The Battle of the Mind - Sunday Service

father thank you so much for this another opportunity to minister to these your precious sheep thank you lord that revelation knowledge will flow freely uninterrupted and unhindered by any satanic or demonic force father i pray that you will speak through my vocal cords and think through my mind none of me all of you it's in jesus name we pray and everybody said amen praise the lord if you have your bibles go with me to the book of saint john chapter 10 and verse 10. our series that we're working on i call it winning in spiritual warfare uh but today i want to give it a subtitle the battle of the mind winning in spiritual warfare the battle of the mind now i need you to understand something that my life and your life is a product of my thinking i just want to talk to you before i get started my life and the fruit in my life is a product of my mindset that everything that pertains to your life is going to be worked out in your mind your mind is the battleground to determine what your life is going to be like let me say that again your mind is the battleground to determine what your life is going to be like and so it's it's this simple you know you're going to either allow god to have access to your thinking or you're going to be convinced to not pay attention to god or his word and then you're going to give access to your thinking to the world now the problem with that is you know the fort motor company created the ford engine and if you're going to make sure that that engine runs properly you would want to get the information from the ford company but some people decide well i don't need the ford company to get information about this engine i'll just call a paint shop and i'll get all the information up from the paint shop about the about this engine and and that's what we're doing god is the creator of this human system god is the creator of human beings and and god is has has he you are a spirit you you have a soul which is your mind will and emotions and you live in a physical body and god knows the ingredients that you need in your mind in order to produce the life that you want and so instead of depending on god and finding out what you should be thinking to produce good life we completely shut off from from god and thinking the way he wants us to think and thinking according to the word and we have opened our mind up and given access to the words of the world and we go to the world and say hey give us the materials for our mind we don't go to god the creator and say give me what i need for my thinking we go to the world they didn't create you that's not your creator and you're going to the world and you're going to to to the ways of the world and you're you're allowing the education of the world and you're allowing the norms and values of the world to determine your way of thinking and so you don't like your life right now check out what you've given your mind access to you don't like what's going on right now you don't like your living you don't like your pain you don't like being broke blessed and disgusting you don't like being in fear all the time you don't like how your relationships are turning off turning out everything in your life is determined by everything in your mind everything in your life is determined by your thinking it seems so simple to me here's god a made a human being and he says all right i'm gonna put a software component in the human being and if he'll put the right things in that software he'll live the right life if he'll take my word and and think according to my word and put it in his mind then he'll live an abundant life but so many people say i don't believe i don't believe in god i don't believe his word and then some of us uh unfortunately we get ourselves in a situation where we're hearing the word being taught wrong and we and when it's taught wrong then we think wrong and when we think wrong then we believe wrong and then we say i don't want to have anything to do with that anymore what's going on in your mind is going to translate into your and so my life your life is a product life is a product of something it is a product of my way of thinking so if you get victory in your mind you're gonna have victory in your life if you have defeat in your life it's only because you got defeat in your mind nothing is allowed to exist in life without it first existing in your mind that's the arena so if you change your thinking you can change your life people are always asking i need to change my life and we don't even know how do we do that i'm telling you right now if you change your thinking you change your life the problem is we change our thinking from one bad way of thinking to another bad way of thinking and it gets progressively worse and you have to change your thinking to be in line with the one who created you see i can understand if if the world created you but they don't know how god created you and if anybody knows how you should be thinking to produce the life you want god would know are you fed up tired sick and tired of being sick and tired are you wondering how bad can it get wanting to change and don't know what to do this series is for you wanting new relationships wanting to do things better than what you're doing this is this is for you it's so simple right here it's in your mind your mind is the arena of faith your mind is the battleground for your life what your life will be like will be determined in the battle in your mind the battle between what's good from god's word in your mind versus what's a lie in the world in your mind who will win in the battle of your mind satan is after your soul satan is competing to see who will sit in the control of your mind because if you can control the mind you can control the life that's the only real weapon that satan has it's a weapon of suggestion to suggest thoughts and if you're not in the word of god and you don't understand the word of god then his suggests his suggestions will will be appealing and he wants to work in the pleasure center of your mind so that you can accept it there is a war going on a battle for the souls of men now remember when i use the word soul remember man is a spirit being he possesses a soul the soul is the mind will and emotion people religion uses the word soul and spirit interchangeably as if they are one they are not you are a spirit you have a soul you live in a body so when you get born again your spirit is just like god it's perfect okay but then even as a born-again christian your soul if it's not renewed with the word of god and specifically the word of grace then you can still end up doing things in your body and then blaming it you know and all other kind of things is just your soul satan wants your soul he wants your soul whether you are a christian he wants your soul whether you are a sinner he wants control of your soul so he can control and determine your life so let's deal with this and if you'll hang in here with me over the next several weeks if you will just stay here with me if you'll come to church through through the stream you know it's amazing to me that thank god for all of you who've come to church but there's some members of our church who hadn't attended church since march 2020 and let's pray for those people that they don't fall victim of the devil and what's the important part of tuning in and getting this word today you get the right way of thinking if you can think right you can live right if you can think right you can believe right someone says well what's the right way of thinking it's according to the word of grace that came from the creator of the human system amen so let's let's lay some foundation here and talk about first of all this morning the reality of a spiritual warfare what is that and how do we win in this spiritual warfare john chapter 10 10 he says the thief cometh not but for to steal and to kill and to destroy now notice that's not god god gets the blame for the stealing the killing and the destroy every time there's a hurricane hit or a tornado tornado people just oh look at god look at the destruction god calls no no no no satan there's a devil loose please please understand it there's a devil is well i don't believe in the devil well i tell you what that's the greatest thing the devil can accomplish in your life to finally get you not to believe that he exists because if you don't believe he exists he can just kind of wreak havoc in your life because you don't believe he exists he exists how do you know that because the bible speaks of him the thief cometh not but for to steal kill and to destroy god's not a thief satan is the thief satan is the killer satan is the crook satan is the destroyer and so any area of your life stealing killing and destroying satan gets the blame for that stop blaming god for that look what he said he says but i have come that they might have life and have it more abundantly so jesus says i'm not the thief he says i'm the one that's going to be responsible for you to have life to the full in abundance until it overflows so the will of god for your life is to have life to the full in abundance until it overflows so you gotta you gotta make sure that you place the responsibility with the proper in the proper place steal kill destroyer that belongs to satan uh life to the full until overflows that belongs to god god is for you not against you all right so there there it is those the two are opposing forces in this spiritual warfare ephesians chapter 6 verse 10 through 12. let's look at it first of all in king james and then in the amplified all right now notice he says finally my brethren be what strong in the lord be strong in the lord and in the power of the lord's might so this battle is not going to be won in my strength it's going to be one in the strength of the lord in the ability of the lord all right put on the whole armor of god that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil now the armor of god is simply put if you just read the rest of the chapter the armor of god is the word of god it's the word of god and in particular i'm talking about the word of grace he says put on the whole armor of god that you may be able to stand against the wiles or the strategy of the devil notice for we wrestle not against flesh and blood so our fight is not against human beings versus human beings now listen to this carefully well who are we fighting we're fighting demonic spirits there are four categories of demons principalities powers rulers of the darkness of this world spiritual wickedness in high places now you don't hear people talk about that a lot but there are demonic forces arrayed against you as a christian and their job is to make your life miserable their job is to have a strategy to defeat you away from the victory that jesus has already made available for you now let's look at this in the in the amplified bible ephesians 6 10 through 12 pay attention how it's written here he said in conclusion be strong in the lord be empowered through your union with him as christian people we have a relationship with the holy ghost be empowered through your union with him draw your strength from him he says that strength which his boundless might provides so there's strength that you can draw from him you can draw it from his word draw your strength from him 11 put on god's whole armor the armor of a heavy armed soldier which god supplies that you may be able successfully to stand up against all the strategies and the deceits of the devil so the devil has designed strategies deceitful strategies to try to get you away from the will of god for your life the plan of god for your life the abundance of life in your life the victory from your life satan has a strategy a strategy it is going to be a deceitful strategy and you you'd be amazed the number of christians and the number of number of christians and the number of people in the world who who fall they they fall for the deceitful strategy the deceitful strategy that that makes sense the the deceitful strategy that the norms and values of the world endorse and when you don't when you're not aware that there's a devil loose who is trying to attack you and win against you through deceitful strategies do you do you understand that the devil's just not out here just going crazy trying to kill you he has a specific design to try to to kill steal and destroy in your life he knows your weaknesses and he knows your pleasures and he knows how bad you beat yourself up and he knows all of those kind of things and so he devises a strategy against you and in some cases just uses the same foul the rest of your life there's a war going on there's a war going on verse 12 for we are not wrestling with flesh and blood we're not contending only with physical opponents you see those demonic spirits work through people and you're thinking that you're you're contending against the people it's that spirit i uh at a situation one time where you know this guy was talking about how his boss was really after him and uh we told him why don't you take authority of the spirit that's working through your boss he says how do you do that i said just simply go pray father i take authority over that demonic spirit that's working through my boss trying to torment me he said he prayed and that boss changed like night and day you see he was not aware that there was a demonic spirit that had developed deceitful strategies to try to work against him to try to move him out of the will of god for his life see what he was doing was the will of god for his life but there was a strategy to get him out of that and so you're not fighting that's what the scripture says uh humans only but what you're fighting are humans who are being uh controlled in a sense or oppressed in some cases by demon spirits to act a certain way contending only with physical opponents but against the the deep depotisms against the powers against the master spirits wow who are the world rulers of this present darkness they're rulers of this darkness against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly supernatural sphere this is the reality of a spirit world this is a reality of enemies coming against you your enemies that come against you will be defeated they'll come in one way deuteronomy 28 7 i believe they'll come in one way and god calls them to flee seven ways glory be to god but you got to understand what's in this bible you've got to understand that there's a war going on satan wants your soul look at luke chapter 10 19 through 20. now here's a promise that we've been given and this is just the foundation for the spiritual warfare here's a promise that we've been given good news luke chapter 10 verse 19 through 20. luke 10 19-20 luke 10 19-20 behold i give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt you now notice what he says behold i give unto you power that first word power in this verse means authority the right to command you have authority to have absolute mastery over every demonic force over serpents and scorpions those are representatives of demon forces you have authority over demon forces you have authority over every demon force and over all the power second word power ability over all the power of the of your enemy all the power your enemy is the devil and you have authority over all of his ability glory to god no matter what the devil can do you have authority over all of his ability and watch this and nothing shall by any means hurt you nothing shall by in any means hurt you look at verse 20. he says notwithstanding in this rejoice not don't rejoice that the spirits are subject unto you but rather rejoice watch this because your names are written in heaven you see i'm rejoicing this morning because i'm born again i made jesus the lord of my life and i'm heaven bound there's no doubt about it there's no worry about it when i leave my physical body i'm rejoicing because my name is written in heaven but i want you to know while you're here you have authority over the devil in jesus name and then finally in this reality of the spiritual warfare first john 5 and 4 here's some more good news now he says for whatsoever is born of god overcometh the world the world is defined as the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life so when people say that's worldly how do you evaluate something worldly does it have the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life some some people get me all the time talking about music being worldly that's worldly music well does it have does it involve the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life well then it's worldly uh but that's that's what worldly means we're in the world but we're not of the world's way of operation we're not of the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life he says and this is the victory that overcomes the world even our faith so the good news is that victory has already been made available to us by jesus christ we have the victory that overcome we have the victory that overcomes the world even our faith in the victory that jesus has obtained now that's what that means so spiritual warfare ladies and gentlemen spiritual warfare is is not doing something to try to get victory spiritual warfare is maintaining the victory that jesus has already obtained so notice we're in the new testament jesus died to obtain victory notice we're in the new testament jesus died to obtain victory and so jesus was raised from the dead he obtained the victory glory to god he finished the work glory to god and he gave it to us who are now living under this new testament and our job is to maintain it and the devil's job is to try to get us to turn it loose so jesus died to obtain healing my job is to hold on to healing satan's job is to do something to try to give cause me to give it up jesus has already obtained soundness deliverance my job is to maintain soundness and deliverance satan's job is trying to get me to give it up and so you see the battle that's going on here so i want you to write this down i i i made my mind up i'm gonna i'm gonna take my time i'm not trying to rush to her and get finished i want to make sure you have an understanding of this i can't wait to get to the end of this but let's take our time as we go so here's the statement as a result of you recognizing through these five scriptures that there is a war going on through these four scriptures there's a war going on there's there's a reality of a spiritual warfare the warfare is not for you and i to try to go and win jesus has already won satan has already been defeated satan is a defeated foe well then what is the spiritual warfare the spiritual warfare is what i just explained maintaining the victory that jesus obtained and satan's going to try to take it away and so i need to enter into the strategies that satan will begin to use to try to take it away whoever can hold on to it will see the manifestation in their life whoever lets it go won't see the manifestation in their life and yet we'll see some other things manifesting in their life so here's the here's the here's a statement i want to make i want to i want to read this statement to you and then i want to go back and break it out with words the most important thing the most important thing that a believer can do in spiritual warfare is to believe the promises the most important thing that a believer can do in spiritual warfare is to believe the promises believe the promises of god not condemn yourself but stay in faith believe the promises of god not to think that god is mad at you and therefore this thing must be your punishment believe the promises of god not to be sin conscious believe the promise of god and not to blame your sin on your latest or your recent performance or sin but to believe that you are forgiven and stay in faith for your victory that you stand in the key to spiritual warfare is to rest by faith in the finished works of jesus christ the key to spiritual warfare see if you really believe something the asset test that you really believe it is that you'll enter into rest not stress not worry but when i really believe something i am at rest i am at peace and so you got to understand this now the key to spiritual warfare is to rest in the finished works of jesus christ rest in the finished work that i am the righteousness of god and satan's going to do everything he can to try to get me to stress out over it i rest in the finished works of jesus christ remember when i started this statement i said the most important thing that a believer can do in spiritual warfare is to believe the promises of god not condemn yourself not condemn yourself well what happens if condemnation comes pastor what do i do well romans 8 1 says there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in christ jesus so anytime you feel condemnation coming the way you fight now in this warfare see notice it's coming up here in your mind the way you fight this warfare you know condemnation comes and here's what you do you say there is no condemnation to those who are in christ i'm in christ whoa whoa you're maintaining the victory it said believe the promises and not to think that god is mad at you well isaiah 54 9. i need you to see this isaiah 54 9 promises god made a covenant to not be angry with you nor to rebuke you this is a covenant promise that he made he says for this is as the waters of noah unto me for as i have sworn that the waters the north should no more go over the earth and notice we've not seen another flood since so have i sworn that i would not be wrath or anger with thee nor rebuke thee so every time this thought comes and it says well you know what god's angry at you and god's mad at you therefore what you're going through is punishment you should say no no no god made a promise he said just like i promised that the waters of the earth won't the waters won't ever flood the earth again so have i promised not to be angry with you and to rebuke you and to punish you god is not the punisher and you need to tell yourself when that thought comes notice when i said when that thought comes notice when that thought of condemnation comes notice when that thought that god's mad at you come you got to respond with the word it's important that you open your mouth and respond to the word you remember i've done this over the last uh 40 years over and over and over again but you take authority of your thoughts with the words of your mouth so you can't just sit there and let the thoughts happen when there's a crazy thought go through your mind open your mouth up and say what what what you believe in so save the victory speak the victory uh you remember let's do this one more time i want you to count from one to ten without saying anything just count to yourself one to ten ready go now say your name out loud all right what happened to your accounting excuse me you had to what happened to the county it stopped right because your brain had to shut that down that thought down to comprehend what was coming out your mouth and that's exactly what happens when the enemy is coming up to you and trying to condemn you you open your mouth up and you say there's no condemnation to those who are in christ jesus that stops and what you just said now enters in when the enemy comes to you and says god's mad at you and and he's going to punish you and what you're going through is a punishment you shouldn't did that you open your mouth up and say god's got to covet it with me not to be angry with me nor to rebuke me that's that's that's spiritual warfare that's that's how you do that okay it also says you know let's believe the promise most important thing that a believer can do in spiritual warfare is to believe the promise all right and not to be sin conscious look at hebrews 10 and 2 sin conscious not to be sin conscious and and to blame things on your latest or your most recent performance of sin sin consciousness always going around conscious of sin well that didn't happen because of the sin in my life and well that didn't happen because of sin in my life and just so sin conscious you're so sin conscious you get up in the morning you say lord forgive me for the sin i hadn't even committed yet and the bible says concerning this he says for then would they not have ceased to be offered he's talking about sacrifices because that the worshiper once purged should have no more consciousness of sins you see jesus was that final offering and he was offered and what happened when jesus was offered sin consciousness was purged so every time sin consciousness comes in your mind you open your mouth up and say because of the offering of jesus no more sin consciousness see you've got this is how you battle you don't just sit there and let things sit in your mind you respond with words okay and then you go on and you say you know well uh you know the reason why i'm going through this is because i didn't do this and because i didn't do this then god couldn't do that or if i did that then god would have did that or if i hadn't done that then i wouldn't be going through this look at galatians chapter 2 verse 16 in the nlt galatians chapter 2 16 ninety well why am i taking my time to show this it's time for us to get detailed in this word so that we can have some amazing victories manifesting in our lives jesus has already given us the victory now we got to get him to manifest in our lives he says yet we know that a person is made right with god by faith in jesus christ not by obeying the law and we have believed in christ jesus so that we might be made right with god so we're made right with god because we believe jesus because of our faith in christ not because we have obeyed the law of moses so the key to spiritual warfare is to rest that's authentic belief to rest in the finished works of jesus christ to rest in the victory that jesus has obtained to rest in it to have a level of confidence not stress to have a level of peace about it not worry to have a level of faith about it not trying to figure out what you need to do in order for this to be true it is true because jesus has already made it happen all right you know i i want to go a little bit more detail okay and i'm not trying to bore you with this but you know we got to get in the word man you know when you talk about having rest in the finished works of jesus christ some people may not heard this i kind of go over it quickly but i want to settle down a little bit this morning what is the finished work of jesus christ i mean by scripture what is the defense if somebody were to ask you what's the finished works of jesus christ you you telling this this this and then they ask the question well prove it well let's first of all where do we get that from john 19 and 30 here's jesus on the cross and in john 19 and 30 he says when jesus therefore had received the vinegar he said watch this it is finished bowed his head and gave up the ghost it is finished i don't know about you but as a christian you should ask well what was finished what was finished he said it is finished what was finished and that's the mistake we make we get so religious that we deal with satan in the general and not in the preciseness of things what is finished well there are three very specific things i could break it down to more but three very specific things that were finished i'll give you three words propitiation redemption and reconciliation i know by scripture what was finished when he laid his head and died perpetuation redemption and reconciliation it was finished now let me show you this to you in scripture because you need to know this christian people it's time to be well informed because if you if you keep hearing half truths uh you won't know how to fight the devil because he'll he'll show up and and actually oppress you with the half truth look at this first john chapter 4 and 10. and look what he says herein is love not that we love god but that he loved us and he sent his son to be a propitiation for our sins so when jesus was sent to be a propitiation for our sins and that was finished on the cross so what is a propitiation it is literally ladies and gentlemen it is to satisfy a wrath by sacrifice basically jesus was the propitiation or he was the ransom for the sin in our life you see god is a just god and when a person sins it's not just for them to just get away from get away with it without paying the consequences so jesus was the payment for the sins of the whole world not just for christian people but he was the payment for for the sin of the entire world that's powerful jesus was the sin offering he was the peace offering here's the most accurate definition he was the ransom that was paid for the sin and the consequences of sin so we can go free from the consequences of it and that was finished on the cross i don't i don't have to ask him to do that listen there is nothing i could do to make him do this that's the favor of god that's the favor of god it's not me doing a little bit and jesus is doing a little bit it was all god i mean for god so loved the world that he gave his son favor right now the problem can't be the solution the problem can't be the solution all favor of god right now you didn't have nothing to do with this propitiation all from god favor you with a sin offering favorite jew with a ransom that was paid came up with it wasn't our suggestion was his alone oh glory and that was finished on the cross and so right now by faith i received that it's already done i'm not trying to come up with another offering for my sins and you know so many people do that when they sin they think about i need to do this this this so i can get rid of it they don't receive by faith the perpetuation that was already taken care of the wrath that was the wrath that god had against us jesus was that sin offering he was that ransom that was paid for our sins and the consequences of our sin and our response should be thank you thank you but there's so many christians today trying to handle that which has already been handled so that was finished at the cross the ransom the payment for all of your sins that's so powerful the payment for all of your sins glory to god the payment for the consequences for all of your sins i mean you know all of us were supposed to go to hell for sin according to romans 6. god just can't smile and let you get away with it so what he did is he sent the payment glory be to god amen so that's the first thing that was finished here's the second thing that was finished redemption redemption look at ephesians chapter 1 and verse 7. ephesians chapter one and verse seven he says in him we have redemption how through the blood we have redemption through the blood so what is redemption it's the work of christ in setting us free from the bondage of sins slavery with all of its awful connections and consequences so we have been redeemed we have been set free from the slavery of sin and the consequences of sin that's finished at the cross and according to ephesians 1 and 7 we have redemption we got it through his blood when he shed his blood or our deliverance from the slavery of sin done we have been redeemed all god's idea all happened because of him you didn't do a little bit and god did a little bit all god amen that's the second thing that was finished at the cross here's the third thing that was finished at the cross reconciliation reconciliation second corinthians 5 18 verse 18 says now all these things are from god who reconciled us to himself through christ god's idea god says i'm gonna repair the relationship uh uh you were you you were the enmity because of the sin in your life and i'm gonna repair the relationship reconciliation is the act by which god brings mankind into complete change relationship with himself this is a one-way act by god a one-way act by god that god initiated this and god says i'm going to reconcile our relationship there was enmity between man and god and and god says i'm going to do something about it i'm going to restore our friendship this was a one way act by god not you doing a little bit and god and that's that's the thing about it people don't understand this is all god and religion what's gonna make you think now but you gotta do this this this this honey jesus is enough amen and then look at second peter chapter one and three so the finished works of jesus propitiation redemption reconciliation and i like to add this ii peter chapter one and three according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of him that has called us to glory and virtue so everything that pertains to life and godliness has been made available to us it is finished propitiation is finished reconciliation is finished redemption is finished my righteousness is finished glory to god my healing is finished my deliverance is finished you understand it's the finished works of jesus christ satan hates the fact that the work is finished so here's how he's going to attack you he's going to attack you by by challenging your faith in what's finished and by trying to get you to do something to finish it satan's ultimate attack is going to try to get you to enter into performance-based christianity he wants you to feel like you got to perform in order to have your sins paid for you got to perform in order to be delivered you got to perform in order to walk in this reconciliation you got to perform in order to get everything that jesus finished that's what he wants to do that's the battle now the battle is you standing on what's done and satan says here's what i'm going to do i'm going to get you into performance-based christianity i'm going to get you to thinking that here are all the things you got to do in order for that to happen satan wants you to think he wants you to think jesus is not enough it's got to be jesus plus a little of what you do it's got to be a little from you and live from jesus and that's how satan wins and that's how he is winning because you have church people who will not receive what the blood of jesus has made available what a slapping god's faith face to give his son so that you might freely have all these other things and you turn down the freedom and still feel like you got to pay a price for it wow so now let's talk about the connection between grace and resisting the devil because i'm telling you right now our victory in this spiritual warfare is through the unmerited favor of god it's through the grace of god it's through what jesus has already done that's how we win in the spiritual warfare by by receiving what jesus has already done see you're thinking well in order for me to get the victory i've got to intercede for 38 hours and give myself credit and say you know we pray for 38 hours and look at what god could do you're deceived it's a slap in god's face god says i already had this ready all you had to do is stand on it all you have to do is believe you receive it and you the church is filled with with motion just a lot of motion trying to get god to do something and i'll show you a scripture in this series in romans chapter 6 that talks about the law is responsible for the motions of sin wow all right so let's look at this what's the connection between grace and resisting the devil to fight against the devil to actively fight against the devil you you have to have grace you will win every time with grace let's look at these two scriptures james 4 6-7 i looked at him last week james 4 6-7 he says but he giveth more grace wherefore he saith god resisteth the proud but he gives grace unto the humble so that's pretty strong right there god resists the proud he gives grace to the humble verse seven submit yourself therefore to god resist the devil and he will flee from you all right now notice verse six and seven goes together he says first of all i want you to inform you that those who will believe and line their lives up with the finished works of jesus christ he says they are the humble and i can get grace to them but those who will not believe and will not line themselves up with the victory that's already there but will enter into performance-based christianity that's pride that's pride a prideful man says i'm not going to submit to what jesus has done i'm not going to submit to what's already been done i mean you got food on the table you can eat it if you're hungry but you got to submit to it you got to submit to eating and and and he says he resists the proud they're there there's a resisting the proud a pride man that has an overestimation of his importance a a a humble man has a low estimation of his importance all of a sudden this prideful man thinks he is so important more important than jesus more important than what the blood has done that he proceeds to come up with his own protocol of how to try to get it to happen and he says i resist that but i'll give grace to the guy who who thinks of himself lowly and who will submit and line his life up with what i've already done and then he says in verse seven if you'll do that he says submit yourself therefore to god see that's that's humility it's all about submitting yourself to god submit yourself to god and when you're submitted to god then you can fight against the devil notice the fighting against the devil comes when you submit yourself to what's done what's finished i'm healed right now now i can resist the devil now i can resist the devil that's awesome see a lot of people trying to fight the devil and they don't know what has been done and they won't submit to what has been done and they're fighting with no weapons and so he says resist the devil because you submitted to to what god has said and more grace can come your way and he says and he's going to run from you with fear that's what the word flee means to run with fear to run with fear notice grace shows up because of your submission to it glory to god and the devil runs with fear all right now look at this next scripture first peter 5 5-8 first peter 5 5-8 he says likewise you younger submit yourselves unto the elder okay you know what that means you submitting yourself to the elder you're gonna you're gonna do what they say you know submit yourself to the elder yeah and yeah all of you be subject one to another be clothed he said be clothed with humility in verse six for god resisted the proud the guy who has the overestimation of himself who won't line up with what's already finished and in his prideful way will try to achieve something that's already been achieved for god resists the proud but he gives grace to the humble the god that submits to what's already done you know when you submit to healing you're saying i'm healed just cause just cause healing's already done he said god resists the proud and give grace to the humble all right verse 6. so he says since grace goes to the humble humble yourself therefore under the mighty hand of god he says you'll be exalted in due time because grace is working verse 7 and so watch this cast all your cares upon him for he cares for you now this is a test of submission you see he says humble yourself and then he turns around and says cast your care on him because he cares for you for you to worry instead of casting your care for you it's a prideful act it's an act of pride when you submit yourself to god you know what you're saying i'll cast my care upon him because he cares for me and when i cast my care upon him because he cares for me i have humbled myself and grace is available so i can cast my care upon him because he cares for me and now grace is available to take care of the care that's what happens when you humble yourself under the mighty hand of god but there's so many people they know this scripture cast your care upon him because he cares for you they know that scripture but you know what they do i'm not casting my care on him i'm a worry i'm a word that's what i do i worry and then you take great pride in i'm wearing that's what i do you're it's pride it's pride it's it's not a badge that you wear i'm a worrier when he says don't worry when he says cast your care upon you know worry is a sin why is it a sin because he said cast your care upon him for he cares for you if you submit to that grace comes to take care of that you know what god's trying to do i don't want you to try to handle it the devil will get you every time i don't want you to perform to try to handle this the devil gets you every time i want you to cast it on me and i'll give you grace and the grace is sufficient it'll take care of it and look what he says in verse 8. be sober be vigilant because your adversary of the devil as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour he can devour someone that's in pride this be sober you know what it means to be sober it means watch this to not be intoxicated think properly be sober think properly be vigilant about it because you have an adversary i'm telling you right now you have an adversary who is it the devil who has a roar now the roar is to inflict fear the roar is to say things and put things in you to cause you to be afraid that the word of god won't come to pass he's walking about and he's seeking now if he could get everybody he wouldn't have to seek but he's checking out who he can devour he cannot devour a humble man who has the grace of god working for him he can't devour him he cannot devour him he runs from them with fear but he can devour a prideful man who god resists and grace can't get to him because he's exalted his performance above the grace of god and the victory that jesus has already obtained there are some christians that are not devourable and there are some who are religious people who dwell in performance-based christianity and have been convinced that they have to do these things in order for god to do what he promised that he already did if you're going to do that then what do you need faith for faith is to believe what jesus has already done because faith takes possession of what's already been finished you have to take possession of propitiation you have to take possession of redemption you have to take possession of reconciliation you have to take possession of healing and deliverance and all those things that's what that means to operate by faith faith doesn't mean you go do something uh and then if you do it just right then maybe just maybe you can talk god into doing something good for you that is an old pagan terrible mindset that is dead works according to hebrews chapter 9. dead works are works where you're trying to do something to deserve something from god and and that is that that is the stain of religion upon people in this world today constantly doing something to deserve something for god and the world does it too i'm not saved but maybe if i go to church god might do something good it's the mindset if i do something good then maybe god will do something for me and we just can't fathom in our thinking that he's already done everything you'll ever need but he's waiting on you to stand on it to dare to stand on it and to dare to believe it so these two scriptures talk about resisting the devil uh at the same time it talks about grace and i never thought about this before all years reading this it talks about resisting the devil at the same time talks about grace i'm gonna make this statement and i gotta keep teaching this so don't don't don't go to calling and screaming before i can finish the series grace god's unmerited favor grace god being the one the one-way act by god oh i like that the one-way act by god grace this undeserved unearned favor i mean for god so loved the world that he gave his only son grace that's the favor of god right now and you didn't do nothing so how can we preach grace and preach the favor of god and give a list of things you got to do to get something that you're not supposed to be able to do to get it's supposed to be a gift grace will cause us to win in spiritual warfare grace will cause us to win in spiritual warfare i always thought in spiritual warfare when they talked about put on the whole armor of god that he was just talking about putting on the word of god no he's talking about putting on the gospel the grace of god putting on everything that god's unmerited favor has made available to you put that on and when the enemy shows up he loses why because you're not trying to get something imagine how he beats up on people who still believing they don't have it and so they got to do this in order to get it versus the fight he has and the fact that he know he can't devour a person that when he comes by them they already got it they acting like they got it they're talking like they got it they've already released their faith for it and satan flees and runs with fear notice he's running with fear he's running with fear because he knows that his words won't be able to come to pass in your life oh glory to god grace grace is how we win in spiritual warfare no wonder the devil attacks so aggressively when people start preaching the gospel of grace because satan has no defense against someone who believes they've already received the victory yeah he has no defense in it the devil has no defense against a child of god who knows grace that you will win it's not like you're going to win your spiritual warfare when you know what jesus has already given you through his grace and favor you've already won you've accepted the win you've accepted the win without doing anything to win except to accept the win glory to god you're not working to win you got to win you're not working to try to get victory you already got victory and you're moving from victory to victory you're moving from the victory you have inside to the manifestation of that victory outside but there's some people who don't even have the victory inwardly and they think their works will produce it outwardly ah if you do see anything outwardly that's the mercy of god that's the grace of god and some of you have been walking in the grace and the mercy of god and you still don't know it you still credit it to what you do you still give credit to what you do instead of what has already been done look at second corinthians 12 verse 7 through 9. second corinthians 12 verse 7 through 9. [Music] whoa i hope y'all getting this i i hadn't even got started yet you need to you need to set you need to set your mind make your mind up i am i'm not missing out one of these all right look at this he says in fact let's see uh verse seven eight and nine he says and paul is talking here paul says unless i should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations so paul's like got this revelation of the grace of god galatians the book of galatians just talks about paul's evolution into this revelation of the grace of god that he got from jesus he got it straight from jesus hallelujah it's the revelation of jesus that's the revelation we need to get we're trying to get a revelation on that and on that the revelation is the revelation of jesus and lest i should be exalted above measure through the abundance of revelations there was given to me a thorn in the flesh all right so see the issue here the issue is i got to be careful not to get into pride because of all the revelations i'm getting and so now there's a thorn in the flesh and he tells you what the thorn in the flesh is it's the messenger of satan a messenger of satan that was sent to buffet him lest i should be exalted above measure all right so he got so he gets all this revelation but he's been buffeted by the message of satan and and guess where it's happening right up here in his head oh you come on come on enter in the pride you know you bad you know you something else man go go go go tell everybody walk differently walk in pride because of the revelations you get and paul's fighting against this look at verse the next verse he says for this thing i besought the lord three times thrice that it might depart from me so he's like god this is what's going on help me god this is what's going on help me god this is what's going on help me and then verse 9 here's the help and he said unto me my grace is sufficient for you what i've already done is enough the favor the unmerited grace and favor of god is enough for you my strength is made perfect in weakness when when there's an area in your life that's under attack he says my grace is more than enough for it stand in it my strength is made perfect in weakness most gladly therefore will i rather glory in my infirmities that the power of christ may rest upon me the power of christ may rest upon me now here's the question that i have i know satan doesn't have any defense against the grace and here's god telling paul grace is good for you dude you're under attack by the messenger of satan here's my answer grace he cannot win if you'll stand on this so here's the question here's what we'll get into next week where is the battleground that all this is taking place that we just read about paul where is the arena for this fight that paul is going through see we're looking like there's just some physical things going all of this is going on in his mind there's a battle going on in paul's mind his mind is the arena of faith and in his mind he's gonna have to start thinking what grace has made available while satan is trying to get him to think that it's him and to exalt self-performance and so next sunday i'll begin to talk about the battle in the mind that's the first attack of the enemy the first place of attack is is your mind it's your mind it's not your body it's your mind satan will do everything around you to try to get in your mind the attack is in your mind your mind is the arena it's the battleground for your life's output whatever you put out in your life is a result of what happened in that battle in the mind you will lose or you will win in life based on how you handle and fight in the battle of the mind in the battle of the mind and so that's all i'm gonna give you today that's enough ah keep on going now you got plenty to to roll over in your mind you got plenty to roll over in in your thinking and uh you keep listening to this you keep studying this and and um man we got some good stuff to share with you how to win that battle in the mind we're gonna talk about the need for precision the need for precision we gotta quit saying i gotta get the word you got to get the specific word to think on and that's the word of grace the gospel of grace why when condemnation comes grace says to you there is no more condemnation so you got to get that word you can't go into self-preservation mode self-righteousness mode you know self-performance mode the devil will get you every time he will he will he will sit back and let you release yourself effort and then he'll condemn you for your effort that's what he does he'll wait until you're getting his effort and then condemn you for your effort look at what you did and so we're going to find out more about this let's go ahead and pray over this today father we thank you for this this time of ministering to to your your your people and i and i thank you lord that that the the holy spirit said some things that i didn't even say while i was preaching you were revealing things while i was preaching you were saying things to help us get a bigger revelation of jesus and who he is lord we are we are people that plant seeds and water you're the one that gives the increase i've planted today in our water and i pray that you give the increase that something major happens something major has happened today and i pray that all throughout this day that this word will just begin to get inside of people and they begin to change because of the light of the gospel being shown in their lives in jesus name now if you're here today and you've never made jesus the lord of your life if you're here today and you found out that jesus has already paid the ransom for all of the sins of the whole world that's including you so since your sins have been paid for wouldn't it make sense for you to accept it sign for the package says what my sins have been paid for yeah even though you're not a christian yet that just means you haven't signed for the package but your sins have been paid for your sins your mum and them sins puking them sins your best friend's sin the guy on death row sin your sins have been paid for but you gotta you gotta accept it how do i accept it i invite jesus to come into my life and i receive all that he has made available so if that's you and you're ready to make jesus the lord of your life would you pray this simple prayer repeating these words after me heavenly father i realize that i'm a sinner but right now i repent of my sins i believe that jesus is lord and that he has paid the ransom so that i might be free from sin and the consequences lord jesus come into my heart be my lord and my savior and so right now by faith i receive you and i declare that i am saved in jesus name thank you lord for saving me amen now if you prayed that prayer of salvation with me today just text the key words i'm saved that's one word to 51555. and i'd like to provide if you could provide your name and email address uh we'll send you a free ebook as a gift to you today welcome to the family of god what you you don't have to struggle trying to get god to forgive you if you just prayed that prayer with me you have received the payment the glory to god the peace offering the ransom that has been paid glory to god amen you've received your redemption you've received your reconciliation someone says well what do i do now eat the word eat the word and allow the holy spirit to change you from the inside out take away your old want-to's and give your new want-to's someone says what's the first thing i do get to know jesus get to know jesus spend time read about him in the word find out who he is let the holy spirit do his work he'll do the work amen praise god well it's offering time it's time for us to watch this complete our worship i tell you i've never been so convinced about something before in my life that i now see my giving as a part of my worship just like people see singing as a part of their worship and and praying as a part of their worship and communion as a part of their worship and the sermon as a part of their worship i now see my giving as a part of my worship and and my giving is what completes my worship see there's one thing about the giving part is that i can do all those other things and and not do my giving and i didn't complete my worship and it's so important that you recognize that your the giving portion is just as important as the song portion the prayer portion the sermon portion the communion portion for gospel of the world that he gave his only begotten son very expensive thing that heaven had and so i want to challenge you right now to see your giving as gift giving to god for what he has done for you that you're giving out of your grace out of your appreciation excuse me out of your love out of your thanksgiving for what he's already done you're not given to try to get god to do something you're giving because he's already done it and when you start looking at what grace is made available to you you're talking about motivated to always give is because i can never beat his giving and it is an honor and a privilege and a opportunity for me to be able to give in worship service to give thanks to god and what he's already done so at this time in your giving if you'd like to use the text to give you can text world changers space and then the amount to 74483 you can dial 866 six eight 477-7683 you can also give on line on the web world changers.org you can use your paypal there or you can mail to twenty five hundred burdette road college park georgia 303 49. i believe things change when you do that i just you're gonna you if you haven't already seen it you get more excited about giving because of what is already done rather than using giving to try to manipulate god to do something thank god for what he's already done and i i just i just thought about this man i there was a song a hymn or something that we used to sing in the methodist church that came i think from the word you know if i had 10 000 tongues i still couldn't praise him and thank him enough and that is so true if you look at what god has done and is doing in your life i could never be able to thank him enough so give him praise praise god and thank him for the opportunity to give in jesus name as you're completing your worship let's go and check these announcements out and govern ourselves accordingly [Music] hey world changers there is nothing like having good worship good word and good fellowship together not even when it's digital and we're still praising and worshiping god every sunday and connecting in the live chat now god is so good to have helped us stay connected since last march now even though we haven't been together in person we want you to know what's going on around the ministry so stay tuned right here for the latest happenings and events join us every wednesday and friday at 10 a.m for our weekly community food giveaway at our college park campus now we truly enjoy seeing your beautiful faces on a weekly basis so make plans to stop by we look forward to serving you and your family while supplies last world changers nation join us online on february 7th at 10 am as we commemorate 35 years in ministry that's right 35 years at our 35th church anniversary celebration let's celebrate three and a half decades of serving and growing together ladies tune in to the wcci facebook or the taffy dollar youtube pages on february 11th at 7 pm for a special galentine's women's fellowship invite your closest lady friends and get ready for authentic conversations about real love marriage and much more you can visit taffydollar.org for more information hey world changers a couple weeks ago i shared a praise report with you well today i have another one marty collins of collingwood ontario wrote in and said i am writing in such gratitude for the gift basket of abundance that came to my door today it's felt like forever since my husband or i have been able to go to the grocery store now i had an operation two weeks ago and it forced both of us to stay in your basket was filled with pasta sauce fruit cups tuna cookies and much more i feel so cared for and supported by you in our time of need thank you i'm sending my blessings and love to all in creflo dollar ministries thank you for all you do it makes for a better world and now that touched my heart and my stomach a little bit i got a little hungry reading it now that's what being a world changer is all about serving people when they're in need and spreading god's love wherever we are drop us a post on facebook instagram or twitter to share your testimonies now remember somebody's breakthrough could start with you have a great week world changers [Music] well praise god i pray you got something out of this today and and uh just remember how important it is to take the notes and and to digest them and get them in your system and just so so so so proud of you well have an amazing day today some of you got snow outside some of you got rain outside some of you have some sunshine it's still the day the lord hath made rejoice in it have an epic day today and be filled with joy because you set that thermostat now to him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the almighty god be glory majesty dominion and power both now and forever and everybody said amen god bless you world changes you

Channel: Creflo Dollar Ministries

Views: 450,781

Rating: 4.8663611 out of 5

Keywords: creflo, creflodollar, worldchangers, taffi, taffidollar, grace, megachurch, collegepark, atlantachurch, sermon, gracelife, tbn, pastors, church, pastordollar, drdollar

Id: bGsNEm-IX_Q

Length: 71min 56sec (4316 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 31 2021