Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #20230730 - 8 Ways To Defeat The Devil’s Attacks - Romans 8:37

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#20230730 - 8 Ways To Defeat The Devil’s Attacks - Romans 8:37 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

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Welcome to the Study of God's Word with pastor and author Ed
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Taylor recorded live at Calvary Church in Aurora, Co To learn
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more about the many resources available through Abounding
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Grace Media or to tune into our live stream services, visit us
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online at Calvary, Co dot Church or download our free Calvary
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Church app. Now here's Pastor Ed to take us
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into our study. Amen.
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Amen. Open your Bibles to Romans
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chapter 8, verse 37. Romans, chapter 8, verse 37.
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I've entitled our Bible study today eight ways to defeat the
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devil's attacks. Or you could say eight ways to
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defeat the enemy. Either way, we want to learn how
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to grow in this thing we learned is.
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Called spiritual warfare, we're learning to fight the good fight
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of faith. First Timothy chapter 6, verse
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12, that's what the Bible calls it.
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It is the good fight of faith. As followers of Jesus, we face
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difficulties that others do not. Now everybody faces trials and
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and tribulations. Everyone has difficulties, But
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for the believer, you have an added layer of problems that
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those who don't follow Christ don't have.
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They they don't deal with this type of spiritual warfare that
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you do. And the devil?
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He plays dirty. He doesn't play according to the
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rules. He he doesn't play any with any
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kind of decorum. Simple as that.
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Jesus called him a thief. And Jesus said in John 1010, the
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thief does not come except to kill, steal and destroy.
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I have come that they may have life and that they may have it
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more abundantly. In our study last time we
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learned 8 attacks of the enemy in your life.
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And let me just read them by way of review.
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The devil attacks us relentlessly, physically,
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financially. He attacks our minds what we
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think, He attacks our emotions what we feel.
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He loves to exploit confusion. He takes his aim at us
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spiritually, getting trying to separate us from God, and then
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finally he attacks us wildly. Or we use the word blitz and all
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out blitz hitting us on every turn, left, right, up, down,
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front door, back door, climbing in the window.
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But lest we give the devil too much attention, we must remember
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the faithfulness of God. That was an Amen opportunity.
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I'm going to give it to you again.
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But lest we give the devil too much attention, we must remember
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the faithfulness of God. We are not alone in this fight.
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Truly. It's not even our fight.
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Jesus is our defender, we learn in Isaiah 5919.
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When the enemy comes in like a flood, the spirit of the Lord
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will lift up a standard against him.
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And it's good to know. It's good to know that in those
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times when I'm weak and lacking in faith and under the severe
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attacks of the enemy, that my God will come in and raise up a
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standard of protection and defend me in my battles.
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Yes, even when you feel trapped, when you feel like there's no
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way out, No solution, no rescuing.
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Like the children of Israel and many others, God can make a way.
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God will make a way when there is no perceived way you can
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trust him. In Romans chapter 8 and verse
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37, Paul says we are yet in all these things.
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We are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
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What a beautiful picture. Conquering.
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We get the idea of conquering that.
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That's a person that's victorious, a person that has
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won, that has won the battle. But in Christ, we are more.
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Whatever that might mean. We get to discover what it means
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to be more than conquerors. Today I want to teach you eight
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ways to defeat the enemy's attacks in your life every
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single day. Number one, we defeat the devil.
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By fighting the right battle, we defeat the devil.
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By fighting the right battle, many times we are fighting the
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wrong battles with the wrong weapons in the wrong places.
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The battle is spiritual and not personal.
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Because so many of these challenges are worked out with
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other people, so much of the spiritual warfare in our life is
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attached to another person. There are difficulties at work.
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There are difficulties in our neighborhood.
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There are family dramas, There are church issues.
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There are many issues that pit person against person, and
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because of that, we falsely conclude that the battle is with
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the person. The battle is not with the
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person. You can just look around the
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room today and you can say you're not my enemy.
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We are not each other's enemies, although the devil would love to
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divide us. And get us mad at each other and
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constantly bickering. There's actually an admonition
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in the Bible, I believe it was in Galatians where Paul tells
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them would you stop biting and devouring one another?
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That is not the will of the Lord.
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The battle is spiritual, jotted down in Ephesians chapter 6 and
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verse 12. For we wrestle not against flesh
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and blood, but against principalities.
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Against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this
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age, Against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly
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places. What that tells me is anytime
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I'm striving against people, struggling with others,
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wrestling against individuals, I'm fighting the wrong battle.
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Don't get sidetracked. With fighting against people,
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there are spiritual forces at work that are used to aggravate
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the situations and escalate them out of proportion.
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Our fight is against a well organized and systematic horde
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of demons, and the real battle is won by abiding in Christ, by
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loving our neighbor, loving God first, and loving our neighbor.
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It's just so much time wasted, so much energy wasted.
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So much of our spiritual vitality wasted fighting one
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another. I mean churches, fighting
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churches, denominations, fighting denominations, church
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members, fighting church members, pastors, competition.
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It's all worthless. And you're not fighting.
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You're making things worse, not better.
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Number two. Number two, we defeat the devil
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by resisting him, resisting him. You need to actively, regularly,
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and repetitively resist the devil.
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That's what James says. James chapter 4 and verse 7.
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Therefore, submit to God, resist the devil and he'll flee from
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you. There's a instruction and a
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promise. This is no time in the midst of
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spiritual warfare to be passive. And throw up your hands and
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defeat and discouragement like this is the way it's always
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going to be. I'm always going to live this
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way. I'm always going to be defeated.
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I'm always going to be discouraged.
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I'm always going to be depressed.
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No. Resist the devil and he will
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flee from you. The word means to stand against
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the word means to stand firm. The word means to stand strong
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and don't move. Don't give up any territory.
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I know it gets overwhelming and hard, but that's not the time to
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collapse. Resist him.
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Push back. Say no to temptations.
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That's the greatest word in your vocabulary.
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You ready? I want you to learn it.
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The greatest word to learn in your vocabulary to resist the
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devil is no in Spanish, no in Russian.
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Nyet no. So much temptation will be
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avoided. So much sin will be bypassed if
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you learn to say no. I won't say that.
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No, I won't listen to that. No, I won't go there.
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No, I won't do that. No, I won't know.
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As the devil's described as a roaring lion walking around like
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a little roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.
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Well, you know, you just stand fast and stare him down and you
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resist him. The next time the devil tries to
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remind you of your past, you remind him of his future.
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He knows what's coming. As he comes in, you call his
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bluff. He's a liar and a thief from the
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beginning. This is faith, confidence,
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contentment, peaceful trust. You resist him and he will run
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away. You don't need to run away.
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That's your territory. God has given it to you.
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He's the enemy. The promise of God is he'll be
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the one running away. You don't have to run.
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Stand Your Ground #3. How do we defeat the enemy?
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We defeat the devil by obedience, obedience.
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We give the enemy so much ground through disobedience and
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compromise. It's it's we.
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We make things so much harder for ourselves when we choose not
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to obey God, when we dabble in things, spiritual when we are
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religious people. And we aren't in relationship
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with Jesus. We give up territory for
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absolutely no good reason. The battle is hard enough, let
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alone giving up territory to the enemy.
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We literally make things worse in our disobedience, And that's
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a word for some, like right now. Like, they like we're learning
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about spiritual warfare, We're learning about the tax, that
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we're learning about all those things.
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But here's the deal. None of those things are really
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that important, is your disobedience.
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That's why things are so hard. You take one step of
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disobedience, Where's the next step going to be?
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Disobedience. And the longer you go, the
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farther you go and the deeper you go.
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Compromise. Disobedience.
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Not holding fast to the word of God.
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Listen first or Second Corinthians chapter 10 in verse
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3. For though we walk in the flesh,
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we do not war according to the flesh.
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For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal.
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They're not human. But they're mighty in God for
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pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments, and
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every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of
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God. Listen, bringing every thought
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into captivity to the obedience of Christ and being ready to
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punish all disobedience. When your obedience is
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fulfilled, it's important that we learn to stop those thoughts
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and replace them with truth. Then choose to walk in obedience
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of Christ, period. Taking every thought captive.
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So much more victory would be experienced right away if this
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one thing you would apply. Don't dabble in those thoughts,
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you know? Because what happens is a
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thought gets shot our way, then we're thinking about it, then it
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becomes an emotion, then we're feeling it, and before you know
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it, we're overcome with our wrong thoughts and our wrong
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feelings, and we're away from the Lord.
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Taking every I I need to warn you though, because bringing
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every thought into captivity can be tiring in and of itself.
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It can be very hard. That's why many people just
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choose not to do it. But I'm telling you, it's better
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to be tired obeying God than it is to be tired disobeying God.
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The Bible says don't grow weary and well doing for induced
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season. You'll reap if you don't lose
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heart well doing. Resisting the devil, taking
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every thought and not receiving it.
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Not entertaining it, but fighting it off.
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We are not weak and helpless in this battle.
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Refuse it, resist it, and then replace it.
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Replace the lies and thoughts with the truth.
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It can get tiring, but it's worth it in the book that we
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have this week. Or this month, the Strategy of
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Satan. I've gotten a few emails and
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people calling me and going, hey, Pastor Ed, the author of
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the book makes the recommendation that in order to
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fight the good fight, that you memorize scripture.
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You memorize Scripture. And so they're asking for
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recommendations. So pretty soon we're gonna have
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downstairs. The Navigators put out a very
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good Bible memorization program that you guys can purchase down
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there and it has all the cards preprinted and they teach you
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how to do it. And that's great, but you don't
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need to wait for that and you don't actually need that.
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And let me give you memory. Verse number one, Second
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Corinthians, chapter 10. This is something you need to
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hide in your heart. If you're taking notes.
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Let me give you a few things of how to use your Bible.
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And and how to use it in the realm of We'll get to the word
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of God in a moment. But here I want you, because
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we're talking about memorization.
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I want you to know a few things you can do with your Bible.
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Number one, you should read it, read it every day and we'll get
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to that later. Secondly, you should memorize
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it. You you should take it and put
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hide it in your hearts. You won't sin against God.
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Thirdly, you should apply it. You should apply it.
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Basically you should do what you read.
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And take it in and then do it. So you're reading it, then you
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are memorizing it. You're doing it.
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And then finally, it's important that you learn how to study the
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Bible, not merely reading it. That does come over time.
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It comes with experience. It comes with learning how to
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study. And getting the right tools and
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such. But there's a lot that you can
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do with your Bibles, including memorizing them.
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And this one you should put in your heart, even if it's
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bringing every thought in the captivity to the obedience of
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Christ, and you just put it in your heart.
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Just memorize it. Just take it, write it down on a
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3 by 5 card, put it in your back pocket, put it in your lunch
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box, put it on your mirror, and just continue to read it over
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and over again. You know, for for this one.
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For though we walk in the flesh, it's like, OK though we walk in
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the flesh, you walk in the and you're just repeating it,
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repeating it so that finally it becomes yours.
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Refuse, resist, and replace #4 #4.
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We defeat the devil by our faith.
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By our faith. Our steadfast trust in God
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causes the devil to back down. Your trust in God is a mighty
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weapon in the spiritual battle. That's why he's always wanting
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you to believe a lie. When you believe a lie, you are
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powerless because you don't have the truth.
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You're not only powerless, but when you believe a lie, you're
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faithless. And what a weak woman and what a
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weak man we are when we walk around as believers, not
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believing God. Here I am.
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I'm a believer, but I don't believe God.
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It doesn't make any sense. We want to walk with faith.
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Peter Put it this way. Peter the Holy Spirit really is
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the author of the Bible. So through James, he said,
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resist the devil, he'll flee. Flee from you.
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Listen to what the Holy Spirit inspired Peter to write.
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First Peter 59 Resist him steadfast in the faith, knowing
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that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood
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in the world. Resist him steadfast in the
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faith. First of all, that can refer to
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your own faith. You're born again, believer.
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You are a new creation in Christ.
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Old things have passed away. Behold all things become new.
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But it can also be a steadfastness of believing God.
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So not only knowing that your faith has connected you with God
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and your sins are forgiven, but also a steadfastness of
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believing God. It is.
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If he says the devil's going to flee when you resist him, then
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believe it. Believe it.
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You don't have to be caught up in these things.
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The world says you'll never be healed from and you'll never get
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over, and it'll be there the rest of your life.
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God can do a work that man cannot on the inside, on the
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inside. He can change us, transform us,
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and if not instantly listen, if not instantly.
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The Bible promises that big theological word that we are in
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the process of sanctification. So if we don't change instantly,
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we're going to be changed over time.
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And we're living testimonies both in this room today.
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We defeat the devil by our faith.
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First John 54. For whatever is born of God
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overcomes the world, and this is the victory that has overcome
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the world, our faith. That's where victory comes from.
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It's an amazing turn in the difficult situation when I
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choose to believe God and act out on that faith, when I take a
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venture of faith, when I obey in faith, when when I do what God
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has asked me to do in faith. Remember in Hebrews?
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It wasn't too long ago we were studying verse by verse in
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Hebrews, and in Chapter 11 we have these great exploits of men
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and women just like you and me. And over go we took each one of
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them individually every week. So over at least two weeks or
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two months, maybe even three months, we went through Chapter
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11 and what do we learn By faith, by faith, by faith, by
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faith, over and over and over again the chapter itself.
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In Hebrews Chapter 11 verse one starts out like this now.
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Faith is the substance of things, hope for the evidence of
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things not seen for by it. The elders obtained a good
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testimony. You want a good testimony?
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It comes by faith, trusting God, believing him, resisting the
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devil, refusing the lies. #5 these all build together.
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There's no particular order to them, but they all build
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together #5 We defeat the devil by the name of Jesus Christ.
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Our victory comes through the name of Jesus.
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Remember when Mark Michael the Archangel was fighting the devil
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about the body of Moses? Now I don't know why that was
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taking place. The Bible doesn't say but what a
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fight it must have been when this fight took place.
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Even the Archangel Michael did not take the devil head on.
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In Jude chapter one, verse 9, there's only one chapter by the
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way. It says yeah, Michael the
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Archangel and contending with the devil, when he disputed
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about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling
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accusation, but said the Lord rebuke you, and he learned that
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it was the power of God that would defeat.
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The devil. This isn't important.
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This is important when you talk about resisting and faith and
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the name of Jesus. Because on television socalled
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Christian television today, there are people out there
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creating these fanciful weird false doctrines on how to deal
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with the devil. I mean, they're yelling at the
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devil, kicking the devil, screaming at the devil.
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I remember a few years ago that there was one guy up there, he
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had the devil in his hand. He was whiming around his head
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and throwing him out. Stop it.
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You resist the devil. God will take care of them.
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The Lord rebuke you. You wake up in the middle of the
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night, nightmares. The the room is dark.
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You don't know what's going on. It starts to worry and you're
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anxious and it's just the spiritual battle.
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You got night sweats and there's noises and you just don't know
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what you. You are at a loss In that
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moment. You just begin to declare the
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name of Jesus Christ. You just declare I love you,
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Jesus. You are in this room with me.
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You dwell with me. The blood of Jesus Christ covers
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this house, covers this room, covers my kids, and I hold fast
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to you. The name of Jesus will rebuke
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the devil, even in your bedroom, even in your car, even in your
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cubicle. The name of Jesus.
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The Bible says there is no other name under heaven given among
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men which you must be saved. There's not salvation in any
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other Acts. Chapter 4, verse 12.
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Remember when Jesus sent out his disciples the 70 He gave them
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authority to heal and to preach and to help and to serve.
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When they came back in Luke chapter 10, the 70s returned
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with joy saying Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your
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name. The name of Jesus is powerful.
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The name of Jesus is a strong. The name of the Lord is a strong
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tower, and the righteous run into it and are safe.
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There is safety in the name of Jesus Christ.
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Could it? Could it be that you are so
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under the weight of attack and difficulty, and it's been year
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after year after year after year after year that you have
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forgotten the power of the name of Jesus Christ, that the
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circumstances have become so big and so in your face?
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Have you noticed that when I look at problems, when you look
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at your problems, don't they get so much bigger?
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You don't even see God anymore. You're just under the weight of
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this difficulty. Under the way.
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No more. We're going to stand back and
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say, you know what? The Lord rebuke you.
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You don't own this house. You don't own my family.
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You don't own this world. You think you're the God of this
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age. You are not.
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Because King Jesus is coming back and I have hope in him.
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The power of the name of Jesus. Let the name listen.
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The name and the authority and your God-given identity be the
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strength that holds you firm and helps you stand when the enemy
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comes in like a flood. We're living in such a day, such
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a difficult day, a day that was prophesied.
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Perhaps we're taken aback a little bit because we didn't
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think we'd live that long. We didn't think we'd be on the
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earth that long. I thought maybe the Rapture
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would happen a long time ago. As I heard I I'm waiting for the
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imminent return of Jesus, But he hasn't chosen to come back yet.
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And we're living in a culture. What is the big issue of the
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day? Identity.
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And here's why. Here's why I believe the devil
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knows this truth, that if you know who you are and choose to
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live who you are, you can't be stopped.
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You're God-given the way that you might hear it said, is that
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when you know who you are in Christ and you live according to
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that God-given identity, you will fulfill God's given destiny
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for your life. We often refer to that, to the
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will of God. But I like destiny.
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I like it's so much a bigger word, like what God wants to do
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in your life. If you will simply live as you
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already are, what God has done in your life, you're a new
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creation. You are clean, you are washed,
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you are strong, you are protected.
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And on the on the list goes. But we live in a culture that if
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you're not careful, you'll miss the opportunity because the
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enemy's just lying to boys and girls and parents that you can
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create your own identity. Now, while that might be
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possible, it's not the will of God.
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He has given you an identity. He has known you.
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Like Jeremiah, there's a plan for every life beforehand.
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God has an identity. He already has a plan for your
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life. And I know you get upset and you
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get part of the part of the warfare is our culture.
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It's heavy. It's hard.
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It's difficult. Remember the world, the flesh
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and the devil. But I'm telling you, you were
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born for this moment, Church. You are the church for the
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moment you go, Ed. How can you say that?
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Because you're alive right now. In this generation, we need to
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seize the day and walk forward and love and connect this
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confused, upside down culture with the love of Jesus Christ
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one person at a time, teaching them the love of God.
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And in the love of God, not only has He sin his only begotten son
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to die on your behalf and forgive you by faith of all your
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sins, but God has given you an identity to walk in.
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He has shown you the way. Old man and old woman, if you
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will just come, you can leave your hopelessness behind.
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You can leave your anger and frustrations behind.
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You can leave the addictions and the challenges.
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You can just set them down and follow Jesus Christ.
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He will empower you and help you live to fulfill his destiny in
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your life. Isn't that amazing?
25:43
And the enemy just wants to come against you, wants you to be
25:46
confused. Even so many in the room today,
25:49
followers of Christ born again, are still thinking.
25:52
You still think you can create your own identity.
25:54
You can't. You can't.
25:58
God has already got a plan for you.
26:00
He loves you that much. He cares for you that much.
26:05
You know, little kiddos, when they grow up in our homes, if we
26:07
have a little baby dedication, she's going to learn her
26:09
identity and her family from her parents.
26:13
That's God's ordained will. She's going to learn.
26:16
That's how we learn our identity from our Father in heaven.
26:19
He tells us who we are, and He tells us first who he is, and as
26:24
we learn who he is, then we learn who we are.
26:27
The name of Jesus. You're not alone, number six.
26:31
Number six, We defeat the devil by the word of God.
26:35
We cannot underestimate this, and we cannot underutilize the
26:40
power of God's word. It is the truth.
26:43
Truth is a mighty weapon again, stepping back into our culture.
26:48
Our culture today says, hey, you can make up your own truth.
26:51
You can have your truth. I can have my truth.
26:53
We all have our own truth. Not true.
26:56
There is one truth and your opinion about it, but there's
27:00
only one truth. Jesus declared I am the way.
27:05
The say with me truth and the life.
27:09
No one comes to the Father except through Him.
27:11
There is one truth, many opinions about the truth.
27:15
Opinions today are called, oh, that's my truth.
27:17
And you can have your truth and I can have my truth.
27:20
Yeah, that that is a way you can choose to live your life.
27:22
But if you choose to live your life like that, you are denying
27:25
the truth and setting down, setting aside a very powerful
27:29
weapon in the spiritual battle. The truth vanquishes all lies
27:36
immediately and we gain the truth from God's word.
27:41
Now, I want you to be careful. I want you to be careful when
27:44
people describe the Bible because it sounds accurate, but
27:48
it's not quite and you don't want not quite.
27:51
When you're talking about the word of God, you will hear today
27:54
in some progressive circles and some seminaries and professors.
27:59
You will hear today people saying online on YouTube saying
28:02
that the Bible contains the truth of God.
28:06
It contains it, and immediately you probably would agree with
28:10
such a statement. The Bible contains the truth of
28:12
God. However, what they're describing
28:16
is not accurate, although in some sense I understand that
28:21
that's not really what they're trying to say.
28:22
But I understand. If I open up the Bible, it does
28:25
contain the truth, but it's an inaccurate statement.
28:28
The book in my hand, the Bible does not contain the truth.
28:32
This Bible is the truth. All of it, from beginning to
28:37
end. Because if somebody comes along
28:39
and goes well, you know it contains the truth.
28:40
You know what? They're about setting you up for
28:42
the things that they don't believe are truth or have
28:46
changed with culture, or you just don't understand.
28:49
Jesus was deceived or no such thing.
28:52
And miracles don't exist and God doesn't exist.
28:55
Yeah, that comes from this attitude.
28:56
Yeah, we could probably find some truthful platitudes in the
28:59
Bible. It contains the Bible.
29:00
No, the the contains the truth. The Bible is the truth, and
29:07
you've got to be in it every day.
29:08
Church, read your Bible. Every day.
29:11
Read it, study it. Apply it.
29:16
Be a diligent memorizer of it. Make sure that you're in the
29:20
Bible. I don't understand and there's
29:23
no good reason. Can I say that again?
29:26
There is no good reason you are not reading your Bible every
29:31
day. No good reason.
29:33
And some of you go right away. Well, I can't read.
29:35
Well, your phone can read it for you.
29:39
We live in an amazing age. If you're married, you can read
29:43
the Bible together. I know there's hindrances.
29:45
I know there's dyslexia. And I I understand that.
29:48
But see, you live in a time where you don't want to live for
29:51
Jesus behind excuses. Because good reasons end up
29:55
becoming really bad excuses. There's no reason you shouldn't
29:58
be reading your Bible every day. Not because you have to, but
30:02
because you want to. This is God's truth to you.
30:07
This is your weapon. When you're reading the Bible,
30:09
it is far hard, is far greater that it's it's much more
30:14
difficult to sin when you're reading the Bible.
30:17
It is much more difficult to sin when you're praying.
30:21
It's much more difficult to sin When you're in the company of
30:23
believers listening to a Bible study or you're listening to
30:26
worship music or sermons on the radio or on your podcast much,
30:31
much, much harder. And when you take the word of
30:34
God, you're really not only winning today, but you're
30:37
preparing for tomorrow at the same time.
30:39
And when you're hiding God's win in your heart, then you're just
30:42
carrying it around with you all the time.
30:45
Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 12 says the word of God is living
30:48
and powerful, sharper than any two edged sword, piercing him
30:52
into the division of soul and spirit, of the joints and
30:56
marrow, and as a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of
31:00
the heart. Remember when Jesus faced the
31:02
devil head on in Luke's gospel? I think maybe chapter 4 or so
31:06
devil came with these partial truths which were full lies.
31:09
And how did Jesus defeat him? Three things.
31:12
Three ways. One thing, three times.
31:15
It is written, it is written, it is written.
31:20
And what did the devil do? He left, just like James said he
31:23
would, and he's going to plan a more opportune time to keep
31:28
attacking. But he was resisted with the
31:31
word of God. It's the word of God.
31:32
It will keep you wise and safe and protected in the spiritual
31:37
battle. First, John 214.
31:40
I have written to you, fathers, because you have known him who
31:44
is from the beginning. I've written to you, young men,
31:47
because you are strong and the word of God abides in you, and
31:51
you have overcome the wicked one.
31:54
Why? Because the Word of God abides
31:57
in you church family, you must read your Bible and pray every
32:01
day. It's ammunition for the battle.
32:03
It's protective. It's needed.
32:06
Don't let sad, sorry excuses hold you back from the power
32:11
that relies in every time you read the book.
32:13
It's alive and powerful and it works inside of you.
32:19
Now, I know sometimes you will be reading, but you know what I
32:21
don't understand? I don't read the Bible because I
32:23
don't understand it. Okay.
32:25
We'll skip that part and read the parts.
32:28
You understand. Oh, yeah.
32:29
That's not fair. You tell me to skip the Bible.
32:31
Yes, because you're reading Genesis.
32:34
I can't understand Exodus, Iris, and Leviticus.
32:39
And then you put the Bible down. You never read it again.
32:42
Just skip it. You get back to it.
32:44
Now misunderstand me. Don't skip it and never get
32:48
back. But there are so many things in
32:50
the Bible that you will understand.
32:52
Read those. If this is describing your life
32:55
right now, here's my advice to you.
32:56
Ready. Go to the New Testament.
32:59
Just stop what you're doing right now.
33:01
Go to the New Testament. Start reading the Gospel of
33:03
John. Very easy to understand.
33:07
Not only is it very easy to understand, but you'll follow
33:09
along the life of Jesus. When you're done with John, read
33:12
Mark. Another very easy book of the
33:15
Bible to read. When you're done with Mark, read
33:17
Luke. Another easy.
33:19
And then Matthew has some challenges.
33:23
But you read Matthew last, because what Matthew does is it
33:26
start. He starts to take the prophecies
33:29
and the scriptures of the Old Testament and showing you how
33:32
Jesus fulfills them. So it is a little challenging if
33:35
you don't know the Old Testament, but you'll get there.
33:39
So just write a little note down.
33:40
Hey, I skip Leviticus. I'll get back to it.
33:42
I skip this difficult, these visions and things.
33:45
I'll get back to it. Even.
33:46
So if skipping doesn't make you feel comfortable, then buy a
33:50
Bible handbook. We have a Bible handbook
33:54
downstairs. It's called Haley's Bible
33:56
Handbook and it has very simple explanations for every chapter
34:01
in the Bible. Very simple explanations is not
34:04
in depth, but it's enough to go. Oh, I get it now.
34:07
Oh, I understand the history now.
34:09
Oh, I get it. Which requires a little bit of
34:11
effort on your part. By the way, let me explain
34:13
Leviticus for you. Ready.
34:14
I'll give you a very simple explanation.
34:16
The book of the Leviticus exists to show the children of Israel
34:21
that God prescribes a way to worship.
34:24
You have to worship God his way. That's what the Viticus is.
34:27
You're going to fall, come out of slavery.
34:29
You're coming out of Egypt. I'm forming a new nation.
34:33
This is what I require for worship.
34:35
That's the Viticus. And you can get in all the
34:37
little details of what it is and how it fits from the Old
34:40
Covenant and the New Covenant. But basically that's the book.
34:44
But you can see how the enemy will try to take the word of God
34:46
out of your hands because it's hard.
34:49
It's challenging. You read something.
34:50
I don't understand this and I'm not quite sure.
34:52
We'll just keep a notebook and write it down.
34:55
Write it down and watch God give you the answers you need.
34:59
The word of God #7. We're almost done.
35:02
Would you turn over to Ephesians chapter 6?
35:04
Because I want to use that Ephesians chapter six.
35:07
We defeat the devil by putting on the armor of God.
35:12
God has given us spiritual armor for this spiritual war.
35:19
Notice with me in Ephesians chapter 6 in verse 10.
35:23
Finally my brother and be strong in the Lord and in the power of
35:27
his might. Put on the whole armor of God
35:30
that you may be able to stand. There's that word again.
35:33
If you like to write in your bibles, write the right next to
35:35
it. Resist, stand, resist.
35:39
They have the same connotation against the Wiles or the
35:43
schemes. This is verse 11 of the devil.
35:47
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against
35:50
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the
35:53
darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in
35:57
the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole
36:00
armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil
36:04
day, having done all to stand. Now you can hear God's will for
36:09
you in the spiritual battle, and that's for you to stand.
36:14
Stand your ground. Don't give up an inch.
36:17
So there, he says in verse 14. Stand there for having girded
36:21
your waist with truth. So first of all, we have the
36:25
belt of truth. Very important.
36:27
The belt holds everything together.
36:30
The the truth holds everything together.
36:34
It's unseen but necessary. It's protective.
36:37
If you're if you don't have a belt then you're going to be
36:40
exposed. You're going to be in a a very
36:43
vulnerable place. You don't have truth in your
36:45
life. You're going to be exposed to
36:47
all sorts of lies. You need to have the belt of
36:50
truth. That's number one, verse 14
36:52
having on the breastplate of righteousness.
36:56
Now remember we're not going to develop this now, we will later
36:59
when we get into a verse by verse study and Ephesians.
37:02
But Paul is sitting in a room in prison right now, chained to
37:06
Roman guards. That's what he's using as the
37:08
backdrop. The breastplate of righteousness
37:11
would be something placed on the chest, covering the front of the
37:15
body, the neck area, the vital organs.
37:18
It's his righteousness that that protects you, protects that
37:22
which is vital in your life. But also the breastplate of
37:26
righteousness would protect your heart.
37:28
We talked about a direct attack of the enemy is your emotions,
37:32
and when you know what God has done for you, you won't be so
37:36
susceptible to your feelings you got to put on the breastplate of
37:39
righteousness. Notice next in verse 15 and
37:42
having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of
37:47
peace. For a soldier, the right shoes
37:52
are vital. They bring stability and
37:56
mobility. They give the soldier the solid
37:58
footing they need to fight the good fight and the shoes.
38:02
Here are the gospel, the good news of what God has done and
38:06
made available. Not only does it protect you,
38:10
but it also reminds you that wherever your feet go, you take
38:13
the gospel with you. That is the answer for everyone
38:16
you meet. The answer to their issues is to
38:18
get their eyes on Jesus. So here you are is the church
38:21
caring about the gospel because you've got your battle shoes on.
38:27
Next in verse 16, above all, taking the shield of faith with
38:32
which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the
38:36
wicked one. You go.
38:37
Wait a minute, fiery darts? Oh yeah, the enemy has all kinds
38:41
of weapons that he likes to use against this.
38:44
And you got all these fiery darts coming at you, Pew Pew Pew
38:47
Pew Pew all over the place. And the darts are tipped with
38:52
fire. So what that means is, is that
38:55
when a dart hits or an arrow hits its mark, the fire ignites
39:01
what it hits. So if the arrow comes toward
39:05
depression, depression's on fire.
39:08
If the arrow hits, identity identity's on fire.
39:12
If the arrow hits Some vulnerability?
39:15
No. Instead we take up the shield of
39:18
faith, a 2 by 4, two feet wide, 4 feet high, a movable wall that
39:24
the soldier would carry to protect from the arrows, the
39:28
lies, the thoughts, the doubts, to quench them, put them out,
39:33
and the arm the Roman armies would they would go forward.
39:36
And we use this principle here in our church, that as a church
39:39
we lock Shields, we go into this battle together, and that this
39:44
is how we move forward, protecting those not only
39:47
ourselves but those that are behind us.
39:51
Not only that, verse 17 Take the helmet of salvation, The helmet
39:56
of salvation. This protects your mind.
39:59
The the the salvation protects your mind, knowing who you are,
40:04
what God is doing in your life. It protects against hopelessness
40:08
and discouragement as the enemy would go against your mind
40:11
sowing false thoughts and evil thoughts toward us.
40:16
Not only the helmet of salvation but also verse 17, the sword of
40:19
the spirit, which is the word of God.
40:21
Now these were all protective. Now the sort of the spirit is an
40:25
offensive. We won't go from defensive to
40:28
offensive weapons. And the word of God is a
40:31
powerful sword. Not only that verse 18 praying
40:34
always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit.
40:38
Being watchful to this end with all the perseverance and
40:41
supplication for all the Saints. And he gives a little prayer
40:45
request. Pray for me my my mouth might be
40:48
open boldly and I can speak boldly.
40:52
Prayer is very important. It takes you into the weapon you
40:56
know. Prayer is a mighty weapon in
40:59
spiritual warfare, which is our number 8, #8 is we defeat the
41:04
devil through constant prayer. Get the Church to be prayerless,
41:10
and the Church is weak. And it's not just us.
41:14
You're the Church. You're a prayerless person.
41:17
You're weak. Your marriage.
41:19
There's no prayer in your marriage.
41:20
You're weak. There's no prayer with your
41:22
kids. You're weak.
41:24
There's no prayer in your singleness.
41:26
You're weak. You're weakened.
41:29
You're vulnerable. Not only praying for yourself,
41:33
but praying for others. Prayer is a mighty weapon
41:35
against the attacks of the enemy.
41:39
Jesus would share with us the importance of prayer.
41:42
This is the scripture I'm about to share with you.
41:44
It is Pastor Avant's favorite scripture, no doubt If you ever
41:48
met him and you brought a problem to him, he would take
41:52
you to prayer right away and then if you needed instruction
41:55
in prayer he would take you to this verse.
41:57
Luke chapter 18 in verse one where it says Jesus spoke a
42:01
parable to them that men ought always to pray and what not.
42:05
Lose heart. This is the weapon.
42:09
This is something that's available to all of us.
42:11
We we may have weak faith and and we may not know all the
42:14
Bible yet and we may not know so much.
42:16
We have so much to grow. We need to mature even in every
42:19
stage. It doesn't matter.
42:21
You can pray, you can pray for yourself, you can pray for
42:26
others. The real power we access and
42:28
praying in the spirit. If you have the gift of tongues,
42:31
you should be praying in tongues in your prayer closet.
42:34
You should be asking God for the interpretation pressing in to
42:37
the things of God in the Spirit. In Jude chapter one again, verse
42:42
20, it says, But you beloved, building yourselves up on your
42:46
most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in
42:50
the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ
42:54
unto eternal life. Praying in the Holy Spirit
42:57
defeats the enemy. We can intercede and we can ask
43:01
and we can plead and we can rest you.
43:04
When you come to God in prayer, you know what you can do.
43:06
You can come to him and say, you know, God, I got this big
43:09
problem going on here. It's very hard and very wait a
43:12
minute, God, it's actually not my problem.
43:14
It's your problem because your word says you bought me with the
43:17
blood of Jesus Christ, so I belong to you.
43:21
So you already I have a problem. It's your problem and I want you
43:25
to solve it. You said you would take care of
43:27
me. You said you'd be faithful.
43:28
You said you'd provide. You said that you would heal.
43:31
You said you would comfort. It's it's I'm coming to you or
43:34
to take care of this problem for me.
43:36
It's not my problem. It's your problem.
43:39
I think of it in your home. Dads, moms, grandparents.
43:43
You know, you got a little guy, you know, two or three was
43:45
playing in the in the bathroom. And whatever they did, they
43:49
jacked the toilet up really, really bad.
43:51
And now it doesn't work. So they're coming on.
43:53
They're all sad. What's wrong?
43:54
What's wrong? Oh, oh, I messed up the toilet.
43:57
Daddy, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry.
43:58
It's broken. And you can hear Dad's going
44:01
well, that's not my problem. Go fix it.
44:04
Call the plumber. Get your credit card out.
44:06
I'm just three. You know, Nobody does that.
44:09
Your kid messes up the toilet. And who's going to fix it?
44:13
You. Because your mom and your dad,
44:19
your grandma and grandpa, How much more our Heavenly Father
44:25
will take care of us as kids. It's his problem.
44:28
Oh, we might have got ourselves in a mess and we might have
44:32
contributed and it could be our like, it could be 1000 different
44:35
things. But I'm telling you this.
44:37
Your Heavenly Father loves you and is ready to help you.
44:41
You come to him in prayer. You talk to him and you take
44:44
your cares and concerns. You claim the promises of God
44:47
before him. You promised to take care of me.
44:50
You promised to watch over me. You promised to protect me,
44:54
because prayer is a lifeline in the midst of challenging times.
44:58
You remember in the final seven years of human history, just
45:02
after the rapture of the Church. It's known as the Great
45:05
Tribulation Period. Seven years of the judgment of
45:09
God on a Christ rejecting world. Seven years of God turning his
45:13
attention back to the nation of Israel to draw them to himself.
45:18
During that cataclysmic time, the last part of the tribulation
45:21
period, there will be people getting saved.
45:24
We distinguish them by calling them the tribulation Saints.
45:28
They are real believers and we have an insight about what made
45:32
them strong in the worst of times, it says in Revelation 12,
45:36
verse 11. And they overcame him by the
45:39
blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.
45:43
And they did not love their lives to the death.
45:47
They were connected to God, and the word of their testimony was
45:51
the faithfulness of God, accessed through prayer.
45:55
Church, it's true. We're in a spiritual battle, the
45:59
world, the flesh and the devil. It's real, it's predictable.
46:03
And yet at times it's overwhelming and can take us by
46:06
surprise and really wear us down.
46:10
And many today, even some listening to me right now, are
46:13
living in defeat needlessly, living in discouragement,
46:17
needlessly, not using the weapons that God has given us to
46:24
fight church. Don't give in.
46:27
Don't just collapse, don't compromise.
46:30
Don't run away. Don't go back to the bottle.
46:32
Don't go back to the drugs. Don't go back to running the the
46:36
streets. Don't go, don't run away.
46:38
Don't wander away. Stand fast and fight.
46:43
Fight the good fight. Don't run away.
46:50
Every time you decide to take a stand for Jesus and you want to
46:52
grow in him and grow closer to him, you can expect resistance.
46:57
You can expect it. Great progress brings great
47:00
resistance. You desire to put these
47:02
principles in. In practice, you're going to get
47:05
hit. It's going to be hard.
47:06
It goes with the territory. Heavy spiritual warfare and
47:10
spiritual attacks are signs that you're on the right track.
47:14
Because somebody go, you know. And I'm talking about all this,
47:15
and I've been walking with the lawyer for 30 years, I never
47:18
experienced any of this. That's not good, because every
47:23
true believer from the moment they're born again experiences
47:26
spiritual warfare, heavy and hard, even the best of lives.
47:31
The devil's always like like these little foxes that try to
47:34
eat up the vine man just constantly gnawing and coming at
47:38
you. The devil won't hassle you much
47:42
or bother you much if you're not making much progress.
47:45
So stand fast, church, take a strong stand to obey and
47:49
remember this. I mean, the Bible is filled with
47:52
it, but Isaiah 54 / 17 No weapon formed against us or no weapon
47:57
formed against you shall prosper.
47:59
And every tongue which rises against you in judgment you
48:02
shall condemn. I say Amen, and you say Amen.
48:07
Amen. Amen.
48:08
Father, we pray now as your spirit takes these words and
48:12
these lessons and helps us, we we want to grow and
48:16
understanding how to fight the good fight.
48:19
And we pray that you would help us in Jesus name.
48:22
Amen. Amen.
48:24
Now let's not change. Let's stay in a mode kind of
48:27
like communion of worship, that we have a few moments, that this
48:32
is the kind of study that you need a response from.
48:35
You need to let it out. You need to confess.
48:38
You need to ask. This is the time.
48:41
We don't want to just leave out. And you know, automatically
48:43
we're going to have lunch and automatically got this
48:45
appointment. Let's just take a few moments.
48:48
Let the spirit of God minister to you.
48:49
Even before we do that, I wanted to give you a chance.
48:53
If you're in the midst of spiritual warfare right now and
48:56
you want some extra prayer, stand to your feet.
48:58
So just whatever you're going through, you need you want some
49:02
extra prayer, some extra encouragement.
49:05
You just want to acknowledge it. By standing you're going to be
49:08
putting Ephesians 6 into practice.
49:11
You'll know Devil. Not today.
49:12
I'm standing. I'm standing in the strength of
49:14
the Lord. I'm going to stand fast.
49:18
I'm going to withstand. I'm going to resist.
49:21
So I just want to give you a chance to respond this way.
49:24
I'm not going to go through a list of all the warfare, you
49:26
know. I did think though.
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I think I need to say this out loud.
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I know we use the Word family drama and such, and we kind of
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get a chuckle, but I just want to acknowledge to you that
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family drama is very hard, can be very traumatic, and it's okay
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to give a chuckle here and there.
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But we're not in any way minimizing the challenges that
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family brings. Sometimes it's the hardest
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warfare. Jesus said of prophets without
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honor except in his own home. And so I just want you to know
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that maybe you needed that affirmation today from the Lord.
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I want to give it to you. It's hard.
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But the Lord is with you. He's going to walk with you.
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He's going to be with you. He's going to fight your
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battles. Anyone else?
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Because I got a second instruction, so I want to make
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sure everybody responds. You know, really it's you can
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see the whole room. So with people responding, so
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it's not even you by yourself, so you don't have to be all
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embarrassed or anything. Don't.
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You're in the family of God, You guys that aren't standing,
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praise God. What a strong place you are
50:19
right now. We're so happy for you.
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What we're asking, what I want to ask for you now is get your
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eyes on somebody before you get up.
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Get your eyes on somebody right now.
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Just see somebody you want to go pray for or just stand there
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with them because I'll pray over the room.
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And after you make the eye contact and you focus, because
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once you start moving around you might lose them.
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So keep your eyes on them and then get up and go ahead and
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walk around to someone that needs you to pray for them.
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So get the rest of you get up and walk to somebody and just be
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there with them. Put your hands on them.
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It's called the laying on of hands, and it's biblical.
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It's okay, it's healthy, it's important.
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And Father, we just pray. We fill this room with prayer
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today. We pray for these situations.
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They're real. They're hard, They're
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challenging, They're overwhelming, they're tiring,
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They're taxing. But lest we give the devil too
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much attention, we look to you today, God.
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You are strength. You are our deliverer.
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You will raise up a standard, the power of your blood.
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You will defend us. You will protect us.
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You will guard us. You will get us through, and we
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will make it through in the strength of the Lord.
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And I pray that over our church family today pour out your
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spirit in a fresh way among us in the room on the.
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We pray that you've been encouraged by this Bible study
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delivered live from the sanctuary of Calvary Church.
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For prayer, call us at 87730 Grace.
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That's 877-304-7223. To listen to this message in its
51:57
entirety or to join us for our live stream services, visit us
52:02
online at Calvary, Co dot Church or download our free Calvary
52:07
Church app. Be blessed as you Worship Jesus
52:09
this week.