Resist, Don't Minimize, the Devil

It's interesting to note that the strategy that God gives us to walk victoriously over the devil is to resist him. If minimizing the devil would work, God would surely advise it. I warn you that minimizing the devil is the devil's work. Minimizing the devil is cooperating with him. It is teaming up with him against God. God's guidance regarding our position when facing the enemy should be an entirely Biblical one and this is what the Bible requires of us...

1 Peter 5:8-9 8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 But resist him, firm in your faith NASU

If we are to walk as God encourages us to walk, shouldn't we place the same emphasis on the reality of the devil that the Bible places on him? To attempt to minimize the devil has resulted, I believe, in putting blame upon God for the things that the devil is responsible for. It's a real shame that somewhere in the history of the Church, someone in the Church deviated from the Bible and began blaming God for sickness and disease, and many, today, have followed suit. Now, it appears, in the eyes of many believers, God and Satan have switched roles. When sickness and disease were confronted in the early Church, believers believed it to be the work of the devil, but now, due to the so-called advances of modern medicine, the handiwork of the devil has been put on God. Isn't it time that we as believers in Scripture took a stand against this kind of heretical doctrine.

Yes, there are many believers that are fixated on the devil rather than fixing their eyes on Jesus, but the appropriate response is not to react to this out-of-balance perspective with another unbiblical worldview. The correct response is to look to the Scriptures to discover the proper emphasis in our daily living that we should devote to resisting the devil. To minimize the devil and his handiwork is to be asleep at the post, when God has commanded us to "be of sober spirit, be on the alert" regarding the devil.

Thankfully, we do not have to fear the devil, for those of us that are born again have been born into a kingdom that has bestowed upon its citizens an authority over the prince of darkness. We have authority over the devil! And, for those of us baptized in the Holy Spirit, we have power...power to fight the devil!

So, go...submit to the Lord, and RESIST the devil...he WILL flee!!!

Receiving By Faith

This realm, this world has been created in such a manner that those of faith will be rewarded and those who doubt will not only, not receive anything, but what they do have will be taken away from them by the devil. Again, this world has been established in such a way that those who have faith will be blessed and blessed mightily, and those who are doubleminded and doubtful and unbelieving will not only, not receive anything, but what they currently possess will be taken away from them by satan. For the devil has come into this world to steal, to kill, and to destroy but Christ came into this world so that you and all mankind can be saved and have life abundant!

Matt 13:10-13 10 And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?" 11 Jesus answered them, "To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. 12 For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. NASU

Know this...the one who has...has obtained what he has...solely by faith. One can only receive anything from God, by faith. So the one who has...has...because he has faith. The one who is doubleminded and doubting, the Word of God says that person should not expect to receive anything.

James 1:6-8 6 But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, 8 being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. NASU

There should be no expectation in you and I, of receiving anything from the Lord, when we ask with doubt. God's promises are to be obtained through faith. And since faith is so crucial to receiving anything from the Lord should not you and all His sons and daughters seek to grow in faith? Would it not be greatly beneficial to grow in faith so that you could receive, receive, receive from God all that He has for you? Surely, this is the challenge that He offers those of us who have been born again...grow in faith, by reading and understanding His word (Rom 10:17), as you listen to the Holy Spirit...and pray in tongues frequently (Jude 20)...for surely God desires you not to be in poverty when it comes to receiving His blessings, but rather He desires that you be in abundance, so that you can have something to share, for this brings glory to God. So, grow in His Word! Discover His promises! Obtain His promises by faith! Pray in tongues!

Hearing the Holy Spirit Speak

John 10:27 "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;" NASU

John 5:25 "Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. " NASU

The Bible speaks frequently about hearing the voice of God. For far too long, too many leaders within the church have belittled the necessity, cast doubt on the validity, restricted the availability of every sheep hearing the voice of The Shepherd. Isn't it time that we return to the Bible and begin believing what IT says about hearing the voice of God, rather than someone's (quite often) uninformed opinion? When we stand before the Lord (actually kneel and bow), He's not going to be accepting excuses for not walking in the truth. He isn't going to be accepting statements like, "well, my pastor said...or my priest said..." Umm...what's that in your hand? "It's the Bible," a sheep might answer. What does it say? "It says that I can hear the voice of God." Isn't God's word sufficient? Doesn't His promises settle it?

Think about this...what kind of Shepherd doesn't talk to his sheep? What kind of Father doesn't speak to His sons and daughters? What kind of Groom doesn't speak to His bride?

God is still talking. He didn't finish talking when the Scriptures were canonized. He's still talking today, and He wants you to hear His voice. But for you to hear His voice requires you to believe that He's talking TO YOU! The Bible is clear on this..."be it done to you according to your faith." Faith is necessary for you to receive anything from the Lord...want forgiveness? You can't have it unless you receive it by believing you've been forgiven. Want cleansing? You can't have it unless you receive it by believing your cleansed by the blood of Jesus. Want freedom from addiction? You cannot have it unless you receive it by believing you've already been set free through Jesus' work on the Cross. Want to hear the voice of God? You will not hear His voice till you receive them by believing He's already speaking TO YOU!

Now...go sit at His feet, like Mary, and listen to the words that come from His mouth! He's speaking to you!

Luke 10:39 She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord's feet, listening to His word. NASU

Dying to the Flesh

Gal 5:16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. NASU

Rom 8:5 For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. NASU

Crucifying the flesh is not supposed to be a wrestling match, just you against the flesh. You put to death the members of your body by walking by the Spirit. To walk by the Spirit is to walk in such a manner as to not fulfill the desires of the flesh. It's not just a matter of this wrestling match with the flesh, but rather it is setting your mind on the things of the Spirit, and listening to the Holy Spirit speak to you.

To set your mind on the things of the spirit is to come to Jesus, listen to His words, and to embrace His words with your will. This results in the mortification of the flesh, it is to die to your self, the will of the old man. When you set your mind on the things of the Spirit, you position yourself to listen to the Holy Spirit AND to do what He says. Setting your mind on the things of the Spirit includes acting on what the Holy Spirit has spoken to you. The moment you choose not to do what He has spoken to you, you have gone from setting your mind on the things of the spirit to setting your mind on the things of the flesh. You have preferred to set your mind on the will of the flesh in your life rather than continuing on in setting your mind on the Spirit. Do not think that simply listening to His words is setting your mind on the Spirit, rather the setting of your mind on the things of the Spirit includes listening to His words, and believing the words to the extent of doing them. In the very moment that you choose to move from listening to His words to not doing them, or even procrastinate in doing them, you have chosen to set your mind on the things of the flesh. It is the making consideration for the things of the flesh, that hinders His will from being fulfilled in our lives.

Two Mistakes Not to Make

A sermon from October 21st, 2007

"I’d like you to turn to the first book of Athenians, if you would…

What? What do you mean you can’t find it? Why is that?

Because it doesn’t exist!?! Are you sure???

You’re absolutely right! It doesn’t exist.

And do you know why there isn’t a letter to the Athenian church? The reason there is no letter to the Athenian church is because there wasn’t an Athenian church for Apostle Paul to write a letter to.

Though Apostle Paul visited Athens, the greatest apostle of all time, in my opinion, wasn’t able to establish a church in Athens. Now, this begs a very, very, very important question. Why wasn’t he able to establish a church in Athens?

And please, if you could turn the Calvinistic-auto-reply of, “Well, it just must not have been God’s will”…please turn that off, at least for today, and hopefully, for the rest of your life. The truth is, the responsibility for planting churches lay in the hands of the body of Christ. The reason is that the Lord has fulfilled His responsibility by already doing everything necessary for churches to be planted.

Now, the responsibility is in the hands of those who call themselves followers of Jesus Christ, who have been given more-than-sufficient authority and have been empowered through the baptism in the Holy Spirit to dispel darkness everywhere it rears its ugly head.

The Biblical answer to the question of why Apostle Paul was unable to establish a church in Athens will change your life…absolutely changes your life! When we discover the answer, it will impact you in every area of your life. The answer to the question has the potential to touch every area of your life.

I’ve heard it said that fools don’t learn from their own mistakes…average folks learn from their own mistakes…and wise people learn from the mistakes of others.

Well, today we’re going to be presented with an opportunity, because of Apostle Paul’s and Luke’s humility in recording mistakes that were made…this will present us an opportunity not to fall into the trap that Apostle Paul made in Athens.

Now, to answer the question, “Why wasn’t Apostle Paul able to establish a church in Athens?” we’ve got to do a little research in the Scriptures today.

Now, beginning at Acts 17:14 and then to the end of Chapter 17, the Bible recounts for us a pretty detailed report of Apostle Paul’s experience in Athens and the first verse of Chapter 18, tells us where Paul went immediately after his trip to Athens.

Acts 18:1 After these things he left Athens and went to Corinth. NASU

What I find very, very interesting is that following his time with the Corinthians, Apostle Paul wrote a letter to them to give the Corinthian church some guidance and encourage them in the faith, as well as confront them about some moral issues. In this letter to the Corinthians, Apostle Paul reminds the Corinthians, and informs us, the inner turmoil he was going through after attempting to walk out his faith in Athens, and attempting to plant a church there, and then coming to Corinth with this turmoil still on his heart. Let’s look at that…turn to 1 Cor 2:1

1 Cor 2:1-5 1 And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with
superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God.
2 For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him
crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much
trembling, 4 and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive
words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that
your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. NASU

Apostle Paul had just had a very, very bad experience…he’d just had a bad experience. Whatever experience Apostle Paul had in Athens caused him to come to Corinth “in weakness and in fear and in much trembling…” And the experience was so bad, so horrible, that the root cause for this bad experience…

Apostle Paul is bound and determined never to let that happen again.

I know exactly what this is like…

Illustr: Not releasing singles ministry into the hands of other capable leaders…
never do that again…

His bad experience in Athens was the direct result of 2 very significant, key mistakes…that are recorded for us to learn from, and not make the same mistake in our lives.

He went to Athens and he tried to establish a group of believers in Christ there, a foundation to build on…but in 2 very significant ways, Apostle Paul tried a completely different approach than he had ever done before.

Now, before Silas & Timothy arrived in Athens to partner with Apostle Paul, he looked around the city and observed that the city was full of idols and it provoked his spirit. What Paul did after that was the 2 significant mistakes that Paul made…

Mistake one…he worked alone…he didn’t wait for Silas & Timothy to come before moving out in ministry. In the following Scripture, comments in parenthesis are my own words...

Acts 17:14-18 15 Now those who escorted Paul brought him as far as
Athens; and receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as
soon as possible, they left. 16 Now while Paul was waiting for them at
Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was observing the
city full of idols. 17 So he was (vs. they were) reasoning in the
synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the market
place every day with those who happened to be present. 18 And also
some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him
(vs. them). NASU

I. Two or Three Are Better Than One

Paraphrase…God Doesn’t Bless Lone Rangers

Ecc 9:9-10,12 in The Message…says it this way…
9 “It’s better to have a partner than go it alone.
Share the work, share the wealth.
10 And if one falls down, the other helps,
But if there’s no one to help, tough!
12 By yourself you’re unprotected.
With a friend you can face the worst.”
Can you round up a third?
A three-stranded rope isn’t easily snapped.”

Deut 19:15 You need two or three witnesses to make a case
The Message

Matt 18:19-20 If two of you agree down here on earth concerning
anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. 20 For where
two or three gather together because they are mine, I am there among
them." NLT

Illustr: Going up tree alone, without a scouter or helper…breaking arm

Application: Are you living life as a solo act?

Are you going through life only seeking others to help you with the dreams and goals God has put in your heart, rather than looking for opportunities to help others with the dreams and goals God has given them?

Mistake two…he tried reasoning with the Athenians, using persuasive words, superiority of speech and persuasive words of wisdom…his outreach became a “speech-driven” or “verbal” model to reach this community rather than establish a work through a demonstration of the
Spirit and the miracle-working power of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 17:14-18 15 Now those who escorted Paul brought him as far as
Athens; and receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as
soon as possible, they left. 16 Now while Paul was waiting for them at
Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was observing the
city full of idols. 17 So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the
Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the market place every day
with those who happened to be present. 18 And also some of the
Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him.

For time’s sake, let me summarize verses verses 19-31…it is a detailed account of Apostle Paul attempting to use what he later described as...”superiority of speech” or “persuasive words of wisdom” in reaching out the Athenians, telling them about the resurrection of Jesus without a demonstration of the power to confirm the resurrection…

Let’s now pickup in verse 32…

Acts 17:32-34 32 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead,
some began to sneer, but others said, "We shall hear you again
concerning this." 33 So Paul went out of their midst. 34 But some men
joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the
Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.
Acts 18:1 After these things he left Athens and went to Corinth. NASU

II. Expect the Holy Spirit to Confirm His Word through

Miracles, Signs, Wonders and Other Gifts

Don’t Ground Your Faith on Men’s Power of Persuasion, but in the Spirit’s Miraculous Power

What I find interesting in 1 Cor 2:1-5…is that Paul gives us a hint, he alludes to the problem, the root cause of his failure to establish a church in Athens. Look at verse 1, “I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom”…look at verse 4, “and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.”

Somehow, much of today’s Church has evolved into a speech-driven Church…a Church of brief, energetic moral speeches called “sermons & teachings,” as well as, written speeches called “books” rather than the Church that Jesus died, rose from the dead, and was exalted to the Father’s right hand for her to become. He rose from the dead for a Church that lives and demonstrates the gospel of Jesus Christ which is a gospel of Holy Spirit power…the miraculous resurrection power of the Holy Spirit that we, His children, are baptized in…

St. Francis of Assisi said it this way…”preach the gospel at all times and when necessary, use words”

Heb 2:1-4 1 For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we
have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. 2 For if the word spoken
through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and
disobedience received a just penalty, 3 how will we escape if we neglect so
great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was
confirmed to us by those who heard, 4 God also testifying with them, both
by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy
Spirit according to His own will. NASU

If someone can be persuaded with words only to believe the gospel, the danger is that they can be persuaded with only words to doubt or not to believe the gospel…listen again to Paul’s words just after he left Athens and arrived in Corinth…

1 Cor 2:1-5 1 And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with
superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of
God. 2 For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus
Christ, and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness and in fear and
in much trembling, 4 and my message and my preaching were not in
persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and
of power, 5 so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men,
but on the power (dunamis – dynamite) of God. NASU

John 14:12 "…he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and
greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.” NASU

This Holy Spirit power is available for all of us who believe and have been
baptized in this Holy Spirit power, to move in…for all of us…Eph 4:11-12
mandates that I equip you all to minister with God’s power…

Mark 16:17-18 17 "These signs will accompany those who have believed: in
My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; 18 they
will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them;
they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." 19 So then, when the
Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down
at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, while
the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that
followed. NASU

Have you embraced a vision or a concept of the Church or even a personal Christianity that is largely or primarily a speech-driven Church or personal life experience?

Have you found yourself shrinking back from opportunities for the Holy Spirit to demonstrate His miraculous power through your anointed hands?

When unbelievers cross your path with physical complications, sicknesses, diseases, etc…do you see yourself drifting towards a verbal gospel only rather than stepping out in faith in the Holy Spirit to demonstrate the gospel of power?

Do you hear the voice of the Holy Spirit today, calling you to step out into His Promised Land of the miraculous and to actively demonstrate a trust, a belief, a faith in the Holy Spirit for the
miraculous as you lay faith-filled hands on the sick?

Apostle Paul’s letter to the Corinthians reveals to us that Paul learned to return to the roots the Church has in Holy Spirit power not only in Corinth but in later missionary travels…let’s close by turning to Acts 4…Peter and John stepped out into the miraculous and saw a man lame from birth healed…speech-driven, religious people had a problem with Peter and John preaching and expecting the miraculous…so they detained them and attempted to intimidate them by
incarcerating them and demanding they stop preaching this miraculous gospel…don’t you know that Satan has a problem with people believing for the miraculous? Let’s pick up in the account where Peter and John are released…

Acts 4:23-31 23 When they had been released, they went to their own
companions and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said
to them. 24 And when they heard this, they lifted their voices to God with
one accord and said, "O Lord, it is You who
MADE THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH AND THE SEA,
AND ALL THAT IS IN THEM,
25 who by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David Your
servant, said,
'WHY DID THE GENTILES RAGE,
AND THE PEOPLES DEVISE FUTILE THINGS?
26 'THE KINGS OF THE EARTH TOOK THEIR STAND,
AND THE RULERS WERE GATHERED TOGETHER
AGAINST THE LORD AND AGAINST HIS CHRIST.'
27 "For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy
servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along
with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever Your hand
and Your purpose predestined to occur. 29 "And now, Lord, take note of
their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants may speak Your word
with all confidence, 30 while You extend Your hand to heal, and signs
and wonders take place through the name of Your holy servant
Jesus." 31 And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered
together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and
began to speak the word of God with boldness. NASU