Church 10/20/2021
Sermon message:
Kids are amazing. Child-like faith is amazing.
Thesis: God is good and the devil is bad.
Life is 80-90% mental. It is all about how you live it.
We have an adversary:
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
1 Peter 5:8 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=1%20Peter%205:8&version=NKJV
Our adversary will not go after the strongest person but rather the laggard, the weakest.
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.
John 10:10 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=John%2010:10&version=NKJV
Our adversary wants to kill you completely and for eternity. On the contrary, God wants to bless you abundantly and give you life completely and for eternity.
We can resist the enemy.
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
James 4:7 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=James%204:7&version=NKJV
We have to recognize who the real enemy is. It is Satan who is the real enemy. Not any person or group.
Therefore there is a biblical way to respond.
Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Ephesians 6:11 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Ephesians%206:11&version=NKJV
The enemy knows the Word of God, just like we do. We can’t use our earthly items to fight him. But we can resist him. Change the channel in our minds. The Holy Spirit can give you what you need.
Yet when he is found, he must restore sevenfold; He may have to give up all the substance of his house.
Proverbs 6:31 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Proverbs%206:31&version=NKJV
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.
2 Corinthians 10:3 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=2%20Corinthians%2010:3&version=NKJV
Another translation of the same passage:
The world is unprincipled. It’s dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn’t fight fair. But we don’t live or fight our battles that way—never have and never will. The tools of our trade aren’t for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity.
2 Corinthians 10:3 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=2%20Corinthians%2010:3&version=MSG
Reminder and encouragement to get into your Bible regularly.
Pray also for our kids, especially in this time. Dealing with having to hear all the nonsense circulating constantly, they’re the real heroes for putting up with it. They need prayer. Pray for them. God loves them. Love never fails.
For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.
2 Corinthians 10:4-6 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=2%20Corinthians%2010:4-6&version=NKJV
We are in two world simultaneously: the spiritual world and the natural world; the kingdom of God and the kingdom of this world. And we have both sides inside of us also: our spiritual nature and our flesh nature. It’s a battle.
I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
Galatians 5:16 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Galatians%205:16&version=NKJV
There is nothing more powerful than the Word of God.
We have to know who we are fighting. Our warfare requires Holy Spirit directed, Spirit-filled, supernatural, Bible centered/quoting prayer. It requires the armor of God. Fighting the battle is mental, spiritual.
For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
Hebrews 4:12-13 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Hebrews%204:12-13&version=NKJV
Another weapon is the blood of Jesus on the cross.
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.
Revelation 12:11 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Revelation%2012:11&version=NKJV
And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;
Mark 16:17 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Mark%2016:17&version=NKJV
If Satan finds a weak spot in you, he will continue to attack it until you figure out how to combat it spiritually.
If you want answers, open the Word of God, and read it. God will give us exactly what we need.
For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.
Galatians 5:17 - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Galatians%205:17&version=NKJV
Let the Holy Spirit guide your lives, especially in the battle.