Taking The High Ground

God equips those that he has called. So you have all power and glory as well in your hands.

It’s an incredible feeling. Stand on a piece of. Were a guy that was not a trained military officer. He was a college professor, a professor of rhetoric, a professor of languages. He understood his mission. He understood what had to be done. As a matter of fact, I wanna share with you the words that Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain.

Wrote to the Governor of Maine while he was still a professor. I fear this war so costly of blood and treasure will not cease until the man of the North are willing to leave good positions and sacrifice their dearest personal interest [00:01:00] to re rescue our country from desolation and defend the nation national existence against treachery.

But this is what I want you to do. My Christian brothers and sisters change those words from the man of the North to the body of Christ. Because until the body of Christ is ready to leave their good positions and sacrifice their dearest personal interest to rescue our country from desolation and defend the national existence against Treasury.

Treasury, this is where we’re going to continue to be now. It was incredible. Did you see the faces of those gentlemen when he said bayonets? They were like, eh, they even said, we can’t stay. , we need to go away. But Chamberlain understood his orders. His orders were, you must hold this high ground at all costs with all hazard, because if you do run away the entire army of the Potomac 90,000 will be [00:02:00] lost.

See that conversation that Colonel Strong Vincent had with Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamber? It’s the same conversation God had with each and every one. . God said, I am placing you on high ground and God has said that. I do not want you to surrender. I do not want you to retrieve. I want you to hold this position at all costs with all hazard.

I don’t care if you’re outta ammunition. I don’t care if you’re a little hurt. You gotta hold this high ground. So if you have your Bibles, please turn over to. Chapter two verse one, and some of y’all saying, is there really a person in the Bible named Herba? I said yeah. Sometimes y’all also read those minor prophets.

Micah, Malachi Herba, Amos Joel in Herba two and one. It says this. These are the orders that God gives to you. I will stand on my guard post and station [00:03:00] myself on the ramp part, and I will keep watched to see what he will speak to. And how I may reply when I am reproved. Then turn over to Haac three and 19 and Haac three and 19 says, the Lord God is my strength and he is made my feet like feet.

It makes me to walk on the high ground. That’s where you’re supposed to. And if we talk about how we have all power and all strength within us, then we need to understand what it means to be on the high ground. When we talk about the state of the country, when we talk about the state of the Union and what is the state of the church, they go together because the state of our union, the state of the country, is directly reflected upon the state of the church.

And when you don’t see the country being strong, when you don’t see the country standing upon [00:04:00] fundamental principles and values, . Remember, I think it was John Adams that said that this nation, this constitution was made for a moral and religious people. That’s right. Yeah. That’s what one of the founders said.

But where do we find ourselves today? Because the reason why we are in this position, the reason why we have people saying that we need to mutilate our children because God couldn’t get man and woman, Adam and Eve. , you can decide whatever you want and we’re going to not even let you know parents, what’s going on with your children.

We’re gonna do this to your children when you have 50 plus different genders. Thank God I’m not taking biology today cuz I struggle with male and female, but now you’ve got 50 plus different genders. Why? Because the church, it’s not standing on the high ground when you have the sexualization of our children, even here in Dallas, Texas.

You have a drag queen show at a gay bar. Even over in Royal Oak, Texas in Tarrant [00:05:00] County, you have a drag queen show for kids. When you have churches that are having drag queen bingo, church ain’t on the high ground. They’re tucking tail and running. Even though we did get the reversal from the Supreme Court because they finally understood constitutional juris.

The Supreme Court can’t make a law. The Supreme Court can’t make a right. They can’t grant a right to a person to murder. An unborn baby will defend the womb. They have pushed that down to the state. But think about it. What’s happening right here in Dallas, Texas? Dallas, Texas is now seeking to be a sanctuary for murdering unborn babies in the womb.

All these megachurches we got here in. Where are the pastors? Where are the churches doing? Like Joshua walking around the city hall of Dallas, like they walked around Jericho shouting and screaming to tear down the walls of this evil saying, we will not have that here in Dallas, Texas. Dallas County, anywhere in Texas.[00:06:00] 

Amen. Because we surrendered the high ground. And therefore this type of evil is happening in our country. Once upon a time, y’all remember when we could sit down as a family and watch the Grammys? How many of y’all even dared to watch a commercial about the Grammys? When the Grammys now has a person dressed up as Satan and men in women’s dresses jumping around like demons?

that’s prime time on a Sunday night. How does that happen? Because we’re not holding that high ground. Come on. So the state of the country is directly related to the state of the church and the lack of what’s happening, the rise of secular humanism. We’re removing the Judeo-Christian faith, heritage. I remember a time when we would say the Pledge of Allegiance in.

I remember a Tom when I was in high school, before [00:07:00] every high school football game, a local pastor would come out and pray before the football game. Now we got people talking about that’s separation of church estate. You can’t do that. That’s a bunch of mess because when you read the original letter of Thomas Jefferson from the, to the Danbury Baptist Convention, the Danbury, Connecticut, it was about the church and their business not being impacted by the.

That’s right. But now we’re being told that you guys can’t talk about God and Christ and all those things outside the wall. True. Oh, by the way, a couple years ago, they came down and said you had to close the doors of your church, which is a complete violation of your very first liberty in your Bill of Rights.

The first Amendment. The first thing is the freedom of religion and the free exercise thereof. It’s not freedom of speech, it’s not freedom of expression, it’s not freedom of the press. It’s freedom of. Because the founding fathers knew how important our faith was in the marketplace, in the foundation of this country.

But why do we [00:08:00] have this current state? It’s cuz we’ve abdicated the high ground. Let me sh share with you some little statistics that I pulled down. This comes from 2022. One in two Christians do not vote in state and local. So in other words, as we’re sitting here right now, half of y’all ain’t voting in state or local elections, and why do you have school boards that are saying that a biological male can go in the bathroom with your daughters six and 10?

Born again, Christians say their faith did not influence. 70% of churches were silent and did not encourage their church to vote 1%. Only 1% of Christians said that parental rights or religious freedoms were a top concern for them in this last election, even though [00:09:00] 87% of adult households in the United States own the Bible, only one in three 36% of Evangelical Protestants say they read the Bible.

Non-biblical beliefs are infiltrating the church. Only 17% of Christians who consider their faith important attend church regularly and actually have a biblical worldview. Only 17%. 61% of Christians agree with ideas rooted in new spirituality. What’s new spirituality? 28% of Christians strongly agree.

All people pray to the same God of spirit. 32% of Christians believe if you do good. You’ll receive good.

54% of Christians resonate with post-modernist views. 36% accept ideas associated with Marxism. That’s why you got a church here in Dallas. You can see it from I 20. They got a BLM flag on the side of the church. The founders of BLM were vowed [00:10:00] Marxist, but that’s on the side of church. 29% believe in ideas based on secularism.

Nearly three quarters of US adults, 73% say religious should be kept separate from government politics. It ain’t about religions, about our faith. Just 25% say government policy should support religious values and beliefs. The Jobs Johnson Amendment. Remember that guy Lindon Base Johnson? He was the president.

He was a senator from here in Texas. Lyndon Bayes Johnson. That’s the Johnson Amendment when he was a senator, which really was all about censoring pastors in their speech. This limits the political activity by religious organizations and most Americans, 70%. Most Americans, 70% want churches and other houses of worship to stay outta politics.

In other words, shut up. We don’t want to hear about your beliefs, your values, your views. We don’t want to hear about. Jesus Christ and the goodness and salvation. [00:11:00] We don’t want to hear any about any of that unless the people that are professing a worldview, then they can come onto the stage in the church.

Creflo Doll brought Stacey Abrams into his church and had her up there. A woman that said that murdering a baby in the womb is kinda like a budget item, veto. It’s just like a budget. Or how about Rafael Warnock, the senior pastor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s church, Ebenezer Baptist Church, right there in the heart of my neighborhood, who believes in murdering unborn babies in the womb, was brought up on stage and pastors praying over him.

See those kind of folks, they can come on. . But if you are professing the word of God, then all of a sudden you can’t. Second Chronicles 2017 said, you will not need to fight this battle. Stand firm. Hold your position and see the salvation of the Lord on [00:12:00] your behalf, o Judah, and Jerusalem. See, when you’re standing firm, when you’re doing what the Bible says in Matthew when it talks about being the salt and being the light, and why was salt so important back in ancient.

South Preserves. You ever heard that thing? He’s lost you. You lost your salt. That’s where the church is because if the church were still the salt, it will be preserving this great constitutional republic. It will be preserving our fundamental principles and values, but instead we got people going out there and trying to fit the body of Christ or fit Christianity.

into the secular world. See, Romans 12 and two tells us very simple. We are not supposed to conform to the world. That’s right. We’re supposed to transfer, transform the world through the renewing of our mind. But yet, what do we [00:13:00] see happen? We continue to see people trying to fit it in and be accepted, give you great case in point, how many people watched the Super Bowl?

It’s not trick question. Come on. I know all y’all. Okay. Y’all know y’all watched the Super Bowl cuz everybody here in Dallas hates the Philadelphia Eagles and y’all wanted to see them get beat and that’s why everybody was happy on Monday here in Dallas, Texas. Cuz Philadelphia got beat in the final three to four seconds.

You just watched their faces sink. But the real thing did you pay attention to a couple of the commercials that were running during the Super Bowl? This whole Jesus gets us. Jesus ain’t supposed to get us. We are supposed to get him, but yet we have a Christian organization and they thought they should be pat on the back for running these commercials.

See, God gets us knowing that we’re sinful and he said his only begotten son. Yes. To be on the cross to save us and [00:14:00] guarantee. And ensure us eternal. . But now what we’ve got people trying to do, because they don’t understand that you’re not supposed to conform to the world, you’re supposed to transform the world.

All of a sudden now they’ll say, Jesus is your buddy. He your Pi, he your pizo, he’s your running buddy. Back in my day where you say the Ace b Coon. That ain’t what Jesus is. Jesus is the king of king. He’s the Lord of lords. He’s our savior. That’s what he came to do for us. But now all of a sudden we’re trying to make Jesus fit into a secular narrative, which says, Hey, he can sit down on the couch and, Hey, what’s up Al man?

Jesus. I’ve been sinning. I’ve been doing, Hey, it’s cool, man. I got you. We tight. You know I’m here with you no matter what. That ain’t what Christianity’s. You’re supposed to go with a contr heart. You’re supposed to kneel down and ask for forgiveness. Yeah, we’re not perfect people, but we have a perfect God who gave us a perfect son who went up on the [00:15:00] high ground and he said, if I be lifted up, I’ll draw all men unto me.

But yet we’re trying to undercut that to make Jesus acceptable. Pastor Chris always, he, he sometimes comes to. He’s a little upset and he’s a little down about some things and I had to boost up my pastor cuz that’s what you’re supposed to do. Because some people come to him and say, Hey pastor, I don’t want you talking about this stuff.

Woo . And I don’t, you I really don’t think that I want to be here at Soldier anymore cuz of some of the things you’re talking about, some of the things you’re doing. See, that’s a Boberg dog. Yep. Y’all know Boberg doll. Remember Boberg doll in Afghanistan? The guy who in the middle of the night packed his crap and took off and left, and American soldiers lost their lives trying to find him.

See, we don’t need the type of Christians that don’t understand what it said in her back. That you have a place, you have a [00:16:00] place of duty. You’re supposed to be there. You’re supposed to be standing watched, you’re supposed to be up there on that high ground. You are the person to my left and to my right.

You’re my battle buddy. You’re my foxhole buddy. And as it says right here, and second Timothy chapter four, verse two through five, second Timothy chapter four, verse two through five. What does it. Preach the word, be ready in season and out of season. Reprove rebuke exort with great patience and instruction for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled.

They will accumulate for themselves, teachers in accordance to their own desires. In other words, they’re trying to conform it to the worldly perspective. Not the biblical perspective. And will turn away their ears from truth and will turn aside to myths. Jesus gets us. I gotta tell you that.

That to me, that’s offensive. Yes. [00:17:00] And it’s offensive to Jesus. He didn’t come so we could get him. He came so that we could be a part of what he is giving us. It was just that gift of salvation, eternal. But you pastors be sober in all things. Endure hardship. Do the work of an evangelist and fulfill your ministry.

Lemme tell you something, you got too many pastors worrying about a 5 0 1 tax status. Man, you know I can’t say this cuz you know I might lose my 5 0 1 tax status. Let tell you something, pastors, when you show up on Judgment Day, Yeah. God ain’t gonna ask you. Did you hold onto your 5 0 1 Cun tax status?

Can I see your 10 99 ? Can I see your file forms? No. He’s gonna ask you one single thing. Did you preach the word in season and now, yeah. Did you protect my flock when I put you in charge? When I gave you this unit, which is your church, did you stay on the [00:18:00] high ground? Did you defend the high ground or did you surrender?

Did you. , did you cause my body, my army of the Potomac to get surrounded? To get captured and be defeated? That’s what he’s going to be asking. We serve this mighty God. But the thing is what we have to understand, and lemme tell you what, sir. Pastor Chris, pastor Terry, pastor Vincent, Kevin, doing a great job.

But as we would say in the military, an organization is only as strong as the sum of its weakest parts. So if I have a battalion, I got a weak squad, I need to focus on that weak squad. Why? Because a weak squad makes a weak platoon and a weak platoon makes a weak company. And a weak company will make my battalion week and a weak battalion will make the entire regiment week.

And a weak regiment makes the whole division week. It starts with each and every one of. You’ve got to make the commitment yourselves [00:19:00] to own the high ground and especially in your homes. The reason why we have a lot of problem with our kids today, because once again, we wanna be friends with our kids, just like every, all of some people telling us that we gotta be friends with Jesus.

Yeah, what a friend we do have in Jesus. But lemme tell you something, you ain’t doing what’s right. The hammer can come down on you too. The exact same thing in your household parents. The hammer needs to come down on your kids if they’re not doing the right thing. Be the grown up, be the adult. Because if we don’t do these things, if we continue to have these weak parts, then it’s going to infect the body just like cancer.

Just think about it. I can’t even make the thing a little bit. Teeny tiny cell can destroy a whole body. And that’s what you have to be thinking about. That’s why it’s so important. So Sojourned could be as strong as it could possibly be, but if the church a couple of blocks down or wherever is not as strong, then it negates who you are.[00:20:00] 

Remember what it said about iron sharpens iron and that’s what we have to be doing. It’s so difficult because you go out there as a strong Christian and then the people in the world say, what about this guy here? He says he’s a Christian and he don’t talk like you. He doesn’t say these type of things.

That’s cuz he don’t believe anything or she, they aren’t rooted in truth. They’re just one of these fly by night kind of Christians. They go, one of these happy to glad. They’re not out there talking about thus says the Lord, and therefore you get judged against that standard. See if all of us are on the same sheet of music.

If all of us Christians understood our foundations, our principles, all of us realize that we’ve got to stand on the high ground and we have to do what is necessary to protect it and guard it. That’s right. Regardless of the circum. , regardless of what the world is gonna say about you, what is that something Michael Smith, it may look like I’m surrounded, but I’m surrounded by you.

This is how I fight my battles, and it is a battle.[00:21:00] 

You’re on the high ground and every single day the enemy is attacking you. Just like the 20th Alabamians, we’re attacking up that hill, and as you heard ’em say, they’re coming. There’s only way sometimes that you can stop that enemy is if you decide that you’re gonna go on offense. If you decide that you’re gonna have the initiative, if you decide that you’re gonna have the momentum, if you decide that even though you may be out of ammunition, it may look like I’m surrounded, you’re gonna tack down that hill.

You know my favorite scene. , and this is my little personal sword. Beautiful little piece of work is crafted over in Germany. It’s a German cavalry sword, but my favorite part of that vignette, that little scene, was when Chamberlain’s charging down the hill and he runs into the Confederate [00:22:00] officer and the confederate officer pulls his revolver out on.

That really happened, but the gun did not go click. What happened in truth was that the Confederate officer missed Chamberlain at point blank range, but Chamberlain was not phase one bit. He lowered his sword. He put it through his throat and he said the pistol, and the man said, you’re a prisoner, sir. And what did he tell him?

Wait. . See, when you understand the strength that you have and the sword of the spirit, you can go up to the devil and you can tell him, Isaiah 54 17, no weapon formed against me shall prosper. You may think you got a revolver, but you’re gonna miss me. Yeah, and with my sword, I’m gonna point it right at your throat, devil.

And you’re gonna be my prisoner, and you’re gonna put down that revolver. Amen. And then [00:23:00] you just wait here. I’ll deal with you later. See, that’s what happens when you understand the power that you have as a Christian.

Now, outside in the foia, there’s a sword up there. The thing I like about Pastor Chris, I could just see, they say break glass in case of emergency. I could see Pastor Chris going out there and breaking that glass with that sword and pulling it down and going out there like Braveheart and saying, Bennett charge, because that’s the kind of man that he is.

Yeah. Pastor Chris is not gonna sit around an idol. Pastor Chris is not gonna allow this church to be led. A surrender or a retreat, pastor Chris is gonna lead us. Pastor Chris is gonna stand on the word of God. Amen. Amen. Amen. And that’s what you need to do. And every single day when you leave out a soldier in church, you should look up at that sword cuz that represents our spirit.

That represents who we are. And on that sword, in Hebrew it says King of King and Lords of Lords [00:24:00] because that’s who we serve. We serve a mighty God. We don’t serve a weak. We serve a God that wants to empower us. We serve a God that wants us to win. We serve a God that told us there will be no surrender, there’ll be no retreat.

That’s right. My kingdom is moving forward. And that’s why we see those kids at Ashbury College and what they’re doing. But every single church, every single Christian university, everyone should be standing up. Take your kids out of these secular schools, send them to a Asbury College. Yeah. Yeah.

Let me show you a picture of Colonel Chamberlain in his later days. Incredible story. Incredible man. A professor of rhetoric that led the first bayone, that charge of the Union Army that saved the day at Gettysburg. Probably saved this union. He was awarded the Congressional me of. [00:25:00] His bravery was also rewarded by, he was the man that accepted the sword and surrender of the Confederate states of America at Appomattox Courthouse.

He went on to become a two-term governor of the state of Maine. Why is that important? Because if you make the decision to hold the high ground for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, it ain’t about a. It’s about the crown of glory that you’re gonna get if you make the decision to stand on the high ground for Jesus Christ.

It ain’t about getting a place in a governor’s mansion, , you’re gonna get a mansion of glory. Come on. For eternal life, yes. All God’s asking you to do is regardless of the situation, to remember the orders that he has given you. I’ve also been to Jerusalem. , and I’ve been at that high ground. It looked [00:26:00] dark on Friday, but Christ won a victory for us for eternity on that high ground.

So you’re victims, you’re not victims, and that’s what you have to remember every day of your life. Because if the state of the church can be where we understand the extraordinary power that we are given, even though we may consider ourselves ordinary people, cuz realize that God does not call the equipped, he equips those that he has called.

So you have all power and glory as well in your hands. Now go out of these doors, hold the high ground and let’s strengthen the state of the church and therefore you will. , the state of the country.