HEROES
HEROES
Memorial Sunday, May 30, 2021
Pastor Carolyn Sissom
As should always be our Christian custom, we again gather today unto Jesus Christ and honor the heroes who have fought and died in American wars. We also honor Christian heroes who have fought the good fight of faith and died for the gospel of Jesus Christ. We the church must bear the responsibility to preserve the honor due those who fight for our country.
In a time when the “lawless one” is waging war against Law and Order, we as Christians must stand strong in the battle. We must uphold the arms of our law enforcement; the right of individuals to bear arms; and our military to be allowed to continue in their creed to defend this nation against all enemies foreign and domestic.
1 Ti. 1:8-9: We know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully. Knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person; but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers, fornicators, homosexuals, kidnappers, liars, perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine.
The “lawless one” hates the moral code of the law. The Law of God is good. The Law is established to bring conviction of sin to the unrighteous, evildoers and rebellious. The Law will identify sin and sinners, thus the present demonic assault on Law and Order.
The “lawless one” has schemed to pervert our language creating a new vocabulary now identified as “woke.” This perversion of language has attempted to redefine a “hero.” This week George Floyd was celebrated one year after his tragic death as a hero. The policeman who is responsible for his wrongful death was tried and convicted. George Floyd is not a hero. George Floyd’s death was tragic, but wrongly being redefined and used as a political football to destroy law and order.
The “lawless one” used his death to destroy property, burn buildings, loot stores, murder, and violently attack our Police Department plus demand they be defunded.
2 Thessalonians 2:9: The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders.
For the Church this is our hour. The conquest---the act of conquering---has commenced. This is neither warm-up nor scrimmage; this is the real thing. It is not time to hold back. Now is the time to give your all to the Kingdom of God. With a spirit of excellence, we must be giving everything for advancing the cause of Jesus Christ.”
Not only has Almighty God called you and I to be brave and courageous, He has commissioned us for these important days. We need to be prepared for the conquest, which brings about a swift and sure change. God’s plan for His people is the plan of victory, not defeat. There is no defeat in Jesus.
Christianity is not passive, it is powerful.
The Spirit of the Lord is calling for the Lord’s army to arise, taking hold of the Kingdom with true spiritual power and force. Remember the Lord stated that forceful saints would take the Kingdom of Heaven.”
Mt. 11:12: From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence and violent men take it by force. (KJV)
John the Baptist was the first martyr in the New Testament killed by violent beheading. Violent men continue to attack Christians and the Law of God upheld by Christian values.
Battles will increase however the victories will be overwhelming.
We are mighty, not in our own strength, but in the Lord’s power and might. It is only by the power of God’s spirit that we are enabled to overcome the schemes of the “lawless one.”
2 Thess. 2:7: For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but the one now restraining will do so until he is out of the way. (KJV)
These are exciting days of conquest and confrontation, building and battling. The Lord is tearing down, but he will rebuild.
The Lord has issued an ultimate command. It is unmistakably clear. As followers of Christ, we are to be bold, brave, and extremely courageous. The Church is to arise and war alongside the host of Heaven’s Armies to confront the spirit of lawlessness being released upon our land by the “lawless one.”
Paul charged Timothy with what is necessary to wage a good warfare:
1 Timothy 1:18-19: This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck. (KJV)
It is imperative that we enter the battle with a “good conscience.” That means, there is nothing Satan can accuse us of that has not been settled with the LORD and covered by His saving Blood. This also means that we have to wage a good warfare concerning the prophetic Word spoken into our lives. We must apprehend that for which we have been apprehended.
Paul continues to charge Timothy in 2 Timothy 1-5 (Amplified): You, my son, be strong (strengthened inwardly) in the grace (spiritual blessing) that is (to be found only) in Christ Jesus. The (instructions) which you have heard from me along with many witnesses, transmit and entrust (as a deposit) to reliable and faithful men who will be competent and qualified to teach others also. Take (with me) your share of the hardships and suffering (which you are called to endure) as a good (first-class) soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier when in service gets entangled in the enterprises of (civilian) life; his aim is to satisfy and please the one who enlisted him. If anyone enters competitive games, he is not crowned unless he competes lawfully (fairly, according to the rules laid down).
A true hero is someone who in the face of danger and evil combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, boldness, and strength. It is the Holy Spirit who gives to each one of us boldness and courage.
The righteous shall be bold as a lion.
At our 2018 conference, The Scepter of the King, Kirk Harris carved for us a scepter with a lion’s head.
The Lion is a type of Christ (Rev. 5:5).
The Lion is a symbol of God’s mighty protection for His people (Is. 31:4).
The Lion is a symbol of strength (Jdg. 14:18; 18:2; Samuel 1:23).
The Lion is a symbol of courage (Prov. 28:1).
The Lion is a symbol of ferocity (Gen. 49:9; Numbers 24:9)
The Lion is a symbol of the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:9).
The Lion is a type of God’s executing judgment (Lam. 3:10; Hos. 5:14).
The Lion is a type of brave, bold and righteous (Prov. 28: 1; 2 Samuel 2:23)
“The Spirit of God (Theos) is raising up another generation of heroes in our day. We are watching prophetic scripture unfold before our eyes. These are challenging days that call for valiant men and women to step forward into their divine destinies.
Scripture notes outstanding brave heroes from the tribe of Gad who went to David in the wilderness.”
1 Ch. 12:8: The Gadites separated themselves unto David into the hold to the wilderness; men of might, and men of war fit for the battle; that could handle shield and buckler, whose faces were like the faces of lions, and were as swift as the deer upon the mountains.
“The writer of Chronicles introduces these men as aggressive experts with weapons of protection and reveals their immense value and worth (1 Chronicles 12: 9-14).
The leader is Ezer; Obadiah was second in command; Eliab was third in command; Mishmannah was fourth in command; Jeremiah was fifth in command…These men were army officers, the weakest was equivalent to a hundred troops, and the greatest was equivalent to a thousand.
These mighty men crossed the Jordan in the first month when it had overflowed all its banks; they fought all who lived in the valleys, causing them to flee to the east and west. The men didn’t hesitate---they moved at a moment’s notice, accomplishing all they set their hearts to do.
The prophet Daniel says when a person truly is aware of who God is, he or she will be released with awesome power to accomplish outstanding deeds for God.
Daniel 11: 32b: …the people that know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.
One of my favorite Bible Heroes is the Apostle Paul:
The gospel power of the all-powerful name of Jesus of Nazareth was the watchword and the life-motto of this great soldier of the cross, from the hour he first lifted his sword, until the hours of his closing years, he laid that armor down and the good fight was finished.
“He nobly redeemed his pledge, upheld his testimony, and fulfilled his commission.”
Legend and history record that Peter spoke these parting words to Paul just prior to their execution in A.D. 67:
“Go in peace, Preacher of good tidings, and Guide of the salvation of the just”.
I will close this exhortation with a one of my favorite quotes from another hero, President Ronald Reagan, in his second inaugural address in 1985:
“History is a ribbon, always unfurling. History is a journey. And as we continue our journey, we think of those who traveled before us…Now we hear again the echoes of our past: a general falls to his knees in the hard snow of Valley Forge; a lonely president paces the darkened halls and ponders his struggle to preserve the Union; the men of the Alamo call out encouragement to each other; a settler pushes west and sings a song, and the song echoes out forever and fills the unknowing air.
It is the American sound. It is hopeful, big-hearts, idealistic, daring, and fair. That’s our heritage. That is our song. We sing it still. For all our problems, our differences, we are together as of old, as we raise our voices to the God who is the Author of this most tender music. And may He continue to hold us close as we fill the world with our sound---sound in unity, affection, and love---one people under God, dedicated to the dream of freedom that He has placed in the human heart, called upon now to pass that dream on to a waiting and hopeful world.” (American Patriot’s Bible)
Post Script: Wednesday morning, after recovering from an un-diagnosed and debilitating malady (tongue in cheek), I was seeking the Lord for no reason except just to have Him talk to me. I heard this scripture. I believe this is God’s message for the whole church who will follow Him into this new season:
Song 2:10-12 (KJV): My beloved spoke, and said to me, “rise up my love, my fair one, and come away. For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle dove is heard in our land…Arise, my love, my fair one and come away.”
Song 2: 10-13 (PT): The one I love calls to me: Arise, my dearest, Hurry, my darling. Come along with me! I have come as you have asked to draw you to my heart and lead you out. For now, is the time, my beautiful one. The season has changed. The bondage of your barren winter has ended, and the season of hiding is over and gone. The rains have soaked the earth and left it bright with blossoming flowers. The season for singing and pruning the vines has arrived. I hear the cooing of doves in our land filling the air with songs to awaken you and guide you forth. Can you not discern this new day of destiny breaking forth around you? The early signs of my purposes and plans are bursting forth…There is change in the air. Arise my love, my beautiful companion, and run with me to the higher place…
I hear “Change of Season,” “Come of up Higher,” “that which is before us is a beautiful season.”
Carolyn Sissom, Pastor
Eastgate Ministries Church
Scripture from K.J.V. Amplified and P.T.
2 Th. 2:8: Then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.