Where’s The Army?
2 Tim 2:3-5
Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. And as Christ’s soldier, do not let yourself become tied up in the affairs of this life, for then you cannot satisfy the one who has enlisted you in his army. Follow the Lord’s rules for doing his work, just as an athlete either follows the rules or is disqualified and wins no prize. NLT
Ill Texas Rangers
• Kept the law and order in the old west
• A sheriff of a certain Texas sent a telegram to the Ranger Headquarters that said, “Send an Army! The town has turned in a mob. Hey are rioting , and anarchy is treating to destroy us.”
• The reply from the Rangers,” Meet the 4:00 o’clock train”
• Next day the mayor and sheriff met the train and watched as one Texas Ranger with his Winchester rifle stepped onto the platform.
• When the train pulled away the mayor asked, Where’s the army?
• Ranger looked them in the eye and said, One riot one Ranger!
That is all it would take because that one ranger knew who he was, what he represented, and the full extent of his powers as an officer of the law.
Application: God has a riot for you. A riot of turmoil. Immorality, heartache and sickness. A riot of deceit, lying, fighting and frustration.
As far as God is concerned, you are the “Ranger” God has sent to handle the chaos all around. You have the badge, the weapons and the authority.
It only takes one Christian to make the enemy flee.
James 4:7-8… So humble yourselves before God. Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you. NLT
Luke 4:36-37… Amazed, the people exclaimed, "What authority and power this man’s words possess! Even evil spirits obey him and flee at his command!" The story of what he had done spread like wildfire throughout the whole region. NLT
Our Job Description:
Matt 9:37-10:1… Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.
We must accept the responsibility for others. We must see their pain, their sins. When we accept the responsibility we will then use the authority that God has given to us to defeat the spiritual enemy of our community.
Ill The pattern of Cain
Gen 4:9… Afterward the LORD asked Cain, "Where is your brother? Where is Abel?" "I don’t know!" Cain retorted. "Am I supposed to keep track of him wherever he goes?" NLT
We lean heavily toward no involvement with the unknown people around us.
James 4:17… Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.
Ill The Safe Place
• A family was visiting the Elkin’s ranch in New Mexico. The kids were playing the normal games of childhood call hide and seek. Bonnie, wanting to secure a good place to hide, backed into the darkness between two grain elevators. Dressed only in shorts and a shirt wearing a pair of rubber thongs on her feet she crouched in salience.
• Suddenly, from behind her bonnie heard the frightful sound of the rattlesnake. She bolted from hiding and ran into the house to get the hero, her dad. As they returned to the area, Bonnie looked down realizing she was now wearing only on thong. Soon her father approaches carrying a huge dead rattle snake with Bonne’s thong locked in its fangs.
• She thought she was safe!
• Today people all around us think they are safe. They are hiding in the darkness of life not yet aware of the danger that threatens them. There is a ruthless serpent, the devil, who is harboring an evil desire to destroy the spiritual life of every person you see every day.
Ill the safe church =The Lite Church
• 24% Fewer commitments
• Home of the 7.5% Tithe
• 15 Minute Sermons
• 45 Minute Worship Services
• 8 commandments-your choice
• 3 spiritual laws
• 800 year millennium.
Everything you’ve wanted in a church…and less!
• We know the truth, we have the power to set people free, we have a command and a commission to do so, but are we?
Mark 16 14-19… Still later, he appeared to the eleven disciples as they were eating together. He rebuked them for their unbelief--their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.
15 And then he told them, "Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone, everywhere. 16 Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned. 17 These signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak new languages. 18 They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won’t hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick and heal them."
These men listened and then acted on what was said by Jesus:
Mark 16:20… Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.
Question: When did this stop? By whose authority did it stop? Why did it stop?
We are still expected to be in the:
• Gospel-preaching
• Demon-defeating
• Disease-healing
• Prisoner-freeing
• Oppressed-releasing
• Dead-raising
Business, commanded by Jesus!
This type of ministry has declined in the church because the intimate relationship with Jesus has been diluted down to attending a church service a couple of times per month.
When we reclaim our inheritance of true sons and daughters of God and begin to seek his face through prayer and fasting then every miracle of the entire book of acts will come roaring back into the every day existence of the church.
Jesus said
John 17:20-23… "I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me because of their testimony. 21 My prayer for all of them is that they will be one, just as you and I are one, Father--that just as you are in me and I am in you, so they will be in us, and the world will believe you sent me.
22 "I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are-- 23 I in them and you in me, all being perfected into one. Then the world will know that you sent me and will understand that you love them as much as you love me.
Today the church, the Christian, has changed God’s job description and prefers hiding within the four walls of the church, sitting in a pew, limiting God’s light. Believes for the most part have small visions centered on self-motivation.
• We need a lifestyle of fasting and prayer, full and complete dedication to the Lord.
• We must have a goal or target to exercise the power of God toward the community of hurting people.
Phil 3:12-16
13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven.
15 I hope all of you who are mature Christians will agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you. NLT
One riot = One Texas Ranger
One supernatural need = One spirit filled believer anointed with the power of God the authority to use it.
What is or job description?
Luke 4:18-19…"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has appointed me to preach Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the downtrodden will be freed from their oppressors, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come." NLT
Are you a believer?
Are you prepared to fulfill the job description?
The first step in fulfilling the commission of Christ is true humility, admitting we need God, seeking God through prayer and fasting, living in the authority of the believer.
Prayer:
