SM20200301 Battles of Believers Part 1

“BATTLE PLANS” Battles of Believers – Part 1 SM20200301 • Church workday March 7th at 9:00 am. • Praise and Worship night Friday March 6th in place of Care Group and will be here at the church. • Pray for our nation, leaders and our President. MESSAGE TITLE SLIDE This morning I’d like to start out by reading a Parable as told by Pastor Reinhard Bonnke PARABLE: A man had a 2-story house. He heard a knocking, opened the door, and found Jesus there, so he invited Him to live in the house and gave Him a room in the top floor. Jesus will only take what you give Him. The man was sleeping and heard a pounding on the door, opened the door a crack and the devil barged in. He had a terrible fight, trying to resist the devil and his temptations, yelling out for help all the time. Eventually, he managed to throw the devil out. In the morning, he said, "Why didn't you help me last night? Couldn't you hear me calling for help?" Jesus: "The problem is, you've got this whole big house to yourself, and I've only got one room." Man: "Ah, I see your point. You can have the whole top floor, and I'll keep the bottom floor." The man was sleeping and heard a pounding on the door, opened the door a crack and the devil barged in again. He had another terrible fight, trying to resist the devil and his temptations, yelling out for help all the time. Eventually, he managed to throw the devil out. In the morning, he said, "Why didn't you help me last night? Couldn't you hear me calling for help?" Jesus: "The problem is, I have the top floor, but you still have the bottom floor to yourself." Man: "Ah, I see what you mean. From now on, the whole house is yours." That night, the man was asleep, and there was a pounding at the door again. This time Jesus went to the door, opened it wide, and stood in the doorway. The devil looked at Him, bowed very low and said, "I'm sorry, but I think I knocked on the wrong door." END PARABLE MESSAGE TITLE SLIDE (Elaborate) Listen, the Christian life isn’t a playground, but a battleground. • And we’re going to face conflict every day as believers. • We’ll face mental, emotional, physical and spiritual battlegrounds in our lives. • And these are all tightly intertwined. • IOW when one area is under attack, it also affects the other areas as well. • And so, Spiritual struggles will affect us emotionally, mentally, and physically. • And Physical battles will affect us spiritually, emotionally and mentally. And it’s not God’s intentions for us to lose our conflicts on these battlefields. VERSE SLIDE Romans 8:37 (HCSB) 37  No, in all these things we are more than victorious through Him who loved us. (Elaborate) VERSE SLIDE 1 John 5:4 (HCSB) 4  because whatever has been born of God conquers the world. This is the victory that has conquered the world: our faith. (Elaborate) Did you know that God’s given us the ability and power to win our battles if we want too? • And the secret that is not hidden in scripture is that winning these battles is a matter of surrendering. • Surrendering to the control of the Holy Spirit. • IOW we’re to be Spirit filled believers. VERSE SLIDE Ephesians 5:18 (HCSB) 18  And don’t get drunk with wine, which ⌊leads to⌋ reckless actions, but be filled by the Spirit: Now, for us have total victory in the area of battles, I believe that it’s important for us to know the areas of conflict we’ll have as believers. • You see, every Christian in their lifetime will face battles of Love vs. hate. • Joy vs. Depression or Discouragement. • Peace vs. Fear or Frustration. • Meekness vs. Anger or Rage. • Selfishness vs. Giving. • Ungratefulness vs. Thankfulness. Gentleness Vs. Harshness. • Carnality vs. Spirituality. • False doctrine vs. Truth. • Faith vs. Doubt. • Shame vs. Boldness. • Struggles with the Lust of the Eyes (Thought Life.) • Lust of the Flesh vs. the Spirit, and the pride of Life vs. Humility. So, this morning we want to look at some of the things that God has to say about each battle we face. • And the next week in Part 2 or this series we’ll see how we can survive and enjoy victory in these battles. • And I’m looking forward to next weeks message just as much as I am to todays. • So, let’s talk about the 14 battles we’ll face as believers. 1. Love vs. Hate. 1 John 2:9 (HCSB) 9  The one who says he is in the light but HATES his brother is in the DARKNESS until now. (Elaborate) Proverbs 10:12 (HCSB) 12  HATRED stirs up conflicts, but love covers all offenses. (Elaborate) 1 John 3:15 (HCSB) 15  Everyone who HATES his brother is a MURDERER, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him. (Elaborate) John 15:12 (HCSB) 12  This is My command: LOVE one another as I have LOVED you. (Elaborate) John 13:35 (HCSB) 35  By this all people will KNOW that you ARE My DISCIPLES, if you have LOVE for one another.” (Elaborate) 2. Joy & Enthusiasm vs. Depression, Discouragement, & Apathy. Galatians 6:9 (HCSB) 9  So we must not get TIRED OF DOING GOOD, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up. (Elaborate) Proverbs 13:12a (HCSB) 12  DELAYED HOPE makes the HEART SICK… (Elaborate) Psalm 42:6a (NKJV) 6  O my God, MY SOUL IS CAST DOWN WITHIN ME… (Elaborate) Philippians 4:4 (HCSB) 4  REJOICE in the Lord ALWAYS. I will say it again: REJOICE! (Elaborate) Nehemiah 8:10b (HCSB) 10 …the JOY of the LORD is your STRONGHOLD.” (Elaborate) Habakkuk 3:18 (NLT2) 18  yet I WILL REJOICE in the LORD! I WILL BE JOYFUL in the GOD of my salvation! (Elaborate) 3. Peace vs. Fear, Frustration, or Worry Matthew 13:22 (HCSB) 22  Now the one sown among the thorns—this is one who hears the word, but the WORRIES of this age and the seduction of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. (Elaborate) Psalm 39:6 (HCSB) 6  “Certainly, man walks about like a mere shadow. INDEED, THEY FRANTICALLY RUSH AROUND IN VAIN, GATHERING POSSESSIONS without knowing who will get them. (Elaborate) Philippians 4:6 (HCSB) 6  DON’T WORRY about ANYTHING, but in EVERYTHING, THROUGH PRAYER AND PETITION WITH THANKSGIVING, let your requests be made known to God. (Elaborate) 1 Peter 5:7 (HCSB) 7  CASTING all your care on Him, because HE CARES about you. Psalm 119:165 (HCSB) 165  ABUNDANT PEACE belongs to those who LOVE Your INSTRUCTION; NOTHING makes them STUMBLE. (Elaborate) Isaiah 26:3 (HCSB) 3  You will KEEP THE MIND ⌊that is⌋ dependent ⌊on You⌋ IN PERFECT PEACE, for it is TRUSTING in You. (Elaborate) Ephesians 2:14 (HCSB) 14  For HE IS OUR PEACE, who made both groups one and tore down the dividing wall of hostility. In His flesh, (Elaborate) 4. Meekness vs. Anger or Rage Psalm 37:8 (HCSB) 8  REFRAIN from ANGER and GIVE UP ⌊your⌋ RAGE; do not be AGITATED—it can ONLY BRING HARM. (Elaborate) Proverbs 14:17 (HCSB) 17  A QUICK-TEMPERED man acts foolishly, and a man who schemes is HATED. (Elaborate) Ecclesiastes 7:9 (HCSB) 9  DON’T let your spirit RUSH to be ANGRY, for ANGER abides in the HEART of FOOLS. (Elaborate) Proverbs 19:11 (NLT2) 11  SENSIBLE people CONTROL THEIR TEMPER; they earn respect by overlooking wrongs. (Elaborate) Proverbs 16:32 (ESV) 32  Whoever is SLOW TO ANGER is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city. (Elaborate) Ephesians 4:31 (HCSB) 31  ALL bitterness, ANGER and WRATH, SHOUTING and SLANDER must be removed from you, along with all malice. (Elaborate) 5. Selfishness vs. Giving Isaiah 5:8 (NLT2) 8  What SORROW for you who BUY UP HOUSE AFTER HOUSE AND FIELD AFTER FIELD, until EVERYONE is EVICTED and you live alone in the land. (Elaborate) Philippians 2:4 (HCSB) 4  EVERYONE should look out not ⌊only⌋ for his OWN INTERESTS, but also for the INTERESTS of OTHERS. (Elaborate) Luke 6:38 (NLT2) 38  GIVE, and you will RECEIVE. Your GIFT will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to MAKE ROOM FOR MORE, running over, and poured into your lap. The AMOUNT you GIVE will determine the AMOUNT you GET BACK.” (Elaborate) 2 Corinthians 9:7 (HCSB) 7  Each person should do as he has decided in his heart—not reluctantly or out of necessity, for God loves a CHEERFUL GIVER. (Elaborate) 6. Ungratefulness vs. Thankfulness Listen, an ungrateful heart, especially toward parents, isn’t good at all. Proverbs 28:24 (HCSB) 24  The one who robs his father or mother and says, “That’s no sin,” is a companion to a man who destroys. (Elaborate) Proverbs 30:17 (NLT2) 17  The eye that mocks a father and despises a mother’s instructions will be plucked out by ravens of the valley and eaten by vultures. (Elaborate) Now we’ll see that defiance and ungratefulness of man towards God is foolishness. Romans 1:21-22 (HCSB) 21  For though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became nonsense, and their senseless minds were darkened. 22  Claiming to be wise, they became fools (Elaborate) Now let’s see how gratefulness is a trait of maturity. Psalm 92:1 (HCSB) 1 It is good to praise Yahweh, to sing praise to Your name, Most High, (Elaborate) 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (HCSB) 18  Give thanks in everything, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (Elaborate) 7. Gentleness vs. Harshness Proverbs 11:17 (HCSB) 17  A kind man benefits himself, but a cruel man brings disaster on himself. (Elaborate) 2 Timothy 2:24 (HCSB) 24  The Lord’s slave must not quarrel, but must be gentle to everyone, able to teach, and patient, (Elaborate) James 3:17 (HCSB) 17  But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peace-loving, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without favoritism and hypocrisy. (Elaborate) Titus 3:2 (HCSB) 2  to slander no one, to avoid fighting, and to be kind, always showing gentleness to all people. (Elaborate) 8. Carnality vs. Spirituality 1 Corinthians 3:1,3,4 (NIV) 1  Brothers, I could not address you as SPIRITUAL but as WORLDLY--mere infants in Christ. 3  You are still WORLDLY. For since there is JEALOUSY and QUARRELING among you, ARE YOU NOT WORLDLY? Are you not acting like MERE MEN? 4  For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not MERE MEN? (Elaborate) Romans 8:6 (HCSB) 6  For the mind-set of the FLESH is death, but the mind-set of the SPIRIT is life and peace. (Elaborate) Philippians 2:5 (HCSB) 5  MAKE your own ATTITUDE that of CHRIST JESUS, (Elaborate) 1 Timothy 4:7 (HCSB) 7  But have NOTHING TO DO with irreverent and silly myths. Rather, train yourself in godliness, (Elaborate) Titus 2:12 (HCSB) 12  instructing us to DENY GODLESSNESS and WORLDLY LUSTS and to LIVE in a SENSIBLE, RIGHTEOUS, and GODLY way in the present age, (Elaborate) 9. False Doctrine vs. Truth Colossians 2:8 (NLT2) 8  Don’t let anyone capture you with EMPTY PHILOSOPHIES and HIGH-SOUNDING NONSENSE that come from HUMAN THINKING and from the SPIRITUAL POWERS of this WORLD, RATHER than FROM CHRIST. (Elaborate) Hebrews 13:9 (HCSB) 9  Don’t be led astray by various kinds of STRANGE TEACHINGS; for it is good for the heart to be ESTABLISHED BY GRACE and not by foods, since those involved in them have not benefited. (Elaborate) 2 John 1:4 (HCSB) 4  I was very glad to find some of your children WALKING IN THE TRUTH, in keeping with a command we have received from the Father. (Elaborate) 3 John 1:3 (HCSB) 3  For I was very glad when some brothers came and testified to your (FAITHFULNESS) TO THE TRUTH—how you are walking in the truth. (Elaborate) 2 Timothy 2:15 (HCSB) 15  Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed, CORRECTLY teaching the WORD OF TRUTH. (Elaborate) 10. Faith vs. Doubt Mark 4:40 (HCSB) 40  Then He said to them, “Why are you fearful? Do you still have no FAITH?” (Elaborate) Luke 24:25 (HCSB) 25  He said to them, “How unwise and slow you are to believe in your hearts all that the prophets have spoken! (Elaborate) John 20:25 (HCSB) 25  So the other disciples kept telling him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “If I don’t see the mark of the nails in His hands, put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will never believe!” (Elaborate) Romans 10:17 (HCSB) 17  So FAITH comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ. (Elaborate) Hebrews 11:6 (HCSB) 6  Now WITHOUT FAITH it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God, for the one who draws near to Him must believe that He exists and rewards those who seek Him. (Elaborate) 1 John 5:4 (HCSB) 4  because whatever has been born of God conquers the world. THIS IS THE VICTORY that has conquered the world: OUR FAITH. (Elaborate) 11. Shame of the Lord vs. Boldness Matthew 10:33 (HCSB) 33  But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father in heaven. (Elaborate) 1 Peter 4:16 (HCSB) 16  But if ⌊anyone suffers⌋ as a “Christian,” HE SHOULD NOT BE ASHAMED BUT SHOULD GLORIFY GOD IN ⌊HAVING⌋ THAT NAME. (Elaborate) Psalm 119:5-6 (HCSB) 5  If only my ways were committed to keeping Your statutes! 6  THEN I WOULD NOT BE ASHAMED when I think about all Your commands. (Elaborate) Philippians 1:20 (HCSB) 20  My EAGER EXPECTATION and hope is that I WILL NOT BE ASHAMED about ANYTHING, but that now as always, with all boldness, Christ will be highly honored in my body, whether by life or by death. (Elaborate) 12. Struggles with lust of the eyes Matthew 5:28 (HCSB) 28  But I tell you, everyone who looks at a woman to LUST for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Elaborate) 1 John 2:16 (HCSB) 16  For everything that belongs to the world—the LUST of the FLESH, the LUST of the EYES, and the pride in one’s lifestyle—is not from the Father, but is from the world. (Elaborate) Matthew 15:19 (HCSB) 19  For from the heart come EVIL THOUGHTS, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, blasphemies. (Elaborate) Psalm 119:59 (HCSB) 59  I THOUGHT about my ways and turned my steps back to Your decrees. (Elaborate) Philippians 4:8 (HCSB) 8  Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is any praise—DWELL ON THESE THINGS. (Elaborate) 2 Corinthians 10:5 (HCSB) 5  and every high-minded thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, taking every THOUGHT captive to obey Christ. (Elaborate) 13. The Lust of the Flesh vs. the Spirit Romans 13:14 (HCSB) 14  But PUT ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, and MAKE NO PLANS to SATISFY the FLESHLY DESIRES. (Elaborate) 1 Peter 2:11 (HCSB) 11  Dear friends, I urge you as strangers and temporary residents to ABSTAIN from FLESHLY DESIRES that WAR against you. (Elaborate) Galatians 5:16 (HCSB) 16  I say then, WALK BY THE SPIRIT and you WILL NOT CARRY OUT the DESIRE OF THE FLESH. (Elaborate) Galatians 5:24-25 (HCSB) 24  Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have CRUCIFIED the FLESH with its PASSIONS and DESIRES. 25  Since we LIVE by the SPIRIT, we MUST also FOLLOW the SPIRIT. (Elaborate) Ephesians 5:18 (HCSB) 18  And don’t get drunk with wine, which ⌊leads to⌋ reckless actions, but be FILLED BY THE SPIRIT: 14. The Pride of Life vs. Humility 1 John 2:16 (HCSB) 16  For everything that belongs to the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the PRIDE IN ONE’S LIFESTYLE—is not from the Father, but is from the world. (Elaborate) Revelation 3:17 (HCSB) 17  Because you say, ‘I’m rich; I have become wealthy and need nothing,’ and you don’t know that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked, (Elaborate) Proverbs 11:2 (HCSB) 2  When PRIDE comes, DISGRACE follows, but with HUMILITY comes WISDOM. (Elaborate) Matthew 18:4 (HCSB) 4  Therefore, whoever HUMBLES himself like this child—this one is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. (Elaborate) James 4:10 (HCSB) 10  HUMBLE yourselves before the Lord, and HE will EXALT you. (Elaborate) 1 Peter 5:5 (HCSB) 5  In the same way, you younger men, be subject to the elders. And all of you CLOTHE YOURSELVES WITH HUMILITY toward one another, because God RESISTS THE PROUD BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE. (Elaborate) COMMUNION So, we looked at the battels we face as believers. • And next week we’re going to see how we can survive and enjoy victory in these battles.