Hallelujah, the Lord’s good, great and greatly to be praised; amen?  We realize that we are finding ourselves at war in this hour.  We talked about how it’s going to increase as iniquity abounds, as the love of many in the church waxes cold.  They are going to reach back with vehemence with a hatred that is no less than satanic.  We’ve seen it already, a little taste of it, people who used to name the name of Jesus, people who used to be part of our community, people who were knitted into our midst would like to see many of us dead and go to hell.  It’s amazing how professed love can turn into hatred through the satanic wiles of the enemy.  We need to guard ourselves in this hour and make sure we don’t allow ourselves be affected by these fiery darts that are being hurled by the enemy.  Remember, every one of those fiery darts has behind it that same indictment against God, “Has God said?  God’s holding you down, there’s an independence that you can have, there’s a divinity that you can enter into of self-rule, self-governance.  This gospel message, this commitment to the Lordship of Jesus, and this commitment to this His church is holding you back.  You’re missing out on so much of the joy that the world has to offer you.”  That great joy of over a fifty-percent divorce rate; amen?  That joy of secular education where kids can’t even read today and the great state of Virginia is in the process of passing a law where there can no longer be classes offered to advanced students because it makes average students feel bad about themselves.  So, everybody is going to be kept on a level playing field.  Insanity. 

This is the world that we’re living in, and yet isn’t it interesting how so many of those things are still so much of the war that we have to battle against.  Lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the pride of life, constantly being seduced.  As iniquity is abounding and as the love of many within the church is waxing cold toward the lordship of Jesus Christ, toward the building of the kingdom of God, we are admonished, we are commanded, to pray, “Thy kingdom come.  Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10) We are to be praying that the kingdom guidelines would be what we follow in our lives on a daily basis, that we are a people that are here fulfilling the will of the Father.  He’s left us here to finish, through fulfillment both personally and corporately, the establishing of this kingdom and the will of God on the earth.  That’s why He said, “These things shall you do and greater things than these shall you do because I go to the Father.  If I don’t go away, I can’t send the Holy Spirit and you need to be empowered to continue to establish this Kingdom upon the earth.” 

That’s what we live for, that’s what should occupy our time and our energy.  Oh, I know we have to work and we have to make a living somehow.  We know that God has given us richly all things to enjoy.  We’re not talking about a 24x7 form of asceticism or a works mentality.  We are talking about seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all of these other things will be added unto us.  So, what we need to do is be conscious of this continual warfare that is going on and how these fiery darts are coming, these fiery darts that are bringing about deception, the cunning wiles of the enemy.  He knows the things that you and I are vulnerable to and he’s going to continue, one way or another, to try to erode your foundation, the Word of God; amen?