A New Season: Our Spiritual Armor

Series: A New Season
Sermon: Our Spiritual Armor
5-30-10
Intro
Last week we looked at our Spiritual Weapons as to how it relates to us taking ground on the battlefield
Obj
• An aggressive church needs protection from Satan
• God has given her spiritual armor
Eph 6:10-18 KJV
• The command is to take up the whole armor of God
• Many of us only take a few pieces of armor and then wonder why we are still taking hits
• Ive got news for you that the purpose of the armor of God is to take hits,
• Satan is going to attack, that is his job
• Your job is to put on the “whole” armor of God that you might be able to withstand Satan
Ex: imagine getting ready for work in the morning and just putting on a hat and nothing else…
How about just your shoes, or just your belt…
• You must be fully prepared, to fully win
Let’s look at the strategy of the enemy and God’s plan for protection…
1. Belt of truth- John 14:6: I am the way the truth the life
Form of attack from the enemy:
• Lies against the character of God John 8:44 NLT
• Deception about who you are- Romans 8:1 No condemnation
• Error as to the way you are going- sometimes we think the grass is greener on the otherside, conneticut: no hot water, sleep in bunk beds, square peg round hole, no connection, as soon as we stepped off plane, uncomfortable feeling,
Sin-creates error in your way,
• Rom 16:19 be innocent concerning evil
• Bankers are taught to study the real thing, meaning the dollar bill, and when a counterfeit comes by they spot it by studying the truth, not studying what’s counterfeit
Truth enables us to move into battle, prepare for activity, be dressed in readiness, 1 pet 1:13 gird up the loins of your mind
2. God’s Righteousness- Breastplate
Form of attack from the enemy:
Accusations-Rev 12:10 accuses us before God day and night
Despair comes from believing what satan says rather than what God says
Condemnation- Rom 8:1 no condemnation to those that belong to JC
When falsely condemned declare the truth
Spiritual Pride- trusting ones own goodness
• Protection: a heart that is covered with God’s righteousness
• Pure motives, love,compassion, the glory of God
• You must not stand in your righteousness, but God’s righteousness: rms 3:22,25,26
• Satan cannot penetrate the armor of God’s righteousness

3. Shoes of Peace
• The peace of God that passes all understanding Guide your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus
• Attack of the enemy: persecution, lies, compromise, passivity
• Counterattack: feet that always follow the way of peace
o Jesus is our example: Matt 12:18-21 NLT
o Feet indicate one is ready to move with a message
• Rom 8:14 the children of God are led by the Spirit of God, led by peace
• Ex: hotel one time up north, we immediately felt the urgency to leave, got money back and got out of town.
• Ex: didn’t have peace with Lisa
• Ex: in dallas prayed over david, into homosexuality, witchcraft- spirit of peace clothed me like a blanket, God what are you going to do, deliverance cast the devil out of him
• Romans 1:16 the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation!
4. Shield of faith
• Attack from the enemy: flaming missiles
• Doubt, unbelief, fear, the opposite of faith
• Faith protects the whole man, head to foot, extinguishes flaming missiles
• 1 pet 5:9 faith actively resists the enemy
• Mk 11:22-24 NLT
5. Helmet of salvation
• The mind is a battlefield of your thoughts
• Rms 8:6 the carnal mind operates in the flesh
• Eph 4:18 the unrenewed mind remains in darkenss
• Eph 4:23 be renewed in the spirit of your mind
• Memory set free from the things of the past
• Bondages of the occult or cults broken over your mind
• Give no place to the devil eph 4:27 topos position of opportunity
6. The Sword of the Spirit
• Heb 4:12
• Attack of the enemy:
• Hath God said? Twists and distorts the Word
• Takes the Word out of the heart of the hearer Mat 13:19
• Doctrine of demons, 1 Tim 4:1
• Do not be afraid to rebuke Satan Rev 19:15
• Stand your ground, speak the truth
• This weapon is energized the Holy Spirit

Conclusion
• God has prepared His church for the attack of the enemy
• You don’t need to fear his attacks, but stand in the whole armor of God.
• Ask God to show you the attacks of the enemy about yourself, when you are free then you can ask God for the freedom of others

• What are the accusations in your mind now from satan- apply the Word
• What are the doubts and fears that attack your mind?
• If you battle depression, ask God to show you the doors by which despair and hopelessness enter

Remember Duet 1:8 behold I have set the land before you, go in and possess the land I am giving you.
You possess the land by facing the works of the enemy
The land of promise is a land of complete victory

A New Season: Possess the Land

This message is long overdue.

Series: A NEW SEASON
Sermon: POSSESS THE LAND
5/16/10
Offering-Duet 28:1-14 NLT
Duet 1:8 KJV 8Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them.
What is enacted and carried out in the OT, in the physical realm, is to be enacted in the spiritual realm by The Church.
Principles:
1. the land God is giving you will not be possessed w/o battle
• Psa 44:4-5: you command victories for your people, by your power can we push back our enemies, and in your name we trample our foes.
2. The giving was God’s part, taking was Israel’s part
3. When the enemy was confronted they always prevailed!
Jesus has broken the power and authority of Hell
• Col 2:15 God disarmed the evil rulers and authorities he shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the Cross of Christ
• Heb 2:14 By Jesus dying , He broke the power of the Devil who had the power of death.
• But Jesus death, gave Him power of death, hell and the grave
What has been given must be possessed!
• Israel’s mistake: they were content to live with the enemy, when God told Joshua to drive out all the inhabitants of the land, even the children
• So it is with the church, taken a passive position against sin, and the things God hates
• As a people we have become passive toward sin, bitterness, and adultery and allowed that stuff to live in us with a retreating /self defeating attitude
• Ex: on vacation with sand in the sheets, sand from the ocean is so fine, small enough get everywhere, can’t sleep, brush it out, or Ashley can’t sleep with messy blankets, always fluffs them up, even after I’m sleeping…
The Church must stand on the work of the Cross and declare His victory!
The Cross gives us position to possess the land.
Faith
 We can only be in faith where the will of God is known
 You can believe for everything, but believe that God will reveal His will on an issue
 God’s Word will never contradict itself
 It takes enough energy just to believe God when we know His will, than when we don’t
 Meaning just to fulfill the will of God sometimes is hard enough, when you know what to believe for let alone trying to believe for something that you may not even know God’s will on
 Faith believes for something, substance
Hebrews 11:1-3 KJV 1Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, (the will of God) the evidence of things not seen. 2For by it the elders obtained a good report. 3Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
Rms 10:17 Faith comes by hearing the Word of God
Faith is for the Word of God, the Word is God’s will.
Faith is for the will of God, not your will.
There is no faith where the will of God is not known, that is why we ask for wisdom, James 1, so we are not vacillating in the will of God
We ask God what His will is, in a matter, and stand on the Word of God, and believe God to reveal Himself
You must know the will of God to be in faith
Where there is no Word, there is no faith.
By possessing our land that they Lord has given us, it will take work, energy, faith, motion against resistance and time
 We are not just going to localize a problem and send you to a psychiatric hospital, but present you with solutions and force feed you the will, purpose and power of God, and you will grow
 We are going to identify the strongholds, cast the devil out, have victory over every area, and possess the land!
Man is a spirit.
 Modern philosophy has taught us to ignore this fact, there are spiritual answers for spirit beings
 Man is a spirit and so is our God, and He can transcend the disintegration of the human race and bring forth a real integration of His HS to cause us to possess our land
 Being a Christian doesn’t automatically solve our problems, but builds a stage for us to receive the Grace of God
 That grace only comes through the proper understanding of the Cross, Satan and his works, understanding yourself, and learning to have faith in God and His provision to meet every need of man.
Then you are free to relate to God and relate to others
Entering the Land
 Satan has established strongholds in the land, especially in your mind, so you can’t wrap your mind around what God has for you
Deut 1:8- the land is before you, go in and possess it.
 A passive attitude will not conquer the land, and that allows the enemy to remain in the land and God’s people suffer
 God’s will is not for His people to suffer from the enemy, Jesus came to discombobulate Satan
 God’s will is victory for you-to rule in circumstances, rather than being ruled by circumstances
 A people that can determine the will of God and take direction rather than being directed by a turn of events
God wants a people to magnify the name of the Lord
 Who has made Him their strong tower, refuge, shield, their covering, and their conqueror.
God gave the land of Canaan to the Israelites
 Giving was God’s part, the taking was Israel’s part-
 The land was theirs, but they had to possess it
What is given is not automatically yours!
Deut 1:21,36 KJV
21Behold, the LORD thy God hath set the land before thee: go up and possess it, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged.
 He said that because it would be scarry and discouraging
36Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath wholly followed the LORD.
 The promise is given to those that are totally sold out
Like Jesus said, Satan has nothing in me, john 14:30
 Your land will not be possessed w/o a battle
 It’s going to be scarry, discouraging at times, but the land is still yours!
THE CHALLENGE BEFORE THE CHURCH TODAY- POSSESS THE LAND WITHOUT
1. the Church must deal with the presence of the enemy
 Judges 1,2- did not drive out all the inhabitants and went to worshipping others gods
 Jesus- 1 john 3:8 KJV For this purpose the Son of God was manifested that He might destroy the works of the devil.
2. What has been given must be possessed by the Church
A Word to the Church: Mat 28:18-20 KJV all power in heaven and earth given to me
Armor for the Church: Eph 6
A battle for the Church: 2 Cor 10:3-5 walk in flesh, don’t war after flesh, weapons warfare not carnal…casting down imag, every high thing…
THE CHALLENGE BEFORE THE CHRISTIAN TODAY- POSSESS THE LAND WITHIN
Jesus broke the authority of evil over us Col 1:13- He has delivered us from power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son, redemption through blood, forgivenss of sins
The works of the enemy must be dealt with in the land of the mind, the will, the emotions, the body.
What has been given must be possessed
Salvation given on principle of faith, must operate on the same principle
Faith extends God’s authority in every area of our living
The works of the enemy must be torn down and his presence driven out
Casting down imaginations and every high thing… 2 cor 10:3-5
THE CHALLENGE OF SATAN-TO ROB THE CHRISTIAN OF GOD’S PROVISION
Satan will challenge you, but Rev 12:11 overcome the devil by the blood of the lamb and the Word of your testimony
The cross is Satans defeat, defeated foe
Conclusion
How do I possess the Land? Facing the enemy and his works
There can be no compromise in any area!!!
The land of Promise should be the land of complete victory
Complete victory only comes if you are willing to deal with all the works of the enemy.
Works of the Enemy
Works of the flesh- Gal 5:16-23 NLT
What are the strongholds of the enemy that you face in personal life?
Do you recognize patterns and problems long existent in your family?
How do they affect you emotionally? Spiritually?
Begin to pray for revelation of the spiritual nature of the problems.

A New Season: Pray for Rain

Series: A New Season
“Pray for Rain”
5/2/10
Intro
 We are serving the Lord now in a new season
 A new season requires new direction, and a new approach to the same old stuff
 Not only are we breaking greed but breaking the seat of disobedience to God.
 A new season isn’t new if you are doing the same things over and over again
 Not only are giving everything as a people but God is calling us to pray for Rain.
 The spiritual rain that only He can send
Obj
 The same God that said it wasn’t going to rain for 3 years in 1 Kings 17 is the same God 3 years later that said it was going to rain again and to prepare.
 God is the author of the faucet of blessing in our lives.
 He can turn the spout on or off, and if you continue to follow God and His ways the spout stays on
Ex: the kids play with hose and leave the water on, but the nozzle is off, but water is available when ready to shoot
Elijah the prophet of God is called to stand before King Ahab
1 Kings 18:1-2 NLT
 Go present yourself to King Ahab and tell him I am sending rain.
Vs 17 Is that you, the troublemaker of Israel?
This is a great story of God revealing Himself
1 Kings 18:18-21
 How long will we waiver between 2 opinions?
 Will you trust God for yourself, or allow your mechanical irrigation to satisfy you?
Ex: Ashley says that people instead of trusting God trust in trees, bricks, metal.
 Instead of trusting God people would rather trust their money, their Homes, or what they drive
Psalm 20:7
Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.
 Whatever is pleasant and easy isn’t necessarily the Lord
 Please don’t wake up one day and realize that you have been worshipping a false God
Remember…
1 Timothy 6:10
For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
 Elijah stood against 850 pagan prophets
 You take your bull prepare it, but don’t set fire to it
 I will take my bull prepare it, but not set fire to it.
 You call on the name of your god and I will call on the name of the Lord
The God who answers by fire is the true God, they agreed.
 From morning till evening the pagan prophets called on their gods.
 Their god, Baal, most popular Canaanite god, often made in the shape of a bull, representing strength, fertility, and reflecting lust for power and sexual pleasure
 Sounds like same demon entities that are worshipped today.
 How often we as Christians have trusted the same junk, being made to think that it is ok.
God loves to set your bull on fire! God mocks and laughs at the gods of this world
 Elijah began mocking as these pagan prophets danced around their sacrifice like a bunch of Indians calling on a pagan princess to appear
 Elijah mocked by saying “you’ll have to shout louder, surely he is a god,
 but maybe he is daydreaming, or going to the bathroom,
 maybe he is on vacation or a long trip or asleep and needs to be awakend.
 They shouted louder, danced harder, cut themselves with sword and knives until their blood gushed out
 But still no sound, no reply.
Then Elijah called them over to him
 He built an altar out of 12 stones, dug a trench around altar to hold 3 gallons water, and piled the wood and the sacrifice on the altar
 Fill 4 large jars with water and soak the altar and sacrifice, 3 times until the water filled the trench
 When things look impossible in the natural, that is when God gets the credit
1 Kings 18:36-40
 The fire always falls on the blood!
 God revealing himself was part of the process for the rain to return to the earth.
 Water wasn’t so easy to come by to soak the sacrifice
 But God was saying, use up what you have because I’m about to set it on fire
 Drought is there for God to reveal Himself to you in a greater dimension
 Drought is there to make you thirsty for the rain of Heaven
 Drought is there so that when the rain comes you can’t say you did it on your own
 You must say it is only the because of the Lord, the one who answers by fire, He is God.



 About time we allow the fire to fall
 Let the wood hay and stubble in our live burn, God come and set it on fire
 That we might be firebrands for you,
 People that have been tried in the furnace of affliction, but have come out not even smelling like smoke.
 Furnace of affliction is what purifies your faith
 Kill the junk in us that is not of faith, not of you, but the spirit of this world, the flesh, the devil.
 Power, status, appearance or material possessions, anything that causes us to depend on anything other than God himself
 When crisis hits these things can’t answer your problems, only Jesus can.
When the fire falls that’s a reason for the rain to come
1 Kings 18:41-45
Remember why it didn’t rain, Israel, through King Ahab was promoting idolatry, and intermarrying women from pagan nations, the people God detested
Vs 44 I saw a little cloud the size of a man’s hand rising from the sea
James 5:16-18 NLT
Seeking God and turning from your ways through repentance is what is going to get you there
Get to the top of Mt Carmel
Start seeking, asking, knocking and don’t stop till the blessing comes
Start praying for Rain, the rain makes the crops healthy and the fruit sweet.

A New Season: Give Everything

Series: A New Season
Message: Give Everything
4/25/10

Intro
 We are invited by the Holy Spirit to be a part of the greatest movements on Earth, The Church.
 Jesus is the builder of His church, the provider, the director
 Process can be difficult, however when you know that Jesus is large and in charge you can trust Him for anything.
Obj
No matter what you are facing, God can work it out
God is teaching us how in a troubled economy not to hoard or be in fear, but to give and be at peace
 The church seems to be in a wilderness right now…
 We are waiting to see what God is going to do for us during this critical time
 He takes you out of bondage and you find yourself in a wilderness
 Egypt you were provided for, work of your hands, in promise land you were provided for, the work of your hands, but in the wilderness God provides miraculously
 But in the wilderness God introduces you to a season of miracles
 Water out of the rock, walk thru red sea dry ground, no weakness or sickness, shoes don’t wear out, cloud by day, fire by night, manna in the morning noon and night.
God wants to make us distinct In this environment by providing miraculously for us on a regular basis;
 I will provide all your needs. Phil 4:19 my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus
 Wilderness in your life is there to show God’s miraculous provision
 Never a wilderness that God isn’t willing to perform miracles
 Wilderness: not in bondage, on way to the promise land, God performs miracles-ask Him
 The nation is in recession, the Kingdom is not.
 The nation needs a bailout, but let the citizens of Heaven know that the Kingdom is secure
 This world is not our home, we are on mission here!
Mark 12:41-44 NLT
1. Matthew 19:23-24
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is very hard for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.I’ll say it again—it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!”)
2. Luke 12:21
“Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.”
 The important thing to the Lord is not the amount of the gift, but the commitment and sacrifice it represents.
 He judges our gift not by how much we give, but how much is left over after we give
 Money is not the root of all evil, but the love of money.
 Not the amount you give but the heart behind what’s leftover.
 What’s leftover is either faith or your own ways.
Ex: Friend of mine giving: $2 million in debt, bank said what are you doing, nobody is selling, building, but he started tithing, and he started his business tithing too. Less than 1 year later he is totally out of debt, paid everyone back, and funding the Kingdom of God.

God begun to transform the heart, and as the heart changed God blessed him
 This woman’s giving was sacrificial and more that what anyone else gave based on what was left over.
 Someone told me that they couldn’t afford to give, and I said you can’t afford not to give
 Sometimes we give cheerfully, other times we give out of our need.
 This is not about money this morning, we are breaking hoarding, greed, fear, worry, the cares of this life.
Remember scripture calls it the deceitfulness of riches…mark 4:19, that make you unfruitful
Take a look at the unnamed woman in 1 Kings 17.
 There is a 3 ½ years of drought, no rain or dew
 God sends Elijah the prophet to this woman and her son
 He sees her and instead of saying hello, says “bring me a drink, and some of that bread in your hand”
 What are you Italian, this guy, who does he think he is? What is he a goodfella?
1 Kings 17:12-13 NLT Read
 Isn’t like an Italian to say all that they don’t have
 I’m Italian and Sicilian, botta bing, botta boom, the best of both worlds.
 She didn’t have anything, and God was asking her to give everything
1 Kings 17:14-16
 When the rain comes you’re not worried about what used to worry you
 When will the church get to the place where they will offer to God first, their best,
 When we offer our best, God in return pours out a blessing that there is not room enough to receive.
 But if you don’t have room to receive now God can’t pour more in till you let some out.
Its hard to give to someone with their hands closed, open your hand to God and let it go.
 This woman experienced God’s supernatural provision because she said yes to God
 What if she would of said no!
 But she didn’t and put God first, and she didn’t lack in times of drought
 God knows how to take care of his own.
 God’s ways are not our ways, His economy is not the world’s economy.
 Put God first in everything and your life will be in order, and God’s provision will flourish in your life!
What if you couldn’t receive a tax deduction for your giving to your church?
 That shouldn’t matter, because we are giving in response to obedience not on the basis of a gov’t tax credit
Giving breaks the greed and releases the funds for your needs
 You can’t buy a miracle, but when you give out of your need, the Lord recognizes sacrifice, and rewards it.
Hebrews 10:36
For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
Be patient and let God work
1 Kings 17:17-24 tell the story
 The womans boy died and she get bitter, starts blaming Elijah
 Elijah says, give me your son, and went to the upper room and prayed
 And raised the boy from the dead and gave him back to his mother
1 Kings 17:24
 The thing that activates your sustains your faith is you going to the upper room with Jesus
 It’s time the church starts praying
 Mat 26:41 pray that you enter not into temptation
 Prayer strengthens you, fills you, gives you God’s perspective and peace.
 Sometimes it seems like your dreams have died, but like Jesus told Peter, I have prayed for you.
Prayer allows things to live again, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
 This woman gave everything and her son died, where is the rejoicing in that?
 But as Elijah prayed life from the Spirit of God came back into him
 God wants to breathe life back into you, your dreams, your finances,
But we must follow God.
 Ex: God told me to give $7500, my wife confirmed it with me, $12,500 was handed to me less than 2 months later
 God will show you what to do in this economy to be blessed, sustained, and bless others
 God wants to breathe life back into you, your dreams, your finances
 But I want to encourage you to give everything of your life to God and not to leave any portion back-
 Give Jesus everything and He will breathe life into everything.
Philippians 4:6-7 (New Living Translation)
6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.