The Power of No Part #1 Drawing a Line Against World-Flesh-Devil 7-5-09
The Power of No Part #1:
Drawing a Line Against World,
Flesh and the Devil
7-5-09
Summer book tradition
· This year—didn’t find
· Conference—series—Frank D—piqued interest
· Do something different
o Going to draw from this series
o SHAPE this for us this summer
o Feel it is CURRENT/powerful/needful in this season
Preacher disclaimer
· We all borrow from one another
o TG quote ‘Best things I’ve ever preached, I’ve stolen from other preachers’!
· Reading books—preach a part of what is said
o Always preach my own
· Sometimes God will give me a word—just from hearing the TITLE of something
o Kinda what happened here
Heard about this Series
· On NO
· And on YES
Something stirred in my spirit
· In world situation today—
· Upheaval everywhere
· How are we to respond as church
· Need to have a clear sense of our yes and our no
Let your Yes be YES and your NO be NO Matt 5:37 let 5your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.
·
We Need that CLARITY—
· Because We are a people of FAITH
· We have to have clarity of our boundaries
· Etc. Develop
Boundary—Ps 16
5 Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure.
6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.
· PERMEABLE Boundaries!!! (Relatives??? Certain Friends???)
Gotta know Where your NO IS—where is your YES
Going to START this series – with a look at ‘NO’
· Later we’ll get to the YES!
How many know if can’t say NO—overrun!?
· When can’t say YES—miss out on right stuff
o Provision
o Blessing
o Faith
FAITH is integrally linked
· To our YES—opening the doors
· And to our NO—closing the doors—not being ‘too permeable’
o Some people allow ALL KINDS of things—they should say no to
TITLE POWER of NO!!
Going to talk about the word NO, today
· Positive Twist on it
· Has an attitude with it
· An attitude of ‘no more’, enough is enough, I draw the line here
Wanting to ADDRESS An attitude coming against our lives
Today I’m going to talk about 3 Enemies that come against our LIFE
· Cause you have to know what you are going to say no to!
· World/Flesh/Devil
· World--Disclaimer
o Has own system
o Own values—KOG and world values don’t mix
§ World says—grab all you can get—step on others—fight your way
§ Jesus said, ‘Give and it shall be Given’; Greatest-Servant
o What world would give—does NOT have
o World might push you into reality that is unacceptable
o World has it’s own value system
o Has it’s own way
o But we’re not of the world
I Peter 2:11 11 Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.[1]
o Children of Most High God—Adopted—
§ In world not OF the world
o But world tempts us
o Romans—need to be transformed by mind of Christ
o If not careful—mind grabs hold of world’s ways/values/ideas/lifestyle
o Before we know it—we allow world to press into our lives
o Start compromising things
o Pretty soon—can’t see difference between Christian and world
Has anyone here been tempted to be shaped by the world lately?
o Film/media/writings/ built by something we can’t be a part of
o For some—ideas—like divorce is an option
o Not what the Bible says
o World says—living together—having sex before marriage
o You have a choice
o Immorality becomes acceptable
But that’s not what the Bible says
o Bible is very clear—if you commit sexual sin—there is a judgment on your body
o But the world says—it’s alright
o There are tons of examples
§ Develop
· God wants to show us WHERE we need to take a NO position w/world
· Flesh
o Disclaimer—physical body Good
§ Bible talks about Carnal nature
§ Nature to do something WRONG
o Adamic nature
o Has an appetite for the wrong thing
You know what it’s like to have a natural appetite
o Ever crave something you shouldn’t have?
§ Just because you crave—doesn’t mean you should get it
o Appetite of flesh is not the appetite you should live with:
§ Selfishness
§ Self-centerdness
§ Ambitions glories that shouldn’t be lived
§ Lust pleasure
§ Lieing—cheating stealing
§ Flesh has an appetite for living independently
§ Not under authority—live independently
§ Flesh wants to be independent of God
What happens with appetite?
· If you feed it—the more you feed it – the more you want it
· Sicker you get—‘way that seems right to man’
· Flesh has a proneness for ADDICTION
o NOTHING really PLEASES!!!!!!!!!!!
· Flesh has a capacity for doing things that don’t profit
· Devil
o Spiritual world
o II Cor 10:4
4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ[2]
o
· Life is more than what you see
· There is also another force out here!!!!
· Eph 6:10-17 Evil spirits
o DEMON DISCLAIMER
o BUT . . . . . .!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
· Paul fought them—Peter—Jesus fought them
· Everyone of them fought what came against this
· Spoke to spirit
Jesus Understood Dynamics coming against lives
Let me ASSURE
· GREATER is He that is in us than he that is in the World
· But, be WISE
In our nation there are evil spirits
· Underworld against your life
· Evil spirits have a plan for you
o Scheme—Eph 6
· Take notes on your life—outline your week
· Find out your weakness—find out back door—what you’re prone to do
They do a study to the place, so they know where to take advantage of your life
· You have an underworld power who knows who you are
What I want to get across here
· Empowering you to say NO
· No to devil—no to world
As I’ve talked to you
· Anyone recognize that the world, flesh or devil has been making way against your life?
· Anyone see the advantage coming against your life that is taking
I believe that in the cultural shifts in America
· In political/moral shifts in the America/world
· When economy/philosophy changes
· Invasion of wrong thinking/worries
As a church—need to come together—stand together
· Together need to say—no way
· This is not going to happen to my family
· My life
· My morals
· My
Right now—I’m going to be strong in what we’re going to do
· If enemy has had his way in me
· It’s time for me to take a stand
Time to wake up—smell the coffee
· Wake up—take a pulse of your spirit man and your life
· Multiple things
Eph 4:27
* 27 and xgive no opportunity to the devil
· Don’t give devil way to defeat you
· Check translations
· You have responsibility
· You have a PART of this equation
If the devil has taken opportunity
· You are giving him some room
· Don’t give the devil any MORE chance
· Want you to do something so that you can make sure you are not opening the door over your life
The word “NO”
· Means an emphatic CHOICE
· Can be negative—but this is positive
o We Say NO—we got something Better—Dog-bone-steak
You can be passive—develop
· OR you can say, I believe there is MORE to what is going on around me
· I’m under attack
· You know what, the enemy has been planning this
· There is something behind this more than life and self
Conviction—Truth/Value that you COMPLETELY sell OUT to
· Declaration of INDEPENDENCE born out of CONVICTION
· Strength
Things CHANGE when conviction happens
When there is the LINE drawn—the MOMENTUM shifts
· Declaration of INDEPENDENCE—how it changed EVERYTHING
o History changed at that moment
o There was a NO MORE, declaration within that!!
· That’s why STRENGTH happens!!
· CONVICTION vs ‘free floating belief’
o When get CONVICTION—get a NO position
o Easy to say NO when you have a bigger YES on the inside of you!!
· !!
Emphatic
· Drawing a line
· IN sports—when changed—momentum changes
· Morals—when line drawn—everything changes
o Coming out of Addiction
· Africa—missionary
· Relationship, parenting, finances
What I’m asking you to do
· Draw a line
· Take a no position – Give no place to the devil
· With all the enemy is trying to bring into your life and shape around your life
· Set a marker
Today—Is a day when it’s all stops
· I will no longer let my mouth run off with negative
· I will not do this anymore
· Influence people—gossip—dark
Relationship I’m in is wrong
· I know that our relationship is wrong
· I know it has wrong foundation—feeding on each others flesh
· We need to step back
If that happens someone has to draw the line
Computer—something
· Porn—one click—look at things—Feed FLESH—SCAR SOUL
o Praying for LINDSEY BAUM—
o Remember Jamses Dobsen/Ted Bundy—role porn plays in pedophiles/serial murderers
· Illicit relationship
· Myspace
Dangerous
· Not a wise thing to do
Draw line—no further
· I draw the line
Say no to enemy
Give no room for enemy to occupy or find place of influence in your life?
· Who influences you the most?
· Where is the core of the influence founded upon?
Could be a person who says Christian
· Doesn’t love pastors
· Local church
· Coming against your local church
· All of the sudden, their influence surpasses YOUR influence
o Takes you some place you don’t want to be
o Is it an influence you can trust?
o Is it godly?
Need to draw line
When you take a NO position
· God establishes BOUNDARY LINES in perfect places
What does a ‘no position’ bring to our lives?
· Safety
o Safe boundaries
o Peace/safety
o Nancy/me dating—no seeds of adultery
· Clarity
o Can see clearly
· Strength
o Fulcrum— Give me a place to stand and a lever long enough and I will move the world—Archimedes 200 BC Greek Mathematician—Engineer—Physicist
o You NEED a fulcrum for things that are TOO Weighty to take out on your OWN!
· Freedom
· Team
o God never meant us to take our no position alone
o God put us in TEAM—in FAMILY—in the CHURCH
o When there’s a bro/sister standing beside me with the same position—it MULTIPLIES the strength EXPONENTIALLY
o All boundaries/convictions Operate as we stand TOGETHER as the family of God
o Don’t have to stand ALONE
o We got each other’s back
Here’s our no prayer:
· Today in Jesus’ name, I take my position of faith and stand my ground
· In Jesus’ name, I Make the choice of my free will to Submit to God and I resist the enemy with a definite NO to his invasions into my spirit, soul and body. I draw a line and give no more opportunity to take advantage. I Draw a Line and say NO to the schemes of the enemy— I say NO to the Lies of the flesh –I say NO to the lies of the World—and I surrender my life afresh to God and I say YES to Him.
· In Jesus’ mighty name, AMEN!
When you take a stand—the enemy takes a stand
· Enemy loves the atmosphere of lukewarmness/laxidazicalness
· Maybe you don’t need this
But do you know someone else that has been invaded/deceived by devil
How many thinks it’s for me?
(Give Jesus a shout—clap)
And I DRAW the Line and I say NO
· This is an attitude message
Normal life—mom and dad—can’t do it
· But in this expression
· You can say this to world/flesh/devil
· Can say like you really believe it
Going to pray best prayer
· Going to pray VICTORY
Pray God is going to break ALL grip of enemy
----
5 Lit. your word be yes yes
[1]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.) (1 Pe 2:11). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
[2]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.) (2 Co 10:4-5). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
x See James 4:7