Strong To Resist
I. One of the main ways you
function out of your spirit is through the words of your mouth
A.
James 3:2-If you can control your mouth you
can control your mind and your body
B.
Your mouth is connected to your heart/spirit
not your head-Gen2:7, 2Cor4:13, Mt12:34
1.
Animals have brains, but can’t speak words
b/c they have no spirit being
C.
If you’re spirit’s not loaded with the
bullets of the word you can’t shoot them
D.
You control the mouth by getting your spirit
strong on the Word
II. People are defeated because
when pressured is applied to the soul they are unable to push back on the
pressure that’s trying to push them away from the word
A.
Satan endeavors to apply pressure to the soul
by magnifying what you see and feel
1. Satan wants me to be moved by what I see and feel consequently he’s
going to try to get me to focus on what I see and feel by magnifying it and he
magnifies it with much speaking-2 Cor 5:7, Proverbs
7:21-(“Boy it sure doesn’t look like it’s working” – “Boy you sure don’t
feel healed” – “If you’re needs are met I can’t see it” – “Doesn’t
that just make you made” – “Wouldn’t that feel good”)
2. If the enemy can get you focused on your senses/feelings he can get you
to function in the flesh (If he can get you to focus on the report, the
circumstances, your feelings what you see or don’t see, you will function in
the flesh)
B.
Whatever is trying to push you away from the
Word you have to be strong enough to push back on; when pressure is being
applied to your soul you better be strong in your spirit
1. You got to be strong to resist-James 4:7, 1 Peter 5:9
a. The enemies trying to push on you to move you and you have to be strong
to push back
2. People lose b/c they faint or quit-Galatians 6:9
3. People faint in because their strength is small-Proverbs 24:10
4. People’s strength is small because their word level is low-Jeremiah
15:16, Neh 8:10
III.
You see people in times of great pressure who experience the greatest victories
functioning out of their spirit, controlling the soul and body
A.
When you function out of your spirit you
function above your soul, emotions, desires, will rather than under them or
governed by them
1.
When you function out of your spirit you act
based on what the word of God says, in spite of feelings, thoughts, and
circumstances that oppose the word
2.
When you function out of your spirit you do
things in spite of your feelings, not governed by them (To enjoy the full good
of feelings/emotions you first have to exercise your authority over them)
3.
It’s clear when a person functions out of
their spirit because they do stuff that is in opposition to what they “feel”
like doing
B.
David
1.
Psalm 23-David wrote this psalm during of one
the most dangerous times in his life.
He was fleeing from King Saul and his army. David hid himself in a barren, desolate,
forest called Hareth, which means a
parched and dry like baked earthenware. God did not cease to be David’s
source. He soaked this dry forest
with moisture, which had the appearance of the Heaven On Earth, making even the
grass and the leaves of the forest tender and edible. This revealed David that God provides at
all times even when the chances of survival seem to be non-existence.
a.
The circumstances are telling him is going to
die, either of thirst, hunger, or murder
b.
There seems to be no way that he’s going to
come out of this on top
c.
Rather than writing a song about how he
feels, he sings in faith
2.
Psalm 103-We can ascertain that he wrote this
at a time where his soul is not doing this already; you don’t have to tell
yourself to bless the Lord if you feel like doing it
a.
This must be a time where his soul is wanting
to be down, but he won’t let it
b.
1 Samuel 30:8-When he encouraged himself he
had to become unaware of his feelings and use the words of his mouth
C.
Acts 16-Paul & Silas-The spirit
controlling the mind and the mind controlling the body
1.
9,18,23-He went to this town because God told
him to, He got thrown in prison for casting a devil out of this woman and he’s
getting beat; His body can’t like this
2.
25-Midnight was probably the quietest darkest
time and at those times you can’t just sit there with your thoughts, but by
your spirit you have to control your thoughts
a.
Sang-To
sing the praise of, singing of paschal hymns; these were Psalms 113 - 118 and
136, which the Jews called the "great Hallel"
3.
25-They are functioning out of their spirits
above their souls, their emotions, their desires, their feelings; this man once
said I can’t do what I want to do; He grew up
4.
26-Satan can’t keep a man down who won’t give
into the flesh
5.
We always tell these stories, but why was he
able to do this? A strong spirit
D.
The Master, the Champion
1.
Lk 22:41-46-Jesus had feelings that opposed the word, but he wouldn’t
yield to them
a.
Pressure is on his soul, but he controls his
soul with his speaking spirit
b.
Matthew 26:37-44
1)
It’s interesting he said MY soul; he talked
about it as a thing he possessed
2)
He’s praying the same thing for three hours;
he’s not praying just any kind of prayer he’s praying the prayer of faith
c.
44-Here’s the champion-With his mind under
extreme pressure he functions out of his spirit and prays more earnestly (whatever
is trying to push you away from the Word/will of God you have to be strong
enough to push back on)
d.
If you’ll put the word in your mouth (pray)
and direct your mind to the word, just like he just did, you won’t fall into
temptation just like he didn’t
1)
That’s why the disciples fell into temptation
2.
Matthew 27, Luke 23:34
a.
They’re mocking him, spitting on him, etc and
you know he’s having feelings
b.
He already told Peter he could call 12 legions
of angels down and told Pilate you couldn’t even do this if I didn’t allow it
c.
He could mess up the whole thing by yielding
to the flesh, but that’s why he is The Champion
3.
Hebrews 2:16-18-4:14-16-If I’ll put his word
in my mouth in spite of my feelings I’ll find the grace to be a champion just
like he was