Love brings the Victory

Sunday 07/09/17

Series: Doers of the Word

Message – Love brings the Victory

*** There is NO video this week only Audio ***

Love brings Victory

Eph. 6:10-20,

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

12 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.

13 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.

14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,

15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.

17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;

18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints-

19 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,

20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

We’ve been talking about spiritual warfare… that we have an enemy, and he is relentless, but we have a God Who is relentless too… And greater is He that is in us than he who is in the world!

That…

We are in warfare
Our weapons are not of the flesh
We are not fighting people
We ARE fighting against the sin and death in OUR flesh
We are fighting against demons
Our enemy’s weapons are arguments against our trust in Christ
Our weapons are God inspired, spiritual weapons OF trust in Christ
The battlefield is in our soul (mind, will and emotions)
We obtain victory through surrender (heart-obedience) to Christ

We’ve learned that in this battle we are to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

Example of late marrying females or those who marry again after having been sunnies a long time… They get independent and almost resent help.

What softens them again to loving strength from the outside? A surrender to love.

Much of the strength we receive comes in the form of revelation and confirmation. That is… In what God says to us or confirms to us.

Satan should not set the place for your spiritual development.

I think many in the body of Christ believe that spiritual warfare works completely different than it really does. Sadly enough their expectation sets the pace for their Spiritual Development.

You see, in the Christian Life, God does not run around after the devil visits a Christian Life trying to clean up after his mess. On the contrary it is the devil who comes to try to mess up what God has deposited in His children.

God reveals truth to us and Satan challenges it… he tries to prevent it taking root, bearing fruit or at least only sparse and immature fruit.

The strength Good offers arises from within… It infuses itself into us enabling us to combat the deception & lies…the Arguments, of the enemy.

This is even stated I directly in a familiar passage but is often overlooked or missed

James 4:4-10 said,

4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

5 Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”?

6 But He gives more grace.

This is often seen as meaning “more grace” relative to the devils attack… Like God is playing catch up… But it means additional grace. More than what you had initially.

6 Therefore He says: “GOD RESISTS THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.”

7 Therefore submit to God (submit to strength) . Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.

10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

Spiritual warfare is a personal attack against our relationship, communion and fellowship with God. It is anything that hinders the progress of Christ’s reign in our hearts. It is temptation towards disloyalty.

Last week we looked at David and his warfare. The devil was not even specifically mentioned! But love was!

Last week I told you that NOTHING… AND I DO MEAN NOTHING, challenges God’s reign in our hearts more than indifference! This is why our Jesus made much of love…

Matt. 22:35-40

“35 Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying,

36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”

37 Jesus said to him, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’

38 This is the first and great commandment.

39 And the second is like it: ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’

40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

Two final thoughts:

Romans 5 – Hope does not disappoint because the love of God
2Cor. 5 – The Love of God constrains us…

We will pick up here next week…Blessings!

I hope this teaching will challenge you and encourage you to place your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

You have a special place in God’s family & kingdom. If you do not know Him, please use our ‘Contact Us‘ page and reach out so we may have the privilege of introducing you to the Lord. Neither money nor attendance at our church will be mentioned.

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Blessings!

Pastor Mark

View posts by Pastor Mark

Hi my name is Mark and though I am opposed to titles, I am currently the only Pastor (shepherd/elder) serving our assembly right now.

I have been Pastoring in one capacity or another for nearly 30 years now, though never quite like I am today.

Early in 2009 the Lord revealed to me that the way we had structured our assembly (church) was not scriptural in that it was out of sync with what Paul modeled for us in the New Testament. In truth, I (like many pastors I am sure) never even gave this fundamental issue of church structure the first thought. I had always assumed that church structure was largely the same everywhere and had been so from the beginning. While I knew Paul had some very stringent things to say about the local assembly of believers, the point of our gatherings together and who may or may not lead, I never even considered studying these issues but assumed we were all pretty much doing it right...safety in numbers right?! Boy, I couldn't have been more wrong!

So needless to say, my discovery that we had been doing it wrong for nearly two decades was a bit of a shock to me! Now, this "revelation" did not come about all at once but over the course of a few weeks. We were a traditional single pastor led congregation. It was a top-bottom model of ministry which is in part biblical, but not in the form of a monarchy.

The needed change did not come into focus until following 9 very intense months of study and discussions with those who were leaders in our church at the time.

We now understand and believe that the Bible teaches co-leadership with equal authority in each local assembly. Having multiple shepherds with God's heart and equal authority protects both Shepherds and sheep. Equal accountability keeps authority and doctrine in check. Multiple shepherds also provide teaching with various styles and giftings with leadership skills which are both different and complementary.

For a while we had two co-pastors (elders) (myself and one other man) who led the church with equal authority, but different giftings. We both taught in our own ways and styles, and our leadership skills were quite different, but complimentary. We were in complete submission to each other and worked side-by-side in the labor of shepherding the flock.

Our other Pastor has since moved on to other ministry which has left us with just myself. While we currently only have one Pastor/Elder, it is our desire that God, in His faithfulness and timing, may bring us more as we grow in maturity and even in numbers.

As to my home, I have been married since 1995 to my wonderful wife Terissa Woodson who is my closest friend and most trusted ally.

As far as my education goes, I grew up in a Christian home, but questioned everything I was ever taught.

I graduated from Bible college in 1990 and continued to question everything I was ever taught (I do not mention my college in order to avoid being labeled).

Perhaps my greatest preparation for ministry has been life and ministry itself. To quote an author I have come to enjoy namely Fredrick Buechner in his writing entitled, Now and Then, "If God speaks to us at all other than through such official channels as the Bible and the church, then I think that He speaks to us largely through what happens to us...if we keep our hearts open as well as our ears, if we listen with patience and hope, if we remember at all deeply and honestly, then I think we come to recognize beyond all doubt, that, however faintly we may hear Him, He is indeed speaking to us, and that, however little we may understand of it, His word to each of us is both recoverable and precious beyond telling." ~ Fredrick Buechner

Well that is about all there is of interest to tell you about me.

I hope our ministry here is a blessing to you and your family. I also hope that it is only a supplement to a local church where you are committed to other believers in a community of grace.

~God Bless!