Welcome to The Roads Church online experience. We’re so glad to have all of you with us here on this Easter weekend. My name is Chad and my wife Dawn and I are the lead pastors here at the roads. And our vision here is to connect people with Jesus from all roads of life. So no matter what road of life you’re on today, we’re hoping that today you will encounter God in such a way that he shows you that he is the hope for your life, the strength for your life, and the peace in your life. So our hearts’ desire is for you to know him today with everything that you are. We encourage you, as you’re watching, thank you for welcoming us into your homes and we pray that even as you’re watching there with your family, you’ll engage in the comments below. Let us know where you’re watching from and where you’re listening from.
Don’t be afraid to like and share it with people, not so that we will become famous. But you never know who’s going to be impacted by watching this, by your sharing it with someone, by you inviting them into the end of the viewing experience. So we encourage you to be interactive. Let people know that God is ministering to you. If he’s speaking to you, I can’t hear your amen, but we can see them. So I pray that you take a moment there and just give a shout out. Every time God is speaking to you, it’s going to encourage someone else and we just pray there’ll be that back and forth in our hearts as well as online. So we’ve been on a series of talks called We Will Overcome and this weekend being Easter weekend, I want to talk to you today about overcoming power, overcoming power to give you the most amazing experience, Mt Carmel Church.
Now at The Roads Church, every time we open God’s word, we get excited because we expect that God has something to say to us. So right there in your homes, get your Bibles out when you’re not watching a regular television program. Get your Bibles out. You didn’t even have to carry it to church with you. You can get it right from where you keep it. Get it out and let’s get excited this morning. Let’s raise some noise as we open our Bibles today to Numbers chapter 13. Whew! Numbers 13, we’re talking about overcoming power. Somebody say, “Overcoming power.” Type it in the comments right there and let them know that you’ve got overcoming power. We’ve got neighbors set them on the couch beside you. Say you’ve got overcoming power. Overcoming power is yours. Numbers chapter 13, we’ve been on this series of talks for about three weeks and this is the fourth one.
We’re going to finish it up today. I’m going to start reading in verse 27. Thank you Jesus. Then the Lord told him and said, sorry. Then they told him and said, we went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey and this is it’s fruit. Nevertheless, the people who dwell in the land are strong. The cities are fortified and very large. Moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the South, the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites dwell in the mountains and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan. Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, let us go up at once and take possession for, we are well able to overcome it, but the men who had gone up with him said, we are not able to go up against the people for they’re stronger than we.
Then they gave the children of Israel a bad report. Everybody say, “Bad report.” Of the land, which they had spied out saying the land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature there. We saw the giants, the descendants of Anak came from the giants and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight and so we were in. Let us pray. Father, I just thank you for the reading of your word and I pray Holy Spirit that right now you just come and bring life into every home, every device, and every screen. Lord, I just thank you that you speak through me right now, that people will hear your voice. I pray that you bring clarity and understanding, I pray that it’ll be a living word. I pray there’ll be something that brings a new life into our hearts today as you speak directly to us with in this Mt Carmel Church service.
Thank you Jesus for dying for us on the cross and paying the price for our sins. Thank you for raising from the dead so that we can have new life. So we just received that resurrection, overcoming power today. In Jesus’ name, everybody say amen. Amen. We’ve been talking about this. Notice what it says, that the 12 spies went out to spout this land and 10 of them came back and the Bible says that 10 of them gave what kind of report?
They gave a bad report. So what constitutes a bad report? Did they lie about what they saw? It wasn’t that they lied about what they saw. A bad report does this. A bad report focuses more on the difficulty than they do on what God said. That’s a bad report. A bad report chooses what is seen over what is said. A bad report is determining the possibility of something based on who is against you instead of who is for you.
A Bad Report Focuses on the Resistance Rather than the Assistance
Should I say that again? A bad report is any time that we estimate whether something is going to be possible based on the opposition, then we do based on the amount of assistance. A bad report focuses on the resistance instead of on the assistance. But look at what Caleb said. Caleb gave a good report. In Numbers chapter 13 verse 30 he quieted the people, he said, let us go up at once to take possession for, we’re well able to overcome it. Now, we’ve talked about this story quite a bit, but I’ve noticed three things that I want to focus on today. Three things out of this story that impacted me that I think are just proven in scripture and they’re going to relate it to us today. Number one, God had prepared a promised land for them. He prepared it for them for a life that he wanted them to experience and inheritance was made available by God, Mt Carmel Church.
He created it. Whatever was in the Promised Land was what God wanted them to have. They saw it with their own eyes. That’s number one. He had prepared something for them. Two, they were going to have to go up and take possession of it. It was going to require action on their part. It was God’s will for them to have it, but it’s going to require their faith and their agreement for them to possess it. Number three, they would have to overcome giant opposition. In the process they were going to, there were not going to experience what God had for them without facing resistance, opposition and adversity. God told Joshua three times in a span of four verses be strong and of good courage. Why would God tell him to be strong and of good courage unless he knew it was going to be a requirement for them to experience everything that God had for them to experience?
God has a Promised Land for Us, We have to Take Possession, and Overcome Opposition
So these three thing, I summarized from this, this is what I think is important. Number one, God had prepared a promise land for them. They had to go in and take possession of it. And then number three, they were going to have to face or overcome giant opposition to get it. Now, how do we relate to that? How does that translate to us? Well, this weekend we remember the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the only son of God. Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection was far more than just an event that happened 2000 years ago. Jesus referred to himself as the door. And so when Jesus died was buried and resurrected, he opened the door of possibilities for us to walk into something that the father has prepared for us. He’s prepared a life for us of a life experience for us, something that we can have in our own life for the best, Mt Carmel Church.
He’s prepared that for us, but Jesus was the door for us to walk into it. Now, just because there’s a door that doesn’t mean we walk through it. So this is important part of what we’re seeing. How does this translate for us today? Is it any different for us today than it was for the children of Israel? Number one, God had prepared a promise land for them. Here’s what we need to apply to our lives. God has prepared an inheritance or promises for us. He’s prepared it for us. God sent the spies into the land so that they could see what God had prepared for them, the life that he prepared for them, what he wanted them to experience. We do the same way. We need to see that God has prepared through Jesus a different life for us to experience. We’ve got to see it. We’ve got to see it for ourselves.
Jesus has prepared a Different Life for Us
Ephesians chapter one 1 this: the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know the eyes of your understanding that’s talking about spiritual eyes. That your eyes be open, that you may know. What are we trying to know that you may know? What is the hope of his calling? What are the riches of the glory of his inheritance? There’s the inheritance in the saints, so we need to know our eyes need to be open so that we can know there’s an inheritance for us in Jesus. There’s a different life for us to experience in Jesus. Not just that, but what is the exceeding greatness of his power towards us who believe according to the working of his mighty power, which he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in heavenly places. We need to see a different life that Jesus has prepared for us.
We need to see ourselves being a different person. We need to see our situation being different. If we don’t see it, we will keep wandering around in a wilderness of hopelessness, a wilderness of fear and anxiety and despair. If we don’t see that God has a different way for us to live, we won’t know there’s another option. We will keep living the life that we’ve got and we don’t know there’s another way to live. We’ve got to see the promises. It’s a first step, just like the Israelites had to see it for themselves. We need to see that God has a different way of life for you to live. You don’t have to live the same way. You don’t have to live in that misery anymore. You have to see that God wants to free you from that, and that he has something for you to experience it here at our Mt Carmel Church.
We have to see it, but after we see it, here’s the second step. They had to go up and take possession of it. Just because we see that God has a different live for us doesn’t guarantee that we’re going to get it. Just like they had to take possession of the Promised Land. We have to take possession of the promises. That’s what God is telling us. Notice it requires action on our part. God’s will for us is to have it, but it’s going to require our faith and our agreement for us to possess it. Here’s what Caleb said. Let us go up at once and take possession. Notice he said, “Take possession.” Now that word means to occupy by driving out the previous tenants and possessing in their place, but I found this in my study that I thought was really important in the Lexus theological workbook.
That phrase, take possession. The subject of that word is an action. The subject of that action is always a human being. This is very important. Corrine to the Hebrew, when it says take possession, that word in Hebrew, the subject of that word is always a human being. What does that mean for you and I today? It does not mean that it’s independent of God. It means that God directs the action, but God requires response to his direction in order to complete the overall process. Follow along with me. See, God gives a direction, but the process is not independent of God, but in cooperation with God. Let me give you an example. The walls of Jericho, when they went to take the first city was Jericho and God gives him instructions. He says, “I want you to March around this wall seven times, and don’t say a peep. Don’t say a word for seven times around the wall. And then after the seventh time when you come around, I want you to blow the trumpets and I want you to shout at the top of your voice.” And so they did that and the walls come crashing down. Now let me ask you, did the walls down because they shouted, Mt Carmel Church?
When we Partner with God his Power is in the Obedience to his Direction
Let me say it this way. Would the walls have come down without their shout? See, the walls didn’t come down just because they shouted. The walls came down because of the power of God, but would the walls have come down if they wouldn’t have shouted? Here’s the partnership of God. God gives the direction. He gives the instruction, and when we partner with him, his power is in the obedience to his direction. But when we don’t have the obedience to his direction, his power is withheld now because he doesn’t want to do it because he couldn’t find someone to partner with him. The shout didn’t bring the walls down, nor would the power of God bring the walls down without the shout. This is what God is saying to us. We have to take possession. Take possession is not doing it independent of God. It’s doing it in harmony with God. Taking possession of the life that he wants us to live Mt Carmel Church.
How do we do this in practical terms? Second, Peter tells us this as his divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness. Everything that we need that pertains to life and godliness, God has given us. How does he give it? Through the knowledge of him, so through the knowledge of God who called us by glory and virtue by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature. Having escaped the corruption is in the world. Notice what he says, “I’ve given you promises.” The Promised Land and promises are the promises of God, God’s word. And he says, I’ve given you these precious promises that through these you will be partakers or you will possess the divine nature. This is what God is telling us. How do we become partakers?
How do we possess the promises that God had for us? We do it. And by not telling God what to do, we do it by coming into agreement with what he’s already promised us. When we come into agreement with what he said and we follow his instructions. Now his power is released through his word, not my words. And I become a partaker. A partaker of what? A partaker of his divine nature. In other words, God’s not trying to give me something. He’s trying to get me to become something. He’s not wanting to just get stuff in my hands. He’s wanting me to be a partaker of the nature that he’s put on the inside of us. Take possession of it. Here’s how we take possession through his promises. So if you want to partake of a different a different lifestyle, a different way of living that God has for you, pull out the promises of God and begin to partake of them. Begin to put them in your heart.
Begin to believe them. Caleb said, we have to take possession of this. He realized that God had made something available, but it had to be taken. Have you ever heard the phrase, “Something’s there for the taking?” You know, somebody says, “Well, it’s just there for the taking.” Or, or sometimes a coach may say this, “Hey guys, this game is ours for the taking.” What that means is just because it’s there for the taking doesn’t mean there is an opposition. It doesn’t mean the other team’s going to quit. Just because you say it’s there, you’re taking there is still going to be opposition. That brings us to the third point. Number one, God made something available. Number two, we’re still going to have to take possession of it, and number three, and we’re going to have to overcome giant opposition in the process.
Here’s what you and I need to know. We’re going to have to overcome giant opposition to experience what God has for us. We’re not going to experience everything that God has for us without facing adversity, difficulty and opposition. It’s going to happen, so you might as well be ready for it, but we’re going to have to overcome it. We’re going to overcome now because there are not any giants in the land, but we’re going to overcome because he who was for us is greater than he used against us. So we’re conditioning ourselves for this. So Caleb said, we’re well able to overcome it. We’re well able to overcome. Now, when Caleb said we’re well able to overcome it, did he have specific details on how the victory was going to come about? Did he know exactly what God was going to do when he was going to do it? How he was going to do it?
He didn’t know any of that. He just said, “We’re well able to overcome.” This is what you and I have trouble with. Sometimes we don’t think we’re able until we see how. God doesn’t want you to wait to see how before you realize you’re able. Here’s what he meant when he said, “We’re well able.” It means we have the ability, the power, and the might to endure and to prevail. Not the ability and the power might to avoid resistance or opposition, but to endure and prevail over them. Caleb said, “We have enduring power. We have prevailing power. We have overcoming power.” This is what Caleb was saying. He believed that the power for him could endure and prevail any power that was against him. Now fast forward to Jesus. Jesus had this same overcoming power to endure and prevail and in John chapter 16 verse 33 here’s what Jesus said, “These things I’ve spoken to you that in me, you may have peace.”
Where do we have peace in Jesus? You may not have peace in the world. You will have tribulation in the world. You’ll have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. In the world, you’ll have what you have tribulation. You’re like, what in the world you have this. Here’s what the word, tribulation means: pressure, trouble, affliction, distress and hardship. Wow, thank you Chad for that Easter encouragement. In the world, you’re going to have pressure, trouble, affliction, distress and hardship. Wow, that sounds exciting. That’s just what I tuned in for, but here’s the problem. We think incorrectly when we think that the presence of pressure, trouble and affliction automatically means failure of some kind on our end, it doesn’t mean failure on our end. We see those things as working against us. We see those things as causing us problems and holding us back. We think that they are something we need to get out of the way, but Jesus says in this world, you’re going to have tribulation, Mt Carmel Church.
We have to Change the Way we look at Opposition
You’re going to have opposition, you’re going to have distress, you’re going to have affliction, but here be of good courage. Here’s why I said “Be of good courage” he did when he said, “Be of good cheer.” The word be of good cheer does not mean be happy about it. The word be of good cheer simply this. It means to have confidence or assurance to be courageous, to be bold, firmness of purpose in the face of danger or testing. What is he telling you? What is he telling me? He said, “That in this world, you’re going to have tribulation and pressure.” But you’re looking at, sometimes I do this and maybe you do the same thing. Sometimes he’s telling me you’re looking at it the wrong way. You see tribulation, pressure and resistance and opposition. You see it as working against you, but I want you to see it as working for you.
Wow. Can I see it working for me? All this pressure in my life for this distress and trouble. The Bible says this in II Corinthians chapter 4 verse 17 for our light affliction, type in light affliction. Say, “What I’m going through is just a light affliction.” Sometimes you have to tell yourself, you have to preach to yourself. You’ve got to remind yourself this light affliction that I’m going through. Here’s what it says which is, but for a moment, Corona virus is just for a moment. It too shall pass. It’s coming to an end. Your affliction, whatever you’re going through, your trouble, you’re going through. It’s only a season. I’m not making light of it. I’m not saying it’s not bad. I’m just saying the Bible says a slight affliction, which is, but for a moment, look what it says. Work for a moment is working. Everybody say, “Working for us.” Whoa. Working against us. No, he said “It’s working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” It’s working for us. It’s not working against us. It’s working for us, but wait a minute, it is resistance. It’s opposition. It’s stress. It’s trouble. How can it work for me? Let me ask you this question. Is that treadmill on the inclined setting working against you or for you Mt Carmel Church?
Think about it for just a minute. The answer is yes, yes, it’s working against you. It’s providing resistance. It’s causing you to work harder, but in that, in that working harder, it’s working against you, but at the same time, if you will stay on it and keep working. That weight on the bench press. Is it working against you or working for you? It all depends on our perspective. When I focus on the adversity and the opposition and the difficulty, I see it as working against me, but when I see that I’m staying the course and continuing despite the resistance and it begins to work for me, it begins to do something on this side. I’m not worried about the resistance side. I’m worried about the development side. That’s what God is telling us. He’s saying, “Listen, you have to look at this from a different perspective in the world. You’re going to have tribulation, but be of good cheer, be of good courage. Be confident. Be courageous. Why? Because I’ve overcome the world.” Jesus said, “I’ve overcome.” Here’s what that word overcome is. It’s the Greek word and it’s where we get our word Nike. Here’s what that word means.
Jesus has already won the Victory for you!
It means to subdue, to conquer, to overcome, to prevail, to win a victory over Jesus said, “Hey, be of good courage where everything that’s coming against you, I’ve already won a victory. I’ve already won the victory for you.” Jesus conquered for us. So now we don’t have to conquer. He said, “I’ve won the victory for you. So be courageous. When you’re facing trouble facing distress, walking up Hill facing adversity and opposition be of good courage.” I didn’t say, “Be happy about it.” Be persistent in it. Be bold and keep moving forward because I’ve already won the victory for you. Anybody excited about Jesus winning the victory for you? Come on, type it in there. Let Jesus know that you’re thankful that he won the victory for you, and that you keep going on the treadmill of life. You keep bench pressing the troubles of life and you keep going because what the devil thinks what is working against you is actually working for you Mt Carmel Church.
Jesus Overcame 3 Tests (Giants) in the World
The Devil thinks he’s trying to pull you down, he tried to destroy you and make you work. You may be crushed, but you’re not done. You’re not overcome, God’s bringing victory into your life. We have to stay with it. We have to stay with it. So now Jesus overcame. So in this last point of overcoming three things that I thought jumped out to me when Jesus overcame, there were three tests. He overcame three types of tests in the world. Three giants. So remember number one, God’s prepared to live for us. He’s prepared a different life for you. You have to see it.
Number two, you’re going to have to possess it. It’s there for the taking, but you’ve got to take it. You have to go get it by faith. You’ve got to agree and agree with what God says, Mt Carmel Church.
Apply your obedience to it. But number three, we’re going to have to overcome some giants. Here’s three giants I believe we’re going to have to overcome in our life. Three that Jesus had to overcome. How many know if Jesus had overcome them we’re going to have to overcome them? Here’s three giants that Jesus had overcome. You ready for three giants that Jesus had to overcome? These three giants that you’re going to face in your life that I’m going to face in my life and we have to overcome. We have to pass these three tests. We have to pass these three tests in order to possess everything that God has for us, we have to do it. We’re not going to do it by ourselves. We’re not doing without God. We’re doing it with him, but these three tests you have to overcome here. You ready for them? I hope I’ve set it up for you enough so they can be ready.
- The Submission Test
I hope you’re taking notes. Jot these down. Number one, it’s the submission test. You’ve got overcome the submission test. This was the giant of our own self-will. You have to overcome the giant of your own self. It’s the power to look up against the giant of our will. Jesus continually overcame because he continually looked up. The Bible says that oftentimes he would get away in seclusion and pray. He’d spend time looking up if we’re going to overcome in life. It’s the submission test is who is going to be the Lord of our life. Who’s calling the shots in your life? Who’s making the decisions in your life? Whose ones that’s guiding you? Who are you following? It’s the submission test. They said, “We have to pass this test.” It’s ability to look up. Jesus passed this test in the garden of Gethsemane before he was crucified.
He went a little further and fell in his face and prayed in Matthew 26 and he says, Oh my father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. Who do you look for your guidance, your wisdom and direction? When you’re looking for guidance and wisdom and direction, I’m telling you to look up when you’re faced with adversity and difficulty. When you don’t know what to do, look up. When you’re faced in troubles and challenges that are overwhelming you today, look up. This is what we’ve have to pass, the submission test. Are we going to be the Lord of our lives or is Jesus going to be the Lord of their lives? I’m telling you, “Look up.” Get your eyes up. Look to the Hills where your help comes from. Look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith.
Look up. Don’t get discouraged. There’s hope. Just because what you see around you doesn’t look good just because everywhere you look around you looks hopeless, it looks like there’s no plan. It looks like it’s not changing. I’m telling you, “Look up.” Your redemption is coming close. Get your eyes up to submission test and I’m not going to listen to my will. I’m going to submit to his will. I’m going to keep looking up when I’m confused. I keep looking up when I keep getting scared. I look up. We’ve got to look up. Type in there, “Look up.” Let somebody know to look up. Look up to here. Keep your eyes focused on Jesus. He has a plan for you. Take your eyes off your troubles and look to your savior. Look to your redeemer, Mt Carmel Church. Look up and pass the submission test.
- The Opposition Test (Bow up!)
That’s the first one. Now let’s look at the second one. The second one is the opposition test. All Jesus, are you ready for this? We have to pass the opposition test. The first one was the power to look up. The sacrament is the power to stand up against the giant of opposition to resist temptation. So when now we understand that we’ve got to look up to our source, we’re submitting to him, we’re passing the submission test, we’re submitting to God, but the Bible says we submit to God and we resist the devil. So the power of God in our life overcoming power is not only to submit to God, but we also to resist the enemy. If we’re going to get breakthrough in our life, if we’re going to overcome, we have to pass this test. Ephesians chapter 6 says this, finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and the power of his might.
Put on the whole armor of God that you may be to stand. Maybe it will stand. Maybe they’ll stand against the Wiles of the devil. Stand against the Wiles of the devil. We have pass the opposition test. I wanted to call this the bow up test. You have to be able to bow up whenever the enemy comes against you. When he hits you with his best shot, you have to say, “Hey, I put the whole armor of God on this morning. Why? So I’m able to stand against the Wiles of the devil because we don’t wrestle against flesh and blood, but we wrestle against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this age. Let’s not forget spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places.” So take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in that evil day and having done all to stand having your loins girded, go to bat with truth.
I’m going to put the whole armor on right now in Jesus name. I’m telling you, we have to pass the opposition test. Is that just because the enemy offers you something? You put resistance, you say no. You have the power through Jesus to say no. I am not going out like that. I’m not going to do that. We have to resist temptation. We have to resist temptation of our own flesh and resist temptation of the enemy. This is the power of God is in our life, so we can not only submit to God, but we have pass the opposition test. You can overcome that temptation and say, “No.”
Here’s what I know. I’ve learned this many times over the years. God will not make the decisions for us, but he will empower the decisions that we make. If I will make a decision to say no to temptation, God’s power will be there to support my no.
He will be there to hold me up. He will be there to walk me through it. Just say no to the enemy. Just say no to that temptation. You’ve got to pass the opposition test and power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, I have overcome the world. Why? So that you could overcome the opposition test. I overcame the devil in the wilderness. He fasted for 40 days and the devil comes to him and tries to tempt him with three different things, lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, the pride of life. Jesus said no every time and said, “It is written.” This is how we overcome. This is how we resist. Not just with your words. Let me tell you something. I want it to be very, I want to encourage you and your will. My will is not strong enough to defeat the devil Mt Carmel Church.
My will has to be in cooperation with the word of God. That’s why Jesus said it is written because it’s not my will that defeats the devil. It’s God’s word that defeats the devil. So when you’re facing temptation, find the word of God that you need to put in your heart and you release that. Whenever the devil speaks to you, you say it back out of your mouth. That’s overcoming the opposition test that he’s talking in your ear. Will you speak the word of God back? It’s the sword, the spirit, which is the word of God. Here in this chapter of Ephesians chapter six where we were equipped to pass the opposition test. Now let’s get the last one. Oh man, there’s a great scriptures on that. I give them to you. They’re in your sermon notes. They’re on YouVersion if you’ve got them.
- The Resurrection Test
Second Corinthians 10: the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they’re mighty through God. Luke chapter 10 gives you authority to trample serpents and scorpions over all the power of the enemy. Let’s get to the third test. So we have number one, we’ve have to pass the submission test. Number two, we have to pass the opposition. Number three, we have to pass the resurrection test. If the first one is a power to look up, if the second one is the power to stand up against opposition, the third one’s the power to rise up. Somebody say, “Rise up.” Type it in there. Say, “Rise up.” You have to rise up. Here’s the resurrection test. Here’s the power to pass the resurrection test. It’s to overcome the giant of hopelessness. It’s to overcome giants of despair. It’s to overcome giants of the end. There is no greater end in this world than death. Here’s what resurrection is to us, oh Jesus. We pass the resurrection test when we change and we remove the apparent end of something and we choose God’s ending for it instead of what we see. Death is the end in this world. When something’s dead, it’s dead. There’s no future. There’s no life, but here’s what Jesus said. Jesus said this, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me though he may die, he shall live.”
In other words, your end is not my end. When it’s over for you, it’s not over for me. Passing the resurrection test means that just because it’s over in some people’s eyes, its over in God’s eyes. Just because the world says it’s over doesn’t mean God says it’s over. Just because my friends say it’s over and it’s dead. My relationship, my marriage, my job, my career, whatever, just because they say it’s dead. I going to ask God, I’m going to pass the resurrection test that even though it’s dead, it can still rise up. I wish I had a hundred thousand people watching online. Come on. Just give God some praise and let him know that you’re going to rise up out of dead situation.
Let him know that you’re going to rise up out of situations in your life that everyone else thought was hopeless. It’s too far gone. It’s too late. Here’s the voice. Some of you are hearing right now. That sounds good but it’s too late. That might’ve been good six months ago. That might’ve been good before, but it’s too late. We’ve already gone too far. It’s already happened. I’m telling you, it’s never too late for God. It’s never too late for him. The resurrection test. Here’s what Romans chapter 8 says, but if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life. Come on Mt Carmel Church. Somebody say, “Give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you.” This is the power dwelling on the inside of us.
I call it get up power. Rise up. Power that no matter how many times the devil knocks you down, you keep getting back up. It’s rise up power. It’s resurrection power. It’s a power that’s available. It doesn’t say nothing’s going to get me down. It just says nothing’s going to keep me down. They didn’t say, nothing’s going to knock me down. It just says nothing’s going to hold me down. There are things in our life that’s going to happen that’s going to knock us down, but this resurrection power causes us to keep rising up. I just keep getting up. The Bible says that the righteous person will fall seven times and rise again. I don’t know what’s knocked you down. I don’t know what’s held you down, but I’m telling you, rise up today. There’s resurrection power available for us through Jesus Christ.
I’m telling you, God’s got something on the inside of us. The same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells within you, so it may have knocked you down. It may have knocked you for a loop. You may be a little bit dazed and confused, but I’m telling you, shake it off and begin to look up. Begin to resist the enemy and say, I’m going to rise. I’m going to rise up again. I’m going to get up again though. The devil comes at me every day, but I’m going to keep getting up Mt Carmel Church.
You have to rise up. This is what resurrection power is. It’s the power to keep getting up. No matter what comes against us. Jesus had overcoming power and he gives us overcoming power. So here’s what we see out of this, and I want to summarize it. Number one, he told the Israelites, I have something prepared for you. You’re going to have to take possession of it. And when you go to take possession of it, be ready because you’re going to have to overcome some giants. Well, I want to encourage people watching today. Whenever you’re watching this broadcast, you need to know this. You don’t even need to know this voice from God, the heart of God. Speaking to you that God has a life prepared for us. He has prepared us through Jesus. He’s prepared a new way of life. We have to see it. He has got an inheritance for us. It’s something for us to experience, but just because he’s prepared it for us doesn’t mean it’s automatically going to happen. The problem, and here’s what I’ve found, too many people have been taught that if God wants it to happen, it’s just going to happen. You need to hear from this story. You need to apply this principle that just because God provided it doesn’t mean it’s automatically coming to you.
You have to take Possession!
You have to take possession, take possession of it, and agree with him. Let the walls come down in your life because you agreed with what God says. Let the enemy be exposed in your life. Take possession of it. Number three, we have to be equipped because some people think maybe wrongfully so. We think again that those enemies, these giants that we’re facing, we’re going to face giants and the presence of giants means evidently something’s wrong. But I want to encourage you with a thought. What if what I thought was working against me, I’m going to see it as working for me? When fear comes talking, I don’t want you to let it work against you, I want you to see a working for you. I want you to see it as a treadmill.
I want you to see this inclined season of your life for your walking uphill. I don’t want you to see the difficulty of the hill. I want you to see the development in your leg. I want you to see what God’s building on your side. I want you to see the strength, this adversity, this incline situation you’re walking through in your mind, in your relationships, in your finances, whatever you’re walking through, I want you to see it as God is bringing you through something so that on the other side you will come out stronger. You will come out victorious. You will come out better than you’ve ever been. This is overcoming power. There are three tests that we’ve got to pass.
Number one, we’ve got to look up. My prayer today is that whatever we’re facing, we will look up when we don’t know what to do. We look up Mt Carmel Church. When we don’t know where to turn. We look up, we submit to him. See, here’s what I believe is changing some and plan for this part, but I just feel God’s speaking to what’s changing in our world is God is calling you.
I can sit in Church every Sunday and Never Pass the Submission Test
He’s calling the out of sermons and Sunday services and he’s calling you into a relationship with him. You thought that you were getting by with just attending church and it was good enough and that God was happy with that. God’s not pleased with that, he wants a relationship with you. He wants submission. I can sit in church and never submit. I can sit church every Sunday and never passed the submission test. We can never let him be Lord of our life.
Number two, we got to pass the resistance test. We have to be able to resist temptation. Temptation is going to come, but you have power to overcome. The blood of Jesus has overcome. He’s overcome so that you can overcome. Number three, we have to rise up. It is the resurrection test. So I don’t know who all is watching that needs to hear this today. But I believe God is stirring in our hearts for us to submit to him. He wants us to realize that he has a life for us to live and we’re going to have to take possession of it.
We’re going to have to resist the devil. We’re going to resist any opposition to it, and we’re going to overcome every giant that stands in our way. We’re going to get up. We’ll keep getting up and avoid being knocked down. You may get down tomorrow. I may get knocked down this week. I’m telling you, I’m not always feeling up. I’m not always feeling like I’m an overcomer. There’s times that I feel low. There’s times I’ve feel defeated. There’s times I feel scared. There’s times I feel vulnerable. There’s times I feel bad in those times. It doesn’t mean that I’m a failure if I just keep getting up. Just keep getting up. There’s resurrection, power available for you.
I want to pray for you right where you are because I believe God’s wanting to pour something into your heart. If you would just bow with me right there in your home, right there on your screen, Holy Spirit, we welcome you to come in the name of Jesus. Father, it’s my desire for you to watch over this word, to perform it in Jesus name right now. God, we just bless what you’re saying and what you’re doing that I praise you for power to overcome in the heart of everyone watching. Will you pass the submission test right now? Maybe you just give your heart to him and say, “Lord, I want to put you in charge.” You have to pass the submission test first because without him you will never pass the opposition test. He is your strength. He is your power. Without him, there is no victory in the opposition test. You have to pass the submission test first. Make him the Lord of your life. You want him on your side. He is for you, not against you.
Maybe you need to resist. Maybe you’re having trouble saying no. I’m believe the power of God is available for you to break strongholds over your life. God, I pray for addictions to be broken right now in the name of Jesus. I pray for temptations to be broken. God, I praise you for victory, for revelation to come right now that someone is getting it, someone is hearing in their heart, they’re feeling it. I can say no, I can take possession. It’s mine. God provided it for me. Some will go get it. I’m going to get them grapes. We’ll get what God has for me.
Some of you may be facing a giant that’s knocked you down and that giant has you spinning and reeling. It may be the death of a loved one. It may be the loss of a job. It may be a marital situation. It may be a financial situation, physical, I don’t know what it is, but there may be a giant that has knocked you down. I want to tell you, Jesus got up so that you could get up so right where you are. I want you to tell him, Jesus, today, I choose to get up. I don’t know where it’s going to go. I don’t know how I’m going to do it. I don’t know how I’m going to overcome, but I choose you. I grabbed your hand. Come on. I believe he’s extended his hand right there to you. He’s extended it right there to you. If you will grab his hand. He’s going to lift you up and say, come on. The righteous may fall seven times, but still get up Mt Carmel Church.
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