First Thessalonians chapter number two. Now you'll be receiving a handout which pretty much gives the outline for the Sunday school lesson. It's not something necessarily to follow along as I present the lesson this morning, but something that you can take with you as a reminder. And I want to speak on the subject of spiritual warfare. and the Great Commission, spiritual warfare and the Great Commission. And I think this is a very appropriate subject as we consider missions and world evangelism and getting the gospel out to a very needy world. But there is opposition. And so we want to talk about that from a biblical point of view and hopefully enable us to be aware To be forewarned is to be forearmed, and also to be in prayer and understand the importance of prayer. So I'm going to read as a beginning here in 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 and looking at verse number 13. The Bible says, for this cause also, thank we God without ceasing, because when ye receive the word of God, which he heard of us, you received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe." And by the way, that's important to understand that the Bible is the word of God. It's not the word of men. If it was the word of men, It would never be trustworthy, it would never be reliable. Now God used holy men and moved them by the Holy Spirit to record His words, but this is the word of God, who cannot lie. Now let's read on from verse 14. For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God, which in Judea are in Christ Jesus. For ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews, who both killed the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and have persecuted us, and they please not God, and are contrary to all men, forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins all way, for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost. But we, brethren, being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavored the more abundantly to see your face with great desire. Wherefore, we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again, but Satan hindered us. For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? For ye are our glory and joy. Now we understand that the single mandate that has been given to the Lord's churches for this age is that of evangelism. The Lord Jesus said, and it's recorded in several places in the gospels and in the book of Acts, and even in the book of the Revelation, that we are to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. The lesson I want to bring here this morning with God's help is that a reminder of the spiritual warfare that accompanies such an activity. And the reason for that is, as the Bible warns us as Christians and admonishes us to be sober, to be vigilant. Why? Because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour. whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accompanied in your brethren that are in the world." And any time a New Testament church engages in evangelism, whether it be local community evangelism, whether it be regional evangelism, trying to reach your own state, or whether it be world evangelism, Every time you preach the gospel, you are assaulting Satan's territory. And he is going to defend that. He's going to fight back against you. And even today, as you as a church, I'm speaking to the members of this church primarily, but as you are contemplating your commitment to the Lord in giving faith promise missions, you are going to face some opposition from the devil. That's the last thing he wants to do or see is an increase in giving through this church, an increase in the opportunities to be able to preach the gospel elsewhere and in new places and to reach more people for Jesus Christ. Satan's goal in this activity of evangelism is to prevent souls from being saved. And the reason is simply this, because when you get saved, you are translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear Son. And Satan has lost out, and he no longer has the same influence in your life. You're not a child of the devil anymore, you're a child of God. And there is a wonderful transformation that takes place whenever someone believes on the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, the Bible tells us, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things have become new. And this is the blessing. We are rescued. We receive, we go from a state of death to life. That's a miracle that God does when you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. But the Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 4, verse 4, that if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost, in whom the God of this world, that's the devil, has blinded the minds of them which believe not. lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." Understand very clearly, this is the devil's goal, is to prevent people from hearing the word of truth. And we see from verse number 13 there that when you receive the word of truth, it effectually works in you, it changes you, it converts you. So the devil would try to pluck the precious seed of the word of God from your hearts. And that's what he's trying to do with people today. In fact, we have an example of that in Acts chapter 13 in verse number 8, but Elimas, the sorcerer, For so is his name by interpretation withstood them. This is Paul and Barnabas. He withstood them as they were trying to preach the gospel. Why? Seeking to turn the deputy from the faith. He didn't want that man to hear the truth. And so he confronted these preachers and did what he could through this sorcerer to try to disrupt it. Praise the Lord, God's power won out on that one. And you notice here in verse 16, Paul is talking about the spiritual warfare that he was facing as he was praying for and desiring to see these believers, these new Christians, in Thessalonica. He said that the Jews were forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins always, for the wrath has come upon them to the uttermost. The devil was trying to forbid them to speak, to keep them quiet. And we have that same problem today, maybe not in the same format, but the devil is trying to keep Christians quiet, to force us into the closet, so to speak, and to keep our faith to ourselves and not to share our wonderful faith with others that they might hear and believe. And so we see that there is intense spiritual warfare that Paul is writing about. And he's writing to a church that was very, very evangelistic. If you look back to chapter 1 and verse number 8, for example, Paul is commending the church here in Thessalonica. He said, for from you sounded out the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God is spread abroad, so that we need not to speak anything. Why this church had a tremendous testimony, not only in their own town or their own province, but in the world, their faith had been spread. And that's the reason why in chapter two, we find that they like Paul are facing this satanic opposition. They suffered for in verse 14 of chapter two, for ye brethren became followers of the churches of God, which in Judea are in Christ Jesus. For ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews." There was a lot of persecution that was taking place. And Paul himself, as the church planting evangelist that God used, along with Silas and Timothy, to preach the gospel there in in Thessalonica, that he himself suffered great opposition. If you look at verse number two in chapter two, but even after that, we had suffered before and were shamefully entreated, as you know, at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention, with much contention. And in verse 18, Wherefore, we would have come unto you, even I, Paul, once and again, but Satan hindered us." Do you get the picture here? That marching forward with the gospel is a hard slog. And that's why in 2 Timothy chapter 2 and verse number 3, the Bible says, endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. And we are to put on the whole armor of God that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. So that's what I want to speak about for a few moments here in this Sunday school hour is the opposition or the spiritual warfare that comes when we engage in the Great Commission. And I want us to look at three things. And if you notice on the handout there, I have three columns. And I want to talk, first of all, about the coliseums of spiritual warfare. In other words, where is the battle being fought? And then I want to talk about the costs of spiritual warfare, what it takes to win through. And then lastly, we'll talk about the compensation. Because at the end of the road, there is blessing. And we need not lose sight of that lest we become discouraged and we give up. So let's talk about this for a moment, beginning with the coliseums of spiritual warfare. Where can opposition to the gospel come from? Well, it can come from three different areas. First of all, in the first column, you'll see that opposition can come from the godless, lost people of the world. Just the average person who is without Jesus Christ and perhaps has a perverted knowledge of God or an imagination religion, they can bring opposition to the gospel. For example, in 2 Timothy chapter 4, in verse 14 and 15, the Bible says, and Paul writes here, Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil. The Lord reward him according to his works, of whom be thou aware also, for he hath greatly withstood our words. Now Alexander the coppersmith was an unconverted, godless, heathen. In fact, he was probably engaged in idolatry and producing idolatrous materials in the city of Ephesus. And he withstood Paul's ministry, and he withstood it greatly. And a lot of times there can be resentment in the world over the impact of the gospel. When people's lives are changed, things change around them. And sometimes that makes people uncomfortable, or they resent what the gospel is doing in removing sin out of people's lives. For example, in Acts chapter 19, verse 23 through 27, when Paul was preaching in Ephesus and the gospel was having great effect, and at the same time there arose no small stir about that way. For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver shrines for Diana, she's the goddess, brought no small gain unto the craftsman. In other words, he had a money-making business selling these little idols of Artemis or Diana, the goddess, that they had a huge temple there in Ephesus, and he was making a lot of money by selling these things to the pilgrims that would come. worshiping a false goddess who could do nothing for them. And when the gospel came, there arose no small stir, as the Bible says. And Demetrius stirred up the people, and he said, moreover, you see and hear that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods. which are made with hands, so that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at naught." So why was there opposition to the gospel there in Ephesus? Well, it was simply they were losing business. They weren't making as much money now because people were turning to Jesus Christ, the true living God. They were being converted, they were being changed in their life, and they didn't want anything to do with idolatry ever again. And they lost their source of income. The Bible says the love of money is the root of all evil. And certainly we see that there. And so sometimes there is resentment from a lost world over the impact of the gospel. And there are wrong expectations sometimes of the evangelist's mission. People have funny ideas about what missions is all about. They think, well, if the missionary comes, he's going to pay for things that we can't afford. He's going to buy things for us. He's going to maybe benefit us in some worldly way or some material way, not realizing that the preacher has come to share the good news. And we see this, for example, in Acts chapter 14, verse 11. When the people saw what Paul had done, he had healed a man, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, the gods are come down to us in the likeness of men. And they were thinking, well, we can get healing. We can get healing for free. Well, Paul's ministry was not healing. That was just a miracle that God used to convince those unbelieving Jews that he was preaching the truth. But they thought, well, this is what missions is all about. And people today even have strange ideas about missions. And when you start preaching the truth, they don't like that. They get uncomfortable. And Paul himself got into trouble. Years ago, I'm not sure if the term is used anymore, but there was what was known as the cargo cult. And it was particularly up in the islands of New Guinea, where there was a legend that a white man would come and he would bring material blessings to the people. And so when missionaries came, they thought, that's what they're here for. They're here to give us things. And when they began to preach the gospel, they met with opposition. That was not in the expectation of the people. And sometimes today when men are sent out and they're going into different countries, particularly those that would be called third world countries, People look at them and say, aha, rich Americans. They've got all the money. And it's all materialism instead of the gospel that people desperately need. And so what I'm saying is that there is opposition to the gospel, and there is a spiritual warfare that comes from just the world itself and unsaved people. But also, it can come from religious people. You would think they'd be happy when people came preaching the truth, but often the case that's not going to be. The religious loss, for example, in Acts chapter 4 verses 1 through 3, as they spake unto the people, The priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands on them and put them in hold until the next day. And they didn't like what they were preaching. And so there was opposition that came from the religious quarters. Sometimes it's resentment over the doctrine that's being preached because it's contrary to what that religion teaches. We have witnessed this in our mission from Bible Baptist Church in Oak Harbor to Fiji in the South Pacific. And Fiji is a very religious country. Most everybody goes to church. If they're not Hindu, they go to church and they're Christians. They call themselves Christians, mainly Methodist. But when you talk to them about how they're hoping to get to heaven one day, well, it was, I was baptized when I was a child. I am living a good life and I'm giving money to the church. And those three things, they are basing their hopes for heaven. And so when our people come in and they start preaching that it's through Jesus Christ that you were saved and it's only through Christ, that's a contrary doctrine. And yes, there has been opposition from the Methodist establishment trying to squelch any of that kind of preaching. We're glad that there is freedom of religion in that country where we can at least preach the truth. But you see, there can come opposition from the religious quarters. It can be, as I said, resentment over the doctrine. When Stephen was preaching in Acts chapter 6 verse 10 and 11, it says that the religious people were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spoke. They couldn't answer to the contrary. When Stephen was preaching the gospel, they didn't have an answer for that. So what did they do? They suborn men, which said, we have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God. And so there was the spreading of lies about the preacher trying to disrupt his ministry. Even in our Lord's day, remember the Pharisees, they were the religious cream of the crop in Israel at that time. And when Jesus went and preached the gospel to sinners, they murmured, saying, this man receiveth sinners and eateth with them. How could he do that? Well, they had no understanding that they're the ones who need the gospel. Jesus said, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. And I'm glad that because the Bible says all have sinned, every one of us stand there in need of salvation. And it comes through our Lord Jesus Christ, through Him and Him alone. But when we preach that message, there's going to be religious people who will become indignant that you are challenging their long-established traditions and where they've been brought up. People say today, well, I was raised this or that, and I ain't going to change. Well, you better change by receiving Christ. Let Him change you, or you'll be lost and go to hell forever. It's as simple as that. We have a message that needs to be preached. And then the third area that there is opposition is from the brethren. Can you believe that? That even good Christian people can inadvertently, I think, oppose the gospel. Now, how do they do that? Well, the example I want to give you is in Acts chapter 11. In Acts chapter 10, Peter was used of God to bring the gospel to Cornelius, who was a Gentile. He was an Italian, a soldier, a captain, and not only to Cornelius, but his family and all of his friends. They were so hungry for truth. Cornelius had tried religion. And the Lord heard his prayer and worked out to send Peter and six other men to come and preach the gospel. And the Bible tells us that as Peter was preaching, before he even got to the invitation, the Holy Ghost fell upon them and they were converted. Their hearts were open and they received the gift of salvation by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. What a wonderful thing. And I'll tell you, when you win a soul to Christ, you're floating on cloud nine. And I think that Peter was probably floating on cloud nine and he came back to his church in Jerusalem to tell them the good news. Gentiles are being saved. And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him, saying, thou wentest in to men uncircumcised and to eat with them." They didn't rejoice that souls were saved. They got upset because as a Jew, an Orthodox Jew, you're not supposed to fellowship with the unclean Gentiles. That was opposition from Christians. They were ignorant Christians, I'll give you that, but this opposition can come in this way. And so there was opposition from the brethren. They had no understanding of what God is doing. And it's so important that everyone here today really has an understanding of what God is doing through this church, and what he wants to do, and what he can do. But we can become closed-minded and we say, well, I'm sitting here, I've got my pew or my seat, this is where I am, and this is what I'm going to do, and no more. Opposition. Now, there can also be friction between church members or between preachers. We see that in Acts chapter 15. In Acts chapter 15, we see this contention that arose between two great men, two great Christian preachers, Barnabas and Paul, and verse 36 of Acts 15, Some days after, Paul said unto Barnabas, let us go again and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord and how they do. And Barnabas determined to take with them John, whose surname was Mark. But Paul thought not good to take him with them, which departed from them from Pamphylia. and went not with them to the work. And the contention, the contention, was so sharp between them that they departed asunder one from another. So Barnabas took Mark and sailed unto Cyprus, and Paul chose Silas and departed, being recommended by the brethren unto the grace of God. So here are two men and there's a contention. There's a disagreement. And the devil would love to get in the midst of disagreements between Christians. Now, I don't believe he did succeed in this case. In fact, God got a great victory through it all. There was no church split. These two men remained friends. They just didn't find that they could work together. They had different opinions on how to do God's work. But God divided them, and instead of one missionary team being sent out from the church at Antioch, two of them were sent out. The Lord's work was double. And that's kind of coming down to the other part of the message here. But what I'm trying to say is that there can be opposition from Christian brethren in getting the gospel out. And sometimes it's just separation and isolation. Paul felt that in 2 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 16, when he was in prison for the last time in Rome, facing death, he said, at my last defense, no man stood with me. I mean, he was there alone and Paul was a man who relied upon people surrounding him and working with him. And there are times where the devil will work on a preacher who's sent to a foreign field, who is lonely. who is craving the fellowship of the church back home and seeking someone to be able to share his burdens with and he feels like he's all alone. And just like John the Baptist who was locked up in prison like a caged bird, he started having doubts. Are you the Christ or should we look for another? And missionaries can be attacked in this way, just through neglect really, because people don't often understand the hardness that they face when they're on the field. Well, the Colosseums, where the battles are being fought. They're being fought out in the world. There's opposition from the unsaved world. There's going to be opposition in religion. They'll be attacked by the religious crowd. And there'll be internal opposition where even well-meaning Christians who don't understand what is going on can stand in the way of the truth being preached. So let's look at the costs of spiritual warfare. There is a cost, and this is important. I realize that not everyone here, most here are not going to be serving on a foreign field or in some evangelistic endeavor, but even as a church member and you're out witnessing in the community, or you're giving in faith promise missions so that others can go. You have to understand that there is a price to be paid. All right, this is not an easy thing. And there are costs. For example, from the ungodly, you can see on the sheet that I handed out, Paul and others had to face a direct satanic attack. When he was confronted there in Acts 13 by Elimus or Elimus the sorcerer, who called himself Bar Jesus, by the way, he said, I'm the son of Jesus. And he withstood them, direct attacks from the devil. Jail time and beatings. We know the story there in Acts chapter 16 in Philippi where Paul and Silas were cast into prison. No, they weren't cast into prison. The Bible says they were thrust into prison. That jailer took great delight in throwing them down the stairs into the lowest dungeon and binding them with chains. Cruel, as Paul later wrote, shamefully entreated. They suffered. there was a cost for them preaching the gospel. But you know, one of the great churches in the Bible was established in Philippi. There were riots in Acts chapter 17, verses one through 10. There were riots when Paul came to Thessalonica. The Jews stirred up all of the population against the preachers, so much so that the brethren said to Paul, it would be best if you got out of town. We can calm things down and continue on. That's a little bit of the context of the text that we started with. And then from the religious crowd, again, there was jail time for the apostles. They were put in jail. In Acts chapter 5, they were beaten and then let go. Not just saying, well, you're free to go, but before we let you go, let's lay a few stripes on you. They suffered for Christ. And there was widespread persecution from the religious crowd, from Saul of Tarsus in particular. And in Acts chapter eight, verses one through four, we see how the church at Jerusalem was actually scattered. And the devil thought, yeah, I've won a great victory there. That church in Jerusalem, the church that Jesus started and left behind, it's pretty well no more. We've wiped out the church. We'll talk about that in the compensation and then the cost associated with spiritual warfare when the brethren, other Christians are being used in some way to discourage God's work. Well, there as we saw contentions based on prejudices in Acts chapter 11. The members of the church in Jerusalem were so narrow-minded that they couldn't rejoice in the salvation of Cornelius and multiple people there in Caesarea. Boy, that's a sad thing when Christians can't rejoice over the salvation of a soul. And then there were broken partnerships. As I mentioned, Paul and Barnabas had to split up and go their separate ways. And these are costs. I mean, that must have weighed heavy on both of the men to have served alongside each other. Barnabas, who mentored Saul and helped him to become the preacher that he was. And now, well, I don't know if I'll ever be able to see him again. They just separated. These are the costs that are involved. And even today, as you make a commitment to give, there's a cost. The faith promise offering is over and above the tithe. It is a free will sacrifice to the Lord. And there's a price if you're going to give as the Lord leads you to give. Well, we'll finish up quickly here with the compensation because, you know, there is great compensation in serving the Lord. And the reason is, first and foremost, is because preaching the gospel to whether it's one soul or to a population, preaching the gospel is God's work. It is what you as a church and we as Christians have been called to do. First and foremost, beyond anything else, any other activity of the church, it is getting the gospel to people who need Jesus Christ. This world is in sad shape. Our nation is in sad shape. And the answer is not in politics, the answer is in Christ. Jesus Christ and the gospel changes people from the inside out. It's not a matter of dressing up and looking like a Christian on the outside, it's getting born again and being regenerated from the inside. And then God works out in our life and conforms us to the image of Jesus Christ. And that is the compensation ultimately. But when you think about it, In the attacks that the Apostle Paul and others received from the world, there was strength and joy. In Acts 5 and verse 41, the Apostles came back rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer for his namesake. There was joy. It intensified their prayer meetings. When they were threatened, they called the church together in Acts chapter four, and the church prayed. And the Bible says, and when they had prayed, the place where they prayed was shaken. And they began to preach. They were filled with the Holy Ghost and began to preach the word of God boldly. I mean, God turned that ugly situation to his glory. And souls were saved and churches were established. The same thing with the attacks from the religious. People were set free from Satan's grip. Remember in Acts 16, that little demon-possessed girl, a fortune teller who was a slave of her masters, who were making her go out and do things that she didn't want to do. But she was in the grip of Satan, but when Paul gave her the gospel, she was liberated, set free. Of course, it made them upset because she was a source of income. They were making money off this poor girl, just like people today are making money off the young people today in such terrible things, terrible ways. But you know, she was liberated. That's a victory. That's a compensation. Other Christians were encouraged. Paul wrote when he was in prison, the first time he said, I'm in prison, but I'm still preaching the gospel. And he said, the brethren are waxing bold because they're seeing me still here in prison. I can't go out and preach, but I'm still preaching. And by the way, souls were saved. You know, one man that got saved in prison was Onesimus. Onesimus was a slave, a runaway slave, and he got saved and went back to his master and became a real blessing to the church there in Colossae or in that area. People were saved, even into Caesar's household. Servants who were in the palace, right up in the White House, people were getting saved, if we could put it that way. And these are the compensations, the souls that are brought to Jesus Christ or through Jesus Christ. When there was opposition from the brethren, when those people complained that Peter had gone and preached to the Gentiles, all that did was open up the world to the gospel. Galatians chapter two and verse nine, Peter said, well, I'll take the gospel to the circumcision, to the Jews. And Paul said, well, I'll go to the Gentiles. And the whole world was opened up to the gospel. That's why we're sitting here today, because of that. There were multiplied evangelistic teams. Instead of one team going out, now it was Paul who took Silas, and we find it was Barnabas who took John Mark. And they both went out and doubled the amount of opportunities to preach the gospel. And again, souls were saved and churches were established. Well brethren, this is just an overview, that's why I gave you a handout, you can kind of read that through and study it through, but understand this one thing, that in doing the work of the Lord, whether it is sending out preachers to go and preach the gospel in the regions beyond, or whether it's you serving the Lord, being a witness and a testimony for Christ, or you participating today in Faith Promise, It's a battle. It's not easy. And you might be struggling with some matters right now. You might be saying, well, I'm really having a hard time with this faith promise. I know God wants me to do something, and I don't know if I can trust Him. Well, just understand, yes, it's a battle, but we're on the Lord's side. You know, that's the exhortation is that we would put on the whole armor of God, that we may be able to withstand the wiles of the devil. And I want to encourage you to do that today, if I may, but hope you would find some help through that handout, a lot of little writing there. I know you'll need a magnifying glass for some of it, but God bless you and thank you very much, brother. So if you give the gospel to somebody, I want you to know that Satan is opposed to that. As a church, this church, the Metropolitan Baptist Church has been involved in giving the missions for many years and sending out missionaries. That's some young men. If you haven't received one of these cards and you need one, I'll call Joshua and I'll call Julian up and they're going to them. Just lift your hand and they'll give you one. You guys can proceed to the back and hand them to everyone who needs one. Young and old can participate. And again, if you're not minded to participate in our Faith Promise Program, please, we're not offended by this. But for our church, I'm trying to encourage the blessings of God in your life to participate in the Great Commission by sending out missionaries. All right, we'll be dismissed and we'll come back at 11 a.m. for our morning worship service. Thank you for your attention this morning.