Defeating The Devil, Demons, And His Devices
Summary: The church is supposed to be the devil’s enemy. The Word of God tells us PLAINLY that the devil is going straight to Hell/Hades!
Text: Judges 7:13-15 (NKJV)
13 And when Gideon had come, there was a man telling a dream to his companion. He said, “I have had a dream: To my surprise, a loaf of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian; it came to a tent and struck it so that it fell and overturned, and the tent collapsed.”
14 Then his companion answered and said, “This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel! Into his hand God has delivered Midian and the whole camp.”
15 And so it was, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, that he worshiped. He returned to the camp of Israel, and said, “Arise, for the LORD has delivered the camp of Midian into your hand.”
-Gideon went down to the enemy’s camp and the enemy was having a nightmare about Gideon.
SONG: "I Went To The Enemy’s Camp And I Took Back What He Stole From Me" HALLELUJAH!
- we have been positioned to charge the gates of hell and shake them off of their hinges.
-The church is supposed to be the devil’s arch enemy. God with us! We know that he is going to hell, God’s Word promises that OPENLY! I belive that our job is to torment him until he gets there...thrown into the lake of fire!
We need is a manifestation of God’s fire and power in our lives...our church...city...state...country...the promoting The Gospel of Jesus Christ.
More than just the talk...WE GOTTA WALK THE WALK!
we are more than conquorers through Christ!
-other things in our lives gets us excited, passionate, and ready to move BUT it seems that when and when we get in the real battles of life we are defeated.
-Know who we are
-Know who we are in Christ
-Know who Christ is in us
-Know we are called to a Purpose - GOOD NEWS
-Know what GOD calls us to do
AND BELIEVE IT! DODGE THE DEVIL...and his DEMONS!
DODGE HIS DEVICES...there are many of them
GOTTA STAY WISE TO HIM!
1. Don’t Stray Away From God
---Don’t Stray from The Word (put it in) (what comes out in a pinch, when needed)
“Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I may not sin against God”
---Don’t stray from God’s Will
Hebrews 10:36 (NLT) “Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s Will”
Put GOD first in your life! Constantly ask God what he would have you do..and that you will live a life that HONORS GOD
2. Don’t Strut Your Stuff!
you cannot be too sure of yourself and boast and carry on or be all about you
Proverbs 16:1 (NKJV) “Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall”
---Don’t strut Your Talent around...HE GAVE IT IN THE FIRST PLACE!
Put faith in Him – through Him you have the gift, talent to use FOR HIM! As HE wills...stop acting like you are all that and a bag of chips...AND a pickle on the side!!!
Don’t sell out – you cannot walk with God if you are holding hands with the Devil! Use talents and gifts for God’s Glory and look to him for direction.
never be too sure of yourself! be sure of HIM and HE THAT IS WITHIN YOU ENABLING YOU TO DO WHAT YOU DO!
--- Don’t Strut What You Do For Hin
“Not of works lest any man should boast”
Love God, serve and work for HIM ---not for reward or attention
Psalm 143:2 (NKJV) “For in Your Sight NO ONE living is righteous---“NOT WITHOUT JESUS!
He will reward you openly...things done in secret
You don’t need your head patted! Just do it and Praise Him all the way while you do it for Him! It is for His Glory...stop wanting it for yourself
--- Don’t strut Your Tithes and offerings
Malachi 3:8 (NKJV) “the tithe is holy”
“what is done in secret, He will reward openly”
• 10% required by God
• Be a cheerful giver – give over and above – you will be blessed
• Tithing is a way to worship, honor and OBEY GOD! Just Do IT
Be a giver...it is more blessed to give than receive
It all belongs to Him anyway!
--- Don’t strut Your Time You Spend
James 4:14 (NKJV) “You do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”
• You gotta be willing to Work for God…”His hands and feet”
• Spread The Good News
• Have balance
• “do all as unto The Lord”
We are to bloom where we are planted! DON’T get cocky and strut your branch! Be humble and Christ-minded----He is The Root that keeps you green and fruitful…do not forget that!
3. Don’t Compromise!
2 Corinthians 6:17 (NKJV) “Come out from among them and be separate, says The Lord. Do not touch what is unclean and I will receive you”
WE NEED TO GET SIN OUT OF OUR LIVES! DON’T SELL OUT TO SATAN!
WHEN WE CONTINUALLY SIN AND DO WHAT WE KNOW WE SHOULD NOT DO…OR FAIL TO DO WHAT WE KNOW WE SHOULD DO ----THEN WE ARE SERVING SATAN!
• SATAN USES US AGAINST OURSELVES
• SATAN USES US AGAINST EACH OTHER
• SATAN USES US AGAINST THE CHURCH
• SATAN USES US AGAINST OTHERS BEING SAVED
• SATAN USES US AGAINST GOD (WHEN WE DO NOT OBEY HIM OR WORSHIP HIM IN SPIRIT AND TRUTH)
• SATAN USES US AGAINST THE WORD (WHEN WE DO NOT KEEP GOD’S COMMANDMENTS AND WORDS)
AARON TIPPIN SONG – “You’ve gotta stand for something or you will fall for anything”
BE WISE! PAY ATTENTION! BE ON GUARD! BE ON YOUR TOES ---PUT THE DEVIL UNDER YOUR FEET---THEN YOU WILL BE MUFFLING HIS VOICE AND YOU CANNOT HEAR HIS NONSENSE!
---DON’T Back Down from Your Priorities and Promises!
Ecclesiastes 5:5 (NKJV) “it is better not to vow than to vow and not pay”
• Have integrity – do what you say you will do
• Stick to what you know is right and stand on it ---THE WORD of GOD
• Set goals and strive to meet them – Holy Spirit as guide
“don’t be tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine”
“don’t be overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good”
4. DON’T STOP...EVER!!! In Jesus Name!
Matthew 10:22 (NKJV) “but he that endures to the end shall be saved”
---the devil came to steal, kill, and destroy
Some have had a great start coming out of the gate but have come to a quick and terrible end in their Christian Walk...
many leaders in churches do not express the importance in getting in the word right away! pray! stay faithful!
• Keep the faith
• Don’t stop working for God ----get busy!
Commit your works to the Lord and your thoughts will be established...He will keep you under control/just keep your eyes on him...let Him take care of things before you mess up!
Commit means to roll----roll your cares onto Jesus and He will do the rest ---you gotta build relationship with Him and Trust Him
• Don’t stop witnessing! “cover the earth with His Glory”
• Don’t stop walking with God! Walk in love! Talk to him!
• Don’t stop fighting the enemy and his devices!
• Read God’s word and ask for wisdom
• Worship and praise God!
Don’t give in! Don’t throw in the towel…don’t lie down and take it…FIGHT !!!
KNOW WHO YOU ARE IN CHRIST! ACT LIKE A CHILD OF THE KING AND BELIEVE HIS PROMISES!
In Judges, Chapter 7 (read it later)
God told Gideon to assemble an army. He found Gideon hiding in a cave.
The angel of the Lord was commissioned to call Gideon A MIGHTY MAN OF VALOR.
Gideon didn’t think he was a mighty man of valor. He didn’t look like a mighty man of valor and he wasn’t acting like a mighty man of valor. But the angel called Him a mighty man of valor.
You are who God says you are! Begin to think it to be so! Look like it! Act like it ! BELIVE IT!
You are not labeled by your problems...STOP ACTING LIKE IT!
You are who God says you are. “I am the head not the tail… ABOVE ALWAYS, and not beneath”
IN other words GOD SEES SOMETHING IN YOU THAT YOU DON’T SEE IN YOURSELF!
Be wise to this: The Devil will always challenge you over what heaven has called you to be and what you are to do!
A voice spoke from heaven and said in Matthew 4, “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.”
The Devil and Hell’s angels showed up with in seconds and challenged what heaven had called Jesus.
So anytime Satan is attacking you or your dream or your calling, he is attacking what God has seen in you as a final product, from God’s perspective.
If God is putting something in your spirit about your future,listen to it...believe it! AND be persistent...be determined about it. It will be like GOD says it will be. Fight for it! The Devil is a liar! Stop listening to the snake and listen to The Savior!!!
The HARDEST PROBLEM GOD HAS IS GETTING US TO BELIEVE THAT WE WILL BE SOMETHING! LITTLE IS MUCH WHEN GOD IS IN IT! WE CAN do it in Jesus Name! We are who he says we are, we can do what he says we can do, we can go where he says we can go…through and by His Power within us!
He said ---Gideon you are a mighty man of Valor. So he began to believe what God said about him and he arose and did what God told him to do------he ASSEMBLED AN ARMY! 32,000 showed up. God told him tell all who are afraid to GO HOME
“FEAR IS A DARK ROOM WHERE PEOPLE DEVELOP THEIR NEGATIVES.”
Fear will paralyze you from doing impossibilities for God. God said – send the people who are afraid away – send them home!Sometimes it takes more FAITH to stay than it does to leave.
You gotta stick to this thing~ stick in this thing~! be all about Him and His business~
I believe sometimes people walk away from great ministries, great miracles great breakthroughs simply because they are willing to stick it out.
when God said send the fearful away - 22,000 went home and only 10, 000 stayed (over 1/2 of the people left!)
The next test was …
God said to take them down to the river---give them a drink
Whoever cups their hands to drink---I will use them.
Why would he use them?
Two things about the cupped hands
1. they were clean hands
2. they were empty hands.
IE: Moses, throw down your rod.
They had to lay aside their carnal weapons in order to cup their hands.
What God is saying in this hour? He is saying…
I AM MORE INTO CHARACTER THAN I AM INTO TALENT
Are you in it for the entertainment or the empowerment?
It’s not your natural abilities or carnal weapons that will win the battles. Lean on God’s power. On God’s wisdom, on God’s strength.
The Power of The Holy Ghost!
You may feel like you have empty hands but if you have empty hands and clean hands God is going to use you in a mighty big way...but we must be willing! be open! stay focused! and pay attention...God may be talking to you right now but you are not listening!
Gideon still needed to be prompted. So God told him to take a friend and sneak down to the enemy’s camp and listen to what the enemy is saying about him. It was midnight and a Midianite was having a dream (vs. 13-15). Another Midianite was interpreting the dream.
Barley cake is what the poor people ate. God is saying I will take your poverty and turn it into power. I will take your weakness and make it great strength.
The bread represents the word of God. If you get a word from God that’s all you need...God’s Word a right now word...a rhema word! What power there is in that...start listening and THEN YOU GOTTA GET UP AND DO WHAT GOD IS ASKING YOU TO DO!
While Gideon was thinking there was nobody inside, he is hearing his enemy say in secret that the barley cake is Gideon and his army and they are going to wipe us out.
THE WORST NIGHTMARE FOR THE DEVIL IS THAT YOU WILL DISCOVER WHO YOU REALLY ARE IN CHRIST. YOU CAN DO ALL THINGS!
HELL’S ANGEL’S WORST NIGHTMARE IS THAT YOU WILL WAKE UP AND BELIEVE WHAT GOD IS SAYING YOU ARE...WHAT YOU CAN DO...AND ACTUALLY WALK IN VICTORY IN JESUS NAME...DOING THE WORK OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS AND DOING WHAT GOD HAS CALLED YOU TO DO!
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”
”Greater is he who is in me than he that is in the world”
”No weapon formed against me shall prosper”
“head and not the tail, above always and not beneath”
”I am more than a conqueror through Christ Jesus”
"I was once bound but now I am free”
There is a place in God where you can get and it is a place of walking in power and victory. Believe who God says you are!
Believe “I can and I will do and I will stay in His Will!”
Three Keys to Putting The Devil under your feet…
You dodge The Devil’S Devices by doing this:
1. Praise & Worship
2. Prayer
3. Reading/Studying/Knowing God’s Word
4. Obedience to God (the key that unlocks every door)
Without these things being consistently active in our lives we will not be effective or overcomers!
CONCLUSION:
1. How has the devil and his devices…his tools…his dirty schemes –how have they been affecting your life for Christ?
2. What are you willing to do to change it?
3. What are you going to do to change it? “seek first the kingdom…”
4. Are you truly following God ALL OF THEM TIME or just some of the time?
5. Are you willing to change your path? DO IT RIGHT NOW!
PUT THE ENEMY UNDER YOUR FEET TONIGHT
AND KEEP HIM THERE!
Tks to Jennifer Mears for parts of this sermon.
