Epistle Of James
Know Your Enemy | Standing Firm In Faith 01
[Music] Please turn your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 1. 2 Corinthians chapter 1. Over the next several weeks, we're going to be taking up the series "How to Stand Firm in Your Faith." And here in 2 Corinthians 1 and verse 24, the apostle Paul, right into the church at Corinth, I'm reading from the New Living Translation, it may be a little bit different because they've told me that my New Living Translation and that living New Living Translation is a little bit different, so forgive me if it is a little different. But it says here in my New Living Translation, it says, but that does not mean Paul is in the middle of a sentence, but don't worry too much, he says, that doesn't mean that we want to tell you exactly how to put your faith into practice, we want to work together with you so that you will be full of joy, listen as you stand firm in your faith. That's what this series is about, standing firm in your faith, amen? And faith, family, is between you and God. This is something that you develop between you and God, it takes time, it takes prayer, okay man, all right? And it is this faith that the devil attacks because as soon as you gain faith in God, when you get to the place where you're trusting God and you believe in God, that's when miracles begin to happen. You know, one of the things that I began to realize was, and it's really good, you know, so many people used to tell me, well, this is all you need. You know, I used to say, what about all the other stuff, you know, the counseling and everything else, and I'm learning about all of that now, so it's really great to be able to know all of this and then realize there is truth and then there is high truth. Listen, this is really important. There is a way that is available in the natural to get you from A to B, okay? And not everybody makes it from A to B, okay, in using those methods. But there is a way in the spirit that God will transport you to where you're just there. Are you all here? And, you know, I just, I remembered back, and God is reminding me about a lot of different things, and I thought, praise God, okay, you know, that people that were coming to church were saying this, you know, they just stopped drinking, they stopped smoking, it just happened. They didn't try to stop, it just happened. That's, that is what church is meant to do. You walk in and it's heaven on, it's meant to be heaven on earth with the power of heaven with the power of God in it, so that you don't have to, you know, you don't have to give something up, it gives you up. Amen. See, now you can go the other way and, you know, use patches and everything else and try to stop drinking and smoking or whatever, okay? Or you can just go to church and get delivered. Are you all here? So, you know, this is what we're looking for, this is where we're headed for next. This is what God needs in this earth. And we do this right, family, and I believe that God will just send people here because they need this. And then it's, you know, it's up to me to preach the right thing. And for us to do the right thing, it's up to God then to bring the people. Amen. And with what we're doing next, and I truly believe with what we're doing next with our home fellowships, it will just multiply in all kinds of ways. And if I believe if we do this right, there'll be no ceiling to this. Amen? So I'm looking forward to that. And the other thing also is, you know, we're going to learn to move in the spirit. We're going to learn how to just hear God and be obedient to God in the little things. Now that's again why there's home fellowships because you can do that in a little home fellowship. And if you miss it, only they know, you know, it's not like the whole church knew, okay? Not mind you, right now it's like a home fellowship anyway, okay? But you know what I'm trying to say, as we grow and we will grow hallelujah, we will grow in the name of Jesus, we will grow now, now that all the stops are taken off. I'm believing that, you know, we need to do this, we need to walk in the spirit, we need to allow God to move through us. And we need to learn how to do that. So I'll be doing that as well as we move forward. But back to this, faith is between you and God. And it is this faith in God that the devil attacks. And why the Apostle Paul says in 1st Timothy chapter 6 and verse 12, he says, fight the good fight of faith. So as somebody once said, it's a good fight because you're meant to win, okay? It's not a good fight when you lose, okay? You're meant to fight and win, it's a good fight of faith and you know, God will back this fight. Is there anything greater than God? No, there isn't. Amen? He is all mighty, all powerful. And we need to know that when we stand, and that's why we need to stand firm in our faith, when we stand, having done all to stand and we'll look at those scriptures as well, having done all to stand, when we stand, God will move. And the problem a lot of times is when we're not standing. And why aren't we standing? Because of what Jesus says, we've got a fight family. In fact, let me just finish with this. He says again in 1st Timothy 6, well, fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold on eternal life. The fight is so that you can lay hold on what God has paid for with the blood of Jesus. That eternal life is everything there's the healing, there's a, you know, finances, everything is in there, by the way. We don't realize that in that life is all the provision, the deliverances, everything is in there. You don't think that eternal life came and that it was missing anything. Can I get amen? It was everything. It's life. Are you all here? It is what you need in order to prosper, to be victorious, to be healed, everything that life is there. You get that life on the inside of you and it will just cause you to walk in the wisdom of God because that's that life and that light. It'll cause your body, if anything is wrong with it, for the thing to just start to repair itself, because the healing is already there, because by his stripes you were healed, you're not trying to be, but you already were. And you know, the realization is that it's in you and it just needs to be let out. Did you all get that? So we need to learn how to let go and just allow God to just work on the inside and bring it to the outside. Amen. That's what I'm talking about, family, blood placed everything on the inside of us. We are not missing anything. Whatever lack we have out here, the provision is already in there. Are you all here? The fight is to, it's to believe God, it's to release it and to enjoy it. Yes. Are you all here? Amen? That's why he says, "Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life to which you are also called and have confessed a good confession in the presence of many witnesses." We need to have a good confession. It's not a good confession when we say it's not working. Okay? I think I'm losing the fight, okay, we're gone now. Now remember we're not meant to do this on our own, okay? We're meant to be doing this together. That's the other reason for our home fellowships because it allows a group of believers to get together and stand together and pray together and know what your business is and be able to pray for you when you can't. Amen. See, we're not meant to be by ourselves, we're meant to be a part of the body. Amen? And the body looks, the whole thing about a body is it looks after itself. The hand will be there and the eye will kind of say, "Go in this direction, we can see where we're going." The hand will say, "Okay, we can do something about that." There's an obstacle and the hand says, "I can move that out of the way." And then the eye says, "Okay, everything is out of the way, foot, let's go." All the bits need to work together. And that's really what we're, that's why the Apostle Paul talked about that we all join and fit together, that we can't do without each other. And I think a lot of us have been trying to do everything, you know, the hand's trying to see, the eyes trying to walk, okay? And we're not part of a body. And that's what this is all about. We need to be part of a body. Amen? All right. So I've said here again, this fight of faith is what is needed to overcome all the attacks of the enemy. And why Jesus said in John 1633 again, "These things have I spoken to you that in me you may have peace. In the world you'll have tribulation, all right? But he says, "Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." Now I need you to see something here. I need you to see that we are not without trouble. There is an enemy and we're going to look at him today, all right? There is an enemy out there and he's going to come against us. And he will come against us in all kinds of ways. Jesus said, you know, he comes to steal, to kill, to destroy. But I want you to notice something that every time there is a warning, and I've noticed this more than not, that whenever a warning is given, the solution is given as well. It's never, well, there's a problem and deal with it, okay? It says there's a problem and here's a solution. And here we find that he says, "I've spoken these things to you that in me you may have peace." So you can, you know, if you're not in Jesus you won't have peace, all right? He says, listen, in the world you will have tribulation because we're living in a fallen world. But he says, don't keep your eyes on that. Understand that we're living in a fallen world, but don't set your eyes on those things. You remember to keep your eyes on me because he goes in the say, be of good cheer, I have overcome the world, okay? Just again, William Hendrickson says this, he says the disciples can expect pressure from the side of the world because of their relation to the master. But this is, this very principle, namely that what happens to the master will happen to the disciple also applies in the opposite direction the disciple can expect to conquer. Because of his relation to the master, the words about be of good cheer, that's the reason why he says be of good cheer. It's no point for us to be of good cheer if Jesus is conquering everything and wages left with the mess. You know, he crosses the line and you're still back here. And he's going, I cross the line and go, that's good for you, I'm still running, okay? If he says be of good cheer, remember in me when he crosses the line, so do we. When he overcome so doing, that's what he says here, the words be of good cheer, I have conquered the world, clearly imply, and therefore you, my followers, will also conquer, amen? So we need to have that conquering mentality. We need to, you know, we need to fight the fight of faith, understanding that the battle is already being won. See, this is what the devil will do so much of the time is try and make you think that you've still got to fight, you've still got to climb the mountain. You know, there's still things that you need to get out of the way in order to get to somewhere. And God's saying, I've already taken you there. You just need to receive it. How do we receive it? I'm going to talk to you about all of that as well, okay? You receive it by the words of your mouth. You receive it in your heart, you receive it by agreeing with the word of God and applying a higher truth, applying the truth to whatever is true. It may be true that you're struggling with demons or you're struggling with all sorts of situations down here, but the truth says something else. The truth says in me, you have been redeemed in me, you have been rescued in me, you are more than a conqueror in me, everything has been taken care of. So what you need to do is get to the in me part and receive from that. And then look at whatever your circumstances are and say, I rebuke this in Jesus name. This has no right to exist. I'm not denying its existence. In me, it doesn't have a right to exist. Are you all here, because you know, some people try to do this by saying, oh, it doesn't exist, it doesn't exist. No, it exists. But you're not giving it permission. Go exist somewhere else, not here, amen? This is how we stand firm in our faith and please God. Remember again, Hebrews 11-6, 11-6 says, without faith, it is impossible to please him, amen? He says, for he who comes to God must believe that he is. And I love this. See again, he says, is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. Notice the diligently seeking him part. Not a lot of people diligently seek him. They just go out to him and say, God, if you do something, that's not diligently taking anything, okay, diligently seeking if I could give you a picture is, you know, Luke gives this. It's kind of like if you, have you ever dropped something, especially coins and they roll? I mean, they can roll places, you didn't think there were places. You know, and I've done this, I've dropped something, something, and it's rolled and I'm looking everywhere for the thing, I'm thinking, where could it have gone? I mean, how can, how can this thing travel? But you know, it's money, so I diligently seek. Sorry, I know that's bad English, but you know what I mean? I mean, I get looking and looking and looking and that's what God says for those that just keep looking and diligently seeking him. Amen? Amen? He will reward. I found my money, I was rewarded. Okay. Hallelujah. Now, before we go any further, one of the things that I need to do is identify the enemy. We need to know who we're up against. And I want to give you some insight about him because, you know, to know, you know what your fight is, you know, what you're fighting against, all right? What you need to do, and I think the worst thing that can happen is to not realize there's an enemy and he's just, you know, coming in under the radar and keep attacking you and you keep saying, God, what's going on? Is this you? And you know, this is one of the biggest problems we have is that we keep thinking God's a problem. Notice it said, fight the good fight of faith. It didn't say fight God. It didn't say fight people, okay? It's faith that you're fighting for. Let's go to John chapter 10 verse 10. We know this verse. Most Christians believe today that God is their problem. When Jesus clearly said, and this is the reason why we based the name of our church on this, he said in John 10, the thief does not come except to steal, to kill, and to destroy. And he says, I have come, notice again there is a problem, here's the solution. He says, I have come that you might have life and that they may have it more abundantly. Amen? So he's saying, listen, as much as the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, you know, all that takes your life away from you. And he says, I'm going to come and replace that with my life. It's an abundant overflowing life. Amen. You know, that means anything that he steals, he's got to give back and God will give it back to you multiplied. Amen. Are you all here? Anything he tries to destroy, you know, he says he's still to kill and destroy. Whatever he destroys, God will put it back together. As long as we fight the good fight of faith, as long as you don't crumble up and blow away like a newspaper. Okay? This is where the problem is. We're going to see one of the reasons why we need to stand firm is to allow God time to work. And we also need to be careful what we say so that we're not getting in the way of what he's doing because the devil will use everything in the natural to try and get our eyes off what God's promises said and what God said that he would do for us and get us to go another way so that he won't finish his work in us. Amen anyway. This Steve that is mentioned here is also identified in Revelation 12, 9, let's go there. I kept getting this over and over again and I said, all right Lord, let's go look at it. He said, they need to know their enemy. You know, if you don't know what you're fighting, then you don't realize the seriousness of the battle that you're in. And a lot of times I think Christians just kind of go, oh well, you know God, if you want to do it, do it, if you don't, whatever. You can't go like that into battle. You can't be thinking, well, you know, if God wants to do this, that's lazy. Do you know that is, people love that doctrine because they can be lazy, because it takes them off the hook, they blame everything on God, because people have been preaching messages that say, well God's all powerful and he's all knowing and he takes care, he's in charge of everything and everything that goes on is by his will. And so, you know, seriously, if you think that way, well, why bother doing anything? No, I'm serious, you know, you just go, well, you know, if it's all him, he's planted, I just need to just do whatever I'm doing and that was planned. Me sitting here watching TV all day, that was planned. Me not going to work, that was planned. When the Bible says other things, if you don't work, you don't eat, oh nobody was in God's plan that I don't work, it was for everybody else, not me. You know what, you're not trying to say, amen, and we do, and you know, yeah, well, can we do that? We know not to do that with some things, but you know we do that with other things. So let's go and have a look. Revelation 12, 9, it says, so, this is the New King James, so the great dragon was cast out that serpent of old called the devil and Satan who deceives the whole world. He was cast to the earth and his angels were cast out with him. Now what's interesting, so this is our enemy, what's interesting is that each of these names actually tell us something about our enemy. Firstly, the great dragon. This is a picture of a primeval power of chaos. So that's why he uses the word great dragon because he's trying to convey to us that we are dealing with an ancient power. This thing has been there a long time and it is powerful and it is chaotic. See that's why God is a god of order, but the devil isn't. A lot of people think that the devil's kingdom works a lot more smoothly than it actually does. It doesn't work that smoothly. He's chaotic and the stuff that goes on, he doesn't know what's going on. In fact, it says, you know, had they known, you know, they would have never crucified the Lord of glory. They were, you know, because they're in chaos. Have you tried to do work in a chaotic, you know, you can't, you don't know where anything is and then things go, well, I don't know what he told me about this, well, that was buried under six pieces of paper. That's why nobody knew, you know, or the cat aided or something, I don't know. His remark says that he's called great because of his enormous power. So you're dealing with a very powerful adversary. Second, it also calls him the ancient serpent. This is a reference to the serpent of old who in Genesis chapter three whispered lies to Adam and Eve and caused the fall of mankind. The Apostle Paul warns the church not to listen to the serpent's whispers in second Corinthians chapter 11 and verse three, when he says, but I fear, lest by any means as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety so your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. So what we find now is not only the serpent powerful, that's in second Corinthians 11 three, okay, in the King James, by the way. Not only is your adversary powerful, but he's also subtle. See, these are two things that usually are miles apart. Normally something that is powerful isn't very subtle. You know what the hammer, you know, say it just comes in and just, you know what, if you don't like it tough because I'm bigger than you, I'm stronger than you and I'm just going to eat you up alive, kind of a thing. But I want you to notice that the devil doesn't just have power, he also has this subtlety about him. He's like, well, you know, if I don't need to break a sweat, let me just decide. Receive them and get them doing something and then they'll kill themselves. You're here. This is where a lot of times in a way trying to fight a devil out there, sorry, he'll use misdirection. He'll say, I'm over here, you need to get me over here. And while you're attacking over there, he'll go, you know, just tired of fighting, aren't you? You know, the subtlety comes in. I mean, why bother? You know, I mean, God probably can take care of this one, just tell God to take care of it. I mean, it's such an effort. I mean, he's got, he's in charges and he isn't, he's in the almighty God and he whispers and whispers and whispers. And if you turn to that, he's got you, are you all here? This is what we're dealing with. This is the other side of it. That's what it means when he calls him the, the, the ancient serpent. There's more. Third, it says that he is the devil. It actually comes from two Greek words. I'm not going to go there. Okay. I'll just let you know it comes from two Greek words. That means to divide, listen, set at variance, accuse, bring charges, slander, misrepresent, and deceive. That's an accurate description of what the devil does. Do you want to hear it again? Okay. Listen, the word devil means to divide. You know, he is the one that brings division. He's the one that comes in and causes division because if you're united, you win. But if you're divided, you will fall. That's what he always tries to do is separate and conquer. So that's one of the things that he does. The other thing it says is he sets at variance, accuses and bringing charges and slander. You know, he's in this place where, like I said, the temptor is also the accuser. He'll get you to do something, then he'll say, "How could you do that?" When he's the one that said, "Nobody will know." But can I say this? He knows. The thing that is telling you to do the wrong thing knows what he's telling you to do and he knows everything about it and he will use everything he knows against you. So he not only tempts you into doing something, saying, "Nobody will ever know," and everything else. But on the other side, as soon as you do something and the regret comes in, he'll say, "How could you do that? You knew better." And he'll never identify himself as the one that actually drew you into that to begin with. You're with me? And see, he attacks you in ways you don't even realize. So going in, you're thinking, "Well, there's not a lot to lose." But at the end of the day, he would just erode everything away from you. Or your faith in God is what's up for grabs. And if you can erode your faith in God in the way that, "How is God ever going to bless you when you are behaving this way?" Then you stop believing. And he's one. Are you getting this? And the other thing is deceive. Subtlety and deception, two of the most powerful things the enemy uses against the body. He comes in quietly, he deceives, and he brings you down. That's why he's called the devil. Jesus himself described him best in John 844. Remember when he said to the religious leaders who were intent on murdering him, you know this scripture? He says, "You are of your father, the devil, and the desires of a father you want to do." He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth. He whispers lies. He goes and says, "There is no truth in him when he speaks a lie. He speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar. And the father of it, every whisper that comes to you is a lie." Finally, the word Satan, it actually comes from the Hebrew word meaning adversary. Simon J. Kismarka says, "Satan is at enmity with God's people. Through him the Antichrist appears as the lawless one whom Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth." So we see here again, this is our adversary. So this is another name for the devil. That's why Peter uses the word adversary because he understands this side of the devil. Amen? All of these have one function to deceive the world. That is those who have rejected Christ. But for those who have accepted Christ, Jesus says in Matthew 24 and verses 24 and 25. So that's Matthew 24 verses 24 and 25 from the new revised standard version. I don't know if we have that or not. It says for false prophets, excuse me, false messiahs and false prophets will appear and produce great signs and wonders. One of the versions says omens, it's a bad omen, and he says to lead astray if possible, even the elect. I want you to notice the words if possible. He can't. Do you know why? Because of verse 25. Because it says, "Take note, I've told you beforehand." Jesus says, "I'm letting you know so that you can't deceive you." If somebody calls you up and says, "Somebody's going to come and knock on your door and introduce themselves as this, as my friend, I'm telling you he's not my friend, don't open the door, call the police." I'm trying to say, all right, if you are forewarned, you're forearmed. It's when we don't know that we get deceived. The world doesn't know that's why it gets deceived. It thinks it knows everything and so it's on a certain road right now and it's a road of deception. And the devil is lying to them and this is where we're getting to. That if he could, he would deceive the whole world and he's well on his way to do that, but he can't deceive the body of Christ, those that have the word of God and that stand firm in their faith. Amen? Hallelujah. In other words, because we have been pre-warned, we will not be led astray like the rest of the world. And so again, we do have an enemy in why Jesus said again that the thief does not come except to steal, to kill and destroy. And he said, "I have come to give them life, I give you life and life more abundantly." Hallelujah. Now, when we come back, we'll continue talking about this a little bit more. I want to talk to you about what the apostle Peter spoke of in 1 Peter 5, 8, and also what he said in 1 Peter 5, 9, "Because not only did he say, be sober, be vigilant because your adversary, the devil, walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour," he says in verse 9, "Resist him, resist him, steadfast in the faith, stand firm in your faith." Amen? We'll pick it up there next time. Let's have a read about it, very close. Father, we thank you today for your word and we thank you, Father, for all that you're teaching us. Lord, we just thank you that today whatever situation people are in, whatever problems that they're facing, no matter how overwhelming it may seem, we thank you that is a greater truth, a more powerful truth out there that will overcome everything that is true. And Father, we thank you that we want to live in that place of the truth and Lord, that you help us to get to that place of the truth. And Father, I just thank you for all the things that are in this earth to help people. Lord, we just thank you that it has all come through you, God, that you see every single person wherever they are in their faith and you want all of your children healed and well. We thank you for doctors, we thank you for hospitals, we thank you for the psychiatrists and everybody else, anything else that is out there that is there to help people. We thank you for that, but we don't want to rely on that. We don't want to rest in that. We want to use that to keep us alive, to keep going so that we can reach these truths that you have, this life that you have, that we can live on a whole nother level and then help others to get there as well. Thank you, Lord, for all that you have provided that we do not become lazy in these things, but we'll always fight that fight of faith. We will always move onward and upward in the things of God, in Jesus' name. Everybody said, amen. [Music] [BLANK_AUDIO]