Battlefield of the Mind - Dr David Donovan

Part 7 The long-anticipated event in the calendar of the Christian Church is not Christmas or Easter, but the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Paul writing to Titus, refers to this event as “…that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” (Tit. 2:13). Peter refers to this day as “…the day of the Lord” (2 Pet. 3:10), while Jesus calls it “…that day” (Mt. 24:36).  Whatever name one wishes to call it by, the fact that Jesus is coming again is the clear testimony of Holy Scripture.  What if a group started teaching that Jesus had already come but no one saw Him?  Would you believe it?  How could you refute such a claim from the Word of God?  Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that Jesus came spiritually in 1914.  They claim it was an invisible coming despite Jesus stating that His coming would be in the clouds in great glory (Mt. 24:64). How does one get around such a clear statement as “ Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him” (Rev. 1:7)?  We shall consider these questions along with others in this seventh teaching part.      Download teaching notes (pdf) https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/bethesdashalom/7_Did_Jesus_Return_in_1914.pdf

Judges 6:33-40 The men God sets His hand upon for use aren’t supermen; they’re human men like you and me, fraught with human weakness and marred by many insecurities. Any good biography worth its salt will not only describe the mighty feats of the man it purports to represent but also his frailty.  When the Spirit of the LORD comes upon a man/when the anointing of God is resting upon God’s servant, He ministers in a power and an anointing that cannot be explained apart from the language of the supernatural!!  It’s not His strength it’s not His power, it’s not his grace, it’s not His ability, IT’S GOD’S!  It’s God’s strength, it’s God’s power, it’s God’s grace, its God’s ability!!  We look and think, what a man but we’ve got it all wrong!!  Rather, we ought to say, what a God!!!  In this fourth part of the sermon series, we consider Gideon the man!

Part 6 The dictionary definition of the word resurrection is “the act of bringing someone back to life”.  Resurrection is not resuscitation.  When someone is resuscitated, they are brought back to life very soon after death. Resurrection, however, is bringing again to life after the person has been legally pronounced dead.  In both cases, the bringing back to life involves a physical body.  A resurrection without a body is nonsense.  Imagine if when Lazarus was raised from the dead, one party claimed to see him alive while the women were seen carrying his corpse away.  Rumours might well surface of seeing the "spirit" of Lazarus but everyone would agree, that Lazarus is dead since a resurrection requires a bringing again to life of the body.  Jehovah's Witnesses have a very strange dilemma facing them.  On one hand, they teach that Jesus was raised from the dead, but on the other hand, they teach that Jehovah destroyed His body!  Whatever spin one may desire to put on this, one is left with the same problem, a supposed resurrection without a body!   In this sixth teaching part, we examine the Watch Tower's teachings regarding Jesus's resurrection and compare them with what is taught in the Bible. Download teaching notes (pdf) https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/bethesdashalom/6_The_Bodily_Resurrection_of_Jesus.pdf

Judges 6:25-32 Before Gideon could reform a nation, he had to first reform his house!!  The altar of Baal MUST come down and an altar for Yahweh be established!!  See where revival begins!  Admittedly, this is a costly ask — it always is with God.  Can I encourage you — PAY THE PRICE AND GO THROUGH WITH GOD, it will be the best thing you ever do!!! 

Part 5 To deny the deity of Jesus Christ is to be left with a question of paramount importance that demands an answer. If Jesus is not God, then who is He?  The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society have their answer to this question as do the Muslims and the New Agers.  However, when one looks at the alternatives being offered, it becomes deplorable.  Heretics think that by robbing Christ of His place in the Triune Godhead and stripping Him of His deity, they automatically disqualify themselves from needing to provide a rigorous argument for their claim. When one puts the question to Jehovah’s Witnesses, “Who was Jesus Christ before coming to earth” the answer that they will give is Michael the Archangel.  In the absence of any meaningful biblical support, we shall weigh this claim against a mountain of evidence to the contrary and demonstrate that Jesus is none other than God. Download teaching notes (pdf) https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/bethesdashalom/5_Is_Jesus_Michael_the_Archangel.pdf

Judges 6:7-24 When circumstances sink so miserably low, we grow accustomed to it and can’t see how things can ever change.  WE FORGET!!!  Every revival has begun from the place of low ebbs!! Moses didn’t come on a fluffy cloud with a bolt of lightning to deliver Israel.  Where did God find him?  In a place of low ebb, his people were oppressed and enslaved by the Egyptians!  In the days of Gideon, it was the same.  The Midianites were instruments of humility to turn the hearts of His wayward people back to Him.  When Israel cried out to God, God raised up a deliverer!  From whence did God find this man?  In the palaces of power and influence?  On the contrary; God found His instrument of revival by the winepress, threshing a handful of wheat and hiding in fear.  Men love to look on the outward appearance, but have yet to look where God’s eyes are found – on the heart!  This sermon is an encouragement for believers.  It matters not how incapable you may feel you are. God has a work for you to do in His power!

Part 4 Whenever the doctrine of the Trinity comes under enemy fire, it is a direct assault upon the persons of the Godhead and thus a direct assault on God Himself.  The Apostle John understood this when in his day he contended earnestly for the verity of the Christian faith against an early form of Gnosticism called Docetism.  John shot it straight and made no bones, saying, “Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also” (1 Jn. 2:23).  Meddle with the Son and you meddle with the Father; deny a cardinal tenet of Christ’s nature, and you lose the Father in the process!  You cannot have it both ways and yet the irony is, the cults insist you can.  Whether it be Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, or Christadelphians, each attack the deity of the Son of God, stripping Him of His eternal glory while at the same time insisting that they still have the Father!  Concerning the person of Christ, Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that Jesus is a created spirit not differing in substance to an angel.  They believe and teach that there was a time when the blessed Son of God was not!   In part 4 of this teaching series, we confront this error and present Biblical evidence proving the deity of Christ. Download teaching notes (pdf) https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/bethesdashalom/4_The_Deity_of_Christ.pdf

Judges 6:1-12 When a generation loses touch with God and the favour of the Lord is taken away, the next generation coming after will have to start all over again!  I don’t know if you’ve ever had the experience of demolishing a wall.  I’m no builder, but I know for sure that it took whoever built the wall a whole lot longer to build it than it did for the person smashing it down.  My dear people, look around and see; you don’t need me to tell you that we are living in days of great spiritual declension.  This land of ours that once enjoyed regular seasons of refreshing and harvest blessing has for some time now been crippled in the grip of a dearth.  As we begin this series, looking at the life of Gideon, we begin with the sin of God’s people and His remedial judgements. What was true in the days of Israel, is true in our day.  This is a call for the Church to seek the face of God in humility, prayer, and repentance if perhaps the Lord might turn His face again towards His people.

Psalms 62:1-8 Deliverance is not always instantaneous. Sometimes there is delay, and it’s in those seasons of waiting that if we’re not careful, we can lose hope!!  This sermon is an encouragement to the Body of Christ NOT TO LOSE HOPE IN THE WAITING!!  Hope is not a throw of a dice, there’s no chance with God.  He doesn’t deal with probabilities, HE IS GOD OMNIPOTENT!

Part 3 Jehovah’s Witnesses, like all true Christians of every denomination, are monotheistic in their expression of belief. They, like us, believe in one eternal God.  The point of divergence comes however when they maintain that the singular being of God is without a plurality of persons.  The doctrine of the Trinity affirms that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society deny this truth and aggressively attacks this position in its written literature. In this teaching, we take to task the literature of the Watch Tower and counter its heretical claims with Biblical truth.  For Jehovah’s Witnesses, the name of God which it maintains is Jehovah is everything.  But is His name Jehovah?  Does history bear this out? How should the divine name of God (Tetragrammaton) be transliterated?  What if, from the Watch Tower’s own Bible, one could prove that Jesus is Jehovah?  We endeavour to answer all these questions, proving conclusively that Jesus Christ is God. Download teaching notes (pdf) https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/bethesdashalom/3._Doctrine_of_the_Trinity.pdf