Cosmic Warrior | John Challinor

How are we? I said it last week. Y 'all sound

like a car trying to start. Welcome. Glad you

are here. Those of you on our online locations,

whether that's Paulding, Baghdad, welcome to

you this morning. Also our online family. We're

just so excited we get to do this together. We

get to worship a God who is worthy. And just

if you're new to this space, welcome to you.

There's something that is happening globally

that we all get to celebrate together. You ever

noticed in the last maybe few days that it feels

like the entire world has been preparing for

something and has moved to the United States?

There's just something of a takeover happening.

And I don't know if you're aware of this. I mean,

it's on a global scale. It's the largest thing

that's happened in this realm in quite a while.

In fact, ever. There's never been this many countries

represented in the global happenings in the United

States today. And I don't know if you know or

not, but there was a moment on Friday night that

as an American, Like you should be celebrating

because I don't remember in my lifetime it ever

happening the way it happened before. Your men's

national team won 4 -1 against Paraguay. Okay,

just out of ignorance, how many of you actually

knew that happened? Okay. The rest of you, you

need to get phones. Like the rest of the world

is plugged into this. If for nothing else, to

watch the Norwegians coming to America to try

In -N -Out. That's worth it right there. But

seriously, the World Cup is happening, people.

How many of you knew the Knicks won last night?

So disappointing. I'm not disappointed for you.

53 years. That's a long time. That's a long time.

Congratulations. Congratulations. But yeah, so

the World Cup's happening, right? And here's

what's interesting. For those of you that don't

know, it's the largest World Cup, 48 teams, and

the rest of the world have been preparing for

this for two years, right? Like they've been

playing to have the right to show up and even

compete. Then they show up, and it's being held

in the U .S., Mexico, and Canada. And part of

what's happening is they will compete, compete,

compete, work down to knockout rounds, and they'll

work their way through by, I think it's like

July 19th, somewhere around there, they'll be

hitting the final of this thing. And every country

that is represented are trying their best, trying

their best to prove they have the ability, right?

They're proving that they are good enough to

have the right to be called champion of the world.

OK, and this is a sport that's played all over

the world. So when sorry, Knicks fans, when you

say that you're the champions of the world, there's

not a whole lot of places that take it as serious

as you do. Comes to soccer. Everybody takes it

serious, which is why if you watch Friday night,

if you watch Friday night, the celebrations of

the Americans were off the charts. You'd think

they'd won the whole thing. I'm just here to

tell you it was one game. Just slow down a little.

You got a little ways to go. If you're wondering

how England's doing and you're like, why are

you talking about England? I'm from England.

If you're worrying about how England's doing,

don't worry. They have a perfect record. They

haven't played yet. It's great. But seriously,

welcome. Some of you are like, how did we just

go from the throne room and who else to soccer?

Because that is life, isn't it? Isn't life that

you're in the mountaintop together and the next

moment you're laughing together or maybe not

laughing, you're just confused, whatever your

state of mind is. But isn't it interesting that,

We have these tensions of mountaintops and we

have the moments of laughter and they exist inside

the same space. That's what it means to be human,

is that God can be honored even in your joy,

even in your laughter. And so if you're new,

welcome. If you're new online, welcome. That's

what we are. I'll tell you right now, if you're

looking for something here, what you're going

to find is this. We are all the same. We're a

bunch of people that stumbled into this person

named Jesus who has changed everything. And that's

it. That's all we got. That's all we got. So

if you're looking for something else, you're

going to be greatly disappointed because Jesus

is all we got. And that's the collection we're

in for the summer. Collections are just talks

that we put together into the same theme. And

our theme this summer is this. It is all about

Jesus. That's it. We're not hiding it. We're

not trying to do anything fancy. In fact, so

much so that we have entitled the whole thing

just as simple as it is who you are. And the

hope is this, that as we go through the summer,

you get to reach a point that you go, oh, that's

who you are. I should have known that. Or I knew

that about you and it encourages your faith and

bolsters your faith. But the hope is this, that

at some point you just go, man, that's who you

are. If you were here last week, we talked very

specific about. The fact that Jesus is a fighter,

that Jesus went toe to toe with the enemy, that

Jesus fought for what God gave him, his identity,

right? That he's a son who he loves and he's

well pleased. We talked about that last week.

This week, Jesus is the cosmic warrior. Jesus

is the cosmic warrior. If you remember nothing

else, if you get nothing else from this, you

need to remember that Jesus is the cosmic warrior.

I don't know what comes to mind when you hear

the term warrior. For me, it's a half -painted

blue face. It's long hair and a guy on a horse

giving the speech of a lifetime, right? And those

of you that don't know what I'm talking about,

I'm talking about Braveheart. Anybody know Braveheart?

I have to ask because I asked my 24 -year -old

and she was like, I'd never seen that movie,

right? So if you haven't, let me catch you up

real quick. Braveheart is set around the life

of William Wallace. William Wallace was Scottish

and the English. had murdered his father and

his wife. And so what happens is he just, he

has a little rage, right? Like he's a little

angry. And so out of his anger, he decides he's

going to fight back. He wins these small skirmishes,

gets the attention of the English and the English

go, hey, we're going to show up and we're going

to wipe you out. And so the English show up with

their army, the Scots show up with their army

and the Scots are well outmatched, right? Like

when it comes to weapons, when it comes to people,

it is obvious that they should not be on this

battlefield with the English at this time. And

then William Wallace shows up and he's riding

on a horse and they're about to walk away. And

William Wallace comes in. He's got his war paint

on. And in that moment, he rallies the troops.

And he gets to a point where he says this to

them. They may take our lives, but they will

never take our freedom. He was American before

America knew what it was, right? And what he's

saying is this, that you may have the ability

to take my life, but you'll never take my rights.

You'll never take the authority that I choose.

You won't step into this moment. And it's interesting,

there's this cosmic battle that's been happening

around this idea of what does it mean to have

a warrior that is fighting? And so the cosmic

battle, This is a star for those of you that

are wondering. And we'll do this. There's a planet.

Let's do something like this. That represents

a cloud, in case you're curious, which represents

the heavens. And for lack of a better drawing

or representation, this is an angel. And this

represents the enemy of God. And there is, there

is, A cosmic battle. See, the backdrop to the

story that you exist inside of, that I exist

inside of, is not one of peace. That what we

discover within the story of God is we discover

that there has been a cosmic battle that has

already been taking place. That the enemy of

God, has decided that he is going to ascend to

the throne of God. And in ascending to the throne

of God, he is going to gain the right to be the

supreme being. And you thought Marvel just came

up with this, right? And so what happens is the

enemy of God, who might not look like you think

he does, like the Bible talks about how beautiful

the enemy of God is because he was created perfect

by God. And here's what happens. The enemy of

God rallies together others, created beings,

to ascend to, to become the supreme being. The

only problem is the enemy of God is lacking power.

The enemy of God does not have the ability. And

so there's two words today that we're going to

kind of unpack. One is the authority and the

other is. And what happens is God shows that

he has the right as creator to essentially stop

the rebellion. In fact, not only does he stop

the rebellion, but he kicks out of the cosmic

realm. And when we say cosmic, this is like our

universe and beyond. This is like the known everything

that God is inside of. And so this battle is

playing out in that sense. And as the battle

plays out and they ascend to take, they discover

we don't have the power to do what we want to

do. We don't have the ability to take the authority

that we think we deserve. And God crushes the

enemy. You just need to know this, that God,

God will always win against the enemy. That's

significant to your life. The enemy will never,

ever, ever be able to do something against you

that God is not in control of. Because God has

the authority and he has the power. Now, what's

fascinating is in Luke 4, where we were last

week and where we'll continue on through. But

in Luke 4. The enemy shows up and he tries to

get Jesus off kilter. We talked about that last

week, right? Like take away your identity and

get you to believe something that's not true.

Jesus stands on truth. And then the very next

thing coming out of that, we hear this. Verse

14, Luke 4, verse 14. Jesus returned to Galilee

Luke 4:14

in the power. Jesus returned to Galilee in the

power of the Spirit. And the news spread about

him through the whole countryside. teaching in

their synagogues, and everyone praised him. Okay,

super important that Jesus and everything that

Jesus is going to do, we are told this is where

his power came from. That his power was in the

Spirit of God. We know from last week that the

Spirit of God descended on him in his baptism.

The Holy Spirit descended on him like a dove.

Right? We see him. He's led into the wilderness

by the Spirit. Now at this moment, what we're

told is the power that he has to do what he does.

You could put it this way with power. It's the

ability to do something. The ability to do something.

Where does it come from? The Holy Spirit. Okay,

this is why this is so important. When you met

Jesus and the Holy Spirit came in and dwelled

you, you have the same spirit that Jesus has,

which says what? That you have the same. power

that has been put into you. So much so that the

same word used here for power, if you go to Acts

chapter one, verse eight, Jesus is about to ascend

and he's talking to his disciples and he says,

power, stay in Jerusalem. Why? Because power

is coming in the form of the Holy Spirit. That

word power is the same word of power that's used

here. What is God getting at? That God has put

into you the very spirit that was in Jesus. It

exists in you as a follower of Jesus today. If

you're not a follower of Jesus, then the Holy

Spirit doesn't indwell you. Right? But as a follower

of Jesus, it's really important that we understand

the power that we've been given. So he carries

on. He goes to his hometown. And when he gets

to his hometown, he's going to read a scroll

in verse 18 in the synagogue. The Spirit of the

Lord is on me, he says. This is Jesus speaking,

because he has anointed me. to proclaim good

news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim

freedom for the prisoners and recover your sight

for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to

proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. What is

Jesus doing? He's saying this is where the power

has come from. Now he's telling you that he has

been given authority, which another way to, another

word for this is he has been given the right

He's been given the right to proclaim what? Freedom.

He's been given the right. He's been given the

authority while on earth. The God man has been

given the authority to take those that are oppressed

and set them free. This is what the cosmic warrior

Jesus has been given. He has been given the right

and the ability. He's been given the authority

and the power. which then plays out this story

that we were just reading. They get really mad

at him. He's in his hometown and they basically

look at him and go, wait a minute, you say you

have the authority and the power, aren't you

Joseph's kid? And so essentially they want to

harm him and he ends up walking out. And then

it says this in 31, then he went down to Capernaum,

a town in Galilee on the Sabbath. He taught the

people. They were amazed at his teaching because

his words had They're amazed at his teaching.

You know what that word amazed is? They are losing

their mental capacities, their mental functions.

They are losing their minds. This is so amazing

to them that someone would show up in human form

and have the authority, have the right that he

has. Remember, it's a cosmic battle. Look what

happens next. Verse 33, in the synagogue, there

was a man possessed by a demon, an impure spirit.

He cried out at the top of his voice, go away.

What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth?

Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are,

the Holy One of God. It's interesting because

what's happening here. We do teaching prep on

a Tuesday. We all get in the room. This week,

Pastor Noah is teaching in Prescott Valley. And

during his kind of walkthrough of where he was

heading, he said something that I'd never heard.

He said that culturally, when you use the name

of a deity, you are assuming power from that

deity. So the demon here is trying to take power

by claiming that he knows who Jesus is. He's

trying to assume authority over Jesus. Well,

wait, wait. What was the cosmic battle happening

before we ever got where? To planet Earth. So

what's happened is the same battle that's happening

in the backstory is actually happening now on

planet Earth. The battle has moved. What we find

is not only is it moved, but the battle... is

actually inside the people of God. It says here

that the demon -possessed man is in the synagogue.

The synagogue at that time is where the people

of God gathered. It would be like a church service.

And in the church service, there is a demon -possessed

man who is a part of the what? The gathering.

So the enemy is not only, not only is the enemy

moved it to planet Earth, But it's now an inside

job. It's now in the people of God. This is so

important, you guys. Because what it tells me

is that the enemy of God, who has a battle going

on with God, and has for all of human history,

That what we know to be true of that battle is

it's happening right here in this room right

now. That the enemy of God isn't satisfied just

to be on the outside, if you like. But the enemy

of God wants to be not only in your church, but

he wants to be in your home and he wants to be

in your life. You know he's not satisfied. Even

though the battle is moved, he's not satisfied

with where it's at. And you would be foolish

and I would be foolish to think that the enemy

is not coming for me and for you. Listen to what

he says in response, verse 35. So these are the

words of Jesus. Be quiet, Jesus said sternly.

I love that it says that Jesus said sternly because

otherwise we'd be like, be quiet. Like this is

rebukish. This is commander. This is someone

speaking with authority. So he speaks with authority.

He says, be quiet. Jesus says, certainly come

out of him. Now he's telling him what to do,

but he's telling him with the ability to what?

Pull the demon out of the person and carries

on the demon. threw the man down before them

all and came out without injuring him. All the

people were amazed and said to one another, all

the people were amazed, they're losing their

minds, they're losing their faculty. What words

are these with authority and power, with right

and ability? He gives orders to impure spirits

and they come out. And the news about him spread

throughout the surrounding area. You just need

to know this today. Jesus is the cosmic warrior

and he has the authority and he has the power.

He has the authority and he has the power over

demons, over darkness, over evil in this world.

Why does this matter, you guys? Why does this

matter? Because you have the same news feeds

I do. And if we're not careful, we go down dumb

rabbit holes where we think the enemy is winning.

The enemy has already lost. And now the enemy

is trying to what? Bring it to here because this

is all he can grasp at. But what you need to

understand is, is the cosmic warrior Jesus has

already won. And the cosmic warrior Jesus is

proving that he has the authority and the power

over darkness. Darkness does not win in your

life. Darkness does not win in your family. The

person who wins is the cosmic warrior who is

Jesus. It's interesting. I've wrestled with this

for a long time. So I met Jesus when I was three.

I was sitting on a couch with my mama. We'd been

going to church. I even memorized John 3 .16.

And she was talking through John 3 .16 with me.

And best I can remember, She gave me the heaven,

hell, and one's not good and one's amazing. And

this Jesus who, when he talks about believing

in him in eternal life, and as a three -year

-old, I'm like, I know I want to go where's amazing,

not that one. And so I put my faith in Jesus.

And it's interesting because from about that

age to roughly 10, 11 years old, maybe 12, there's

testimonies of people about Jesus working in

my life. There's testimonies of people with this

little kid that would have words that were too

old for the kid. And I hit like that 11, best

I can remember, 11 years old and all through

my teens. It just became really, really dark.

It just became really difficult. I would say

that I got to the point where I hated God. I

wanted nothing to do with God. I pushed him as

hard. away as I could and as far away as I could.

I let things like addiction get in my life, open

doors to other things. And I've wrestled with

a passage like this that talks about demon possession,

right? But we need to clarify something today.

Because you may be here and you know Jesus. I

mean, you've put your faith in Jesus and the

Holy Spirit lives in you. I just need you to

know you cannot be possessed by the enemy. This

is like ground level. You got to get this. Right?

Because here's what scripture says. Greater is

he that is in you than he that is in the world.

God himself. And the Holy Spirit is not going

to share you, his son, his daughter, the one

whom he loves, who he is well pleased. He is

not going to share you with a demon. And you

just need to know this. So the enemy cannot possess

you. What the enemy can do and what I believe

he did to me for a long time is he can oppress

you. I believe that the enemy had me right where

he wanted for a long time. Because he was oppressing

me and I was letting him. And so things like

addiction and not knowing how to get out of it

were a part of what was me. But for the cosmic

warrior, that is Jesus. He makes all the difference.

Because what I started to understand. is that

the enemy does not have authority over me. So

when I use phrases like, well, this is just my

battle. No, it's not. It's his battle. And if

you trust yourself for your battle, you will

always fail. I promise you. You think you are

warrior enough. You are not gangster enough for

sin. Let me tell you. You are not gangster enough

for your own selfish desires. You are not gangster

enough to control your life. And what you are

being convinced into is that this right here,

that you can have authority and you can have

power. As a follower of Jesus, you lay both of

those down to the king of kings. He has authority

and he has power. Verse 38, Jesus left the synagogue.

And went to the home of Simon. Now Simon's mother

-in -law was suffering from a high fever. And

they asked Jesus to help her. So he bent over

her and rebuked the fever and it left her. He

rebukes. If you are rebuking something, you have

the authority and the ability to change it. And

it left her. She got up at once and began to

wait on them. At sunset, the people brought to

Jesus all who had various kinds of sicknesses

or sickness and laying his hands on each one,

he healed them. Moreover, demons came out of

many people shouting, you are the son of God.

Remember, it's just them trying to get what?

Authority and power over Jesus. But he rebuked

them. Who's in control? The cosmic warrior is

in control. He's the one rebuking the demons.

And would not allow them to speak because he

knew. because they knew he was the Messiah. At

daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place.

The people were looking for him, and when they

came to where he was, they tried to keep him

from leaving. But he said, I must proclaim the

good news of the kingdom of God to the other

towns also, because that is why I was sent. And

he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.

You catch what happens, right? Remember, it's

an inside job. It's an inside job. The very next

scene, after casting out evil, after casting

out demons, after winning a cosmic battle in

human moments, is he goes to a house. And the

house is Simon Peter's. Now, that's one of the

disciples of Jesus. That's one of his people.

And when he gets there, the enemy... Has brought

into the home the effects of sin. The effects

of brokenness. The effects of this world. What

do I mean? His mother -in -law is sick. Says

there was a high fever. We don't know how high.

We don't know what was going on. But what it

says is this. That Jesus, the cosmic warrior,

rebukes the sickness. And she is healed. What

that tells me is Jesus, the cosmic warrior, has

authority and power over sickness. Over brokenness.

Over the effects of sin. I mean, where does sickness

come from? We live on a fallen planet. Sin was

never meant to be a part of this. The body breaking

down was never meant to be a part of it. And

what Jesus wants you to know that while we live

in the streets where sickness is part of it,

he has the right and the ability to overcome

any sickness. Sickness doesn't have the last

word. Why? Because he has the right and the ability.

I remember walking into the hospital. It was

a couple of years ago. My dad had had a massive

stroke. And we weren't sure what it meant. We

got in the hospital and he, if I was a betting

man, on the first time I saw him in the hospital,

I'm like, he ain't gonna make it. He couldn't

move, couldn't talk. And I remember being in

that room and I remember I was watching because

if you know anything about strokes, especially

in that first part, it's very, very likely there's

another one coming. And very often that one will

take their life. And so we're in the hospital

room, but I want you to catch something. The

hospital room wasn't without hope. I walked in

with my mom, who's been married to him for, I

don't even remember, 50, 60 years, 60 years.

We were packed full of hope. We didn't go in

there and be somber about, what was happening.

You know why? Because Jesus is the cosmic warrior.

And he has authority over what? Sickness and

brokenness. It doesn't get the last word. I walked

into that room knowing full well my dad knows

Jesus. I walked into that room knowing full well

that the cosmic warrior has the authority and

the power in this moment. And God, whether you

heal him here, which is what we want, Or you

heal him in eternity. Healing is coming because

you are the cosmic warrior. Two weeks ago, I

got to visit my dad in Montana. Where he has

about 85 % back. 75 % somewhere in there back.

Oh, he lost the ability to drive. But I got a

couple more days with my dad. Isn't it interesting

that we get sideways real easy? We get a diagnosis,

we end up at a hospital, and we forget, we forget,

we forget who is the cosmic warrior. What I love

about this is the cosmic battle is actually being

played out. The cosmic battle. So this battle

that is so big and so vast, it's actually being

played out in you right now. It's being played

out in you. There's another story in Mark chapter

two. And Jesus has got such a crowd around him

that people can't get to him. So this guy's friends

rip open the roof and they lower him down because.

He's paralyzed. And Jesus tells him, get up.

Your sins are forgiven. You know what the religious

people do? Hey, time out. Jesus, you mean to

tell me that you have the right to forgive sins?

Only God can forgive sins. You know what Jesus

says after? He says, in your hearts, I know what

you're really questioning is the authority that

I stand here, the power that I stand here. Do

I have the right and the ability to forgive?

See, what I know about you right now is you're

made of the same stuff that everybody else is

made of in this room. And the same battle that

has happened on a cosmic level is happening in

the cosmos. Cosmos means world. In the interior

world of you. Right here, right now, the cosmic

battle is being played in the cosmos of you.

What does that mean? That the enemy would love

for you to live your life like you have both

of these. that you have the right to do whatever

you want, that you have the ability to do whatever

you want. I'm just here to tell you, you are

not the cosmic warrior. Jesus is the cosmic warrior.

So that begs the question, will you allow, will

you allow Jesus the right Two areas of your life.

And by right, I mean authority. Will you allow

him the right and will you allow him to have

the power, the ability to get into the nitty

gritty? What do I mean by that? Will you allow

Jesus into your most meaningful relationships?

I don't mean let him in like, hey, Jesus, you

can tag along. No, no, I mean this. Give him

the right to that relationship. Will you allow

Jesus the right to your marriage? Because you're

sitting with somebody today, whether it's on

a screen or in this room, somebody's sitting

in this room today and you're planning on getting

out of your marriage. But Jesus is for your marriage.

He's the cosmic warrior. And I'm curious, I'm

curious if you'll let Jesus have the right over

your marriage instead of you. And don't mishear

that. There are some situations you should get

out of. And you need counseling and somebody

to walk with you through that. There are some

that we just choose because we don't like it

and we want to take authority for our life. No,

no, no. Your sexuality, will you let him have

the rights to your sexuality? To your sex life.

Will you let him have the rights to your, I called

it a pocketbook earlier. Maybe I should just

say for your tap, you know, for your phone. To

your finances. To your work, what you do with

your hands. What you do with your family. Because

the cosmic battle is actually inside of the cosmos

of you. And what you need to know is the cosmic

warrior, the cosmic warrior, he fights the cosmic

battle, but he also calms the cosmos in you.

He also calms your interior world and puts it

in order. There's a beautiful moment where a

man who, another piece of scripture, a man has

a demon. And Jesus removes the demon and it says

that the man was sitting in his right mind. Because

that is what the cosmic warrior does. So I got

hope for you today. I got hope for you. Because

he has the authority, one word, one word from

him changes everything. One word under God's

authority changes everything. So that thing that

you came in the room that you don't think is

ever going to change one word from him who has

the right and the ability, you can be set free

today. One word from him changes everything because

he has the authority and the power as the cosmic

warrior who is Jesus. Would you pray with me?

God, we're so grateful for you. God, thank you

for loving us. Thank you that in this moment,

God, we sit and you are present. Your spirit

wants to speak. God, would you help us to surrender,

to lay down, to stop holding on. To areas that

we are grabbing for the authority of our lives.

Would we stop letting the enemy. Lead us to places

where we think. We have the authority and the

power. But God we ask you through the power of

your Holy Spirit. To set us free today. Because

one word. One word. One word from you and things

change. So God, thank you for being our cosmic

warrior. Thank you for setting the oppressed

free. Thank you for grace and thank you for mercy.

And everybody said.