Worship scripture:
You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You. Trust in the Lord forever, For in Yah, the Lord, is everlasting strength.
So when I fight I’ll fight on my knees
With my hands lifted high
O God the battle belongs to You
Sermon message:
Thesis: How to respond to being wronged
Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
You can count on being hurt in life. It’s going to happen.
Point #1: Identify the real enemy
This is where most of us make our mistakes. Not correctly identifying our enemy. We often identify our enemy as a person. Our enemy is not a person. Oftentimes our enemy will turn the lights off, hit you, turn the lights back on, and then will point to a person and say “they did it” when it’s not true.
Do not spend time planning to get revenge on a person. Our real enemy, according to scripture, is Satan. We want to point our spiritual weapons at him. Not at a person.
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
Speak to your real enemy: “no, you may not devour me.”
Satan will try to get you to see God as your enemy. He will whisper “God did this to you.”
how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
It’s the devil, and not God, who oppresses. God doesn’t make anyone sick, nor does He torment anyone. That’s Satan.
Insurance companies call floods and tornadoes “acts of God,” but the truth is that God doesn’t do these things. Satan causes these things that want to destroy you.
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
Use our spiritual weapons and ammunition against Satan.
Point #2: Fire your spiritual guns at the real enemy.
How do we do that? Speak the word of God. That’s what Jesus did when Satan was trying to tempt Him. Talk the word of God out loud. And use the name of Jesus. It’s the most powerful name in existence. Tell Satan: “shut up in the name of Jesus!”
Jesus is The name at which every name must bow.
We can (and must) bind Satan when we pray.
Point #3: very important: Satan really doesn’t want you to hear it or fully believe it. It’s the most important weapon. It is this: pray the prayer of intercession.
When we have someone that has hurt us, instead of wanting God to strike them down, we must pray for them, for God to break through in their lives and break through in their heart.
But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
When you show your (human) enemies love, you are counterpunching Satan. Intercede for others.