Pastor Reidhead Sermon Blog

A commentary by Pastor Woolverton - With excerpts from "The Victor's Life Crown" a sermon by Pastor Paris Reidhead

September 10, 2018

I recently saw on a Christian Facebook page a short video that began with this question: Why does God let us experience hurt? This simple, yet profound, question has been nagging Christians for centuries. Even the great writer C. S. Lewis took this on in a book titled “The Problem of Pain”.

Honestly, for much of my life, this question as bothersome to me as well. I remember being in college, the time when young men and women explore the world and question the truths they have been told growing up, and wrestling with this question.

I remember when I was deployed to Haiti with the Army, and seeing all the pain and suffering that many Americans will never understand, and thinking to myself, how can a good God allow this.

I remember years of study in seminary wrestling with this, while at the same time praying with families and being with them through loss, pain, and suffering. I poured through Scripture and devoted time to talking with God in prayer and meditation. I earnestly wanted an answer to this question. I needed to know - for myself and for those I served.

It was sometime, during my time in seminary, while in prayer, God finally spoke (or I finally heard). However, I didn’t receive and answer. Instead, I felt a very distinct challenge: ‘Find one place in scripture where God promises that Christians are promised there will be no suffering, pain, or hurt for them.’

Well … I accepted that challenge and poured through His Word. It took me a while, but I’ll make it short for you - It isn’t there. These nagging questions are built on a false foundation. Why does God allow pain? Why does God let us experience hurt? Why does God let suffering go on? These are all built on the premise that God, somewhere, has promised Christians that they won’t have to experience pain, hurt, or suffering.

To be fair, that promise is in Scripture, but it is not for us who are on this side of eternity. I have gone through pain and hurt, and I have sat alongside those whose suffering I cannot begin to fathom, and I have prayed with all my heart - Dear Lord make this stop. Lord, take this pain away. My God, please make the hurt stop. And God said, ‘No.’

I recall the Apostle Paul struggling in much the same way as he explained in 2 Corinthians 12:8-10. “Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Likewise Pastor Reidhead spoke on suffering in the sermon, “The Victor’s Life Crown”. He recalled how the Chinese and Russian Christians paid the ultimate price for their love for the Lord Jesus Christ.

Pastor Reidhead writes, “I wonder if you and I today are prepared to put ourselves against the future? We think of the agony through which our brethren are passing in China, and what it is costing them to stand for the Lord Jesus Christ. I am sure of them, as He looks down and sees, some of them that have suffered the loss of goods, family, yes even their life, He can say, I know thy works. I know thy tribulation. I know thy poverty. He does know it. And there ought to be great comfort to you who have suffered for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ. And there ought to be great encouragement to all of us that may have to face such a future, for we do not know what it holds. Isn’t it true we do not know what the future holds, but we do know who holds the future. And we realize that He has indicated to this church that there has not been a slur, there has not been an expression of hatred, there has not been a denunciation, there has not been a depriving them of a single privilege, but what He saw it. He knows. I know. I know thy works. I know thy tribulation. I know thy poverty."

… Pastor Reidhead goes on …

“'Fear none of these things which thou shalt suffer.’ They are going to suffer. They are going to suffer; this church at Smyrna is going to be persecuted as few have been. Now what have we so far. Well, we have material poverty with spiritual riches, and we have religious profession with spiritual poverty, and now we have a commendation given by Christ without any censor at this point. The Lord is entirely pleased with this Church so far, up to this point. And He is fortifying the Church for what is yet to come. He is saying, ‘Everything is in My hands. I am the first and the last. I know what has been and is to be. I am the One who has the ability to say to you, Do not ever be afraid of the future, because I know it. And if I ask you to pass through it, I will be with you in it.’ And then He says, ‘I am the One which was dead, and is alive. I can carry you even through death into life.’ This is the One that writes to this Church.”

God tells us, ”My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

I think it is a fruitless question to ask, why does God allow us to experience hurt? By allowing pain/hurt/suffering, God is not going against His nature or His promise. God didn’t promise His children a life without pain in this side of eternity.

However, He did promise to provide the strength to survive the pain, and that even through the pain, God would be glorified. Amen.

Watch ye, Stand Fast in the Faith - By Pastor Reidhead

A commentary by Pastor Woolverton

July 10, 2018

1 Corinthians 16:13-14

“Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. Let all your things be done with charity.”

If you would do me the kindness of hearing a personal story of mine as a way to lead into these encouraging words from Pastor Reidhead as he preached on this wonderful scripture.

For three years, while serving in the US Navy, I was part of the crew of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, which is an aircraft carrier. An American aircraft carrier is a huge ship whose primary purpose is to launch and recover aircraft while at sea - sometimes at the same time.

Let me tell you, this is a sight to behold. The constant movement of vehicles, equipment, munitions, people, and aircraft is dizzying … incredible … and most definitely - dangerous.

There is a saying on the flight deck: Complacency kills.

If even one Sailor isn’t paying attention, one small accident could quickly escalate into a disaster.

It is like the words that Paul wrote almost two centuries ago: Watch ye.

Which begs the question, whom, or for what should we watch?

Watch yourself

Pastor Reidhead explained, “The first one that you must watch is yourself. Watch your own heart, for out of the heart are the issues of life; ‘out of the abundance of the heart the man speaketh.’” (Matt. 12:34) He continues, “What we think of course has its original origin in the heart. We think about that which we are concerned about. We give our thoughts to that which is of interest to us. If you watch your heart, you’ll control your thoughts.”

Watch your affections

“Your affections, of course, refer to that area of your being where you feel. What do you feel strongly about?” Pastor Reidhead asked. “It is true that we must watch our affections, because when our affections become misdirected our whole life becomes ensnared and entangled.”

Watch your motives

Pastor Reidhead admonished us to ask these questions: Why am I doing this? Why am I thinking this? Why do I feel this way? Why am I saying this? The answer to these “why” questions will lead us to our motives. For example, “Why am I so burdened about service? Why am I so concerned about prayer? Why? Is it that I may be seen or that He may be glorified?” And when we answer that, the next question should be, “Can we say that my one ambition, my one purpose, my one concern is to glorify God?”

Watch your words

“You speak, you say nobody hears, she understands, he knows, but God hears, and those words are going to come and stand before me, and I shall be judged according to my words,” Pastor Reidhead explained. Words have power, and we will be judged for our words as well as for our actions. “If I had the power and I could turn and tune in your past year, your past five years, your past life, and have it projected here, would you be happy? Would you? Or would your head drop and your heart cringe?”

Watch over one another

Pastor Reidhead lamented the situation that existed in the church during the time when he was preaching, which still persists today. He said “that we’re not just to be like people that stand in the subway, and wait for the train to come and ride a little distance together and then get off. And that’s what often happens. We come together for Sunday morning. We come in. We sit down next to one another with almost the same impersonal relationship as the subway. We ride through till 12:15. Then we get off and go our separate ways, and we do not know those with whom we’ve been seated.” How are we to watch over one another, when we don’t know those we sit next to in His holy Sanctuary any better than the on sitting across from us on the subway?

Watch against the World

“The community of Christians take a few days of rest, but the devil doesn’t rest.” Just as idle hands are the devil’s playthings, we must not become complacent in watching out around us. That does not mean that we are to live in fear. Far from it. But we are to be aware of our surroundings. We are as Pastor Reidhead warns, as the body of Christ, to be watchful, for “when the church takes a rest the devil goes to work.”

Watch for God

While the devil will be at work on the world around us, even though, we can be assured that Christ is victorious. God is at work, and we must watch for His wonderful works, and what better way to know God when we see the works of God is to strengthen our connection with God. “Do you watch in the ordinances? What about the Word? Is your Bible open because you love it? Because you feed upon it. Because it speaks to you. Because it’s God’s love letter to your heart. Oh you want to watch how you treat the Word, and what is happening to you. To be constantly awake, not spiritually asleep. That’s what it means.”

To be watchful is to keep us mindful of the potential dangers in and around us. But also, to be watchful, is to keep our spiritual eyes open to the wonderful works that God is doing for His children.

An exposition on “Salvation is Revelation” by Rev. Stephen Woolverton

April 25, 2018

 

1. Salvation is Revelation

2. Revelation comes from Meditation

3. Meditation follows Proclamation

A right understanding

Brother Paris heard a word in a meeting amongst his Christian brothers, “You know, salvation is revelation.” It gripped him then, and held on to him over the years, as messages from God often do.

Paris also had a conversation with Aunt Harriett Williams, Mrs. J.D. Williams, who gave him two words that were special to her, and that clung in Paris’s mind: Meditation and Revelation.

The Word of God needs more than simply to be listened to – it needs to be meditated on. The Word of God needs to be considered, absorbed, and applied to self. Then, after that happens, God is revealed.

There’s a problem with the understanding (or the misunderstanding) of salvation today. Apparently, it was there when Paris was pastoring and persists still from everything I have seen in my ten years in ministry.

In short, the problem is that people don’t understand.

No, that is not an incomplete sentence. I meant what I said.

The problem with salvation, as it is understood (and even as it is preached) today, is that people don’t understand.

         • They don’t understand who they are, and they don’t understand who God is.

Paris went out and preached the Gospel to a group of people who had not heard it before. He told them of their sinfulness, and they agreed that they knew what sin was, and that they were sinful. He told them of the righteousness of God, and the punishment for sin, and they agreed that there is a righteous God and that God is angry at them for their sin. He then gave them the words for the sinner’s prayer, and was fairly certain of the translation and the sincerity of their prayers.

They knew they were sinful, and they knew there is a righteous God. However, they didn’t understand.

Understanding who you are

Paris explains, “Years ago I asked a congregation of about 100 people, ‘How many of you have ever been lost? Really lost? Aware of the fact that you were lost. If you died as you were, certainly would have gone to. How many of you were in a conscious state of lostness?’ Four hands went up. I said, ‘How many of you are saved?’ All the hands went up. It’s that amazing. He came to seek and to save that which was lost. The only kinds of people He can save are lost people.”

There is a difference between knowledge and understanding. So many people know what it means to be lost, but so few people understand what it is to be lost.

The truth is, everyone in the congregation was or had been lost. Sadly, only a few of them understood what it means to be lost.

If it has not been revealed how lost we are, there can be no salvation.

Understanding who God is

But that is only half of the process – only half of the understanding that one must have. There are many out there in the world today who are lost, who know they are lost, and who continue in that lost state, whether by choice or ignorance. For too many, even though Jesus came to seek and save the lost, they close their ears to him, or turn their backs on him, or truly and sadly don’t recognize that he is the one who is capable of saving them from their lost state.

“We see this so clearly in Apostle Paul, Saul of Tarsus, on that day thoroughly convinced that Jesus was an imposter. Satisfied that the greatest service he could render to Israel is to exterminate the memory of knowledge of the name Jesus from the minds of his people. Gives himself in devotion to this task. There outside the gates is the name of the first martyr. Saul stood holding the coats encouraging the rioters to stone Stephen. Stephen standing up under the hale of stones weak that he ought to have been whimpering in fear crying out in pain. With a loud voice declares, ‘I see Jesus standing on the right hand of the throne of God.’”

Both Paul and Stephen knew who Jesus was. But Paul’s Jesus and Stephen’s Jesus were not the same person. Stephen already had received the revelation of the truth of the divine person of Christ Jesus. The power and truth of the gospel of Jesus was clear to him. However, while at that time Paul knew of the man named Jesus, the truth of the divine person of Christ Jesus would not be revealed to him until his journey to Damascus.

    1. Salvation is Revelation

    2. Revelation comes from Meditation

    3. Meditation follows Proclamation

As we go out and preach the gospel, let us encourage all to meditate on the truth, so that God might reveal the truth of Christ Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit, so that souls will be found.

May God add His blessing to this work.

A commentary on "The Walk of a Christian"
by Pastor Stephen Woolverton

March 29, 2018

Paris Reidhead preached a sermon with the theme of The Walk of a Child of God, The Walk of a Christian.

His sermon came out of the fourth and fifth chapters of the book of Ephesians.

Now, if you’re like me, there are certain things that Brother Paris said in his sermons that seem to reach out and touch your spirit or illuminate Scripture in a way that has a special meaning for you. This is one of those sermons for me.

While his sermon, Ten Shekels and a Shirt, has had a reach both far and wide, I have found of that that many of his other sermons have created these little moments where the fire of the Holy Spirit sparks inside of me through Paris’ exposition of Scripture.

In this particular sermon, The Walk of a Child of God, Paris brings to light and often overlooked yet vitally important part of our spiritual walk. Namely, maturing in our faith, or moving on into Christian perfection.

In this sermon, he asks a very important question, “Do you believe in Christian perfection?”

Now, when I ask a question during one of my sermons, I will often let the silence linger a little bit longer than comfortable after asking a difficult or important question. In this case, however, I think Brother Paris was right to immediately answer his question.

“You want to, if you believe the Bible.”

Then Paris quotes from Ephesians 4:13 “Till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the son of God unto a perfect man unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”

Now this is a difficult instruction to receive for many people. It is after all calling us to work towards becoming a perfect man or work towards being like the stature and fullness of Christ. Brother Paris illuminates this by explaining the perfect man to mean a mature man.

It is at this point in his sermon that I recall Christ’s words in the Gospel of Matthew 4:48 where he says, “be ye therefore perfect, even as your father which is in heaven is perfect.”

Now, while some of us may argue whether it is possible or not for a Christian to attain perfection, I’m fairly certain we can all agree that no Christian is perfect at the moment of redemption. It therefore follows that if there is such a thing as Christian perfection – which brother Parris and I have demonstrated to you as truth through Scripture – then Christians should mature and strive for that perfection in their daily walk.

Yes Brother Paris heard the call from churches and people in the church to put aside this idea of urging people on into Christian maturity, and focus solely on winning souls. Just as I too have heard from churches and people in the churches that winning souls should be our sole mission. Indeed many churches put no effort, literally no effort, into discipleship, teaching, or even encouraging Christians to grow in their faith. Instead, all of their efforts to go into recruiting and bringing more people into the church in order to fill the pews and to offering plates.

This is where, for me, it gets personal. You see, God did not call me to the work of evangelism. God’s calling on my life is not winning souls for the kingdom. God did not call me to minister to those who have rejected the gospel nor to those who have not heard the gospel.

Instead, God called me to pastoral ministry. My ministry is to those within the household of faith. I have been called to rebuke. I have been called to train. I have been called to encourage. I have been called, as Jesus said in the great commission, to baptize and to teach.

If we are to send out missionaries, they need to be trained. If we are to spread the Gospel, we need to understand the Gospel. If we are to defend our faith, we need to know our faith. If the children of God are to live lives worthy of our calling, we need to study to better understand our calling and Him who called us.

Evangelism, outreach, missions trips, reaching out to the lost and the lonely with the truth of the good news of Jesus Christ – all of these things, in my humble opinion, are what flows out of the Christian growing in knowledge of the Lord and love for our Savior.

Paris tells of when Paul writes to the church in Ephesus and states “I therefore, a prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the calling wherewith you were called.”

This causes Brother Paris to ask, “What is this calling? Is it just to repentance?”

No, it is not just to repentance. It is so much more. I was called to so much more, and my calling is to teach you that you were called to so much more. You were called to know the Lord more and more every day, and grow closer to Him every day, and fall more and more in love with the Lord as you come to understand Him better every day.

This is what initially drew me to Paris Reidhead Bible Teaching Ministries, and it is what keeps me working for the kingdom of God through BTMI. Brother Paris preached in such a way as to affect change and specifically growth in the Christian – reaching out to them to understand their calling and encouraging them to become active citizens in God’s kingdom.

After all, Paris did call his ministry a Bible Teaching Ministry for a reason.

For this work, God has called and equipped me both as a seminary trained pastor and as a certified and experienced teacher, to use the writing and sermons of Brother Paris to teach Biblical truths to the children of God today.

Now it is my desire, to continue Brother Paris’ good work, and to build upon the solid scriptural teaching of his works and sermons. To bring the truth of the gospel for the building up of the saints.

To that end, if you, your church, or your study group would like to host a Bible Training Seminary, please let us know through our Facebook page, our website, or via email. We know that there are so many who have been touched by the Holy Spirit through God’s use of Brother Paris and his sermons, and we would love to carry that ministry forward, to continue to reach out for the glory of God.

The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.

AMEN

A conversation with Pastor Reidhead about Christian Service (excerpts from “God’s Plan for Your Life”)
by Pastor Stephen Woolverton

March 6, 2018

I’m sure that this portion of Pastor Reidhead’s sermon was powerful for those who were in attendance when he preached it. I know it was powerful to me when I read it. Likewise, as I look around Christendom today, I see many who either haven’t heard or don’t fully comprehend that Christian service is a part of God’s plan for their lives. It is not an option, but a divine instruction and a powerful blessing both to the Christian servant and to those being served.

Below, I have taken portions of Pastor Reidhead’s sermon and intermixed my thoughts to have a sort-of conversation with him on this topic. May you be blessed, the kingdom of God uplifted, and our Lord glorified in your reading.

Pastor Reidhead: “We must recognize that in the mid-twentieth century, service has often come to mean some participation in the organizational activity of the church. Generally, also, that service is associated with the building where the church meets, the place erroneously called “the church.” Though we could quite reasonably be somewhat unhappy about this identification of a building with that mysterious and marvelous organism called the church, that is, “the body of Christ,” we do recognize that there are places of responsibility and service in just this very setting.

Pastor Woolverton: I am among those people that you speak of who are reasonably unhappy with the description of a building as a “church.” The church, as referred to in scripture, is the assembly of people, or the gathering of people, specifically as Paul notes in 1 Thessalonians 1:1. “which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ.” The church, rightly described, is the “mysterious and marvelous organism … that is ‘the body of Christ.’” However, while that isn’t your main point here, I wanted to give an Amen to that.

Your main point here is that, in that building we call church, there are in fact positions where a Christian can be in service. There are many positions of service in the church that are very beneficial to the kingdom of God. From the choir member to the acolyte to the Sunday school teacher to the custodian. These and more are valid services rendered in the kingdom. However, every effort should be made to convince the children of God that their service to the Lord does not begin and end with participation in functions in the local congregation or organized by the local congregation.

Pastor Reidhead: “Primarily, our Christian service is to be in our everyday and ordinary environment. We should recognize that one of the best pulpits from which we can proclaim the grace of God is our home. If every family would realize that they are living where they are not by accident, but by the divine appointment of God; and if each Christian family would recognize that they are exposed to the scrutiny of the unregenerate continually so that the lost about them might see in their conduct the Gospel commended and the grace of God honored, then undoubtably our impact on the communities would be far greater than it is.”

Pastor Woolverton: Excuse the pun, but your words are hitting close to home. As my friend says sometimes after particularly powerful sermons, you have gone from preaching to meddling. Your position assumes, and I think rightly so, that our impact on our local communities is lacking. In other words, we as Christians are not doing a good job at reaching the lost in our communities, and the reason is that we as Christians don’t understand one of the basic tenants of the Christian faith: we must conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the Gospel in all times and in all places. If we cannot live out the grace of God in our homes, how do we expect to earnestly and honestly present the gospel in our communities? But if our homes are places where God’s grace is evidenced, and we live out the Gospel one with another, I think this would naturally overflow into our lives outside of the home.

Pastor Reidhead: "You should see yourself a foreign missionary placed in the office, shop, or school, factory - wherever it may be - by the deliberate design of your wonderful Lord. He put you there that He might use you as a portable antenna of His grace; through your life and your personality, the message of His love is to be broadcast to those about you. Your testimony ought to be not just words that you might speak that have a theological content; no, every word you speak, and the tone with which you speak it, is part of the total sermon of your life. The cheerfulness with which you do you work, the understanding that you bring to your task, and the willingness to go beyond that which is required to more effectively serve your employer - all are part of your testimony.”

Pastor Woolverton: What would our communities, our countries, look like if Christians everywhere understood this basic idea: we are all missionaries. Whether it is are work, or in the grocery store, or even (dare I say it) driving in rush hour. We are all missionaries presenting the Gospel to all whom God has placed around us. If the body of Christ were simply more aware that the person we are speaking to in the checkout line is a lost soul needing to know the love of God, or that the coworker having a bad day is a beloved of Christ who needs to know the peace of God, or that the person crying on the phone in the restaurant is in desperate need of the grace of God. And, like you said, it isn’t always about the words. It is the compassion behind the words, or the love behind the action that broadcasts God’s love to those He has placed around us.

Pastor Reidhead: In your home and its extensions - the school, the PTA, the cleaner, the grocers - all of the many contacts of your life in every organization and activity of which you are a part are to be considered the place of your service. In all these places, you are to manifest Christ. … In this way, we are to realize the most seemingly mundane and unimportant and activity has tremendous consequences.

"A commentary on Developing Your Potential in Christ"
A sermon by Pastor Paris Reidhead - by Pastor Stephen Woolverton

February 27, 2018

In this sermon, Paris asks a poignant question about the scripture taken from Ephesians 2:1-2. Who is Paul talking about?

Is he talking about the Jews? Is he talking about the first generation of Christians?

Or is he talking about me?

“He can’t mean me. Well, he does mean you,” Paris said. We know Paul means me, Paul means you, because it was no mistake that scripture says “you … who were dead in trespasses and sins.” It doesn’t say, you people of Ephesus, or you Gentiles, or you Jews, or even you Barbarians. No. Scripture is the very Word of God for the people of God, so it is no mistake when we read, “you … who were dead in trespasses and sins.”

When I read this, I know he is talking about me. Just like Brother Paris, I too was dead in trespasses and sins. I was dead in sin. You were dead in sin. We were dead in sin.

Firstly, I have found that, those of us who have been made alive in Christ, can grow a sort of complacent amnesia regarding who we are absent God’s redeeming grace. When we forget who we were before God’s grace, and who we are without God’s grace we become the self-righteous Christians that the world thinks we are.

Secondly, I have also witnessed congregations that develop a group amnesia regarding who they are in the kingdom of God. They become settled in their positions as children of God, and they begin to act and believe that they are children of God because of who they intrinsically are or because of their own works. These congregations become islands separated from the truth. Likewise, they also become islands separated from God.

As a result, when the children of God, or even whole churches, fall into this grace amnesia, they loose the ability to fulfill the calling of Christ to witness, minister, teach, or seek out the lost and lonely. When we forget that Paul is talking about us when he said “you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins,” we lose what we have in common with those to whom we are called to deliver the gospel. “That’s who we were.

That’s who we were. Those are the very same people we are going to witness to and minister to, and see brought out of the bondage of Satan into the liberty of the children of God. Now do you see why it’s so important for us to understand that the way He wants to work is for us to present our bodies to Him so He can live in us? The reason that He wants to work is that through us He can bring these that are still in Satanic bondage and every lost person is—into that place where.” Paris Reidhead

- - -

What kind of people is he talking about? Oh, some might say, he’s talking about Jews that have a heritage in Israel and are first generation Christians. And say they had a lot going for them. But he can’t mean me. He can’t mean me. Well, he does mean you, because he says, “you who were dead in trespasses and sins.” (Eph. 2:1) Now, that’s better than if he put my name there. Because if he put my name there I’d never know if it was my great grandfather, my grandfather, or my father, my son or my grandson. And you wouldn’t have a chance at all, and it wouldn’t do me any good.

But when he says, “You who were dead in trespasses and sins,” then I know he’s talking about me because I “was dead in trespasses and sins.” And so are you. So he’s saying this, “Look, nothing of your past is going to interfere with My plan for your future.” Isn’t that great? Isn’t it wonderful to know that somebody loved you when He knew the worst about you? You know, if most of our friends knew about us what God and we know, we wouldn’t have many friends. The only thing is that if we knew about them what they and God know they wouldn’t have us as friends, either. Or we would all be friends because we would we ought to be know that we were woven on the same loom. Maybe the woof was a little different, but boy the warp is the same. I know you, friend. You can’t kid me. I know you because I know me. I know that we “were dead in trespasses and sins.” You who were, so He’s talking about folks just like us. “Who walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince and power of the air, that very same spirit that now works in the children of disobedience.” (Eph. 2:2) That’s who we were. That’s who we were.

Those are the very same people we are going to witness to and minister to, and see brought out of the bondage of Satan into the liberty of the children of God. Now do you see why it’s so important for us to understand that the way He wants to work is for us to present our bodies to Him so He can live in us? The reason that He wants to work is that through us He can bring these that are still in Satanic bondage and every lost person is—into that place where they’re part of this inheritance for Christ, “His inheritance in the saints.” The power is the very power that raised up Christ from the dead and our position is seated with Christ.