CONFLICT – The Spiritual War
All inhabitants of earth deal with this, knowingly or unknowingly — directly or indirectly. Why? Because of Adam and Eve’s transgression in the Garden of Eden when they gave over their dominion of earth to the enemy of God. (Genesis 3:1-6)
All of humanity deals with the result, it’s called “the curse” — the transfer of dominion to an outlaw!
All are — Affected
Some are — Infected
Overcomers — Reject it
THE GIFT
Over thousands of years the prophets of the Old Testament prophesied of the coming of the Savior–the Messiah, the Seed of Abraham. The Deliverer would redeem man from the curse and restore The Blessing. (Deuteronomy 28:1-14)
The Savior has come!
God gives man the choice to hear the Gospel, repent, and accept His only plan for salvation: Jesus Christ. This Blessing of Restoration would come upon and into Believers as God wrote His Law into their hearts. (Hebrews 8:6-13)
“Okay, how come I’m not experiencing this blessing?”
To keep this explanation simple, the curse has not yet been removed from the earth.
That’s the reason why bad things happen to good people.
God has redeemed man from the curse only as man chooses God’s redemption plan. Those who are born again have been given an inheritance as heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. (Romans 8:17)
This includes restoration of God’s original plan for man after the fall:
The Blessing… dominion over the curse (destruction) through the power of the Holy Spirit and the Anointed Word of God that is written in your Bible. (Genesis 1:26-28) But any promise which is written has to be spoken ... acted upon through faith.
The Blessing has dominion over the curse. (Galatians 3:14)
When the written Word is preached through a faith-filled Believer, that Word becomes infused with life. (John 6:63) When the hearer receives it in their heart, faith is resident to destroy yokes and bondages but faith requires corresponding action. (James 2:26)
Taking Your Dominion Rights
The thief comes to steal the Word from God’s child to remove their dominion, their armor to fight. Their God-given right to dominate is weakened.
Here’s what we know:
We are in a war.
We are to fight, use our dominion by using God’s armor and His weapons, both privately for ourselves and family, and corporately, as The Church has a mandate to establish God’s will on earth as it is done in Heaven. (Matthew 6:10) We can see a picture of this assignment when Joshua led the Israelites into the Promised Land of Canaan to take the land for His people. (Joshua 1:6)
TAKING THE LAND
PREACHING THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM
“For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:17)
Can you see we can do nothing without Him? We reign through Him!
DISCIPLESHIP
We cannot accomplish our assignment on earth through fleshly, carnal ways.
Those who are born again are still in the world but not of the world. (John 17:16)
Those who only read their Bible at church on Sunday, and play around with the world and its ways of thinking and living all week, open themselves up to be a target. These same Christians, year after year, live lives of defeat, always depending on other Believers to meet their needs.
Why? Little Word ... little faith.
It’s one thing to feed a baby their food and change their diapers as they are growing up, but a 40 year-old soldier still wearing a diaper is not pleasing to the LORD!
“You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.” (2 Timothy 2:3-4)
PAYING THE PRICE
There’s a price to pay for being a disciple of Jesus Christ.
It’s called — doing God’s will above what you want to do.
It’s called — hear and obey.
It’s called — moving from only hearing teachings about sin and having faith in God (Hebrews 6:1) to maturity … to actually doing the greater works that Jesus wants The Glorious Church to move into now.
It’s time for the baby pacifier to be removed from The Church and for The Church to eat the meat of the Word and be “skilled in the word of righteousness!” Read Hebrews 5:12 – 6:3.
Whoever heard of soldiers at boot camp being fed baby food, day after day?
No, dear Saints, it’s up to us to make time to sit with our Father, open the Word of Life, and study for ourselves instead of depending on our Pastors to do all the studying for us. If we all study every day, when we assemble together it will make it easier on our Pastors to teach what the Holy Spirit is saying to The Church. Personal study opens our ears to hear the Word? Why? We’re fertile ground!
YOUR EXPECTATION IS GOD’S INVITATION
Do you know that your Pastor can only go as far as his Church receives?
You can help your Pastor by being attentive to what he is teaching and by pulling in the spirit. That means, on occasion, you’re saying on the inside, “Lord, I receive that,” or “Yes, LORD.” Your Pastor can feel when a congregation is in agreement or when they are resisting a teaching.
PREACHING THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM
YES ... ENGAGEMENT IS NECESSARY!
The LORD has given us specific instructions in how to overcome. THE BALL IS IN OUR COURT!
1. “And He said to them, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” (Luke 10:18-19)
(Just think of Joshua leading the army to take Jericho; think of young David striking the head of the nation’s enemy and then cutting off his head; think of Gideon asking, “Where are all the miracles our fathers told us about?” and then how he led his army of 300 to a valiant victory! When these men pursued to do the will of God, God empowered them to defeat their enemy, without any harm to them!)
2. “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ…” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5) Any thoughts contrary to the Word of God ... SLAP THEM DOWN!
3. “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
4. “Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth,
having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
above all, taking the shield of faith
with which you will be able
to quench all the fiery darts
of the wicked one.
And take the helmet of salvation,
and the sword of the Spirit,
which is the word of God;
praying always with all prayer
and supplication in the Spirit,
being watchful to this end
with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints--
and for me, that utterance may be given to me,
that I may open my mouth boldly
to make known the mystery of the gospel …” (Ephesians 6:10-19)
DO YOU NOT KNOW WHO YOU ARE?
DO YOU NOT KNOW THAT IF YOU DON’T EAT OF THE BREAD OF HEAVEN YOU WILL NOT HAVE GOD’S ARMOR?
DO YOU NOT KNOW WHAT HAS BEEN GIVEN TO YOU?
DO YOU NOT KNOW ALL THAT JESUS CHRIST DIED TO GIVE YOU?
“Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” (Galatians 3:13-14)
Although mankind is redeemed from the curse, if he doesn’t know it or if he refuses to believe it and be saved, he is living outside of God’s will, without eternal life.
This is why the gospel of the Kingdom must be preached in all nations.
(Matthew 24:14)
All inhabitants of earth deal with this, knowingly or unknowingly — directly or indirectly. Why? Because of Adam and Eve’s transgression in the Garden of Eden when they gave over their dominion of earth to the enemy of God. (Genesis 3:1-6)
All of humanity deals with the result, it’s called “the curse” — the transfer of dominion to an outlaw!
All are — Affected
Some are — Infected
Overcomers — Reject it
THE GIFT
Over thousands of years the prophets of the Old Testament prophesied of the coming of the Savior–the Messiah, the Seed of Abraham. The Deliverer would redeem man from the curse and restore The Blessing. (Deuteronomy 28:1-14)
The Savior has come!
God gives man the choice to hear the Gospel, repent, and accept His only plan for salvation: Jesus Christ. This Blessing of Restoration would come upon and into Believers as God wrote His Law into their hearts. (Hebrews 8:6-13)
“Okay, how come I’m not experiencing this blessing?”
To keep this explanation simple, the curse has not yet been removed from the earth.
That’s the reason why bad things happen to good people.
God has redeemed man from the curse only as man chooses God’s redemption plan. Those who are born again have been given an inheritance as heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. (Romans 8:17)
This includes restoration of God’s original plan for man after the fall:
The Blessing… dominion over the curse (destruction) through the power of the Holy Spirit and the Anointed Word of God that is written in your Bible. (Genesis 1:26-28) But any promise which is written has to be spoken ... acted upon through faith.
The Blessing has dominion over the curse. (Galatians 3:14)
When the written Word is preached through a faith-filled Believer, that Word becomes infused with life. (John 6:63) When the hearer receives it in their heart, faith is resident to destroy yokes and bondages but faith requires corresponding action. (James 2:26)
Taking Your Dominion Rights
The thief comes to steal the Word from God’s child to remove their dominion, their armor to fight. Their God-given right to dominate is weakened.
Here’s what we know:
We are in a war.
We are to fight, use our dominion by using God’s armor and His weapons, both privately for ourselves and family, and corporately, as The Church has a mandate to establish God’s will on earth as it is done in Heaven. (Matthew 6:10) We can see a picture of this assignment when Joshua led the Israelites into the Promised Land of Canaan to take the land for His people. (Joshua 1:6)
TAKING THE LAND
PREACHING THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM
“For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:17)
Can you see we can do nothing without Him? We reign through Him!
DISCIPLESHIP
We cannot accomplish our assignment on earth through fleshly, carnal ways.
- Baby Christians
- Lazy Christians
- Scripturally Illiterate Christians
- Disobedient Christians
Those who are born again are still in the world but not of the world. (John 17:16)
Those who only read their Bible at church on Sunday, and play around with the world and its ways of thinking and living all week, open themselves up to be a target. These same Christians, year after year, live lives of defeat, always depending on other Believers to meet their needs.
Why? Little Word ... little faith.
It’s one thing to feed a baby their food and change their diapers as they are growing up, but a 40 year-old soldier still wearing a diaper is not pleasing to the LORD!
“You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.” (2 Timothy 2:3-4)
PAYING THE PRICE
There’s a price to pay for being a disciple of Jesus Christ.
It’s called — doing God’s will above what you want to do.
It’s called — hear and obey.
It’s called — moving from only hearing teachings about sin and having faith in God (Hebrews 6:1) to maturity … to actually doing the greater works that Jesus wants The Glorious Church to move into now.
It’s time for the baby pacifier to be removed from The Church and for The Church to eat the meat of the Word and be “skilled in the word of righteousness!” Read Hebrews 5:12 – 6:3.
Whoever heard of soldiers at boot camp being fed baby food, day after day?
No, dear Saints, it’s up to us to make time to sit with our Father, open the Word of Life, and study for ourselves instead of depending on our Pastors to do all the studying for us. If we all study every day, when we assemble together it will make it easier on our Pastors to teach what the Holy Spirit is saying to The Church. Personal study opens our ears to hear the Word? Why? We’re fertile ground!
YOUR EXPECTATION IS GOD’S INVITATION
Do you know that your Pastor can only go as far as his Church receives?
You can help your Pastor by being attentive to what he is teaching and by pulling in the spirit. That means, on occasion, you’re saying on the inside, “Lord, I receive that,” or “Yes, LORD.” Your Pastor can feel when a congregation is in agreement or when they are resisting a teaching.
PREACHING THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM
YES ... ENGAGEMENT IS NECESSARY!
The LORD has given us specific instructions in how to overcome. THE BALL IS IN OUR COURT!
1. “And He said to them, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” (Luke 10:18-19)
(Just think of Joshua leading the army to take Jericho; think of young David striking the head of the nation’s enemy and then cutting off his head; think of Gideon asking, “Where are all the miracles our fathers told us about?” and then how he led his army of 300 to a valiant victory! When these men pursued to do the will of God, God empowered them to defeat their enemy, without any harm to them!)
2. “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ…” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5) Any thoughts contrary to the Word of God ... SLAP THEM DOWN!
3. “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
4. “Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth,
having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
above all, taking the shield of faith
with which you will be able
to quench all the fiery darts
of the wicked one.
And take the helmet of salvation,
and the sword of the Spirit,
which is the word of God;
praying always with all prayer
and supplication in the Spirit,
being watchful to this end
with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints--
and for me, that utterance may be given to me,
that I may open my mouth boldly
to make known the mystery of the gospel …” (Ephesians 6:10-19)
DO YOU NOT KNOW WHO YOU ARE?
DO YOU NOT KNOW THAT IF YOU DON’T EAT OF THE BREAD OF HEAVEN YOU WILL NOT HAVE GOD’S ARMOR?
DO YOU NOT KNOW WHAT HAS BEEN GIVEN TO YOU?
DO YOU NOT KNOW ALL THAT JESUS CHRIST DIED TO GIVE YOU?
“Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” (Galatians 3:13-14)
Although mankind is redeemed from the curse, if he doesn’t know it or if he refuses to believe it and be saved, he is living outside of God’s will, without eternal life.
This is why the gospel of the Kingdom must be preached in all nations.
(Matthew 24:14)
All of God’s armor is a spiritual force that is made manifest by having the Word deposited in your spirit man.
PASSING THE BATON
Every Christian is important to the Body of Christ because we are members of one another. When you are strong in the LORD you affect other members. The opposite is also true.
Every generation of Believers has been important to keep the gospel and The Church moving forward, but The Church of the end days is made up of a generation of Believers who will do the greater works and meet Jesus in the air when He returns.( 1 Thessalonians 4:17)
God has saved the best for last!
CLOSING COMMENTS
So, how important is His call in your life?
First place?
Fifth place?
Last place?
Do you realize that each of us will stand before the LORD and give an account of what we did for His Kingdom?
Which do you want to hear?
“ … Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.” (Matthew 25:21)
or
“You wicked and lazy servant … cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 25:26 & 30)
We have no excuse for not fulfilling our call. Selah
“Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.” (Matthew 25:13)
PRAYER WITH PURPOSE - See Current Events
Pray without ceasing for:
The Glorious Church
The Lost
Elected Leaders in our states and in our nation.
Copyright © 2013 – 2016 Prayer with Purpose; prayerwithpurpose.org
- Since faith is an act, the shield of faith needs the (spoken) sword of the Spirit to be effective.
- The helmet works when you take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.
- The breastplate of righteousness guards your spirit, the new-creation man, when you know and declare often who you are in Christ.
- This is girding your loins with truth to make you stand firm,
- while walking to spread the gospel of the Kingdom.
PASSING THE BATON
Every Christian is important to the Body of Christ because we are members of one another. When you are strong in the LORD you affect other members. The opposite is also true.
Every generation of Believers has been important to keep the gospel and The Church moving forward, but The Church of the end days is made up of a generation of Believers who will do the greater works and meet Jesus in the air when He returns.( 1 Thessalonians 4:17)
God has saved the best for last!
CLOSING COMMENTS
So, how important is His call in your life?
First place?
Fifth place?
Last place?
Do you realize that each of us will stand before the LORD and give an account of what we did for His Kingdom?
Which do you want to hear?
“ … Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.” (Matthew 25:21)
or
“You wicked and lazy servant … cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 25:26 & 30)
We have no excuse for not fulfilling our call. Selah
“Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.” (Matthew 25:13)
PRAYER WITH PURPOSE - See Current Events
Pray without ceasing for:
The Glorious Church
The Lost
Elected Leaders in our states and in our nation.
Copyright © 2013 – 2016 Prayer with Purpose; prayerwithpurpose.org
