Transcript February 9- If Only

"Follow Your Heart"
And 5 More Lies…
If Only
What's it feel like
To have an enemy?
"He doesn't exist…"
"You're just using fear
To motivate…"
"Silly Christian fairy tales…"
The 2 Strategies:
- I'm scary strong, fear me
- I'm not an enemy, play with me
Both place us in chains
Fear me
Do what I say
Live in fear
Adjust life to my presence
Feel powerless
Play with me
Flirt with what God forbids
Trust in things outside God
Adjust life to those things
Feel powerful and in control
You have an Enemy
He hates you
Because of your image
Your possible destiny
And your God's love for you
Red tights, tail, horns, pitchfork?
Is God the author
Of evil?
The scriptures talk about
An angel cast out of heaven
With 1/3 of the other angels
(Rev. 12)
The Old Testament
Gives a symbolic picture
Of an angel cast out
Isaiah 14, Ezekiel 28
Jesus talked about Satan
As though he had
Personal knowledge
“I saw Satan fall like lightning
from heaven…"
- Jesus, Luke 10:18
You are hated
By an enemy who wants
To trip you up, entrap you
And keep you from following
God's desire for your life
Steal, kill and destroy…
He's not a scapegoat
"The Devil made me do it!"
The only entrance
The Enemy has into your life
Is what you give him
And what God allows
The chess game
Is a lie
Satan has asked to sift you…
...on the Sabbath he entered the
synagogue and was teaching.
And they were astonished at his
teaching, for he taught them as
one who had authority, and not
as the scribes
And immediately there was in
their synagogue a man with an
unclean spirit. And he
cried out…
“What have you to do with us,
Jesus of Nazareth? Have you
come to destroy us? I know who
you are- the Holy One of God”
But Jesus rebuked him, saying,
“Be silent, and come out of
him!” And the unclean spirit,
convulsing him and crying out
with a loud voice, came out
of him- Mark 1:21-26
Repeated over and over again
Because of Jesus authority
"Even the demons are subject
to us in your Name…"
- Luke 10:17
Because of Jesus authority
Paul casts out demons
- Acts 16
Here's the point:
This isn't a fair fight
It's not 50-50
It's God over the Enemy
Every time
And having disarmed the
powers and authorities, he
made a public spectacle of
them, triumphing over them
by the cross
- Col. 2:15
God even uses the Enemy
To accomplish his purposes
Judas- Satan entered him
The cross was evil
The people were murderous
Jesus used it to win freedom
And make a public spectacle
God uses the Enemy
To accomplish his purposes
…in order to keep me from
becoming conceited, I was given
a thorn in my flesh, a messenger
of Satan, to torment me
- 2 Cor. 12:7
The only entrance
The Enemy has into your life
Is what you give him
And what God allows
If God allows
There is a purpose
And a time
That will glorify God
And be for your ultimate joy
How can I give him entrance?
- Fear
- Unresolved anger/unforgiveness
- Self-seeking
- Divination and misplaced faith
- Pursuing wrong desires
I'm scary strong, fear me!
They stirred him to jealousy
with strange gods; with
abominations they provoked
him to anger
They sacrificed to demons that
were no gods, to gods they had
never known, to new gods that
had come recently, whom your
fathers had never dreaded
- Deut. 32:16-17
I'm scary strong- fear me!
Stir up the gift that is in you…
For God has not given us a spirit
of fear, but of power, love
and a sound mind
- 2 Tim. 1:6-7
The only fear we should have
Is reverent awe
At the power and holiness
Of our God
The only entrance
The Enemy has into your life
Is what you give him
And what God allows
Fear says,
"I alone am not enough
And God can't help me"
And that's a half-truth
I'm harmless- play with me!
Unrighteous anger/
Unforgiveness
In your anger do not sin. Do not
let the sun go down while you
are still angry, and do not give
the devil a foothold
- Eph. 4:26-27
See to it that no one misses the
grace of God and that no root of
bitterness springs up and causes
trouble, and by it many
become defiled
- Hebrews 12:15
Bitter people
Never keep it to themselves
"Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
For if you forgive other people
when they sin against you,
your heavenly Father will
also forgive you
But if you do not forgive others
their sins, your Father will not
forgive your sins"
- Matthew 6
Unrighteous anger and
bitterness comes from
unforgiveness and places us on
the Enemy's playing field:
We walk in unforgiveness
That voice in my ear
As I brush my teeth
Grace and unforgiveness
Cannot coexist
The only entrance
The Enemy has into your life
Is what you give him
And what God allows
Fear
Anger/unforgiveness
Self-seeking
Self-seeking
"Get behind me Satan…"
Self-seeking
Judas agreed to betray Jesus
Right after the oil of nard
And Jesus' refusal to care
About money
Self-seeking
Churches have been torn apart
Because, "I want what I want!"
The only winner is…?
Divination and Misplaced Faith
Ouija board stories? Sure
Divination and Misplaced Faith
What about astrology, palm
readers, mediums and psychics
and the paranormal?
My only faith should be in Jesus
My only fear should be reverent
Awe at his holiness and power
Anything I place my faith in
Outside my King
Is an open invitation
To the Enemy in my life
There shall not be found among
you anyone who…practices
divination or tells fortunes or
interprets omens…
- Deut. 18:10
The Palm Reader
Loves Jesus!
…we were met by a female
slave who had a spirit by which
she predicted the future. She
earned a great deal of money
for her owners by
fortune-telling…
…Paul…said to the spirit, “In the
name of Jesus Christ I command
you to come out of her!” At that
moment the spirit left her
- Acts 16
The Palm Reader
Loves Jesus!
Jesus doesn’t cast out
His own gift
The coming of the lawless one is
by the activity of Satan with all
power and false signs
and wonders
- 2 Thess. 2:9
Just because it's a miracle
Doesn't mean it's from God
Pursuing wrong desires
God cannot be tempted with
evil, and he himself tempts no
one. But each person is tempted
when he is lured and enticed by
his own desire
Then desire when it has
conceived gives birth to sin
- James 1:13-15
The only entrance
The Enemy has into your life
Is what you give him
And what God allows
Fear
Anger/unforgiveness
Self-seeking
Divination and Misplaced Faith
Pursuing Wrong Desires
Be sober-minded; be watchful.
Your adversary the devil prowls
around like a roaring lion,
seeking someone to devour
- 1 Peter 5:8
Submit yourselves therefore to
God. Resist the devil, and
he will flee from you
- James 4:7
The God of peace will soon
crush Satan under your feet
- Romans 16:20
How to walk in Freedom
From the Enemy
And his influence
Homework:
- Ephesians 6:10-20
- Mark 4:1-11
MCW Next Sunday
6 PM
Sign-up in Back
14 Days
We Give Ourselves
Beginning Feb. 17
Layman Church:
Believing and Belonging
Feb. 23, 2-4 PM