(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Okay, so I must confess that I had a different sermon lined up for you last night. I woke up this morning and I had a completely different sermon in my head. So I assume it's over the Lord and obviously I didn't have as much time to prepare, but there was enough information that came flooding into my mind as I was preparing this sermon. And so if you look at Ephesians 6 and verse number 10, it says, Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. The title for the sermon this morning is Strength and Power, Strength and Power. Finally, my brethren, that's obviously all of us, be strong, be strong in ourselves, be strong in ourselves, not strong in the Lord, and in the power, right? In power of our might, not in the power of his might. We understand this as believers that we ought to rely on the strength and the power that comes from God. And, you know, I often, I'm quite transparent with, you know, when I preach or when I speak of myself. Sometimes I get comments, you know, from brethren in the church that says, Pastor, you're a, you know, you're a strong leader, you know, or, you know, Pastor, you say that you're weak in faith, but I don't see that weakness. And I want you to understand that I see myself as a very weak individual. You know, just as far as who I am as a man with the failings of my flesh, with the struggles and the worries and concerns that enter and the troubles and tribulations that we all face. And you guys are sick and tired of me talking about how before I get up to preach, I pray to God to fill me with his spirit because I'm weak. Like for me to just get up and preach with my own wisdom and might, it's not going to be profitable for you. And so I'm essentially begging God, God, give me your wisdom. Give me your power. Help me to put away my flesh because I need your strength to proclaim your word to your wonderful people here on the Sunshine Coast. And that really becomes the key that I've learned over the years of Christian maturity. That is the key to strength. And it's not, I, it's not that I think I'm strong. In fact, most believers that I can look at and I look at their lives and say, man, this is a strong man or strong woman in the faith. This is a strong Christian. They would readily admit to you. Yeah, but I'm not strong. It's strength in the Lord. It's power of his might that allows me to do what I can do. And that is so important. Look, we're going to come back to Ephesians 6. You can turn away from there for now, but come with me to 1st Timothy chapter 4, please. Come with me to 1st Timothy chapter 4, 1st Timothy chapter 4. And I explained not long ago that the book of 1st Timothy, 2nd Timothy and Titus are pastoral epistles. And if you look at 1st Timothy chapter 4, 1st Timothy chapter 4, and look at verse number 11, verse number 11. It says, these things command and teach. So Paul is telling Pastor Timothy, you've got to command and teach your church these things. All right, so what are those things, Pastor Kevin? Well, let's start there in verse number 6, 1st Timothy chapter 4 verse number 6. It says, if thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shall be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained. So I want to be a good minister of Jesus Christ. So I've got to put my brethren in remembrance of these things. Look at verse number 7, but refuse profane and old wives fables and exercise thyself rather unto godliness. So instead of following profane and old wives fables and make-believe stories and, you know, my personal opinions of matters. No, no, we want to, the pastor, the preacher should exercise himself unto godliness. All right, my goal is to be godly. Okay, as a pastor, as the example, as a leader of New Life Baptist Church, that ought to be my desire. What is godliness? Well, we know that godliness has the word God, right? So really, it's about demonstrating or projecting in your life the characteristics and the nature of God. Okay, and our goal, we always talk about being more like Christ and Christ is God. And as we become more like Christ, guess what? You become more godly, all right? So instead of your life demonstrating the life of flesh or of the carnal nature, you know, you are demonstrating more and more of God's character, nature, you know, abilities. And of course, that's because our God is a God of strength, all right? So we need to exercise rather unto godliness. So this is why it says in verse number eight, for bodily exercise, so there is godliness that you can exercise or there's bodily exercise, right? It says bodily exercise, profit of little, all right? Now, it doesn't say it doesn't profit at all, it just profits little. So if you go hit the gym and go and exercise and do your aerobics and all that stuff, that's profit, I'm not going to say don't do it, but there's little profit to it, okay? In comparison to godliness, because it says, but godliness is profitable unto all things. So we know bodily exercise is profitable to your body, but godliness is profitable unto all things, okay? Having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come. So godliness profits you now and it profits you in the life to come. Okay, whereas bodily exercise only profits you kind of now. Okay, like you're not going to take your fit body, you know, six-pack, you know, muscular body, you know, to heaven, you know, look, that body's going to get changed. It's going to, you know, you're going to get a better body. One made like unto Christ, okay, regenerated body. And so, you know, God is telling us, look, we can focus on the carnal and the here and now and there's some profit to it at the end of the day, but you know, godliness has greater profit. Now, what's quite interesting about that is when we think about bodily exercise, we say, well, yeah, we're improving our health. Well, yeah, I mean, I'm not against that, good on you. But you know what else improves your health? Godliness. All right, because it says by godliness is profitable unto all things, not just some things and not just spiritual things, but all things. Even what bodily exercise benefits you, godliness can benefit you in that area as well. All right, and it continues in verse number nine. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. He goes, this is what this teaching is worthy to be accepted. Like this is a faithful saying. This is a faithful teaching that we ought to exercise unto godliness. And then look at this, because if we exercise unto godliness, it says in verse number 10, for therefore we both labor and suffer reproach. Again, that word reproach is like criticism, disapproval. You know, people will criticize you. We can both labor, we can work hard, and we can put up with criticisms because we trust in the living God who is the Savior of all men, especially of those that believe. So Paul is saying this to Timothy, you need to exercise unto godliness. Then he says in verse number 11, these things command and teach. All right, so it's good for the pastor to exercise himself unto godliness. All right, and to, you know, think of the world that now is, but also the world to come. We want to be profitable in all things. We want to be able to labor hard for God and to suffer reproach, you know, and the only way you can do that is if you're, you know, increasing your godliness. And then it tells Timothy, hey, command and teach this to your church. So that is my goal this morning, to command and teach you these things. Like I said, the title of the sermon was strength and power. You know, you need strength and power to labor, right? You know, to go out and just do a job, to do a work. You need the stamina, you need the strength, need the mental toughness to get through the day, and you need to be able to suffer reproach. You need to be able to, as God's people, put up with criticism. Don't allow people that put you down or look down upon you, whatever it is, right, criticize you for your life. You can't let that bother you. You say, it bothers me, pastor. I know it does. Like if all we focus on is bodily exercise, you're going to be very weak skinned. You need godliness that makes you thick skinned, that gives you strength, it gives you power. That's where it comes, that's where godliness comes from. But you need to understand that strength and that power is in the Lord. It's the power of His might. Now, come with me to 1 Peter chapter 5, please. Come with me to 1 Peter chapter 5, 1 Peter chapter 5, strength and power. I want you brethren this morning to be a little stronger when you leave the church today, a little more powerful, not in yourself, but in the Lord. You see, this is where the Bible and God's wisdom is different to the world, because the world's wisdom and philosophy is strength in self. Okay, you know, find your inner strength. You know, you can be anything you want to be, kind of like, you know, the power and the strength lies in you. I'm telling you, no, the strength and power doesn't lie in you. It's weakness in you, and the strength and the power lies in the Lord. Okay, that's where we as believers ought to get our strength from. Now, you're turning there to 1 Peter 5, and let me just quickly read to you a few psalms, don't need to say them, I'm just going to rattle these off. But we know that God is strong, right? How strong is God? You say, well, infinitely strong. Okay, so if we're meant to have his strength, how strong should we be? Pretty strong, right? Like, man, come on, it's God's strength, it's God's power. How strong should we be? Very strong. Okay, now just I'm going to rattle off these verses. Psalm 24 8, who is this king of glory? The Lord strong and mighty. The Lord mighty in battle. Psalm 31 2, bow down, don't eat to me, deliver me speedily for thou my strong rock for a house of defense to save me. I like what the Psalmist is saying, his strength is of the Lord, his strength is the Lord. Psalm 61 verse 3, for thou has been a shelter for me and a strong tower from the enemy. Psalm 71 verse 3, be thou my strong habitation, where unto I may continually resort. Thou has given commandment to save me for thou art my rock and my fortress. I like that, thou art my strong habitation, where unto I may continually resort. The Psalmist says, I continually hide myself in the strength of the Lord. He's understood that the strength is not coming from him. His strength is coming from the Lord and he needs to do this continually. He needs to remind himself continually, I need the Lord's strength. I need the power of his might. Psalm 71 verse 7, I am as a wonder unto many, but thou art my strong refuge. Thou art my strong refuge. None of us will deny that God is a very strong, powerful, mighty, almighty God is who he is. And God's saying, hey, you want my strength? Take it. I mean, how strong should we be, brethren? You know, in our ability to serve him in our lives, not just this life, but the life to come. Man, God's given us the ability to do some great things for him. And I've had to learn to depend upon his strength. I'll give you a quick story, you know. You guys know, pretty much every week I travel to Blessed Up Baptist Church. You don't really see it because, you know, it's after Wednesday first. Look, I'm telling you now, I am exhausted. I've been doing this for almost eight years, almost every single week. All right, I am wasted, I'm telling you. Say, pass the rest, rest. Yeah, kind, yeah, yeah. The rest, Lord is my rest. And, you know, on a Wednesday, like right now, Sunday morning, I've just had a good sleep. I'm fresh, you know. It's easy to preach on a Sunday morning. You know, you're fresh, you're energetic, you've had a good rest, right? On a Wednesday night, it's a little more difficult because you've had the whole day transpire. You know, you've been active during the day, doing whatever you need to do. And then you get up at the end of the day and trying to give a message. And it's, that's tiring on a Wednesday. And then Thursday morning, I have to get up and fly to Sydney. Look, it's not just, okay, the flight's an hour and a half, whatever it is. But it's the drive to the airport. It's the waiting at the airport. It's the many delays that happen. It's then getting off Sydney and then, you know, walk into my vehicle now. I used to catch a train and then drive in another hour to my mum's house and then finally getting ready to sit down. Okay, now I've got to work on my sermon for this Thursday night for the church. And, you know, I've really gone all day Wednesday to then preach a sermon. Then again, all day Thursday. By the time I get to blessed about, I'm done. I'm so done, all right. And sometimes the brethren there say, pastor, are you burnt out? We don't want you to burn out. And I have to be honest. And I say, look, I've been burnt out five years ago. Like I've run out of energy years ago. The only reason I can do this is by God's strength. And I have to be honest about that. Because people see strength. They see this stamina. They see this passion. I like to do this week in, week out, week in, week out, travel. By Friday, by the time I get home, I'm done now. I'm just, I need a rest. I need a, that's when I get my good rest on a Friday, right? I'm exhausted. And then the Saturday I'm trying to get ready for the service on Sunday. But, and I don't say, I'm trying to tell you, I'm not strong. I know I'm done. I know I'm wasted. All right. When the idea of Cram Baptist Church came to my mind, or, you know, the invitation came to me, I realized I can't do it. I am weak. I can't do it. And what I'm going to demonstrate to you in a moment is that that is where the true strength lies. Is when you understand it is not you. It is the power of God. It is his ability. It's his might. And this is where real strength comes from. Okay? In fact, let me just quickly find a quick passage before we read 1 Peter 5. Because we talked about how a Godness is profitable in all things. Okay? Now, in 2 Timothy, I'll just read it to you. You guys probably are familiar with this passage. In 2 Timothy chapter 3, this is about reprobate false prophets. Okay? In 2 Timothy chapter 3, it says this. This know also that in the last days, perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous. Look at these words. Boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy. See how they're boasters and they're proud. They're strong in themselves. They think they're something. Alright? Without natural affection, truth breakers, both accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heedy, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God. Then it says these really interesting words in verse number 5. Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof from such turn away. Having a form of godliness, but denying the power. Because we know in godliness there's power. There's strength and there's might. There are some people that will show up to church and they try to project, I'm a strong Christian. You know, I'm a man of God of strength and character. It's hard to tell because we see strength. But it's not a godly strength. It's a form of God. It looks godly. But they haven't got the power of God. They're relying on themselves, their abilities, their smarts, their wisdom, their strengths that they find in their person, their proud and their boasters of look at me. You know, instead of it being, I'm telling you I'm weak. I'm telling you I, you know, I hate pride. I hate it. I want you to understand I'm a weak man. Okay, I need the Lord. I need the Lord and I want you to be able to say, man, if my pastor says he's a weak man, he needs the Lord. And I think, I don't know, I hope so. I think he's a good, you know, man of God. Well, if I need the Lord, you need the Lord. And I want to tell you we're actually weak. But the form of Godliness was saying, ah, look at me, I'm strong. Look at me go. Look what I can achieve. Look what I'm doing. What are you doing? And they tend to look down on other people and criticize and mock other people and think of themselves highly above others. It's a form of Godliness, but they deny the power. They haven't got the power of God in their lives. It's just power of self. And eventually it just, it corrupts. You know, the Bible continues that reprobates have this characteristic about themselves, but it's a characteristic that even non-reprobates can have. It's just, I mean, there are many Christians in churches even this morning that have a form of Godliness. They're not reprobate. They're just Christians that are not saved. But they're trying to put on the godly act and it's not real. It's fake. It's strength in self and not strength in the Lord. But you're there in 1 Peter 5, 1 Peter 5 and verse number 8. I've got some subcategories here. And what I want to talk about today, Reverend, is I'm going to give you what those categories are. Number one, I want you to understand that you've got strength against the devil. Number two, I want to talk about strength in wisdom. Number three, strength in, actually, I'm going to make point number two, strength in mind. Like I said, I only had this morning to prepare it. So I'm going to change this around a little bit. Strength in mind, then strength in wisdom, then strength in weakness. I want to talk about these things. So I want you to, you know, think about where you are weak as a human being and acknowledge that and understand how you can get strength in these areas of your life. But sometimes people feel or are afraid of the devil and they feel that, well, you know, when I sin, the devil just made me fail here and there. Look, the devil is a tempter. Okay, but I'm going to be completely honest with you. I'm not afraid of the devil. I have a fear of God. But I don't have a fear of the devil. Now in First Peter chapter five, verse number eight, it says, Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour. Satan wants to devour us. Okay, now Satan can't stop us in being saved. If you've trusted Christ as your Savior, you're saved. Nothing's ever going to change that, praise God. He can't stop that now. But he can make you, he can devour you in your Christian life. Right, he can find a point of weakness and destroy you. And because of that, and we need to be aware of that, because be sober, be vigilant, be aware of this. But I'm not afraid of the devil. Like yeah, look, if there was a roaring lion literally outside of our door, I'd be a little bit afraid. I'd go and close the door, right? We won't let the lion in and let's see who can take down the lion. Like that'd be foolishness, okay? So generally speaking, if there literally was an actual literal roaring lion outside, we would want to protect ourselves and call the lion tamer or whatever it is. I don't know who you'd call if you found a lion out there. But that's not how we ought to be with the devil. We just need to be aware that he's dangerous. Because then it says in verse number nine, whom resist steadfast in the faith. See, we don't have to be scared of the devil. We don't need to run away from the devil. In fact, we're to resist steadfastly in the faith. We're to stand up against him and go, no, I'm going to stand fast against you. I'm going to stand in faith. I'm going to resist you. Knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. He says, look, every brother in the world suffers with this devil, right? And the forces of darkness that he has. But I want you to understand, look, you can have strength against the devil. You don't have to fear the devil. God wants you to stand up steadfastly and resist him, all right? Come with me to Ephesians six. We had a reading from Ephesians six. Come back with me to Ephesians six. And while you're turning back to Ephesians six, I'm going to read to you from First John chapter four, verse number four, which says, ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them. Because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. We have overcome them. The context is false prophets because they've got the spirit of Antichrist. And who is the spirit of Antichrist? It's the devil, okay? But we've overcome them. How? With our wisdom, our mights, no. Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. Do you believe that today? I believe that. I've believed that for a long time. That, man, the one that I have within me, the Holy Spirit, the Lord God who resides in me, not me, not this, not Kevin Sepulveda, this is very weak. The one that you can't see that lives within me, that's where my strength lies. He's more powerful than the devil, all right? More powerful than the spirit of Antichrist. I don't need to be misled by false doctrine because I've got the Holy Spirit who can teach me these things. You're in Ephesians 6, Ephesians 6 verse 10, where we started, Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. And this is how we do it. Psalm 11, put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Boy, you say, oh man, maybe one way to get away from the devil is to, like I said, run away from the lion, right? Run away, people. God says, no, no, no, put on the armor. Put on the whole armor. It's like, well, how's that going to, doesn't armor mean I've got to go and fight? Yeah. Doesn't that require the strength of a fully trained soldier? Yep, that's who you are. You know, where's my strength? It's in the Lord. Look at the armor in verse number 12. You know, I've done a whole series on the armor of God. I'm not going to break it down exactly, but verse number 12, it says, 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. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. How are we going to stand in an evil day? Oh, I'm just mentally powerful. I've just got my strengths and my character. No, you've got to put on the armor of God. Or the lion's going to destroy you, right, in your Christian walk. Verse number 14, And stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness. You know, I'm going to change that just for our understanding of this sermon. The breastplate of godliness. It's what righteousness is. God is who's righteous. We stand in Christ's righteousness. He is the one that is godly. It's essentially the same thing. When we follow after righteousness, we're following after godliness. And that righteousness there is your breastplate. Protects your organs, your heart, you know, all the important things that transpire in this area, right, that is needed for life. Verse number 15, And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Are you prepared to give the gospel? Wherever you go, opportunity opens up. I'm ready to give my plan. I'm that well prepared. I'm ready to go. I don't need necessarily the marathon. I'm ready to go. If I come across someone and the Lord opens the doors, you know what, I don't even have a Bible on hand, but I can quote these verses. The plan of salvation. I'm ready to go. Are you prepared in that way? It continues in verse number 16, Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. You're going to war. We're not running from the lion, are we? We're not afraid of the lion. It's like, no, let's take him on. I'm ready with the, bring on the fiery darts. I've got my shield of faith. You know, I'm ready to block your attacks and take the helmet of salvation. That's important. We don't want to, am I saved today? Am I not saved? You're saved. Take that helmet. It's a sure thing. It protects the mind. If you're not sure of your salvation, you haven't got the armor of God. If you're not sure of your salvation, you may not even be saved. Might be trusting the wrong things. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. And let's not forget verse number 18. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirits and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints, not just for your needs, but for the needs of all saints, taking them before God. The reason I bring up this point is just because I've had a conversation this week. Someone afraid of the devil and the power of the devil and this and that. A lot of people think like sometimes that the devil is like equally powerful as God or something like a yin yang. Like for what is equal good, there's equal evil. And inside good, there's some evil. Inside evil, there's some good or something like this. Like that's not God and the devil. Like we don't, you know, in the Bible, we don't even see God fight the devil. He doesn't have to. He just sends Michael the archangel. He doesn't see you going fight. God would just wipe him out like a bug. Not even a bug, like doesn't even have to. Like the devil is so insignificant. So insignificant that you're more powerful against the devil with the Holy Spirit living inside of you. But you need to be aware of him. He's a lion. He's dangerous. We need to stand strong against his power and his might. But you're so much more powerful. You got the Holy Spirit, put on the armor of God and get ready for the lion to attack and you'll be just fine. You'll stand. You'll stand. So, you got strength against the devil. Come with me now to 1 Corinthians chapter 2. Sorry, 2 Timothy chapter 1. 2 Timothy chapter 1. Let's talk about strength in mind a little bit now. Okay, strength in mind. We live in a time, a strange time in society where we've learned a lot more about the mind. More about the brain. There are more mental disabilities being diagnosed than ever before. Now partly, now I'm just giving my opinion here, okay. Partly is yet the advancement of understanding and science and understanding, you know. We can literally do brain scans and recognize there are things that are not quite right. Some type of chemical imbalance and things like that. Like our understanding is becoming greater. So then people have been able to be diagnosed, you know, to some extent. And so there's an increase in that. But there's also, I strongly believe, a decrease in just general society's like mental strength. There's a decline in that in general. And I think we need some tough times essentially to bring back mental strength. We know that when things are easy, we get more relaxed and we take things easy and we chill and it's very nice to chill and relax. But then we don't develop mental strength. And then we bring forth a new generation that doesn't know how to be mentally strong. And they get criticized and they can't handle it. It's just, you know, well no, you need to be able to suffer reproach, okay. You need to be godly. Godly allows you to suffer reproach. Allows you to be criticized and be okay with it. People get offended for me sometimes. People say some nasty things about me. I don't care. It doesn't bother me. But then it's like, pass, I want to defend you. I don't worry about it. The Lord's our strength. It's the power of his mind. He knows. Let the Lord deal with vengeance. Like that's his business. If vengeance needs to be taken out, leave it to God. Or maybe, maybe it's good criticism. Maybe I've become a little prideful and I need to be criticized a little bit just to humble me a little bit. Like just let it do its work. Just leave it in God's hands. Okay, how God needs to work that. But strength in mind. Can you come with me to, did I tell you to turn to 2 Timothy? 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse number 7. You guys know this verse. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Brethren, look, if you're saved, and look, I know mental, I'm not denying mental disabilities and mental illnesses and stuff like that. But I want you to understand, you understand that you have a dual nature. That this body is falling apart. This body is sinful. But you've got the new man, who's always perfect and never sins. You know that, right? And you know that in this carnal mind, that the Bible speaks of the carnal mind, you know, that there's corruption and there's, because of sin, there's deterioration and we can suffer from mental struggles. You know, the moment you got saved, God's given you a sound mind as well. Just like you got the old flesh and you got the new spirit, the old man and the new man, you've got the carnal mind and you've got sound mind. And you need to be able to tap into that sound mind that comes from God. The Bible speaks of renewing, the renewing of our minds. We need to be able to transfer ourselves from the old way of thinking to God's sound mind that He's given us. That sound mind comes together with, what did we see there? It comes together with power. I'm talking about strength and power. That's the title of the sermon. It comes with power. It comes with love. Love, God's love. The ability to love God's people, to love people. You know, the ability to be criticized and attacked and still love people. That's a sound mind. That's where it comes from. The other part of you, oh, I can't believe you said that. That's your carnal mind. You know, you need to be able to work that sound mind, the strength in mind, you need to remember God's given me a sound mind. Look, I have, you know, I won't go into any details, but I've got some big decisions to make for me and my family in the next couple of years and I need a sound mind. I need power. I need love. I need to be able to think with clarity. I need God to give me that ability to make the right decisions at the right time. But if I'm just relying on myself, oh man, there's so many variables in life. You know, it's like, what, you know. Come with me to 2 Corinthians, please. This is important. 2 Corinthians chapter 10. 2 Corinthians chapter 10. Have you noticed in your Christian life, I know this, I know this to be true. I'm not, again, I'm weak Brevin, I'm sorry. Have you noticed that it's just always easier to point out other people's defects than your own? That's how we have the story of the man who's able to see the speck in his brother's eyes but not the beam in his own eye. We're all like that to some level. It's always easier when you hear a sermon to go, oh yeah, brother so-and-so needs to hear that sermon today. It just is. You know, sister so-and-so needs to hear that sermon today then go, actually, that sermon's for me. It's much easier to do that, right? This brain or this mind is like, it's almost like you're, in fact, you are at war with your mind. Look at 2 Corinthians 10. 2 Corinthians 10 verse number 4. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, we've seen that before, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. You know, we can pull down strongholds with the power of God. Say, what's a stronghold? Oh, in warfare, it's the barracks. You know, it's the, I don't know, it's the, what do you call these things? You know, it's the, you know, when enemies set up to attack and defend and ambush, you've got the ability to go and just wipe that out, stronghold of the enemy. You say, well, how do I do that, pastor? Where's the stronghold that I'm pulling down? It's up here. Verse number 5, casting down imaginations. And every high thing that exalts of itself against the knowledge of God. And bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. I've said this before, I don't want to fight you, brethren. I don't want to ever have a fight with you. I don't even know what to fight about. What do we have to fight about? I don't, like, I never understand why church members get angry with other church members. I just, like, what do I have to fight with you about? Right, I just, I'm looking at my church, what? I look at each one of you, what do I have to fight with you about? I mean, maybe brother Brody, maybe I placed my McDonald's order and you forgot the cheeseburger. I mean, is that, is that word causing a church divide or something like this? I'm like, what do we have to fight about? Like, honestly, when I think about it. But the reason I don't want to fight with my church members or my brethren or my sisters-in-law is because I'm trying to fight this thing up here. I'm constantly at war with my mind and my flesh. There are strongholds of the enemy up here. Imaginations, not that, you know, you can't be artistic and imagine. It's things that are contrary to God. Imaginations and everything that exalts of itself against the knowledge of God. I know better than God. I know God said that in the Bible, but he understands my position. God understands where I'm coming from. God's given you his word. Don't fight his word. Look, if I preach something, it's my opinion. It's just, and it comes out. It's just we're human beings. Opinions are going to come out. Okay, traditions of Pastor Kevin are going to come out sometimes. Look, you have my permission to just ignore it all. But when it's God's word, don't fight God's word. Right, when you hear a sermon and you know, man, I, and your mind goes, oh yeah, brother so-and-so needs to hear that. No, it's you. You need to hear it. You need to apply it. You need the power of God. You need the sound mind that he's given you to operate from and take down the stupid thoughts that filter and enter our mind. Strength in mind. I'm going to read to you from Proverbs 3.5. You'll know it. Trust in the Lord with all thine hearts and lean not unto thine own understanding. Don't lean on your own understanding. Ah, I know, I know, I know. No, trust the Lord with all your heart. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths. You guys know that passage. Trust in the Lord. Again, our ability to think with clarity is not our own understanding. If we're just relying on ourselves, brethren, it's going to destroy you. Do it God's way. Just trust God. Even if you don't understand God's ways, just trust him that his ways are what's best for me in my life. And I just promise you it's true. God's ways are always the best ways. Even when logically speaking, it may not seem that way. It's not logical to me to do good to my enemies. Is that logical to you? It's not to me. If someone hates me and wants to hurt me and attack me, I feel like either defending myself or attacking back. But actually I'm supposed to do good to them. That doesn't make sense to me. But I'm not going to lean on my own understanding. I'm going to trust the Lord with all my heart. And say, Lord, well, you know, you tell me to do good to my enemies. It doesn't make sense to me, but I'll do it. And I'll let you take care of it, Lord. I'm heaping coals of fire on his head, or I might win a friend. You know, if we're able to make peace one with another. A former enemy can become my best friend. It's possible. Strength in mind. We need strength in mind. We need to fix this thinking up here. You know? Which leads to strength in wisdom. Come with me to 1 Corinthians 2. Strength in mind is different from strength in wisdom. Okay? Now, I believe from what I've read in the Bible. From everything I've observed and paid attention to. Wisdom is not just what you know, but the application of what you know. That's where true wisdom lies. People can know, but if they don't do, they deceive themselves. Okay? It's the application of what you know. Well, I've applied it to that person's situation. No, you applied to your situation. Applied to your life, right? You'd be more godly, which is profitable to all of all things, right? It's you. I've applied it to that person. I've applied it to that church. I've applied it to that pastor. I've applied it to you. You have the knowledge so you can be more godly. So you can be more righteous. So you can have the strength and the power that comes from God. 2 Corinthians chapter 12. Sorry, 1 Corinthians. Did I say to turn to 1 Corinthians 2? Sorry, brethren, like I said, I prepared this morning. My notes are scattered here. But 1 Corinthians 2, verse number 1. Look at Paul. And look, we all agree Paul is probably, I mean, set Jesus aside for a moment, but Paul is the number one Christian of the Bible. Like, probably like, who's the greatest New Testament believer? I think most of us are, yeah, Paul. Paul is really up there, okay? And look what he says in verse number 1. And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. Because when I came, I'm not trying to be like excellent in my speech. I'm not like trying to speak over your heads. Look at me go. And of wisdom, this wisdom is his own wisdom. Just look how wise the Apostle Paul is. Because no, I just came preaching the testimony of God. Verse number 2. For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified. Look at verse number 3. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. You know, if we lived in a time where the Apostle Paul had established this church and he's visiting the church that he's established and he walks in, you're like, oh, here comes powerful, mighty, strong Paul. He goes, no, actually when he walks in, we would have seen him in weakness, in fear, fear of the Lord, trembling. We'd be like, all right, the Apostle Paul is coming up to preach a sermon and we'd see him asking God, God help me. Give me your testimonies. Fear in the Lord, trembling in the fear of God, in weakness. And he gets up and preaches powerfully by the power and the might and strength that comes from God. And the reason he brings this up is because other false apostles have entered the church and these false apostles are boasting of themselves and look at us. And Paul's like, I'm completely different to that. You know that, right? The power doesn't come from him. He continues in verse number four. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words, look at this, of man's wisdom. I didn't come with man's wisdom to you, but in demonstration of the spirit and of power. So he comes in, there's trembling Paul, there's weak Paul. He gets up, he preaches with power, demonstration of the spirits. He's preaching the testimonies of God. It's not, oh, Paul, how have you, in your mighty wisdom of man, you know, reconciled life and the meaning of life? You know, like, no, I don't know anything. I come preaching testimony of God and Christ crucified. And this is why in verse number five, it says that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. I want your faith to stand in the power of God. Strength and power is the title of the sermon this morning. Not the wisdom of men. Look, men are good. I hope I'm a decent man. I hope, you know, I've taught some things. Our pastor can teach us things, great. And I've heard other preachers online and they're like, okay, okay, okay. But I'm telling you, you know, I don't know. It's just the internet's the world. It's the current days that we live in. I've met so many Christians who stand in the wisdom of men. They say the right things. They know the right doctrines, a lot of knowledge. But really, when you start to look at the roots, it's just men. It's man-based. It's not coming from God. It's not coming from their walk with God and their personal time with God. You know, the reading of God's word, the study of the scriptures and the, you know, the meditation, the memorization. It's not coming from those areas. It's not coming from the power of God. So I would say so many times people just burn out. The form of Godliness. A form of Godliness, but denying the power thereof. You know, I'm not preaching this for, it's just, I'm telling you, I had a different sermon lined up today. I just woke up and I'm like, the power of God is just on my personal phone. He's like, I need to preach on that. There's something about human beings that we're just attracted to men that appear very wise, very knowledgeable. And we start to establish ourselves upon those men and their principles and their life and how they live. And we need to be like that. We need to talk like that. We need to act like that man. It's not developed and built in the power, by the power of God. Verse number six, how be it? Now, by the way, so he says, I don't understand the wisdom of men. Does that mean we're just like foolish, unlearned people? No, because it continues in verse number six. How be it? We speak wisdom. Like this sermon has wisdom for you. We speak wisdom among them that are perfect. Yet, look, not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world that come to naught. They come to nothing. The wisdom of the world or the wisdom of the princes of this world, princes are those of authorities. Let's say your university lecturers, you know, those that write all the books and all the, you know, the Jordan Peterson. I don't mind that guy, but it's still the wisdom of the world. It's still the wisdom of philosophy. Okay, we don't stand there. It comes to naught. It's nothing in comparison to the wisdom of God. Verse number seven, but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery. Even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory, so our wisdom is our mystery. Verse number eight, which none of the princes of this world knew, for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. So, you know, the wisdom that comes from above and given to us by the Holy Spirit, you can continue reading your own time. But, you know, the wisdom that we have comes from the Holy Spirit of God, who searches the deep things of God. We learn by the Holy Spirit, by the power of his might. That's where the wisdom truly comes from. And even though I'm not coming, I'm not trying to express the wisdom of man. I'm trying to tell you from the very beginning, this is a failed, weak human being. And I need the Lord. In fact, that's how we got saved. We had to get to a point where we said, you know what, I'm not strong. I can't save myself. I'm weak, pathetic, I'm a sinner, and I deserve hell. And then what do you do? You're confronted by the law of Moses. You're confronted by the laws of God. And some religions will say, well, in order for you to make it to heaven, you've got to keep the law of Moses. I can't, I'm weak. The law of Moses is not how we attain righteousness. The law of Moses is to reflect to us our sinful condition, our failings, and therefore our need of a Savior. God's power. What is the power of God unto salvation? Christ crucified. So you've done it. You've really gone through that process when you got saved. God, I'm weak. I can't save myself. I need your power, your strength. You've got to do it for me, Lord. You've got to save me. What's impossible for man is possible for God. Lord, please save me. I'm trusting Christ alone. I'm trusting your strength and your power in your might alone. Nothing of me. No flesh. I'm weak in the flesh. I'm relying on your strength and power to save me. You've done that already. All right, when you got saved, you've done that. You know the process by which you're to this. And I'm telling you, this is just what life, the Christian life is. This is what Christian maturity is. Why do people reject the gospel? Because they think they're strong in themselves. No, I can be good enough. I should be acceptable to God. I'll give my life away to serve God. Hey God, here are my filthy rags. Let me into heaven. And I'm saying, Lord, yeah, those were filthy rags. I'd rather enter in the power and the might and the righteousness and the Godness of Jesus. I'm going to put on Jesus and you'll accept me because I'm of him. I'm in Christ Jesus. It's the same thing in our walk, our continued walk, our life as Christians. To find that strength and power from God and not from self. It's so deceiving. Our ability is so deceptive to us. We think we can do it because we, me, no, you can do it because of God. Strength in wisdom. Can we meet to 2 Corinthians now? 2 Corinthians chapter 12, 2 Corinthians chapter 12. Last one, strength in weakness. Strength in weakness. Well, let's read it, verse number 7. 2 Corinthians 12 verse 7. I love what Paul says here. He says, unless I should be exalted above measure. Because Paul received all these special revelations from Jesus directly. He had this great knowledge. In fact, he says, I think in 1 Corinthians or maybe 2 Corinthians, he's got all knowledge. But then he says this, unless I should be exalted above measure. Now whether that's himself exalting himself or other people exalting him. Look at Paul go. He goes through the abundance of the revelations. There it is, you know, like I could be lifted up because of all the revelations I received. There was given to me a thorn in the flesh. The messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. God's allowed Satan to give Paul a thorn in the flesh. Now people have different opinions as to what that is. I believe it's a sickness. Then he says in verse number 8, for this thing I besought the Lord thrice that he might depart from me. So Paul doesn't like this thorn in the flesh. Like God, please remove it. All right, Lord, come on. I've asked you second time now, third time. I've asked you three times, Lord. I don't like this thorn in my flesh. But he's come to realize, oh, the reason is I'm not exalted above measure. There's a purpose behind the thorn. It's a weakness that he has. Verse number 9, and he said unto me, my grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. What? My strength is made perfect in weakness. How can we allow God's strength to be perfected in our lives? We need to accept our weaknesses. Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities. That's why I believe it's a sickness. It's infirmity. The first thing he mentions there, infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. He goes, you know what? I'm going to glory in my infirmity now. I was begging God, God, take away the thorn in my flesh. Take it away, take it away, take it away. And God says, my grace is sufficient. So he goes, all right, I'm going to glory in it. Because he told me that, sorry, my strength is made perfect in weakness. He says, Paul, with the thorn, with the weakness, you can be stronger because it's God's strength. You're not relying on your own strength. You're not relying on your own abilities. You're relying on the Lord. It's an amazing principle. This is one of my life verses that I've had to learn. Like I've had to learn it. I've heard it taught and you're like, how do I apply that? And I'll tell you in a moment how I've applied it in my life. But it continues in verse number 10. Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities. Because when I get sick and my chronic illness that I've got that won't go away, I'm sort of complaining. I'm going to take pleasure. I'm going to be like, thank you, Lord. This is awesome. In reproaches. Criticisms. Disapprovals. Well, okay. Woo. Someone doesn't like me. Woo. Someone hates me. Someone criticizes. Well, it's fine. I'm going to rejoice in them. I'm going to take pleasure. In necessities. Short fall. Maybe financial shortfalls or possessions or whatever, right? In persecutions. In distresses. Distresses is stress. Have you suffered from stress? That's mental burdens upon you. Because you know what? When that happens, I'm going to learn to take pleasure in those things. For Christ's sake, for when I am weak, then am I strong. What? How does that even make sense? For when I am weak, then am I strong. See, generally speaking, we all know, God's made us all unique. We're all different people. We have different personalities. And God's created you with strengths and has created you with weaknesses. There are some things you're better at than me. And there are some things I'm better at than you at those things. We all have different strengths. Which is why we all need to work together to make this body effective. Because I can't do everything. I need you guys to help me out. I need you to lean upon your strengths. But it's truly in your weakness that you can be stronger than ever. Let me tell you how I learned this sort of on the job. I was working in the department and I won't go into all of it. But I became the expert in that department. I knew everything. And I started creating and changing things around. And I became the team leader of that department because of my expertise. I was very strong in my knowledge of the job, of the department. And when you're strong with that knowledge, you're able to lead from the front. You're like, hey, no, no, we're doing it this way. This is how it's done. I'm the expert in that field. I can show you how it's done. Okay? And there is strength and there is leadership in that process. And then I was transferred to another department. And this time I knew nothing of the department. I've never worked there. I've never worked in that industry, in that field. And you've taken me completely out of my comfort zone, paid better, into a new place. And I realized I'm no longer strong in my knowledge anymore. I'm very weak here. My subordinates, my employees here know more than I know. How do I lead now? And I had to learn this. It was very hard for me to process this in my mind. One month, two months, three months. And it was a three month trial. And I said to my boss, boss, can I go a little bit longer than three months? I haven't really grasped yet. How can I lead? How can I help this team if I don't even know what the job is? And so my boss gave me another three months. And I'm still not there. You've got to do the job to really understand it. Hands on, doing it. And I realized, hold on. This is different. This is a different way of managing. This is a different way of leadership. This is a different way of demonstrating strength in this situation. I had to accept that I'm weak. And my employees know more than I do. So in that scenario, I'm going to lean on their strength. I'm not going to rely on my own strengths here. I'm going to rely on their strength. They know. What are they going to need from me? They're going to need a boss who encourages them. That motivates them. That gets them organized. I don't know the day to day stuff. I don't know that button, that button. But I can get this organized. I can encourage. You know, I can support them. I can have their back. When they get criticized by some other department. And I stand up for them. And they see that. That breeds loyalty. And I can lead completely differently. But I had to, in order to learn that. And it became very successful that department. I still don't know what they do. Alright, but to become strong. I had to. Like in the other department when I know everything. I leaned on my strengths. When I'm weak. I had to learn how to lean into my weakness. And go, I am weak. I've got to stop trying to strengthen myself here. That's not the way to lead this team. I need to rely on the strength of others. And when it comes to your weaknesses. You need to stop leaning on your strengths. Stop trying to strengthen your weaknesses. And just lean into your weaknesses. Let me try to demonstrate this a little bit. Let's say this side of the pulpit represents your strengths. We have some strengths. Some things we're good at. But generally it represents your weaknesses. And generally speaking. We want to rely on our strengths. And when we need to do things where we're weak. We're trying to like. Okay, let's make this weak part more strong over here. Let's make it more strong. I'm strong over there. So now I've got to make my weakness stronger and stronger and stronger. I realize now that's not the way to go. The way to get your weakness to be strong. Is to go, yeah I am weak. Alright, I'm going to lean into my weakness. And when you come here. This is where you find God's strength. You say, I am weak. But God is strong. And he's over here. Because over there is strength of man. Strength of man's wisdom. Right, the strength of man's knowledge. You know, the strength that God's given you in the flesh. They're not bad things. But there's that strength. And over here is God's strength. But you need to accept your weaknesses. It's hard to do. Because our natural tendency is, I'm weak. I'm telling you now, go all the way here. But I am weak. God, I need your strength. And that's where true strength lies. That's where true power lies. To be able to do some great things for God. You know, just to give an example. I know I've given this example many times. But you know, when I married Christina. She would never be able to have any kids. No children at all. Impossible. She's like, I want kids. I want kids. I understand. That's what women generally desire. And Christina had to get to a point where she's like, you know what? God, if I'm not going to have kids. If that's where I'm weak, then I just have to accept my weakness. So instead of being like, I'm weak. And then what did she find over here? God's strength. I don't know. 12 kids. From, can't have kids. That's not the strength of man. I'll tell you that. That's God's strength. That's his power. You know, I mean there's so many examples that I can give. You know, the reason I come across sometimes believers that are just so hard on themselves. They beat themselves. I'm sorry if I go over time, but it's important. They beat themselves up. I fail the other Christian. I keep failing. I sinned again. And they just, oh. You know, woe is me. I get it. We're all weak. But you know what I discovered? Is that trying to be like, oh, I've got to stop being weak and I've got to be strong. You have to lean to your weakness and go, yeah, I am weak. That's why I need a Savior to begin with. I am weak. I do fail. I'm going to fail. sometimes. Human beings, we are weak. And you know when I sin against the Lord, I do feel bad about it. I do have a broken contrite heart. But I'm not trying to destroy, oh look how badly I am. God you know I'm weak. Sorry. Can you forgive me Lord? It's over here. Can you strengthen me? Can you pick me up? Can you help me be in your light? Can you help me walk in your ways? The strength is over here when you accept your weaknesses instead of fighting against your weaknesses. You accept that's who I am. I am weak. So I need the Lord. And when you're over here, this is where you get victory over sin. Not over here trying to fight the sins in your own flesh, a form of godliness. You need to go godliness. You need God over here. Accepting your weaknesses. Leaning into your weaknesses. That's where you're going to find strength in weakness. So Brethren, anyway the title for the sermon today was Strength and Power. I hope that makes sense to you. I feel that I'm strong but I'm only strong in the Lord. If I walk in darkness, if I walk away from the Lord, if I don't follow out of these steps, Brethren you're going to see me as just another failed human experiment. Just another castaway that's out there. If I'm just depending on myself I've got nothing to do. I've got nothing to express. I've got no wisdom of man. I've got nothing to demonstrate except the demonstration of God's power and His might. And Brethren you need that strength. You need that power. You know if you're like Paul, I take pleasure in infirmities. If you're suffering from infirmities, you've got sicknesses that are bringing you down. If you can't handle reproaches, you can't handle criticism, you get offended every time something gets said about you. If you're struggling with necessities, you know financially you're struggling or whatever it is to make ends meet. In persecutions maybe you'll be hated for God's name sake. People are out to get you and hurt you. Maybe you're suffering from these stresses, stress burdens of the mind in your life. I want you to understand those are weaknesses and that's okay because you're a human being. But I want you to lean into that weakness and say, yeah I am weak Lord. Instead of trying to be strong in self, say Lord I am weak. So God can you strengthen me? I want to rejoice in these weaknesses. I want to rejoice in these thorns of the flesh that you've given me. I am weak Lord but you're strong. Finally my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Let's pray.