Sermon Notes 8-14-2016

Sermon Series

The Rants of a Cowboy Preacher!

We are under attack!

John 10:9–15 (NLT)

⁹Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures.

¹⁰The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

¹¹“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep.

¹²A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock.

¹³The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep.

¹⁴“I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me,

¹⁵just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep.

For the last month I have felt Satan’s presence in our church, stronger than I have ever felt him. I know we don’t talk a lot about Satan and his destructive powers, but I want to assure you they are real, they are powerful, and for some reason Satan has us, this Church family in his cross hairs!! I have seen:

·      Marriage and relationship problems

·      Illness and death

·      Finance problems

·      Parenting problems

·      Church in fighting

·      Personal agenda issues

·      Job loss

·      People just having unusual bad luck

·      And even in my own family I have seen him at work

o   My granddaughter not doing well

o   My kid’s marriage strain because of it

o   A lot of unexpected cost

o   Kid issues

o   And these things keep me distracted from sheepherding a flock as Satan attacks!!

Here is the good news in all this! Satan only attacks when God is hard at work in his people! God has big plans for this church and his people, so today I want to talk about ways Satan attacks , and as Gods people how we should respond to that Attack!

First things first, we have to understand the Devil is real!

Ephesians 6:11–12 (NLT)

¹¹Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.

¹²For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

·      It is possible for Christians to see and blame everybody else and not recognize the spiritual war we are in.

·      This is particularly important for Christians who are being persecuted for their faith.

·      They needed to realize that Satan is the ruler of this world and he is working behind the government and all aspects of society, to come against the plans of God.

·      you needed to be alert for the devil.

·      This will keep them from blaming God or blaming others.

·      We can never forget who Satan is

·      We can never forget why he is here

·      We can never underestimate his power

·      He has had thousands of years to study humanity and you personally

·      He is patient, he is cunning, he has a strong resolve, and he will be tenancies in his pursuit of you

Forget about all the stories when you were a kid of the guy with horns and a tail. He is a cunning and worthy adversary that we can’t fight alone.

What is Satan’s ultimate Goal

Satan’s Ultimate Goal is not to make your life miserable, it’s to keep you from doing God’s work! He wants the world to turn to him, so any work you do, is against him. At that point you become his enemy!

1 Thessalonians 2:18 (NLT)

¹⁸We wanted very much to come to you, and I, Paul, tried again and again, but Satan prevented us.

2 Corinthians 2:9–11 (NLT)

⁹I wrote to you as I did to test you and see if you would fully comply with my instructions.

¹⁰When you forgive this man, I forgive him, too. And when I forgive whatever needs to be forgiven, I do so with Christ’s authority for your benefit,

¹¹so that Satan will not outsmart us. For we are familiar with his evil schemes.

Even in your marriage

1 Corinthians 7:4–5 (NLT)

⁴The wife gives authority over her body to her husband, and the husband gives authority over his body to his wife.

⁵Do not deprive each other of sexual relations, unless you both agree to refrain from sexual intimacy for a limited time so you can give yourselves more completely to prayer. Afterward, you should come together again so that Satan won’t be able to tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

·      The apostles saw the work of Satan in the early church and knew his power over circumstance and people.

·      They warned the body of Christ to be keenly aware of Satan and his mission

·      Satan is after Gods throne, and as long as we are preaching Jesus, reaching the Lost, and growing in Christ, he will continue to attack us.

·      God has great plans here or Satan would not be so busy here, so we must hold fast to not allow him to infiltrate us!

So how do we react, deal with the Devil and his tactics??

1 Peter 5:6–11 (NLT)

⁶So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor.

⁷Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.

⁸Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.

⁹Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are.

¹⁰In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation.

¹¹All power to him forever! Amen.

1. Know that suffering is a part of following Jesus

·      If we set right our expectations rightly, we should know that suffering will come

·      Trials will come

·      Heartache will happen

·      This is what we take on as a follower of Jesus

2. Know you’re not going through it alone

·      Ever believer goes through suffering for Christ

·      We all go through trials

·      We all get tested

·      We all stand united

3. be alert

·      Stay vigil and know that the wolf will knock at the door

·      Don’t underestimate his power

·      Be prepared for the attack

·      Peter says he comes like a lion, so be prepared

4. Stand firm in your faith

Ephesians 6:13–19 (NLT)

¹³Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.

¹⁴Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness.

¹⁵For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.

¹⁶In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.

¹⁷Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

¹⁸Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.

¹⁹And pray for me, too. Ask God to give me the right words so I can boldly explain God’s mysterious plan that the Good News is for Jews and Gentiles alike.

·      Stand your ground on the truth of the word of God to deliver from this world and the evil in it

·      Hold on tight to the righteousness of God and his promises to defeat the devil, and to give you Joy in the storm

·      Find peace in the Good news of Jesus, that he died for your sins and there is nothing Satan can do to change that!

·      Hold the shield of faith, and put on the helmet of salvation to you get through the attacks you will face

·      And take out the spirit of truth (God’s word) to guide you and give you comfort in the storm!

Never try and do it on your own!

Jude 9 (NLT)

⁹But even Michael, one of the mightiest of the angels, did not dare accuse the devil of blasphemy, but simply said, “The Lord rebuke you!” (This took place when Michael was arguing with the devil about Moses’ body.)

Matthew 4:1–11 (NLT)

¹Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil.

²For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry.

³During that time the devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.”

⁴But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

⁵Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple,

⁶and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, ‘He will order his angels to protect you. And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’ ”

⁷Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’”

⁸Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.

⁹“I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel down and worship me.”

¹⁰“Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’”

¹¹Then the devil went away, and angels came and took care of Jesus.

·      The most powerful angel did not take on Satan alone, he relied on God to rebuke him

·      Jesus used Gods word to ward of Satan’s attacks

·      So we should never think we can do it alone

·      It takes Jesus, the power of the holy spirit to call of the attacks

Hebrews 4:14–16 (NLT)

¹⁴So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe.

¹⁵This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.

¹⁶So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

·      So when Satan attacks we first and foremost run to Jesus!

·      Seek shelter in his grace

·      Seek comfort in his mercy

·      Seek rest in the fact that he knows what you’re going through!

We run to each other

Hebrews 10:22–25 (NLT)

²²let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.

²³Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.

²⁴Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.

²⁵And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

·      Its time like these when we need to draw closer to each other

·      Its times like these that we need to lean on each other

·      Its times like these when the body has to work together for the kingdom

·      And its times like these when we all crawl in the station wagon to stay close!!