Your Enemy is Your Promoter, Part II The Purpose of It All

Bishop Ronnie Reid

I started a series last Sunday morning

entitled, "Your Enemy is Your Promoter. Without

opposition, there is no victory."

Now today I'm going to give you just two

points of it this morning, and I'll finish it up

tonight, God willing. But two points of it, The En emy

is your Promoter, Part II, the Purpose of It All."

The Purpose of It All."

If I've got to go through something, I want

there to be a purpose of it. If I'm going to have to

go through something, then I want there to be

something that I'm going to gain while I'm going

through whatever I'm going through. Now I've come by

to tell you that when I say you're going through

something, I want you to know the operative word is

"through." You're going to go through it. You did n't

go there to stay. You didn't go there to sit. You

didn't go there to vacation. You didn't go there t o

set up camp and bake your residence. You're going to

go through it in the name of Jesus.

And if I know that I'm going to go through

it, if I know that there is an end to what I'm goin g

through, it helps me go through what I'm going

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through. But while I'm going through whatever I'm

going through, I want to make sure that I get whate ver

I'm supposed to get while I'm in it, because I do n ot

like to go through it again just for the sake becau se

I didn't learn my lesson the first time.

How many people are hard headed? How many

people are sitting next to someone hard headed? Po int

at them.

Don't point up here, Baby. It ain't

Hallelujah.

So when you're hard headed, sometimes, you

know -- I had an old red neck tell me this. He sai d,

"Well, if you're going to be stupid, you gotta be

tough." Amen.

So I don't want to be either. I want to

learn what I want to learn and get on through it.

2 Corinthians, 4:16 -- I'm reading from the New Kin g

James version. 2 Corinthians 4:16 reads like this:

Therefore, we do not lose heart. Even though our

outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is bei ng

renewed day by day. For our life affliction -- thi s

is the verse for our series -- For our life

affliction, which is but for a moment, is working f or

us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory .

Not IN glory, but OF glory. For years I

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thought it said, "For IN glory." Meant that I was

going to get a reward when I get to glory. But tha t's

not what it said. It says a weight OF glory. Now,

that could be over there or over here. I want it t o

be over here. Can you say Amen?

While we do not look at the things which are

seen, but at the things which are not seen, for the

things which are seen are temporary, but the things

which are not seen are eternal.

Father, I give you praise for your word and

what we've already felt in this place today. God I

pray that you would stir us up to hear what the spi rit

would say to our spirits today in Jesus' name that we

recognize that if we are facing an enemy, that ther e

is a purpose for it. And everything, whether it is

sent by you or allowed by you, we recognize that if

you allowed it, then there's something for us to le arn

and glean from it in Jesus' name, and the church sa id

Amen.

I've come to realize, Church, that I'm not

real old. I'm 30 plus some. And I'm 30 plus what --

Good Lord, I am old. 30 plus 18, so I'm 48 years o ld,

but here's what I've learned in my young age in my

life. Here's what I've learned, is that God moves in

patterns, and God uses stuff to move us along. All

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right?

1 Corinthians 16:9, one verse says this. It

says that: For a great and effective door has open ed

to me and there are many adversaries. For a great and

effective door has opened to me, and there are many

adversaries.

So here's what Paul is saying, that there is

a great door that is open to us, but in order for u s

to get through that door, we're going to have to fa ce

some adversities and adversaries in order to get to

where God is calling us to be.

Now, if you just want to be a nominal

Christian, if you just want to show up and, you kno w,

and have a little sermonette for Christianettes and go

home, then that's cool. But, you know, here's the

realty. You can only sit there so long. But if

you're going to be a child of God, then God is goin g

to increase you. He's going to move you. He's goi ng

to forward you. He's going to progress you. And t he

devil doesn't want you to progress or proceed any

further along in God than where you are right now. As

a matter of fact, he hates where you are, and he

certainly doesn't want you to progress any further.

So we've got to understand that right before

a new opened door of opportunity comes, there's

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usually a giant standing in the way saying, "If you 're

going to get there, you've got to come through me."

But I've come by to tell you that greater is He tha t

is in you than he that stands against you, and you

don't have to put up with what the devil is cooking

and what the devil is selling. And you can go thro ugh

that open door. You can go through that adversary,

but recognize it's going to be a fight.

Now, to be a giant killer, guess what? You

got to kill the giant. You've got to face the gian t.

Everybody wants the title, but nobody wants the

battle. Everybody wants to be an entrepreneur.

Everybody wants to be rich. "Not me." Well, you'r e

like one.

Listen, I don't know anybody who wouldn't

like to have a little bit more money than what they

have right now. I mean, the richest person in the --

the richest guy that I know, Mike, wouldn't mind

having a little bit more money. You know what I'm

saying?

So here's the deal though. Are you willing

to face the giants? Everybody wants to be a busine ss

owner, but nobody wants the giant that comes with t he

business owner. Everybody wants to be able to make

their schedule. But what most people don't underst and

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is that business owners that succeed really don't m ake

their schedule either. Business does. Right? I'm

trying to help somebody.

So we want to be giant killers in the Kingdom

of God. But in order to be a giant killer, you've got

to face a giant. And to face a giant, then you've got

to recognize that God has something for you. And

every time that a giant shows up, every time an ene my

shows up, the arrival of an enemy in your life is a

sign, Church, that your presence season is about to

change. It's about to be over and a new season is

coming, but you've got to go through that giant fir st.

Good preaching, Pastor.

God often assigns an enemy as a catalyst for

you to exit one season and enter another season,

because you've got to get through that enemy. You' ve

got to get through that open door. You've got to g et

through that adversary.

See, we might have never known anything about

David if God hadn't sent Goliath to stand in his wa y.

Think about this. There's not much written. There 's

just a little excerpt, but there's not much written

about David killing the lion and the bear. I don't

know about you, but that's pretty significant to me .

And if you came in today and said, well, you

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know, Pastor, I was out hunting, you know, and a li on

come up and I picked up a rock and rocked his world .

I killed him with a rock.

What?

Yeah. The other day I was out just walking

and a bear come across, and I just didn't like the way

he looked at me, and so I took another rock and kil led

him.

That's pretty significant. But you didn't

hear about that. You heard it in passing when God

told -- when David said, Hey, God helped me when I

killed the lion, and he helped me when I killed the

bear. And the same God that helped me do that will

help me kill this uncircumcised Philistine who stan ds

before us today.

I come by to tell you, Church, that maybe not

everybody knows your victories. Nobody knows all o f

the smaller victories that you have had, but God kn ows

what they are. And he is preparing you for a great er

victory. He's preparing you for a greater battle, but

a greater victory. You've just got to hit it. You 've

just got to come up for it.

Can I get a good Amen?

Now, I know you don't want to hear this,

because I didn't want to write it. But our enemies

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are as essential as our friends, because our enemie s

will do to us and for us what our friends are

unwilling to do. Your friends aren't willing to

stand before you and stand against you like that. You

know, your friends would go something along like th is,

"Well, if that's what you really want to do, we

support you."

But your enemy says, "Well, if that's what

you really want to do, you're going to have to come

through me."

That's when you go, "Okay. Then it's on."

Just recognize it's on. The vast majority of the t ime

your enemy will show up in the form of a person, of a

mind set, of a situation, of an internal struggle.

See, my biggest problem is internal. My

biggest struggle is internal. Now, I'm not saying

I've conquered all of the struggles on the outside. I

still have people that come against me. I still ha ve

people that talk about me. I still have all that.

But I'm talking about my biggest struggle is intern al.

But I've got to conquer that in order to get beyond

where I am. And when I have a giant come to my

internal struggle, then I need to recognize that it is

the enemy that the Lord has allowed to catapult me to

the next level.

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You see, my intent, Church, is this: Not to

make us incensive trouble hunters or enemy hunters.

"I'm just looking for an enemy." You ever go out w ith

folks who trouble just finds them? You can be at a

Quaker convention, and they're going to get in a

fight.

I used to have a friend like that. And the

last fight he got me in is when we were young men. I

told him, I said, "Now, I'm going to help you fight

these boys, but I want you to know that as soon as

we're done, I'm going to whip your behind."

Ain't no way. What have you got "Fight me"

written on your forehead? You always stir up troub le

everywhere you go. Nobody else going to get in a

fight, but you're going to get in a fight. I said,

"We're going to fight, we're going to finish this h ere

in a little while." And we did too.

But, anyway, let me move on. But there are

some people who just like trouble. I'm not telling

you to go look for trouble. God says to watch for

trouble, but don't go search for it.

You know, there was a group of Christians who

said, "Pastor, come on, you want to go stir up some

devils?"

"No."

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"Come on, "Pastor, we're going to go find the

devil and whoop him."

Well, if you're doing what you're supposed to

do, you don't have to look for the devil. Just loo k

right by you. Yeah, he's still there. Here's what I

know, that if I do what God has called me to do, th en

I don't have to worry about whether or not -- wheth er

or not the devil is going to fight me or come again st

me. He's going to find me.

I believe if you're doing what you're

supposed to do, when you wake up in the morning and

you put your feet on the floor in the morning, I

believe the devil and his elves begin to run around

like Barny Fife with one bullet saying, "That crazy

Christian is up again, and he's about to put some

havoc on our situation."

Instead of making us take Valium and

everything, we ought to make him take Valium. Come on

somebody.

But here's our responsibility. Our

responsibility is to fight the problem, not the

person. Too many times we associate the problem wi th

the person, the problem with the people. You know,

Well, bless God, I don't like gays. Well, you know , I

don't like their sin. But let's go ahead and say I

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also don't like adulterers. I don't like their sin .

Fornicators, their sin.

Well, I'm okay with the fornicators, because

I are one. That's the way we think. That's not wh at

God says. That's not what God thinks. I can't get no

Amens there, but that's all right. I might just ha ve

to stay there a little while longer until I get som e

Amens. Come on somebody.

Life has handed you an opportunity to go

beyond. Life has handed you an open door. So if

you're in the middle of a battle, if you're in the

midst of a struggle, then recognize that the door h as

been opened to you, that God thought you had learne d

enough, that he had taught you enough, he's got eno ugh

faith in you to promote you to the next level. So

you've got to fight that devil, kill that devil and

move on in your walk with God.

Now, point number two is this: An enemy

arising in your life is a key indicator that the ne xt

stage of your future is about to be born, is about to

be born.

Instead of going, "Oh, it's just one more

struggle, oh." You ought to go, "Hey, glory." I

mean, a holy ghost fit ought to come on you. Hey,

glory. It's about to be on, because I'm going on t o a

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new level. New level, new devils, right?

So we can turn that around, new devils, new

levels. That means if a devil is there to face me,

that means that I must be standing at the open door .

I'm at the open cusp ready to move into something t hat

I've never had before. I'm ready to move into

something new. I'm ready to move forward and get o ver

what I've been going through.

Good preaching, Pastor.

You've got to learn that an enemy can be a

blessing, not just a curse. Now, listen, if you're

one of those people -- I'm not trying to teach you or

tell you that when enemies come into your life you

ought to go, "Oh, praise God. Hallelujah."

When an enemy comes, you've got to ask the

question. When we Christians, especially

Pentecostals, we're the worst. We Pentecostals don 't

like to ask this question: Did I invite it? Come on.

Amen me.

We've got to ask the question: Did I invite

this, or is it from God? But I've got good news fo r

you. Whether you invited it or not, God can turn i t

around for your good. Whether you invited it or no t,

you can rest assure that God can turn it around and

teach us something through it.

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See, it was Potiphar's wife, through her

false accusations, who sent Joseph to prison, but

ultimately got him to be the Prince of Egypt. But we

don't like to talk about Potiphar's wife. It was

Pharaoh's persecution that served to multiply the

Israelites into a mighty nation.

It was Delilah who laid -- or who Samson

laid his hand in her lap one too many times, but it

was Delilah that put him into a prison that the Bib le

says that his last act killed more Philistines than

all of his acts put together.

Name of Jesus. Jesus himself had to fight

the enemy of his own will in the Garden of Gethsema ne.

Nevertheless, not my will, but Thy will be done. B ut

it was the fight that he had to do in order to get --

in order to get a name that was above every name, i n

order to have a name that at the sound of that name

every demon in hell has to bow down. At the sound of

that name, every tongue shall confess and every kne e

shall bow that he is God.

It was those fights that caused him to do

what he was. Now, listen to me, it wasn't until

God -- it wasn't until Jesus was Baptized and that God

from heaven said, "This is my son in whom I'm well

pleased." Then the attacks came to happen. And th en

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it was the attacks that catapulted him into the

ministry. It was the attacks that catapulted him.

Let me tell you this. To get over your own will,

you're going to have to fight the hardest.

The Bible said that Jesus prayed so hard that

his sweat became great drops of blood. And then he

said, "Nevertheless, not my will, but Thy will be

done." But he prayed the longest to get over the

devil's will. So to pray hardest, you've got to ge t

over your own will. To pray the longest, you've go t

to get over the devil's will.

But understand that I discovered that if I'm

going to go through pain, I'm going to need to go

through it for the sake of something. Several year s

ago I was taken to the hospital. And as they pushe d

me through the halls of the hospital or wherever I was

and they said, "Are you allergic to anything?"

I said, "Yes, pain." I don't like pain. So

if I'm going to go through pain, I better get

something out of what I go through. Now, listen, t his

is a big epidemic in our community with young peopl e.

It's called cutters. They cut themselves.

Let me tell you something, young people, it's

nothing new. It was happening in Jesus' day. Ther e

was a demoniac, is what they called it. The Bible

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says that nobody can constrain, that he would cut

himself. He would cut himself. Why? Nobody knew.

See, I'm not one of those? Why? Because it

hurts. But some of the research I've done, here's

what they said. I'm cutting myself to let hurt out .

Well, that doesn't make any sense because when I cu t

myself, it hurts me. It don't hurt anybody else. It

hurts me.

But here's what I do know. The same God that

delivered the demoniac, can deliver you. The same God

that got the hurt out of the demoniac, can get the

hurt out of you. But I said all that to say this.

God has some things in store and great plans for yo u,

but there's something about facing life's enemies t hat

causes us to be enlarged, to cause our capacity to be

enlarged. That when you face the devil, then you

recognize that the same God that delivered you

yesterday can deliver you today.

Now here's what I love. I love Hebrews 12:1.

Overcoming the enemies creates such an internal

strength that you become like Joshua and Caleb.

Joshua and Caleb. Everybody else was saying, "Thes e

people look like giants." But Joshua and Caleb sai d,

"Oh, they ain't nothing to us. We'd take them."

You need to look at your giant, look at your

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Goliath. Be like David who said, "This uncircumcis ed

Philistine, he ain't nothing." Looked to me like

Caleb and Joshua said, "Hey, them giants ain't noth in,

man. We can take them. We are more than able to t ake

the land."

****(Ck here with original audio) But here's

what it says in Hebrews 12:1. Remember, we also,

since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of

witnesses, let *to be enlarged that you when you fa ce

did that delivered you yesterday can deliver you to day

(to here).

Now here's what I love. I love Hebrews

12:1. Overcoming the enemies creates such an inter nal

strength that you become like Joshua and Caleb.

Joshua and Caleb, everybody else was saying, "These

people look like giants." But Joshua and Caleb sai d,

"Oh, they ain't nothing to us. We can take them." .

They ain't nothing, man. We can take them. We are

more than able to take the land.

But here's what it says in Hebrews 12:1:

Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so

great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every

wake in the sin which so easily ensnare us and let us

run with endurance the race that is set before us.

Now what I want you to see is that the -- it

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says surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses. Do

you know why you went through some of the stuff you

went through? Because you become a witness of what

God can do. You become a witness of a bad marriage

but how God can save it. You become a witness of h ow

you might have been on death's door, but you came

through. You become a witness of how you lost your

house and lost your spouse and lost your car and lo st

everything else, but God gave it all back. You bec ome

a witness. You become a witness of the same God th at

got you off drugs is the same God that can get

somebody else off. You become a witness of the sam e

God that gave you a spouse that give somebody else a

spouse. You become a witness. You become part of the

cloud of witnesses.

And then verse two says this: *Be but for

the joy that was set before him endure the cost,

despising the shame and now set down at the right h and

of the thrown of God. He looked beyond where he wa s.

I need you look at beyond where you are in your fig ht.

Need to look beyond just where you are right now an d

just, I'm just trying to make it through. No, I wa nt

to make it through it, but I want to learn whatever I

need to learn because I come through it.

I'm preaching better than you're Amening.

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Some day you're going to see Goliath marching

toward you across the field. You're going to have to

fight, or that giant is going to eat your lunch. I t's

going to eat your lunch.

You know, PJ come here. PJ come here. PJ is

our youth pastor, for those of you who don't know. PJ

is 6'5, 4? *your wife is in a debate she can't rea ch

your head. Stand up on stage. PJ is 6'4 or 5,

according to who you ask.

Come here, baby. My wife is 4'0, 4'10 and a

half without heels. Now, if we were to judge, if t hey

got into a fight, if we were to judge -- now, if sh e

wasn't a woman -- you know what I'm saying -- we wo uld

declare, more than likely, PJ is going to whoop her ,

and that's the way the devil has many of us looking at

our adversary and our enemy. That we look -- oh, t his

is us, and that's our adversary.

Let's try and fit the script on it. It's

trying to fit the script, because can I tell you --

come here, baby. My only baby. I ain't talking to

John. But you see, we flip the script when we're o n a

firm foundation. And when we're standing on the wo rd

of god and the spirit of god, when we say Greater i s

he that's in us than he that stands against us.

You might not see it. When old David looked

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at that giant, and the giant stood 7 feet or some 9

feet, something like that. And when he looked at h im,

everybody else was scared. What did he say to the

giant? He said, "I don't to come with you with jus t a

sword and a spirit. I come at you in the Lord of

Israel. I come at you with the armies of Israel, a nd

the God of whom I serve and the God of whom I know. "

I didn't come -- I didn't come just to -- I

didn't come to just see what you had on. I didn't

come just to see what you're doing. I come to get

victory. You coming against me, and I come to kick

your behind.

It's time to fit the script. You got to

recognize this. Greater is he that's in you. See,

now listen, because this 4'10 and a half woman, she

ain't by herself. See, I didn't even get -- I didn 't

even start about getting God the father up there an d

God the father and God the holy ghost. I didn't st art

that.

Church, this is not your worst day. It's

your best day. It ain't your worse day. It's your

best day. It doesn't matter how big your Goliath i s.

There is nothing to fear if God is on your side. I f

God got you, then he's got you. And if you're goin g

to fight, recognize I'm not going into this fight t o

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lose. I'm going into this fight to win. I didn't

come into this fight to barely get out. I came int o

this fight -- I came in here to get what's mine.

It ain't that I like to fight. It's that I

like victory. It's not that I like the struggle.

It's the fact that I want what God has for me. It' s

not the fact that I like when the devil comes again st

me. No, I hate it. But here's what I know, that w hen

we're with God, there is no such thing as no gain w hen

you deal with pain. If you will handle it correctl y,

you will come through whatever it is you're going

through.

Here's what David said. David said, yea,

though I walk through the valley of the shadow of

death, I will fear no evil because **.

Come on, stand to your feet in this house.

Let me give you one more. 2 Corinthians 10:10:

Though we walk in the flesh, we do not * upon under

the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not

carnal, but they are mighty through God for the

pulling down of every stronghold. Stronghold of th e

mind, stronghold of the soul, stronghold of addicti on,

stronghold of will.

My enemy is my promoter. How many ready to

be promoted? How many ready to be promoted? You

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going through something right now. Come on lift yo ur

hands. And when we begin to sing that song and you

feel it, you feel the option of the Holy Spirit, th en

I want you to get out of your seat and march up her e

to this altar with me. Hear what I'm saying? Come on

do it. Come on.

I'm going to preach on this. Until Jesus

comes back, we're all living behind enemy lines. N ot

just survive. Live. Live. I come that you may ha ve

a life and you may have it more abundantly. Live!

- - - -

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