Members of the congregation at the Church of the Nazarene, Collymore Rock, in worship yesterday at the church service.
THE malicious gossip, lies, rumours and other hurtful words that persons speak about you will not destroy you, because the Lord is your shield and protector.
This was the powerful sermon that Sharon Holder had for the congregation at the Church of the Nazarene, as she delivered the sermon entitled, ‘No Weapon Formed’, yesterday at that Church, using the scriptural reference of Isaiah 54:17, which states, “No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgement, You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their righteousness is from Me, says the Lord.”
She said that this meant that nothing that is intended to harm you in any form would succeed, and every individual that tries to spread false information about you will be dealt with by the Lord.
Holder told the persons that contrary to the popular saying that we recited as children of ‘sticks and stones…’, the words that other persons speak about us do hurt us, but we can rest in the fact that the Father God loves us because we are His children, and just like an earthly father wants to take action when He finds out that someone is trying to hurt His children, the Heavenly Father would be ever more protective whenever anyone tries to hurt His children.
Therefore, when the “waters come in like a flood,” and the “situation becomes too much for us to bear,” it is then that the Father would raise up a standard against those persons and against those lies and gossip that have been spoken out against His children.
In addition, whatever the enemy has stolen from us, God will restore to His children. Using His servant Job as an example, she said that when Satan tried to destroy Job, everything that this righteous man of God lost was restored to him.
Holder stated that while persons have their weapons that they try to use against us to destroy our reputation, to destroy our self-worth, etc., the children of God also have their weapons that they can use to counteract the enemy, and these are the spiritual weapons.
Firstly, there is the Word. There is also prayer, and when the “saints” start praying, God hears His people and begins to intercede on their behalf. There is also worship, and this is more than just singing and dancing. It also has to do with having praise and having fellowship with the Lord, and finally, there is love, as we must first love the Lord and then one another.
We must also put on the whole armour of God, be covered by the blood of Jesus Christ, give our testimony of our spiritual journey, so that other believers can be strengthened, learn to call upon the name of Jesus when the enemy tries to attack us, and also how not to give place to the enemy to succeed with his plans.