Guardians of the Truth; Luke 22:35-38

Delivered during the Sunday Morning Worship Service, 9/7/2025. Knowing that His time with His disciples is growing short, Jesus continues to instruct them on the vital aspects of shepherding His church after He leaves. Having carefully described the necessity of such Kingdom attributes as servanthood, discipleship and faith-- Jesus once again turns His attention to the relentless spiritual battle His church will face in the age to come. Using graphic language and imagery, Jesus warns His disciples that the enemy will attack the church, throughout its history, by targeting its most precious and essential resource-- the TRUTH. He quotes Isaiah's Servant Song to emphasize how this truth will be manipulated by the enemy and that His disciples and the church they establish must be prepared to wage a never-ending fight to protect it. Ultimately, we will realize God has codified this TRUTH in His inspired, inerrant and infallible WORD, which is therefore satan's primary target in his war against the truth. The church must fulfill its calling to not only spread the truth, but to tenaciously defend and protect it-- realizing that Jesus has appointed us as the guardians of the Truth until He returns.