Diplomatic Immunity: Why You Are a Wonder Unto Many

Sermon outline

From the day you received Christ and the Holy Spirit you became a wonder and a surprise to those who wrote you off, so retreat into God, speak what He says, and walk boldly as His ambassador.

1. I am as a wonder unto many

   The Amplified Bible says 'a wonder and a surprise to many'. People who said nothing good would come of you, or watched you heading downhill, now look at you and say, 'You?' Where they expected you to crumble, your business, your church and your home are growing instead.

   “Everyone beholding you, watching your life, you are fast becoming a great surprise.”

   • Psalm 71:7

2. God is your guest room and your vast granite fortress

   The Message paraphrase calls God a guest room where you can retreat and a vast granite fortress. When pressure mounts, shut yourself in with Him, pray in tongues and speak the Word, and you come out strong, bold and a wonder. Do not say God will make a way: He has made the way, and you are in it.

   Illustration: If retrenchments are coming and your name is on the list, go into your retreat room, come out bold and say, 'My God has made a way for me.'

   “If you're falling, fall forward.”

   • Psalm 71:3
   • John 14:6

3. Fearfully and wonderfully made

   Psalm 139 has four parts: You know me, You are with me, You created me, and Your cause is my cause. God did not say you must be free of issues to receive the Holy Ghost, so don't let the devil immobilise you by telling you that you are not good enough to witness or lay hands on the sick. Meditate on being wonderfully made.

   Illustration: Don't refuse to lay hands on someone because you had an argument with your wife: 'See how the devil trips people up.'

   “Issues or no issues. Hang-ups or no hang-ups. Man, you are full of the Holy Ghost.”

   • Psalm 139:14
   • Acts 1:8

4. Abraham was a wonder: speak it before you see it

   Abraham was called a father of many nations before he had one child, and he staggered not at the promise until the child came and the whole land talked about it. In the same way, say 'I'm rich' and 'I'm blessed' before you see it; your mouth charts your course out of Lo-debar into the land of more than enough.

   Illustration: When he used to say he was poor, nobody corrected him: his money shrank and he fell into debt while still sowing, until the Lord showed him it was his mouth.

   “It's your mouth that's going to charter your course.”

   • Genesis 22:17
   • Romans 4:20
   • Proverbs 18:21
   • 2 Samuel 9:4-5

5. Isaac was a wonder: he sowed in famine and waxed great

   Isaac sowed in a time of famine and reaped a hundredfold in the same year, while others sowing beside him got nothing. He waxed great, went forward and grew until the Philistines envied him and asked him to leave. Poverty is a spirit and faith is a spirit, and prosperity is the product of the spirit of faith; this is the abundant life Jesus came to give.

   Illustration: One day your neighbours may ask you to move because your car and your big house make them feel insignificant.

   “Prosperity is a product of the spirit of faith.”

   • Genesis 26:12-16
   • Matthew 6:33
   • John 10:10

6. Gideon, Joseph, David and Paul were wonders

   Gideon's 22,000 were cut to 300 so Israel could not boast, and with them he defeated three armies. Joseph stood before Pharaoh at thirty and saved nations from famine. Young David answered the giant in the name of the Lord, and Saul of Tarsus, who killed Christians, met Jesus and at once preached Christ. Daniel and the three Hebrew boys were wonders too.

   Illustration: David gave Saul his 'resume': the bear came and he killed it, the lion came and he tore it, and today the giant would go down too.

   • Judges 7:2-7
   • Genesis 41:46
   • 1 Samuel 17:34-37
   • 1 Samuel 18:7
   • Daniel 3:25
   • Acts 9:3-20

7. You became a wonder when you received the Holy Ghost

   You received power when the Holy Spirit came upon you, and you carry this treasure in an earthen vessel. You are not trying to become a wonder; you are one, in your family, community and workplace. If people push you down you pop up again, and the Spirit who raised Christ from the dead quickens your mortal body, so tell sickness to go.

   Illustration: God tells you in a dream to apply for a job and you get it, while your neighbour searches every newspaper and is still unemployed.

   “You're not trying to be a wonder. You are now a wonder.”

   • Acts 1:8
   • 2 Corinthians 4:7
   • Matthew 19:26
   • Romans 8:11

8. God's ambassadors have diplomatic immunity

   You are God's ambassador, and have you ever seen a poor ambassador? Ambassadors carry diplomatic immunity, so when the devil stops you with poverty or sickness, show your card instead of inviting him to sit down: he is under your feet. You are a king and a ruler; if you are not there yet, you are in training under tutors, so walk with your chest out and the sword of the Spirit in your mouth.

   Illustration: When the boss walks into his company the lazy workers suddenly look busy; in life, you are the boss.

   “If the devil stops you, take your card out.”

   • 2 Corinthians 5:20
   • Romans 16:20
   • Revelation 1:6
   • Galatians 4:1-2
   • Ephesians 6:17