Make The Devil Eat It
I.
Pressure to a person with
the spirit of faith is nothing more than opportunity to overcome and make the
devil eat it-2 Corinthians 4:10-12
A. Always BEARING about in
the body---They are not just experiencing it, they are enduring it in that they
are not caving under the pressure of it, they are continuing in the same state,
they are remaining, they are abiding, they are bearing it with patience
1.
So
that the life of Jesus might be made manifest in our body---If they would have
caved in under the pressure instead of enduring it, the life of Jesus wouldn’t
have manifested in their bodies
B. If they weren’t always
delivered unto death, then the life of Jesus wouldn’t be manifesting in their
mortal flesh
1.
10,11-If
it wasn’t for pressure and trouble there’d be no opportunity for zoe to be on
display
a. This isn’t their
glorified bodies, this is zoe manifesting right now in their flesh
b. This is talking about the
zoe-life of God manifesting in the physical bodies causing them to stay a live
when they should die
2.
When
death would show up to kill them and destroy them they wouldn’t gave in under
the pressure, but rather they stayed in faith and then zoe would manifest and
keep them from dying
3.
They
are experiencing some opposition, but every time they do, the power of God
shows up and they win
a. If faith is the victory
that overcomes the world and we’re supposed to live by faith, then there’s
going to be some stuff that you and I have to come over-1 John 5:4
C. 12-We’re going through
some stuff, but when we overcome it blesses you
1.
They
just won’t glorify the trouble; You can hear this despising of the pressure in
the undertones of what he is saying
2.
There’s
something about seeing somebody overcome in faith that stirs life up in those
seeing it
a. When you see someone
overcome in faith or hear their testimony it’s like zoe starts percolating in
you
3.
After
this he goes right into, “We have the same spirit of faith.” – You can
hear the spirit of faith in this talk and in it there’s this refusal to glorify
the trouble, to cower under the pressure of it
II.
The same spirit of faith of
who?-2 Corinthians 4:13
A. Psalm 116:1-10-The
Psalmist was surround by the sorrows of death, the pains of hell got hold of
him, he called on the Lord and the Lord delivered him; We have the same spirit
of faith that calls on the Lord in faith in the darkest hour and get’s victory
1.
1-2-He’s
reminding himself of how they Lord has heard him in the past
2.
2-Then
he makes a decision of faith
3.
3-This
verse sounds very familiar to 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 – They are both in a
dark place naturally
4.
4-In
the middle of this pressure he didn’t tuck is tail and run, he called upon the
name of the Lord
a. He’s speaking verses 4
through 9 in the middle of verse 3
5.
7-That’d
be him not letting trouble trouble him
a. You’d only have to tell
your soul to rest if it wasn’t resting
b. He’s reminding his soul
that the Lord is gracious, righteous, and merciful. That when he was brought low the Lord
helped him and the Lord has dealt bountifully with Him. That the Lord had delivered his soul
from death, his eyes from tears, his feet from falling. He’s telling all of this to his
soul and he tells his soul to return to rest, settle down, and be quiet.
6.
9-He
makes a statement of faith in verse 9 and then says I believed therefore I have
spoken
a. I will walk before the
Lord in the land of the living is him saying I’m not going to die
b. I believe therefore have
I spoken – What does he believe?
1)
He
believes God hears and answers him when he calls
2)
He
believes God is gracious, righteous, and merciful
3)
He
believes the Lord preserves the simple
4)
He
believes the Lord has dealt bountifully with him
5)
He
believes he will walk before the Lord in the land of the living
c. Remember this is in the
middle of verse 3
B. The spirit of faith
speaks to express what it believes, not how it feels
1.
Evidence
that you don’t have the spirit of faith developed in your life is that you
don’t talk faith
2.
Some
have a hard time talking faith and the reason is very simple because they don’t
believe
a. They’ve thought if I talk
right it will prove that I believe, but you don’t talk to prove you believe you
talk because you believe
b. You can talk “right” and
not believe
III.
For which case-For what
cause? We don’t faint because when the devil tries to put something on us we
make him eat it; for the cause of making him eat it we don’t faint; For what
cause? We’re winning-2 Corinthians 4:16
A. 15-The spirit of faith
will tap abundant grace, not the letter of faith
1.
What
tapped this abundant grace? It was a bunch of rules and it was the letter, it
was the spirit of faith
2.
The
life of Jesus manifesting in you body and overcoming death is abundant grace
3.
When
that manifests people give thanks and it glorifies God
B. **So the devil would try
to do something negative to them, the spirit of faith would rise up in the
middle of that thing causing abundant grace to manifest giving them a great
victory and when that happened everybody gave thanks to God and God got the
glory**
1.
The
spirit of faith makes the devil eat it
2.
Jesus
made him eat it-1 Corinthians 2:8
C. Our flesh isn’t having
any fun, but inside we are getting stronger everyday
1.
Faint-Utterly spiritless,
wearied out, exhausted
2.
Renewed-To cause to grow up, new
strength and vigor
a. The spirit of faith
doesn’t get weaker as the battle goes on it gets stronger
b. But if you listened to
most Christians talk that’s not how they live, talk or think