Winning the War of the Soul: The Path to Peace

[0:00] and just helping in some training for our future elders and it has been a great time together so far as he's been with us but I just wanted to give him a moment just to kind of give an update to us just to say hi from the paradise in Florida right I was gonna you know Joe and I mentioned this last time I was gonna say before he came I was gonna tell everybody hey dress up like it's Hawaiian day or something and we're all gonna you know have some you know colorful socks and shirts and whatever we'll be ready so that he'll feel at home with us okay but but it's we're trying to teach him about God's country Oklahoma and so we're just fine let's give him a hand welcoming him and Jessica today it's uh this place is feeling a lot like home I was asked when I was getting some coffee uh how was your trip and I said Florida was good and so I've been here so frequently uh that it feels like I'm coming back home and I just spent a little vacation in Florida so it is good to be with you let me just share with you briefly what God's doing in Fellowship Church um we've started our sixth year of our K-12 academy we have 52 kids enrolled in the academy this year and the Lord is blessing in great ways also uh our Ave Maria campus we have two campuses at Fellowship Church we have the Mockwood campus and an Ave Maria campus and our Ave Maria campus is looking at uh acquiring some land and should be closing on property at the end of this month as well as beginning building programs we're kind of in the same and uh we're we're busting at the seams there's standing room only in this room this morning and and we're in the same boat in our Ave Maria campus so I just invite you to please be praying for us in that uh pray for the land acquisition pray for the building process pray that building costs would go down um I I met with a contractor just this past week on Thursday it is 450 dollars a square foot just to put up a building uh that's a lot of money um Florida is where America goes to die that means they like to hold on to their money until they die so trying to do a building program with retirees it becomes challenging but if any of you are independently wealthy and you're looking for an investment uh we would love for you I'll be having to talk with you after the service you go to fellowshipchurch.co forward slash give and uh we'll make sure you get a tax deduction at the end of the year listen you're going to do the same thing James when you come in February I know okay but I just want to tell you the Lord is blessed we started to campaign at our church to see 100 people saved in bad times by December of 2025 I want to invite you to pray for us tonight we we really believe what our country needs what our community needs and what our church needs is a resurgence of evangelism people are dying and going to hell and we have the hope of the gospel we need to go share so what I want to do um just a closing prayer I want to pray for your pastor pray for him as he preaches this one let's not let's father thank you for cornerstone church and I just thank you that there is a gospel preaching church right here in my life father what you're doing in this room I hope that you would remind this precious congregation that you're working in a great way they would never grow weary in doing good they would train for godliness while bodily training father is of is of some value training for godliness is of greater

[4:05] value father I thank you for the blessings you are pouring out and the favor that you are showing on cornerstone church but I pray that souls would be saved lord that they would end this year this last part of the year these last several months of the year they would end with just a resurgence of evangelism that everyone would make it their mission to tell somebody about christ and then lord if it would be pleasing to you that you would save those who heard the gospel lord they would plug into this church and they would become disciple makers as well lord would you be with our pastor our preacher this morning as he gives us the word let us feast from the words that you have to share with us we love you and we thank you in jesus name and everyone thank you i uh so grateful for timothy being with us and i know his church well actually the church reported the last time that you left that their attendance was up when you were gone right and uh this morning he got a report that they're up again today and uh so i'm sending a message to their elders to say hey guys we don't want him either so we're gonna you know we gotta we gotta work something out you know uh but no we we really do love uh timothy and their church they have been such a blessing of encouragement to me and to us and they're continuing to be that even participating with us to help get us on course with deacons and elders in place and and uh just encouraging along the way in the mission uh that we've been called to so it's just it's it's great to have him here it's an encouragement to have him here and and jessica as well it's always good to have fellowship with them let me give you a few things as we get started especially if you're a guest with us man we're so glad you're here and there's a guest card back there on the table love for you to fill it out i'd love to get to know you as you try to get to know us and you can just drop that card in the basket back there that's where everybody's putting their their tithes and offerings not online to timothy's church um so but but just drop it in there and uh i i would love to to get to know you as you get to know us there's also some coloring pages for the kids back there things like that information so that you can know more about us or you go to the website and you can find out all kinds of stuff uh on our website about us i want you to turn in your bibles though because we preach the word here and that's what we do we love we love god's word and so you turn in your bibles to james chapter four and we're going to continue looking at this living faith that we see in the epistle of james and i and i hope uh you know i we we talked last night in in the elder training just how uh jessica looked at timothy's notes and and we had a you know an hour session of two two hours total and she said she looked at his notes and she said that's three hours easy and uh if brandy would have looked at my notes this morning i think she would have said the same thing so let's buckle up no i'm just kidding uh it's like the one pastor who who he preached the sermon and usually a line would form as he left and on this particular sunday and he wasn't the most you know uh he wasn't the greatest speaker and sometimes he bored his people and and this was one of those sundays a long line formed you know and nobody was saying anything and and as they were shaking his hands as they left i mean he just shook one hand after another they

[8:07] didn't say a word and i'm just discouraging you know so he he looked at the end of the line there was a guy that usually gave just a great encouragement he was he was looking forward he was shaking the hands wasn't hearing anything finally got to the guy and the guy he just said he said pastor he said the the sermon this morning i want to thank you for it it just reminded me of the peace and the love of god he said man thank you thank you so much man i am so glad to hear a positive word about my preaching and but he got to think he said well what do you mean by that nobody's ever really said anything like that about my preaching he said well it reminded me of the peace of god because it passed all understanding and it reminded me of the love of god because it endured forever so i hope this morning that i at least teach about the peace of god and that it doesn't endure forever okay so that's my goal this morning i hope that is the case we're looking at that that issue of peace it's really winning the war of the soul that's what we've been looking at over the last several weeks in this this section in chapter four winning the war of the soul it's the conflict around you it's the conflict among you that really at its root as james describes is the conflict within you it's the passions that war in your soul and in that it is really identifying just the the it's the exposure of the exposure of a hostility in your relationship with god and it's it's like rc sproul said he said in his book what does it mean to be born again he said i get annoyed with preachers sometimes i get annoyed when i hear these well-intentioned preachers in an attack jesus and all your problems will be over it is just not true he said my life didn't begin to be complicated until i became because i have to go to war every day between that which is of the flesh and that which is of the spirit haven't you found that to be true as a follower of christ when i came to christ all my problems did not go away in fact life became very complicated all of a sudden because there was a war in my soul and it is the war of passions in my soul that are leading to the conflict on the outside it's the war on the inside that's leading to the world on the outside a war with others or war with the values in the world around me and the reality when you look around at the world you think of politics can i get an amen right you think there's going to be peace you're so wrong you're so wrong right the election's coming up we don't know what's going to happen in this election i mean i i hope communism does good in all this but the reality right or maybe trump will get elected that's the option uh but but let's say let's say trump gets elected and you say well things will be better then are you kidding do you really think there's going to be peace there is such a conflict in world views going on that whether or not trump gets elected or kamala gets elected i don't think we're going to see peace i think it i think

[12:11] it's going to continue and get worse and worse there's not going to be peace in politics you're not going to find it there there's never going to be peace in religion uh you think about christianity and islam trying to coexist it's it's never there's never going to be a place of real peace in this the values the fundamental values here are so at conflict that they can't coexist no matter those little fancy bumper stickers that have the buddhism symbol and the islam symbol coexist it says and it shows a cross and the reality is these people want to kill us right and these people don't want to coexist this is not going to come together there's never going to be total peace in this world in the area of religion your relationships some of your relationships are never going to come to a place of peace because there is such conflict at the very core of the values of those relationships but what i read in the scripture right here is you can live in peace you can find peace for your soul no matter the conflicts around you in the world between us and the values of the world or in the relationships that you're trying to maintain my peace can be at soul only when i find peace with god and when i find peace with god i can live at peace no matter what is going on in the world that's the encouragement here it's the quest for ultimate peace and it's a sense of peace for your life when you look at islam islam is about the path to peace the word islam literally means it has its roots in peace when an islamic person greets another person all around the world they use the same greeting aslam alaikum waalaikum asalam they're greeting each other peace be upon you and yes peace be also upon you peace it is the it is what they're looking for through religious expression buddhism is teaching a path to peace it is the eightfold path they call it which leads to the cessation of suffering or nirvana and hopefully you're going to reach this place of ultimate peace and the reality is you're not going to find peace through that meditation and right actions try to cultivate this inner sense of peace hinduism you're going to pursue shanti or the path of peace you're gonna you're gonna practice dharma the the righteous living the acts of righteous living you're gonna practice yoga and meditation and all of this is trying in some way find a sense of peace all the religions of the world are looking for it it's it's an effort to try to find peace for the soul and what we're seeing in scripture is something so freeing so liberating because jesus is writing about or james is writing about living faith in jesus that is not some dead kind of faith it's a faith in response to the wisdom of god being revealed through his word as god gives us wisdom and you follow this wisdom in faith in the living god because of the resurrected christ and this is where you'll find peace relationships among you as james described the conflicts of values around you and the passions within your soul all have to do with you finding peace with god so we look at our text james chapter 4 we've been we we dealt with verse 1 up to verse 5 let's stand together we're going to read

[16:12] this we're going to hear what god has to say we're going to win the war of peace for our soul beginning in verse 6 the transition the central transition to this whole section here but he gives more grace therefore it says god opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble submit yourselves therefore to god resist the devil and he will flee from you draw near to god and he will draw near to you cleanse your hands you sinners purify your hearts you double-minded be wretched and mourn and weep let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom humble yourselves before the lord and he will exalt you what a word father may you bless your word we're so thankful for your word one of the greatest messages that we could ever hear as sinful adulterous people lord we need to know that there is grace with you no matter how far we stray no matter how much we mess up god there is grace with you grace that is greater than all our sin that your name be the glory forever and ever amen you can be seated so if you're lost you are never out of a state of conflict you've never found your satisfaction in god you were actually created for the glory of god you're sinfully separated from god he sent his son as a remedy for your sin you've rejected that and you you actually live unwittingly unknowingly in a state of hostility toward god you say i don't hate god it doesn't matter you're living in opposition to the way he's designed you to live and so according to the scripture you're in a state of hostility toward god and so you don't have peace you can't have peace you don't have ultimate peace because you don't have peace god but as a believer you might think my life got all together because i found jesus and now all my problems went away and then you realize real fast my problems didn't go away they're still there and now they're punching me in the face every day and i how am i to deal with this i i can't seem to find peace and it's because they there is within me a battle going on in my soul i'm allowing passions to reside and coexist with affections that have now been given to god and they're trying to coexist and they can't coexist they're at war james james reveals the reality of that he calls us adulterers and this is in verses 1 through 5 really the the i guess it's an anthropomorphism of in a sense of god trying to communicate to us in human terms the way god the infinite god feels about our sin because the reality is the emotion that's being communicated here is one of adultery and betrayal that characterizes our sin and god sees it as adultery and when i allow these passions in me that the lust of the eyes the lust of the flesh the pride of life my greed my

[20:12] my selfishness my self-centeredness all of these things when i allow that to coexist in my heart and i don't resist that get rid of that out of my heart allowing these things to try to coexist as if i can i can love one and the other then god says you are an adulterer sinfully adulterous that's how god feels so we allow them to coexist you have to feel the weight of the sin in human terms to see how god feels about your sin in an infinite way he has an infinite hatred for your sin and the only way to communicate that in human terms so that we can understand because we're not infinite is to take something that would be the most heartfelt gut-wrenching thing that you could experience a betrayal of love like that an adultery situation to say this is how god sees your sin we need to change our perspective about our sin but this i think verse 6 this is all they're talking about the cause of sin and the just the character of sin and just how god hates it and all that but now you're coming to the place now you see the cure for sin you see the cure for conflict in your life so that you can win the war of the soul and you can have peace because you're going to find it in god how do you get there what's the path to peace verse 6 the most i think soothing words of the new testament in verse 6 but he gives more grace you adulterer he gives more grace there's grace unlike human relationships that can't get over unfaithfulness where sin abounds grace abounds even more so the question is almost like the old milk commercial you know where they have milk mustaches you know and just a simple ad campaign that they did for so long i don't know if they still do it but but got milk you know this is this is james saying got peace got peace i'm looking for your milk mustache got peace in your relationships there's conflict in your in your values around you there's conflict you're sensing the reality of the war in your soul got peace got peace in your life got it everywhere got what's going on in your life what's going on in your soul path to peace so dividing this text as i looked at this text i realized really there are four key imperatives in the text this path he's showing he's expanding the grace of god how do you get there and he expands it in four imperatives those are commands that he's going to give so a lot of times in scripture the pattern is there is a this is grammar lesson 101 right from a high school dropout amen right so an indicative that's followed by imperatives an indicative is a state of something that is it's a fact here's something that's a reality here's the reality and based on that reality that indicative here are some imperatives some commands it's because of this if you just take these by themselves you don't understand there's no meaning you're like okay i'll do that but why why do you do it because of this this indicative is what is this is the indicator of what is with god and here are the imperatives that follow

[24:12] to say here's what you do what is the indicative what does he say about god in verse 6 notice what he says in verse 6 but he gives more grace therefore it says god opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble this is the reality of the indicative about god although you are an adulterer although you are a sinful person and i am a sinful person i am an adulterer at heart from time to time in spiritual ways with my relationship with god every time i allow these things to exist in my heart and try to allow them to coexist i am a spiritual adulterer but god gives more grace he gives grace to the humble and he opposes the proud i don't know what it looks like to oppose god or rather even worse for god to oppose me but when i'm proud the scripture says god himself the creator of the universe is against me so no matter how you feel if you think things are going right if you think things are going good just know scripture says he is more shrewd and he is against you but if you're humble this is the grace of god if you're humble something else is going to happen he's not opposed to you he is actually going to draw you in to the point where he takes you to the rock bottom and then lifts you up and exalts you he's going to take you and shake all this stuff out of your life and bring you to the point where he can lift you up and put you in right standing because he loves you that's the grace of god that's why i say this is the most encouraging words that i can i can think of in the new testament for an adulterous sinner he gives more grace i can't out sin him and so you look at the indicative you follow the imperatives and then even in the imperatives i think by certain markers as you as you see in verse six or uh you come verse six but he gives more grace therefore it says god opposed the proud gives grace to the humble and therefore verse seven what are you going to do what's the what's the command what's the what's the imperative submit yourselves therefore to god and that to god right there is is a marker that you ought to you ought to follow through these key imperatives submit yourself to god second imperative but those two are combined i think because you come to verse eight uh submit yourself to god resist the devil he will flee for you verse eight draw near to god to god that marker and he will draw near to you then this is parenthetical it's following that what does it mean to draw near to god cleanse your hands you sinners purify your heart you double-minded be wretched mourn and weep let your laughter be turned to mourning your joy to gloom and then verse 10 humble yourself here's the other imperative key imperative humble yourself before the lord god to god before the lord so key imperatives here and the first two kind of join together these four so don't let me confuse you okay there's four imperatives three of them marked by being to god and there's lots of stuff in here but it's all this path of what you need to do to appropriate the grace that god's giving you so that you can know how to get on the right path and be restored to a place of peace

[28:13] you want peace in your soul it's the war that's going on in your soul it's why you're not happy it's why you're depressed all the time it's these haunting thoughts all the time of your inadequacies and all the things the failures that haunt you all the time the addictive behaviors all of this stuff the war the passions in your soul and god says i want you to have peace here's the path god gives more grace indicative therefore do this so what are the four imperatives okay number one god gives grace therefore return why do i say return verse six he said god gives more grace therefore it says god opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble therefore submit to god so this submission to god is the imperative this is what you're to do based on this great truth the summary statement he gives and it's in the form of a quote here although it's not a direct quote it's a kind of a summary statement scripture says this therefore submit to god this submitting to god is a description of characteristics of the humble humble it means to bow down it's a recognition of the dependence we should have on god bow down before god a willing submission to his authority this word is being used here in submit to god it's being used to describe the opposite of what he said just a few moments ago when he said god opposes the proud it's a similar word it means to present yourself but further it means to line yourself up under someone to get in line to fall in if you speak in military language what do I mean when I say fall in some of you are like fall in a hole what do you mean everybody that's been in the military knows exactly what I mean fall in that means get in line fall in formation everybody is to form up everybody is talking everybody is having a good time some of the guys are off and they are joking some of the guys are throwing a football whatever they are all doing their own thing and then the sergeant in charge will step up he will step to attention and he will say fall in and all of a sudden everything stops everything stops no talking the talking stops the balls drop everybody all of a sudden just comes together they fall in perfect line shoulder to shoulder equally distanced apart equally to the person in front of you and they're standing at attention falling in until he says at ease

[31:08] I'm falling in line when James is saying submit yourself to God this is the idea that's being communicated that you as somebody that's doing your own thing you're out with a heart that's caught up in greed or you're caught up in sin in your life and you just think you're doing your own thing and all of a sudden he's saying how do you get back to God and find the grace of God how do you how do you experience the freshness that God had for you the day you gave your life to Jesus and he wrecked you remember that is it so far back that you forgot when he wrecked your life and just caused you to realize that you're a sinner separated from him and you finally crushed under the weight of your sin you finally said Jesus I just need you in my life come in and change me remember that and then all of a sudden you're getting in life and you're busy and you're doing your thing how do you get back to that that peace that came with that the joy that accompanied your salvation the the filling of the

[32:17] Holy Spirit that just just overwhelmed your life gave you joy about following Jesus to sing hymns in a room in a gym on a Sunday morning when I could be sleeping in now I'm joyful to be here and sing these weird songs right hypotasso submit yourself to God to God because the implication is in the submitting to God God is going to receive you adulterer submit yourself line up you're you're thinking you can't be accepted and he's saying no line up under me come back right in line get in your spot I don't care how far you went I don't care how far you fell the blood of Jesus is enough to conquer every sin and cover every sin I don't care about your addiction you're not a prisoner to your addiction Jesus Christ and the power of his Holy Spirit can free you from your addiction these are passions at war that you have allowed to conquer you you are it's not a disease it is a sin problem and the sin problem must be conquered by Christ by you submitting yourself and saying

[33:35] I recognize your authority in my life Jesus because I recognize your authority in my life when you say come get in line then I am going to snap to attention and get in line submit return to God you're out of formation get into formation submit yourself line yourself up under him and I remember in the army this is so interesting when there was a young guy he was probably about 18 he joined I was maybe 20 right around 20 and this young guy he's just a kid I mean he was just a kid I was a kid but this guy was a kid and so I was looking at him like I was the mature adult and I'm 20 20 year olds Warren where was he going with that yeah so so he comes in and formation comes one morning and I don't even remember his name I want to say it's

[34:37] Smith something Smith we just knew the last name so hey where's Smith fall in everybody gets in formation everybody's like where's Smith you know how much trouble you're in if you miss formation I mean brother it's bad it's bad you are in so much trouble if you miss formation in fact you get you miss formation you can get an article 15 which means you get written up and and you get your pay docked and you get fined and you could you get confined you lose your privileges I mean you're owned by the government you know and if you're gone 30 days there's a warrant for your arrest they're coming for you like literally so so he's gone he's like where where is it days went by two weeks later he shows up and we're standing there in the motor pool vehicle getting vehicles ready whatever and he he comes moseying in like nothing happened and everybody's like where have you been like man I don't I I was gonna be late and then I knew I was gonna be in trouble and so I didn't want to come and then it was the next day and it was three days next thing

[35:47] I know it was a week and then I thought now I'm really in trouble now I really can't go back and I really can't get and then it's two weeks he's like man and somebody came and told me the law is coming for you and when they said that I was like what are you serious they can't no they're coming you're gonna be under arrest you're gonna spend 18 months in Leavenworth and he came running back I'll fall in the victories in humility he was losing the battle because he he thought he couldn't come back he thought that the trouble was gonna be worse because it was 15 minutes later whatever and and he couldn't find victory in this because he was just wobbling in the defeat and what James is saying is you want peace in your life you want to get back to a place of power where Jesus is Lord and he's reigning in your heart you want to be at that place again submit to God it's the imperative because of the indicative he is gracious he loves your soul so much you adulterer that he would take you back and give you back every time praise God for his grace right I mean this is the call to

[37:13] Israel over and over again God tells the prophet Joel Israel is adulterous they're adulterous over and over again just like you right you're like oh those dirty people like you like me adulterous people and and he says tell my people this Joel 2 12 yet even now he had just said I know what you're doing I know your hearts I know how dirty you are I know filthy you are I know how you've prostituted yourself out to other gods you've let things crowd your heart you've let things dominate your time you've spent your money on everything except your tithe and offering right that's what he was telling him literally yet even now grace yet even now declares the Lord return to me with all your heart with fasting with weeping with mourning rend your hearts and not your garments return to the Lord your God for he is gracious and merciful slow to anger and abounding I love that word abounding in steadfast love abounding in steadfast love it's eternal not like my sermon there will come an end to this his his love is that no end and he said take with me or take with you words and return to the Lord say to him say to the

[38:48] Lord take away my iniquity come to me return and he says the same thing to Hosea the people are doing the same thing again over and over and over and over again Hosea 14 Hosea tell my people this return oh Israel to the Lord your God for you have stumbled because of your iniquity take with you words and return to the Lord Isaiah 55 6 seek the Lord while he says Isaiah tell my people this they're adulterous the leaders the pastors the priests they're corrupt and the assemblies of my people are just corrupt the worship is corrupt the people are sinful their hearts are wrong tell them this seek the Lord while he may be found call upon him while he's near let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts let him return to the Lord that he may have compassion on him what does God want to do he wants to have compassion on you he wants to show you the extension of his grace and you're saying in your mind it just seems so unjust that you might get away with something right I mean your sense of justice going I don't know about this there should be some payment for this right well there is there's already been a payment for your sin

[40:20] Jesus paid for it on the cross and if you belong to him your sins already paid for it it wants to come to you you come to it let him return to the Lord that I may have compassion on return to our God for he will abundantly pardon so what is the first imperative because of the grace of God because it's so outrageous imperative indicative imperative return to him fall in line got peace you want peace fall in line just come stop making excuses stop waiting stop looking for the perfect day stop stop waiting to make all these things right then I'm gonna try to get right with God whatever it is stop submit yourself to God your first step is to submit yourself to God not to do all these other things you throw yourself before the Lord and and watch what God does you got peace you want peace God gives grace therefore return number two God gives grace therefore resist and this is the other part I think these are related as you're falling in line with him you are resisting Satan there is a battle in you between your passions he already said in chapter one you don't you're not listening to the wisdom of God you're a double-minded man unstable in all his ways you're double-minded it's just like a double-hearted person that

[41:51] Jesus described can't serve two masters you love one you hate the others and this is the battle so I think these are together in that sense which is why this one doesn't say something about to God but yet a major imperative God gives grace therefore resist Satan after you submit to God submit to God and resist Satan two sides of the same coin repentance and faith resist the clarity look at it in verse seven resist the devil and he will flee from you you want peace why is there no peace well the devil's at work he's already said that over and over again like the doctrine of demons you're not listening to the wisdom of God you're listening to the world the doctrine of demons influencing your thinking you want him to flee you do you want him to flee you don't want the devil at work in your life you don't want him in your kid's life you don't want him in your relationships you don't want him in your church the problem is you keep thinking Satan's attacking our church no he joins it he doesn't attack it he joins our church he comes in with us and he's one of us and he's just just along with us he's one of the guys no you're to resist him he does not coexist with God not in your because we don't know we're in a war every day of your life is a war it is not fun and games it is not just to be entertained if you're living just for entertainment every week week after week looking for Friday looking for Saturday looking for Sunday so you can relax and just go to the lake and just do all this stuff and and go to all the ball games and just play golf and tennis and all these things

[43:51] I'm not saying there's anything wrong with those things I like those things too but are these things ever coming into competition in my heart where OU loses and I can't even worship on Sunday right the pastor you're to be correcting people with gentleness that God may perhaps grant them repentance and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil you don't think the devil's at work you don't realize you're in a war you got an enemy that roams about like a lion seeking whom he may devour and he's coming for you he's coming for your spouse he's coming for your kids he's coming for your friends coming for your church coming for your city with its drag shows coming for your nation with its communism which is ungodly he's coming for you you cannot win the war against Satan when you can't get up in the in the morning and open your Bible you lose first Peter 5 9 be sober-minded be watchful Peter says this isn't just James Peter says this be sober-minded get a hold of yourself be watchful your adversary the devil prowls around like a lion seeking someone to devour and he said the exact same word resist him resist him firm in your faith knowing that the same kind of suffering are being experienced by your brothers throughout the world resist it's a word that means to stand up against literally antistate anti against state meaning to stand to resist stand against him the humble recognizes that there's schemes in his life the prideful says I got this right I got I'm gonna fix this myself I got this no submit how are you gonna resist the devil he's powerful being angelic beams in the Old Testament are like like one of them destroying like 50,000 people in one moment when God sends a destroying angel I'm like what is Satan if he's like some powerful destroying kind of angel

[46:38] I'm gonna stand against him I'm gonna resist him I mean law enforcement has a jurisdiction right and I I said before on my my how-to sermon one time I don't remember what it was some of you remember this I know Shep remembers it as a deputy he's please don't do that again I gave the how-to of how to how to break through a police barricade I wasn't from experience okay it was just I was reading a book and it was just telling you you know make sure that you hit the vehicle not square center you've got to hit it on the axle so the kinetic energy goes through don't Shep said not to do that so but lately I have thought about so much about like you know law enforcement and like the weaponization of government you know justice systems and those kinds of things and how we've even seen that in Oklahoma where FBI agents going to people's house in Stillwater and wanting to talk to them about their social media posts and just the ridiculous state that we're in kind of right now and this person like what I am I not free to post them am I not free to do this we just want to talk to you no I'm not talking to you did I break the law no you didn't break the law we just want to talk to you well if I didn't break the law then why are you here and just this ongoing conversation then another video that we saw of some some I don't know if he was a city police officer whatever he comes to the person's house and and the lady's like can I help you and and he just starts barging in and she's like whoa whoa wait a second what's going on and he said ma'am you open the door I own your house now and she said what and she braced herself you know like holding the door and one hand on the wall it was like you don't know and she went into the

[48:32] I don't know who you know law enforcement has jurisdiction and when they they have to have permission to enter they can't unless there's probable cause unless they have a warrant like that they can go in in those cases but without that which he did not have and without the consent which he did not have you can't so I'm gonna have a little guide on my door it says here's what you say here's what you do when when law enforcement comes for you right right they have jurisdiction the devil has no jurisdiction in your life you belong to Jesus you resist him and the scripture says here is the promise of God the grace of God is so great about your sin that although you feel like you're a prisoner to him you think he has jurisdiction over your life stand your ground he cannot come in he does not own you he has no authority he has no jurisdiction in your life you are free in Christ you're free from that sin you walk away from it you resist him in it and you you cling to God and it's the submitting yourself to God and resisting the devil together and you will find peace because he'll flee from you addiction the weed the alcohol all those things that we're dealing with right and you just think God you can free me from this Satan does not have authority over me in this

[49:58] Peter said be sober watchful Paul said Paul said Ephesians 6 11 put on the whole armor of God you're at war you're dressed like you're going to the beach you're at war read that just for freshness I hadn't read that passage in a long time finally be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil put on the armor of God for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against the rulers against the authorities against the cosmic powers over this present darkness against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the day of evil having done on the all to stand firm stand therefore having fastened on the belt of truth having put on the breastplate of righteousness and as shoes for your many cells in the time of lifemania and as if the body laden says take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit which is the word of God praying at all times in the spirit with all prayer and supplication to that end keeping alert with all perseverance for all the saints and also for me that words may be given to me to open my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel for which i am an ambassador in change that i may declare it boldly as i ought to speak pray for me for that that i'll be filled that way with that kind of strength prayer the the essential nature of prayer combined with the power of god's word is how you resist satan in your life is that not what jesus did he starts his ministry in mark chapter one he goes out to a desolate place right is he lost when i've been a desolate place i've drove out to puss out that way and i got lost desolate he wasn't out he wasn't lost scripture says that was actually his custom that was actually what he did he'd go to a desolate place to pray over and over like a dozen times he goes off alone in the morning we talked about it wednesday night after he serves in in peter's mother's house heals her heals all these people that come all night long it seems and then the scripture says what did he do he took the day off because he was so busy the day before no it says and he rose up early and he went out to a desolate place and there he prayed and then after that then he gets up and he goes and preaches again and starts casting out demons and healing lepers and all this stuff and it's like what happened in that moment when he was there in the wilderness with satan well he preached the word of god in that moment because the word of god is the sword of the spirit that's how you resist satan in your life you will not do it without opening your bible

[53:59] or without planting god's word in your heart how do you resist satan in the word of god you are a student you are a disciple of jesus christ you must be learning the word you've got to learn it and understand it and apply it to your life you got to read it and memorize it and meditate on it you got to sing it you got to talk about it when you rise up on the way when you're at home alone it's got to bleed from you the word of god is powerful it's sharper than any two-edged sword it pierces to the division of soul and spirit it is the sword of the spirit jesus preaches the word and he prays on he's out in the wilderness that's what he does he prays when he goes out there we know that that's characteristic of the of that but in mark what it says is after satan left and the angels ministered to him there what happens in prayer lord strengthens us in prayer angels ministered to him and that's not the only time that he is depleted he is in his humanity he's depleted he's he's wrestling with satan preaching the word to him and and he resisted he stood against him in that he held the door you're not coming in here he's worn out he prays and he's filled again let's go out and preach he goes out and he preaches again and you you see this pattern when he's depleted he prays and when he's about to go serve he prays and so just before he goes to the cross he takes the disciples to the garden of gethsemane and he says guys let's pray and they started to pray and these guys are falling asleep and it says and jesus went off by himself to pray and there the angels ministered to him resist in the word and in prayer you you're not going to win the victory against satan you're not going to find peace in your life if we don't become praying people if it's not characteristic of your life you're going to be defeated you wonder why you're getting beat up all the time and you're not finding peace peace repent resist number three no i'm not gonna do it part two cliffhanger next week trying to be more disciplined time i don't want you leaving thinking that james did it again john owen said it this way those those puritans had such a way of communicating some of these great truths john owen thomas watson bring your lust to the gospel not for relief but for further conviction of its guilt look on him whom you have pierced and be in bitterness till sin becomes bitter christ will not be sweet can't coexist in your heart you've got to put some things to death in your old man to keep resurfacing and if you don't put them to death you're not going to have peace what do you do there is an indicative there is grace god is gracious

[58:00] so what do you do god return and what resist that's a good place to stop we come to our invitation time really my prayer is that the lord will bring clarity in two ways this morning for some of you here today you've never come to the place where you've made peace with god i'm not talking about being baptized and joining the church and walking through the motions and all that i'm talking about your heart that's the outside stuff i'm talking about your heart i'm talking about you coming to the place of recognition of your sinfulness and separation from god where you finally surrendered to christ submitted yourself fell in line for the first time said i'm yours and you're mine my life's no longer mine you're going to be lord you're going to be king you're going to be master you've never done that you've eased into it you've learned the lingo you've learned the culture of church and you you if anybody knew the real state of your heart you'd be horrified because in your heart you know that you don't belong to jesus but you want him and the reason you want him is because the holy spirit is the one stirring your heart he's inflaming you to the place where you're going to finally respond and if he inflames your will this morning you need to take hold of him while he's near submit yourself to god and be saved he'll change your life you'll resist satan in this and you'll watch satan flee from you you'll see victory you'll find peace but further than that those of you that are believers this morning that have allowed affections to coexist in your heart where christ is not really king i've got this cohabitation thing going on with god and my sin and me and and i just haven't dealt with it i don't know what that is for you you do because the holy spirit reveals that to you right now you're screaming in your head and saying you're right with god he's compassionate his grace is going to cover you just stop your unbelief stop your bitterness stop your anger stop your greed stop come to him drop it get in line he'll bring peace in this invitation time i'm asking you to respond in those two ways one if you're you've never trusted christ i'm gonna be right here at the front i'd love for you to come down and say james i need jesus let's just be honest with god it's not like a long drawn out discussion i'm lost i need to be saved i need jesus in my life and he's not in my life he's not lord he's not king i need him i need him to forgive my sin i believe he's who he said he is i i need him in my life and we'll settle that right here and if you're a believer and there's some burden you got to lay down there's some attitude that's not right some critical spirit whatever it is you need to lay that before the lord the front's open here for you to deal with god i could deal with it right here in my seat you could but you won't i'm just telling you there's so many times that you know in the front of a room i've laid burdens down that i wouldn't lay down in the pew i don't know why it's not magic it's not some magic spot but are you going to be real with god he said come return to me

[62:03] resist this ain't no fleet let's pray together father we come to this invitation time lord that is our heart we want to see your word come to see your word there are battles going on right now passions at war in the soul satan wants to keep us from you lord may he not win today another hour if we had to you to do business father have your way in our hearts we pray this in christ's name let's all stand together we sing you respond to god then like

[63:26] Turn your eyes to the near side Where justice and mercy embrace There's a son of God in his life for us And the measureless death was erased Jesus, to me we lift our eyes Jesus, our glory and our prize We adore you, behold you Our Savior ever true

[64:27] Oh Jesus, we turn our eyes to you Turn your eyes to the morning And see Christ the Lion away And what a glorious dawn Here and there is one For we carry his life in our name Jesus, to you we lift our eyes Jesus, our glory and our prize We adore you, behold you

[65:30] Our Savior ever true Oh Jesus, we turn our eyes to you Turn your eyes to the heavens Our King will return for his own Every knee will bow Every tongue will shout All glory to Jesus alone Jesus, to you we lift our eyes Jesus, to you we lift our eyes Jesus, our glory and our prize

[66:31] We adore you, behold you Our Savior ever true Oh Jesus, we turn our eyes to you Jesus, to you we lift our eyes Jesus, our glory and our prize We adore you, behold you We adore you, behold you Our Savior ever true Oh Jesus, we turn our eyes to you Oh Jesus, we turn our eyes to you Oh Jesus, we turn our eyes to you Father, as we come to you in this time of response

[67:40] Lord, our hearts are just heavy with our own sin That's feeling the room There is so much victory to be had That that would not be the case of us That we have said from the beginning We want to be a different church We want to be a church That honors Jesus We want to follow you We want you to have our hearts We want you to have our minds We want you to have our life We want to be committed in every way That you expect of us We want to be surrendered to you Not holding back So Lord, I just pray right now As we have this time together

[68:41] That you would just Just break us Lord, just break us We need to be broken Just break us So I pray, Lord As we do this song, this verse One more time I want to do one more verse Lord, I just pray That during this time That thing that we put off And we didn't settle just a minute ago That we will burn that In your presence Right here, God That we will just lay it At the foot of the cross And that you will just consume it And so Lord, right now Be at work in us I pray this in Jesus' name Amen Let's Let's Let's Let's Let's Let's