Sermon Central
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Start Living With Godly Power Today
Contributed by Paul Shafit on Apr 11, 2008 (message contributor)
Summary: Defeat the devil at his own game in Christ Jesus.
#1330 Start Living With Godly Power Today
It has been said that Baptism is to the Christian faith what the wedding ring is to a marriage. It is a symbol. "Like the wedding ring, baptism draws a mark on the ground between the past and the future. Like the wedding ring, it says, "From this day forward, I stand with God." Infant baptism is the hope of well meaning parents that their children will live for Christ. It’s an archaic custom of many liturgical and liberal churches’. The bible teaches us that the only way to be saved is if to personally invite Jesus into your hearts and make Him ones personal Lord. The devil doesn’t want you to know the truth. He wants you to follow in his worldly and sinful ways, and because it feels good for a minute you continue to let him rule your life.
1. The devil comes against you any way he can.
A. He institutes a program of deception wherein you begin to let small sins creep into your life.
a. He promises love and then creates an atmosphere of lust which you buy into and lose your innocence.
b. He promises money and entices you to seek success at the expense of personal relationships.
c. He promises that you can have anything you want if you put it on a credit card. The only problem is the bill
comes due too early and you wind up losing everything.
B. He wants you to blame your troubles on God.
a. Suffering brings grief, anger and fear. You lose your life in worry and anxiety. You call out to God when you
have no other option but it’s as if He doesn’t hear you.
b. You hold on to anger and hostility against someone who you’ve been hurt by. The problem with this is that
person isn’t even aware of your hurt and if they were they would probably try to mend the rift. The devil doesn’t
want you to forgive and be forgiven and move on.
c. It’s his desire that you will become so overcome by depression and hatred that God is shut out of your heart.
2. The devil already is a defeated enemy; he just doesn’t know it yet.
A. We are encouraged when we remember what Christ has already done for us.
B. Jesus is the Son of God, born in the flesh of a virgin. He lived a sinless life which is what made it possible in
God’s economy to appropriate His shocking death on a Roman cross to your account and mine; and then He
proved His claim of deity by coming back from the dead.
C. Once you receive Jesus as your personal Savior and Lord you can begin to live life as a true child of God with
all the rights and privileges of kinship with Him.
3. Put off the old you and live.
A. As saints of God, let your behavior be marked by pity and mercy, kind feeling, humility, and a gentle way.
Remember God in Christ has forgiven you by the same measure you forgive others.
B. If you will love those you’ve been holding grudges against you can become an instrument of God in their lives. It
was God’s plan from the beginning that His peace would abound in your relationships with others.
C. Learn God’s Word, because it’s by the manifestation of His Word in you that your ways will bless God and bless
you too.
If you really want your life to change for the better, start praying and systematically studying the Word of God. Come to church regularly. Be encouraged and encourage others. Sing songs of worship and praise. Make up your mind today: whatever you do each day, do it as a sacrifice before God. In John 15:15 Jesus says, “Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.” We can find God’s will for our lives in His Word. Will you seek you destiny with Jesus or with the world? The choice is yours? As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
