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| Pastor David Jackson |
I had the honor of preaching for my good friend Pastor David Jackson who pastors the LEESBURG BAPTIST CHURCH of non other than Leesburg, TX. While I pastored the LONGVIEW BAPTIST TEMPLE of Longview, TX, David served as a deacon on our deacon board. I pastored David for 20 years and have known him for over 30 years. He surrendered to the ministry and has been in the pastorate for the past 10 years.
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| Mrs. Jean Gunn |
One of the highlights of being able to preach for the dear people at LEESBURG BAPTIST CHURCH is to meet the dear people who have served there for a life time. One of those saints is Mrs. Jean Gunn who has played the piano for over 60 years. This church was founded in 1878 and is still standing by the old time religion. Souls are being led to Christ regularly and baptized regularly. The LORD gave us 2 souls saved and 1 baptism on Sunday.
I taught my Sunday school lesson on “WHO DO I LISTEN TOO?” or sometimes I entitle it “THE LINES OF DEFENSE.”
Galatians 3:1 says, “O foolish Galatians, who hath betwitched you, that ye should not obey the truth…”
Galatians 5:7 says, “Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?”
The Scriptures says it was not a “WHAT” but rather a “WHO” that caused them to be “BEWITCHED.” Peer pressure has always been used by Satan to divert the attention of God’s people from “truth” to being “betwitched” and to disobey “truth.” We all love to be loved and if we are not careful we will sell out truth for that love and respect.
The Scriptures in Galatians give us four lines of defense and four to whom we are to pay attention too. The local church in Galatia left the truth because of a personality. Do not let anyone intimidate you away from “truth.” We have a head on collision in these Scriptures between “truth” and a powerful “who.”
1) THE SCRIPTURES – Galatians 4:30, “Nevertheless what saith the scripture?” This is the first line of defense to keep us from Satan’s clutches. Man can ignore the Holy Scriptures and that is foolish!
2) THE HOLY SPIRIT – Galatians 5:16-18 – The Holy Spirit is the second line of defense. Man can “quench” the Holy Spirit – I Thessalonians 2:19. The Holy Spirit teaches us the Holy Scriptures and thus strengthens us and calls to rememberance those truths from the Scriptures.
3) THE CONSCIENCE – Galatians 6:3, 7 – Man can deceive himself while God calls on His children to “Be not deceived…” Man can “sear” his conscience. This is the third line of defense.
4) THE AUTHORITY – Galatians 4:1 “Now I say…” – Galatians 4:11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, the Apostle Paul inserts his authority and this becomes the last line of defense. Dr. John R. Rice use to call these “authorities” God’s Deputies on earth. In order to have an orderly and strong society we must have authority. (Romans chapter 13) When all else fails the last line of defense before Satan takes over a man’s life is the authority who stands between him and Satan.
Satan does not present himself in a red suit, with a pitch fork in his hand, and smelling of sulphur. II Corinthians 11:14, “And no marvel: for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.” He is a smooth operator! He wants to take advantage of our insecurity and with his suave manner escort us around the Scriptures, next quenching the Holy Spirit, next searing the conscience, and rebelling against the authority which God Himself has placed in our lives to protect us.
When I enrolled into Michigan State University in the fall of 1963 it was the height of student rebellions on our college campuses. Our generation was called “Rebels without a cause.” May I suggest that to obey truth is to rebel against Satan and to obey Satan is to rebel against truth, thus we are all rebels. The truth is we ought to be “Rebels with a cause.” Nothing wrong with being a rebel if you are rebelling against Satan and his non-truth.
