Text: (Num. 32:1-27 NKJ) "Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of livestock; and when they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, that indeed the region was a place for livestock, 2 the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spoke to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the leaders of the congregation, saying, 3 "Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Shebam, Nebo, and Beon, 4 "the country which the LORD defeated before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock." 5 Therefore they said, "If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as a possession. Do not take us over the Jordan." 6 And Moses said to the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben: "Shall your brethren go to war while you sit here? 7 "Now why will you discourage the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the LORD has given them? 8 "Thus your fathers did when I sent them away from Kadesh Barnea to see the land. 9 "For when they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, so that they did not go into the land which the LORD had given them. 10 "So the LORD'S anger was aroused on that day, and He swore an oath, saying, 11 `Surely none of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and above, shall see the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because they have not wholly followed Me, 12 `except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the LORD.' 13 "So the LORD'S anger was aroused against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the LORD was gone. 14 "And look! You have risen in your father's place, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the LORD against Israel. 15 "For if you turn away from following Him, He will once again leave them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all these people." 16 Then they came near to him and said: "We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and

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cities for our little ones, 17 "but we ourselves will be armed, ready to go before the children of Israel until we have brought them to their place; and our little ones will dwell in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. 18 "We will not return to our homes until every one of the children of Israel has received his inheritance. 19 "For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has fallen to us on this eastern side of the Jordan." 20 Then Moses said to them: "If you do this thing, if you arm yourselves before the LORD for the war, 21 "and all your armed men cross over the Jordan before the LORD until He has driven out His enemies from before Him, 22 "and the land is subdued before the LORD, then afterward you may return and be blameless before the LORD and before Israel; and this land shall be your possession before the LORD. 23 "But if you do not do so, then take note, you have sinned against the LORD; and be sure your sin will find you out. 24 "Build cities for your little ones and folds for your sheep, and do what has proceeded out of your mouth." 25 And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben spoke to Moses, saying: "Your servants will do as my lord commands. 26 "Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our livestock will be there in the cities of Gilead; 27 "but your servants will cross over, every man armed for war, before the LORD to battle, just as my lord says."

Text: (2 KINGS 5:8-19 ESV) But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel.” 9 So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha's house. 10 And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and yourflesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” 11 But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. 12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, therivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage. 13 But his servants came near and said to him, “My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” 14 So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

Text: (Heb. 4:9-13 NKJ) "There remains therefore a restfor the people of God. 10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. 11 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than anytwo-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints mand marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account."

Text:(Rev. 3:14-22 NKJ) "And to the angel ofthe church of the Laodiceans write,`These things says the Amen, the Faithfuland True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: 15 "I know your works, thatyou are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 "So then, because you arelukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. 17 "Because you say,`I amrich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing'-- and do not know that youare wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked-- 18 "I counsel you to buy fromMe gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that youmay be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed;and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. 19 "As many as I love, Irebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. 20 "Behold, I stand at thedoor and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in tohim and dine with him, and he with Me. 21"To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I alsoovercame and sat down with My Father on His throne. 22 "He who has an ear, lethim hear what the Spirit says to the churches."'"

Text:(Matt. 6:24-34 KJV) "No man can servetwo masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else hewill hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God andmammon. 25 Therefore I sayunto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shalldrink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more thanmeat, and the body than raiment? 26Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gatherinto barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better thanthey? 27 Which of you bytaking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28 And why take ye thought forraiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not,neither do they spin: 29 Andyet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like oneof these. 30 Wherefore, ifGod so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is castinto the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of littlefaith? 31 Therefore take nothought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithalshall we be clothed? 32 (Forafter all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweththat ye have need of all these things. 33But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all thesethings shall be added unto you. 34Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought forthe things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."

How did you determine what you weregoing to wear today? Are you one ofthose people who chooses and lays out your outfit for the next day the nightbefore? Did you put a lot of thoughtinto it? Maybe because it’s Sunday youchose to wear nice clothes to church. Maybe you’re just wearing what your wife told you you should wear? Or, if you’re a young child, you’re probablywearing what your mom picked out for you to wear. The important thing is that it does appearthat all of us have, in fact, successfully gotten dressed today. Congratulations!

However,just because we’ve gotten dressed for the day doesn’t mean we’re fullyclothed. Did you remember as you gotdressed this morning to put on The Armor of God? The Apostle Paul speaks of this in words ofour sermon text for today:

Last year my daughter’s class went ona field trip to a huge corn maze. I wentalong to help chaperone and was givenfive kids to watch. We set out withconfidence that we could find the exit.We got utterly lost. Fortunately, we metsome other groups that had cheatsheets. They had a map of the maze withlandmarks. With that, it was pretty easyto get out. It was if we had a view fromabove.

It is interesting the things that come across a pastor’sdesk. Usually there is a lot of junkmail and junk email, like “how to have a successful fundraiser,” or someone whocan fill our cleaning supplies needs at church, or that widow from Nigeria whohas millions of dollars she wants to donate to our congregation, she just needsmy bank account number and PIN...

But every so often,there are unsolicited emails that I receive which address things that some ofour members are wondering about. Forinstance, the mass email I received recently asked whether a Christian shouldattend a gay wedding. Then there was thepodcast that asked whether our congregations are ready to welcome repentanttransgenders who have seen the errors of their choices.