You Are Satan's Master: The Militant Confession of Who You Are
Dr RJ Sing, 1 hr 5 min
Originally preached as “I Am What God Says I Am”
Sermon outline
Saying 'I am what God says I am' is a militant confession: when you know and speak what the Word says about you, you rise above what you see and walk as the light of the world.
Main text
- Colossians 1:13-14
- Matthew 5:14-16
- Isaiah 58:8-14
Opening
He opens by declaring that this will be the greatest year of their lives and that Christianity is for the strong, not the wimps: every challenge that visits you is there to promote you, not destroy you. He then sets out his theme: you are nothing more and nothing less than what God's Word says, so change your language and speak what God says about you.
Change your language: it is a militant confession
Stop saying how poor and weak you are when God says you are rich and strong. What you speak you attract, and what you fail to speak passes you by. To confess 'I am what God says I am' means using faith to go beyond the senses realm and the reports of retrenchments and lost contracts, and believing the report of the Lord instead.
Illustration: He turns the gossip question 'Have you heard?' around: 'Have you heard the word of the Lord?' This year will be a year of victory, success and shining.
“To say I am what God says I am, it means that I've got to go beyond what I see.”
- Joel 3:10
- Isaiah 53:1
If I am a son of God, I am Satan's master
For too long the devil has told God's children who they are; it is time to reverse it, take the fight into the enemy's camp and grab back what he stole. Jesus spoke to storms, blindness and lameness, and the oppressing spirits had to go, so a son and joint heir with Christ carries the same dominion. This confession is not for the faint-hearted but for disciplined people who have studied the Word and know who they are.
Illustration: Believers have quoted 'I'm a son of God' so often they could say it in their sleep, yet few stop to think what it means.
“For too long, the devil's been telling God's children who they are.”
- Mark 4:39
- Romans 8:17
Delivered out of the dominion of darkness
Reading Colossians 1:13-14 from the Amplified, he explains that God has drawn you out of the control and dominion of darkness. Darkness means uncertainty, lack of assurance, halting and hesitant walking, but a child of God is sure of who he is and is bold as a lion. You carry God's presence wherever you go, and even the devil can see the light radiating from a born-again person; prayer makes it brighter.
“Darkness means uncertainty. So a child of God is no more uncertain.”
- Colossians 1:13-14
- 1 John 5:14
- 1 Kings 18:21
- Proverbs 28:1
You are the light of the world
Jesus is the only light, and whoever follows him has the light which is life, so wherever you go you can change situations. Keep the wick trimmed and the oil poured in through prayer, the Word, tongues and gathering with the saints. Jesus handed his mandate to believers and sent the Holy Spirit as divine enablement, so see yourself as one sent to bring others out of darkness.
Illustration: Christians coming to church are like torches joining one big bonfire: in a crisis during the week, power comes out of you because you came to the bonfire.
“When you come together like this here, we all like torches coming together. But when we come here to church, we like one big bonfire.”
- John 8:12
- Acts 4:12
- Hebrews 10:25
- Matthew 5:14-16
- Mark 16:15-18
- John 14:16
- John 16:7
- Luke 24:49
Know who you are, speak it, then take steps of faith
A child of God who knows his rights speaks to darkness, prophesies and prays in tongues instead of saying 'we'll see what happens'. Faith without works is dead, so act on what you believe: go and look, enquire and let your capacity grow, because the giants to slay are fear, doubt and unbelief. God is a God of abundance, not a miser, and he blesses you so that you can be a blessing.
Illustration: Walk into the car dealership or the show house as if you own the place, take the brochure and tell the agent it's not big enough yet. He shares that the first time he confessed 'I'm a millionaire' he nearly choked, and that Jesus fed the multitude with twelve baskets left over.
“If you don't know who you are, the devil will tell you who you're not.”
- Mark 11:23
- Luke 10:19
- James 2:20
- Ephesians 2:8-9
- Proverbs 23:7
- Hebrews 11:6
- Matthew 14:17-21
- Deuteronomy 29:5
- Genesis 13:2
Walk as children of light
Once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord, and the fruit of the light is goodness, uprightness and truth. God has sent you as a light to your family, workplace and business contacts, to the ends of the earth. You are born from above, an ambassador of another kingdom, and the Greater One lives inside you, so no one can attack you and get away with it.
Illustration: His own name means light: the names given to him and his siblings while they were Hindus turned out to be prophetic. He also borrows the Cremora advert, 'it's not inside, it's on top', and says for believers it is both.
“But brothers and sisters, for us, it's inside and on top.”
- John 8:32
- Ephesians 5:8-9
- Ezekiel 36:26
- Acts 13:47
- Isaiah 49:6
- 1 Peter 1:23
- John 1:13
- John 8:23
- 2 Corinthians 5:20
- 1 John 4:4
- Romans 8:37
- Deuteronomy 28:7
- Jeremiah 1:12
- Isaiah 55:11
Renew your mind and unlearn the junk
Renew your mind by saying what the Word says: I'm a child of God, by his stripes I'm healed, I'm more than a conqueror. Teaching the Word is easy; the hard part is unteaching religion and condemnation that people have mistaken for their identity. Preaching must be life, stirring up the divine nature already inside every believer.
Illustration: Paul reminded Timothy to stir up what came into him by the laying on of hands; preaching does the same.
“The church is a sleeping giant. If they only come to know who they are, boy, oh boy, they'll shake things up.”
- Romans 12:2
- 1 Peter 2:24
- Romans 8:1
- John 14:6
- 2 Timothy 1:6
Then shall your light break forth
Isaiah 58 is a prophetic word for the church: healing springing forth, righteousness going before you, the glory of the Lord as your rear guard, guidance in drought and riding on the high places of the earth. Nowhere does the Bible decree poverty for God's children; the anointing destroys yokes, and Jesus promised houses and lands in this lifetime, with persecutions.
Illustration: Obed-edom prospered simply because the ark of God's presence was in his house for three months. He also tells how people outside the church sometimes phone to pay the ministry's TV bill.
“Brothers and sisters, high places is your territory.”
- Isaiah 58:8-14
- Matthew 9:17
- John 4:14
- Matthew 4:4
- 2 Samuel 6:11
- Luke 4:18
- Isaiah 10:27
- Revelation 1:6
- Psalm 23:6
- 2 Corinthians 2:14
- Psalm 35:27
- Mark 10:29-30
Putting it into practice
- Speak what God says about you, not what you see or feel.
- Say 'I'm a light' to yourself every morning and meditate on it this week.
- Keep your light bright through prayer, the Word, tongues and gathering with the church.
- Back your confession with steps of faith that stretch your vision.
- Be a light to your family, colleagues and business contacts, and lead them to Christ.
Closing
He prophesies that bills will be paid supernaturally, that people will be debt free, and that many will come into possession of lands and houses in 2006. With hands raised, he prays for the anointing to come on the people so they can take it home into their situations, declares that unsaved family members will come to Christ, and leads the church in speaking in tongues.
Declarations he led
- I am what God says I am.
- Let the weak say I'm strong, let the poor say I'm rich.
- I cannot fail.
- I'm divinely enabled.
- I'm the light of the world.
- I'm a light.
- I'm not the same.
- I'm a representation of another kingdom. I'm an ambassador for Christ. Greater is he that's in me than he that is in the world. I'm more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus.
- I'm loaded. I'm full. I'm successful.
In his words
- “When challenges come, they're not there to destroy you, they're there to promote you.”
- “If you don't know who you are, the devil will tell you who you're not.”
- “The giants is not the devil. The giants is fear, doubt, and unbelief.”
- “Faith is the response of the human spirit to the Word of God.”
- “When God blesses you so much, He doesn't have you in mind. He has somebody else in mind.”
Every scripture in this message
- Joel 3:10
- Isaiah 53:1
- Mark 4:39
- Romans 8:17
- Colossians 1:13-14
- 1 John 5:14
- 1 Kings 18:21
- Proverbs 28:1
- John 8:12
- Acts 4:12
- Hebrews 10:25
- Matthew 5:14-16
- Mark 16:15-18
- John 14:16
- John 16:7
- Luke 24:49
- Mark 11:23
- Luke 10:19
- James 2:20
- Ephesians 2:8-9
- Proverbs 23:7
- Hebrews 11:6
- Matthew 14:17-21
- Deuteronomy 29:5
- Genesis 13:2
- John 8:32
- Ephesians 5:8-9
- Ezekiel 36:26
- Acts 13:47
- Isaiah 49:6
- 1 Peter 1:23
- John 1:13
- John 8:23
- 2 Corinthians 5:20
- 1 John 4:4
- Romans 8:37
- Deuteronomy 28:7
- Jeremiah 1:12
- Isaiah 55:11
- Romans 12:2
- 1 Peter 2:24
- Romans 8:1
- John 14:6
- 2 Timothy 1:6
- Isaiah 58:8-14
- Matthew 9:17
- John 4:14
- Matthew 4:4
- 2 Samuel 6:11
- Luke 4:18
- Isaiah 10:27
- Revelation 1:6
- Psalm 23:6
- 2 Corinthians 2:14
- Psalm 35:27
- Mark 10:29-30