SPEAKER_00: Praise the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: We are in our series with Peter, and we'll be turning to 1 Peter chapter 5, and we'll look at verse 8 to 11.
SPEAKER_00: And this is a passage of Scripture that deals with the devil.
SPEAKER_00: How to deal with the devil.
SPEAKER_00: And the thing is, if you don't deal with the devil as a child of God, the devil's going to deal with you.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: We know that the devil has come to steal, kill, and destroy everything that God honors.
SPEAKER_00: Every plan and design of God, every purpose of God, every passion of God, the enemy wants to steal from us, kill it in our lives, and literally destroy us in mind, body, soul, and spirit.
SPEAKER_00: But we're so grateful that the devil is not equal with God.
SPEAKER_00: We have this sense that the devil and God, they're on equal terms trying to battle it out.
SPEAKER_00: That's not the case, amen?
SPEAKER_00: We know that the devil is a created being.
SPEAKER_00: He is not omnipotent, he's not all-powerful, he's not all-knowing.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: And he is not omnipresent.
SPEAKER_00: That is God and God alone.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: He is a created being.
SPEAKER_00: We're going to deal with who the devil is today.
SPEAKER_00: Let's read from 1 Peter chapter 5, and we'll start with verse 8.
SPEAKER_00: Be sober-minded, be watchful.
SPEAKER_00: Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
SPEAKER_00: Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.
SPEAKER_00: And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, say that with me again, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
SPEAKER_00: To him be dominion forever and ever.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, we thank you for your word.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, we don't need intellectual information.
SPEAKER_00: We need transforming, powerful revelation of you to change our hearts from the inside out.
SPEAKER_00: We pray today as we leave this place, we'd have a greater understanding of the victory that you have won at the cross and the power of grace in our heart and in our lives, the power of God to lead us, to guide us, to strengthen us, to establish us, to confirm us, and to seal us for all time as your sons and daughters.
SPEAKER_00: And we give you praise and adoration.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: So there's two common mistakes that happen when it comes to understanding the devil.
SPEAKER_00: Some people act as though Satan doesn't exist.
SPEAKER_00: They treat spiritual warfare as an outdated idea from another time, like it's mythology.
SPEAKER_00: They see the devil as a cartoon character.
SPEAKER_00: You know, we've seen him before, red suit, pitch fork, horns, and never consider that scripture presents him as a real spiritual enemy that is against you, who actively opposes the people of God.
SPEAKER_00: Then there's another extreme in which some people see the devil in absolutely everything.
SPEAKER_00: Have you ever met people like that?
SPEAKER_00: They go out to work in the morning and they get in the car and the car doesn't start.
SPEAKER_00: What do they say?
SPEAKER_00: The devil did it.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe the boss is difficult at work, giving you a hard time, and uh they tell their friends, the devil is attacking me.
SPEAKER_00: How about this one?
SPEAKER_00: You lose your temper, you say things that you shouldn't have that you can't take back, and your statement is the devil made me do it.
SPEAKER_00: Friends, the devil cannot make you do anything.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: How about this one?
SPEAKER_00: I made the wrong choice.
SPEAKER_00: I made a foolish decision.
SPEAKER_00: I lapsed in the wisdom that God has given me, and Satan got me.
SPEAKER_00: Scripture gives us a more balanced and mature theology, doesn't it?
SPEAKER_00: The devil is real, but he is not responsible for everything.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible teaches us to recognize Satan's activity without blaming Satan for our disobedience or our own choices.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that a lesson that we as sons and daughters of God have to understand and learn?
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we make choices that are outside of the will of God, outside of the way of God, outside of the work of God in our hearts and in our minds, and those choices are on us.
SPEAKER_00: And what happens is we need to repent of those choices.
SPEAKER_00: Come to God with humility and accept his grace and forgiveness because of that.
SPEAKER_00: James tells us each person is tempted when he's lured and enticed by his own desire.
SPEAKER_00: Then desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
SPEAKER_00: There is no doubt that there are demons that are working behind the strategy and tactics of the devil to destroy your life, to bring temptation into your life, to bring you down, to hurt you.
SPEAKER_00: Peter's writing to a bunch of people that are harassed by the culture that is against God.
SPEAKER_00: They're discriminated against, they're physically harmed.
SPEAKER_00: And after Peter wrote 2 Peter, which is a short time before Peter died by crucifixion, but upside down because he did not feel worthy to die as his savior.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: What a great, great revelation.
SPEAKER_00: The enemy attacks us.
SPEAKER_00: But Peter gives us some information on how to overcome the enemy and how to stand strong, how to be vigilant, how to be watchful, be sober, resist him, and trust God.
SPEAKER_00: Peter learned this personally when Jesus told him this.
SPEAKER_00: Simon Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail.
SPEAKER_00: And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.
SPEAKER_00: How does it make you feel today that the God of the universe is seated at the right hand of God, interceding for you, praying for you today?
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: Oh whoa! Isn't that wonderful today?
SPEAKER_00: The prayers of our Savior.
SPEAKER_00: The prayers of the man of sorrow, the suffering servant, our savior, our master, our Lord, and not a proud prowling lion, but the lion of Judah is praying for you that he'll that you'll that you'll be able to see you through the circumstance and the situation, the trial and the temptation today.
SPEAKER_00: What a glorious, glorious start.
SPEAKER_00: So God calls us through these words to awareness.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Awareness.
SPEAKER_00: He tells us to stay sober, stay alert, be watchful.
SPEAKER_00: Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
SPEAKER_00: Now, when uh Stephanie and I were married, Stephanie came from the Great White North, and I brought her down into this uh Queens and we drove into our area where we lived, and for the first time, and there was a SWAT team at a bank with guns drawn because of something going on.
SPEAKER_00: And prior to that, as I was talking with Steph over the phone, because she lived in Canada, I lived in Long Island, I would just casually say, Hey Steph, there was a drive-by shooting near me uh recently, and there was quiet, stillness.
SPEAKER_00: And I said, Steph, you still there?
SPEAKER_00: When you grow up in the city, you're aware of things, aren't you?
SPEAKER_00: You got your eyes set on people.
SPEAKER_00: And I tell Amaris, hey, just keep an eye on who's in your 30-foot parameter around you so that you can keep safe.
SPEAKER_00: And if you need to do anything, and if the power of the Lord comes upon you to take care of someone, you got that option.
SPEAKER_00: Be sober, be watchful.
SPEAKER_00: This word sober means to spiritually be clear-minded, self-controlled, and alert, free from anything that clouds your judgment or distorts your ability to discern truth.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that good?
SPEAKER_00: Be sober.
SPEAKER_00: Just as alcohol can intoxicate a person and affect the way they think, respond, and make decisions.
SPEAKER_00: Fear, anger, pride, anxiety, fretting, uncontrolled emotions can spiritually intoxicate us, and we come under the influence of these things and we make decisions that are not right.
SPEAKER_00: We engage in emotions that are uncontrollable.
SPEAKER_00: And how many know that emotions are not our guide, but they are a gauge, amen, of where we are with the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: These things can influence us in ways that keep us from thinking and responding according to truth.
SPEAKER_00: And the reality is, friends, is that the only weapon that the devil has against us is deception, falsehood, and error.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't it true?
SPEAKER_00: And the weapon that we use against him is the truth of God's word.
SPEAKER_00: Sober means don't let fear distort your thinking.
SPEAKER_00: Don't become intoxicated by fear to the point that fear determines what you believe and how you respond or what you do.
SPEAKER_00: Don't let anger control your life and control your reactions.
SPEAKER_00: Don't become intoxicated with anger and wrath so that your emotions take control and cause you to react instead of respond with wisdom and self-control and grace.
SPEAKER_00: Don't let pride blind your discernment.
SPEAKER_00: Don't become intoxicated with pride to the point that you cannot receive correction or recognize your own limitations or see things clearly.
SPEAKER_00: George gave a great message last week on humility and the grace of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Humility is not that you think little of yourselves, humility is that you think less of yourselves.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: That's humility.
SPEAKER_00: Humility has to operate in the house of God because in humility we prefer one another better than ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: We honor one another better than ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: We look out for the interests of others and not just ourselves, because we've been indwelled by this Holy Spirit that is always giving and always serving and always living.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: And when the Holy Spirit dwells within us, we're able to see the needs of others and serve in humility.
SPEAKER_00: Humility is not thinking little of yourself, but thinking less.
SPEAKER_00: And when we think less of ourselves, we're able to receive the grace of God and respond to the Lord the way we need to.
SPEAKER_00: To be sober is to remain clear-minded, spiritually alert, to refuse to let anything take control of your thinking, distort your discernment.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: Distort your discernment or govern your response.
SPEAKER_00: We all have made decisions in our lives based on these elements that have intoxicated us, and we've been left with our own devices, and our good intentions have failed because we have not walked in the truth of God.
SPEAKER_00: To stay awake and alert like a guard on duty.
SPEAKER_00: How many of you ever served as a security guard?
SPEAKER_00: One person.
SPEAKER_00: All right.
SPEAKER_00: I served in Long Island as a security guard at the publisher's clearance house.
SPEAKER_00: And I had to look walk around and see if anybody was taking cash.
SPEAKER_00: And then overnight as well.
SPEAKER_00: And the thing about keeping watch is the key, don't fall asleep.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: Don't fall asleep.
SPEAKER_00: Not panicking, not obsessing, but watching carefully and consistently.
SPEAKER_00: A guard that falls asleep understands and has and rationalizes in his mind that there's nothing that seems urgent.
SPEAKER_00: The danger is not the strength of the enemy, but the carelessness of the watcher.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: We as Christians in this last day, friends, we need to be alert.
SPEAKER_00: We need to be watchful for the enemy's tactics and strategies against our lives and against our family.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: We stay awake and we stay alert.
SPEAKER_00: That is how believers fall spiritually, not usually in crisis, but in carelessness.
SPEAKER_00: We start each day by asking and praying this Lord, keep me spiritually alert today.
SPEAKER_00: For I know the enemy is after me, but I know you have won the victory.
SPEAKER_00: What are the dangers that I will face today?
SPEAKER_00: What will be the choices that I make that will put me in harm's way?
SPEAKER_00: That will have an open door for the enemy.
SPEAKER_00: Identify one area where you are spiritually drowsy and correct it immediately.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Gird up the loins of your mind.
SPEAKER_00: Be prepared in your mind to take action based on the truth of God's word.
SPEAKER_00: And this is huge.
SPEAKER_00: This is big.
SPEAKER_00: Be sober.
SPEAKER_00: Be watchful today.
SPEAKER_00: Secondly, know the enemy.
SPEAKER_00: He opposes, he accuses, and he deceives.
SPEAKER_00: Prowling around like a roaring lion.
SPEAKER_00: Your adversary, the devil.
SPEAKER_00: The adversary, the word means a legal opponent, someone who brings accusations against another in court.
SPEAKER_00: This reveals an important aspect of Satan's strategy.
SPEAKER_00: He not only tempts you to sin, but when you do sin, he accuses you and slanders you and condemns you after you fall.
SPEAKER_00: And haven't you haven't you experienced that?
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: The word devil means slanderer or false accuser.
SPEAKER_00: One who works to divide, distort, and destroy through lies and deception.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus clearly defined his nature in John chapter 8, verse 44.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to this.
SPEAKER_00: He was a murderer from the beginning, does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.
SPEAKER_00: When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
SPEAKER_00: Another translation says that it is his native language to lie.
SPEAKER_00: That's the created being, Satan.
SPEAKER_00: So we see this pattern clearly in Genesis chapter 3.
SPEAKER_00: You remember it, right?
SPEAKER_00: Adam and Eve in the garden, enjoying the presence of the Lord, walking amidst the garden with God Himself.
SPEAKER_00: And then Satan came along and said this.
SPEAKER_00: Did God really say?
SPEAKER_00: Don't we live in a culture that questions all the truth of God's word?
SPEAKER_00: Isn't it true?
SPEAKER_00: Did God really say?
SPEAKER_00: And what that does is it questions God's word.
SPEAKER_00: And for the believer today in Christ, you have to make this statement that the word of God is the truth of God, and you will believe it come hell or high water.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: You will trust in the word of God, for it is the inerrant, the infallible, authoritative word of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit, written by 40 authors over 1,500 years, with this cord of grace and love flowing through it, the truth of God.
SPEAKER_00: So we question, the enemy wants to cause us to question God's word, and then in questioning God's word, it distorts God's character, doesn't it?
SPEAKER_00: It makes God appear restrictive and withholding.
SPEAKER_00: And I know every one of you here have thought in your life that God's holding back on me.
SPEAKER_00: You know?
SPEAKER_00: I remember in Bible school, we used to go across the street, there was this sub place, and we get sandwiches and everything, and we go back to the room, and there was this one guy that didn't have a lot of money, and he would bang around on the doors looking for food.
SPEAKER_00: I felt sorry for him.
SPEAKER_00: But his main thing, when we were in the room eating subs, enjoying our subs, because we purchased them, our subs.
SPEAKER_00: He would come, knock on the door, and say, I know you're in there, and I know you're holding out on me.
SPEAKER_00: You're holding out on me.
SPEAKER_00: Friends, how many of you have said that to God?
SPEAKER_00: Because you don't believe God's goodness for your life, and you want to make decisions outside the will of God because you feel that God is restrictive.
SPEAKER_00: You feel that God is withholding pleasure back from you.
SPEAKER_00: We say it today.
SPEAKER_00: There's nothing that compares with this beautiful, intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: The God of love, the lovers of our soul, the lover of our soul.
SPEAKER_00: So we distort God's character.
SPEAKER_00: And then thirdly, we deny God's warning.
SPEAKER_00: And that warning is that the devil gave to Adam and Eve is that you shall not surely die.
SPEAKER_00: The word of God is true.
SPEAKER_00: And the preaching of hell is still the same.
SPEAKER_00: Because God never changes and his truth never changes.
SPEAKER_00: Those that do not accept Christ as their Savior humble themselves and bow their knee and say, God, you are the Savior.
SPEAKER_00: You are the one and the only one that can bring my life back from the pit of shame, condemnation, guilt, and death.
SPEAKER_00: You are my Savior and you are my Lord.
SPEAKER_00: We believe, friends, that there is a hell and there will be those that are separated from God forever because of the raised fist of rebellion against God.
SPEAKER_00: That's why we preach the gospel, isn't it true?
SPEAKER_00: The same strategy continues today.
SPEAKER_00: Satan distorts truth, challenges the word of God, makes what is harmful appear desirable.
SPEAKER_00: Bankers are trained to recognize counterfeit money.
SPEAKER_00: Not by studying every counterfeit bill, but by studying the real thing, studying the real currency.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that true today?
SPEAKER_00: You will know what is false and in error and deceitful based on the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: This is the true and real currency right here.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: The word of God, and that's what we believe.
SPEAKER_00: Victory over deception does not come from studying every lie, but from knowing the truth so deeply that falsehood becomes obvious in a moment.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: And the Bible says that we test the spirits, don't we?
SPEAKER_00: We test that which is false based on the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus was tempted in the wilderness.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus, who is God, how did he respond?
SPEAKER_00: He responded by Satan's temptations with this.
SPEAKER_00: It is written.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: It is written.
SPEAKER_00: So when you're tempted, when you're going through trial and tribulation, turn to the word of God and tell the enemy of your soul, it is written.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: And I believe it, and I trust in the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: Because of this, the believer must be grounded in truth before the battle begins.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that right?
SPEAKER_00: Read scripture daily, not just for information, but transformation of heart.
SPEAKER_00: I have a wonderful intellectual mind, some say.
SPEAKER_00: But I would rather have this transformation of my heart, where I intimately know Christ personally.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: And the truth of God gets in my heart, changes me from the outside, changes me from the inside out, and he renews my mind daily.
SPEAKER_00: Gives me this new fresh mindset that's based on the word of God, and it is awesome.
SPEAKER_00: When the enemy accuses you, respond with God's truth, not your feelings.
SPEAKER_00: Wow, feelings.
SPEAKER_00: Feelings can get us into trouble, can't they?
SPEAKER_00: Emotions that are out of whack and out of the way of the will of God.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, friends, we need to refocus our emotions on Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: And when your emotions are out of whack, immediately replace those emotions with emotions that honor God, that adore God, that praises God, that thanks God.
SPEAKER_00: Like David, I will bless the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: With everything that is in me, I will bless the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Oh my soul, my mind, my will, and emotions, I will bless the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And some of the greatest blessings of praising the Lord is when you don't feel like it.
SPEAKER_00: When you want to do just the opposite and curse God out.
SPEAKER_00: But when you raise your praises to God for who he is, amen.
SPEAKER_00: All of a sudden this freedom happens in your heart and life.
SPEAKER_00: There is beauty in the ashes when we give him praise.
SPEAKER_00: We put on this garment of praise.
SPEAKER_00: The oil Of joy for mourning as we praise him.
SPEAKER_00: That's why we sing our songs, friends, to praise him.
SPEAKER_00: And in praising him, we allow our heart to receive the word of God because our heart is in right relationship with him.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to this.
SPEAKER_00: We need to distinguish between conviction and condemnation.
SPEAKER_00: The enemy condemns and accuses and slanders.
SPEAKER_00: The Holy Spirit embraces you and says, There will be change because I'm the God of transformation.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: I'm the God that's going to bring you back.
SPEAKER_00: I'm the God that forgives you.
SPEAKER_00: I'm the God that delivers you.
SPEAKER_00: I'm the God that heals you.
SPEAKER_00: I'm the God of grace that will see you through in all things.
SPEAKER_00: Condemnation attacks your identity.
SPEAKER_00: Don't put up with it for one moment, friends.
SPEAKER_00: Condemnation is of the devil.
SPEAKER_00: Romans 8 says that there is now no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Receive that today.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: Who is going to put accusations and charges against God's elect?
SPEAKER_00: No one.
SPEAKER_00: For Jesus Christ took our sin, our shame, and our condemnation on the cross.
SPEAKER_00: And when he said, it is finished, guess what?
SPEAKER_00: It is done.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: It is paid for.
SPEAKER_00: Condemnation is over.
SPEAKER_00: Beautiful experience of conviction.
SPEAKER_00: Don't be afraid of the convicting power of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Lots of times when we face the conviction of the Holy Spirit, we think in our minds, oh boy, here it goes.
SPEAKER_00: I feel the conviction.
SPEAKER_00: I feel God speaking to me.
SPEAKER_00: Now I'm going to have to change my life.
SPEAKER_00: Now I'm going to have to give up this.
SPEAKER_00: Now I'm going to have to give up these friends.
SPEAKER_00: Now I'm going to have to give up.
SPEAKER_00: No, no, no, friends.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, when the conviction of the Holy Spirit comes, we give in.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: We give in to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
SPEAKER_00: And He desires to bring contentment and the wonder of who he is in our hearts.
SPEAKER_00: So the call to awareness, we stay sober, we stay awake.
SPEAKER_00: And then this understanding that we need to know the enemy.
SPEAKER_00: We need to understand the enemy's work in our hearts and in our lives.
SPEAKER_00: There's been a lot of things going on in our church, family, attacks of the enemy against our physical bodies, attacks of the enemy, harassment, and things of this nature that are happening.
SPEAKER_00: We need to understand and come against his distortion of truth in our hearts and in our lives.
SPEAKER_00: Satan's goal is to deceive, tempt, accuse, and divide.
SPEAKER_00: Do not become so familiar with deception that you lose sight of the truth of God.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: Become so rooted in God's word that every lie becomes immediately recognizable.
SPEAKER_00: When you put the lie and the falsehood and the deceit of Satan against the truth of God, there is this revelation, amen, of what decision you should make, what steps you should take.
SPEAKER_00: And the fight of fighting the enemy.
SPEAKER_00: We don't give him what he wants.
SPEAKER_00: Resist them firm in your faith.
SPEAKER_00: Peter gives us this clear command.
SPEAKER_00: We don't negotiate with Satan.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: We don't entertain the thoughts that he puts in our hearts and in our minds.
SPEAKER_00: Our mind is not a playground.
SPEAKER_00: Our mind is a battleground.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: And the Bible says that every thought that comes into our minds that is against the knowledge of God and the revelation of Jesus for your life, we take that thought captive.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: We take it captive.
SPEAKER_00: And we subdue it to the knowledge of God.
SPEAKER_00: And we replace this falsehood with the truth of God's word.
SPEAKER_00: James 4, 7 gives us the order.
SPEAKER_00: And it says here, submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
SPEAKER_00: Our resistance begins with our submission to God.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that so?
SPEAKER_00: Our submission to God.
SPEAKER_00: We as human beings, fallen creatures, we have this innate desire to rebel against God.
SPEAKER_00: And that's why we need the Holy Spirit always working and moving and shaping us, always yielding to the Spirit of God.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible says that we should not be drunk with wine, but we should be what?
SPEAKER_00: Filled with the Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: We submit to God.
SPEAKER_00: Submission to God means surrendering our will to Him.
SPEAKER_00: Living in rebellion against God is not the thing to do.
SPEAKER_00: We trust His authority, choosing obedience to His word.
SPEAKER_00: We submit to God by surrendering our will.
SPEAKER_00: And our example for that is Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Remember in the Garden of Gethsemane?
SPEAKER_00: Before he knew, before he was to die, he said, Lord, if this cup can pass from me, let it be.
SPEAKER_00: But nevertheless, not my will, but your will be done.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: Can you say that today with true affection and meaning and desire in your heart that it's not your will that you want for your life, but it's God's will.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: And if you say that in your heart and life today, that means there's going to be changes.
SPEAKER_00: That means the way you are walking is going to change.
SPEAKER_00: The direction and trajectory of your life is going to change.
SPEAKER_00: The decisions that you've been making will change.
SPEAKER_00: And the people that you hang around with will change.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to these verses in Isaiah.
SPEAKER_00: It says this.
SPEAKER_00: How you have fallen from heaven, O daystar, son of dawn, how you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low, you said in your heart, and listen to the enemy, Satan, the devil, speak.
SPEAKER_00: And then let's see if we are speaking the same way as the enemy of our soul.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to this.
SPEAKER_00: You said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven above the stars of God.
SPEAKER_00: I will set my throne on high.
SPEAKER_00: I will sit on the Mount of Assemblies in the far reaches of the north.
SPEAKER_00: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds.
SPEAKER_00: I will make myself like the Most High God.
SPEAKER_00: But you are brought down to Sheol to the far reaches of the pit.
SPEAKER_00: How many times have we said, God, not your will, but mine be done.
SPEAKER_00: I will.
SPEAKER_00: This problem, I will fix it.
SPEAKER_00: This care, I will worry about it.
SPEAKER_00: This situation, I will entertain these thing that gives me pleasure and feeds the sensuality of my heart.
SPEAKER_00: I will, I will, I will.
SPEAKER_00: Friends, we need to say it's your will, oh God.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: Not my will, but your will.
SPEAKER_00: When we're submitted to our God, our will is aligned with his will, his way, his work.
SPEAKER_00: We are positioned to stand against the enemy because we have the weapons of warfare.
SPEAKER_00: And that is the armor of God.
SPEAKER_00: The roaring lion, when it attacks, it roars to instill fear.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what the enemy does.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: In your heart and in your life.
SPEAKER_00: The roaring brings fear.
SPEAKER_00: It can cause a person to lose focus, to make poor decisions, and run in the wrong uh run in the wrong direction.
SPEAKER_00: He uses fear to create panic and pressure before there is even a reason to surrender.
SPEAKER_00: And listen to this, friends.
SPEAKER_00: Perfect love casts out all fear.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: Oh, we run to our Savior, amen?
SPEAKER_00: Into the arms of our God.
SPEAKER_00: And when we're in the arms of our God, the Bible says that we are hidden in Christ with God.
SPEAKER_00: Our lives are hidden in God, protected and provided for.
SPEAKER_00: So he may attack us with fear of failure, fear of loss, fear of rejection, fear of death, fear of the future, fear of what might happen.
SPEAKER_00: The goal of fear is to get us to react before we have taken time to trust in God.
SPEAKER_00: We trust in God.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: The goal of fear is to get us to react.
SPEAKER_00: Fear says, what if?
SPEAKER_00: Faith says, God is faithful.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: A strong tree is not made strong by the absence of storms, its strength is revealed by what happens when the storm comes.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't it true?
SPEAKER_00: What enables a tree to stand is not the strength of its branches, but the depth of its roots.
SPEAKER_00: And the Bible tells us to be grounded and rooted in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And when the trial comes, even though the storms are there, our life will be strong.
SPEAKER_00: Our life will stand firm.
SPEAKER_00: Storms do not determine your spiritual strength.
SPEAKER_00: Your roots in Christ do.
SPEAKER_00: When your life is deeply rooted in God through his word, prayer, obedience, fellowship with the body of Christ and other believers, you are better prepared to remain standing when pressure comes.
SPEAKER_00: Faith is not the absence of pressure.
SPEAKER_00: Faith is standing firm in the middle of pressure.
SPEAKER_00: Faith says, I feel pressure.
SPEAKER_00: I feel anxiety.
SPEAKER_00: I feel the trials.
SPEAKER_00: But I will not surrender my position in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: You are not alone.
SPEAKER_00: When temptation or fear comes, speak God's truth instead of allowing your emotions to become your authority.
SPEAKER_00: Your emotions, friends, are not your authority.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: They are gauged to what happens.
SPEAKER_00: And I've often said if I put on a Barry White music right now, we'll feel all the love.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: We'll feel the love.
SPEAKER_00: And you know what?
SPEAKER_00: If I put on some heavy metal, metallica, and I get my wife up here and she starts going like this with her hair, we're gonna feel hostility.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna feel vitriol.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna feel aggression.
SPEAKER_00: Those are emotions and they are stimulated by our circumstance.
SPEAKER_00: We're not stimulated by our circumstances, friends.
SPEAKER_00: We're spurred and stirred on and stimulated by the very presence of a powerful God that lives within us.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: Aren't you glad for that?
SPEAKER_00: Strengthen your spiritual roots through prayer.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible says that in everything, give thanks.
SPEAKER_00: Pray about everything.
SPEAKER_00: Don't worry about a thing.
SPEAKER_00: There's this thing called release and casting our cares upon the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And when he takes those cares, he's praying for us.
SPEAKER_00: And just as he's prayed for Peter, he's praying for your life and he's praying for mine.
SPEAKER_00: And what he does is that he sends the Holy Spirit to bring the answer to our prayer.
SPEAKER_00: And many times it's not bullet points of what we need to do, it's just his presence.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't it true?
SPEAKER_00: The presence of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: He maketh rich and adds no sorrow.
SPEAKER_00: Refuse isolation.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the thing: when you're tempted and you feel like you're gonna fall, the thing that the enemy wants to do is keep you isolated.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: Keep you alone so that he can get you easily.
SPEAKER_00: But you know what?
SPEAKER_00: When you're in the fellowship of the house of God with brothers and sisters of God, we are an army and we are the army of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: And we protect one another.
SPEAKER_00: We stand with one another, we stir one another on to good works.
SPEAKER_00: The storm may be strong, but your roots are deeper because they're in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: The enemy may roar.
SPEAKER_00: That's all he's got.
SPEAKER_00: Because the authority, all authority has been given to Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: He might be the prince of this world, the God of this age, but Jesus Christ has all authority.
SPEAKER_00: And he said, Go and make disciples.
SPEAKER_00: All authority is given to me.
SPEAKER_00: Now go.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: We live our lives based on the authority of God's word.
SPEAKER_00: Fourthly and lastly, trust the God of grace.
SPEAKER_00: The devil does not get the final word.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Oh man, he must feel really, really bad.
SPEAKER_00: The prophetic end of time is coming.
SPEAKER_00: He knows his end is coming quickly, and he's doing everything he can to destroy the work of God.
SPEAKER_00: He hates God, he rebels against God.
SPEAKER_00: And in hurting us, he hurts the heart of God.
SPEAKER_00: And that's why we stand strong in encouraging one another.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to this.
SPEAKER_00: The four, we're going to end with this.
SPEAKER_00: Four things that God does.
SPEAKER_00: God's four promises today, and that is, number one, He will establish you.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: Establish you.
SPEAKER_00: God doesn't simply rescue us from difficulty, He uses difficulty to develop spiritual stability within us.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: That was really weak.
SPEAKER_00: We'll try that again.
SPEAKER_00: Here we go.
SPEAKER_00: He uses difficulty to develop spiritual stability within us.
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: We don't like it.
SPEAKER_00: We definitely don't love it.
SPEAKER_00: But that's what he does.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes he brings situations in our hearts because he wants to establish us, root us, and get us strong.
SPEAKER_00: He builds what we might call spiritual backbone.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: Spiritual backbone to stand up against the wiles of the devil, building up the core of our being so that we can stand and be strong in the face of temptation.
SPEAKER_00: God's teaching you how to stand when everything around you is shaking.
SPEAKER_00: He wants to establish you today.
SPEAKER_00: Secondly, he wants to strengthen you, give you the supply of divine power when human strength is no longer enough.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: There'll be moments when you reach the limits of your own ability, and that is awesome.
SPEAKER_00: Because at that point you give your life over to Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And in our weakness, the Bible says, He becomes our strength.
SPEAKER_00: Paul understood what it meant to glory in the weakness because whenever he was weak, he knew that he came to the end of his strength and that the Holy Spirit will begin to restore and strengthen him.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes God doesn't immediately remove the weakness, instead, he meets us in it with his grace and gives us the strength to keep going.
SPEAKER_00: All right.
SPEAKER_00: He strengthens us.
SPEAKER_00: Fourthly, he settles us.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: He settles us.
SPEAKER_00: He lays a firm foundation to establish something securely so that it can withstand what comes against it.
SPEAKER_00: Storms will come, pressures will come, trials will come, tribulation will come, the storm will come.
SPEAKER_00: But when you build your life on the rock who is Jesus Christ, it doesn't matter what storm you storm comes, the house will still stand.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: If you build your life on sinking sand, everything that you have will be swept away.
SPEAKER_00: The difference was not the absence of a storm, it was the strength of the foundation.
SPEAKER_00: Friends, your life and my life today is positioned on the rock who is Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: A firm foundation.
SPEAKER_00: Here it is.
SPEAKER_00: Trust God's process, even when life feels broken.
SPEAKER_00: You may not understand what God is doing, but you can trust Him today that He knows everything about you.
SPEAKER_00: He sees you.
SPEAKER_00: And all things work together for your good to those that love God and are called according to your purpose.
SPEAKER_00: You may be might be feeling it today.
SPEAKER_00: You might be hurting.
SPEAKER_00: You might have struggles that you you think that you might not get through.
SPEAKER_00: But our God will strengthen you, will establish you, will restore you, will settle you today.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Trust God's process.
SPEAKER_00: Anchor your identity in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: The lion is roaring, but God is still God.
SPEAKER_00: The lion prowls, he accuses, he deceives, he tempts.
SPEAKER_00: But here it is.
SPEAKER_00: God restores, establishes, strengthens, and settles you.
SPEAKER_00: Because he is the God of grace.
SPEAKER_00: And we walk in this wonderful grace that is greater than our sin.
SPEAKER_00: That is greater than our anxiety.
SPEAKER_00: That is greater than the broken relationships that you're experiencing.
SPEAKER_00: Greater than the problems at work.
SPEAKER_00: Greater, greater, greater.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Is the grace of God for your life today than anything that can come against you?
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Worship team come and let's worship the Lord today.
SPEAKER_00: We thank you, Lord, for who you are.
SPEAKER_00: You are our God.
SPEAKER_00: There is none like you, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And all the cares and anxieties of our heart we give over to you.
SPEAKER_00: We worship you today, Lord, because we know that the enemy is like a lion prowling.
SPEAKER_00: But we know, O God, that you are the lion of Judah, the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
SPEAKER_00: And that's why we worship you.
SPEAKER_00: That's why we praise you today.
SPEAKER_00: And that's why we've gathered together with the house of God, the people of God, to raise these praises into the heirs of Lackawanna because God is worthy.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.