Victorious Safety

A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing. Our helper he amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing. For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe.

His craft and power are great, and armed with cruel hate. On earth is not his equal. Martin Luther penned those words way back in the year 1529, when all the forces of hell were coming against him in a fierce evil onslaught.

Satan himself appeared visibly to Martin Luther. Praise God for that giant believer, similar to Job, and I think of the victorious safety that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's the title of my sermon today.

And I am missionary Richard Yerby in Japan, speaking to you from Japan. And I continue now on my sermons on the perfect and upright man named Job. And this seventh sermon in this series is titled, as I said, Victorious Safety.

I left off last time preaching against missionary organizations firmly requiring aspiring missionary candidates who sinfully disobey Christ's command to take nothing for your journey. Now, continuing from that point, you picture some young aspiring missionary to be going to such a missionary organization and saying, brethren, I found some scripture that apparently no one else has ever noticed before. Here in Luke chapter nine, Christ tells the twelve disciples to take nothing for their missionary journeys.

And in the very next chapter, he sends out 70 more missionaries, telling them to carry neither purse, nor script, nor shoes. And that guy continues by saying, I like doing it the way Christ commanded his followers at that time. No doubt that is the best and simplest way, but I want to do it like that.

Forget about wasting two or three years trying to raise support. I'm going to do as Christ commanded and go immediately without taking anything for my journey, doing it God's way. I can be on the field years earlier.

So please give me your blessings and let me be on my way now. Likely, those religious leaders would quickly dismiss him from their fellowship, saying, be on your way and leave us alone. Cease bothering us with such talk.

Religious leaders who do such have promoted their own selves into sinful, highly risen gods who do not listen to almighty God. I've met them. I've rubbed noses with them.

It wasn't a pleasant rubbing. With passing time, fallen mankind continually slips deeper into depravity. And one area in which we see this definitely manifested is that of becoming more and more dependent on man and man's government for provision and security.

And as I speak this in Japan in October, the year 2025, the U.S. federal government is in the midst of a so-called government shutdown with multitudes of citizens whom the federal government feeds free of charge are now wondering who will feed them. Give us this day our daily bread, Lord. Each morning, every living soul should pray that to their creator God ever so sincerely.

We are so eager to trade away God's safety for man's security, and that is ever so fickle. It continually paves the way for the Antichrist to come onto the scene and have masses follow him. And it is so tragic to see the church following the same worldly pattern by setting up man's security for God's prophets and making rules aimed at preventing Christian workers from obeying God and instead causing them to bow down to man's security and authority, which is in opposition to God.

Job proclaimed, I was not in safety. Must certainly be ashamed of them as he looks down from heaven upon us now. And truly, their savior is most disappointed in their disobedience to him.

Don't you be like them, purpose in your heart that by God's grace you will be like Job. Let's pray. Lord God, please save me from sinning against thee by refusing to live by faith.

Help me to always depend on thee first and foremost for my livelihood. Help me to never be afraid to obey any of your commands in the Bible. Help me to never be afraid to follow thee anywhere thou leadest.

Give me faith to know that thou wilt always go before me and prepare the way, and that thou wilt supply all my needs according to thy riches in glory. Please help me to always be an encouragement to other Christians to live by faith and to never be fearful of following thee and doing thy will. God forbid that I ever commit the sin of discouraging anyone from obeying thy leading just because it doesn't appear safe in the eyes of natural man or for any reason at all.

Please help all other Christians to totally obey thee in these matters also, and thereby greatly glorify thee by that obedience. Amen. As time passes, an increasing number of Christians who set out to minister the word of God are first hired by another individual or religious body.

May God help us to see just how detrimental is this one fact alone. It makes a hireling out of him. And in John chapter 10, verses 12 to 13, the good shepherd said this about the hireling.

He that is an hireling, and not the shepherd whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth, and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. Loving, tender concern for the flock is at a minimum in the heart of one who is made into a hireling.

The devil delights to see that, and to see that many of the overseers of the flock are not like Job. Why are an increasing number of Christian laborers becoming hirelings? One main reason is to gain man's safety and man's security. Oh, for all the provisions of life that will come down from Christian leaders above, if one will simply become their hireling, and obey them instead of obeying God, it's more safe.

So let's do it man's way. May God save us all from this awful sin. Nowadays, many preachers appear more like a businessman than they appear to be like a man of God.

Many of us old-timers can still recall the day when the pastor didn't even have an office in the church building. Currently, many a pastor's office looks more like that of the president of a large corporation than that of a man of God, or more like a football coach's office, the pastor's favorite football team paraphernalia, powerfully dominating the office, gross idolatry that be. Adopting the business methods of the world definitely tends to squeeze out the Holy Spirit, and no area of the church's work receives any more influence from the world's system than that of setting up as much of man's security as possible for God's servants.

The reason we do this is simply because we know nothing about being like Job, and thus know nothing about not being in safety. Once while I was fellowshiping with good Christian friends in their home in Florida, missions got into the conversation. My host friend adamantly proclaimed that he thought it best if all foreign missionaries were first salaried by a mission board before they went to a foreign field.

In return, I began to quote from the word of God about how the just are to live by faith, that whatsoever is not of faith is sin, and that Christ's example is one of sending his disciples out to preach without any money or support. But this Christian friend, quickly interrupting me, not wanting to hear that at all, he strongly interjected, now let's just forget about that. Can you believe it? His attitude was, forget about what God has to say about the matter.

And the reason was, of course, because he had decided that it was better, safer to do it differently from the way God teaches us and commands us to do. Man has truly become God. Lukewarm Laodicean church has sunk ever so low.

Now let's just forget about that and look at this, says my friend on this occasion. If missionaries are first salaried, they can go to the field without any worry or concern about where their support is coming from. Therefore, they can more fully give their attention to the work.

His reasoning sounds great, doesn't it? The only problem is that it is not living by faith. It is not God's plan. It is disobedience to God's commands in the Bible, which say, take nothing for your journey and the just shall live by faith and other such commands.

Those missionaries will never know the spiritual growth and the many blessings that come from daily depending upon God. They will not be obedient to God regarding faith in him, and they will not be like Job. Harlings they will be, and they will be without the genuine love they should have for the flock.

Also, the people in authority by controlling the funds the missionaries receive, thereby have the power to make those missionaries obey them, even when that means disobeying God. As soon as I began to speak from the Bible to my brother in Christ on this matter, his immediate reaction was, now let's just forget about that. Unbelievable.

And right there is one main reason why so many Christians have a testimony that is of absolutely no value in the eyes of the world. It is the reason that their lives do not glorify God. They have committed the horrible sin of ignoring God, trampling upon his eternal word and setting themselves up as God by following their own vain wisdom instead of believing God, trusting God and obeying him.

They are close to worthless to God as a spiritual warrior, and little or nothing in their daily lives glorifies God. Living by faith in Jesus above, trusting, confiding in his great love, from all harm's safe in his sheltering arms, amen, I'm living by faith and I feel no alarm. Victorious safety, hallelujah.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, have mercy on me and help me to never desire to forget about and ignore what thou teachest us and commanded us to do in thy holy Bible. Help me never to set myself above thee in any way at all.

Help me to forsake my own human wisdom and to always rely totally on thy inspired instruction, the holy Bible. Help me to exalt thy holy word by always putting it first and foremost in my life. Please help Brother Richard and all other Christians to do this also.

By thy great power grant these requests, Lord, I humbly pray, amen. In bygone days, it was typical that even the pastor had no salary. Nowadays, just look at how many people to whom your church pays regular salaries or wages.

A minister on salary can easily drift into the tendency of doing only that which will satisfy the humans who pay the salary. It reduces one's willingness to go the extra mile. I put in my eight hours today, so don't you bother me at this hour.

A hireling they have become. Once in a time of desperation, I asked a fellow missionary here in Japan for help. He was a very businesslike man.

In an emergency situation, I asked him and his wife to lodge three young people for the night. Sorry, but it's just out of the question, was their reply. He phoned another missionary, but she also refused to help.

It was too late at night, she said. He called a third missionary couple, and we got refused a third time. All three were proud members of the same missionary organization, of whom, unfortunately, I was not a member, of course.

To this day, I still find it hard to believe that in our desperation, three different missionaries refused to help us. It was at night, after their working hours had ended. It didn't involve their mission organization or the work they were doing, so all three flatly refused to help me in my desperation.

Why? One reason was because they were mainly man's hirelings instead of God's missionaries. Such an attitude is often a byproduct of organizing Christian labor along the guidelines the world has for security, safety, fair labor, work rules, and such. But if we will be obedient to God in matters of faith, our obedience allows him to mold us into giants of the faith who will immediately obey him, no matter how dangerous the call.

I was not in safety. I like what Job proclaimed. Let's pray again.

Heavenly Father, I pray for Christian leaders. Please help them to be completely obedient to Thee. Help them not to usurp Thine authority over Thy children.

May they realize what an awful sin it is for them to set up rules for Christians under their authority, and those rules are contrary to Thy commands. Help them to never commit such an awful sin. Help them to rather use their power, influence, position, abilities, and such to encourage and help Christians to totally obey and follow Thee.

Help our leaders especially to be like Job and therefore disdain man's safety and security. Deal with them to preach this important principle to Thy flock. Save them all, Lord, from becoming power-mad religious dictators who magnify their position above Thee and above Thy eternal Word.

Amen. In Matthew chapter 10, verse 8, the Lord commanded, Freely have ye received, freely give. These are Christ's own words as He gives a clear command, freely give, though He doesn't explain to us just what He is commanding us to freely give.

It is imperative that we know what it is in order to obey this command of His, is it not? Let's pray. Lord Jesus, please teach me just exactly what it is that Thou commandest me to freely give. Give me plain and clear understanding as to what it is that I must always freely give, and help me to be obedient to this command by always freely giving that away to others.

Amen. With God as my teacher, I believe Christ is commanding us to always make our Christian ministry completely free of charge. All of our preaching, teaching, singing, and such should be done without any charge.

I do not believe there is anything displeasing to God about us accepting offerings and donations that are willingly given to us as we broadcast the Word without putting any price on it. But when the Lord commands freely give, He is forbidding us from ever putting a price tag on the Word of Life, and thus only imparting this priceless gift if we receive mammon, money in return for it. Ever so careful to be financially safe, are you? Job said, I was not in safety.

When a preacher is called to pastor's church, if he is obedient to this command, he will not first demand of them a certain salary and other financial benefits. Rather, if he feels led of God to go pastor that church, then he will simply go, trusting God, not man, to provide his needs. If the church gives him a set salary, a parsonage to live in, and other such financial help, I do not believe he does anything wrong by receiving these things with thanksgiving.

But if he requires the promise of such before he will agree to go minister the Word to that flock, then I believe he disobeys Christ's command, freely give. I also believe he is unlike Job. When we give out Bible preaching and teaching, gospel singing and such, in printed form and in recorded form and such, then this command here requires us to give it away free.

That is my firm belief, and I am quite certain that God taught it to me and that I have the mind of God as I speak this. And I definitely know for a fact that my Lord has blessed me ever so richly for practicing this for more than half a century. Pray, Almighty Lord God, please send Thy Holy Spirit now to clearly teach me Thy divine will for me and for Thy body of believers on earth concerning the things I am hearing in this sermon.

Amen. Very few present-day Laodicean Christians obey this command. Likely very few of them believe that it forbids us to sell Jesus.

Thus, the merchandising of Bibles, Christian books, literature, numerous audios and video devices and such is now a big business, fervently engaged in by many fine, upstanding Christians. Many Christians earn their living by merchandising Jesus. Some of them make an extremely good living, high profits, by merchandising the Gospel.

Some of them labor long and hard at selling Jesus for the sole purpose of gaining as much filthy lucre as possible, having no concern at all about glorifying God by what they are doing. You must have this book, the seller tries to sound totally convincing, desires for you to fork over unrighteous mammon to him or her. In the late 1900s, I heard of a godly pastor in the U.S. who got convicted of sticking a money-bucket offering plate under the noses of each person assembled in his steeple house so he ceased taking up offerings, placing an offering box in the sanctuary instead.

He reported that offerings just about doubled. God honored that, praise God. Once I spoke of Christ occasionally to a severely financially strapped young unsaved Japanese mother whose husband had deserted her and their little daughter, urging her to also attend a local Japanese church near her house.

Finally, she attended church Sunday morning service once, and the next time I saw her, she had a troubled look on her face. When they passed the money-bucket, she felt obligated to put into it, so she did. And now, talking to me, she tells me, I cannot afford to give that every week.

I pleaded with her, that is for Christians only. That is for the church people to give to their church. I firmly told her that, asking her to ignore the money-bucket, but she said she would feel badly not to put anything in with the others seated around her, observing.

She never went back to church again. Judgment day is coming. Rest assured, rest assured that it certainly behooves us to obey God, and my time is coming to an end.

I've just been thrilled preaching this to you. I pray it's been a blessing to you, oh, how I desire to be a blessing to you. These sermons or audio are on my website at christisall.us. God be with you till I come at you again.