Besieged

By Jason Lovelace

 

Keys for Today:

“The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.”

– Nahum 1.7

 

“Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance.”

– Psalm 32.7

 

“Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me.  I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me:  he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.”

– Micah 7.8~9

 

“I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from evil.  They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.’”

– John 16.15 ~16

 

“If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.”

– John 15.18

 

“Marvel not if the world hate you.”

– 1st John 3.13

 

“These things have I spoken unto you, that ye might have peace.  In the world ye shall have tribulation:  but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

– John 16.331

 

What is a siege?  What does it mean to be besieged?  What weapons are used in a siege, and what do those who are besieged do to fight back?  In today’s world, how are we besieged?  How are people of this world besieged, and what are we besieged by?  Are Christians besieged?  If so, how so?  When you see a castle, what do you think?  What thoughts, words, and/or ideas come to mind?  Why were castles built?  Why did the U.S. Army build forts in the Old West back in the history of the USA?  Why were the great castles of Japan, China, and Korea built so long ago?  Is there a spiritual, eternal connection to a castle or fortress when we see them in this day and age?

 

In The World But Not Of The World

As believers in Jesus Christ, the Lord Himself gives Christians today a singular fact:

 

“…I have chosen you out of the world…”2

 

Friends, the simple fact of being a Christian is that we have been called out of the world.  In essence, we are inhabitants of the world, but we are no longer citizens of this world.  In fact, John chapters 15 through 17 spell this out rather clearly.  Jesus states time and time again that we – those of us who have chosen to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour – are not of this world, but now citizens of heaven.  When we come to Christ and confess our sins, repenting of them, and asking Christ to enter our hearts and lives, we are redeemed.  What does that word redeemed mean?  Here are a few definitions of the word to redeem:

 

·          To buy back:  repurchase; to liberate3

 

·          To get or buy back; recover; to set free; rescue; to deliver form sin and its penalties; to fulfill as a promise.4

 

·          To ransom; release; buy up; to free by paying a ransom; deliverance5

 

 

Essentially, when we come to Christ in repentance and forgiveness we are bought back from sin, eternal death, and the control and world of the Devil, Satan.  We then “change citizenship” of heaven as it were.  It is no different than what we see in history.  When the slave trade was at its height in Africa, often certain slaves were – in a way – bought back from those who’d captured them.  The slaves would be lined up and directed towards a slave trader and his ship.  In the course of the procession of slaves heading to the ship, if the chief of an African tribe or a wealthy merchant saw slave that he wished to free, he would throw a rope noose around him or her.  The redeemer would then pay the purchase price of the slave to the trader, and the freed slave would be able to simply walk away, but often they would serve the person who freed them.  This noose signified that the slave was free.  It’s no different with us as sinners:  the devil has us lined up, and we’re heading to the slave ship.  When we call on Jesus, he throws his noose around our necks, and through the blood of the cross, paid our ransom.  We are then free to follow him.  To put it a better way, this is what happens to us when we come to Christ:

 

“For ye are bought with a price…”6

 

“Ye are bought with a price…”7

 

We become citizens of heaven when we accept Christ and, in essence, we are merely passing through this world on our way to heaven.

 

Citizens of Heaven, Hated By the World

There’s just one small problem to being a citizen of Heaven in this world:  we are “public enemy #1”.  Jesus again promised this would be the case, as we read from our keys above:

 

“If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.”8

 

The Apostle John also states the case quite succinctly:

 

“Marvel not if the world hate you.”9

 

You see?  When we choose Christ as Saviour, and make the decision to follow him, we become the enemies of the world.  The reason is because when Adam and Eve sinned (See Genesis 3), control of this world was given over by man to the devil, Satan:

 

“Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.”10

 

“Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince and power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience…”11

 

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”12

 

It’s because the devil has been given power over this world that we become enemies upon receiving Christ as Saviour, and the devil will use every tool in his repertoire to assault, attack, and cause his followers to hate us.

 

The Siege Weapons of the Devil

Has anyone seen the movie, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers?  How about The Lord of the Rings:  The Return of the King?  Have you read the Books?  How about the Classic Movie, El Cid:  Has anyone seen this one?  How about Gladiator?  If you’ve seen these movies (or any similar to them) or read books concerning warfare in time from late Ancient times to the early Renaissance, what kind of weapons do we see?  What kind of tools do kings or armies use to batter down and/or take a castle or fortification?  Have you studied the US War Between the States (also popularly known as the US Civil War)?  What kinds of weapons were used in the siege of Vicksburg?  If you have studied or watched movies concerning sieges, whether they are from ancient times to the 20th Century, you may see different and various vehicles and structures used to bring a walled city, Castle, or fortification to its knees.  You may see siege towers – huge, moving towers made of wood and covered with leather, having a gangplank so that soldiers may rush across and attack the walls of a castle or city.  You may see catapults that send rocks, fiery bombs, or disease–ridden trash into a castle.  You may see trebuchets, large instruments that can send rocks hurtling hundreds of feet into the air for a mile.   You may see battering rams which pound at the doors or weak points of a fortification so that warriors may enter in and capture.  In similar fashion, the devil has siege weapons as well. 

 

The Devil’s Siege Tower – Sex Apart from Marriage:  One of his greatest weapons of this day and age is sex.  Turn on a television, go to a movie, read a magazine, even drive down the road and look at a billboard, and it won’t be long before we see something being advertised with sex.  Television shows, movies, and magazines make light of sex, and teach people to engage in sex in any form except for how God created it – in the bonds of marriage.  Friends, illicit sex is like a siege tower for the devil:  by it he can enter in and destroy your life!  There is countless information, which proves that sex apart from marriage carries consequences of disastrous nature, yet it is this information that we never hear form the media.  This is what makes sex apart from marriage like a siege tower:.  Paul speaks directly to this danger:

 

“Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ?  Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot?  God forbid. What?  Know ye not that he which is joined unto an harlot is one body?  ‘For two,’ saith he, ‘shall be one flesh.’  But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.  Flee fornication.  Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.   What?  Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?  For ye are bought with a price:  therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” 13

 

Sex apart from God’s plan is disastrous, and if we let immoral sex into our lives it will be the ruin of us.

 

The Devil’s Battering Ram – Violence:  Can anyone name a good action movie?  Do you know who’s a great action movie star?  When we watch action movies these days, how much violence do we see?  Who’s seen Saving Private Ryan?  Has anyone seen any of the Saw Series of movies?  When we watch a good action flick, how does it make us feel?  What about the violence?  Here is a famous quote:

 

Violence begetteth violence14

 

Here are some other quotes concerning violence:

 

“…he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword.”15

 

“Whoso sheddeth men’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed…”16

 

“Put up again thy sword into his place:  for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.”17

 

What all this means is that violence, when it is portrayed, causes more violence, and those that take up the sword (or any other weapon for that matter) to shed blood will him/herself have their blood shed in a violent way.   A short perusal of history serves to confirm this truth.  Ernesto “che” Guevara , revered by the masses today as some sort of rebel hero, whose face emblazons t-shirts all over the world, was in reality one of the worst and most violent killers of all time.  He met a violent end trying to stir up revolution in Bolivia after Fidel Castro kicked him out of Cuba.  Adolf Hitler, who ordered the deaths of more than 12 million untermenschen, ended his own life by swallowing cyanide and shooting himself with a pistol.  The serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer – sentenced to life in prison for the brutal slayings of more than a dozen people – was himself brutally murdered in prison.  Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the shooters at Columbine, turned their guns on one another after killing fifteen of their classmates.  This is the result of violence.  Even worse, those who watch and take in a regular “diet” of violence soon become desensitized to it.  Part of the reason for the collapse of Ancient Rome was simply because the Roman masses couldn’t get enough bloodshed in the arena, and it’s happening in the USA today, too.  We are seeing more and more movies plumbing the depths of depraved violence, and it is creating a generation described as the following:

 

“There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men.”18

 

Take a look at our inner cities, and what do we see?  Take a walk inside any of our schools in this post-modern age, and what do we find?  People are becoming more and more violent, less and less caring of others, and less and less compassionate at younger and younger ages.  Why?  Because we have been taught here in the USA that violence is okay.  We are being taught day in and day out that abortion on demand is an acceptable form of birth control despite the violence incurred by the baby.  We are being led to believe that mercy killing and assisted suicide are acceptable forms of terminating life when a doctor or family member decides that quality of life is no longer present.  Case in point is the Terry Schiavo case.  Ms. Schiavo was – for some as yet undetermined reason – rendered to a physical state of dependence on her husband.  When her husband decided that she was no longer living a quality life, he decided to end her life by removing her feeding tube via court order.  This was done in spite of efforts by her parents and brother (not to mention then Florida Governor Jeb Bush, the Florida State Legislature, and a host of others) to save Ms. Schiavo’s life and have her move in with her parents so that they could care for her.  It is interesting to note that when this decision was made and Ms. Schiavo was allowed to starve to death, her husband had already “moved on” by shacking up with a girlfriend he’d had for over nine years, fathering two sons by her.  His actions were less about his wife’s needs and more about his own.  Friends, this is where violence takes us, and this is why violence is such a danger.  It is a devilish battering ram that will render us insensitive if we allow it into our lives.

 

The Devil’s Trebuchet – Drugs and Alcohol:  Possibly the greatest and most destructive weapon that the devil has in his arsenal is drug use and abuse.  Today, Alcohol is big money.  Beer commercials are usually the most entertaining, and the best ones come out during the Super Bowl, where companies may spend multimillions for a single 30-second spot.   Do you know of any catchy phrases or jingles from Beer Commercials?  One that comes to this writer’s mind is “Less Filling, Tastes Great!” from the Miller Brewing company.  It was aired throughout the 1980s and early `90s, and starred a host of former athletes of all stripes.  Yet the problem with alcohol is that it is the number one reason that families break up.  It is also reported that 72% of all criminals got their start by first drinking themselves drunk.  It’s really no different than other drugs.  Marijuana is said to be a gateway drug to other forms of drug abuse.  Today, there is no bigger drug problem than the use of Ecstasy and Crystal Methamphetimines (Crystal Meth for short) aside from alcohol abuse.  While the Bible has no direct mention of drugs, it does speak out against drunkenness19, 20 and also of being addicted to the Gospel21.  And though there are those who state that the Bible allows alcohol consumption as a normal and acceptable, the fact of the matter is the Bible speaks out against drinking in many places22.  Alcohol and drugs are destructive weapons of the devil.

 

The Devil’s Sappers – Disobedience to Parents (and God):  How many of us think that Mom’s and Dad’s rules are just too tough?  How many of us think that our parents’ rules are just too impossible to follow?  Are there certain rules that you don’t like?  What are they?  Did you know that disobedience to parents is one of the warnings God gives us in his Ten Commandments?  Did you know that there is no easier way for the devil to disrupt and destroy a household than through the disobedience of children?  Did you also know that disobedience to parents is disobedience to God?  Here is what Moses wrote concerning habitually disobedient children:

 

“If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them:  Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and to the gate of his place:  And they shall say unto the elders of the city, ‘This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.  And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die:  so thou shalt put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.”23

 

This may seem harsh, but friends, when we read the Ten Commandments as found in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5, we see that God considers disobedience to parents to be a capital offence, and one that will shorten the physical lives of those who are living in disobedience to their parents24.  And ultimately, disobedience to parents is disobedience to God.  We have a prime example of how disobedience can disrupt a family in the story of Isaac, his wife, and his two sons, Esau and Jacob.  Because Esau and Jacob were both disobedient, it nearly brought to ruin the life of one of the Patriarchs, forcing the brothers to separate for twenty years25.  The reason the United states of America – yea, the technologically advanced nations of the world, as well – is precisely because we are raising a generation of spoiled brats, who are taught by the mainstream media and psychiatrists an psychologists that children should be allowed to do as they please.  Though sex and violence are likely the top spots for lyrics in modern music, disobedience to parents has been a part of popular music since the 1960s.  Friends, this weapon of the devil – disobedience to parents – is one that is wrecking our society form its very fabric.  The more we allow and wallow in this form of Godless selfishness, the more our society will become depraved, debauched, and distant from God.

 

A Christian’s Siege Defense Weapon

There is only one, but it has many, many facets – trust in God.  The best way to defeat the siege towers of immoral sex from the devil is to keep our minds on things above 26, 27.  Turn off the television when sexual immorality is being portrayed, or simply leave the TV room.  If a movie is playing and sexual immorality is being shown, fast forward past the sex scenes (if it’s a video cassette or DVD), go get a coke and/or some popcorn (if you are at the theater), or simply walk out of the movie (better yet, if there is a hint of sexual immorality in the movie, don’t even watch it).  Ditto that to movies and TV programs which show violence (especially the graphic kind – though, in the case of Saving Private Ryan, it is necessary for adults to see and know the price our Grandfathers and great-grandfathers paid on the Normandy beaches.  As Steven Spielberg stated, Saving Private Ryan is not a movie for anyone under the age of 18).  If a song comes on the radio that speaks of sex, violence, drugs, and/or disobedience to parents, turn it off, or switch stations.  Same for magazines and books and internet websites that promote any of the things mentioned above as weapons of the Devil.  Most importantly, ask God for help.  We can do nothing without God (see John chapter 15), and if we try to fight the devil his weapons, and temptations alone, we will fail and fall miserably.

 

Bombarded On All Sides

When we take a look at the situation for Believers in Jesus in this day and age, things don’t look good.  Media outlets – especially Television, movies, Newspapers, the Internet, and Magazines – constantly decry Christian and Biblical values, all the while bombarding the senses with every kind of debased and debauched form of entertainment:  Movies continue to plumb the depths of the depravity of society; television has become a cesspool of violence, drug abuse and addiction, and sexual innuendo; Magazines push the envelope, blurring the lines between what is artistic and newsworthy, and what is pornographic and decrepit; the internet is now home to grisly photographs, graphic sex and violence, and pedophiliac predators of every stripe.  Radio and music produce and fill the airwaves with songs with lyrics that fifty years ago would have been criminal to even think.  Day after day, hour after hour, the sights, sounds, and smells of the enemy bombard those of us who follow Jesus Christ.  Most of what we see, hear, and understand form the enemy seems harmless enough, but when we take a closer look, we see the telltale signs of the devil.  The Apostle Paul states it best:

 

“We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our own body.  For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.  So death worketh in us, but life in you” 28

 

Here, Paul is telling us that we are literally bombarded by the enemy…but things don’t look so bleak.

 

The Legend is Here

During the Texas War of Independence form Santa Anna’s Mexico, the Alamo was one battle in which the Mexican Army had to literally deal with a few legendary heroes:  James Bowie was famous for his fighting and toughness on the Early US Western Frontier, carrying his large and soon-to-be legendary knife, later called the Bowie Knife.  James Bonham had been a fierce Indian fighter, frontiersman, and trapper.  Probably the most legendary was a gentleman by the name of David “Davy” Crockett.  If anyone had led an adventurous and legendary life even before the Alamo Battle it was Crockett.  He had served alongside Andrew Jackson in the US Indian Wars of the early 1800s, had fought and killed bears, was a skilled marksman with a Kentucky Long Rifle, and had served two terms in the United States House of Representatives.  It is said that when Crockett came to the Alamo with 30 to 50 Kentuckians and Tennesseeans, those in the fort cheered wildly, with one stating that having Davy Crockett was as good as having thirty more men.  Further, following the end of the Battle of the Alamo, two of the survivors, upon identifying Crockett, stated that more than a dozen fallen Mexican soldiers surrounded his body.  Friends, in the same way, we are besieged by this world.  As Paul states above, we are pressed in, persecuted, and hemmed in by the world.  That’s the bad news; but the good news is that Jesus Christ has promised to be with us.  Look at what the Lord says here to Joshua:

 

“There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life:  as I was with Moses, so will I be with thee:  I will not fail thee nor forsake thee…Have not I commanded thee?  Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid neither be thou dismayed:  for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” 29

 

We can overcome the bombardment, the siege, and the assaults by Satan if we will stay close to the Lord, because he is with us!  Listen to what he says to Moses:

 

“‘Certainly I will be with thee…’” 30

 

And just as God was with Moses, so will he be with us!  The Alamo had legends like Bowie, Bonham, Crockett, and Travis; don’t we have a greater with us?  The men of the Alamo and of battles similar to them, such as Thermopylae and King Leonidas and his 300 guardsmen, were battles where the siege was lost; aren’t we in a battle and a war that is already won?  And if Christ has already won the battle, can we not hold out against the besieging assaults of the devil?  After all, he has promised to be there in the fight with us.  31, 32, 33.

 

The Bottom Line – Remember our Weapons and We Can Withstand This Siege

Friends, if we keep in mind the things that the Lord has spoken to us through his written word, we can withstand this siege form the devil and form the world.  Daily, we must take up the armor of God34 and stand to fight against the devil.  So long as we remember that the Lord Jesus Christ is standing with us, we will win, and we can withstand this siege.  For with God, nothing is impossible35.  If we stand with him at our side, victory will be ours, and is ours already.

 

Conclusion – Are You Holding Out?

How’s it going with you?  Are you holding strong to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and withstanding the siege of the Devil?  Are you rising day and night and spending time with the Lord?  Have you asked Jesus to come into your heart, and now things look particularly hopeless?  Have you asked the Lord to sanctify you and fill you with his Spirit, only to run into a plateau and a rut?  Have you given heed to the call of God on your life, but are things seemingly going haywire in front of your eyes?  Have you given in to the devil’s lies, allowing his siege weapons to do in your defenses, and giving him free sway in your life?  There is great news for you today!  You can have the Lord as your hope and stay!  All you need do is ask him to come in, set things right, and he will.  Ask him to clear up the doubts, to clean away the confusion, and to straighten out the worries, and he will do it36.  Trust in him, and come to him today.

 

Invitation

Have you given in to the devil?  Have the walls of your heart and life been broken down, and the enemy allowed to rush in?  You can, right now, where you are, ask the Lord to come into your heart and life.  All you need to do is ask, and he will come in.  He awaits at the door of your heart37 for you to answer and allow him in.  If you come unto him, he will not turn you away38.  Come to Christ today, and accept him into your life.  He will forgive you and give you a new and better life, and set you on the road to eternity and prepare a place for you in heaven39.

 

Prayer

Father in heaven, people face things in the world today that, just a few years ago, didn’t even exist.  We are seeing things played out before our very eyes that cause the mind to wonder, and the heart to break.  Lord, we who follow you are bombarded day and night with the assaults and besiegement of the Devil.  We pray for strength, today, O Lord, and ask, In Jesus Name:  Will you help us?  Will you walk by our sides?  Father, there is probably someone reading this today who has a life that is next to hell on earth.  There are probably those right now who are in the fight of their lives with the devil, and they are losing, not sure where help will come from.  Will you remind us, Lord, that you are never more than a cry away?  Will you help us and strengthen us for the tasks we must do in thy name?  Help us all, Lord, we pray, and we ask, in Jesus’ Precious Name, Amen.

 

Verse to Remember:

“I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.  My help cometh from the Lord, which made Heaven and earth.  He will not suffer thy foot to be moved:  he that keepeth thee will not slumber.”

– Psalm 121.1~3

 

“Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens.”

– Psalm 124.1

 

Endnotes

 

1.  All Scripture is taken from The Authorized King James Version of the Bible, London, The United kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland:  Published 1611

 

2.  The Gospel According to St. John:  Chapter 15, Verse 19 

 

3.  Webster’s Third New International Dictionary of the English Language Unabridged, ©1968 Merriam-Webster, Springfield, MA; Philip Babcock Gove, Ph. D., Editor-in-Chief:  p.1902

 

4.  The Everyday Encyclopedic Edition of Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language, ©1966 The World Publishing Company, Nashville, TN, USA:  p. 622

 

5.  Strong, James, LL.D., S.T.D. - The New Strong’s Dictionary of Bible Words, ©1999, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, TN, USA:  p. 210

 

6.  The First Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians:  Chapter 6, verse 20

 

7.  The First Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians:  Chapter 7, verse 23

 

8.  The Gospel According to St. John:  chapter 15, Verse 18

 

9.  The First Epistle of John:  Chapter 3, Verse 13

 

10. The Gospel According to St. John:  Chapter 16, Verse 11

 

11. The Epistle of Paul the Apostle Paul to the Ephesians:  Chapter 2, Verse 2

 

12. The Epistle of Paul the Apostle Paul to the Ephesians:  Chapter 6, Verse 12

 

13. The First Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians:  Chapter 6, Verses 15 ~ 20

 

14. Martin Luther King, Jr. – Speech, 1958

 

15. The Revelation of St. John the Divine:  Chapter 13, Verse 10

 

16. The First Book of Moses, Called Genesis:  Chapter 9, Verse 6

 

17. The Gospel According to St. Matthew:  Chapter 26, Verse 52

 

18. The Book of the Proverbs:  Chapter 26, Verse 14

 

19. “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit…” – The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Ephesians:  Chapter 5, Verse 18

 

20. “Therefore let us not sleep as do others; but let us watch and be sober.  For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.” – The First Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Thessalonians:  Chapter 5, verse 7

 

21. “I beseech you, brethren, (ye know the house of Stephanas, that it is the firstfruits of Achaia, and that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints,)…” – The First Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians:  Chapter 16, Verse 15

 

22. See for reference:  Genesis 9.20~27; Proverbs 20.1; 21.17, 31; 31.4~7; Song of Solomon 1.2; Isaiah 5.1; 28,7; Hosea 3.1; 4.1; Habakkuk 2.5; 1st Timothy 3.3.  It must be noted that Psalm 104.5 and 1st Timothy 5.23, and Isaiah 55.1 refer to wine as a medicinal (medicine in ancient times isn’t like what it is today).

 

23. The Fifth Book of Moses Called Deuteronomy:  Chapter 21, Verses 18~21

 

24. See for reference Exodus 20.12; Deuteronomy 5.16; Leviticus 19.3; Ephesians 6.1~3

 

25. See for reference Genesis 25.19~35.29

 

26. “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee:  because he trusteth in thee.” – The Book of the Prophet Isaiah:  Chapter 26, Verse 3

 

27. “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.  Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth.  For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” – The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Ephesians:  Chapter 3, Verses 1~3

 

28. The Second Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians:  Chapter 4, Verses 8 ~12

 

29. The Book of Joshua:  Chapter 1, Verses 5 and 9

 

30. The Second Book of Moses, Called Exodus:  Chapter 3, Verse 12

 

31. “And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again unto this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.”  – The First Book of Moses, Called Genesis:  Chapter 28, Verse 15

 

32. “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”  – The Gospel According to St. Matthew:  Chapter 18, Verse 20

 

33. “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.” – The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews:  Chapter 13, Verse 5

 

34. See for reference Ephesians 6.10~18

 

35. See for reference Luke 1.37

 

36. “Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.” – The First Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Thessalonians:  Chapter 5, Verse 24

 

37. “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock:  if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come unto him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” – The Revelation of St. John the Divine:  Chapter 3, Verse 20

 

38. “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” – The Gospel According to St. John:  Chapter 6, Verse 37

 

39. “Let not your heart be troubled:  ye believe in God, believe also in me.  In my Father’s house are many mansions:  if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” – The Gospel According to St. John:  Chapter 14, verses 1 through 3.

 

 

 

 

 

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