Biblical Spiritual Warfare - 3

Subject: Fleshly Weapons Verses Spiritual Weapons

by Rick Welborne

Ephesians 6:10-13 (NKJV)
¹⁰  Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
¹¹  Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
¹²  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.
¹³  Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

--I hope you came tonight prepared to do true Biblical warfare and to, again, push back the forces of darkness.

--Tonight, let’s establish from the get-go that what we are trying to accomplish thru spiritual warfare is not what we can do thru the flesh but by the Spirit of God…Paul to the Galatians:

Galatians 3:1-5 (NLT)
¹  Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has cast an evil spell on you? For the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross.
²  Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ.
³  How foolish can you be? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?
⁴  Have you experienced so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it?
⁵  I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ. 

--Simply, what Paul is saying here is this: It is not thru your human effort or flesh that you have been set free but thru Jesus shedding His blood on the cross and thru the power of Holy Spirit.

1. We must avoid legalism in spiritual warfare.

Legalism – adding one’s own works to the already completed, perfect work of Christ.

--Legalism was trying to attach itself to the Church is the region of Galatia and Paul was teaching against it because of how it saps the spiritual strength and joy out of the people.

--There are churches (even locally) that are known for being very legalistic and I have sat down with many of these people who have felt as though they were in bondage and oppressed.

--The women have 90% of the rules that have to be followed…your hair has to be like this, your dress must be like this…you can’t wear make-up…you can’t do anything that is not a sin…Man’s rules.

--The men can have no facial hair (I guess they have to shave their eye brows) and wear long sleeves…those sexy arms. Example: Lady invited mothers of girls she was teaching…church police would not let them in.

--As ridiculous as this sounds this is what people do with spiritual warfare…they try to attach these man made rules to a person who needs to be free or those praying for them.

Galatians 5:1 (NKJV)
¹  Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. 

--The Galatians show us how easy it is to hear erroneous doctrines and swallow them hook, line, and sinker. Christ had set them free but now they wanted to return to the law.

--They were essence saying…Yes, we received Jesus Christ freely. But now in order to maintain and keep that salvation we so freely received, we must do our part to “keep” our salvation. Therefore, we must place ourselves back under Old Testament Law to keep its rules and regulations. 

Colossians 2:16 & 20-22 (NIV)
¹⁶  Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.
²⁰  Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules:
²¹  "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"?
²²  These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. 

--Paul goes on to tell the Galatians that what they are being encouraged to do is simply based on what man wants and is nothing more than show!

Colossians 2:23 (NIV)
²³  Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

--Don’t misunderstand me or Paul…these outward things do appear to have a show of wisdom in making yourself worship, in a form of humility, and in neglecting what the flesh wants.

Rick Renner – The religious nature of man loves that outward show! The religious person wants to believe that, by his own work and merit, he can somehow attain a perfection that makes himself acceptable to God. 

--This is why you will hear about Far Eastern religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism require those who follow their beliefs to live such lives of self-denial, abasement, and humility. Climbing stairs on their knees.

--What it becomes is a pride in our flesh that says I can do this on my own or thanks, God, for your help, but I have to help out in this.

--This same attitude and spirit attaches itself to people trying to engage in spiritual warfare…Let me do something to be worthy of my freedom. What Christ did was surely not enough to set me free.

--Maybe I can find higher places to do spiritual warfare, maybe I can shout loud enough to deliver myself or others, and maybe I can purge myself (puke) to get clean and free.

Titus 3:4-7 (NIV)
⁴  But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared,
⁵  he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,
⁶  whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior,
⁷  so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.

2. We can add absolutely nothing to what Jesus did at the cross of Calvary.

--How many of you will agree with me that Jesus death, burial, and resurrection was a total, perfect, and completed work!

--Hear me, His work was so complete that He purchased our complete and total deliverance from the powers of darkness. Look at what the writer of Hebrews said:

Hebrews 2:1-4 (NCV)
¹ So we must be more careful to follow what we were taught. Then we will not stray away from the truth.
²  The teaching God spoke through angels was shown to be true, and anyone who did not follow it or obey it received the punishment that was earned.
³  So surely we also will be punished if we ignore this great salvation. The Lord himself first told about this salvation, and it was proven true to us by those who heard him.
⁴  God also proved it by using wonders, great signs, many kinds of miracles, and by giving people gifts through the Holy Spirit, just as he wanted. 

--Notice verse three…we also will be punished if we ignore this great salvation. How great was your salvation?

How great is your salvation if principalities and powers still have control over you?

--How great is His salvation if we are still under the heavy hand of our enemy and we must fight every day to get free from him?

--How great is our salvation if we have to scream, yell, or vomit to maintain our freedom? I hope you can see how ridiculous the work of the flesh really is.

--By Jesus work at the cross and His victorious resurrection from the dead, He completely broke the dominion of Satan and the bondage of sin over us.

--In our new birth Jesus released all of His creative powers in us as we passed from the realm of death into the realm of this new life.

1 John 3:14 (NCV)
¹⁴  We know we have left death and have come into life because we love each other. Whoever does not love is still dead.  

--Let me give you an example of this verse…My parents (before they were saved) we extremely prejudice…my dad would say and I am not kidding…I am not prejudice…I just hate black people! What?

--Prejudice and racism is demonically driven and my parents had passed that down to me and my siblings. When Christ saved me…I remember sitting on Pearl Street weeping for the lost-ness of the black community.

--Hear this, when my dad received Christ…that spirit was broken…at my dad’s funeral several of the people there were black…Jesus had completely set him free.

3. So our goal in this spiritual warfare is to freely accept the deliverance that has already been procured or obtained for us through Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 4:9-13 (NLT)
⁹  So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God.
¹⁰  For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world.
¹¹  So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall. 

¹²  For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.
¹³  Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable. 

--There is a special place of rest waiting for God’s people…a place where we cease from our labor, our struggling to try to accomplish what Jesus took care of on the cross.

--Really, that is what faith is all about…after having received Christ’s redemptive work for us, we simply walk in the freedom He has already purchased for us.

--God has given to all of us a measure of faith and He has graciously provided His Word for us. As we read it, believe it, and walk in it, we see we are truly free from the chains of darkness. Verse 12 above.

--Make no mistake about it, Satan and his imps will try to come and steal, kill, and destroy the life of every believer…he will try to make you go backwards or add to God’s redemptive work…don’t do it.

--Remember Jesus has provided everything you need for this life:

2 Peter 1:3-8 (NIV)
³  His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
⁴  Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
⁵  For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge;
⁶  and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;
⁷  and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.
⁸  For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

--He has provided everything we need but let me give this sober warning:

Hebrews 10:26-31 (NKJV)
²⁶  For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
²⁷  but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.
²⁸  Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
²⁹  Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?
³⁰  For we know Him who said, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord. And again, "The LORD will judge His people."
³¹  It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Biblical Spiritual Warfare - 3

Subject: Fleshly Weapons Verses Spiritual Weapons

by Rick Welborne

Ephesians 6:10-13 (NKJV)
¹⁰  Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
¹¹  Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
¹²  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.
¹³  Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

--I hope you came tonight prepared to do true Biblical warfare and to, again, push back the forces of darkness.

--Tonight, let’s establish from the get-go that what we are trying to accomplish thru spiritual warfare is not what we can do thru the flesh but by the Spirit of God…Paul to the Galatians:

Galatians 3:1-5 (NLT)
¹  Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has cast an evil spell on you? For the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross.
²  Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ.
³  How foolish can you be? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?
⁴  Have you experienced so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it?
⁵  I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ. 

--Simply, what Paul is saying here is this: It is not thru your human effort or flesh that you have been set free but thru Jesus shedding His blood on the cross and thru the power of Holy Spirit.

1. We must avoid legalism in spiritual warfare.

Legalism – adding one’s own works to the already completed, perfect work of Christ.

--Legalism was trying to attach itself to the Church is the region of Galatia and Paul was teaching against it because of how it saps the spiritual strength and joy out of the people.

--There are churches (even locally) that are known for being very legalistic and I have sat down with many of these people who have felt as though they were in bondage and oppressed.

--The women have 90% of the rules that have to be followed…your hair has to be like this, your dress must be like this…you can’t wear make-up…you can’t do anything that is not a sin…Man’s rules.

--The men can have no facial hair (I guess they have to shave their eye brows) and wear long sleeves…those sexy arms. Example: Lady invited mothers of girls she was teaching…church police would not let them in.

--As ridiculous as this sounds this is what people do with spiritual warfare…they try to attach these man made rules to a person who needs to be free or those praying for them.

Galatians 5:1 (NKJV)
¹  Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. 

--The Galatians show us how easy it is to hear erroneous doctrines and swallow them hook, line, and sinker. Christ had set them free but now they wanted to return to the law.

--They were essence saying…Yes, we received Jesus Christ freely. But now in order to maintain and keep that salvation we so freely received, we must do our part to “keep” our salvation. Therefore, we must place ourselves back under Old Testament Law to keep its rules and regulations. 

Colossians 2:16 & 20-22 (NIV)
¹⁶  Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.
²⁰  Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules:
²¹  "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"?
²²  These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. 

--Paul goes on to tell the Galatians that what they are being encouraged to do is simply based on what man wants and is nothing more than show!

Colossians 2:23 (NIV)
²³  Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

--Don’t misunderstand me or Paul…these outward things do appear to have a show of wisdom in making yourself worship, in a form of humility, and in neglecting what the flesh wants.

Rick Renner – The religious nature of man loves that outward show! The religious person wants to believe that, by his own work and merit, he can somehow attain a perfection that makes himself acceptable to God. 

--This is why you will hear about Far Eastern religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism require those who follow their beliefs to live such lives of self-denial, abasement, and humility. Climbing stairs on their knees.

--What it becomes is a pride in our flesh that says I can do this on my own or thanks, God, for your help, but I have to help out in this.

--This same attitude and spirit attaches itself to people trying to engage in spiritual warfare…Let me do something to be worthy of my freedom. What Christ did was surely not enough to set me free.

--Maybe I can find higher places to do spiritual warfare, maybe I can shout loud enough to deliver myself or others, and maybe I can purge myself (puke) to get clean and free.

Titus 3:4-7 (NIV)
⁴  But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared,
⁵  he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,
⁶  whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior,
⁷  so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.

2. We can add absolutely nothing to what Jesus did at the cross of Calvary.

--How many of you will agree with me that Jesus death, burial, and resurrection was a total, perfect, and completed work!

--Hear me, His work was so complete that He purchased our complete and total deliverance from the powers of darkness. Look at what the writer of Hebrews said:

Hebrews 2:1-4 (NCV)
¹ So we must be more careful to follow what we were taught. Then we will not stray away from the truth.
²  The teaching God spoke through angels was shown to be true, and anyone who did not follow it or obey it received the punishment that was earned.
³  So surely we also will be punished if we ignore this great salvation. The Lord himself first told about this salvation, and it was proven true to us by those who heard him.
⁴  God also proved it by using wonders, great signs, many kinds of miracles, and by giving people gifts through the Holy Spirit, just as he wanted. 

--Notice verse three…we also will be punished if we ignore this great salvation. How great was your salvation?

How great is your salvation if principalities and powers still have control over you?

--How great is His salvation if we are still under the heavy hand of our enemy and we must fight every day to get free from him?

--How great is our salvation if we have to scream, yell, or vomit to maintain our freedom? I hope you can see how ridiculous the work of the flesh really is.

--By Jesus work at the cross and His victorious resurrection from the dead, He completely broke the dominion of Satan and the bondage of sin over us.

--In our new birth Jesus released all of His creative powers in us as we passed from the realm of death into the realm of this new life.

1 John 3:14 (NCV)
¹⁴  We know we have left death and have come into life because we love each other. Whoever does not love is still dead.  

--Let me give you an example of this verse…My parents (before they were saved) we extremely prejudice…my dad would say and I am not kidding…I am not prejudice…I just hate black people! What?

--Prejudice and racism is demonically driven and my parents had passed that down to me and my siblings. When Christ saved me…I remember sitting on Pearl Street weeping for the lost-ness of the black community.

--Hear this, when my dad received Christ…that spirit was broken…at my dad’s funeral several of the people there were black…Jesus had completely set him free.

3. So our goal in this spiritual warfare is to freely accept the deliverance that has already been procured or obtained for us through Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 4:9-13 (NLT)
⁹  So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God.
¹⁰  For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world.
¹¹  So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall. 

¹²  For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.
¹³  Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable. 

--There is a special place of rest waiting for God’s people…a place where we cease from our labor, our struggling to try to accomplish what Jesus took care of on the cross.

--Really, that is what faith is all about…after having received Christ’s redemptive work for us, we simply walk in the freedom He has already purchased for us.

--God has given to all of us a measure of faith and He has graciously provided His Word for us. As we read it, believe it, and walk in it, we see we are truly free from the chains of darkness. Verse 12 above.

--Make no mistake about it, Satan and his imps will try to come and steal, kill, and destroy the life of every believer…he will try to make you go backwards or add to God’s redemptive work…don’t do it.

--Remember Jesus has provided everything you need for this life:

2 Peter 1:3-8 (NIV)
³  His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
⁴  Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
⁵  For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge;
⁶  and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;
⁷  and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.
⁸  For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

--He has provided everything we need but let me give this sober warning:

Hebrews 10:26-31 (NKJV)
²⁶  For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
²⁷  but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.
²⁸  Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
²⁹  Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?
³⁰  For we know Him who said, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord. And again, "The LORD will judge His people."
³¹  It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Identity Theft - 2

Subject – Find Your Identity in the Death, Burial, and Resurrection
by Rick Welborne

Colossians 1:15-23 (NKJV)
¹⁵  He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
¹⁶  For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.
¹⁷  And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
¹⁸  And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
¹⁹  For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell,
²⁰  and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.
²¹  And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled
²²  in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight--
²³  if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister. 

--Next week we will celebrate Easter (the Resurrection of Jesus Christ) and we are praying many will experience His resurrection power in their lives. Pass out tickets and invite people.

--We have been talking about Identity Theft and how the enemy comes to steal our identity or to try to re-identify us contrary to what the Word of God declares us to be.

John 10:10 (NKJV)
¹⁰  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.

--Satan, our enemy, and his hordes of demons have a mission and that missions is to steal, kill, or destroy from us the identity we have in Christ. 

--If we allow him to define us or to redefine us…we miss out on the abundant life Jesus has promised to each one of us…we allow him to commit identity theft against us.

--Today, we want to look at the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ and come to the revelation that our identity is wrapped up in what Jesus has done for us.

1. Our identity is found in the death of Jesus Christ.

Acts 2:22-24 (NLT)
²²  “People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know.
²³  But God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him.
²⁴  But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip.

--On the cross, Jesus won the victory and showed the world to be powerless…how awesome is this? The debt you had, the debt I had, and the debt the world has was nailed to the cross.

--When Jesus went to the cross and laid His life down…when He shed His blood for you and me…He was screaming to the powers of darkness that these people belong to me…He was saying:

--Their identity is found in me because of My blood that has cleansed them from all of their sins. The Romans and religious leaders did not take Jesus’ life…He laid it down freely.

John 10:18 (NKJV)
¹⁸  No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father."

--I want to identify with the One Who willingly laid down His life for me when He died that cruel death on the cross, shedding His blood so I could be free…At the cross, at the cross, were I first saw the light…

--My identity was definitely defined when I gave up my life and died to myself:

Galatians 2:20 (NKJV)
²⁰  I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

--This verse was used by the evangelist who led me to the Lord. Before this I could not identify with Jesus and I surely could not figure out who I was supposed to be.

--I knew I could not live for God as the person I was…something had to change. The evangelist said, you really want to live for God don’t you…I said yes and he said you need to stop trying…Great!

--He then quoted the verse above…stop trying to live for God…die to yourself and let Jesus come in and live His life thru you. I finally understood the plan of salvation.

--The enemy came to steal, kill, and destroy my life…my identity was found in drugs, alcohol, and running around doing things that were destructive. My identity was changed immediately. 

--Now I was identified as born again, called by God, youth pastor, lead pastor…don’t tell me God can’t stop the identity thief…my life and my future was changed forever! Still is!

--You see, I really can’t know who I am until I survey His wondrous love for me and to realize that He did what He did because He has a plan for my life. 

2. Our identity is found in the burial of Jesus Christ.

--The Bible tells us that Jesus was beaten, tortured, and nailed to a cross. Even a spear pierced His side and He died. Jesus said, “It is finished!” He died on the cross and was buried for the sins of the whole world.

John 19:38-40 (NKJV)
³⁸  After this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took the body of Jesus.
³⁹  And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds.
⁴⁰  Then they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in strips of linen with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury.

--Jesus’ body was prepared for burial…His body was laid in a borrowed tomb because that was all He needed. Three days later he was coming out of that tomb.

--I believe much of our identity has been stolen by those who tell us that Christianity is all about what we get and not what we lay down.

--If we will follow Christ…He said that we must deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him…if we try to hang on to our lives, we lose them…if we lay them down, we gain life.

--So how do I identify with Jesus in His burial…Paul explains it like this:

Colossians 2:12-15 (NCV)
¹²  When you were baptized, you were buried with Christ, and you were raised up with him through your faith in God’s power that was shown when he raised Christ from the dead.
¹³  When you were spiritually dead because of your sins and because you were not free from the power of your sinful self, God made you alive with Christ, and he forgave all our sins.
¹⁴  He canceled the debt, which listed all the rules we failed to follow. He took away that record with its rules and nailed it to the cross.
¹⁵  God stripped the spiritual rulers and powers of their authority. With the cross, he won the victory and showed the world that they were powerless.

--You see, before you received Christ you were spiritually dead, and if you were like me, you were close to being physically dead. Doctor said I probably would not live two more months. 

--One of the great reasons you should be water baptized (other than the fact that Jesus said we should be) is what verse 12 said: When you were baptized, you were buried with Christ.

--When you are buried you no longer have life, when you are buried you no longer have rights, when you are buried you no longer have a will, when you are buried you are dead to sin.

--Think about it…when you are buried with Christ you identify with Him in His death…you have died to self, to sin, and to your own will…you are set up for a brand new life.

3. Our identity is found in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:12-20 (NIV)
¹²  But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
¹³  If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
¹⁴  And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.
¹⁵  More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised.
¹⁶  For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either.
¹⁷  And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.
¹⁸  Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.
¹⁹  If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.
²⁰  But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 

--Can we establish here this morning once and for all that Jesus has been raised from the dead and that He is very much alive interceding at the right hand of God.

--He is alive…I said He is alive…How do you know He is alive…He has resurrected me from my dead life of sin and now His resurrection power lives in me.

--Who I am has been identified by the resurrection power of Jesus in me…my parents told me I was hopeless, they told me I was not planned, they told me the evil around me was because of me.

--They labeled me, they identified me as trouble, as evil, as jail bound, as the reason behind all that was happening…all I heard was how I would not amount to anything…

--Jesus had a different plan…His resurrection power has resurrected me…I am a new creation…the old nature (the old Rick) is buried with Christ and the new Rick has been resurrected.

--My identity is now found in Jesus Christ just like the Apostle Paul:

Philippians 3:7-11 (NIV)
⁷  But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.
⁸  What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ
⁹  and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.
¹⁰  I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
¹¹  and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

--I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection…that will make me new…that will make me whole.

Romans 8:10-17 (NKJV)
¹⁰  And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
¹¹  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 to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
¹²  Therefore, brethren, we are debtors--not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.
¹³  For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
¹⁴  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
¹⁵  For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father."
¹⁶  The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
¹⁷  and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. 

--God has identified me as a son, He has identified us as His children, he has identified us as heirs of God, and He has identified us as joint heirs with Christ!