Sunday January 6th, 2008
Scripture: Matthew 11:12
Sermon: Bye Bye Passivity
Pastor: Michael West, River of Life
Overcomer—say it—overcomer…
It is the call of God upon our lives.
It is the nature of Christ within us and that character of all those who “through faith and patience inherit the promises” Hebrews 6:12
It is the life of one who has broken the bonds of passivity and understands the distinction between ministering in Christ’s Gospel of love and fighting with Christ’s spiritual authority against spiritual enemies.
Let me ask: Is the desire of your heart to walk in all that God has for you?
Then let me say, now is the time to fight passivity, fear and oppression. To fight for those you hold dear, for those you have never met and to take back all, I said all, say all...of what the devil stole and thinks he can keep.
To succeed spiritually, you will need to persevere and not only learn to fight, but to fight smart, and remain well armed for the oppressor is strong, but mighty are you in the Lord!
Among all the virtues, you will need perseverance at the top of your list and know how to keep aggressiveness alive in you. Discernment, spiritual gifts, the authority from heaven given to you, coupled with your unwavering faith, you shall overcome!
Matthew 4:17 17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." — what did Jesus mean? The kingdom is so close you could almost touch it
Matthew 11:12 12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.
Jesus is coming back a warrior, the lion of Judah. Our attitude should be as that, not in physical sense, but spiritually because the doctrine of heaven is more that the kingdom of heaven, but the kingdom parts of heaven that are in us here and now.
Our success, your success, comes from your faith in God. We are soldiers in the army of the Lord and like all soldiers, we will come across and will have to endure some hardships and as long as you stand on heaven’s side—you win!
We weren’t called to read and memorize the promises of God, we are called to live in them. To possess them and walk in them.
The real issues go beyond are you saved, they reach all the way into are you overcoming? With the Holy Spirit’s help, let’s get rid of the wishbone for a backbone and get some more grit in our lives. It’s time to fight, it’s time to take this area back, it’s time to take this city back, it’s time to take back what Jesus died for on the cross for and run the devil out of town.
Isaiah 42:13—
Today, Lord we need a fresh anointing from heaven, a new vitality, a new vigor and authority to overcome the enemy of this land.
Psalms 18:34 — He teaches my hands to make war, So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
Lord with your strength and a new bow, I will overcome...read it…
It’s time to hit some targets. It’s time to make a mark. It’s time to penetrate the target instead letting your arrows bounce off. Bend the bow of bronze so you can get some distance with your arrows and penetrate the heart of the enemy and his camp.
Psalm 18:31-34 —II Kings 13:17
What will be the difference in this new year for you? The understanding that the Holy Spirit has anointed you for battle, to wage war, not to sit back in your quite little corner being all passive like. There is a difference between a good church and a God church. Which one are you?
Look at Psalm 18
There are two stages of spiritual development: 1) allow God to make our way blameless—2) we must fight in the strength of the Lord, not our own strength.
Do not run ahead of God, rather let Him place your feet where they need to be. As He make our way blameless, God will then train our hands to battle as well as equip us with spiritual weapons for the war.
Many times we are to be praying, fully praying with all fervency and that is different from taking spiritual authority. Many times God says, Here is MY Book, learn it and use it. We can ask God to take action against the enemy, but many times He requires us to exercise Christ’s authority, whereby the Holy Spirit commands us to turn from the prayer and in the name of Jesus Christ, confront the demonic powers are work and those that have come up against us.
All too often we fail because we take the passive stance and many get weary in their praying—Jesus said, can you not tarry with me one hour?”
We are called to b e prayer warriors, not prayer worriers.
Instead of moving toward victory, we rest in a huddle of temporary relief. We call upon God to take out the devil for us and leave us alone, when what the Lord wants is for us to rise up and take a stand, to pursue the enemy, over take him or them and scatter them like dust in the wind.
The attitude of a warrior is neutralized by passivity. We get a little reprieve, a moment of rest and peace and we begin to beat our swords into plowshares.
God calls us to be prayer warriors. Too many Christians today have been conditioned by defeat that we are afraid to exercise our spiritual authority over the devil. If God wasn’t a God of His Words of Promise and bound by them, the devil would be done with by now—that’s why it’s up to us to move forward, to fight the fight of faith.
Having confidence is not a sin. Being bold is not a sin, it’s a command! Exercising our faith is not presumption. Standing on the promises of God when others run away or won’t believe, is not foolish.
Church, pray with conviction, with faith unwavering, with confidence, vision and courage and with equal confidence, answer the call when the Lord summons us to stand in the face of our enemy by taking up the weapon of spiritual authority.
For the kingdom to advance, we must move in the authority of the King: Psalm 45:5
The Holy Spirit is our bow and our prayers are God’s arrows, and under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, they plunge deep into the heart of the Lord’s Spiritual enemies. Remember, it is He they hate most.
Before you say, hey, I don’t think I’m called to confront principalities and powers, rulers in high places, take a note of this, I’m not necessarily talking about challenging world rulers, but those ruling demons of lust in your heart that keeps you ashamed and feeling condemned.
Those little buggers that produce fear of lack and never enough, those spirits that whisper it’s not real, don’t believe, this can’t be true.
Some might say, I’ve suffered setbacks, failed, so what. Who hasn’t at one time or another. So you lost a round or two—is the whole fight over? No. Then get off your pity pot and rise up. Get back on the horse and ride!
Don’t feel comfortable confronting evil? Who does? No one is asking you to throw hatchets at the moon, but if you are tired of being on the losing end or being harassed by the enemy, you can’t hide in worship or keep your nose in the Word hoping it will go away—It Won’t—until you do something about it.
We must break free from the stranglehold of passivity and use our authority that Jesus died to give us. Pray, repent, but the battle didn’t end there. Persevere, press on, run the race and use what God gave you to overcome.
Can God crush the enemy? Yes, but perhaps He prefers to do it with your feet—Romans 16:20
I’m not saying focus on the devil, I’m saying focus on the anointing God has given us to stand with and stand up against the enemies of God, the wicked one that comes after us and accuses us.
Reinvigorate that divine authority in our prayers, our worship our warfare taking up the full armor of God—Ephesians 6:11—and become the biggest weapon in the universe that tears down strongholds.
Before David picked up his bow, He secured himself in God which made the Lord His High Tower.
Let’s pray
