The Supernatural Is Real, and You’ve Felt It

Well, I wonder how many of you have noticed that people are fascinated by the supernatural today. How many of you have seen that around? You see like TV shows about it, movies, podcasts. It seems like people can't get enough. Why do you think that is? Maybe it's because deep down we sense that there's more going on than what we can see. And the Bible tells us that there actually is. Maybe some of you have felt it somewhere along the way, but you couldn't quite explain it. For example, maybe you decided to get serious about God and you started moving closer to God. And when you did, temptation seemed to get stronger or you decided to start praying more. And then the more you pray, the more your mind wanders or you decide you're gonna honor God in your marriage and then you fight more in your marriage. Don't elbow the person you're married to right now if that happened to you. Just look forward and pretend like you don't know what I'm talking about. But it seems like every time you move toward God, there's something that pushes back. And you think, is that a coincidence? Well, maybe, but probably not. What if we think is a coincidence is often actually spiritual opposition? Because the Bible tells us that there is a very real battle that we cannot see with the natural eyes. And today we are starting a five-week message series called Supernatural, and I want to tell you what we're going to cover in the upcoming weeks. Today we're going to talk about spiritual warfare, the reality that there is a battle going on even right now as we speak. A battle for your marriage, a battle for your finances, a battle for your children. For some of you, a battle for your soul in the spiritual realm. Next week, we're gonna talk about the power of the Holy Spirit. What's amazing is that Jesus said this to his disciples. He said, it's actually better that I go away so that I can send the Spirit to live within you. The Holy Spirit is not an it, it's not a feeling. The Holy Spirit is a he, the third person of the Trinity. And we're gonna talk about the Holy Spirit next week. Week three, we're gonna talk about angels. I gotta tell you right now, when you read the angels from the Bible, they are not fat, white. Bald cherubim playing a harp on a cloud. They're actually fierce. They're warring. They're messengers. And the Bible tells us that you may actually entertain an angel without even knowing it. In other words, you might come across an angel. From God and not even recognize that there's a supernatural being in front of you, assigned to you, perhaps to protect you or to minister to you. Week four, we're gonna talk about demons. We serve a good God who has an enemy who hates God and hates the people of God and has demonic forces assigned to attack those who are serving Jesus. There would be demons with assignments against you to lie to you, to trick you, to deceive you. And the good news is the name of Jesus It's above every other name, above every force of darkness around, and we're going to see how we overcome the lies and attacks of the evil one. And then in the fifth week, we're going to look at supernatural miracles, and we're going to see the same God that raised Jesus from the dead, who opened blind eyes, who healed deaf ears, who cast demons out of people, is alive and well today. And if you could speak to a mountain and have faith to believe that it can move our God is big enough to do a miracle even today. Supernatural. Today we start with spiritual warfare. And since we are in a spiritual battle, let's do battle in prayer. All of our churches online, would you pray with me? Father, I ask in the name of your risen son, Jesus, that the power of your Holy Spirit would work. Do a deep work in our hearts, God. Equip us with the truth of your word to do battle spiritually against the forces of darkness. God, would you empower your church to do your will and your work on earth as it is in heaven. God, may the forces of your kingdom push back the forces of darkness. And God, we ask for your will to be done in the lives of your church. Bless us as we hear your word today. We pray in Jesus' name. And everybody who agrees said amen. Type in the comments section amen if you're with us today. Let's talk about spiritual warfare. When it comes to spiritual warfare, after serving God for over three decades in the church, it seems to me that there are two very common mistakes that many believers make. When it comes to spiritual warfare, one common mistake is what I'd call an overemphasis on spiritual warfare. It's those people who would say that every single problem is the devil's fault. If you can't find your car keys, the devil hit them. You know, if you have a bad hair day. It's the demons of bad hair. You know, if you gain weight on vacation, it's the devil. It wasn't the cheesecake. It was definitely the devil, right? And there's some people like that. It's almost like you put an overemphasis on spiritual warfare. And that's one extreme that's wrong. The other one would be the opposite, and that would be an underemphasis. And based on most of the churches I've worked with, more churches, I'd say, fall into underemphasizing the reality of the spiritual warfare. And they would say, oh, like spiritual warfare. I mean, that's... That's what weird churches do. That's kind of scary, kind of creepy. And we've seen some of that. Maybe I saw it on TV. Maybe I went to a church like that one time. And they're kind of weird and different. We're normal. We don't get into that kind of weird stuff. Both those extremes are wrong. And I would say both of them are dangerous. And Paul shows us very, very clearly what's going on in Ephesians chapter six, verse 12, when he said this. As Paul said, for our struggle. If you're in a battle today, if there's some type of opposition and a struggle going on, Paul says, our struggle is not against flesh and blood. In other words, it may feel like it's against that person that's driving you crazy, but there's actually a force behind that person that's driving you crazy. Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Our battle is not against people, but rulers and authorities. Powers, the spiritual forces. In other words, there's like a hierarchy of evil assigned to attack you. That's who we do battle against. And the word in the Greek that's struggle, for our struggle is not against word, that's the word pale, not Pele like the soccer player, but like parlez-vous, parlez, pale, pale. Parlez-vous français? P-A-L-E. That's how it's spelled. Anyway, what the word means is it means hand-to-hand combat. It's not like a battle from a distance, but it's like a battle up close, like you're wrestling with someone. And that's why spiritual warfare feels so personal, because it's not just around you, but it's demonic forces coming against you. It's against your thoughts, against your mental health, against your peace, against your faith, against your marriage, against your kids, against your finances. And what I want to do today is we're going to create a foundation to build on in the weeks to come, and I'm going to show you a glimpse of the unseen world. What you see is natural. But even around us now, there's a supernatural world that we do not see with natural eyes. And I'm going to show you a glimpse of that from the Old Testament in 2 Kings chapter 6. I'm going to give you the context. The prophet Elisha had a servant, and the servant woke up early one day. He walks outside, and he looks up, and he sees this enemy army everywhere. He's like, oh my gosh, there's horses, and there's chariots, and there's soldiers, and they're surrounding the whole city. And he would be what you would be. He was scared. And so Elisha said to him this. Elisha said in 2 Kings 6, verse 17, he said, don't be afraid, the prophet answered. And then he said, those who are with us are more than those who are with them. The servant's looking on going, doesn't look like it to me. The enemy's everywhere, and I don't see any of the good guys. And Elisha said, those who are with us are more than those who are with them. Then Elisha prayed, God, open his eyes, Lord, that he may see. The servant could already see in the natural, but God opened up his eyes to see beyond the natural into the supernatural realm. Scripture says this, then the Lord opened the servant's eyes and he looked, now seeing in the supernatural, he saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. Chariots of fire. If you ever see a chariot of fire, that is not natural. He's seeing beyond the natural, into the supernatural. And what's so powerful is nothing changed except what he could see. The army of God was there the entire time. The chariots of fire were there before his eyes were opened. The problem was he couldn't see into the supernatural. Therefore, his facts were right, but his conclusion was wrong. The enemy army was real. The danger was real, but so was the army of God. And that's where some of you may be right now. You're facing a very real battle. Your marriage may not be in good shape at all, or your kids are making decisions that are scaring you, or the financial pressure is so real, you don't know what to do. And you're not imagining how difficult things are, but you may be overlooking how powerful your God is. And that's why I want someone to hear it, believe it, and let it build your faith. Don't measure what God can do by what you see. There are more with us than there are with them. Even if you don't see it now, the armies of God are all around us. What you see is not all there is. Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. There's another side of the whole spiritual battle because not every spiritual force is actually for you. And Paul tells us this in 2 Corinthians 11. He was telling us that we should be obedient to God. Why? He said, so that we may not be taken advantage of by Satan. Who is the devil? He is the liar. He is the father of lies. He is the deceiver. He is the accuser of the brethren. If ever you have a thought like I'm nothing and I'm not this and God doesn't love me and I'll never measure up and I can never make a difference. That's coming from the voice of the evil one who comes to steal, kill and destroy that is accusing you, accusing the people of God. And Paul says, be obedient. Why? So that you don't buy into those lies. So that you're not taken advantage of by the prince of darkness. And then Paul says this, for we are not ignorant of his schemes. In other words, the forces of darkness have demons with an assignment, a hierarchy of ranking assigned to come against the people of God and come against you. And if you've been here for a while, I like to pretend like I'm not entirely weird all the time. You may say you're not doing a very good job of that. Fair enough, okay, whatever. I'm gonna tell you what happened to me in preparation for this. And you know I don't talk a whole lot about this kind of stuff. But number one, it took me seven drafts to do this message. Normally I'm two and a half, three, seven drafts over and over and over again. It's like I was in a battle. And Amy will tell you, I went to bed one night and it was the weirdest thing. I don't have weird dreams. She does every morning. I hear about her dreams, very detailed, all about it. What'd you dream about? Dumb stuff. That night, when I'm working on this message, when I closed my eyes, it was the weirdest thing. It was like, I don't know how to describe it. It was like darkness was rolling in. Like, I don't remember, anybody know what a lava lamp is? They still have those around? Imagine like a lava lamp of darkness rolling in. And I was in this half state of awake, half state of sleep. And I went from nightmare to nightmare to nightmare, the darkest, most horrific, disgusting, I mean, just heartbreaking dreams, night after night after night after night. I mean, dream after dream after dream. And I woke up, I was just shaken. I'm studying on spiritual warfare and it was like there was a battle in my dreams. I cannot prove it, I won't try to, but it felt like a spiritual attack. I'm gonna tell you right now, there are battles that we don't understand. The next night I'm going to sleep and it was the very same thing, although the next night I was not all the way to sleep and I wasn't in that weird state. And so I just started speaking the name of Jesus and guess what? The darkness didn't stay. The name of Jesus is more powerful. I can't prove that there's a spiritual battle going on, but I'm gonna tell you right now, it was one of the most difficult messages to put together And it felt like darkness was all around. What I want to do is I want to build a foundation again today to help. stack upon in the next few weeks. So I'm gonna show you another example of what happens in the spiritual world when we're praying and don't understand. We're gonna look at Daniel chapter 10. And Daniel in the Old Testament, he was praying and he was fasting and he was seeking God for understanding for the people of Israel. And this will speak to some of you because he was praying for a long time. For three weeks, Daniel prayed. And didn't see a thing. Day one, he prayed and nothing happened. Day two, he prayed and nothing happened. Day seven, he prays, nothing happens. Day 14, he prays and he sees nothing. Day 21, God pulls back the spiritual curtains and an angel appears and tells Daniel this. Daniel chapter 10, verse 12. The angel says, since the first day you begin to pray, Your request has been heard in heaven. Since the first day you cried out to God, he heard the cries of your heart. And the angel says, I have come in answer to your prayer. Man, that speaks to me because there's some things I've been praying for for a long time and haven't seen anything. And the angel, the messenger of God comes on the 21st day and says, on the first time you prayed. God heard your prayer and sent me as an answer to it. Now you may be going, well, why did it take you 21 days to bring the answer, angel? And we actually see the reason in verse 13. The angel tells Daniel this, but for 21 days, the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way. Then Michael, one of the archangels, if you don't know who Michael is, just think of like, he's the goat angel. This is the big dog. Michael, this other guy needs some help. Michael, kick some devil butt. I don't know if God said that, probably not God, but maybe God. Michael, one of the archangels came to help me and I left him there with the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia. The angel says, God heard your prayer the first day I prayed, and he sent me. But I was doing battle with this prince of the kingdom, a Persian. I couldn't get by him, and so God sent reinforcements. Michael, the archangel came, and he handled him, and here I am. With the good news, God's going to answer your prayer. You say, what is the spirit prince of Persia? Well, apparently, there is a spiritual power, some kind of demonic force that was connected with the nation. Guarding against the progress of God, but thank God that his powers are greater. So Daniel is praying, seeing nothing, and the answer in the spirit world is already in progress. The demonic force tries to block it. The archangel comes to help, and the answer is on its way. For 21 days, no answer. This story. It hits me so personally because we literally had a very, very similar thing in our life in marriage. 14 years ago, Amy had a vision of burden from God to start ministry homes to help women coming out of human trafficking and out of incarceration and out of abusive situations. And so we prayed about it and felt prompted, okay, we're gonna go open up a ministry home. Well, it should be easy enough. I have, um... I started buying rental properties in college. I've been buying and selling real estate for four decades. Should be relatively easy. We could not find a house that worked for weeks and then months, strangest thing, every single door closed. We're starting to think, Like, maybe we didn't hear from God. Maybe you didn't hear from God because it was your idea. You know, I mean, God's closing all the doors. And then after praying and seeing nothing, this pastor's wife from another church called and said, oh my gosh, I heard you were praying about a home. There's this lady who's doing a home you need to go look at. We went and looked at this home, this lady named Janet. True story. Bought a home to flip. In the middle of her remodel, She felt prompted to furnish the home. I'll show you pictures of it. She put in a commercial grade kitchen. She put in bunk beds in a four bedroom house in the middle of her remodel in order to flip to make money. She feels like God prompts her to furnish it because the home is supposed to be used for ministry. We're inside looking at this home that looked like it was custom built to be a ministry home for women. And we said, we'll buy it. And she looked at us and she said, you can't. I said, we'll rent it. She said, you can't. And we were so confused. And she started crying. And she said, I bought this home to flip to sell for a profit. But midway through, God prompted me to furnish it, knowing it would be used for ministry. You cannot buy this home, it's not for sale. God prompted me to donate it to you and to your ministry. And I'm gonna tell you right now, all... Glory goes to God that when we prayed and saw nothing from the first minute we prayed, God heard that prayer in heaven and released his spirit to speak to someone that we did not know about a project she thought was for one purpose, but God had something else in mind. And that's what I want to talk to somebody today who needs to hear this. You've been praying for your child. Or you've been praying for your marriage. Or you've been praying for someone you love and nothing seems to change. And maybe you wonder, God, do you care? And God, do you even hear? And maybe you need to hear the same thing that God said to Daniel since the first day you prayed. God heard the cries of your heart. God knows the prayers that you prayed in private. God saw the tears that you shed that no one else saw. And our good and loving father cares about the burdens that you've carried for years. And you may not see it and you may not know what God is doing. You may not know when the answer will come, but don't confuse God's silence with God's absence. Whether you realize it or not, you are in a spiritual battle. And this battle is not against flesh and blood. It's a spiritual battle. So church, how do you fight A battle you can't see. How do you fight against the forces of darkness? You can't punch the devil. You can't outrun the devil. You can't fight the devil in your own strength. You are in a spiritual battle and spiritual battles require spiritual weapons. Here's what God's word says, 2 Corinthians 10:3. For though we live in the world, church, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. In other words, you don't fight a spiritual battle with physical weapons. You don't defeat the devil with worry. Let me say that again because somebody needs to hear it. You don't defeat the devil by trying to control everything and using your own strength to get things done. How do you fight? Paul said this. He said, finally, be strong in the Lord. Not in your wisdom, not in your strength, not in your own effort, but be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. So what do you do? You put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's scheme. What is the armor of God? You need to hear this. It is the helmet of salvation. You are not saved by religious works. You are not saved by being good enough. You're not saved by being a church member. You're saved by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, the helmet of salvation that protects your mind as the word renews it. You put on the breastplate of righteousness. You take up the shield of faith with which you quench the fire. Fiery darts of the evil one who is assigned against you. You take the belt of truth, that God's word is truth. You take the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. Your offensive weapon is the living word of God. Church, be in the word, let the word be in you. Open up the word, live the word, believe the word, memorize the word, let the word renew your mind, let the word conform you to the image of Christ. You can't do offense without an offensive weapon. Draw your sword. Get in the word. Your shoes are prepared with the gospel of the readiness of peace. It is a battle. And you don't fight a spiritual battle with natural weapons. I'm gonna tell you right now, we're in a battle. I'm in a battle. Like, look. Here's what's crazy. The longer we do this, it seems like the frequency And intensity of the spiritual opposition, it just gets bigger and bigger. Like literally we'll be in like two weighty, massive spiritual battles and you think one of them is gonna get done and three more are just waiting for you. And I know some of you know exactly what I'm talking about. You're in a battle right now. And I wanna remind you, the devil is defeated. So why are you living like the enemy's won? Why are you trying to fight in your own strength when God has given you everything you need for life and godliness? When God has given you every spiritual blessing from heavenly realms? There are more with us than there are with them. So church, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. When you're under attack, stand your ground and then fight back. Remind yourself, God has not given you a spirit of fear. Of love, of a sound mind, just declare by faith, no weapon formed against my home will prosper. Greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world. And church, I want you to hear me when I tell you, this is bigger than you, it's bigger than me. Our nation doesn't need another church that's afraid and timid and silent, trying to fight spiritual battles with self-help, feel-good messages. We need churches full of the supernatural power of God, boldly proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ, calling people to repentance. Repent of your sins. Not a mistake, to sin against a holy God and be baptized in the name of the Father, Son. Don't play around, be baptized. Turn and be baptized. Pursuing holiness and radical obedience to the one who gave his life for us because we're in a battle. And the enemy wants God's church intimidated and discouraged and divided and defeated. Jesus prayed that we would be one, united, together, standing strong, calling things that are not as though they were, boldly proclaiming the tomb is empty. Jesus is risen. And when the devil just kind of tells you can't, you won't, just remember Jesus promised he will build his church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. So rise up, church. Don't live like the enemy has won. There are more with us than there are with them. So whatever battle you're in, you be strong in the Lord, his mighty power. Be strong in the Lord, his mighty power. Because greater is Christ in you than the enemy that is in the world. The name of Jesus is greater than every name. And one day, every knee will bow. Every knee will bow. And every tongue will confess to the Lordship of Christ. The devil is defeated. Christ is risen. Stand in the victory that Jesus paid for you. Father, we pray that your Holy Spirit would do a work in a way that only you can do. Church, let's kind of, let's be the church for each other. If you go ahead and look up, if you don't mind, we're gonna, many of you right now, you're in a battle. I'm gonna tell you right now that I am, we are, and I'm not fighting this in my own strength. I've got the power of the Lord, depending on him. And you need to do that as well. Today, at all of our churches, those of you online, if you're in the middle of a battle and you need the presence, the power, the strength of God and his church praying with you and standing with you, would you just have the courage to lift up your hand right now? Just lift up your hand around the room. All of our churches, lift them up online. You can type in the comment section. I need someone to pray with me. I need someone to stand with me. As your hands are up today, what I want you to do is look around and recognize there are a lot of people in a battle. Would you mind just reaching out to someone near you, put your hand on their shoulder if it's not weird, kind of just reach out and just show some love around and we're gonna pray for one another. And believe that the presence and power of God is with us today. Church, would you just, you can even pray and believe that God's gonna give you the words to say if you're comfortable. Father, we thank you for your church. We thank you that the gates of hell will not prevail against us. And now in the name of Jesus, God, we speak against all darkness, against all spiritual lies, against every demonic force that has been assigned against your people. God, we thank you that Jesus is bigger than cancer. We thank you, God, that Jesus is bigger than deception. God, we thank you that there is forgiveness and there is healing in the name of Jesus. God, would you set people free from addictions? God, would you heal those who've been hurt from betrayal? God, would you bring supernatural healing to bodies today? God, we pray for financial provision for those who are hurting. God, we pray that we would be able to overcome all the lies and darkness and assignments of the evil one, and that, God, we would stand strong in your power. In your might, believing God that with the laying on of hands and the praying of faith that you'd stir up the gifts within us. And God, we would not be victims of the attacks of the evil one, but we would be overcomers, God, by the blood of the lamb and by the words of our testimony. Now empower your church, God, to be healed, to be whole, to be strengthened, to be aggressive in sharing the goodness of the Lord Jesus Christ. God, set the captives free and bring healing in the name that is above every name, the name of Jesus. If you agree, all God's people say amen. For some of you, let's go ahead and do it this way. For some of you, the greatest battle right now is against your soul. There is a battle against you. There's a battle for you. I want you to listen to me. We're almost done. There's a battle for some of you. 2,000 years ago, Jesus did spiritual battle against the devil when Jesus said, no one takes my life, but I lay it down. And Jesus, the Son of God, willingly gave his life on a cross for the forgiveness of sins, for my sins. The enemy thought that he'd won, but three days later, the stone was rolled away, the tomb was empty, Jesus was raised from the dead. Who is Jesus? He is the sinless Son of God who shed his blood so that we could be forgiven. And I want everyone, if you can listen to this for just a moment, you can know about the things of Jesus without knowing Jesus. And I believe all over the church in the West today, there are people that are close to the things of God but have not been born into the family of God. This is some of you today. What do you do? You repent of your sins. And you be baptized. What does repent mean? It means we turn away from this and we call on the name. There is one name that is above every name. His name is Jesus. And when you call on his name, the Bible says your sins would be forgiven. Those things that haunt you, that you feel dirty from, your sins will be forgiven and you would be made new. Today, there are those of you that you've been deceived. You've been lied to. You think, well, I go to church. I'm around the people of God. You can have Jesus here without having him here if there is not evidence. of your faith in people around you. You're probably not walking with Jesus. If you're not being persecuted for your faith, you may not really know him. When we step out of darkness into the kingdom of light, things change. We are different. We don't live the same way. You start seeing the fruits of the spirit. If you're not sure where you stand today, you are not here by accident. Repent from the sinful things you've done. Call on the name of the one who saved and be free today. All of our churches with eyes open. Hey, here's how Jesus said it. He said, if you confess me before people, I'll confess you before my father. If you don't do that, I'm not gonna confess you before my father. So it doesn't matter what anybody thinks. The devil's trying to talk you out of it. Jesus says, screw you, devil. Jesus is gonna be my savior. I'm stepping away from my sin. I'm sorry if that's bad. I shouldn't have said it, but just work with me. God, forgive me, but this is serious right now. Don't be laughing too much. Laugh, move out of the way. Don't let the devil keep you in darkness. Don't pretend like you're following Jesus if you're not. I repent of my sins. I call on Jesus, save me. I don't care who's looking. I'm gonna give my life to him. I'm gonna boldly declare I'm following him. All of our churches today, no playing around, no fake church, no playing church. Jesus, save me, be the Lord of my life. I publicly confess. My need for you, Jesus, I give my life for you. Raise your hands right now. All the place, raise them up right here. God bless you. Others of you, right back over here. Others say, yes, Jesus, I surrender. Be the Lord of my life. Others say, yes. Right back over there. God bless you. Online, type in the comment section, I'm surrendering my life to Christ. All right, repent and be baptized. You did this. Let's get baptized in two weeks. Let's pray together. Pray aloud. Pray, Heavenly Father, forgive all of my sins. Jesus, save me. Be the Lord of my life. Fill me with your Holy Spirit so I can know you and serve you and do your will. My life is not my own. I give it all to you. Thank you for new life. In Jesus' name, I pray. Come on, church, can you celebrate? Can you worship God? Are you ready to take a step towards living a more spiritually engaged life? Exploring spiritual practices can be a great place to start. To learn more, just click here.