Духовни оръжия

Победата в духовната битка

Introduction

• Before I begin to preach I would like to confess something to you.
• James 5:16 – изповядайте един на друг греховете си
• I love books.  I don’t know if it is a sin, but I do like them a lot
• One more sin – I have very little patience.
• I take a book and read the end first.  I try to be patient but often fail.
• Who here is like that?
• It is not always bad to read the end of the book.  I have read the end of the book!
• Revelation 21:4-5  4 Той ще обърше всяка сълза от очите им, и смърт не ще има вече; нито ще има вече жалеене, ни плач, ни болка; първото премина.  5 И Седящият на престола рече: Ето, подновявам всичко. И каза: Напиши, защото тия думи са верни и истинни.”  Amen.
• I have read the end of the book and it is a good end for us.
• Between here and heaven is a spiritual battle. 
• What does that spiritual battle look like?
• There is a lot of confusion in churches as to how we fight this spiritual battle.
• Some people want this spiritual battle to look like something from Hollywood, but what does the Bible say about this.
• How should I like in the Gap between today and the day when God will make everything new?
• The Bible says two key things about the spiritual battle that we face everyday.
• Our enemy will be defeated.
• The Bible shows how we can have victory over our enemy everyday.
• We need to have the victory in this battle.  What does this victory look like:
• Peace in the storm
• Healthy relationships in the family
• Direction in life
• We must have the victory in the everyday spiritual battle because there are over 7 million of our friends, relatives and co-workers who need a personal relationship with Jesus.

What are our weapons

• How do we fight the attacks of our enemy?  What are our weapons?
• Revelation 12:9-11
• 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.
• What do we see in this passage.  We see (1) our enemy defeated and (2) how he is defeated.
• 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” (чрез кръвта на Агнето)
• 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 sacrifice of Jesus allows us the opportunity to have victory, but you must know Jesus personally.
• How do we get to know the Creator personally?  Through prayer.
• PRAYER:  What is your prayer life like?  Set time and place.
• “the word of their testimony”  (чрез словото на своето свидетелствуване)
• There is power in our testimony!  It is a very powerful weapon against the attacks of the enemy.
• Two parts
• Know the Word
• Live the Word
• KNOW THE WORD: 
• The greatest challenge to the church in Bulgaria is not from without, but from within, because many in the church do not have a firm grasp of the Word of God.
• If you want to have victory in the spiritual battle you must know the Word.
• What does that look like?  Every day set a specific time and place to SYSTEMATICALLY study the Word
• 1 Question and 1 Observation
• Fridays with the Guys.  Why, because even as a pastor I must grow in the Word
• LIVE THE WORD
• “The word of their testimony” does not mean what they say, but their actions.
• Colossians 2:6-8  
• 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 Bulgaria 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 (защото не обичаха живота си до толкоз, щото да бягат от смърт)
• 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
• We can have victory in the spiritual battle when we put our faith into action.
• John 13:35   35 По това ще познаят всички, че сте Мои ученици, ако имате любов помежду си.
• 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 Bulgaria need to see a different kind of community which is willing to sacrifice for them without asking anything in return.
• In order for us to have victory in the Spiritual Battles of life we must ACT!

How to overcome the enemy

• Many people talk about spiritual battles, but many times the things that they talk about have nothing to do with the Word.
• The Word of God tells us how we can have victory in the spiritual battles of life.
• We must personally know God and have a relationship with Him through a regular time of prayer
• We must know His Word and live it out
• We must act and give our lives away to others.
• One thing is clear from reading the end of the Book.  There is a spiritual battle taking place right now, and God has given us the weapons to fight this spiritual battle.
• We can choose to repeat the same mistakes over and over again, or we can choose today to decide that I will make PRAYER, THE WORD, and OTHERS my main priority.  And you will see how God will give you victory in areas that you have struggled with for a long time.