Part II: Oh No to ONO

Posted on August 18, 2023 by growintheword

August 13, 2023 Synopsis

Delivered by Bishop Joseph W. Walker

Nehemiah 6:1-4 NKJV 
Now it happened when Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall, and that there were no breaks left in it (though at that time I had not hung the doors in the gates), 2 that Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come, let us meet together among the villages in the plain of Ono.” But they thought to do me harm. 
3 So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?” 
4 But they sent me this message four times, and I answered them in the same manner.

  1. INTRODUCTION 
  2. When you are progressive and obedient to God, you understand the power of decisions. You also learn that everyone doesn’t mean you good. Not every invitation is a good invitation. Everyone doesn’t mean you good.
  3. As you work your Vision, know that there will be forces that try to impede your progress.
  4. Nehemiah is rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem and his success has revealed the insecurities of his haters. They want Nehemiah to come down and leave his work. They wanted to meet him in the plain of Ono. They secretly inspired to do him harm. 
  5. Nehemiah, was so locked to his work, he said no to Ono. Ono can be a person, place, or thing. Ono is that thing that tries to lure you away from the work that God has assigned you to do.
  6. Today we want to proclaim there comes a moment that we say “no” on Uno. We are not focused on the devil. We are working on our assignment or our plan. Know that everyday you wake up, there will be invitations to Ono.
  7. Nehemiah has so many enemies, we couldn’t’ name them all in this text if we tried.
  8. Nehemiah has built this wall. There were no breaches in the wall. Then, the enemy loved to come attack through the breaches of a wall. The gate on the front wall had not been hung yet. Historically, the enemy knew not to go through this door, because there would be guards there. This is why the enemy would use the breaches. Since the breaches were closed, this took away the enemy’s opportunity to attack.
  9. The enemy says, “Since we can’t go in, let’s see who we can get to come out”. 1. When they sent messages to Nehemiah, he was rebuilding the wall.
  10. If you were to google Ono, you would see that Ono is a real place even today. If you would check the distance, you would see that it would take Nehemiah around 13hrs to travel from the wall to Ono. Also, while trying to go there, there was a possibility that he could be attacked on the way or people could invade the wall while he was gone.
  11. The bible gives us examples of things that have happened while the Leader was gone.
    1. David was absent from his camp in Ziglag, then the enemy came in and kidnapped the women and children.
    1. When Adam was absent from the Garden, Satan came in and tempted Eve.
    1. Mark 3:27 KJV says 27 No man can enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house. – The enemy looks for an opportunity to attack in the absence of the strongman.
  12. Nehemiah building the wall is not just brick and mortar. To rebuild the wall, he had to pray. It wasn’t just about building the wall; it was also about the restoration of the people. It was a symbol that they were on their way back as God promised. Right when you are about to bring things together, this will be the time you will be attacked. The enemy tries to prevent your blessing from coming to pass.
  1. THEY RECOGNIZE THE FULL SCOPE OF YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS 
  2. The enemy attacks you because he realizes how extraordinary you are as a Leader.
  3. The predecessor traumatized the people in the text. They took their land and taxed them unjustly. Nehemiah decided he was going to help God’s people.
  4. While building the wall, Nehemiah realized that God wanted the people to be blessed. Know that your assignment is not just for you. Your assignment is always for somebody else.
  5. Nehemiah was so effective as a Builder, he built it in 52 days. People try to knock you off your assignment, because they realize your anointing.
  6. There is no way you can do your assignment without being a person of prayer.
  7. Nehemiah understood this. The only way we can do our assignment is by:
  8. Talk In the Street – We use this as free advertising of what we are doing.
  9. Trappings of Success – Whenever you are good at what you do; you have to remain humble. Remember that God can do this without you.
  10. Target of Satan – Being a target just comes with the assignment. Every day you wake up, Satan has you in his bullseye.
  11. Just Because They Didn’t Comment Doesn’t Mean They Are Not Watching 
  12. You have to stay focused on what God called you to do. Just because the enemy doesn’t comment on your Post, doesn’t mean they aren’t watching everything you do.
  13. They Can’t Deny Your Skill to Rebuild 
  14. The enemy has to acknowledge what you are doing. They had to admire what Nehemiah did. He built the wall in 52 days, which hadn’t been done before.
  1. YOU MUST REALIZE YOUR FOES AGENDA 
  2. Why is the enemy so focused on your right now? This is why John 10:10 NKJV says “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
  3. They Want You to Come Down to Their Level 
  4. Nehemiah didn’t want to leave his assignment. How many times were you lured down from your assignment? Stay above it! Nehemiah chose to stay on the wall.
  5. They Want to Harm and Hinder You 
  6. The enemy wanted Nehemiah to come down, because they wanted to cause him some harm. If you win, you will have an impact on Satan’s agendas.
  7. You must stay focused on what God told you to do. Most of the drama we experience in life, happened in Ono. God is about to heal you and bring you out of your Ono.
  1. YOU MUST REMAIN FOCUSED ON YOUR ASSIGNMENT 
  2. What is it that God told you to do?
  3. Nehemiah understood the weight of his assignment.
  4. Some Things You Need to Delegate 
  5. Sometimes you have to send the message and not the Main Messenger. Nehemiah sent a message by someone else, telling them the enemy that he could not leave his work and come down from the wall.
  6. My Assignment Is Too Big to Accommodate Small Minded People 
  7. When you dream big, you don’t have the time to be with people that don’t want anything.
  8. You can’t even share your Visions with everyone. Some people can’t handle where you’re going.
  9. You are reading this today, because God wanted you to be around people that wants big stuff. When you think outside the box, there is nothing that will cause you to miss what God has for you in this season.
  • I REFUSE TO FALL FOR THEIR APPEALS 
  1. As Long as You Are Achieving, The Enemy Will Keep Trying 
  2. The Bible says, they kept trying. Before this time next week, you will have at least 3-5 invitations to Ono. Regardless to the invitations we get, we must realize that we don’t have the energy to fool with anything that is going to pull us away from our assignment.
  3. We are not going to turn away from what God has assigned us to do.
  4. Some of you have too much openness to people in Ono. Your almost done, don’t give up your assignment just to go to Ono.
  5. The walls of Jerusalem had been torn down, but God promised to restore them. Nehemiah asked if he could build the wall and God allowed him to do so.
  6. Nehemiah is gives instructions as how to build the wall.
    1. Be Consistent – You have to stay with it
    1. Be Creative – You have to be willing to do what hasn’t been done before. Nehemiah built the wall in record time.
    1. Be Cunning – You have to be wise enough to know what the enemy is up to and cunning enough to know that you need to close up the breaks in the wall.
  • Get Used to This Level 
  • Get used to the level of the wall.
  • We are at a new level. We are pressing towards the mark of the high calling.
  • Consider this:
    • Have you ever watched the moving map of a flight? On longer flights, the height changes many times.
    • There is a difference between Height and Altitude.
  • Height is vertical distance of an object from the ground.
  • Altitude is based off above the sea level. It is influenced by air pressure.
    • How does a plane fly? Most pilots like to fly as high as the plane can go. The higher that plan flies, the less fuel it burns, because there is less pull on the plane. In like manner, the higher you stay, the less stress you encounter.
    • When you fly, you experience turbulence. Lift makes you fly. This is influenced by air, not the engines. When you go to a higher altitude, the air gets thin.
    • How then do you decrease lift? Increasing the altitude will decrease the lift.  The airplane then is in competition with the lift.
    • If the thrust decreases and airspeed decreases, the lift will become less than weight, and the aircraft will start to descend, so to go higher, the plane must be lighter. We must then decrease the weight.
      • Don’t this sound familiar? The Bible says to lay aside every weight that so easily besets us.
      • We can’t get our lift, because we have too much weight! Nehemiah can’t come down, because he has gotten used to this level(lift) that he is on! He won’t come down from the wall just to go to Ono. We have to be like Nehemiah and say no to Ono!
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Part I: You’re Not In This By Yourself

Posted on August 11, 2023 by growintheword

Synopsis of 8/6/23

Delivered Bishop Joseph W. Walker

Psalm 23:4 NKJV 
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; 
For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

  1. INTRODUCTION 
  2. As a Believer, there is one thing we know is about isolation. During isolation is when the enemy likes to create integration. During integration, the enemy tries to make us think that we are going through our issues by ourselves and that God doesn’t care.
  3. All of us know there are valleys and moments that we go through, where we wonder if God is there. You will learn that God was always there, but we had to go through what we went through for training purposes.
  4. Many of us have experienced loss in attacks. God will remind you that he is there, but he will also show you a plan that shows you that you won’t be there much longer.
  5. Valleys are spiritual and can be disorienting. As a testimony to this, David writes this Psalm during a Valley Experience.
    1. David’s family is far from perfect. His own son Asylum has plotted to kill him. It was around 1000BC when David discovers this. David pins this Psalm during this particular time.
    1. The first three words of this Psalm is the answer to every problem in life. They are, ” The Lord is…”
    1. In this text, David gives us things he learned while in the Valley. You have to get training while you are in the Valleys of Life.
  1. THE PACE OF THE VALLEY 
  2. Pace is about timing.  David is not running through the Valley. Instead, he is walking through this.
  3. The Shepherd realizes the sheep has to obey him in order to survive.
  4. God leads the Shepherd to know what pace the sheep keep, to get out of their situation.
  1. We All Get a Turn 
  2. Some of us are only one phone call away from having our own Valley Experience.
  3. Types of Turns:
    1. Alternative Turns – This is when one person comes out, the next person goes through. This simply means that as soon as one comes out of the Valley, a friend goes right into a Valley Experience.
    1. Simultaneously turns – This is when many people are going through their Valley experience at the same time.
    1. Exclusive Turns – This is when no one is going through a Valley Experience, but you.
  • Things to know about the Valley Experience:
  • Expect The Valley – All successful people will tell you they didn’t get where they are without having a Valley Experience.
  • Have Empathy for Those in The Valley – Because you know what the Valley Experience is like, you should have empathy for others that are going through it.
  • Have Expectation in The Valley – We expect something to happen when we go through the Valley Experience.
  • You Can’t Rush Through This 
  • David says he walked through the Valley of the shadow of death… Sometimes God has to make you pause and deal with the issue at hand.
  • Grieve – It’s ok to go through the stages of grief while you are in the Valley.
  • Graze – Don’t grieve without grazing. The best water and the best grass is in the Valley. Just like the grass in the Valley, you don’t realize how good the word is, until you get in a Valley.
  • Grow – This is how you grow. The sheep become fit enough to make the journey, because the best grass and the best water is in the Valley. Look at how strong your prayer life has gotten, as a result of your time in the Valley.
  • THE PROCESS OF THE VALLEY 
  • It’s Designed for Your Development – The Valley is designed for the sheep’s development. Like the sheep, this means that our Valley was designed for our development.
  • Don’t Get Stuck in What God Wants You to Come Thru – The Valley isn’t designed to be a permanent place. The devil tries to trick you into thinking this is permanent.
    • Sooner or later, it is going to turn in your favor. In fact, don’t accept mail while you are in the Valley, because time the mail gets there, you will be gone.
    • Story: There was a guy that was talking to his Pastor about a bad report he got from his Doctor. Just as he said this, they Pastor yelled, “Hallelujah!”. Next he told his Pastor that things were not going good on his job and he was afraid that he might lose it. Right then, his Pastor said, “Glory”! Finally, he told his Pastor that things weren’t going good with his wife, and then his Pastor said, “Thank you Jesus”!
      • So now the guy was mad and he asked his Pastor why he would be celebrating and thanking God for all the bad things he told his Pastor that he was going through? His Pastor then asked, “You did say you are going through it, didn’t you?” In other words, he wasn’t going to be there always. Even though you are going through it, doesn’t mean you will get stuck there always.
  1. THE PRESENCE OF THE VALLEY 
  2. There is no shadow without light. You don’t get shadows in dark places. Shadows are a result of light.
  3. Don’t Be Afraid of What the Enemy Shows You – The enemy will have you about to lose your mind.
  4. Story: Remember, the Coyote and Road Runner on the Looney Tunes Cartoon? The Coyote would always set these elaborate traps built by the Acme Company. No matter how well the trap was set, the Road Runner would escape it. Whenever the Coyote would inspect the trap to see why it didn’t work, then he would fall victim to the very trap that he set for the Road Runner and then the Road Runner would come to him and say, “Beep Beep”.  When the enemy sets a trap for you, focus on the escape the Lord has for you!  
  5. Presences in the Valley
    1. Wolves- Wolves know how to talk churchy. They know how to quote scripture and everything. They lure you into getting close enough for them to pounce on you.
    1. Wild dogs – Wild Dogs make sounds to confuse the sheep and cause them to scatter. Then when they are away from the heard, they are able to attack them.
  6. Remember Your God Is with You – God is right there, no matter what you are going through.
  7. The Hebrew word for Shepherd is also used for close friend. God is Shepherding you through our Valley.
  • THE PROVISION IN THE VALLEY 
  • It is about what God shows up with in the Valley. His Rod and His staff comforts us…
  • I’m Thankful for His Correction – The Rod was needed for the Shepherd. The Rod was for correction. Sheep are often unruly. The Shepherd would use the Rod, to cause sheep to get back where they were supposed to be.
    • Every day, the Shepherd will count the sheep. Can God correct you and still count on you? Can he count you, count on you, and then make you accountable?
    • The Staff was the curved part of the Rod and Staff. We always want to see if the grass is greener on the other side. The Shepherd uses the curved part to pull you back where you are supposed to be.
  • Thank God that in this Season, God kept us from ourselves. God kept us…
  • When you go through the Valley, then you can say that God prepares a table for me in the presence of mine enemy.
  • I’m Thankful for His Direction –
  • 4 reasons to give God glory when we come out.
    • Anyhow Blessings – He blesses me regardless to what others think.
    • The Anointing That Blocks – Because of the sheepskin fur, flies were the most irritant to the sheep. It would cause sheep to lose pace and purpose. The Shepherd would put oil (representative of anointing) on their head as a deterrent for the flies.
    • Abundance Has Become Our New Baseline – There was a time, before the Valley where our cup was empty. Coming from what we have gone through, we show up full. This is now our New Baseline.
    • The Assurance He Has My Back- God was not only leading me from the front, He had my back too. Goodness and Mercy follows me all the days of my life!
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

PART III: GOD’S GOING TO GET YOU OUT OF THIS

Posted on August 4, 2023 by growintheword

Sermon Synopsis 7/16/23

Delivered by Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III

Acts 12:1-16 NKJV 
Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church. 2 Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword. 3 And because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also. Now it was during the Days of Unleavened Bread. 4 So when he had arrested him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to keep him, intending to bring him before the people after Passover. 5 Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. 6 And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison. 7 Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, “Arise quickly!” And his chains fell off his hands. 8 Then the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and tie on your sandals”; and so he did. And he said to him, “Put on your garment and follow me.” 9 So he went out and followed him, and did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. 10 When they were past the first and the second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened to them of its own accord; and they went out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him. 11 And when Peter had come to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel, and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people.” 12 So, when he had considered this, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying. 13 And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a girl named Rhoda came to answer. 14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, because of her gladness she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter stood before the gate. 15 But they said to her, “You are beside yourself!” Yet she kept insisting that it was so. So they said, “It is his angel.” 16 Now Peter continued knocking; and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished.

  1. INTRODUCTION 
    1. It is important to know God specializes in snatching us out of the hands of the enemy. If you will remember, God rescued Daniel from the Lion’s Den and Paul and Silas were delivered at midnight from a jail cell.
    1. What we go through doesn’t catch God by surprise. God has made plans for your exit, even before you got into your situation. God has more power than whatever is after you. In your mind, maybe the time clock is ticking, and you think God should step in by a certain time, but know that God doesn’t act when you think He should. God has a plan whereby you will come out better than you were.
    1. Know that what God has done before; He can do it again.
    1. In the text, God delivered Peter out of his jail situation.
      1. In Acts 1, the promise of the Holy Ghost is given. In Acts 2, we see the presence of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 3, we see the power of the Holy Spirit.
      1. Being a Christian in early Century was problematic. In Acts 4, the church grows by leaps and bounds. In Acts 6, a man named Stephen has created a stir among the town concerning God’s people. In Acts 7, Stephen is being stoned and while being stoned, he gave praises to God. Scripture says being full of the Holy Spirit, he was able to gaze into heaven and see Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
      1. Now in Acts 8, Christian’s are being targeted for persecution. People have to hide in order to worship. In Acts 9, the chief persecutor of Believers becomes a mouthpiece for God. Saul becomes Paul.
      1. In Acts 10, Peter says that food that they were historically not allowed to eat was now ok to eat. In Acts 11, the Gospel Jesus has preached tells the Gentiles that they now have a place in the Kingdom, just like the Jews. Now Jesus has declared that he has come not only to preach to Jews but also the Gentiles.
    1. Now we get to where the text is. A certain sect of people was so upset, they go after Peter. Peter was the self-proclaimed Leader of the Disciples. They arrest Peter and now he is on death row. They won’t kill him until after the Passover, so they hold him in jail. Peter is on death row, scheduled to die the next day. Meanwhile, the Church is praying for him over at Mary’s house.
  1. THE PLOT OF YOUR ADVERSARY 
  2. There was a plot and scheme against Believers during the time this scripture takes place.
  3. Something you must know is:
  1. The Enemy Is Intimidated by Your Anointing 
  2. When the hand of God is on your life, it will trigger great adversary attacks. This should help you understand why you get attacked so much.
    1. The Enemy Wants to Take You Out 
  3. The enemy wants to take you out because of your influence. God’s plans are greater than the enemy’s plan to take you out.
  4. Peter is on death row. If he is on death row and dying the next day, shouldn’t he be nervous? Instead of being nervous or worrying about what is to come, Peter is asleep.
  1. YOU NEED PEOPLE WHO ADVOCATE TO BE IN AGREEMENT 
  2. People that are rooting for you need to be together. The scripture says that the people from the Church was all over to Mary’s house, praying for Peter.
  1. Culture Will Cancel You, But the Church Will Pray for You 
  2. You need people around you that can pray.
  3. Even though you think people have wrote you off, you have to know that this doesn’t mean that God’s plans for you has been canceled.
  4. Herod and the rest of the culture was trying to make personal examples of Christians. They tried to humiliate Christians as well as torture them. This is why they would rip their clothes off during torture and executions.
  5. The Bible says be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God. When culture comes down on us, God has a church that is praying for us.
  6. Lots of people give up on the Church, but the Church never gives up on us. The Church was trying to pray Peter through. Just like Peter, somebody prayed for us! While we were yet stuck in our sins, somebody prayed for us and God saved us!
  • Agreement Makes Your Prayers Avail 
  • When we touch and agree, the bible says that God will be in our midst.
  • Types of Prayers:
  • Focused – This is praying for what you were asked to pray for or praying for a specific thing. An example of this was the church praying for Peter while he was on death row.
  • Fervent – This is praying, believing that prayer will change things. In the scripture, the Church believed that when they prayed, something would happen. Why pray when you don’t think it will happen?
  • Faithful – These are people that will stay praying until something happens, even if it takes all night. In the scripture, the Church was willing to stay up all night long praying. They had the attitude of, “We are going to stay until we get what we came for”. Sometimes you have to stay on your knees until you get what you need.
  • Sometimes you have to abide in God’s presence.
  1. THERE IS A PROVIDENTIAL WORK OF ANGELS 
  2. While they were praying, God was moving. God was dispatching angels on their behalf.
    1. God’s Got Angels for Specific Assignments 
  3. Angels have two responsibilities. They are to:
  4. Glorify God in Heaven.
  5. Take assignments from God to the earth.
  6. Types of Angels
  7. Cherbuims were guardian angels.
  8. Seraphim is a worshipping angel. They have 6 wings. An example of this can be found in Isiah 6: 2 –3 2Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!”
  9. Living creatures – An example of these can be found in Rev 4:6-8 6Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back. 7The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. 8The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!”  
  10. Some of you have experienced angelic intervention and didn’t even realize it. The Bible says many of us have entertained angels unaware.
  11. Lots of things were prevented because angels were watching over you.
  12. Peter is asleep between 4 squads of soldiers. An angel will deliver him without the soldiers even knowing it, but how?
  13. Illumination – God will bring your out of darkness. The Angel led Peter out of his jail cell.
  14. Motivation – God will wake you out of your sleep. Peter was asleep when the Angel first came to him.
  15. Declaration – Once you get up. God gives a command. The Angel didn’t tell Peter what to do, until he got up.
  16. Information – He is not going to give directions to you while you’re still lying in your situation. The Angel told Peter to put his clothes back on.
  17. Liberation – Clothes is on! Peter is walking past the soldiers, God has the soldiers in a trance, and the gates open on their own. As long as you are walking, God will continue to open gates and doors for you!
  18. He Not Only Gets You Out of Prison, But Off the Property 
  19. God won’t only get you out of debt, he will eliminate that which got you into debt.
  20. Peter went to where the Church had gathered to pray for him.
  • YOUR PRAYERS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED 
  • While You Were Praying, God Was Moving 
  • While the Church was at Mary’s house praying, Peter knocked on the door. What they were praying for had arrived. Rhoda answered the door and she tried to tell them, but they did not believe her at first.
  • It’s Going to Show Up Before You Get Off Your Knees 
  • Before you get off your knees, your breakthrough is going to show up! You need to give God glory before you get off your knees!  
  • Story: Bishop has a Ring doorbell. With this doorbell, you can tell someone’s approaching your house, by the chime that it gives off. Bishop’s kids run to the door, because they hear the chime. They make it to the door, before the people that are coming even rang the doorbell, because the chime told them someone was approaching.
    • We ought to be ready to run to the door, because we’ve prayed and we know that God is on his way!
  • You ought to live knowing:
    • You Are Going to See God’s Ability 
    • This Is the Season to Access 
    • What God Is About to Show You Will Be Astonishing 
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Your Future is Worth Fighting For

Posted on July 14, 2023 by growintheword

Synopsis of July 9, 2023Delivered by Bishop Joseph W. Walker, IIIMark 5:1-15 NKJV Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes. 2 And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, 3 who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains, 4 because he had often been bound with shackles and chains. And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him. 5 And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones.6 When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him. 7 And he cried out with a loud voice and said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God that You do not torment me.” 8 For He said to him, “Come out of the man, unclean spirit!” 9 Then He asked him, “What is your name?” And he answered, saying, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” 10 Also he begged Him earnestly that He would not send them out of the country. 11 Now a large herd of swine was feeding there near the mountains. 12 So all the demons begged Him, saying, “Send us to the swine, that we may enter them.” 13 And at once Jesus gave them permission. Then the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine (there were about two thousand); and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and drowned in the sea. 14 So those who fed the swine fled, and they told it in the city and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that had happened. 15 Then they came to Jesus, and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid.I.            INTRODUCTIONA.      One of the things that a believer needs to be clear about is knowing that you have an incredible future in front of you. No matter what people have said or what has happened, it has not robbed you of what God has in store for you. Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV says 11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.B.      Gods plans for your life is so powerful, you shouldn’t lose sight of what God has promised you.C.       Even when you feel helpless or hopeless, you can’t believe your life is over. There is so much untapped potential inside of you. D.      The attacks you experience is not about your right now. Instead, it is about your not yet. E.      The enemy tries to beat you down enough where you don’t feel valued any more. Today we learn how to get your fight back. There are people in the stands eating popcorn waiting for you to fall. There are people that actually rejoice in your demise. Today you’re going to learn how to fight and win the war of the Assault of the Enemy. F.       When we look at Mark 5, we see demonic exposure. o   We see in Jesus Casts Out an Unclean Spirit . Mark 1:21-27 says 21 Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught. 22 And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. 23 Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, 24 saying, “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!” 25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, [a]“Be quiet, and come out of him!” 26 And when the unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him. 27 Then they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, [b]“What is this? What new [c]doctrine is this? For with authority He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.”-released possess man from demon , o   We see Jesus perform an exorcism. – In Mark 1:32-34 NKJV says 32 At evening, when the sun had set, they brought to Him all who were sick and those who were demon-possessed. 33 And the whole city was gathered together at the door. 34 Then He healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew Him.o   Today we see Jesus engaged with a man that was possessed by a demon. One chapter earlier, Jesus is sleep on the boat when the storm comes. The assignment was not on the boat, it was on the other side. When Jesus says go to other side, stop tripping on what happens in between. §  When they get to the other side, a man meets them, possessed with a demon. He meets Jesus and begins to worship him. The demons asked Jesus to cast them out into swine. The boy that was going through this system of attack is finally free of attack at last. On the way out, Jesus asks a question. He asks the demon what his name was. The demon says we are Legion. Legion is a military term meaning 5200 – 6000. This means the boy had 5200 to 6000 things wrong with him. The Lord shows us how to fight for our future. Your future is under attack!  II.            THE PRESENCE OF DEMONIC MANIFESTATION·       Some people think demons show up like they do in the movies. The movies show them with red suits and a pitchforks.They show them possessing people and making their heads turn around, having deep voices, and maybe even having people gravitate. This is not always the case. You must know that demons show up in many different kinds of ways. They can show up at lunch, in the choir, and even in the pulpit. Sometimes they go to lunch with you.·       You have to be aware of demonic presence at all times. Your natural man will say that a person is crazy. You have to realize that often there is demonic activity behind crazy behavior.·       Attacks would be easy if it was just the person. Attacks often are not just the actions of a person.  Ephesians 6:12 says For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. – So, we have to stop removing spider webs. The problem is not the spider web. The problem is finding the spider.·       Each one of us, have been used by the demonic activity, if we would be honest. It started with offense. When you got offended, your flesh rose up and then the enemy got into your ear gate and start controlling what you hear. Now you only are not able to hear what you need to hear, for your situation. Then he gets into your head. This is when you start contemplating stuff. Then it got into your heart. It made your heart hard. After that, it got into your hands. At this point, they had one more thing to do to you, before you would be ready to lay hands on that person. ·       The devil will give you a problem, but he needs a place. The problem for the boy in the tombs was the unclean spirit. The place was the cemetery. ·       Why did the people put the man in the cemetery? A.      It Normalizes Residing Among the Dead1.       Everything around you, doesn’t have a future, because they are dead. They are not able to respond to you or anything.2.       As a result of living among the dead, everything then becomes skewed. As a result of things being skewed, it affects your:a.       Socialization – You become comfortable hanging out with dead people. You are comfortable hanging out with people that don’t have your values. b.       Communication– Now you have conversations with people that can’t communicate with you. They are not able to talk on your level. Now you try to rationalize what’s not normal. You try rationalizing it by acting like you are assigned to save them.3.       There is a reason, the boy is out in the cemetery.

    1. The Community Does Not Want Him to Co-Exist – It easier to put him away, than deal with him When They Can’t Comprehend, They Categorize –  It’s easy to punish people as opposed to restoring them.

                                                                           i.      One problem with this, the chains is no match for the demon. This is why the man would break the chains. This symbolizes us continuing to go back to our disfunction. Whatever we try to do, it does not hold us. B.      An Out-of-Control Life of Self-Affliction1.       The devil has this boy in a situation. He goes to the mountain and back to the tombs, all day long and he is cutting himself. This is like us, going up to the mountain posting how well things are in our life, and then going back to the tombs, wallowing in our addictions and dysfunctions. a.       We look good in front of everyone, but they don’t know our private struggles. 2.       The devil won’t kill you instantly. He is trying to kill you one drink or one smoke at a time. Like the guy with the unclean spirit, cutting himself. We are hurting yourself. 3.       Jesus shows up, because He knows when enough is enough. How many of us want God to deal with our issue once and for all? Your future is worth fighting for!  III.            THE PROVIDENTIAL DOMINION OF THE MASTER·       Providential – This how God moves and when. ·       Dominion – This is power and authority of a thing.·       Master – This means teacher or one who is over. ·       When Jesus shows up, he shows up at the right time, with the right power.·       When Jesus shows up: A.      Demons Are Subject to The Anointing1.       Notice in the scripture, the demon submits himself immediately, because he knows who he is in the presence of (Jesus).  This should explain to you why people don’t like it when you show up. You have this same anointing on you, that Jesus has.  Like Jesus, your presence, agitates demons. This is why the demon said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God that You do not torment me.”2.       Demons exist, but they have no authority over a true Child of God.3.       Demons historically insulate themselves behind spiritual language or statements. Sometimes it’s hard to tell if you are dealing with a devil or a Saint. Demons use the same language as Christians do, because they know the Word as well as we do.  If you will remember, Satan quoted scripture to Jesus when he was trying to tempt Him. a.       Here’s an example: Acts 16: 16-19 says 16 Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. 17 This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.” 18 And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly [d]annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And he came out that very hour. 19 But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities. – Here we see the demon saying, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation”! By this, one would think that the girl was saved, but the scripture says that this annoyed Paul, because he could see through it. It was the demon inside of her was trying to call Paul and Silas out. Satan tries to use church people to fulfill his plans. B.      Whatever He Cast Out He Reveals the Cost  1.       Jesus tells the spirit to come out of man. The demon knows he has to go but asks if he could go into the herd of swine. The context here is economy. a.       Jesus spoke to two categories of people. They were, Jews and Gentiles. Even though Religious Law wouldn’t let Jews eat swine, the Gentiles on the other hand, could. What makes this an economic situation is, there were over 2000 pigs in the herd. The demons knew if they possessed the pigs, they would be messing with somebody’s money. The demon wanted to show how much it would cost the people, to try and live without the demons being in the boy.2.       The question is, how bad do you want to be free? IV.            THE PROBLEM MUST BE DISCERNED METICULOUSLY A.      Be Courageous Enough to Ask Questions Nobody Is Asking1.       The text says Jesus told the Demons to come out of the boy. While he was doing this, Jesus asks what is your name? You can’t fight the battle if you don’t know what you are fighting.2.       The man is in the tombs because people don’t understand totally what they were dealing with. Back in the bible days, they named you by your issue. For example, “The lame man…” or “The deaf man…” or “The woman with the issue of blood…”.3.       Jesus asks who they were, so that the people might know what they were dealing with. The response was, “We are Legion (5200 – 6000 issues)”. All this time the community thought you were dealing with one thing, but there were many things. a.       We have the same issue. We often think a problem is dealing only with the issue that you see, when, they have multiple underlying issues. You have to peel back the layers and get to the root of the issue. B.      Don’t Diagnose the Reaction Without Investigating the Root1.       Legion means layers of stuff. You deal with one thing, and other stuff comes up. This is why we become repeat offenders. The problem is much deeper than you think. a.       You think she is mean or guarded or maybe has a bad attitude. It may just be a defense mechanism. b.       Anger – You think he has an anger problem, but he really got that way, because he saw his father put his hands on his mother. c.       Do you think a person wants to be an addict? It may have started with them bringing their Dad beers when they were young.  V.            THE POWER OF BEING DELIVERED IN YOUR RIGHT MIND                                                                                      ·       We have to stop over spiritualizing our mental health. This is the intersection between theology and psychology. ·       Don’t think because someone puts oil on you and lay hands on you, that you won’t have work to do, to get rid of your delima. You have a multitude of things that need to be addressed.·       2000 swine were calm, but when the unclean spirits were cast into them, they ran over a cliff! It was like they were saying, we would rather die than deal with this. This was the same spirits that the man had been dealing with all this time. ·       You can run the race, but you can run better without the weight. We have to deal with our issues.·       The boy was at the mountain and in the tombs and he was cutting himself. When Jesus delivered him, the bible says he was siting, clothed in his right mind. ·       We thank God for: A.      Through All the Trauma, He Kept My Mind1.       Thank God, because he kept your mind! Like the swine, we could have ran off the cliff, but thank God, he kept us!B.      I’ve Been Through Too Much to Leave His Side1.       Say what you want, when people gave up on us, Jesus stayed by our side. We’ve been through too much, to leave his side! 

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment