Stand in the Strength of God Sermon Series: STAND [Pastor Dave Rajoon]

So this enemy is real, but his power is not ultimate. Understand that here today. His power is limited. His power is only for a short time, and his power is subservient to that of the power of Christ. Jesus had already won a decisive victory at Calvary. In Colossians, he said he disarmed principalities and powers, triumphing over them, making a mockery over them. So we are not fighting for victory, we fight from victory. So when we go into battle, we are not fighting to regain the ground, but we are here just to hold the ground that Christ has already taken for us. Understand that here today, but we need to fight. We need to go forward. Our battle originates from a place of victory, from a place of triumph, and the divine sacrifice of Jesus upon the cross. [01:36:21] (49 seconds)  #FightFromVictory

You know, in in faith, there's always two parts to it, and there's a part that god will do, and then there's a part that you have to do as well. In other words, it's not always do God doing everything for you. God is not your genie. Always remember that. God is not your genie. He's not you don't rub the lamp for him. That's not how it works here in the Christian faith. There's a part that you have to do as well. So as a christ as a believer, there's something that you're required to do. And Paul says, he says to put on the whole armor of God. That's instruction. He just he says, finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. But in the next phrase, says, put on the whole armor of God. In other words, he says, come ready. [01:26:02] (44 seconds)  #PutOnTheArmor

When you're driving down the street and somebody cuts you off, and then they start giving you the finger, they start behaving badly. Say, Lord Jesus, in the name of Jesus, I rebuke that spirit in the name of Jesus. Don't get mad at them and try to chase them down the road and then cut them off yourself because then you know what's happening? The same demon was in in his car jumped into your car. Right? So you have to be in control, and you have to stand and say in the name of Jesus, I'm not gonna let that contribute. And the reason why I say that, because I've experienced that. I've experienced somebody cutting me off and me I'm getting so upset. I wanna do the same thing to them. Right? And I'm the Christian. [01:30:09] (43 seconds)  #PrayDontRage

So I just wanna leave these last thoughts with you. How do we stand? Number one, put on the whole armor of God. I will walk in truth. I will guard my heart. I will stand in righteousness. I will live by faith. Guard your mind. Ask the Lord to cover your mind so that the enemy can't come with those thoughts. Reject lies. Replace them with truth. Pray with intention and authority. Understand that when you're praying, you've already won the victory. Prayer is not so that you could get a victory. Pray is just so you could hold the victory that Christ has already taken for us. Pray consistently, specifically with confidence. Stay connected. Don't fight alone. Stay connected to the word, to the spirit, and to the body of Christ. [01:42:57] (47 seconds)  #GuardAndPray

Having done all to stand. After you have withstood the enemy, you're able to stand in that holy place. You may be able to stand in victory. To stand because you had that victory. He said, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand. When the evil day comes and I'll tell this right now, the evil day is upon us. The evil day is upon us, and we need to understand how to fight spiritually. The reason why so many people get discouraged and despondent in the face of the enemy's unsought is because they're going into battle unprepared. You're going to fight and you don't have your tools with you. It's like the the it's like a carpenter who's going to fix a house, and he doesn't have a saw. He doesn't have a hammer. He comes with his hands swinging. Oh, well, I thought you're gonna have the tools. No. You're the carpenter. You're the soldier. Where where is your m 16? 16? Right? [01:41:13] (48 seconds)  #EquippedToStand

and the roadrunner is a metaphor for the true child of God. Because every trick, every anvil that he throws on top of the mountain, every thing that he puts in the road, whatever it is, every piece of dynamite that he puts against the roadrunner, it comes back to himself. And that is a real illustration of spiritual warfare. Right? But here's a part of that spiritual warfare that you need to understand as well, that is true as well, in that Wiley e coyote, no matter how many times an anvil falls on his head, no matter how many times he gets blown to smithereens, no matter how many times something runs him over, he's always coming back. He's always coming back. He doesn't give up. Right? So [01:31:33] (47 seconds)  #RoadrunnerResilience

But maybe the enemy is using how many of you know Satan could use Christian people? Yeah. Satan uses Christian people all the time. Right? So we need to understand that here today, but we want to encourage and support one another. And your default as a Christian believer, when you hear something about someone or when you see someone going through something, your default should never be it's good for them, or they look for that, or they deserve that. Your default should always be, how can I pray for you? I'm standing with you in that situation. I wanna lift you up as you go through this year. That should be the Christian default. But that only comes when we understand who we are. If we allow ourselves to be used by Satan, we're just becoming we're fools. [01:14:11] (48 seconds)  #PrayDontJudge

And I testified that when I was a young man growing up, that was the go to passage I had because I was a fearful young kid, and I had anxiety issues and so on. But I would go and do that so I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I could do all things through Christ who gives me the strength, and that's why I am here today, and that's why I can stand here and preach the gospel because I can do all things through Christ who gives me the strength. And I believe that counts applies to you as well. You can do all things. You can do the things that you wanna do [01:04:52] (32 seconds)  #StrengthThroughChrist