Grace Bible Church
Pastor-Teacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
Wednesday,
August 23, 2017
Luke 14:31 teaches that every nation should have a core of professional military officers and non-commissioned officers who plan and prepare for war.
True motivation for military training comes from God Himself.
There are those believers who advance and are always ready in time of crisis who are either mature believers or positive believers on the verge of reaching maturity.
War and disaster gives the believer for the crisis opportunity to apply doctrine and demonstrate its power in life.
Believers for the crisis keep on plugging and are persistent.
It's one thing to let sinful things distract you but it's more respectable to let legitimate things distract you!
The great priority battle of life is one of the most vital battles we ever fight.
And that's the basic principle behind the statement in EXO 20:3 "You shall have no other gods before Me."
Psa 138:2 I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name for your love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word. (NIV)
Psa 138:2 I will worship toward Your holy temple, and praise Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth; for You have magnified Your word above all Your name. (NKJ)
Psa 138:2 I bow down toward thy holy temple and give thanks to thy name for thy steadfast love and thy faithfulness; for thou hast exalted above everything thy name and thy word. (RSV)
Psa 138:2 I will worship toward thy holy temple, And give thanks unto thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: For thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. (ASV)
JAM 1:22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.
Since TLJC is not on earth, doctrine resident in the soul is the only strength for the believer prepared for the crisis.
ZEC 2:5 describes that wall of fire when the Lord said, "For I, declares the Lord, will be a wall of fire around her, and I will be the glory in her midst."
The key for the believer for the crisis is the ability to persevere and handle abnormal pressure and unusual circumstances.
The believer who perseveres, either through thought, speech, action, or a combination thereof, "leads" and dominates in a disaster.
There are three ways in which a believer who perseveres can meet disaster: through thought, speech, and or action.
The believer for the crisis, through these three systems, dominates in disaster, so that people involved in the disaster are delivered, encouraged, changed, or in some other way profited from the disaster.
ROM 15:4 For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
HEB 11:7 By means of doctrine resident in the soul, Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the deliverance of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
We are told that Noah was a man who walked with God in the midst of evil surroundings, Gen 6:8-12.
In Gen 6:14,22, 7:5, Noah was assigned an unbelievable difficult task, the building of the Ark, however, he handled it magnificently in spite of the mocking and the jeering which took place!
He even warned his neighbors of the approaching judgment in 2Pe 2:5, even though they made fun of him and laughed and joked about that which he believed.
In HEB 11:31, Rahab was a believer for the crisis!
The leadership of this woman who is called a harlot illustrates that even in a wicked environment a wicked individual could find grace by turning to the Lord!
This harlot also became the ancestress of David and therefore in the messianic line, according to Ruth 4:21-22, Mat 1:5-6, Luk 3:31-32.
It's also very interesting and a great honor that the generation after Moses does not mention anyone by name in this roster of Heb 11, except one.
Joshua is not mentioned...
Caleb is not mentioned...
The only one mentioned in that generation is a Gentile woman whose name is Rahab!
In verse 31 she is called "the harlot Rahab", in the Greek it is "Raabh he'porne" = the Greek word for whore or prostitute.
She was one of those believers who went from zero to spiritual maturity very rapidly!
She also had a hotel and a rope manufacturing business and then she heard about the crossing of the Red Sea and the Exodus of the Jews.
MAT 13:58 And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.
Note that phrase "be sure your sin will find you out.".....= The sin here is not going to war and being a draft dodger.
In 1Ch 5:19‑22. Just warfare is always from the Lord.
1Ch 5:19 And they made war against the Hagrites, Jetur, Naphish, and Nodab.
1Ch 5:20 and they were helped against them, and the Hagrites and all who {were} with them were given into their hand; for they cried out to God in the battle, and he was entreated for them, because they trusted in Him.
1Ch 5:21 and they took away their cattle: their 50,000 camels, 250,000 sheep, 2,000 donkeys, and 100,000 men.
1Ch 5:22 For many fell slain, because the war {was} of God. And they settled in their place until the exile.
Josh 11:23 teaches that victory in war means the perpetuation of peace for a certain time.
Jos 11:23 So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord had spoken to Moses, and Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. thus the land had rest from war.
In fact Psa 46:7-9 Teaches that "He makes wars to cease" through military victory.