Embracing Faith: The Joy and Cost of Discipleship
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Every day you wake up as a Christian, you are in a battle. You have enemies. Some people think, well, I'm a good person. I'm just trying to love God and I'm trying to do the right thing and I'm reading my Bible and I tithe and I do all these things. Why would anybody wanna harm me? I'm just a good person. And why would there be opposition to that? And as Pastor Zane, I would quote Pastor Zane, wake up little Susie. That's his favorite line. I heard it so many times. Basically every sermon. Wake up little Susie. Hey, you've got a battle on your hands. Don't be naive. That's what Jesus is saying. Look, they're going to persecute you. Get ready for it. Get ready for it. The Bible tells us that we have three enemies or opposition as the Christian. It's the flesh, the devil, and the world. [00:59:47] (56 seconds)
So how do you combat this enemy? Okay. Well, you can't cast the flesh out. People try to. In the name of Jesus, no more anger in there. Okay. You crucify the flesh. You deny it. You tell it no. But here's the beautiful thing. When Christ died on the cross and he forgave us of our sins, he gave us power over sin. But let me just tell you, what's very important is it happens, that power happens at obedience. Okay. Sometimes you're like, why didn't God take this away? And I'm trying and I'm, you know, I don't want to have that. There's something, I've seen it happen over and over. When somebody finally says, yes, Lord, I'll be obedient to do what you've asked me to do, it's like something changes. [01:05:24] (49 seconds)
Anybody know what I'm talking about? It's like, I've been trying to get over this thing for a long time, this flesh, this flesh, and it's because you don't, because Jesus knows you're not really willing to give up the thing he's asking you to give up. As soon as you make the decision, I'm gonna give this thing up, it's like all of a sudden there's this power. Okay, I can walk in it. I can walk in it. That's good. See, the power comes from abiding in Jesus. That power comes from there. The more time you spend reading God's word, I'm gonna be talking a lot about reading God's word, so just get ready. Praying, fellowshipping with other people, other believers, you're gonna see your heart and mind turn to the things of the spirit, okay? [01:06:13] (41 seconds)
So this is a forever long battle that we're gonna fight. But you can win over the flesh. You don't have to obey what it says. You're not what you do. You're what you will. It's not your desires, not who you are. It's what you will. Make the decision, all right? Okay, now that's number one enemy. The second enemy we fight is who? The devil. The demonic powers of the unseen world. You need to know that you have an adversary. You got somebody who wants to take you out. He wants to destroy you. He hates you. Why does Satan hate us so much? Because we bear the image of God. [01:09:05] (43 seconds)
And in some supernatural subconscious way, it's not audible, but there's some supernatural subconscious way that they can speak the lies into our ears and we hear it. And if you're not a good enough person, that person is out to get you. Watch out. They're going to betray you. Why don't you just go home right now and turn on the computer? Your wife's not home. Go take care of it. You're going to die. You're all alone. All of you, all of us heard these thoughts, these whispers. There's a book called the veil in which a man has a vision of, um, demons literally sitting on people's shoulders and just screaming in their ears. [01:15:41] (46 seconds)
Just because I'm attempted doesn't mean I'm eating, eating up with that junk. That's a lie from the enemy. I have the spirit of God inside me. I can be free. And you know what happened? I said, you know what I choose in the name of Jesus, Satan, I rebuke that voice and I just decide right now, I'm not going to give into that. And you know what happened? I got victory and then I got victory and then I got victory and then I got victory. And pretty soon it became easier and easier and easier. But what, what was I doing? I was resisting the devil. I was rebuking the voice. He is the father of lies. His greatest tool is what? Lies. And he makes us believe the lie. And what happens is the more we believe the lie, it becomes our truth. When it becomes our truth, what he's saying, it becomes a stronghold in our life. [01:19:50] (49 seconds)
And in the Bible talks about having a foothold and it's how he gets a foothold in us. So the flesh, we crucify, we put it on the cross. We lay down our desires, but against the demonic, we cast it out. We cast it out. That's the authority we carry as believers. Some of you are getting beat up because you're just like, Oh, I'm horrible. I'm horrible. It's like, no, that's the enemy. You need to be, take your authority in Christ. No. And you can't have my family in Jesus name. No, you're not going to speak over that. That's not who I am in Jesus name. And we're going to talk about that for just a second. So James says, resist the devil. He will flee. That means stand against him, withstand him. Withstand him. Second Corinthians for though we walk in the flesh, we're not waging war according to the flesh for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but have divine power to destroy what strongholds. [01:20:39] (59 seconds)
I'm going to read you a long passage, probably one of the most famous passages on this about the armor of God. Ephesians six, a final word, be strong in the Lord and his mighty power, put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to withstand firm, stand firm. What does this mean? We are standing against the enemy. Okay. So we're, we're holding on. We're not giving him any ground. Okay. For we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, against evil spirits in the heavenly places. So that's our battle. And he tells us what to do. Therefore put on every piece of God's armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle, you will be standing firm. After the battle, after it's over, God's saying, you're still standing firm. I'm doing good. The enemy didn't take me out. [01:23:16] (59 seconds)
This is who I am in Christ. Sometimes you need to just speak that. There was a thing going around for years that where it was like all the name, all your identity in Christ. You need to find that and just start speaking the identity of Christ over you. And then finally, the sword of the spirit. This is the one that is the weapon. This is going on offense. And the sword of spirit, we don't fight using human schemes or programs or human reasoning or techniques. No, we fight the enemy with the word of God, just like Jesus did. When Jesus was tempted by the devil, what did he do? Thus says the Lord. That's how we fight. [01:30:29] (41 seconds)
So, we crucify the flesh. We cast out the devil. How do we combat the world? Well, Jesus says, you are the light of the world. City set on a hill cannot be hidden. Go let your light shine. Do good works, right? So that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. We combat the world by doing good works. And the good works are always bringing light into darkness. Some people that are not a part of that world system would hear that and glorify God. And there'll be some people that will hear it and they'll hate you for it. It's okay. Hey, what does Taylor Swift tell us? Just shake it off. Shake it off. [01:48:01] (51 seconds)
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So how do you combat this enemy? Okay. Well, you can't cast the flesh out. People try to. In the name of Jesus, no more anger in there. Okay. You crucify the flesh. You deny it. You tell it no. But here's the beautiful thing. When Christ died on the cross and he forgave us of our sins, he gave us power over sin. But let me just tell you, what's very important is it happens, that power happens at obedience. Okay. Sometimes you're like, why didn't God take this away? And I'm trying and I'm, you know, I don't want to have that. There's something, I've seen it happen over and over. When somebody finally says, yes, Lord, I'll be obedient to do what you've asked me to do, it's like something changes. [01:05:24] (49 seconds)
Anybody know what I'm talking about? It's like, I've been trying to get over this thing for a long time, this flesh, this flesh, and it's because you don't, because Jesus knows you're not really willing to give up the thing he's asking you to give up. As soon as you make the decision, I'm gonna give this thing up, it's like all of a sudden there's this power. Okay, I can walk in it. I can walk in it. That's good. See, the power comes from abiding in Jesus. That power comes from there. The more time you spend reading God's word, I'm gonna be talking a lot about reading God's word, so just get ready. Praying, fellowshipping with other people, other believers, you're gonna see your heart and mind turn to the things of the spirit, okay? [01:06:13] (41 seconds)
So this is a forever long battle that we're gonna fight. But you can win over the flesh. You don't have to obey what it says. You're not what you do. You're what you will. It's not your desires, not who you are. It's what you will. Make the decision, all right? Okay, now that's number one enemy. The second enemy we fight is who? The devil. The demonic powers of the unseen world. You need to know that you have an adversary. You got somebody who wants to take you out. He wants to destroy you. He hates you. Why does Satan hate us so much? Because we bear the image of God. [01:09:05] (43 seconds)
And in some supernatural subconscious way, it's not audible, but there's some supernatural subconscious way that they can speak the lies into our ears and we hear it. And if you're not a good enough person, that person is out to get you. Watch out. They're going to betray you. Why don't you just go home right now and turn on the computer? Your wife's not home. Go take care of it. You're going to die. You're all alone. All of you, all of us heard these thoughts, these whispers. There's a book called the veil in which a man has a vision of, um, demons literally sitting on people's shoulders and just screaming in their ears. [01:15:41] (46 seconds)
Just because I'm attempted doesn't mean I'm eating, eating up with that junk. That's a lie from the enemy. I have the spirit of God inside me. I can be free. And you know what happened? I said, you know what I choose in the name of Jesus, Satan, I rebuke that voice and I just decide right now, I'm not going to give into that. And you know what happened? I got victory and then I got victory and then I got victory and then I got victory. And pretty soon it became easier and easier and easier. But what, what was I doing? I was resisting the devil. I was rebuking the voice. He is the father of lies. His greatest tool is what? Lies. And he makes us believe the lie. And what happens is the more we believe the lie, it becomes our truth. When it becomes our truth, what he's saying, it becomes a stronghold in our life. [01:19:50] (49 seconds)
And in the Bible talks about having a foothold and it's how he gets a foothold in us. So the flesh, we crucify, we put it on the cross. We lay down our desires, but against the demonic, we cast it out. We cast it out. That's the authority we carry as believers. Some of you are getting beat up because you're just like, Oh, I'm horrible. I'm horrible. It's like, no, that's the enemy. You need to be, take your authority in Christ. No. And you can't have my family in Jesus name. No, you're not going to speak over that. That's not who I am in Jesus name. And we're going to talk about that for just a second. So James says, resist the devil. He will flee. That means stand against him, withstand him. Withstand him. Second Corinthians for though we walk in the flesh, we're not waging war according to the flesh for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but have divine power to destroy what strongholds. [01:20:39] (59 seconds)
I'm going to read you a long passage, probably one of the most famous passages on this about the armor of God. Ephesians six, a final word, be strong in the Lord and his mighty power, put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to withstand firm, stand firm. What does this mean? We are standing against the enemy. Okay. So we're, we're holding on. We're not giving him any ground. Okay. For we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, against evil spirits in the heavenly places. So that's our battle. And he tells us what to do. Therefore put on every piece of God's armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle, you will be standing firm. After the battle, after it's over, God's saying, you're still standing firm. I'm doing good. The enemy didn't take me out. [01:23:16] (59 seconds)
This is who I am in Christ. Sometimes you need to just speak that. There was a thing going around for years that where it was like all the name, all your identity in Christ. You need to find that and just start speaking the identity of Christ over you. And then finally, the sword of the spirit. This is the one that is the weapon. This is going on offense. And the sword of spirit, we don't fight using human schemes or programs or human reasoning or techniques. No, we fight the enemy with the word of God, just like Jesus did. When Jesus was tempted by the devil, what did he do? Thus says the Lord. That's how we fight. [01:30:29] (41 seconds)
So, we crucify the flesh. We cast out the devil. How do we combat the world? Well, Jesus says, you are the light of the world. City set on a hill cannot be hidden. Go let your light shine. Do good works, right? So that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. We combat the world by doing good works. And the good works are always bringing light into darkness. Some people that are not a part of that world system would hear that and glorify God. And there'll be some people that will hear it and they'll hate you for it. It's okay. Hey, what does Taylor Swift tell us? Just shake it off. Shake it off. [01:48:01] (51 seconds)
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