The Remnant Church Being Defiant In This Hour Of Trial And Compromise

Praise the Lord. Amen. Praise the Lord, for he is worthy. Indeed of all praise and honor and glory is all his. I just want to share something briefly with you this morning. On the back, I suppose, of Wednesday night, it's quite a different sort of message, I suppose, but necessary. There are things that are necessary, that need to be shared. We discussed so many prophetic things on Wednesday night, that deals with these end days, these last days in which we find ourselves in. So much is going on. Men's hearts are indeed feeling them at this time, due to plagues and pestilences, wars and rumors of wars, and the rise of oil prices and foods, etc., etc. So many agendas are being pushed by the minority, and the majority seem to be embracing and receiving and running with. You know, just before I went on Facebook here this morning to sort out this live broadcast, I saw a picture, a before and after picture, from trans to transformed. And it showed you the picture of this guy before, looking like a girl, all the makeup on and looking so effeminate, but transformed. And the other picture showed him, the after picture showed him just like a normal young man. Not effeminate, no makeup, no long hair, none of that there. Why? Because God set him free from the lie. Christ set him free. He lived under delusion, under a lie. I've said this in the past, there's no doubt about it. Adam cannot become a madam. Eve cannot become a Steve. It's impossible. And I thought about that picture just as we were singing this morning in the presence of God, and I thought, you know, many would applaud the picture of him like a girl. No doubt about that. Many in the world today. But not so many would applaud the picture of him now as a Christian. On the contrary, they would smile and scoff. I'm sure there would be plenty of hate now directed towards him, because he's living his life as a Christian, as a follower of Christ. The world did love him, but now the world hates him. Why? Because of what he stands for, what he is living for now, the truth. We sung the song this morning, Shine Your Light, and praise God that young man now is in the light, shining his light. No longer in darkness, no longer in bondage, but living for Christ. Hallelujah. And we talked about many things again on Wednesday night, and we talked about the agenda, the trans or homosexual agenda. We talked about, I shared, you know, the controversy surrounding the World Cup, and how so many captains of different football teams wanted to wear that one love armband. Harry Kane, the England captain, has been wearing it for a while, proudly. That's his cause. He's got on to this cause. But you see, the captains, Harry Kane and the rest of them, were threatened by FIFA, that if they did wear the armband during the matches, then they would receive a yellow card. They were defiant to a point, so they were, these footballers, and then they stepped down, they compromised. But there was a picture after all that, the threats of FIFA, where Harry Kane was seen going to one of the stadiums wearing a watch, and it had all the rainbow colors around it, the dial of the watch, and some were saying, you know, this is the defence again. It's symbolic, what he's wearing. One love. One love. You see, he and others, they've got on to a cause. Pursuing a cause. Is there not a cause? And we would all believe this morning, that cause is satanic. That cause is from the pit of hell. We have to call it what it is. As a church, as Christians in this day, we have to stand as believers. And it makes me think of David. It makes me think of how David, on a particular day, he has provisions from his father to give to his brothers who are on the battlefield. Israel is assembled on the battlefield against the Philistines, and we have Goliath coming out, standing proudly. This odious, hideous thing, man, standing in defiance against the people of God, against God, the armies of God. And David comes along. And oh, how the soldiers are afraid to fight. Oh, how the soldiers, the leaders, they're afraid to engage, to go down and to face. But David says in 1 Samuel 17 and 29, is there not a cause? Is there not a cause? You see, when David saw what was happening, he was angered. He was angered. He would do something. He would do something about it. He would go down and face that odious, hideous monstrosity from hell. Is there not a cause today? Is there not a cause that we should speak? Is there not a cause that the church should resound the gospel and the truths of God's Word in this day, in this hour? Is there not a cause indeed? Is there not a cause? In Philippians 1 17, Paul says, knowing that I am put here or sat here for the defense of the gospel. And we have been put here as a church, as a body of believers for the defense of the gospel. That word defense comes from the Greek apologia, which can mean verbal defense. It can mean answer. We need to speak. So many within the church, so many within church leadership and within the body, they won't speak against these things. These demonic agendas that have gained so much traction and momentum in the world today, that stand against God, that scoff against God and the truth of God's Word and against the holy thing of marriage. So many in the church and mainline even denominations and other, they will not speak against. Is there not a cause? Is there not someone, someone that will speak, that will say what God says? You see in Ecclesiastes 3 7, it says there is a time to keep silence, but there's a time to speak. There's a time to speak. You know, as I said earlier, Harry Kane and the rest of them, they, they, they eventually back down because of certain threats. They went so far with their cause, but then they backed down because they didn't want to receive a yellow card when they stepped onto the pitch, if they were wearing the love armband, one love armband. They eventually back down. We can never back down as God's people, as the church, especially when it comes to the scriptures, but we must remain defiant and continue to remain defiant against the world, against the agendas of the spirit of Antichrist, against those that speak against God's Word, speak against the truth, speak against the scriptures. We must be defiant until the end. We must have the spirit of David. I thought of, I'm thinking now, you know, you think of that great army, you think of those assembled in that army, you think of Saul himself, you think of Jonathan, you think of David's brothers, you think of the warriors, there were warriors within that army, warriors within Israel, but none would go down. None would go down. And so many within the body of Christ, so many behind the pulpits are silent. They won't go down. They won't face the hideous monstrosity of hell. We can never back down. We must defy the lie. We must defy all lies from hell, remain defiant. You know, there was a movie called The Defiant Ones, an old black-and-white movie, The Defiant Ones. I think, I think that's a good terminology, indeed, that we should have, that the remnant of God should have the defiant ones. Let the world call us the defiant ones. Let the world scoff and scowl at us because we refuse to bow the knee, because we refuse to compromise, because we refuse to align ourselves with their foul demonic doctrines, defiant to the world's satanic agenda. And even a defiance to those within the church, because there are those within the church who are our enemies. That is the truth. It makes me think of 3 John, the third epistle of John, and it says in verses 9 and 10 where John is writing here, this is the beloved disciple. This is the one in whom Jesus loved. A man, look at his epistles, a man was full of love, I would say, out of all of the apostles. John was the one, I would say, probably just a tender, tender person and warm and kind and all of that there. But the Scripture says here, I have written something to the church, but Deo Trifas, he likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority. So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us. I'm reading from the ASV, I love that line, wicked nonsense. That's what he's doing. There are those again within the church that have collars on, that talk wicked nonsense. Or skinny jeans that talk wicked nonsense, that don't talk the Word of God, that don't talk the Scriptures at all. He goes on to say, I'm not content with that. He refuses to welcome the brothers and also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church. So here we have a man, we believe he was a Gentile. Now from what we read here, you know, I'm not sure if this man was saved. Because John even goes on to say in verse 11, beloved do not imitate evil. So this man was perpetrating evil, evil. He was refusing to welcome the brothers and excommunicating those who were of the faith, the true faith. This man loved to have the preeminence. He loved the title, he loved the color, so to speak. He loved the title of, let's say, pastor or bishop or whatever. He loved the rule. He wasn't a servant. He wasn't lowly in heart, like the master. But there's one thing that stands out here for me that this man did. And this man again is within the church. This man is supposed to be a brother of John, the beloved apostle of Christ. But yet he was an enemy. Because the Scripture tells us, John tells us, that Deuteronomy chapters 3 to 5 blocked, blocked John's letter. Blocked the reading of John's letter within the church. Blocked it. Refused to read it amongst the believers. Refused to read truth. Refused to read the Word of God, the inspired Word of God, that which that, that which came from heaven and permeated John's heart and mind. This one refused to block it. And again, alas friends, it grieves, my heart, it grieves certainly the heart of God and I'm sure your heart today, that there are those within the church that block the Word of God, that refuse to read the Word of God in the assembly. They refuse to read the sacred scriptures but would rather tell story, week after week after week, funny story, week after week, and things, words and messages that are, that are crafted that tickle the ears and tantalize the flesh and that's all that it does. But when it comes to hard truth, no hard truth, this man sought to block and oppose. As John says, beloved, do not imitate evil. The reason why I share this portion of scripture too is, I read this this morning, there's this volunteer chaplain, I believe in England, elderly man in the 70s and he's a, he's a volunteer chaplain I think in Marie Curie, Charlie, something I, I think linked to them. And he's been volunteering for a number of years. And he's been such a help to the people who have terminal cancer, a support and a help. But this man, since he has been a volunteer chaplain, has always worn a little cross, a little tiny cross on his lapel or on his, on his jumper, whatever, you know, he's wearing, whatever attire he's wearing, this little cross. Never been a problem. Never been a problem. But then, but then this this charity, they got themselves a new chaplain, a Methodist minister. The chaplain over all the volunteer chaplains. And this is what this Methodist minister chaplain said to this brother who had the cross or would wear the cross when visiting with dying people. This Methodist minister said, it might create a barrier between you and the patient, if they're Sikh or Hindu. It might, it might create a barrier. It might, it might be something that, that's offensive, something that, that's not good. This is a Methodist minister. This is supposed to be a brother. Now hear, hear this, excuse me, the charity itself had no policy in the matter. There was, there was nothing written within their laws about anything that you could or could not wear a religious symbol. This was something, this, this was a decision that was coming from a minister, a Methodist minister. Someone who's supposed to speak the truth and stand for the truth. I mean it boggles the mind. It truly does. Because again, when we think of 3 John, there was someone in the church that sought to block John. And here we have today, someone within the church seeking to block this man of God, this true man of God from displaying his badge, his cross. Do you know what somebody commented, and I believe just from reading a lot of the comments, probably not born again, but somebody commented on this news item, Daily Mail news item. And someone said regarding the Methodist minister, is he afraid to display his faith whilst helping others whatever their persuasion? And this, all the comments were, you know, were very supportive of the man who would wear the badge. And so many were critical of the Methodist minister. He sought to block. We are in days, great days of apostasy, great days of compromise indeed, no doubt about that. The Western Church in part, perhaps, perhaps in large is afraid to speak up, to speak up for and speak out against. I don't know what lies ahead but hardship lies ahead. There you go. Hardship lies ahead for the remnant of God and I can get up here and stand up here and say it's going to be rosy and it's going to, you know, all's going to be well. There'll be peace and prosperity in Jerusalem but that would be a lie. There's hardship to endure in the days to come, dear friends of God. And next we think, I believe our brother Vlad shared this scripture last week in Luke 21 13 where the master speaks to the disciples and says to them that they will face persecution, that they will be brought before magistrates or judges, those in authority. And the master says in Luke 21 13, for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which none of your adversaries will be able to contradict or resist. And I believe that that scripture was for then, is for today, is for today, is for tomorrow. That God himself, that whatever comes our way, whatever odious, hideous creature that we face in the days to come, in the hour to come, that God will give us a mouth, hallelujah. That God will give us a mouth and God will give us wisdom and God will give us a message to be able to stand upon and declare and speak with power and with might, with confidence for his glory. We must continue to proclaim Christ and his truth. We all must. We are living epistles and may we summon again this morning a shiner light. We've got the shiner light as a church, as a body of believers, as individuals. We've got to proclaim, we've got to confess, confess I've been challenged of late to confess. I don't know about you, confess Christ. I've confessed Christ a couple of times lately in a coffee shop. That's where I've confessed Christ, to two individuals. That I'm a Christian, I'm a follower of Christ, regardless of what the world says or regardless of the, you know, the hatred that comes from the world. What about you? When was the last time you confessed Christ? Maybe you don't have a lot of courage at this time. Well, we'll pray. Pray that the Lord give you courage. Pray that the Lord give you boldness, opportunity to confess Christ. Paul asked for prayer, for boldness and to declare. Ephesians 619, pray also for me that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will boldly make known the mystery of the gospel. I pray for you. I pray for you that an opportunity would arise this week and that God would give you boldness and whenever you open up your mouth, that great things, great glories of God of the gospel will come forth and the people will be impacted. Souls even, saved for the glory of God. But whatever we do, like Paul, we need God's help. We need God's help today. We need the Spirit's help today. The Spirit's help tomorrow. We need God's help. You know, I thought about this this morning, just a little spurt of inspiration in my heart and that song, Tom Petty, I won't back down. You know, Tom Petty, that singer. And I think it's the course but I thought about this this morning. I read the words and I thought, you know, Josh needs to put some music to this and we'll sing it next week. He really does. You know why? Because here's what the course says. I believe it's the course. No, I'll stand my ground. Won't be turned around and I'll keep this world from dragging me down. Gonna stand my ground. That will be a good course to sing next week when it comes to the faith, when it comes to our stance upon the scriptures, upon the tenets of the faith. No, I'll stand my ground. Won't be turned around and I'll keep this world from dragging me down. Gonna stand my ground. That could be a Christian course. We're gonna stand our ground. Paul stood his ground. All the apostles stood their ground. And as we know, history tells us that all but John faced martyrdom. All but John faced death. They stood their ground. Regardless of the torture. Regardless of the trial. Regardless of the persecution. They stood their ground and they were faithful even on to the end and the Lord has given them the crown of life. And may God Almighty help us. May God Almighty help us remnant in these latter days to stand their ground. That the true proclaimers, declarers of God's gospel would stand their ground. Would stand their ground. The last scripture Paul says in 2nd Corinthians 6 15. I think it's 15. And what accord has Christ with Baleal? What harmony? There is no harmony there at all. That's what Paul's saying. Absolutely no harmony between Christ and and Baleal light and darkness. Is there not a cause? There are many causes that people are willing to die for. We've we've got a cause and our cause is noble and true and right. And we cannot be silent. Let's pray. Heavenly Father we thank you Lord for your word today. Your truth Lord. Oh Lord we as your people. We as your remnant. Lord we never want to avoid certain things because they may offend. Lord your word says the gospel is an offense. That's the gospel is an offense. The Word of God is an offense. Oh Lord we pray. Lord help us to continue to stand our ground and not back down. Help us Lord to continue to speak. Not to be silent but Lord let the voice of the church rise and bell forth. Lord we need your help. We need your wisdom. Lord as a body of believers but also Lord for us as individuals I just pray for us that that even this week Lord that there would be a golden opportunity to confess to someone that we are Christians. That I'm a Christian. And even to share our testimony. To share faith. And Lord I just pray that within that moment that there would be a nudge upon our hearts. And that Lord that we would have a confidence, a courage, a boldness to open up our mouths. And that Lord God that even ourselves that we will be astonished of what at that which would come forth. Lord we thank you. We thank you Lord for your spirit. For you have not given us the spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind. And may Lord we not forget that. Not forget the promises of your word which are yea and amen. And to you God we say to God Almighty be all the glory. For you Lord alone are true. For your word Lord alone is true. Lord God your scriptures, the sacred scriptures that speak of Christ. The sacred scriptures that speak of the God man. Lord we thank you for your word which is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. Continue Lord to keep us in harmony. For your glory in Jesus name. Amen. And amen.