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Our Declaration of Independence

The New Normal – “Our Declaration of Independence”

Pastor Phil Derstine

7-4-21

                                     

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

  • John 10:10 “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”  (internal & external quality)
  • John 8:36 “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

 

The Kingdom of God

- God’s original plan for mankind: to influence earth with the culture of heaven.

  • Matthew 6:10 “Thy kingdom come.  Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”
  • Luke 17:20 “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: (21) Neither shall they say, Lo here! Or, lo there!  for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.”

 

1. We Have Membership

– in God’s Family

  • Ephesians 2:19 “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household.”

2. We Have Citizenship

– in God’s Country

  • Philippians 3:20 “But our citizenship is in heaven.  And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
  • Legal Status – all the rights & privileges of Heaven
  • God’s Country – no sickness, no poverty (lack), no worry…  The King is in the house!

3. We have Authority

– over all the power of the enemy

  • Luke 10:19 “Behold, I give you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”
  • Ephesians 6:12 “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
  • II Corinthians 10:4-5 “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the          pulling down of strong holds; Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”

 

Weapons of our Warfare

1. Submit to God

  • James 4:7 “Submit yourselves therefore to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
  • Ephesians 4:27 “Neither give place to the devil.”

2. Confess the Word

  • Luke 4:4 “And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written…”
  • Isaiah 59:19 “When the enemy shall come in, like a flood the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.”
  • Revelation 12:11 “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony…”

3. Use the Name of Jesus

  • Mark 16:17 “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils…”
  • Philippians 2:9-10 “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth.”

4. Identify the enemy, bind him

  • Matthew 12:28 “But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. (29) Or else how can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man?  And then he will spoil his house.”
  • John 14:30 “For the prince of the world cometh, and hath nothing in me.”