Sermon Tone Analysis

Духовни крепости 2

 

 

*Introduction*

* What did we talk about last week?

* Romans 8:37 – We are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ

* How to recognize the enemy – The enemy is not people, but spiritual

* The enemy’s strategy – accusation and deception

* Our enemy attacks us through (1) bitterness (2) immorality (3) temporary values system

* What happens when we give in to the attack of the enemy?

* A spiritual fortress is built up in us that causes us to think contrary to God’s intended plan for us.

* God intends for us to find fulfillment in Him and in serving other people, but when we give in to spiritual attacks we are misdirected.

* How do people in this world find fulfillment?

* Money, sex, power, etc…, but it never fulfills us like God’s presence does.

This is why people are always searching for something more.

* *“1 Timothy 6:6* But godliness with contentment is great gain.”

How many times have you met someone and they said that they are content?

* The Odel Family

* We must know how to fight the attacks of our enemy, so that we do not think like we used to think.

We need for our minds to be renewed.

* “*Romans 12:2* And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what /is /that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

* See the connection:

* We do not give in to the attacks of the Devil

* We allow God to renew our minds

* Because our minds are renewed we are able to understand God’s will for our lives

* Because we understand God’s will we are content, and the huge waves of live become very small ripples.

*What are our weapons*

* How do we fight the attacks of our enemy?

What are our weapons?

* Revelation 12:11

* *Revelation 12:9-11  9* And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

11 And they overcame him* by the blood of the Lamb,* and by* the word of their testimony*; and *they loved not their lives unto the death*.

* When we look at this passage we see that there are three principle weapons that we have in order to overcome our enemy, the Devil.

* *“By the blood of the Lamb”*

* For people who have not been in church a long time or who have never had a chance to really study the Bible this is a very strange phrase.

What does it mean “by the blood of the Lamb”?

* Christians are a very strange people.

They believe very strange things.

* They believe that love is more powerful than anything else

* They believe in a God that chooses to use you and I to communicate to the world about himself.

/(I would have chosen a better method)/

* They believe that in this messed up world God still has a plan for us

* And the put up in all their churches a symbol of torture – the cross.

* When they talk about “by the blood of the Lamb” it means that we first must accept the sacrifice of Jesus Christ if we are to have victory over our enemy.

It is not enough to know about God – we must know Him personally and accept His sacrifice of the cross for us.

The God of the Universe sent His son to die for us on a cross and the only way for us to have victory is to confess our sins and ask Him to come into our lives as our personal savior.

* God must live in us.

We must accept the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for us.

* *“the word of their testimony”*

* We have a saying in English, “I can’t hear what you are saying because your actions are drowning out your words.”

* There is power in our testimony!

It is a very powerful weapon against the attacks of the enemy.

* “The word of their testimony” does not mean what they say, but their actions.

* *Colossians 2:6-10  6* As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, /so /walk ye in him:  7 Rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.

8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

9 For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:

* This passage in Colossians is a warning to all of us.

What we have received, we must walk in what we believe.

It is not enough to believe, but their must be actions.

The warning: if it is only belief there is a danger that it will become empty philosophy.

There are many people in Svishtov who believe in Jesus, but their belief has become only empty philosophy because they stopped “walking in Him.”

* There is power in our testimony!

You do not have to be a PhD.

Tell people, “my life before Jesus, but now God.” 

* But there is one caveat.

It must be true.

For there to be power in our testimony, we must walk in Him.

* *So, how do we “Walk in Him”*

* Three things:

* Quiet time

* Healthy relationships

* … and one more (Service to others)

* *they loved not their lives unto the death*

* Our spiritual lives are never static.

There is always a pull towards our selfish desires, and we are always going upstream.

* The great lie of this world is that we can find fulfillment in something other than our Creator.

* Think about just the advertisements we see in an average day:

* If you drive this car

* If you chew this gum

* If you use this shampoo

* But we know that fulfillment can be found in only our Creator and real joy is found in, not caring for our own desires, but in caring for others

* *Matthew 16:24-26 * 24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any /man /will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.  25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

* In order for us to have victory over the attacks of our enemy we must look beyond ourselves, beyond our own needs, to the needs of others.

* The early growth of Christianity: women and the sick.

* People need hope.

People in Svishtov need to see a different kind of community which is willing to sacrifice for them without asking anything in return.

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*How to overcome the enemy*

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