What a blessing and joy to see all of you here today..
Why? Because You Matter!
How many of you, like me, have known someone who was struggling with some pretty big things in their lives?
Raise your hand
All of you...
How many of you have tried to give some important advice to to that person, and because it wasn't what they wanted to hear, they tune you out?
They don't seem to want to hear it...
Sometimes a preacher is cast in the unpopular role of preaching a message that people either don’t want to hear or that they don’t want to believe!
There is nothing more disconcerting for a preacher to know that he has some good advice, not his own, but that of Scripture that would mightily help people to serve the Lord much more victoriously than what they are doing.
"Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time."
Luke 4:13
There is no message more disregarded than the idea of a spiritual war that every man is involved in. Most people just don’t want to believe that they are in a battle, or a war for their very soul.
Because we don’t have spiritual eyes that can see into the world above, it is difficult for our limited and finite imagination to even consider the thought of a spiritual war taking place in a realm that we cannot see...
Just as we cannot see all of the things that are associated with war, the tanks, armored personnel carriers, jets, guns, and weapons, so there is a tendency to forget that we are in a battle overseas!
And the same is true for the spiritual battle taking place for our soul!
In fact the devil longs to lull us to a state of sleepy spiritual lethargy and we just fool ourselves into thinking that nothing is really taking place.
C.S. Lewis once said:
"The safest road to hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, the soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones."
In that little book that C. S. Lewis wrote called The Screwtape Letters, he wrote that the devil wants two things out of saints,
either that they ignore him and his demons or that there is a heightened curiosity about them.
G. C. Berkouwer said:
"There can be no sound theology without a sound demonology."
The fact is, if you have been filled with the Spirit, whether you like it or not, you are in the fight of your life!
It is not my desire to cause you to have great fear of the enemy; it is my desire to get you to understand how the devil works!
With great deception and temptation that causes us to fall.
I believe, that if our spiritual discernment has a great improvement, we are going to be more aware of what is going on around us.
That is why when we are praying and spending time with the Word of God, our minds and spirits have a higher sense to be able to see patterns and the way that the devil is taking advantage of us, our families, our friends, and many times the Church.
I have been blessed to have had the opportunity to spend time with some missionaries over the years and when the conversation turns serious, I am always curious to hear them speak of their thoughts concerning spiritual warfare...
I have heard some very interesting accounts concerning spiritual warfare taking place. Some have told me that demonic spirits have a tendency to be more openly confrontational in other countries because of the sway of influence they choose to wield over the people to control them through fear.
You would find this to fit well with Acts 8 with Simon the Sorcerer who controlled the people with his deception. Again it would be important to note also in Acts 16 with the slave girl who was a fortune-teller.
It is rather chilling to me is the fact that all of these missionaries tell me that when they come home on furlough after a four year period of being out of the United States, they notice a deadened spiritual state among many churches. Very little fervor and passion is noticed.
What is passed off as worship is usually man-centered entertainment almost devoid of the power of the Holy Spirit.
That is what we are up against!
And we can see it happening in many churches here today....
When I asked them why we don’t see more prominent confrontations with the demonic spirits here, they have told me that the spirits that confront the American churches are so subtle in their approach because they don’t want it to be recognized and exposed.
So they sit quietly in pews and pulpits of our churches and choose to influence through a sense of infiltration to destroy every bit of the godly and righteous influence that they can.
Working behind the scenes, they can generate sons of Sceva who appear religious but are not righteous.
Their lives are characteristically marked with little bit of prayer, a little devotion to God, and a little hunger for the Word...
But no real hunger for holiness, no desire for spiritual revival, and no desire for a national harvest of men.
I am thoroughly convinced that there are people who are sitting here today, in this Church who are entirely unconverted and are spiritually lost. But I am also just as convinced that there are some people here, who are REAL spiritual powerhouses that have a continuous flow of the Holy Spirit in their lives and are constantly seeking new ways to allow God’s anointing to empower them.
We'll continue our message next time we meet..
I'm looking forward it, I pray that you are also!
In closing this morning..
I want to say, that it is my prayer that every one will leave here today of the battle we're fighting..
I want nothing more than to take the Word of God and encourage each of you to see that there is much at stake in your spiritual life. The fact of the matter is that you will make it if you endure to the end.
But it is not without a fight but it is worth the fight!
"Lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices."
2 Corinthians 2:11
"And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat."
Luke 22:31
"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."
Ephesians 6:10-13
And now the blessing..
And now may the the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
Brian Monzon Ministries