terror
that which strikes terror

In connection with the “fear of the Lord”, it is often defined as reverence or awe. This seems fine enough to most Christians, but Paul says “fear and trembling.”

The Greek word for “trembling” is “tromos” and means ” a trembling or quaking with fear.”

A proper fear of the Lord, then, would include

reverence and awe
, being afraid to offend God in any way

This seems so contrary to the new age churches of today. It doesn’t seem nice. Yet there is extreme value in having a trembling fear of the Lord.

Think about the parents of today – so many of them only want to be friends with their children, which is fine to a degree. But without fear for your authority, great harm could come to them. Imagine a child who hasn’t learned to fear the consequences of refusing an order from his parents. He rushes out into traffic. His parents are frantically yelling. NO! NO! NO! But he doesn’t listen – he doesn’t obey. He has never learned to pay the price of disobedience. Their child lies dead in the street.

The Humanist would step in and say, well, what they should have done was have him tied to a kid leash or some other type of child restraint. Yet we see a world in chaos, war, and heartbreak, because everyone wants to come up with their own solution to the problems rather than taking the correct path and just abiding by God’s absolutes.

To have the fear of the Lord is of immense importance.

From the book of Proverbs, we learn that
the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge
the fear of the lord will cause one to hate evil
the fear of the lord will prolong life
the fear of the lord provides strong confidence and is a fountain of life
the fear of the lord prompts one to depart from evil
the fear of the lord leads to a satisfying life, and spares one from much evil.
The fear of the lord is the way to riches, honor, and life!

Without the fear of the lord:
When we close ourselves to God’s wisdom and knowledge,
we flirt with evil and become corrupted by it.
When fallen into sin, we will not be motivated to repent and turn to God.
We will not be motivated to truly work out our own salvation.

Without the fear of the Lord, we cannot please god.

How do we get the Fear of the Lord?
Just as faith comes by the word, so also by the word comes the fear of the Lord.

In Deuteronomy 31, the children of Israel are told to gather every seven years to read and hear the word.

The purpose? That they may learn to fear the Lord:

As a person reads the Word – he learns to fear the Lord..

After we have “the fear of the Lord.”

God can begin to work in us.

We want to do what is right. We know that our brothers and sisters need us. And we are not alone in our struggle to become the Christian soldiers God desires.

As Paul wrote in Philippians 1:6, “He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

And again in Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

There is power waiting for each one of us. Power to fulfill our destiny. In Paul’s prayer to the Ephesians, Paul wanted them to know “what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe.

We are able to access the power of God through Prayer

through the word of God.

In instructing the Ephesians to “be strong in the lord and in the power of His might” he tells them to put on the whole armor of God.

Indispensable to this armor are such elements as
Truth
The gospel
Faith

All of which are inseparable from the word of God.

And the word of God itself is called the sword of the Spirit.

And we can receive that power, just by doing it.

We receive our instruction, guidance, support, weapons, and armor from God. But we must act and do our part.

We must learn to fear the lord with trembling. Forget about. U.N. troops, or the world court, or any other perverse agency – we receive our power to be a beacon of light in this world by working out our salvation and fearing the lord.

Our people cry out for hope, for answers. Many go blindly throughout their lives without ever being called to repentance.

God loves us, and he wants his sons and daughters to repent. He wants them to come to their senses. He wants them to awaken others to what they learn. To be vigilant, to be strong, and brave – walking in the armor of God.

We must ask ourselves.

Are we shining as brightly as possible? Or are we overlooking our own walk with Christ? Do we realize that we must develop a truly Christian character in our own lives if we are to bring honor to Christ in this perverse world, to light the way for others?

We may live in a wicked and corrupt nation, but God has promised us the power to shine and to reach our brothers and sisters – to be a warrior for Christ – If we will with fear and trembling, disciplining ourselves with his word – just claim our rightful heritage and recognize our need for personal and national repentance and then follow through.