Win Your War

Romans 7:14-25 – For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

2 Peter 2:19 – They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.

Colossians 3:5 – Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

It’s a short walk from sin to habitual sin to addiction, which is frequent. People often descend the slippery slope from one level to another without a conscious awareness, which is why honest friends and trained professionals can help us see our blind spots.

In the kingdom of God, people worship Him by practicing self-control. In the earthly world, people worship pleasure as god and lose self-control, so their sinful flesh controls them.

Whereas the culture uses the word addiction, the Bible uses the word slavery. If you cannot stop a sinful pattern, you are a slave.

When Christians are addicted, they really only have four options:

Minimization: Try and manage sin to keep it from getting worse. These efforts are doomed to failure. Sin is like cancer; either you kill it or it kills you.
Compartmentalization: Try and hide it, live a secret double life, anxiously hoping you don’t get caught, exposed, and found out.
Celebration: Accept it as your new identity and be proud of it even though you should be ashamed of it. This explains why the world has parades for things when it should have funerals.
Liberation: Walk in the freedom God intends by killing what is killing you: Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

To order the new book from Pastor Mark & Grace Driscoll “Win Your War”, visit: https://amzn.to/2YuhoDn.

For the entire eight-week “Win Your War” sermon series  from Pastor Mark, visit www.markdriscoll.org or the Mark Driscoll Ministries app.

Ezekiel 14:1-8 – Then certain of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me. And the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their hearts, and set the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces. Should I indeed let myself be consulted by them? Therefore speak to them and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Any one of the house of Israel who takes his idols into his heart and sets the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and yet comes to the prophet, I the Lord will answer him as he comes with the multitude of his idols, that I may lay hold of the hearts of the house of Israel, who are all estranged from me through their idols. “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: Repent and turn away from your idols, and turn away your faces from all your abominations. For any one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel, who separates himself from me, taking his idols into his heart and putting the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and yet comes to a prophet to consult me through him, I the Lord will answer him myself. And I will set my face against that man; I will make him a sign and a byword and cut him off from the midst of my people, and you shall know that I am the Lord. 

Romans 1:25 – …because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

What constitutes a counterfeit god or object of worship? Martin Luther’s says, “whatever your heart clings to and relies upon, that is your God.”

While idolatry manifests externally, it originates internally. As Christians we commonly ask people if they have accepted Jesus in their hearts; the counterfeit is people who “have taken their idols into their hearts.”

God made us to worship Him by enjoying everyone and everything that He graciously provides for us. Satan wants us to love the gifts more than their Giver.

Because He sees behind the natural into the spiritual forces at work propping up entertainment, politics, sports, education, and various spiritualities and religions, God repeatedly connects idolatry with the demonic. Demonic powers will make the worship of idols profitable, pleasurable, and preferable to worshipping the real God. Pagan practices have never really been updated because they remain constant best sellers—sex, money, power, fame, beauty, comfort, and the like never go out of demand.

The jealousy of God is mentioned frequently in the Bible. Jealousy happens when someone is in our place. God loves us, and when we love someone or something instead of Him, He feels much like married people would feel if they came home to have dinner with their spouse and found the person their spouse is committing adultery with sitting in their seat at the family table.

To order the new book from Pastor Mark & Grace Driscoll “Win Your War”, visit: https://amzn.to/2YuhoDn.

For the entire eight-week “Win Your War” sermon series  from Pastor Mark, visit www.markdriscoll.org or the Mark Driscoll Ministries app.

John 4:21-26 – Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

Exodus 20:3-4 – You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

God created us to worship Him. Idolatry is the counterfeit of worship. Like the Samaritan woman at the well, we worship our way into trouble by worshipping counterfeits, and we can worship our way out of trouble by worshipping our Creator.

God provided the Ten Commandments in order of importance. The first commandment teaches us who to worship and who or what not to worship. The second commandment teaches us how to worship and how not to worship.

It’s impossible to worship the one true God while disobeying the remaining commandments. Dishonor, murder, adultery, greed, lying, and envy happen because we choose to commit idolatry. Our false gods lead us into slavery to sin rather than freedom from sin.

Worship is not merely a part of what we do and something that starts and stops; worship is what everyone does all the time. The issue is not if we worship but who, what, and how we worship.

When someone spends all his or her time and money on golf, boating, fishing, sex, gambling, watching television, surfing the internet, or ranting about politics, he or she is making a sacrifice. The alcoholic worships the bottle, the drug addict worships the high, the codependent person worships his or her relationship partner, the greedy person worships money, the control freak worships being in charge, and the helicopter parent worships his or her kid.

Worship is what happens when we worship the Creator God in the right way, in spirit and truth (John 4:24). Idolatry is what happens when we worship a counterfeit god or worship the right God in a counterfeit way.

To order the new book from Pastor Mark & Grace Driscoll “Win Your War”, visit: https://amzn.to/2YuhoDn.

For the entire eight-week “Win Your War” sermon series  from Pastor Mark, visit www.markdriscoll.org or the Mark Driscoll Ministries app.

James 4:7 – Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Key #4. Your defeated enemy has to surrender to your victorious king. Do you remember that game in which two kids squeeze one another’s hands until one of them surrenders by shouting, “Uncle!” or “Mercy!”

Satan and demons seem to like playing their own spiritual version of this game. They will bring some sort of trouble, trial, or temptation and squeeze until you surrender to them, thereby allowing them to win. Demons want you to believe the lie that they will never stop squeezing until you surrender.

The truth is that you do not have to play their game. Rather than surrendering to unholy spirits, you can yield to the Holy Spirit. If you surrender to the Spirit and command the demonic to depart, it must leave you. As we surrender to the Spirit, the devil must surrender to Him as well. The Spirit of God in you is greater than the demonic spirits against you.

To order the new book from Pastor Mark & Grace Driscoll “Win Your War”, visit: https://amzn.to/2YuhoDn.

For the entire eight-week “Win Your War” sermon series  from Pastor Mark, visit www.markdriscoll.org or the Mark Driscoll Ministries app.

Ephesians 1:15-22 – For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church…

Key #3: You come with your King’s authority. If you watch the television show Cops, you will notice that someone who is out of control suddenly changes his or her behavior once a police officer shows up.

Why?

Because when someone with more authority shows up, you must surrender. You can do this willingly or you can do this unwillingly.

When a demon comes into your life, it does not need to surrender to you. You have no authority apart from Jesus. Every demon must submit to Jesus because He has all authority. No one and nothing has authority equal to Jesus Christ.

To order the new book from Pastor Mark & Grace Driscoll “Win Your War”, visit: https://amzn.to/2YuhoDn.

For the entire eight-week “Win Your War” sermon series  from Pastor Mark, visit www.markdriscoll.org or the Mark Driscoll Ministries app.

1 John 5:18-19 – We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him. We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

Colossians 1:13 – He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son…

1 Peter 5:7-9 – …casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.

If you belong to Jesus Christ, you need to believe the following four things so you can exercise the authority He delegated to you as you wage your war.

Key #1: You have moved from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. When you were born, you were born into the world system, which is a counterfeit kingdom at war against the kingdom of God. When you were born again of the Holy Spirit, your citizenship transferred from this world to the kingdom. Your residence may still be in this world, but your citizenship is in heaven. Furthermore, King Jesus protects you in this enemy territory.

Key #2: Demonic attack is not uncommon. In school we study the history of wars; in church we study the war behind the wars. Not only are soldiers marching into battle throughout history, but so are spirits. Like physical soldiers, demon warriors are skilled persons who communicate, possess great intelligence, have emotions that drive them, and have a will by which they make tactical decisions.

When two nations are at war, every citizen is also involved in that war. When an enemy army marches into a town, the residents find themselves under siege for the simple reason that there is a war, and everyone is on one side or the other.

Demonic attack is constant, often seducing the flesh within us because we are living in the midst of a war that has been raging since it erupted in heaven.

God invites you to cast all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. You have peace with God.

To order the new book from Pastor Mark & Grace Driscoll “Win Your War”, visit: https://amzn.to/2YuhoDn.

For the entire eight-week “Win Your War” sermon series  from Pastor Mark, visit www.markdriscoll.org or the Mark Driscoll Ministries app.

2 Corinthians 5:6-8 – So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

Genesis 3:15 – I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.

We were snuggled up on the couch watching television late one night, flipping back and forth between channels. When watching the History Channel, even though they were showing footage of World War II with building suspense, we were not anxious or alarmed. On the other hand, as we watched real-time footage on the news channel, we were noticeably more agitated and anxious. Why? We know the ending for the old news but not for the current news, which caused us to respond differently to old versus current reports.

For God everything is the History Channel, and nothing is the nightly news. God sees everything in its finished state and invites us to trust Him for a happily-ever-after ending for all of His people. To walk with Jesus is to march in the angelic army with the God who overcomes the world. We are to believe this by our faith until we see it by sight.

The enemy and his empire are crumbling and will be crushed. Knowing this and believing that the Bible accurately records the end of history will give you the courage you need to win your wars.

Not only is Satan a deceiver, but he has also apparently deceived himself into thinking he can rewrite the story line of the Bible and defeat God once and for all. This might explain why Satan continues to wage war even though the Bible is clear that he loses in the end.

Nevertheless, the same Jesus who defeated the devil in His first coming will finally destroy the devil in His second coming.

To order the new book from Pastor Mark & Grace Driscoll “Win Your War”, visit: https://amzn.to/2YuhoDn.

For the entire eight-week “Win Your War” sermon series  from Pastor Mark, visit www.markdriscoll.org or the Mark Driscoll Ministries app.

Ephesians 6:12 – 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.

Colossians 2:14-15 – …by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

John 16:33 – I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.

World War II was the biggest and bloodiest war in the history of the planet. More than thirty nations were involved in the battle for six years starting with the Nazi invasion of Poland in 1939 under the leadership of Adolf Hitler. Historians estimate that between 40 and 50 million people died because one man sought to rule as a demonically empowered false god over many nations

At the war’s conclusion, despite Hitler’s suicide and his successor Karl Dönitz’s signed surrender, individual skirmishes continued. As is often the case in war, some German soldiers kept fighting long after their nation was defeated, and the triumphant nations had cleaned up their victory parades. Some refused to accept the reality that their kingdom had fallen. Others did not care that they were defeated and simply wanted to inflict as much pain and death as they possibly could.

The war between God and Satan is much like World War II. At the cross of Jesus Christ, Satan was defeated. But skirmishes rage on until our King returns to once and for all round up the rebellious people and spirits and sentence them to an eternal prison as His kingdom overtakes every nation of the earth. These skirmishes in your life are not the big battle—King Jesus already won that! Your battles are fought in the context of a war that is over with a foe who is defeated and will ultimately be disarmed and destroyed.

To order the new book from Pastor Mark & Grace Driscoll “Win Your War”, visit: https://amzn.to/2YuhoDn.

For the entire eight-week “Win Your War” sermon series  from Pastor Mark, visit www.markdriscoll.org or the Mark Driscoll Ministries app.

Colossians 2:13–15 – And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.  He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

Colossians 1:10–14 – …so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.  He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Jesus is our dragon slayer who came to defeat our enemy the dragon and set us free. We long for the final defeat of the dragon with the return of Jesus. But the authority of the devil and his demons in our lives has already ended. Jesus has thoroughly freed us from all our obligations to and agreements with the dragon, enabling us to live according to Colossians chapter 1.

Though defeated, Satan and his demons will not be destroyed until the final judgment at Jesus’ white throne. Subsequently their work continues on the earth, which means you must walk wisely. The devil and his demons have no legal authority over any believer. They may take advantage of our sin, folly, weakness, fear, unbelief, and the like.

However, their ownership, dominion, and condemnation of us were canceled at the cross of Christ. For those who belong to and believe in Christ, all demonic ties formed through sin, cultic vows, generational sin, and participation in the demonic realm were rendered null and void forever by virtue of the complete and total victory of Jesus Christ. Your ministry is to believe and exercise that authority.

Despite the fact that he is a doomed, limping enemy, the old dragon remains crafty, as Scripture says. His goal is always the same: to hinder and harm your relationships, starting with your relationship with God. To fool you, Satan, the unholy spirit, will use various tactics that the Bible, our field guide for war, warns us about. The rest of this book is a battle plan to learn the tactics of the unholy spirit and employ strategies to win your war through the power of the Holy Spirit.

To order the new book from Pastor Mark & Grace Driscoll “Win Your War”, visit: https://amzn.to/2YuhoDn.

For the entire eight-week “Win Your War” sermon series  from Pastor Mark, visit www.markdriscoll.org or the Mark Driscoll Ministries app.

Luke 22:31-32 – “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”

Hebrews 7:25 – Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

Satan’s attack on Jesus commenced when He was only a boy. King Herod decreed that all firstborn sons be put to death. Through an angel God warned Jesus’ parents of the plot, and they fled to Egypt as refugees to spare Jesus’ life. The backdrop of the entire life of Jesus is spiritual warfare. Leading up to the cross, Satan nearly got Peter to join the demonic rebellion, but Jesus prayed for him (Lk. 22:31-32).

Satan will try and recruit you into his rebellion as well. He will bait your hook with anything you find desirable—sex, money, power, pleasure, fame, fortune, and relationships. Satan’s goal is for you to take the bait without seeing the hook. Once the hook is in your mouth, he then reels you in to club you and gut you.

The good news is that Jesus continually prays for you as He “always lives to make intercession” (Heb. 7:25). The next time you are in a war with the enemy, pause and envision Jesus Christ sitting at the right hand of the Father, praying for you to win your war.

On the cross Jesus bled and died for you, and by faith as you look to the cross, you see that He would go to any length to conquer your common enemy. Consequently, Jesus’ words, “It is finished,” from the cross are His heralding of your deliverance.

To pre-order the new book from Pastor Mark & Grace Driscoll “Win Your War”, visit: https://amzn.to/2YuhoDn.

For the entire eight-week “Win Your War” sermon series  from Pastor Mark, visit www.markdriscoll.org or the Mark Driscoll Ministries app.

Luke 1:11-17 – And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.  And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

The Son of God was born as a baby to Joseph and Mary, taking the battle from heaven to earth. God sent an angel to tell them Jesus was coming. Can you imagine the enormity of this experience? No one ever went to the backwater town of Nazareth. Then an angel showed up to announce the choice of an unlikely young woman for the most important task ever assigned to any mere mortal.

This was just the beginning of angelic ministry in the life of Jesus. In fact, angels served in Jesus’ earthly life in thirteen ways:

An angel promised the birth and ministry of John the Baptizer.
An angel named Jesus.
An angel told Mary she was chosen to be Jesus’ virgin mother
An angel told Mary and Joseph to parent Jesus.
Angels told the shepherds Jesus was born.
Angels worshipped Jesus at His birth.
Angels warned Jesus’ parents of the coming genocide so they could flee to Egypt.
Angels strengthened Jesus after His temptation battle with Satan.
An angel strengthened Jesus in Gethsemane before the cross.
An angel rolled the stone away from Jesus’ tomb.
An angel told two women at the empty tomb that Jesus had risen.
Two angels comforted Mary Magdalene and reunited her with Jesus.
Angels promised that Jesus would be coming again.

And still yet to come, angels will declare Jesus’ victory and ride into history with Him for war in the end.

To pre-order the new book from Pastor Mark & Grace Driscoll “Win Your War”, visit: https://amzn.to/2YuhoDn.

For the entire eight-week “Win Your War” sermon series (starting Sept. 29) from Pastor Mark, visit www.markdriscoll.org or the Mark Driscoll Ministries app.

Matthew 6:10 – Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Colossians 3:2 – Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 

1 John 3:1-3 – See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

There was a war in heaven that came to the earth. King Jesus has come down to the earth and will again come down, one last time, bringing the kingdom in His wake, to push the devil and his demons down to hell forever. Every day of our existence on earth we are living amidst a great battle that has been raging from long ago in heaven. Each day our decisions either invite heaven down or pull hell up into our lives.

Jesus taught us to pray and then live heaven down, not hell up: “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” When we see the Spirit fall on people in the Bible and to this day, this is living “kingdom down” rather than “culture up.” The same King who won in heaven came to earth to fight the same war on a new battlefront.

To pre-order the new book from Pastor Mark & Grace Driscoll “Win Your War”, visit: https://amzn.to/2YuhoDn.

For the entire eight-week “Win Your War” sermon series (starting Sept. 29) from Pastor Mark, visit www.markdriscoll.org or the Mark Driscoll Ministries app.