March 15, 2009
Morning Worship
Text: 2 Corinthians 12:7-10
Subject: The Grace of God
Title: The Stuff Winners Are Made Of
I like jokes. I like to tell them and I especially like when someone tells me a really good one. I am completely blown away when someone who normally isn’t a really good joke teller comes up with one that is good. I used to work with a man who was like that. He used to tell jokes and actually did a really good job telling them until he got to the punch line, and then he nearly always blew it. Actually, most of the time he never got to the punch line, because he would get so caught up in the story leading to the punch line that he would forget it. That was part of what made him so funny. But I remember one time when he made it all the way through. It was so out of the ordinary for him that we never saw it coming – and it was hilarious.
Most of the time the better you get to know someone the less likely that is to happen. What I mean by that is when you know someone you kind of know what to expect from them so that you are not surprised by the things that they do.
Now, there is one that we all know who is called the enemy of your soul. It is satan, and even though we know him and what the Bible says about him we are often surprised by the ways that he attacks. The reason we are surprised is because he changes his tactics so that he comes at a time when we least expect it, or comes in a way that we don’t expect. Let me explain. We know that the Bible says that the enemy comes in like a flood (Isaiah 59:19), he roams around like a lion seek those whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8), and that he is the one who shoots fiery darts or flaming arrows (Ephesians 6:16). Those types of head on attacks are obvious. But the enemy also attacks in other, more subtle ways. He uses well-intentioned friends. (Matthew 16:23, 23Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”). Acts 5:3, Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit…?). He works from within the church. Jude 4, For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.) My point is this, even though you may not know the direction your oppression is coming from and you may not see it coming, you still have everything you need to stand against it.
I want to look today at three areas of the battle that is coming.
1. The attack comes through an open door.
2. Prayer initiates the battle.
3. The victory is in your hands.
Lord, open my eyes to see, and my ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.
I. THE ATTACK COMES THROUGH AN OPEN DOOR. I want to begin by saying this – satan cannot do anything to you that you have not opened yourself up to. 7To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Paul was a Pharisee of all Pharisees. He was well educated. He had all the right connections. He was confident in who and what he was. Before he was saved he was proud and was not about to let this new thing called “The Way” steal what he believed was the right way to God. Even after he encountered the risen Lord on the Damascus road and became the apostle to the Gentiles, an element of pride was still there. In his early letter to the Galatians Paul considered himself equal to other apostles (Galatians 1:17). The tendency to be proud apparently was always there. It was a battle that he constantly fought. We always say that satan attacks us at our weakest points. Amen! Now, if you think that it is not the enemy who is bringing these attacks, but that you are just doing it to yourself lets look at verse 7 a little more closely. 1) There was an open door in Paul’s life that could lead to conceit. 7To keep me from becoming conceited… 2) One of the sources of his conceit was his spiritual life. He was one who had visions and revelations and dreams and was used by God in the spiritual gifts. When the Spirit of God moved through him he had to make himself remember that it was God and not Paul who was at work. 3) This spiritual attack came in physical form, there was given me a thorn in my flesh… We do not know for sure what this physical affliction was. There are a lot of speculations but no one knows for sure. We just know that it was “in the flesh”. 4) It came from satan. The word “messenger” is the same word that is translated “angel”. So we know this was a demonic attack. And finally 5) It came to torment. So what does that mean to us? Well, do you believe that sickness is from the devil? Do you believe that financial struggles are from the devil? Do you believe that emotional attacks are from the devil? Or, are all these things just part of life? The Bible is pretty clear that death and sickness and all kinds of oppression have one source – and that source is not God. It is the devil. When it comes to sickness we often look at the obvious and see how we have opened the door for satan to work – smoking, alcohol, drugs, etc. But what about overeating or not eating a balanced diet, or personal hygiene, or lack of exercise? We open the door for the enemy to attack. What about frivolous spending or not tithing or not being a good steward of the things that God has given you? You open the door for financial attacks. OR, what do you watch on TV? What kind of music do you listen to? What kinds of books are you reading? If you are not filling yourself up with the things of God you open your minds up to be attacked emotionally. If you think that you don’t have an open door to any attack from the enemy, congratulations. You are greater than the greatest apostle of them all. But I think we would all agree that there is something that we have to watch carefully in our lives in order to protect ourselves from open doors. Daniel 7:25 refers to the antichrist, but I want you to understand that the spirit of the antichrist is satan. 25He will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints… One translation says, “He will wear downs the saints… He will keep coming against you in order to try to wear you down.
II. PRAYER INITIATES THE BATTLE. 8Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. Paul understood the value of prayer. Romans 12:12, Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Philippians 4:6, 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. For us to understand the value of prayer we need to understand what happens when we pray. Daniel 10:10-14, A hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. 11He said, “Daniel, you who are highly esteemed, consider carefully the words I am about to speak to you, and stand up, for I have now been sent to you.” And when he said this to me, I stood up trembling. 12Then he continued, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. 13But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. 14Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come.” Your prayer moves God’s hand to release His messengers into battle against the enemy. Now, if you know that you are praying God’s word you are praying according to His will, and if you are praying according to His will you can expect God to respond according to His promises. How many of you have ever become so discouraged in prayer that you were just ready to give up? That’s what I was talking about when I said the enemy tries to wear you out. You just get to the point where you want to say, “Well, I guess this must be God’s will for my life so I’m just going to be submissive and let God do what He is going to do.” Though God wants you to be submissive to His will, He has never intended for you to give up and confuse His will for satan’s attacks on your life. So you must stand firm in the battle. The enemy would like nothing better for you to allow a spirit of passivity to enter into your life where you would be like Job and say, “Though He slay me, still I will trust Him.” That is not what God wants for your life.
III. THE VICTORY IS IN YOUR HANDS. I want you to listen closely and let this settle in to your spirit man. God is not going to do any more than what He has already done in order to heal you, deliver you, prosper you, sanctify you, or fill you. 9But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” How many sermons have you heard on this passage where the preacher told you that basically what God is saying is, “You are saved by grace, so stop dwelling on all the other things on your life and be satisfied with that.”? Well if Jesus had only said, , “My grace is sufficient for you” maybe that would be the case. But in the same sentence He said, “my power is made perfect in weakness.” So let’s connect the keys words in that verse. “Grace” = Gr. “Charis” the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life; including gratitude):—acceptable, benefit, favor, gift… So grace is God’s favor or gift or benefit in a spiritual sense and its application to your life. Now He says, “my power is made perfect in weakness.” The Gr. Word translated “power” is dunamis and it means, force (literally or figuratively); specifically miraculous power (usually by implication a miracle itself): ability, abundance, meaning, might (-ily, -y, -y deed), (worker of) miracle (-s), power, strength, violence, mighty (wonderful) work. The gift of God’s power at work in you is sufficient for everything you need. Jesus has given you His power. He has given you His grace. He has given you His authority on earth. Matthew 16:19, 19I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Another translation says that whatever you allow on earth I will allow in heaven and whatever you disallow on earth I will disallow in heaven. In other words, the authority has been given to you. In Luke 17:20 – 21, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, 21nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.” Pay close attention to the word “kingdom”. It is the GR. Word “basileia” and it means “rule or realm. It refers to the place from which the king reigns or rules over His dominion. Genesis 1:28, 28God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” God gave man dominion over all things. He traded it to the serpent for a piece of fruit. Jesus bought it back with His blood and now he is telling Paul, “I am not going to do anything more than what I have done. The rest is up to you. Now take authority and rule over this affliction according tot the power that is at work in you. Let’s go to one more verse. 1 Corinthians 7:37. Now the context of this passage speaks about sexual purity but there is a spiritual principal at work here. 37But the man who has settled the matter in his own mind, who is under no compulsion but has control over his own will, and who has made up his mind not to marry the virgin—this man also does the right thing. The place where spiritual battles take place is always in the soul man – the mind, emotions, the will, and personality. The man who has control over his own will does the right thing. This does not mean that you can just do whatever you want, but if your will is the same as God’s will, and you exercise the authority you have within you to have control over your will, you do the right thing. So if your will lines up with God’s will concerning healing you will exercise control over your will to receive from God. If your will lines up with God’s will concerning provision you will do the same. If your will lines up with God’s will for deliverance, prosperity, blessings… It is God’s perfect gift – His grace – at work in power through your weakness that has given you the victory.
Closing:
In order for you to be sure about all the promises God has for your life these things need to happen.
1. You need to reflect on your life to makes sure that there are no wide open doors in your life that would prevent you from receiving what God has already done.
2. You need to know God’s word and accept His promises. How can you pray according to God’s will if you don’t know what it is?
3. You need to pray according to God’s will and accept the grace and power and authority that is yours.
With all the attacks that have come upon this church in recent months let’s stand together in faith with the authority that is ours and rebuke the enemy. It is already done. Healing? It’s done! Blessing? They are yours! Deliverance? You are set free! In the name of Jesus!
