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How to Prepare for Life's Battles
February 5, 2025 · 38 min
Pastor John Mark emphasizes the importance of preparing for life's battles, drawing lessons from Moses' approach as he leads the Israelites into the Promised Land.
Series "Men's Breakfast" with John Mark Caton February 5, 2025 · 38 min · "Men's Breakfast" with John Mark Caton
Pastor John Mark emphasizes the importance of preparing for life's battles, drawing lessons from Moses' approach as he leads the Israelites into the Promised Land. ...more Show the full description Show less Pastor John Mark emphasizes the importance of preparing for life's battles, drawing lessons from Moses' approach as he leads the Israelites into the Promised Land.
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John Mark is the Senior Pastor of the thriving Cottonwood Creek Church in Allen, Texas, where he has served since 1995.
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Lessons from Moses: Embracing Battles and God's Word 0:02 Welcome to Men's Breakfast with John Mark Keaton. Join us as John Mark shares his insights with other men in his ministry rooted in the timeless truths of the gospel. Today's message will encourage you to0:14 inspire, inform, and invest in the lives of others. This is Men's Breakfast with your host, John Mark Caton.0:23 It's always good for God, for guys to get together in God's house, study God's word, man just grow, in our journey as God places his call on our life day by day.0:35 And so it is good to see you here and it is good to be with you. If you have your bibles or your smart device turn to Deuteronomy chapter 4. We've been walking through the book of Deuteronomy the last couple of0:47 weeks as we're really with, if you're new here, this is Moses as he is preparing the children to go into the promised land. Now, we're going to0:59 see and we're going to read that Moses because of some mistakes he made in his life. He doesn't get allowed to go into the promised land. Joshua, his protege is gonna take over, actually lead the1:11 children of Israel into the promised land. However, I love what Moses does in the book of Deuteronomy and even here is, he doesn't pout, he doesn't cry, he doesn't quit, he1:22 doesn't say, well if I'm not gonna get to go in the promised land, I'm just out. Instead what Moses does said, you know what? Man, I I probably deserve worse than just being left out of the1:34 promised land. How many of us feel that way from time to time when you look at Hey, I don't just deserve not to be in heaven. I probably don't deserve to be close to heaven. Right? But at least God is allowing him to1:46 look at it, see it, it gets up on a mountain. Moses looks into the promised land. God says you're not going, your protege who you mentored and discipled is going, but God1:58 says Moses there's still work for you to do. And so guys I want to challenge you with this when we think about these words today that Moses didn't quit. Maybe you feel like you're on the backside of your mountain, maybe2:08 you're on the downside of the mountain, maybe you're just know from this point on you're just gonna see the promised land, you're not gonna make it in the promised land. Man, let Moses be your example. That whether you2:20 can make it into the promised land or not, here's what you know. There are some wisdom, some experience, in this room that you desperately need to share to the next generation. You2:32 desperately need to make happen for the next generation. And so that's what I love what Joshua is doing. He is talking to people who are actually gonna get into the promised land, make it into the promised land, and he2:43 still has wisdom to give them. That's what we're gonna see in Deuteronomy chapter 4. And as we think about this, this is Moses preparing the the men of Israel, the2:55 people of Israel for the promised land. And I think that there are times in our lives that we have 2 common misconceptions and Moses wants to carve through these and we're going to see this all the way through the3:07 book of Deuteronomy. Common misconception number 1 is if I walk with God and I walk with the Lord, there won't be battles in my life. Smooth into my life. I can love God. I can go to3:19 Bible study. I can go to men's Bible study. I can go to worship on Sunday morning. I can do my devotions and I won't struggle with battles or I might have a battle from time to time. Can I tell you that's just not true?3:30 Man, it is 1 battle after another battle after another battle, man, you would think there aren't any battles. They get out of slavery in Egypt. Guess what? There's a battle. Battle. It's at the Red Sea. Man, am I gonna3:40 have faith to go in or I'm gonna shrink back or is the Egyptian army gonna kill me? They get right across that. There's a battle. They run out of water. They move beyond that. They have another battle. It's the3:51 Midianites or it's the Moabites. It's whoever it is. And so I think there's a common misconception from men that, hey, listen, when I love the Lord, I come to faith, I go to church, then I'm not gonna go through a4:01 battle. Let me tell you what that's wrong, guys. For many of us, there's a battle today. How many of you know that? There may well be. Some of you know there's a battle waiting for you when the sun comes up.4:14 Some of you don't know it yet, but there's a battle coming. So that's a common misconception. I think there's a second common misconception that we think, if I get to my spiritual promised land, when4:26 I grow spiritually to a certain level or a certain place, then there won't be battles. See I'm only having battles that we have this misconception. I'm only having battles because I'm immature in4:38 my faith. Can I tell you that's a misconception? Number 2, because what is Moses doing with the children of Israel? He is preparing them for the4:50 promised land, but he's also preparing them for the battles in the promised land. So guys, here's what I want you to know, as men we are gonna5:01 look at some keys to victory in our lives today and the reason why we need this is because we are always going to be in a battle. Regardless of how spiritual you get, how5:13 how how far along in your faith you get, you're going to have a battle. There it doesn't matter. Whether you're outside the promised land, we saw they struggled with battles for 40 years.5:25 Right? We're gonna talk about 1 today, 1 of the mistakes they made. Man, when they got into the promised land, guess what they had to do? They had to go fight Jericho, and then they had to fight Ai, and then they had to5:34 fight these people, and these people. So guys, when we talk about preparing for the battle, the battle is not just for the spiritually mature. The battle is not just for the dude that's5:46 not in his promised land. The battle is for every dude in this room, every dude online, every day, every week, every month, every year in your life. The enemies5:58 might change, earthly wise, but Satan is always out after you. He is always looking to catch you off guard. He is always6:10 looking to destroy you, your character, your family, your life, your kids, and as men, we've got to stand up and always be ready for fight to fight. So6:21 don't carry any of those common misconceptions that, you know, if I'm a Christian there won't be many battles in my life or there will come a day when I enter the promised land and there won't be battles in my life.6:32 Nope. We're gonna have battles all the time. And so Deuteronomy chapter 4, not sure how many of these we'll get through. Moses just begins to talk to the dudes. Alright? He says,6:44 guys, come here. There's the promised land right over there. Let me just kinda tell you some things. When you get into your promised land, when I get in there, he he says, when you get in there, I'm not going in there6:53 with you. But here are a couple of things that you need to hold on to and make sure you do. And in doing so, you will win more battles than you lose. And we7:05 even see when they get into the promised land, they lose their second battle. How many of you remember? They go whooped Jericho, and they get lit up by AI. Even in your best7:16 moment in your promised land, if you aren't careful and don't fight well, you can get lit up. And the good news is God's grace allowed them to come back,7:28 consecrate themselves, confess their sin, and they went and defeated AI. And so even if you feel like I'm in the midst of a defeat right now, I want you to know, just pause, go back to7:40 God, man, confess your sin, gather the right men around you, and go face the enemy again, and let God give you the victory. So let's just start walking7:52 through Deuteronomy chapter 4, and I'm just gonna read a couple of things, give you a couple of thoughts as you face your battle. Thought number 1, if you're gonna win more battles than you lose, is you need to8:03 listen and hear God's word and do it all the time. So listen to it and then put it into practice to do it. You say, where do you see that? Pick it8:15 up in Deuteronomy chapter 4 verse 1. This is Moses talking. He says, now Israel, here, there it is. Listen to it. Here are the decrees and the laws I'm about to give you and teach you. Follow8:27 them or do it. Notice what he says right there in Deuteronomy chapter 4 verse 1. He says, hear the decrees and the laws, oh Lord, I'm about to teach you, and follow them. It's a both and, it's not8:39 an either either or. A lot of people listen, but they don't do. Man, a lot of people will will hear God's word and listen to God's word and filter God's word, but this8:51 at the end of the day, the the rubber doesn't meet the road. And so if you and I are going to win more battles than we lose for God, then we're gonna have to listen to God's word and we're gonna have to do it.9:03 We have to follow. So here's what he says, verse 1. Now Israel, hear the decrees and the laws I'm about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and may so that you may live and may9:15 go in and take possession of the land the Lord has given you. The God of your ancestors is now giving you. So why do I wanna listen and do it? So I can go into the promised land and I can live and things will go well9:27 with me. Jump down to verse 5. He's he He says, see I have taught you decrees and laws as the Lord my God commanded me. And so that you may there's the9:39 word again, follow them in the land you're entering and take possession of. Now look at verse 6. Observe them carefully. Notice what he's saying. He9:50 said listen, follow, now he's using the word observe. It's the whole idea of not don't just listen, do it. Anybody raise kids in here? You ever looked at your10:02 kids, your teenage kids, said, you hear what I said? Alright. Do that. That was the way Gina and I used to end arguments a lot. You know, you get in those we had 4 teenagers in the house 1 time and, you know, you always10:14 got somebody on the back talk to you a little bit. And you just kinda get to the place where you we're just kinda done with words. How many of you know what I'm talking about? And and every once in a while so we got in10:24 this habit of if someone wanted to say, well, you know, well, what about Jace or what about Jordan or what about Jensen? There was always a what about and we would look at our kids and we'd go, did you hear what I said?10:37 Do that and come back and talk to me. Alright? Don't compare yourself to how clean your room is to Jensen or whatever. The question is we asked you, did did you hear me ask you to clean your room? Alright? Do10:48 that and come back and talk to me. And that's what Moses is saying. Listen. Did you hear what God said? Do that and then come back and talk to him. You know, other times I think that God speaks to us very clearly in11:00 words. We're men. We're men, which just means we're grown up teenagers. Right? That's exactly who we are. That's who we are. And I think there are times that we hear God's word and we start, woah, woah, what about this?11:10 What about this? And I I think God from time to time wants to look at you and look at me and say, did you hear what I said? Go do that. And once you've done that, come back and talk to me. And and so I love this as11:22 he says he says observe, verse 6, observe them carefully for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, to others. So here, if you how many11:34 of you would like for others to see you as wise? Alright. I don't know. You're not raising your hand. That'd be a good thing, dude. Alright. Let's just may maybe you feel like you're so far away from wise. Let's just let11:45 me just ask it this way. Alright? How many of you would like for others to see you as a little wiser than you are? Alright. That's all. Okay. I I tapped in. That's why we're connected here because, yeah. Here's what11:57 I know. I I know people don't look at me and go, that's a smart dude. They just don't look me look at me that way. They here's what they look at me. If if they know me well, you know, they're gonna say that dude12:09 shows up. It just shows up. So I wanna encourage you guys, wherever you feel like you are in your spiritual journey, show up. You know, show up. Even if you feel like you get beat, hey, if Satan12:21 wants to beat me every day, that's great. But he knows I'm gonna show up for the fight. Alright? And so he says, listen, if you observe them, he goes then in carefully walking them, he goes then12:33 you will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations. What is he talking about? He says, listen we go into the promised land. They're gonna be Amorites and Hittites and Jebusites and all of those other12:45 rights and he goes, listen you're gonna have to show up and here's how you're gonna show them that you're wise and understanding. You're gonna show up but you're gonna show up having listened to God's word, obeyed them12:57 carefully and observe them and now everybody's gonna say you know what these are people that are wise in their walk and wise in their faith. So part of it is obedience is what allows others to see our wisdom.13:10 The way you walk is how others know if you are serious about your faith. And so if we are gonna win the victories that are ahead in our promised land or even outside13:22 of our promised land, we've got to listen and hear God's word. Continue to read. He goes, they will know that you're wise and understanding to the nations, others, other men, who will hear about all the decrees13:34 and say, surely this is a great dude or collection of dudes. This is a great nation. What made them a great nation?13:46 Is that they were cohesive, they were together, and they all followed the same script. How do you know if you're watching a good football team? When they all know the play, and when they all do their job. Right? You look13:58 out there and you go, that's kind of masterful. What just happened on the court or what just happened on the field, man, you're like, they're all listening to the coach, to the quarterback.14:10 Quarterback comes to the line, sees the defensive alignment, says we don't need to run against this, we need to throw against this, calls an audible. They all go, yep, we're gonna do that. And you go beat them. That's14:20 and that's how we demonstrate wisdom as men of God is that we say, men, we're gonna do everything God calls us to do. And if God calls an audible, we're gonna do that. And the other nations, the other14:31 people, other folks around us will say, man, surely that is a wise and a great nation, with great understanding. I love what James, the brother of Jesus said in the New Testament. He says, listen, do not merely14:43 listen to the word and so deceive yourself, do what it says. There it is. Guys, if we wanna win win the victories in our lives, it14:55 starts right there. Then we hear god's word and we carefully do what god has called us to do. And when we fail, we back up,15:07 we consecrate ourselves, we confess our sin, and we get back on the path to do it again. So that's thought number 1. Here you wanna know number 2, listen to this. Don't ever add to15:19 or take away from god's word. You'll say that again. Don't ever add to or take away from God's word. You say, where do you see15:31 that? Pick it up. Look at verse 2. Deuteronomy chapter 4 verse 2. Here's what Moses said. Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it,15:43 but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I give you. I I love that you said, where did you come up with that point? Do not add to or take away. I just used Moses's words. How many of you know? I'm just not that15:53 smart. Right? What did Moses say? He says, when you go into the promised land, you're you're gonna be tempted. You're gonna be tempted to add some things16:06 to God's word that aren't in God's word. And what was he warning them against already? The pagan practices and pagan worship and pagan idolatry of those that they're gonna be surrounded with when they go into the16:17 promised land. Right? He goes, or you're gonna be tempted to take some things away About purity and different things and he says, listen. Be careful when you go into the promised land if you wanna walk in16:29 victory. Man, don't add to God's word stuff that you wanna add to God's word and don't take away stuff that you don't want you don't like in God's God's word. And let me tell you what, how many of you know that's a16:40 temptation today? Wasn't just in Moses's day. How many of you know what happened in Jesus's day? You go all the way to the end of the Bible. Revelation chapter 22.16:51 That's that's the last chapter of the Bible. You're right at the end of the Bible. Get us guess what is 1 of the last things that is told to us when we get to the end of the Bible? So now you have Genesis to Revelation.17:03 The canon is closed. Notice what happens in Revelation 22 verse 18. He says, I warn everyone who hears the words of prophecy of this scroll, the bible. If anyone17:14 adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy,17:27 God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in the scroll. So here's what we got. All the way at the beginning of the bible, all the way,17:39 in the Torah, Moses is telling the children of Israel, listen, don't add to it. Don't take away. How many of you know that God's word is sufficient without your word?17:51 Just want you to hear that again. God's word is sufficient without your word. Our job is to listen to it, hear it, apply it and obey it. And so here we at the beginning of the Bible, Moses was18:03 warning the children of Israel, listen when you go into the promised land, don't add to, don't take away. When John the revelator in the Revelation 22, last chapter of the Bible, listen, as you look18:15 back Genesis to Revelation, don't add to it. Don't take away from it. We don't want to do that. But if you think about Jesus' day,18:28 who added to the bible in Jesus' day? Somebody just throw out a word. Pharisees. By the time Jesus showed up, there were so many laws. No 1 knew how to deal with them. Why? They just had their own opinion. They18:39 liked this opinion, so we're gonna add this. And hey, don't do this on the Sabbath and don't do this on the Sabbath. And if a ox falls in the ditch on the Sabbath, you gotta get let it go unless it's my ox usually.18:50 Right? And they had added all of these things. Go to Matthew chapter 7 verse 13, I think it is. Yeah. I hear it. This is Jesus lighting up the Pharisees. He19:02 says, thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition so that you have had that you have handed down and you and you do many things like that. How do people19:14 typically add to the word of God? Jesus points it out, tradition. Tradition. It's been amazing to me over the years that, as a pastor,19:25 28 and a half years, almost 29 years here, there are people that come into our church or they've grown up in our church, they've been in our church, and we'll stop doing something. Right? We'll stop19:37 doing something that we've been doing for a long time. You say, pastor, why would you stop doing something you've been doing for a long time in the church? Let just write this down. It doesn't work anymore. That's19:49 why we do it. Alright? That doesn't mean some people won't love it. But what I've found over the years, just like Jesus found, is that there are some people raise their tradition,20:01 their opinion, what they like up to the level of scripture. And if we don't do this, it's not right. Anybody know what I'm talking about? Right? Man, let me tell you what. Baptists are notorious20:14 for it. How many of you grew in a grew up in a Baptist church? Man, that's how we drive the plane into the ground. We've got these traditions that we've done forever. Alright? And we've gotta be careful that we don't let20:25 our traditions rise to the level of God's word. And that's exactly what had happened with Pharisees is by the time someone had finished talking to the Pharisee,20:37 they didn't know the difference between the Pharisees tradition and God's word. And man and men, if we are going to win our battles that we face and we're gonna influence20:48 people, we have to settle back. We have to ease back on the traditions and our own personal opinion and let God's word stand for itself. Does that make sense? Man, we21:00 truly wanna be a people of God's word. We don't wanna add a bunch of junk and add a bunch of opinions and add a bunch of thoughts. And it's always been, interesting over the years, what were the debate years ago? People21:11 don't go to the movie theater like they used to. Years ago, I used to get this question all the time. Is it okay for a Christian to go to a a movie that is PG? Right? What if it21:23 what if they go to PG 13? And then where there'd be these great debates among godly people in our church who would say, well, I'll never go to anything that's worse than a g.21:35 Right? Anybody remember those arguments that you'd have all the time? Is it okay to listen to non Christian music? How many of you listen to non21:46 Christian music? Alright. Good. Good. Then y'all then y'all can listen then y'all can listen to what I'm listening to when I'm working out. So, because there's not a whole lot of Jesus in it. I'll just tell you21:58 that. But, y'all were supposed to actually laugh at that. No. I really feel terrible for saying that. I'm eighty's rock. That's what When I'm working out, don't don't don't judge me back there. I know younger generation.22:10 But, you know, here's the reality. Those are traditions. Those are ideas. I don't want to be immoral. I don't want to be off base. Right? But I want to make sure that my tradition, my opinion about22:22 what things that need to be done, don't rise to the level of God's work. I don't wanna add to it. That's not what I want. Look at what Paul says, man. Because here's what happens, when I start22:34 preaching my tradition like the Pharisees, what is the natural recourse? I get arrogant and puffed up. I get proud of my tradition. That's what happens to me. Let me tell you, I've noticed it. People say, well, I'll22:45 never go to anything but a G movie, I'm saying. Doesn't that stand for gross? Right? People pat themselves on the back. Well, I only read out of the King James. How many of you read out of the King James? Anybody in22:56 here? It's okay if you do. Yeah. Yeah. Boy, when I first came to Fairview years ago, there were people that would go off to King James retreats. And they would come back and they would sit in my office for hours and talk23:08 about how godly it was to read out of King James. I'm like, I'm just not that smart. Right? I can barely understand my language and I certainly can't read that language. And they were they were23:19 literally, they would walk in with their family King James Bible and sit on the front row and act like they were how many of you have a family Bible at least? Right? That never gets open. They would carry that thing in23:30 there. It looked impressive. You know? It looked impressive. So here's the deal. I'm not picking on people. If you read King James, good. If you have a family Bible, I'm for that. Right? The point is, what does he say?23:41 Don't add to because when we start adding to our own personal traditions, and there are times guys, listen to this. There are times gives God gives me some personal convictions23:54 that are protect me because I have certain battles. Does that make sense? I have certain battles that God will give me some personal convictions to help me win the battle based on24:06 who he created me to be. But my personal conviction about whether I do something or don't do something should not ever become equal with God's word. If you want to ask me about them, I'll24:18 tell you here's how I handle this or here's what I do or here's the guardrails in place for me. But the Pharisees, what they did is they created this whole list of traditions and opinions and then they said, if you24:30 don't live by all these 613 rules, you are not holy. And, they got arrogant and puffed up. And, notice what he says. Jesus said, by the time you add all that junk to24:42 God's word, you've nullified God's word. People can't find God's word because of your tradition. People can't find God's word because of your opinion. So we wanna make sure that we are a people of the book,24:54 but let's make sure the book we're talking about is God's word, not the book of my tradition. Does that make sense? Look at what Paul says in first Corinthians chapter 4 verse 6. He says, now brothers and sisters, I have25:05 applied these things to my myself and Apollos for your benefit so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, do not go beyond25:17 what is written. Do you hear it? So, Paul is circling back. Moses told the children of Israel before they went to the promised land. John told, the people of God, all of us don't add to25:29 it when we talk about Genesis to Revelation. Jesus chastised the Pharisees for it and Paul is laying in out an example for the Corinthian believers. He says, listen. He says, what's the point? Do not25:41 go beyond what is written. Then you will not be puffed up. Paul calls it out. People who live by tradition and opinion have a tendency to be puffed up. They have a tendency to at25:52 least throw off an air that I am I am more spiritual than someone. I am better than someone. I, I have better opinions than someone. Does that make sense? The typical26:05 outcome of someone who wants to add tradition or add opinion is they become arrogant, and they here's the point of being arrogant, they look down on others. So you let someone26:16 struggle. They've got no grace. Think about the Pharisees. Part of the problem with the Pharisees is they had no grace. Right? They had their whole system of26:28 holiness. They were the only ones that knew all the nuances of their system of holiness. Therefore, that allowed them to look down on others. So, I love what Jesus says. Jesus says, you're puffed up.26:40 You nullify God's word. What does Paul say? You have all these traditions. You have all these opinions. You're puffed up. You go beyond what it is. He says, then you will not be puffed up being a follower of26:52 1 of us, over against the other. He says, listen. That's why we wanna be careful that we don't start saying, I follow this person. I follow this person. I follow this person. I follow this person. What's our number 127:03 call? Follow Jesus. I'm gonna encourage you that right now guys. Don't follow me. From time to time it can be funny. Right? Train wreck of my life.27:15 I'll I'll tell you about it. I'll show you a picture of it. But I'm telling you, follow Jesus. Don't follow me. For whatever you do, never follow Hill House. How many of you know that? Right?27:27 Unless you have the video camera on and then come show it on the screen. Man, we wanna follow Christ. See what happens is these Pharisees started following this guy and this guy and this guy and they have their own27:37 nuances and no 1 can measure up. And so, what happens, he says listen, that's why Paul says don't ever follow me or this person or Apollos or Silas. Don't do that. Follow Jesus.27:49 Amen. Keep the simplicity of the word. Man, we think about the reformation, look back on the reformation. Why did the reformation happen? Because you had the Bible, then you had all these traditions that came about,28:01 right? That people started saying, man, we don't know the difference between what's in the Bible and what's your tradition by the church. The whole reformation was about28:13 carving away traditions. Right? So we go back to God's word. That's the whole point is we're reading God's word. We're part of the God's word and that's where we wanna be. So we don't wanna add28:25 to with our own opinions, and guys, y'all have some great opinions. Man, and if God has given you some certain convictions, God bless you. But remember, your conviction28:37 and your conscience from God's spirit is not God's word for somebody else. Does that make sense? It might be incredibly helpful. I'll tell you, I've found over the years that there28:49 are times that I'll meet I'll meet with a man over a cup of coffee, he'll talk about a struggle that he's happened having and I look back over my life, look back over my journey. I said, you know, there are a number of28:57 years ago I was having that same struggle. Here's what helped me. Does that make sense? See, that becomes helpful, but it's not God's word. Because what helped me may not help him. He may29:09 need someone else's way to deal with that issue or struggle. Or he might have a problem that I don't have a clue with. Man, that's never been a struggle of mine. Right? Then I wanna help them find29:20 somebody else that has navigated that same journey, that same struggle. So listen, we don't wanna add to, but here, remember there was a second aspect. What was the second aspect? We don't add to nor do we.29:32 What was it? Subtract from it. Well, we got a lot of people. We got a lot of preachers. Got a lot of churches today.29:45 They're in subtraction mode. How many of you know? They love their and what part do they subtract? They love Jesus. Everybody loves Jesus. What do they subtract?29:57 The hard sayings of Jesus. The calling out of sin in God's word. The stuff that won't make them politically accepted.30:10 So we got a lot of people right now subtract. And So let me tell you what, guys, don't follow a pastor or a church that's gonna do a lot of adding to God's word, but you better not be following a church or a pastor30:21 that's doing a lot of subtracting either. Does that make sense? Man, listen. If you get canceled, you get canceled. But if I'm gonna get canceled, I'm gonna be canceled for preaching30:33 God's word, the good and the bad. And don't you ever think that I preach a message on Sunday morning that had lit me up and worn me out all through the week as I prepared it. Alright?30:46 And and sometimes not only is it God's word that lights me up, it's Gina. She'll say, hey, what are you what are you preaching on Sunday? I don't even wanna tell her. Because she'll sit there and go, oh, yeah. That's a30:57 good 1. Be sure and listen to that 1 over and over and over again. Right? I'm just telling you, God's word wears me out sometimes. There are times I'm like, man, I'm unworthy to31:09 preach this 1. Man, it's a humility before God's word. But we've got a lot of people that wanna add to God's word, but we also have a lot of people that wanna try subtract from him. You you heard this on the news31:21 not long ago. How many of you remember that sparkle creed that came out not long ago? Know what I'm talking about? It was a Lutheran pastor that that developed a creed and and and just31:33 kinda changed everything about it. Why? Because they wanted to accept it. Here, I'll just read it to you. This is this is actually you can go find it on YouTube. I thought we played it in here 1 day, maybe we didn't. But31:43 it was all over the news. It's a sparkle creed. It's it's a creed that's going to accept everybody. And so listen to this creed. The the whole church said it. This is church, Lutheran church in Missouri. Here's what it31:55 said. It says, I believe in a non binary God whose pronouns are plural. Full stop. How many of you can already come up with some things that don't sound right? How many32:07 of you also know that this will play well in much of the national media? Right? So here it is. But that's not the worst part. He says, I this is the32:19 whole congregation. You can go look it up. Just go YouTube, Sparkle Creed, and then delete it. He says, I believe in the non binary God where pronouns are plural. I believe in Jesus,32:31 their child, who wore a fabulous tunic and had 2 dads and saw everyone as a sibling child of God. I believe in32:43 the rainbow spirit. This was in a church. Alright. This is a church. I'm a big fan of rainbows, by the way, but, for other reasons. I believe in the rainbow spirit who shatters our32:54 image of 1 white light and reflects and refracts into a rainbow of gorgeous diversity. I believe in the church of everyday saints. I33:06 actually like that. As a new as numerous creative and resilient as patches of the a patches on the AIDS quilt whose feet are grounded in mud33:18 and whose eyes are gazed in the stars of wonder. I believe in the call to each of us to love is love is love is love. I'm not adding33:30 that. That's actually in it. So, beloved, let us love. I believe, glorious God. Help my unbelief. That was a sparkle creep. Alright? Here's the33:42 point. Alright? Are we supposed to How many of you know we're supposed to love, love, love? Yeah, absolutely. But what's loving is not taking away from God's word. It's not adding to God's word. Let me just tell you33:53 whatever whatever she was, alright, and and and and and leaning of what what she did, listen to this, is not worse than what the Pharisees34:05 did. Moses said subtracting from it isn't any better or worse than adding to it. John, in Revelation,34:18 said subtracting from God's word is not any worse than adding to it. Jesus didn't say subtracting from it is not any worse than adding to it. So the point is,34:30 we wanna be people of the book. Alright? That was impressive, whatever that. I think that was God talking right right there. I think you better listen up. But here it is. Number 1, listen to God's word,34:42 obey it. You'll win more victories than you lose. Number 2, don't add to God's word and do not subtract from it, and whatever you do,34:54 don't gather yourselves teachers who do either of those. When you start listening to a teacher, as good as they are, and enamoring as they are and as engaging as35:06 they are, if you are constantly finding them, adding to God's word by saying, you know, I got this word from the Lord. Let me tell you what, How do you determine35:18 whether a word you're getting is from the Lord or not? Can you support it in scripture? Alright? When someone says I got this word from the Lord and you go, I'm pretty sure that Deuteronomy says35:30 something different. You need to you need to you need to say step back and say hang on. So you don't wanna follow a teacher that's constantly adding to the word of God nor do we wanna follow a teacher that is constantly35:40 subtracting from the word of God. We wanna follow people who are faithful to God's word. Will they get canceled, mocked, made fun of, or harassed?35:53 Go with the guy that is standing on God's word, who's willing to take the heat, fight the fight, live in the battle. Why? Because God's word36:05 is what nourishes us, protects us, and helps us along the way. Don't ever ever question that. Now, let's just continue. By the way, y'all made it all the way to verse 3 in Deuteronomy chapter 4. You proud36:17 of yourself? Give yourselves a hand. That's how slow you are. Wait. Is it past 7 already? Yeah. Y'all are the sorriest bunch of listeners I've36:28 ever heard in my life. Alright. How about this? Y'all want me to finish this next week? Yeah. Alright. So here's what we're gonna I'm a close in prayer. I've got more and, boy, the next one's good.36:40 Alright. But you're just gonna have to wait. Let me pray. God, thank you so much for this day. God, let us be the kind of men that in our everyday life that we listen to your word and we do36:52 that. God, let us not have this common misconception that if we love you or if we're Christian or if we go to men's Bible study, we're not gonna have a battle or battles will be infrequent. We're gonna battle every day.37:04 God, don't ever let us think or anyone in this room think that there'll come a day when I'm so spiritual that I'm in my promised land that there won't be a battle. There'll be a battle every day. And the way to win the37:13 battle is I'm gonna listen to God's word and I'm gonna obey it. Beyond that, God, when I listen and obey, I'm never gonna subtract from it and I'm never gonna add to it. I'm gonna37:25 stand on your word as written. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen and amen. Hey, God bless you guys. Hey, new guys. You 3 new guys. Good to have you today. Have a good 1.37:38 Thank you for tuning in to Men's Breakfast with John Mark Cayton. For more information on John Mark's ministry and resources, please visit johnmarkkayton dot com. Until next time, remember, we're37:50 on this journey of life together.In this video 0:00 Lessons from Moses: Embracing Battles and God's Word
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