Lightly edited for readability while preserving the speaker’s meaning and substantive statements.
quiet and be with you lord and worship you and love you and let you bring peace to us even in the midst of a storm lord we we thank you lord that even though in this world we will have tribulation you said that you'd bring us through that you'd be our shield in our fortress and our deliverer or you are god and we praise your name this morning in jesus name we pray ma'am you know i had a weird i just had a weird battle over this sunday for some reason and uh praying about it last night praying about it this morning uh almost to the point of god do you even want me to preach because i didn't didn't feel any specific direction though there's a million things i could talk to you about i try to ask god what he wants me to talk to you about and not just be you know something out of my head and the only thing i felt was just just wait and see who's here and sometimes the lord doesn't tell me until i get uh into praise and worship and then he'll tell me what the message is and um but as we were in praise and worship it came as clear as a bell so i want you to turn with me this morning to first peter chapter five um first peter chapter five and this is just something that's been on my heart kind of all week i i've thought about it in different ways but i i'm not going the direction i thought i was going to be going with it but i do need to share this this with you i think you need to see these verses and you need to think about them because of course as a church we teach you know that christians have authority over the devil we do have power and authority over the devil right everybody ought to know luke 10 19 in this church luke 10 19 jesus said behold what i give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt you now sometimes we take a scripture like that out of out of its context of course jesus didn't mean you'll go through this battle that we're in unscathed but that god would bring you through it if you stay if you stick with him he'll bring you through each battle right how many of you know that i've been through a few battles since i've been here in in auburn i've been through a few uh over the last 24 25 years now i've been through a few battles and you just need to know that this battle with satan is uh it gets tough sometimes and i want to show you what peter says about it and uh and just you need to understand as christians that sometimes it's gonna be rough mentally emotionally physically
financially sometimes um loneliness temptation um persecution uh even if it's just being snubbed you know seemed like you know being snubbed by people but let's read this we're going to start at verse 1 because it's just too much good stuff here to pass up but he's writing and exhorting elders and other pastors and he says the elders which are among you i exhort who am also an elder and a witness of the sufferings of christ and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed so he tells these elders in verse 2 feed the flock of god which is among you taking the oversight thereof not by constraint but willingly and again that means not because somebody's forcing you not for filthy lucr don't just be doing it for money and we know that's not happening around here but of a ready mind right neither is being lords over god's heritage but being examples to the flock and when the chief shepherd shall appear you shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away likewise younger submit yourselves unto the elder yay all of you be subject one to another and be clothed with humility for god resists the proud and gives grace to the humble humble yourselves therefore unto the mighty hand of god that he may exalt you in due time casting all your care upon him for he cares for you be sober be vigilant because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour whom resists steadfast in the faith knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world but the god of all grace who has called us unto his eternal glory by christ jesus after that you have suffered a while make you perfect establish strengthen and settle you to him be glory and dominion forever and ever amen now i wanted to read that to you because i want you to see some verses i think get overlooked sometimes you know verse 7 we hear verse 7 i mean not verse 7 but we hear verse 8 quite frequently be sober that means be alert be vigilant that means be aware that there is danger involved with satan and his demonic forces that they are as a roaring lion seeking whom they may devour okay so the devil and his demonic forces are seeking constantly seeking whom they may devour they're constantly moving they're constantly he says as a roaring lion why is that because they're constantly crouching in the shadows they're constantly stalking you like prey trying to smell a weakness trying to see a place where they can attack you and they hear your words sometimes that gives them a hint sometimes they see an action or or
they just know that we're an area you're vulnerable in but i wanted you to see i mean everybody knows that we're in a a constant war with satan with the demonic forces but notice what he says after this verse he says of course whom resists steadfast in the faith and that's again what we teach you bind the devil rebuke the devil resist the forces of darkness take control over your thoughts cast down imaginations you know all those things that you've been taught to do in the name of jesus to exercise that authority that we have in christ to resist the devil but notice he doesn't say that in this fight you will never have an affliction or suffering look what he says here he goes on down and he says knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world wait a minute so he's sitting there talking about you're going to come under satanic attacks at times fight it with everything that's in you resist it steadfast in the faith but know that it is not going to be a cakewalk it will feel like afflictions and i can just tell you that their seasons are you know there may be a week sometimes it's a day maybe maybe even it's a season a month or a few months you can be under a serious onslaught of the devil more than more than anything in your mind and this is where the number one this is the number one battlefield is your mind and i don't care the devil can come with with sly thoughts that make you depressed or he can come with sly thoughts that make you feel lonely even though you're around people he can come with sly thoughts making you feel like you're not good enough he can come with sly thoughts and make you feel like you know um you know you really you really can't do this you can't walk this walk and then you can come with the temptations you know why don't you just why don't you just have that beer why don't you just go out to that ball why don't you just you know why don't you just go out with that person you know you shouldn't go out with why don't you know he comes along with all these things tries to make you feel bad emotionally physically and spiritually so that then he can slip in temptation and i just wanted i just want to tell you that no one's immune i don't care fivefold minister or not no one's immune to to the bombardment of the devil and this week particularly i can just say i have had the bombardment of satan against my mind and my body i mean everything and i you know i get up in the mornings and pray and steal put on the armor of god bind the devil resist the devil but that doesn't mean i'm not going to have any wrestling match with him
and i just i want to say this because again i know we got some some people that have been christians in here for a long time and we've got others that haven't been really walking with the lord for a long time and you just need to be reminded or you need to know that this fight sometime is not easy it can it can almost feel make you the devil is just brilliant making can almost make you just feel miserable just just miserably unhappy with everything in your life if you constantly listen to his thoughts but notice he says here the same afflictions don't be surprised every true christian in the world that's really walking with jesus that really loves jesus that really is trying to obey the lord and get close to the lord he's going to go through these same afflictions the devil is not going to leave people alone if they're serious about jesus amen he wants you to fall some way he wants you to fall to disgrace the name of jesus or even to get you to fall to the point where you you know not that you can't be forgiven not that you can't get back up and and ask god for forgiveness and move on past that but he wants to get you to fog and then go i mean he'll be the one to make you fall or help you fall and then he'll be the one to say see you can't do it it's just constant in your mind constant stuff and i'm just telling you don't think it's strange he says here it's sometimes it feels like you're just being afflicted and it's in your mind everybody know what i'm talking about sometimes it's fear you know and i want to say this and make this very clear to you guys and i almost wanted to preach on this today but i want to make this very clear i know that that i preach on the end times stuff and that stuff is coming it's happening now and things are going to happen and it in the it's it's going to be some some frightful things that we see happen in the world but the bottom line is do we believe that our god is our refuge and our fortress and our god in whom we trust and that though ten thousand fall at our side and a thousand at our right hand it will not come near us that god can protect us in the midst of any horrible thing that's going on and trust him that if he delivers me or if he lets me be a martyr either way he will be with me at that moment through that time and there's no fear no fear you should bind fear rebuke fear cast it down resist it do not let it settle in your head amen i trust god you know what when the economy fails and all these things happen do i believe god god made molten start doing miracles of multiplying food you know what i mean like he did with the widow
and elijah you know i mean i trust god i believe god is going to deliver me deliver my family and he's going to do what he wants to do with us and i'm not going to walk in fear amen our god is bigger than satan he's bigger than the antichrist he's bigger than the un he's bigger than the the beast kingdom he's bigger than the mark of the beast he's bigger and stronger and more powerful than all that and i got news for the devil not everyone's going to be martyred some people are going to walk through this whole thing and be raptured alive so that means he doesn't get everybody right some people are going to have to be tested and tried and lay down their life for jesus i don't care we either way i'm prepared i don't care i know jesus is real i can't wait to be in heaven you know this week we heard on on the news you know about the the pastor the the full gospel pastor in iran who was on trial and and was scheduled to be executed i think he was probably executed this weekend i mean it was like imminent that simply because he was a christian he was in court in iran because uh he was accused of apostasy from islam becoming a christian and he was pastoring a little church in there and they're going to kill him and you know i was listening to that and i go you know that's horrible and my heart felt for his family but the bottom line is you know what if they do that moment he's with jesus and i thought man that's kind of a not a bad deal really you know what i mean but we just you know either way we got to be prepared and not be in fear let me show you this this is something that paul said and well before we turn there look what he says in verse 10 but the god of all grace he was called us unto eternal glory by christ jesus after you've suffered a while you see that word suffer there now this word covers not just physical suffering it really the in the greek it's talking about emotional suffering mental and emotional suffering that the devil brings against our soul into our minds and let me give you a little clue the devil and the demon spirits aren't going to spend a whole lot of time on someone who is not serious about following jesus the more serious you are the more determined you are to really get close to the lord and obey him you're going to attract the tension of these forces i mean some people get the wrong idea that becoming a christian and then having being baptized in the holy spirit or having the power of god with the authority means we're going to walk through this life unscathed well they're wrong
right but still you can make it through look at what go to second timothy second timothy chapter four [Music] this was right before paul [Music] the apostle paul was executed and actually he was beheaded but after many years of walking with the lord but i like what he says here this is all so good here let's let's start reading at verse six he says for i am now ready to be offered and the time of my departure is at hand i have fought a good fight i have finished my course i have kept the faith henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the lord the righteous judge shall give to me at that day and not to me only but unto all them that also love his appearing then he tells timothy do your diligence to come shortly unto me for demas has forsaken me having loved this present world and is departed unto thessalonica the cretians to galatia and titus to dalmatia he said only luke is with me take mark and bring him with thee for he is profitable to me for the ministry and tychicus i have i sent it to ephesus the cloak or the coat that i left at troas with corpus when you come bring with you and the books but especially the parchments alexander the coppersmith did be much evil the lord reward him for his works of whom be thou where also for he has greatly withstood our words and then paul says this at my first answer no man stood with me but all men forsook me i pray god that it may not be laid to their charge notwithstanding the lord stood with me and strengthened me that by me the preaching might be fully known and that all the gentiles might hear and i was delivered out of the mouth of the lion now do you see that right there and then he goes on to say and the lord shall deliver me from every evil work and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom to whom be glory for ever and ever amen now i read that because i wanted you to see this was paul kind of this is kind of his last words you know man's last words are pretty important don't you think and he said you know what the lord and this is what stuck with me this morning as we were in worship the lord delivered me out of the mouth of the lion oh that means that he was in the mouth of the lion you know what i'm saying and i thought about the story where david was talking about how a lion came into the flock remember and grabbed a lamb and how he went and took the lion by the mouth and killed the lion and delivered that lamb out of that lion's mouth how many of you know that the the the lamb probably had some
teeth marks he survived the little lamb survived but had some teeth marks and i think that's what paul was referring to right here he's like you know i was beaten on my back i was whipped five times i was beaten with rods three times i was stoned i was shipwrecked in the deep i was how many times he was thrown in prison i don't know but he said the lord delivered me from the mouth of the lion but you know what he still had some teeth marks didn't he it wasn't all smooth sailing it wasn't a cruise ship that he was on it was a sinking ship out there though in the middle of a hurricane but god stood with him and and paul didn't go anywhere until it was his time to go be with jesus that's what i love about that he said i have fought a good fight i have kept the faith now you know what when i was a younger man and wasn't saved i used to fight let me tell you what a good fight is a good fight's win you win you're no fun to lose right but i've been in some i've been in some that uh i won but it didn't look like i won you know what i mean i came out with busted lips and black eyes but you know the other fella was in worse shape that's kind of like a boxing match isn't it well this is the war we're in say this with me i can win this fight say it's a good fight because i can win it [Laughter] it's a good fight but it's a fight right he didn't say it was a cakewalk said it was a fight right so here paul's talking about it's a fight peter's talking about the devil's coming as a roaring lion and he's going to cause afflictions and it's going to cause some suffering going to cause some difficulties right but it's a good fight and when he said the words i have finished my course you know what that's saying man this is this this just makes me sh i finished what god had for me to do not very many people can say that can they paul said i obeyed god this is what basically what he said i obeyed god and i finished everything he had for me to do and because of that there's a crown waiting for me see i just think about paul you think about it you know
at some point he wrote his last letter at some point he led the last person to jesus he was supposed to lead to jesus at some point he mentored the last elder and the last young pastor for the last time then he said i finished my course if you're going to do the will of god for your life don't expect it to be easy it's fight there will be victories see we forget a war is not just one battle a war is many battles and some battles you win and some battles you lose and some battles you're just glad to get through it at all right but in jesus name we get through them turn turn with me to this scripture revelation 12. and i guess one of the reasons that uh this has been laid on my heart today about the battle is you know for instance as you're as you're turning there the battle one of the battles the devil brings against the mind of the brain is the the sexual lust issue okay and you know nobody in here and even younger ones he brings those thoughts and images to the head okay now there's an old saying you can't help if a bird flies over your head but you can keep it from building a nest in your hair right so we're going to get bombarded at times with thoughts and temptations in this area but i want to tell you when the devil's getting ground in you and when you know you're going to be headed toward possibly falling is when you meditate on it when you let it stay there when you let it linger when you let it continue to roll around and ruminate in your head and this this area i'll say this this area the sexual lust and temptation and sexual sin this right here is going to take a lot of people to hell go take a lot of christians to hell i can't tell you how many christians with their boyfriends or girlfriends every weekend or during the week or even living together or how many people are just addicted to pornography and and and christians and i don't doubt at some point another i don't doubt that some of them may not be have ever been saved but i don't doubt that some of them truly were at some point in the past i don't doubt that at all a christian can do anything they want to do but i'm sitting here going there's so
many that are convinced that fornication and adultery and pornography and the lust of the eyes and having their heart full of it and constantly thinking and meditating on on sexual lust and see they but they think that that they're still okay with god and everything's all right well it's gonna be a rude awakening on judgment day because it's not what pastor dean says it's not what pastor at at first this church or second that church says it's not it's not what the it's what this book says so we don't get control of our thought life or what we meditate on it'll eventually lead to actions and let me let me say this as well with this before i move on thoughts constant thoughts that you allow lead to actions and then actions open the door for bigger demons and then you get all kinds of justifications on why it's okay for you to do that thing there's gonna be a lot of christians who are drinking who are sleeping around who are addicted to pornography and they're gonna they actually think they're going to heaven there's a rude awakening coming and i and and i think about this a lot because i i know there's a real battle and and when it comes to this battle you either overcome it or it overcomes you you know revelation 12 i love this verse he's speaking about the the devil look at verse nine and the great dragon was cast out that old serpent called the devil in satan which deceives the whole world he was cast out into the earth and his angels were cast out with him and i heard a loud voice saying in heaven now has come salvation and strength in the kingdom of our god and the power of his christ for the accuser of our brother and his cast down which accused them before our god day and night and they overcame him by the blood of the lamb by the word of their testimony and they love not their lives even unto the death you can put it this way we overcome the devil first and foremost by the blood of the lamb meaning if we confess our sins and forsake them the blood of jesus cleanses us from all unrighteousness right we can go to first john and read that in a second but then secondly by what comes out of our mouth the word of our testimony and you know that the words out of your mouth can be what jesus says what the word of god says it can be what god wants or it can be what the world wants it could be what the flesh wants but we overcome the
devil by the blood of jesus what's coming out of our mouth and because we've made up our minds that if it comes down to it we're not going to save our lives if we have to lose them for his sake people leave that one out a lot don't they when they quote that verse you'll hear all the time we overcome satan by the blood of the lamb word of our testimony they leave out that love not our lives unto death right we need to finish our course so go to colossians the verse i was going to quote first i just quote it first john if we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship one with another and the blood of jesus christ his son cleanses us from all sin if if if don't you love all those ifs in the bible if we walk in the light you get the colossians chapter one this is what you need to pray right here this is what i pray for you a lot of times here and i want you all to pray this for me as well paul said this right here he said in verse 9 he said for this cause we also sense the day we heard of it or your faith he said we do not cease to pray for you and to desire that you might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding that you might walk worthy of the lord unto all pleasing being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of god and strengthened with all might according to his glorious power unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness giving thanks unto the father which has made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of saint of the saints in light who has delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of his dear son in whom we have redemption through his blood even the forgiveness of sins i want you to see that part where he said i pray that you might be filled with the knowledge of his will and all wisdom and spiritual understanding that you might walk worthy of the lord unto all pleasing bible says you have not because you ask not to fight this fight to finish your course to do what god wants you to do to fight the devil and to persevere you've got to know god's will in giving situations so you got to pray
this amen i know this kind of goes back to praying and hearing god's voice but you got to pray this this is a prayer that paul prayed for them often i mean think about this the apostle paul down on his knees praying i pray for the colossians for the church there that they would be filled with the knowledge of your will lord in all wisdom spiritual understanding i pray that you'll be filled why because he wanted them to overcome the devil and overcome the temptations and overcome you know the issue of failure and not fulfilling god's plan for their lives so i say all that to say this don't let the devil stop you don't let the attacks don't let the afflictions don't let any suffering don't let any you know he may get you in his mouth but the lord will deliver you out of his mouth if you keep standing with the lord and you keep fighting and you keep resisting and if anybody tells you you're going to walk this walk without any teeth marks they just lied to you amen persecution come you know i could just i could just go through a lot of verses but i'm gonna stop this morning don't think it's strange peter said concerning the fiery trial which is to try you as though some strange thing happened to you right it's not strange it's normal the devil is going about as a royal lying seeking whom he may devour these afflictions that he causes is common to every true brother and sister in the world but here's the good news he said after you've suffered a while that in first peter five he said after you've suffered a while the lord will perfect you that means bring maturity into your life he will strengthen you he will establish you the word strengthen and establish there mean to turn in a in a certain direction he'll give you clear direction i think some people want god to just tell them everything of what to do they don't understand the fight comes first then he tells you and sometimes he just tells you a little part and then you got to fight through something and get the next part that's why he said we know in part we prophesy in part but when jesus comes then face to face we won't have to have this in part business right god doesn't give you everything because he wants you to fight through the afflictions and the suffering and the temptations and the demonic spirits he wants you to fight through that fasting and prayer and worship and staying in the word and fight through it and then hear what he's saying do that and then move to the next thing amen move from one battle to the next
fight the good fight of faith finish your course finish what god's called you to do you might find out a piece here do it you find out a next piece in a few months or a year find that out and then do it you know i didn't know 20 years ago i'd have a church in auburn alabama you don't find out everything in the beginning matter of fact i didn't even think i'd ever be a pastor but god gives pieces of the puzzle as you keep following and fighting and following and fighting and hearing god's voice man he's got some good things for you i think he's i think he's going to use all of you in a powerful way in the days ahead he's going to give you let you hear his voice and and know things about people and minister to people in ways that you you may have only have once or twice or maybe never and god's going to start doing things like that through you're going to see people get healed through you you're going to see people get delivered you're going to cast out demons not just pastor dean you're going to cast demons out of somebody and they're going to freak out they're going to go wow i just had no idea you know that i could be free from this i mean you guys are going to do that stuff you guys are going to raise the dead i believe that and heal the sick and cast out demons and and and freaked the world out out here you know i i do believe that with all my heart but the devil wants to stop that that's what i'm saying he wants to tempt you attacked you and get to the point he gets you away from that amen and no one's immune i get it the devil working on me and attacking me and i know that you're gonna get it you know i mean that you can have the most godly man or woman walking with the lord and an onslaught happen i mean look at david the man after god's own heart the man who loved god with all his heart the man who suffered for 15 years running from saul i mean he suffered great affliction he lost everything because simply because god put the anointing and the call of god on his life he got the fury of the devil and of saul who was being influenced by evil spirits and he had to run and live in caves and run for his life and it wasn't a pleasant existence and some of us think well you know i guess you read it you think well that was just you know maybe it was just a year or two no about 15 years of his life was spent we know it was 12 to 15 years before he stepped into what god called him to do but any point in that he could have walked away and matter of fact he almost did but then years later he's king he's a godly king he's one of the most godly kings israel ever had and he was supposed to be at battle it says when the kings were supposed to be at battle david was at home so he wasn't where he was supposed to be where god wanted him to be and that's when he saw bathsheba out there bathing on the rooftop it's believed that bathsheba's uncle i
hit the fell put her up to it but the bottom line was if david would have been where god wanted him to be that incident would have never happened but a godly man out of god's will not where he should be not doing what he should be doing the temptation can come in in it was devastating to his life the child died plague came into israel this destruction it brought destruction now david was a man that deeply repented and humbled himself and deeply repented he didn't kill the prophet who came and said you're the man and that's why david was forgiven it's because of the depth of his repentance his humility and repentance but it still brought the lord told him think about this i'm gonna forgive your sin but the sword will never leave your house it's not a prophecy you want there's always a cost to sin there's always a cost to falling there's always a cost to a given into temptation and it's horrible even if you're forgiven because the bible says we will reap what we sow so i just pray my prayer for you and i share this this morning though you may be the strongest christian in the room right now and you might be doing better than you've ever done in your entire life but that does not mean you're immune to something down the road be careful of being alone with the opposite sex careful you know putting yourself in situations just be careful especially single p be careful the devil knows how to set up a situation to take you down and why is he going to do that listen to me why does he want to do that because there's people around you that even whether you know it or not they're watching you they're watching your life they're watching your testimony god's dealing with them god's drawing them even though they may be resisting but god's using your life as a light to them and if you fall and blow it and they see it or that that influence that light for the time that that's gone in their lives always think that whenever you feel tempted or whenever the devil's trying to bring sin into your life it's not just you it's gonna affect you might get up and be fine you might repent you might be okay you might make it still but somebody won't because of the seeing that
that's that's i think one of satan's biggest lies is to make us think that if you know if we sin or we fall it's only going to affect us i remember david wilson years ago preaching this message it was entitled be sure your sins will find you out and he said first they're going to find you then they're going to find your family then they're going to find your workplace then they're going to find they're going to that's what jesus said very similar he said what happens in in secret will eventually be shouted from the housetops little birds of the air come take these things you know i love what irvin baxter was talking about tonight if you have something and this is a can be a good thing but if you have something that's a secret don't tell anybody because you're a person that you tell that you think's your best friend that you would only tell the secret to well they have a best friend too that they would only tell a secret to and they have a best friend too they don't oh don't tell anybody this you know secrets get told don't they so but that's a good thing sometimes it's a good thing right some things need to get exposed i think we're going to see more people getting exposed in the days ahead and it's not god's god being mean he's trying to get them out of it sometimes i think when we we we get away with something for a while we start get thinking well i'm i'm okay in this that's why there's a scripture in ecclesiastes he said when you know god bears long with us and we continue in something he said he said in ecclesiastes he said you know the heart man's heart's fully set to do even when god doesn't judge it quickly god's judgment is really a good thing it doesn't feel good sometimes right when discipline and judgment comes but anyway fight these thoughts that come to your head fight them don't let them linger don't let them hang out cast them down get your mind on the word understand that it will be agonizing you know i love what charles finney said that book right there you see it with the the blue and the red stripes right there on that middle shelf that's revival lectures by charles g finney but he said this he said anyone who has the spirit of god any true amount of the spirit of god in their lives will deal with agonizing conflicts with satan and demonic forces it ain't easy sometimes that's what i'm saying okay let's pray thank you jesus father in heaven we just thank you right now we thank you lord for your word and we thank you lord that that though the powers of darkness are out there and they're trying to attack and afflict and tempt and
and make us fall lord that your grace is there your strength is there your power is there your word is there we can tap into all those weapons put on the whole armor of god and stand and fight and take the sword of the spirit which is your word and fight and we can cast down the imaginations and we don't have to fall lord we don't have to give into temptation we don't have to mess up and and ruin our witness to people we don't have to be like that lord we can stand and walk with you and lord we believe that even if the even if the lion that devil lying gets us in his mouth that you can deliver us out of his mouth so lord we thank you that by the blood of jesus christ by the word of our testimony because we love not our lives unto the death because we're willing to resist unto blood if need be that we can overcome and walk with you and fulfill our course fulfill our destiny and the call on our lives and do everything that you have for us to do i pray this in jesus name amen