HOW TO PUT THE DEVIL UNDER YOUR FEET
Rom. 16:20
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: DEER SEASON
1. It was Saturday morning as Jake, an avid hunter, woke up ready to go bag the first deer of the season. He walked down to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee, and to his surprise he found his wife, Alice, sitting there, fully dressed in camouflage.
2. Jake asked her, "What are you up to?" Alice smiled. "I'm going hunting with you!" Jake had many reservations about this, but reluctantly decided to take her along.
3. When they arrived at the hunting site, Jake set his wife safely up in the tree stand and told her, "If you see a deer, take careful aim and I'll come running back as soon as I hear the shot."
4. He walked away with a smile on his face knowing that Alice couldn't bag an elephant, much less a deer. However, within ten minutes, Jake was startled as he heard an array of gunshots.
5. Quickly, Jake ran back. As he got closer to her stand, he heard Alice screaming: "Get away from my deer!" Confused, Jake raced faster towards his screaming wife. And again he heard her yell, "Get away from my deer!" Followed by another volley of gunfire!
6. Now within sight of where he had left his wife, Jake was surprised to see a cowboy, with his hands high in the air. The cowboy was saying, "Okay, lady, okay! You can have your deer! Just let me get my saddle off it!"
B. TEXT
“The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you” Rom. 16:20.
C. THESIS
1. If I asked you where war is taking place today, most likely you’d point to the insurgency of the extreme Muslim group ISIS in Syria and Iraq.
2. But Scripture tells us there is a global battle being waged between the forces of Darkness and the forces of God. There battles in the heavenly realm between angels and demons.
3. This battle extends all the way down to the battle for each individual person. Satan wants to destroy you and God wants to save you; you must make the choice which side you’re on.
4. We’re going to look at 3 aspects of this battle. Follow along with me as we look at “How to Put the Devil Under Your Feet.”
I. STEP 1: THE BATTLE OVER YOUR HEART
A. GOD WANTS ALL OF YOU
1. You have 2 alternatives: to be in Slavery to the Devil and spend an eternity in Hell, or completely Surrender your life to God and spend eternity in Heaven.
2. The call of Jesus is: “If any man/ woman would come after me, let them deny themselves, take up their cross and follow Me.”
3. God says, “I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live” Deut. 30:19.
4. Many people don’t want to surrender all of their lives, but that’s what Jesus demands. God can only bless what belongs to Him.
5. ILLUS. Imagine you were going to cook an omelet. You needed 5 eggs, but all you had was 4 good eggs and one blue-colored, stinking, rotten egg, swarming with parasites. Theoretically, wouldn’t the 80% good eggs outweigh the one bad egg? Would you want to eat such an omelet? Likewise, God wants to live in us but is grieved away when we retain rotten, stinking sins in our lives.
6. How effective could our army be in Afghanistan if it had been infiltrated by ISIS spies and saboteurs? We’d be greatly compromised. When we allow sin in areas of our lives, we are compromised with the devil and God can’t use us. God wants us to surrender our lives to Him.
7. We’re in a war against an enemy who is seeking to destroy us. You’re either on God’s side or the devil’s side; there’s no middle ground. God wants ALL or NOTHING. If you’re not going to aim to win the war, then why go at all?
8. You can’t succeed as a victorious Christian unless you go “all in.” Think of WW2: God will only accept an “Unconditional Surrender.” To win, God must have all of us and we must have all of God.
B. WARRIOR’S CREED
1. I am a part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have Holy Spirit Power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I am a disciple of His. I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away or be still.
2. My past is redeemed. My present makes sense. My future is secure. I’m finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, cheap living.
3. I no longer need pre-eminence, position promotions or popularity. I don’t have to be recognized, praised, regarded or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk by patience, lift by prayer, labor by power.
4. My face is set. My gait is fast. My mission is clear. My goal is Heaven. My road narrow. My way rough. My Companions few. My guide reliable. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded or delayed.
5. With God’s help I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity or meander in the maze of mediocrity.
6. I won’t give up, shut up, let up until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, preached up for the cause of Christ.
7. I am a disciple of Jesus. I must go till He comes, give till I drop, work till He stops me, preach till all know. And when He comes He will have no problem recognizing me.
My Banner will be clear.”
8. You must decide to cross the line! At the Alamo Col. Wm. Travis took his sword and drew a line in the sand. He asked that if the men wanted to stay, fight, and die for Texas liberty, to step across over the line. Only 1 chose not to. Stepping across the line committed them to their course. We all must step across the line for the cause of God!
C. METER READER’S STORY
1. Overcoming locked gates, tall fences and snapping dogs presents a challenge for meter readers in rural Oklahoma. They are required to read all meters: no estimates are allowed.
2. One time a worker succeeded in getting past a particularly vicious watchdog tied to a chain that was long
enough to give him sway over the entire back yard and driveway.
3. Later, the owner questioned his supervisor: "How was he able to get past that watchdog?" This customer was curious. The workman was asked.
4. "That's easy, boss," the meter reader said. "I parked on his chain." We need to park on the devil’s chain!
II. STEP 2: THE BATTLE OVER YOUR MIND/ DESIRES
A. SOURCE OF CONFLICT: PEOPLE, CULTURE, DESIRES, DEVIL
1. When you become saved, your spirit is “born again.” You are “quickened together with Christ;” you become a New Creature in Christ.
2. Paul explains in 1 Thess. 5:23 that our human natures have 3 parts: body, soul, and spirit. Your body is the world-conscious aspect, your spirit is the spirit-conscious part, and your soul is a combination of the two. The soul can be said to contain the mind, will, and emotions.
3. When you are “saved” your spirit is made alive in Christ, but your mind still needs to be reprogrammed, your emotions need to be altered and controlled, and your body’s desires need to be conquered. Is the robot/ shell in charge?
4. The computer of your mind must be reprogrammed to think the way God thinks.
5. “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” Rom. 12:2. “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.”
6. Paul sees our transformation as hinging on the renewing of our minds by the Word of God. According to Paul, You are either conforming to the world or being transformed to the likeness of Christ. Which is it?
B. PROCESS: KILL THE OLD, NURTURE THE NEW
1. “22You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your
minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” Eph. 4:22-24.
2. Paul saw this as a primary task. You must get more input from the Bible than you’re getting from the world or you’re losing ground.
3. “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry” Col. 3:5.
4. You put it to death by not feeding it, by refusing to do what your fleshly nature wants you to do. It’s like feeding the neighborhood cat: it will move to your house!
5. 4 keys to victory:
a. Cultivate your relationship with God thru Prayer.
b. Read the Word.
c. Go to Church. Aim to be a leader.
d. Witness.
6. "The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 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 Cor. 10:4-5).
7. Do we do that? Recognize every impure thought, depressing thought, self-pitying thought, defeatist thought, condemning thought, etc., as from the Enemy and rebuke it?
C. WHO’S THE KING OF THE JUNGLE?
1. A big, mean lion met a monkey in the jungle. The lion pounced on the poor monkey and said, "Who is king of the jungle?" The frightened monkey replied, "You are, O mighty lion." So the lion let him go.
2. The next animal the lion met was a zebra. He pounced on it and roared, "Who is king of the jungle?" "You are, O mighty lion." So the lion let him go.
3. The lion next met an elephant and asked the same question. The elephant grabbed the lion, twirled him around the threw him 50 feet.
4. The lion picked himself up and huffed, "Just because you don't know the answer is no reason to get so rough."
5. Satan goes around “as” a roaring lion, but Jesus actually IS the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, who has triumphed!
III. THE 3RD BATTLE: DOING THE WORD
A. WE ARE NOT POWERLESS AGAINST SIN
1. Some try excuse their sin as an unavoidable “weakness” to deliberately sin. Paul says, “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body... you used to be slaves to sin.... You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness" Rom. 6:12, 17-18.
2. The apostle John goes a step further and says, "No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God" 1 John 3:9. This is a test: if you have
God you can’t continue to sin.
3. We have a new nature. We don’t have to sin any more. To be tempted is not sin. If we do sin, we should confess our sins (1 John 1:9-10). We are BORN DELIVERED!
4. Maybe one of your weak spots is anger or a quick temper. For some it’s an old addiction such as alcohol, drugs, pornography, or a sexual addiction. For others it’s money, pride, possessions. Maybe it’s insecurity, fear, or hate.
5. Whatever your old weakness is, you can master it.
6. God warned Cain, “Sin is crouching at the door and desires to have you, but you must master it” Gen. 4:7. You see – WE CAN “MASTER” ANY SIN IF WE WANT TO!
B. GOD’S WORD & YOUR OWN LIFE
1. “But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must DO what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves” Jm. 1:22. Are there some things in God’s Word you've wrestled with obeying?
2. Three Classes of Men/Women
a. Those who DON'T HEAR & DON’T do the Word.
b. Those that DO HEAR, but DON'T do the Word.
c. Those that DO HEAR, but DO the Word!
3. DREADFUL DANGER of not obeying the Word.
a. Mt. 7:21, New Living, “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter.”
b. Mt. 7:24, Message Bible, "If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock."
4. WE ARE BEING TESTED
a. God gives us the Word of God to test our obedience.
Will we obey Him? Bible says, “The Word of the Lord tried him (Joseph; Ps. 105:17-19).
b. If you really only submit to God's will when you agree, then you've really never submitted to anything but your own will! The test of submission is having to do what you really DON’T want to do.
c. Many things in the Bible didn't make sense:
* Building an ark when there was no rain.
* Going around Jericho 7X.
* Digging ditches in the desert.
* A leper washing 7X in a muddy creek.
* A woman with a tiny amount of oil gathering a house full of empty jars.
5. Your Faith is being tested. Will you trust and obey?
FAITH & ACTION RELEASE GREAT POWER!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. We have lights in our cars today that let us know that something is not right with our engine, exhaust, or our tires.
2. Whenever I see one of those lights, I always wish that it hadn’t come on. It irritates me when it comes on.
3. But it’ll keep coming on. It’s trying to warn me that I have a problem and need to have my car looked at.
4. Now if I ignore the warning lights, eventually I’ll have a much bigger problem on my hands.
5. The Bible is throwing up caution signals and lights. It’s showing us where we sin and where we offend God. The Holy Spirit also convicts us when we do something that’s not pleasing to God. These are God’s warning lights of danger.
6. If you & I don’t go to the Maker and let Him address the issues in our lives, we’ll end up with a much bigger problems one of these days. [Tony Evans, p. 285].
B. THE CALL
1. The 1st Battle that must be won is the battle over your Heart. Have you given God an “Unconditional Surrender?” Is your life compromised by sin? You need to step over the line and let God have all of your life. Surrender the one thing God has been putting His finger on.
2. The 2nd Battle is the battle over your mind & desires.
Are you being transformed? In the last year have you become more like Jesus or more like your culture?
3. Are you putting to death your old life and mastering your thoughtlife?
4. The 3rd Battle is over your obedience. James said, “Faith without works is dead.” Even the demons ‘believe’ and tremble,” but that doesn’t mean they’re going to heaven! Because they don’t obey God.
5. Where the rubber meets the road is obeying. Are you tithing? Witnessing? Helping the weak and afflicted? Serving in the Church? Feeding the hungry? Visiting the lonely?
6. If any of these areas speaks to you, then stand and let’s take them to God in prayer.
