Mighty Through God
by David Jury
November 6, 2022 · Atlanta West Pentecostal Church (Lithia Springs, GA)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, 1 Chronicles 29:11, Hebrews 4:12, Isaiah 9:6-7, John 1:3-5, Ephesians 6:10-20, 1 Peter 5:8, Luke 9:1, Mark 16:15-18, 1 Corinthians 2:3-5, Acts 19:15

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/david-jury--mighty-through-god
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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in your Bible the New Testament second Corinthians chapter 10 verse 3 for though we walk in the flesh we do not war after the flesh for the weapons of our Warfare are not carnal But Mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds casting down imaginations in every High thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to The Obedience of cries for the next few minutes and my subject is this mighty through God would you look at your neighbor and tell them you are Mighty through God God bless you may be seated amen What a Mighty God we serve we used to sing it this way it's not doesn't meet the standard anymore what a mighty God we serve what a mighty God we serve Angels bow before him Heaven and Earth adore him what a mighty God we serve David proclaimed it this way in second chronicles 29 and 11 yours O Lord is the greatness and the power and the glory and the Victory and the Majesty for all that is in heaven and earth is yours yours is the kingdom O Lord and you are exalted as head over all our God is mighty and his word is mighty it's Pastor John stalled so well Wednesday in Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 12 for the word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword piercing even to the division of Soul and Spirit and of the joints in Mont marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart no wonder that I then that Isaiah would prophesy For unto us a child is born unto us a son is given and the government will be upon his shoulders and his name will be called wonderful counselor Mighty God Everlasting father and Prince of Peace and of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end no wonder John would declare in that first chapter of his gospel the word gave a life to everything that was created and his life brought light to everyone the light shines in darkness and the Darkness can never extinguish it what a mighty God we serve but here's the Wonder that God has chosen to join his Sovereign power with our frail presence to fulfill his holy purpose what is a wonder is that as Disciples of Jesus Christ we are entrusted and commissioned as invaluable agents of his mission I realize that if you've been a part of our services over the last few weeks that is not revelatory our mission is to lead people into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ and develop them into fully devoted followers of him our mission is to go to the ends of the Earth our mission yes is to ask but if you're like me hopefully not much but if you're like me the daunting responsibility of our mission can be a little bit overwhelming especially when we consider the underwhelming reality of the person staring at us in the mirror and so today I feel directed by the spirit to remind us once again that the power of Jesus Christ is inseparable from the mission of Jesus Christ I want to remind you that God's word it is Unbound and it is powerful and that God's spirit supernaturally directs and affirms his word here Jesus in those precious final moments all authority has been given to me in heaven and earth go therefore and Make Disciples of all Nations baptizing and teaching and lo I Am With You Always even to the End of the Age this means for you and I this day that the power of his word and the power of His Spirit work in us and work through us to accomplish his mission that when we share our testimony and when we speak his word that we are Mighty through God so yes you and I can ask those Eternal questions have you receive the spirit and have you been baptized in Jesus name yes you and high can lead a friend from common ground to Holy Grail yes you can be who God has called you to be and you can do what God has called you to do not because of who you are not because you know how to talk in tongues alone not because you have learned how a few tricks of the trade not because you have experience not because you have intellect not because you have grit but by the power of God for who he is not who I am but who he is but let this be known that in him you are Mighty through God [Music] but hear me today I'm not trying to sack you into some kind of false sense of immunity from trial and temptation the Great Commission is not a video game where there's a code and you get unlimited lives as Disciples of Jesus Christ you and I have a very real and a very present adversary who wants nothing more than to steal our salvation and sabotage our mission whether by Temptation condemnation or intimidation Satan relentlessly strives to either lure us into a carnal state of compromise or isolate us in a silent state of survival please understand that Satan and his minions will do whatever it takes as Jesus said to kill and to steal and to destroy what rightfully belongs to God Peter's warning is clear enough when he wrote in First Peter 5 and 8 stay alert watch out for your great enemy the devil he he prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour but thankfully though we are not abandoned and we are not alone as Paul declared to the Corinthians we are not ignorant of his evil schemes and of his the tactics and devices we have the illumination of the word and we have the discernment of the spirit and here is the good news you are not Expendable in most military campaigns and causes there's always Expendable collateral damage just send them to the beach a few won't make it but we'll try to get there and have Victory but there is not one child of God that is Expendable in the advancement of the kingdom of God he thought you were worth saving and he thought you were worth keeping and he has already prepared a place for you and I to spend forever with him that's why that's why as Paul wrote the Ephesians we in our mortality are powerfully equipped to defeat Satan through Jesus Christ Our Lord and Savior here Paul in Ephesians 6 he writes a final word be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all the strategies of the devil you want to pick and choose how you live for God you want to pick and choose a little salvation and a little shoe and I'll skip the body armor I don't like that then could find but you are vulnerable because only with all the armor can you stand firm against all the strategies of the devil for we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies but against evil rulers and authorities of the Unseen World against Mighty powers in this dark world and against evil spirits in the Heavenly places therefore put on every piece of God's harmor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil and then after the paddle you will still be standing firm stand your crown because there are some fields that are worth fighting for stand your ground putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God's righteousness for shoes put on the peace that comes from the good news so that you will be fully prepared in addition to all of these hold up the shield of Faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil and put on salvation as your helmet and take the sword of the spirit which is the word of God we like to stop there but he wasn't done pray in the spirit at all times and on every occasion stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere and then Paul went personal and pray for me too and ask God to give me the right words so I can boldly explain God's mysterious plan that the good news is for Jews and Gentiles alike what did Paul understand that the power of the spirit and the power of the word was not just so you could be healthy and wealthy and name it and claim it but God's power is inseparably to his mission it is inseparably joined to his mission it is in the mission that the power of God is released it is in the mission that God armor stands firm and fast in our life covered by his blood see old by his spirit and bearing his name we are Mighty through God our Salvation is secure our faith it's unshakable our armor is invincible and our weapons are Mighty and all of that is about a snapshot of the witness of the Bible that is encapsulated in Paul's declaration that we read and read in our text second Corinthians 10 and 3 Paul is responding both practically to attacks against his ministry and in general to all the attacks against the mission of God Paul declares though we walk in the flesh we do not war after the flesh for the weapons of our Warfare are not carnal But Mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds casting down imaginations and every High thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to The Obedience of Christ though we are in the flesh and though we walk in the full reality of the weakness of our flesh we do not wage war according to the flesh just like Jesus Christ we're not immune from the full Human Experience when you were baptized there was no magic Jelly Bean that you took and pamo you became invincible and you know just a robot in this world immune from life sickness can strike losses can come relational conflict will happen rejection still stings loneliness can still be overwhelming but even in the Valley of the shadow of death and even in A Storm of struggle and suffering and even when all of Hell seems arrayed all around us we do not have to capitulate to fear and unbelief because the weapons of our Warfare are not carnal but they are Mighty through Todd they are Mighty and you are Mighty through God the name of Jesus is our refuge his Spirit enables us to stand strong in our faith his word is alive and Powerful the sword of the spirit and our praise releases the miraculous your mighty you are Mighty through God this this power out of weakness it is the Paradox of God's plan to save the world that God has chosen to fulfill his purpose through our presence and his power we see this truth manifested when Jesus sent forth his disciples to proclaim the gospel of his coming Kingdom in Luke 9 and 1 one day Jesus called them together and he gave them power and authority to cast out all demons and to heal all diseases it is worth noting he did not give them power and he did not give them Authority until he sent them out to proclaim the good news of his kingdom we see it revealed in the Great Commission Mark 16 and 15 Jesus said go unto all the world and preach the gospel to Every Creature he who believes and is baptized shall be saved but he who does not believe will be condemned and these signs will follow those who believe in my name they will cast out demons they will speak with new tongues and they will take up serpents and if they drink anything deadly it will by no means hurt them they will lay hands on the sick and they will recover you are Mighty through God we see it when persecution strikes the young Church in Acts 4 and in surrounded by chaos and seemingly overwhelmed by the odds how is this new kingdom of God even going to survive these first few days and years but they gather together like we have today and when we gather together in his name something powerful happens and their prayers coales and this is what they pray O Lord hear their threats and give us your servants great boldness in preaching your word stretch out your hand with healing power and may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus and after that kind of prayer the Bible says says the meeting place Shook and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and they preached the word of God with boldness and in verse 33 the apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus we see it in Paul's testimony to the Corinthians in First Corinthians 2 and 3 I was with you in weakness in fear and much trembling and my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom but in demonstration of the spirit and the power that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God when we go when we go to the ends of the Earth when we go next door to that neighbor when we speak his word god backs us up with his power you are Mighty Through Time you're mighty through God in all of your weaknesses understanding fully your resume and all of the Dark Places on that resume even then you through Christ are an Unstoppable force of Heaven on this Earth [Music] and to be sure to be sure today this is not about turning the name of Jesus into a magic fairy one this is not about marching around and treating the work of the word and spirit like pixie does and you just make things good for everybody that's not what we're talking about the sons of skiba in Acts 19 who tried to use the name of Jesus like a magic incantation they offer a warning up for what it would be to seek such carnal nonsense Acts 19 and 15 but what the Bible says but one time these sons of skeva when they tried it the evil spirit replied I know Jesus and I know Paul whose Praise In The Name of Jesus but who are you and then the man with the evil spirit leaped on them and overpowered them and attacked them with such violence that they fled from the house naked and patterned so hear me this morning if you think that you can please God and if you think that you can defeat the Devil and if you think that you can save your friends and family while living according to desires of your flesh and not walking in obedience to the word of God and treating truth like a buffet that you can pick and choose what you like and you can call Tradition and excuse away what you don't like please hear me you are living in a spiritual danger zone that is the witness of Acts 19 but it is the witness of all the Bible here at the onset of the Old Testament where you find Adam and Eve in a place of perfection they are in paradise and yet they fall they fell and they yield to Temptation because you and I when we are walking in the flesh when we are relying on our own goodness when we think that we'll figure it out by just having good intentions Satan will overpower us he will strip us and he will spiritually leave us for dead but when we leap to the New Testament at the onset we find Jesus all alone and weakened by 40 days of fasting in a Barren Wilderness and yet there he tries over Satan by the power of the word and the power of the spirit so when we love God with all of our heart when we love God with all of our soul and when we love God with all of our strength when we obediently submit to his word and when we engage in his mission I've just come to tell you that when you are aligned to God's way the weapons of our Warfare are not carnal but they aren't Mighty through God they are Mighty through God and you are Mighty Through Time the power of the spirit and the power of the word so yes in our flesh we are weak this is not about flexing your muscle and trying to do a one-up on Satan he'll kick your teeth in if you think you're going to play games that way in our flesh we struggle at times with unbelief and doubt in our flesh we are capable of yielding to Temptation in our flesh we are vulnerable to being intimidated into a corner and condemned right out of the arms of God but we do not walk in the flesh we live in the spirit and through Jesus Christ we can live triumphantly because when we are weak he is strong and in our weakness his strength is made perfect I don't know why he chose it that way it's the Paradox of his plan but God chose to accomplish his purpose by our presence and his power you are Mighty through God mighty when Satan seeks to exploit our human weaknesses we quote the word it is written and we pray in the spirit when Satan condemns us for our past failures we plead the blood of Jesus and we remind him of his worst nightmare because the weapons of our Warfare are not carnal they are Mighty through God when our family and friends ignore Our Testimony when they seem resistant to truth of God's word when they are cynical towards the church and Spiritual Authority when they are unmoved by the chaos of their own lives we do not abandon our mission we keep investing in the relationship with love and mercy we keep telling our story and we keep turning the conversation towards Jesus we keep praying in his name and praying in the spirit because the weapons of our Warfare are not carnal they are Mighty through God Mighty through God so through us our city will see Jesus through us our neighborhood will hear his gospel and through us our friends will come to know the saving power of His great name because we are Mighty through God we speak his word he convicts and saves we pray in his name he performs the miraculous we give him praise and worship and he gives us Victory and breakthrough this is the way of God this is the witness of the Bible that we are mighty through God