The Two Swords

Weatherford, Texas
Greenwood Baptist Church

Good morning. My name is Brian Bond. I am senior pastor of this church. If you’ve come here in
the last few weeks, you might be surprised to see me, but here I am. I do appreciate your prayers.
I’ll give you a quick synopsis. The knee surgery went very well, although they said it was
actually a little more complicated than the first one. He said when they made the first incision,
five golf-ball pieces of bone popped out that were just floating in there, which — that was cool.
But anyway, the recovery, I did have a couple of issues, but got over them really fast and was up
and going. Felt stable on it from the get-go, and the recovery went really well.
I actually would have been back to preach a few weeks ago, but we had already planned Code
One a year ago, and man, we love what that does for our church. So that put me off a week. And
then last week, a residual effect apparently from my surgery, I had an infection and we had to go
into the hospital to deal with that as it got into my blood. But they nuked it with the most
powerful antibiotics, which that was great. So anyway, I’m out of that. Feel good. Glad to be
back. Glad to move forward.
And I do particularly want to thank my wife. She’s an amazing caregiver and really took care of
me during all that. And she’s out in the foyer today. There is a mission team — she leads the
missions here — and there’s a mission team information meeting this afternoon. You can still
sign up for that if you’ve had any idea about that. There are a couple of reasons you may think,
well, I can’t go. One is because I can’t afford it. We do have some ways we can help you raise
that money. And there are sometimes even people that donate for people to go who are not able to
go themselves. So we’d love for you to come. And if you think money’s an obstacle, I can
promise you it’s nothing for God. I mean, Texas won last night. So miracles happen. Come on.
After being dog-whooped for three quarters, they came back and won. And if you turned that TV
off in the middle of the game, which I was tempted to do, you missed it. But it was a cool deal.
But if God can do that, whatever you need for a mission trip ain’t nothing. So, yeah, I said it.
Larry Chapman was in the first service, so I didn’t say it then. But it was us against them. So
we’re all Texas fans when that happens, right? All my Aggie friends are like, nope, never.
Another thing is, some of you may be thinking, well, I don’t know that I’m qualified. These trips
are designed — we’ll teach you how to do it. And you’ll learn, and you’ll be blessed more doing
this than anything else. Everybody comes back from this trip and always says, man, I think God
did more in me than I was able to do for anybody else. And so we encourage everybody to go on
a mission trip. There are two or three they have scheduled, and you can go and hear about all of
them. From Africa to Buda, Texas, which is just south of Austin — we help a church plant there.
There’s one in Colorado that we go to, if you like cool weather, or cooler than here anyway. So if
you’re interested at all, go to the meeting, and you can sign up online by going to our church app,
which we’ll hear more about later, or going to our website.
All right. Today we’re talking about a passage in Luke 22, and it’s at the tail end of the Lord’s
Supper, right before they go out to the garden. And Jesus has already talked about the one who’s
going to betray him. He’s told them very clearly that he is fixing to be crucified. He said it about
as plainly as you can. And the disciples are like, we’re never going to — Peter goes, I’ll never
leave you. He says, y’all are going to be scattered. Y’all are going to be scattered to the winds.
And Peter goes, not me, Lord. And Jesus tells him, you’re going to deny me.
And then he turns and now he talks to the whole group. And we’re in Luke 22:35-38. And if
you’d please stand in honor of the reading of God’s word.
“Then Jesus asked them, ‘When I sent you out to preach the Good News and you did not
have money, a traveler’s bag, or an extra pair of sandals, did you need anything?’ ‘No,’
they replied. ‘But now,’ he said, ‘take your money and a traveler’s bag. And if you don’t
have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one! For the time has come for this prophecy about
me to be fulfilled: “He was counted among the rebels.” Yes, everything written about me by
the prophets will come true.’ ‘Look, Lord,’ they replied, ‘we have two swords among us.’
‘That’s enough,’ he said.”
Thank you. You may be seated.
Now, I’m going to tell you up front that different people have different interpretations of this
passage of Scripture. The thing that kind of arrests my attention is that Jesus says, if you don’t
have a sword, sell your cloak and go buy one. He’s telling them to arm themselves, to be
prepared to protect themselves. And there are people that have different interpretations of that.
Some of them will say, well, no, he meant that allegorically — the sword, which the Bible is also
called, the sword of God, is called a sword. And at the end, they say that when he said “that’s
enough,” he means it like you’re telling your kids when they’re doing something they’re not
supposed to, and you go, all right, that’s enough now. And that’s their interpretation of it. And I
understand that. I think they came to it honestly. I don’t agree with that interpretation, and I’ll tell
you why.
The first thing is, he’s not talking about some allegorical situation. He’s telling them, hey, you
remember when I sent you out to the nation of Israel? They were Jews. He sent them out to their
people. He knew how the Jews would respond to him. They were safe. There wasn’t any need for
them to worry. God provided for them. He said, you don’t need to take anything. And they went
to their home people, people they knew, most likely, or who knew of them. And Jesus said, don’t
get in an argument with them. If they reject you, just shake the dust off your feet and go to the
next town. All right. He says, but now everything’s going to be different. Because what was
spoken about in Isaiah, that he will be numbered with the transgressors — he said, that’s going to
come true.
Jesus was going to be numbered with the outlaws. He was crucified out with criminals, with
common criminals. And the disciples were the associates of the guy who was crucified as a
common criminal. So they’re going to be in a different position. Before that, when Jesus is going
around, everybody’s, oh man, Jesus, let’s go watch Jesus, hear what Jesus has to say. But now
they’re going to be in a different situation. And they’re also going to be scattered — not just to
the people of Israel, but to the whole world. And they’re going to be seen at different times as
outlaws and subversives. And that happens throughout history. And so I believe Jesus
specifically meant to get a sword.
And there are two other reasons why I don’t believe this is an allegory. Number one, they were in
this room. Jesus told them, hey, go to this place, there’s a room prepared. We’re going to go
upstairs, we’re going to have the Lord’s Supper. So they went. They weren’t staying there. They
didn’t live there. It was just a room where they had the Lord’s Supper. And when Jesus said, if
somebody doesn’t have a sword, go get one, they said, look, we already got two. So they were
already carrying two swords with them. They already had them.
The second thing is, later on, when they get to the garden, here’s what it says. When Judas came
and betrayed him, it says, “When the other disciples saw what was about to happen, they
exclaimed, ‘Lord, should we fight? We brought the swords!’ And one of them struck at the
high priest’s slave, slashing off his right ear. But Jesus said, ‘No more of this.’ And he
touched the man’s ear and healed him.” Now, if he’d rebuked them for the fact that they had a
sword, they wouldn’t have brought it with them to the garden. So they had it before and they had
it afterwards. They had a means to protect themselves.
But Jesus wasn’t intending for them to protect him from what was coming. He meant it to be
protection for them after they were scattered. And from that point, they’re scattered. And there’s
all kinds of people — well, who’s with Jesus? — because he was looked at as an outlaw. He was
brought before the Sanhedrin. They declared him to be blasphemous because he claimed to be the
Son of God, which he subsequently proved by rising from the grave. But that’s a whole other
deal. They were out there on their own. And they were in a different time, a time when they
might need to protect themselves, a time when they might need to protect others. And so he told
them to bring a sword.
Unfortunately, in our country, we’ve kind of grown up with this idea of Jesus — that what we
should be is just these meek, mild people that never argue with anything. The Bible says if they
strike you on one cheek, turn the other to them also. And I totally understand that. If somebody
comes up and strikes you on the cheek, turn the other also. But it doesn’t say if somebody stabs
you in the stomach, you ought to let them stab you on the other side too, does it? There’s a line to
that. And any of us could see it. We have security that are outside, and man, they’re watching the
parking lots, they’re outstanding. They spend special time walking through and taking care,
making sure that our children are safe, and we have all kinds of protocols over there to make sure
nobody gets in there who doesn’t belong. But they’re also patrolling around. Would you want
one of our security guards, if somebody came up and they had a weapon or whatever and they
intended to do our kids harm, would you want them to go, well, I’m going to turn you the other
cheek, you do as you wish, I’ll pray for you? No. You want them to stop them right there,
because children should be protected. And so there are times where we should be prepared to
protect our families.
And so I’m going to talk about this: look, there is a sword that talks about spiritual battles,
because the greatest battles you’re going to fight in life are not physical, they’re spiritual. And so
the Bible tells us in Ephesians 6:17, “Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of
the Spirit, which is the word of God.” When the enemy came to tempt Jesus, what did he do?
He responded with the word of God. The word of God is your best defense against spiritual
battles. You’re feeling down, depressed — where’s the best place to go? The word of God.
You’re feeling fearful — where’s the best place to go? The word of God. You’re wondering,
should I forgive this person? Go to the word. The word is your best defense against the
temptations and things that will assail you spiritually. And you should fully use that weapon.
It says in Hebrews 4:12-13, “For the word of God is alive and powerful.” Hey, the word is
powerful. “It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit,
between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.” So one of the
things that the word does, it dices us too. You read the word of God and you’re thinking, hey, I’m
doing good, everything’s great. And then boom — you realize, you read something in the word
and you’re like, oh yeah, that one’s gotten into my life. That one’s gotten a hold of me. What’s
the best defense? It’s the word of God. You go back and you look — man, all right, maybe I
failed there. What does the Bible say about that? That he is faithful. When we confess our sins,
he’s faithful to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So we go to the
word. The word teaches us how to fight spiritually.
But there are other times. The other sword is to fight evil on this earth. And there are times when
evil is around us and evil is in front of us. And let me give you a little history. There was a time
that the church universally embraced the idea that there were two swords of Christ. There was the
sword that was the one to fight spiritual battles, which was the word of God. But then there was a
sword to protect and to fight against evil.
And one of the ways that first became publicized and spread across the world happened back in
the Middle Ages. In about 350, the Emperor Constantine, he was a Roman emperor that made
Christianity the official religion. And he opened up Jerusalem and the sites to the people. He
opened up the ability for them to come and see where Jesus was tried, where he walked, where he
was crucified, where the empty tomb was — or at least they believed that at the time. And it was
at the time only 350 years after the time. If you came and asked us where the Battle of Gettysburg
was fought, we know. That’s something that’s near in our history. There may come a time where
people go, where was this battle fought? And nobody knows where it is. But right now, we know.
And it was 350 years after Christ ascended back into heaven. And so he opened the door for those
things.
And there are even stories that they had part of the original cross. I don’t know if that’s true or
not. I think they had something that they thought was the cross; whether it was actually the one or
not, I don’t know. That’s where we get all those tales about searching for the Holy Grail — that
was the chalice that Jesus used, or the cup that he used at the Last Supper. There was an
attachment between people and the physical things that were attached to Jesus. There’s even a
story in church history, not in the Bible, that one of the plows that Jesus made was still in use like
seventy-five years after he had ascended to heaven. And there’s something about that. I mean,
I’m kind of fascinated by that. I don’t know about you. But I would think that would have been
really cool to go up and go, man, Jesus, when he was a carpenter, he made the plow that you — I
mean, wouldn’t that be — who would not be interested in that? And we were interested in it, but
people in those days, they were very attached to the places where things happened.
And so what happened was there began to be these crusades — or excuse me, these journeys,
pilgrimages — where Christians in small groups, big groups, whatever, would travel to Jerusalem
to see these holy places and to walk where Jesus walked. And there’s something that draws us to
that, to the ability to be able to go somewhere and know, man, Jesus saw basically the same view,
or Jesus walked here, or this is where this happened. There is a draw there.
That’s one of the things about our times. We tend to — like that first Scripture where Jesus said,
go and get a sword — we kind of maybe recoil from that a little bit, because we think about it
through our current times, or the way that we were raised, or what we’ve heard, or what we think.
And the fact is that it’s hard for us to put ourselves in the place of those who were living during
that time. But during that time, they were very drawn to Jerusalem and to these holy relics and
these holy sites. And so they began to come. And when they got there, they’d be tired, exhausted;
they had to go through all kinds of deserts, difficult places. And when they got there, there were
groups often that were dedicated to providing them a place to sleep and feeding them and praying
for them and ministering to them. And there were people that were dedicated to that.
And one of the things that began to happen is, in about 650, Islam came onto the scene, and the
Muslims of the area began to attack these Christians as they came and pilgrimaged to Jerusalem.
And so there were two guys in particular that said, you know, we’re sitting here and we’re
providing this place for these Christians to come to when they get here. But what good is that if
they’re attacked and killed on the road and they can’t get here? And so the two of them decided
— they were actually knights, and you had to be some kind of royalty and take all these pledges
and go through all these things to become a knight — and so they decided that they were going to
not just provide for them when they got there, they continued to do that, but that they were going
to go out and protect travelers on the road. So they started going out, just the two of them, and
fighting against attacks from Muslims when they came and attacked Christians.
And the reason that Muslims could attack Christians is because, in their religion, in what they
believe, that’s part of what they believe: that they’re to kill infidels. Anyone who does not
convert to Islam is the enemy. And they’re allowed to slaughter them. And so they began
slaughtering men, women, and children, taking women as slaves, doing horrifying things to them.
And here’s something, I’m going to say this. Those attacks on 9/11, those were not from Islamist
extremists. They were just from Islamists. That’s been going on for hundreds of years. As a
matter of fact, you can go back to 1915 and look at an invasion where they came to the
Armenians and slaughtered nearly a whole people because they would not convert. And as late as
1974, when the Turks invaded Greece, they did the exact same things. There are all kinds of
historical accounts of people — men, women, and children — being murdered because they
would not convert to Islam, because they were Christians. We saw it on videos just a few years
ago of Coptic Christians. Those are Christians who were from Egypt, and mainly that was where
they were based, who were beheaded because they would not convert to Islam, because they
confessed Christ. This has been going on for hundreds of years. It is still happening today, and it
will always happen, because no matter what anybody tells you, Islam is not a religion of peace. It
is an ideology, and it is a way to subjugate women and to subjugate people under a rule. That’s
what it is.
Now, I’m not saying that every Muslim is our enemy. They’re not. But understand something.
That ideology is evil. And anyone who’s in it is under the influence of evil. Now, what should
you be doing if you come across a Muslim in your everyday life? All right, I got my sword, let’s
fight? No. You need to bring the other sword, which is to give them the truth of God’s word.
Now, they may not convert, but our intention is to convert them to Jesus, is to love them like
Jesus loved them. But understand something: when the ideology is in effect, our sword is — we
should use whatever weapons that we can to fight against that ideology.
Now, those two guys — let me get back to the story, because y’all are like, what about those two
guys? Well, the king heard about what they were doing. So he gave them a large place there on
the Temple Mount. And so they began systematically to recruit other knights to help protect
travelers. And then also, when they weren’t out fighting, they came back in and they ministered
to travelers. They prayed for them. They took a vow of poverty. They took a vow of chastity.
They took a vow to serve Christ wholeheartedly. And they did that in two ways. Number one, by
ministering to travelers, Christians who were on pilgrimage, who came to the Holy Land, and
then also by protecting them out on the road with their swords, because they were trained in the
arts of war.
And one of them was named Lord Godfrey, and the other one was Lord Byron. And these two
guys became the very first Knights Templar. There have been all kinds of movies and stuff about
them, some true and some not. But that’s where it began. They were knights of the temple. That’s
what Templar meant. And so what they did was they went out and protected. And they bore a red
cross on the tunic that they wore over their mail, over the armor that they had. And the very first
seal of the Templars shows a horse riding out and there’s two knights on its back. And that’s
Byron and Godfrey. And they did that because when they first started, they only had one horse.
So can you imagine that? One horse, two guys going out to fight the enemy.
But here’s the thing: they were successful. And over and over again, the Templars would go out
and fight a couple, three, four hundred Templars against a few thousand Muslims, and they
would win. And they would protect people. And they became feared to the point that the
Saracens and Saladin would put a bounty on their head, that they should be immediately
beheaded if they were ever captured, because they feared these knights who came out and fought
a righteous fight for those who could not defend themselves — to defend the men, the women,
and the children who were trying to come to Jerusalem to connect with God. And you know,
well, that’s silly that they went to this place. I’m not going to get into that argument. In that day
and age, that was important then. But the important thing was they were trying to connect with
God. And these men came out and protected them.
And here’s the thing: what does that mean for us? Number one, it is incumbent upon us to fight
evil. And there’s different ways that we do that. And some of the ways we do that are through
government, through our government. Our government was set up on Christian foundations and
Christian principles. And we need to defend those. And we need to elect people that will fight for
the things that are right. And there’s a group of ladies out here that are registering people to vote.
I encourage, if you’re not registered to vote — that’s one of your weapons. That’s one of the
swords that you have in our day and age, is to vote. I’m not going to tell you who to vote for. I’m
going to tell you, I ain’t voting for anybody that thinks there’s six genders, or that the government
ought to pay to mutilate children with trans surgeries. I’m not voting for anybody like that.
One of the things about the Templars: the knights had taken this vow of poverty and to serve
Christ, but with money that was given to them or that was donated, they also hired other warriors
to fight with them. And they weren’t necessarily knights. Sometimes they believed in the cause.
Sometimes maybe they were mercenaries, but they hired them to also protect those who were
traveling. And the thing about it was, they were fighters. And so a lot of the people that we send
to Washington may not be guys that would qualify to be knights, but they better be fighters,
because there’s a fight going on. And so I ain’t going to tell you who to vote for. You want to
come ask me a name afterwards? I’ll tell you who I’m voting for, but I ain’t going to tell you who
to vote for. But it is important that you exercise your right to vote, and you can register out there
today. Sorry, I needed a little moment there.
All right. So the other sword is to fight evil. Well, is that scriptural? I started thinking, who’s one
of the guys that you’d most consider to be like the gentle guy that got along with everybody? And
the first name that I come to is Abraham. I mean, we wrote songs — “Father Abraham, had many
sons, many sons.” We write songs about him being a father. When you think about Abraham,
everywhere he went, he tried to get along with people. He tried to make treaties. He tried to get
along. He was a nice, gentle man. But let me tell you what happened. There was a group of kings
that came through and were fighting in these other cities. And when they came to Lot and his
family, they just took them all, took everything they owned and took them with them. And one
slave escaped and went to Abram to tell him. And here’s what happened.
In Genesis 14:14-16, when Abram — all gentle dude — heard that his nephew Lot had been
captured, he went out and thought, oh no, what do I do? No, that’s not what it says. You know
what it says? “He mobilized the 318 trained men who had been born into his household.”
Now, I want you to get that. These men were born into his household. And what were they?
Trained. They’d been trained to be warriors. They’d been trained to fight since they were young.
He took these men. It says, “Then he pursued Kedorlaomer’s army until he caught up with
them at Dan. There he divided his men and attacked during the night. Kedorlaomer’s army
fled, but Abram chased them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. Abram recovered all the
goods that had been taken, and he brought back his nephew Lot with his possessions and all
the women and other captives.”
Let me tell you something about Abram. Abram was a gentle guy, he was a father. Later on he’s
going to be Abraham. But he was also a bad motor scooter. An army came through, took his
family, and to protect his family, he gathered up everybody that he had, chased them down,
waited till night, attacked him in the night, and then chased him for miles afterwards to defeat
him. And when they caught him, I promise you, they weren’t going, hey, so what’s going on with
you? They weren’t. These were warriors. And this man fought for his family and brought them
all back. He did not hesitate when faced with evil, when faced with protecting his family, when
faced with doing what was right. That’s Abraham.
One of the things we also know: David was called a man after God’s own heart. God said that.
He’s a man after my own heart. And one of the things that David unquestionably was, was a
warrior. After he killed the Philistine and Saul and his armies came back, it said, “When the
victorious Israelite army was returning home after David had killed the Philistine, women
from all the towns of Israel came out to meet King Saul. They sang and danced for joy with
tambourines and cymbals.” Because the Philistines were awful to them. They would come
attack their towns and villages all the time. And this was their song: “Saul has killed his
thousands, and David his ten thousands!” They’re singing a song about how many men he’s
killed in battle. About David, the man after God’s own heart.
And not only that, but David’s prayer in Psalm 144:1-2: “Praise the Lord, who is my rock. He
trains my hands for war and gives my fingers skill for battle. He is my loving ally and my
fortress, my tower of safety, my rescuer. He is my shield, and I take refuge in him. He
makes the nations submit to me.” That’s the prayer of David too.
And so this idea that as Christians we should just be quiet and let people run over us is not
scriptural. Now, it also is not scriptural for us to just go out and fight people all the time. We need
to be doing it with love and not in anger, for man’s anger does not accomplish the righteousness
of God. Just because somebody has angered us is not a reason to attack them. But here’s what I
will tell you: that you are free, I believe, according to Scripture, to use any tool that’s legal to
protect yourself and to protect your family. And whatever that may be, whatever that looks like
for you — if it’s a gun, use a gun. In my home, we have numerous guns, and everybody in my
home knows how to shoot. Every single person. And we don’t do that because we’re looking for
trouble, but I also want my family to be protected if something happens. If that’s not for you and
you want to use nunchucks, then get to be an expert on your nunchucks. I don’t care. That’s up to
you to decide what’s the best way to protect your family. But what Jesus is saying is: hey, be
prepared. There’s evil out there in the world and you’re going to face it. And you need to be
prepared to protect yourselves, to protect your families, and to do whatever’s necessary. That’s
seen all through Scripture.
So what should we fight for? You fight for those things that God’s given you to protect. That’s
your family. In our country, we’ve been given freedom and a nation that is based on the things of
God. And it’s our job to protect that as best we can. Now, the weapons we use to do that are
going to be different than the ones that we may have to use to protect our family if evil comes to
the door.
You also need to protect your family from the things that they see, the things they’re involved in.
Protect your family. Use every tool that you have. Don’t just hand your nine-year-old a
smartphone and say, hey, good luck with that. For one thing, I would suggest not handing them a
smartphone. And I know they don’t want that — everybody in my class that’s got an iPhone 53
or whatever it is. I don’t know. And I don’t have one. Hey, they’ll get over that. There may be
wailing and gnashing of teeth now, but there’ll probably come a time where they’re going to
thank you for that. And if you do give, at whatever time you decide is right, give them something
— make sure you have protections on it. Man, those things are tools that my parents didn’t have.
My parents could not look up after I’d driven somewhere and know how fast I was going. I can
do that. And I do. And so we have all kinds of tools that we can use that weren’t available. So use
whatever tools that you can to protect your family.
And defending your family physically — hopefully none of us will ever have to do that. But you
can use whatever tool is legal. And I mean, Jesus told his guys to get a sword, and they did. So
understand that God’s not about just laying down and letting people walk over you. All through
Scripture, God told his people, protect yourselves.
And Nehemiah — that entire book is about a guy who was off in slavery and became a servant in
another country, but he heard about his home, his homeland, Jerusalem. And the walls around
Jerusalem were broken down. And because of that, they were being attacked constantly from
those that were around them that were their enemies. And he had a burden for that. He’s like,
man, those are my people. That’s my nation. That’s my folks. And so the king said, man, what’s
bothering you? He told him. He said, well, go down there and build a wall. I’ll even give you
everything you need to do it. And so he went to do it. And after the people that were around him
heard about it, they made plans to attack Jerusalem again. And so what did Nehemiah do?
Nehemiah 4:15-18: “When our enemies heard that we knew of their plans and that God had
frustrated them, we all returned to our work on the wall. But from then on, only half my
men worked while the other half stood guard with spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail.
The leaders stationed themselves behind the people of Judah who were building the wall.
The laborers carried on their work with one hand supporting their load and one hand
holding a weapon. All the builders had a sword belted to their side. The trumpeters stayed
with me to sound the alarm.”
So what did they do? They made plans to protect themselves while they were building protection
for their family. And that’s what we need to do. You can’t just go through the world thinking
people are basically good. That is absolutely inherently wrong. People are not basically good.
Are there a lot of good people out there? Sure. But you know what the Bible says? That we’re
sinners. We are sinners. And when you choose to go down the road of sin and you choose to
reject God’s word, you allow evil into your heart and into your life. And that’s something that we
need to be aware of and to be willing to fight to protect our families from.
One of the things that we can do is fight against the influences of communism and Islam in our
government. We need to fight that at every turn. Do not elect people — it amazed me, I don’t
know if y’all watched what went on, the things on 9/11 up in New York. The families asked the
mayor not to come because he’s a Muslim. And he said before that, the people around the United
States were victims of 9/11 because people looked at them differently, and blah, blah, blah. And
look, once again, I’m not trying to claim that Muslims are our enemies, but we need to be careful
about that ideology, because it is evil. It is not good. It is not a religion of peace. It is a religion of
evil, period. It is an ideology of evil. And we need to be fighting to protect against that.
We’re careful about who we let into this country. That is as scriptural as it gets. When God sent
the people into the promised land, he said, don’t intermarry with these people. They’re going to
guide you astray because they worship other gods. Don’t intermarry with them. When Nehemiah
went back, he’s building a wall to keep out people who have evil intentions. Now, there were
gates, and people that want to come through the gates and want to trade and want to — fine. And
just like in this country, there are legal ways to immigrate here. And I’m all for that. But we
cannot just open the doors to this country again and allow anybody that wants to walk in here.
That was a catastrophic mistake. And we’re going to pay for that for a long time. But we need to
be prepared to stand up and fight for our nation, for our state, for Weatherford, Parker County,
wherever it is you live around here, and for your home. You use whatever weapons are
appropriate in those circumstances to fight.
And we can’t just sit back and think everything’s going to be all right. Well, listen to me. If you
hadn’t figured this out yet, there are tons of people out there that do not believe the way we
believe. And that’s fine. But you don’t get to change my culture. You don’t get to limit my rights
because you believe a certain way. So beware.
There are two chicken places right across the road from each other. I probably shouldn’t say this,
but I’m going to, because I do stuff. One of them prides itself and advertises itself as being 100%
what they call halal, which means that the chicken has been prepared a certain way. It’s been
blessed by an imam of Islam. The other chicken place says we are not. And this is all I’m going
to say: the one that’s not is Cane’s. The one that is kind of rhymes with Cane’s, but I’m not
saying the name. So y’all do what you want to with that. But we need to be careful. Now, am I
saying that it’s wrong? Hey, you want to make chicken? You can make it however you want. It’s
good or it’s bad, people are going to eat it, whatever. But we need to be careful about allowing
those kinds of things into our society, because those are dangerous. Because that’s causing
everybody else to adapt to an ideology that is not peaceful.
And for hundreds of years, this has been going on. Did I already talk about the invasion in 1974
in Greece? Did I talk about that? Okay, thank y’all for listening. That was just a test, to see if
some people were listening.
It’s still happening. It’s been happening for hundreds of years, that whenever Islam becomes the
majority, those kinds of things happen. Christians get persecuted, put to death, killed — children,
all. That has been happening for hundreds of years. It is still happening today. And we need to
fight against that ideology. I’m not saying go out and fight Muslims. No. Our objective with them
is to share Christ. But we need to fight against that ideology.
And communism is just as bad, if not worse. Anytime communism comes in and takes over,
Christians get run out or killed. It is anti-God at its core. And so whatever kind of turns they
always try to redress things — well, we’re just going to wrap a new bow around this and make it
look all right. It’s not okay. And we need to be prepared to fight against those ideologies, because
those ideologies will destroy what we have to pass down to our kids, which is a legacy of
freedom.
And you know what? I feel an obligation to fight for that for my children. And I had an uncle —
not an uncle, excuse me. I don’t know how many greats are in front of it, but somewhere he’s a
grandparent, several greats in front of that. His name was Colonel John Bond, and he fought in
the Revolutionary War. And I feel that blood flows through my veins, of a patriot who stood up
and fought for freedom. And I feel a responsibility to fight because of that. And you know what?
You may have that too. But if you don’t — and I’d say this too — that’s not the greatest thing in
us that gives us the power to fight. Because some of you are like, I don’t know that I can fight. I
don’t know what I would do. I understand that. But here’s something you need to know.
Every believer has the Spirit of Christ. The Bible clearly says, if you don’t have the Spirit of
Christ, you don’t have Christ. So everybody has the Holy Spirit. That’s the Spirit of Jesus in you.
And you know what? We rightly celebrate the fact that Jesus came. He was obedient even to
death on a cross. He humbled himself for us. He gave himself for us. He didn’t fight back when
they beat him and when they hung him on the cross. But he also, right before that, told his
disciples to go out and get a sword. And so we have that Jesus in us too. And there are times
you’re going to have to take it. There are circumstances where things are going to happen, and
you’re going to have to take some persecution. That’s part of standing for Jesus. But stand up and
fight anyway.
But here’s the most important thing that you have: you have the Spirit of Christ in you. Let me
tell you a little bit more about this Christ you have. Yep, he’s the one that didn’t fight back. But
he’s also the one in Joshua 5:13-14. “When Joshua was near the town of Jericho, he looked
up and saw a man standing in front of him with sword in hand. Joshua went up to him and
demanded, ‘Are you friend or foe?’ ‘Neither one,’ he replied. ‘I am the commander of the
Lord’s army.’ At this, Joshua fell with his face to the ground in reverence.” Now, first of all,
that person that Joshua came up to is Jesus. Second thing is, Joshua wasn’t no coward either. And
he’s one of the great leaders we have in Scripture. He walks up to him and goes, you for us or
them? The only time people fell to their face on the ground was when they were in the presence
of God. This is an appearance of Jesus in the Old Testament. And the Jesus here is one with a
sword in his hand, who’s ready to fight.
Well, when Jesus came to earth, though, he was all meek and mild and all that. Yeah, I know we
sing songs like that, but this is the same one. In John 2:13-16, “It was nearly time for the
Jewish Passover celebration, so Jesus went to Jerusalem. In the Temple area, he saw
merchants selling cattle, sheep, and doves for sacrifices; he also saw dealers at tables
exchanging foreign money.” So then he gathered everybody around and said, guys, let’s not do
this anymore, let’s sing “Kumbaya” and we’ll all go out and be friends. That’s not what he did.
Jesus made a whip. So he took the time to go over and get some ropes, bind them together, and
make a whip. “He made a whip from some ropes and chased them all out of the Temple. He
drove out the sheep and cattle, scattered the money changers’ coins over the floor, and
turned over their tables. Then, going over to the people who sold doves, he told them, ‘Get
these things out of here. Stop turning my Father’s house into a marketplace!’”
That Jesus flows in you too, because you have the Spirit of Christ. The Jesus who stood out in
front of Jericho with his sword drawn, ready to fight — that Jesus flows in you too. And the Jesus
that exists now in heaven flows in you as well.
Revelation 19:11-16 — it’s one of my favorite passages right here. I love this picture of Jesus,
because we’re going to be in heaven when this happens and we’re going to come back with him.
“Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named
Faithful and True, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war. His eyes were like flames
of fire, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on him that no one
understood except himself. He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of
God. The armies of heaven, dressed in the finest of pure white linen, followed him on white
horses.” Oh, I’m going to be on one of them white horses, I hope. “From his mouth came a
sharp sword to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will release
the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty, like juice flowing from a winepress. On his robe at
his thigh was written this title: King of all kings and Lord of all lords.”
Man, that Jesus flows in you too. That Jesus is in you too. He’s a warrior, a righteous warrior.
And when he comes again, it’s going to be totally different from the last time.
And so, listen, believers, here’s the deal. Yeah, there’s evil in the world. Do the best you can to
protect yourself and your family. There’s evil that’s trying to confront and trying to take over.
We need to confront that evil and we need to throw it out. We need to preserve and to fight for
our nation, for our country, for the freedoms that were handed down to us by our forebears. We
don’t want to be the generation that loses it. We need to stand and fight for freedom. We need to
stand for the things that are right. And we need to recognize — you know what? The Jesus of the
Bible flows in us. You have everything you need. So love at all times. Share the gospel. Use the
sword of the Spirit, the word of God, to speak truth. But when the time comes — and this may
never come — be prepared to fight for your family, for your homes, for your way of life. Use
whatever weapons are necessary. Your voting is a weapon. Being able to speak at meetings, free
speech, is a way to fight for the things that are right and things that are true. We don’t just have
the spirit of somebody that doesn’t understand. He’s a fighter. He’s a warrior, and you have that
spirit in you.
Would you bow your heads and close your eyes, please? Now, to have that spirit in you, you’ve
got to know Jesus. You’ve got to be saved. Here’s how the Bible says you can have a relationship
with Christ. Number one, it says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. You’ve got
to admit you’re a sinner and ask forgiveness. You’ve got to be willing to do that. And the Bible
says when we ask forgiveness, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. So you’ve got to admit you’re a sinner and ask forgiveness.
Number two, you’ve got to believe in Jesus. Jesus wasn’t just some guy. That empty tomb proves
it. That’s one of the reasons those pilgrims wanted to go back there. I mean, what other point in
Scripture have people traveled halfway across the world just to see a tomb that’s empty? It’s the
proof that Jesus is who he says he is. And you’ve got to believe in Jesus.
The third thing is, you’ve got to confess him as Lord. King of kings and Lord of lords. And he
wants to be Lord of your life — not because he loves bossing people around, it’s because he
loves you. And he wants you to live the best life you can. He wants you to live a life of purpose
and a life that matters. And the only way to do that is by following his will.
So here’s the thing: if you’d like to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, if you’d like to know
that your sins are forgiven, I want to lead you in a prayer of salvation. You can repeat it after me
or pray in your own words. Pray in your heart. God will hear you. But pray with me right now.
“Dear God, thank you for loving me. Thank you for Jesus. God, I know I’m a sinner. Forgive me
my sins. Come into my heart, my life. Cleanse me. Lord, I thank you for loving me. I believe
Jesus is your Son. I believe he died on the cross for my sins. And I believe he rose on the third
day. So today, I trust Jesus as my Savior. And I confess him as my Lord.”
Now, without anybody looking around, if you prayed that prayer today, I want you to know
something. The last part of that verse doesn’t say you do those things and you might be saved,
maybe it’ll happen. It says you will be saved. That means everything’s new for you. Your sins are
forgiven. You’re part of God’s family. You’ve been adopted as a son or a daughter and have
access into the throne room of God through prayer. Your sins have been forgiven. You’ve been
declared righteous. You can go forth as one who knows righteousness because you know Jesus.
Now, I’d like to pray for you if you prayed that today. And I’d also like to encourage you to let us
know. There are a couple of ways on the screen, also in your bulletin, that you can contact us and
let us know you made that decision. We’d love to get back in touch with you, set up a time to
talk, pray with you, to encourage you, to help you as you begin your journey with Christ. We
don’t want anything from you. We’re not going to bug you. We’re not going to ask you for
anything. It doesn’t mean you joined the church. We just love to help new Christians, and we’d
love to help you.
So right now, I want to begin just by praying for you. If you prayed that prayer today and you
meant it — I’m not going to ask you to stand up, I’m not going to draw any attention to you, but
I’d like for you to look up at me so that I can see who you are and pray for you. If you prayed that
today, just look up at me right now and keep looking until I see you. Okay? Yes, sir. Thank you.
All right. Yes, sir. Thanks. Thank you. I’m going to pray for you right now.
Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, for your goodness, for your love, for those who come
to a saving knowledge of Jesus today. Father, I thank you for your goodness, your love, and your
mercy. Father, we pray these things in Jesus’ name. Amen