The Power Of The Name Of Jesus!

The Bible tells us that we are in a spiritual war, a spiritual battle.

But what does this mean?

How do we define spiritual warfare?

As Christians, are we meant to take up some new form of Jihad – of physical fighting and terrorism?

No – not at all.

Spiritual warfare is an understanding that there is a whole other dimension of living beings living parallel to the physical, that there is a cosmic battle being raged around us every second of every minute of every day.

Over the last six months, my life has been deeply impacted and permanently changed through a series of spiritual encounters that has made me look at this world in a totally new and different way.

How many of us have heard of the author Frank Peritti and the fictional books that he has written on spiritual warfare.

Basically, his books tell of two worlds living parallel with each other, the physical living alongside the spiritual.

I believe that this isn’t fictional, it’s reality, that right now, there are thousands, if not millions of spiritual beings – both good and evil - walking this world alongside human beings, and these spiritual beings influence our thoughts, our actions and our motives.

These spiritual entities can influence families, cities, nations and entire countries – both for good and for evil.

Revelation 12:7-12

And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short."

I believe that when we are born again into the kingdom of God, we are automatically enlisted in a spiritual battle.

I also believe that as your pastor, and also the other leaders of this church, we are on the front line of the battle.

The spoils of war that we can bless you with are peace, joy, security, spiritual growth and maturity as we lead you in God’s plan for this church and our individual lives.

I believe with a passion that God is revealing His will for this church to win this community for Christ.

We are taking back this Peninsula for the Kingdom of God.

Last week I met with the ministers of the churches on this Peninsula, our goal is to rise up as the spiritual leaders of this community and win this peninsula for Christ, one life at a time!

Four weeks ago, I brought a challenge to this church to pray for this community, because I believed an onslaught of the enemy was about to hit.

One week later, one of our local ministers had taken his own life out of desperation.

This is real, this is happening, and we are each a part of what God is wanting to do in this community.

We must listen to the spirit of God, and we must stop the attack of the enemy in its tracts.

Next week, I am going to share with you the many ‘sign posts’ that God has given to me in order to fulfill God’s vision, God’s mission, God’s purposes for this church and community.

If there was ever a prophetic message, it is today and next week.

I will share with you the many personal encounters I have had over the last six months, with both the demonic realm and the angelic.

I will share with you a confrontation that I had with the territorial spirit of Te Atatu Peninsula.

I will also share with you several encounters I have had with the Spirit of God, a prophet of God and last but not least, the Word of God.

In preparation for this, I believe God would have me bring an update of a message I brought several months ago, on the power of the Name of Jesus.

I am going to share personal testimonies with you, testimonies that show how the Word of God can become flesh.