Okay, all right, so we're going to continue with what Jacob started last week. The name
of this series is City Within a City. City Within a City, Part 2. So I've titled this.
Today's topic is, It Takes a Type of a Man or This Type of a Man. And if you're a girl or a lady or a woman, don't worry, you can write down this type of a woman, this type of a man or this type of a woman.
Yeah. So this whole idea that Jacob presented last week, looking at a bunch of different verses in the Bible, all talking about how a church, any church, anywhere in the world, that Christ Jesus has established is a city within a city.
And there is a name that God has given the city. It is Zion. It is I-O-N Zion. And so the root word Zion in Hebrew actually means fortress. It means it's a stronghold. It means it's a raised up structure.
So if I were to walk somewhere and I were to see Zion, Zion would be at a place of elevation. Zion would be a fortress. Zion would be a stronghold. So when we say, and when the Bible says that we are a city in a city, then it means that we are a fortified place.
We're a place that's on the mountain, like someone was praying earlier. There is a place that is a stronghold. Whenever we hear the word stronghold, we think it is what the enemy sets up.
No, God is saying whenever I set up my church in any land, this church, this community of people, they are a stronghold, which is why Jesus actually says something like, I will build my church and no hell, no power of hell, no gates of hell can ever prevail against the church.
Because this church that Christ has established isn't just a group of people. It is a group of people inside whom the Holy Spirit dwells, with whom God the Father dwells. And therefore, the spiritual reality of any church is this, that it is a fortified city, that it is a stronghold with a capital S, that it is a high place in the spiritual place.
And if that is true, then we ought to be a certain way. Then if I believe that Derek, I am part of Zion, then there are certain things that must be true in my life. If you truly believe that you are part of Zion, then there must be certain attributes about you that align with how God expects you and I to be.
Which is why I titled this sermon, teaching this type of a man, this type of a woman, because what God is looking for is a certain type of people. He establishes things and then he looks for a certain type of people.
So if I were to join a soccer team, let's say Pawan's team, and Pawan is all about running up and down the pitch and I am a guy who doesn't really like running that much, then Pawan will tell me, you're not playing well in this team.
Because his expectation of any player in the team is that they run, run, run. And so if I come in with my own ways of playing, it doesn't align well with what Pawan wants to do.
In other words, when God sets up something and he set up church, the city, Zion, and we are one part of it, in Richmond, he set up this church at this time, then he has certain ways he wants us to be.
Certain operating parameters that you and I must keep to, certain ways that we must take on and live on a daily basis.
Because when we do that, what then happens is everything that Christ said the church will be, we will be.
It will not just be something that we read and understand, it will be something that we live out on a daily basis.
And the best part about all of this is this, that this is meant for very regular people like you and I.
That everything that Christ ever taught, that everything that Christ ever preached is for us.
The only prerequisite to any of this is that you're willing and you're available.
There is no power, there is no past, there is no nothing that can stop you and I from fully inhabiting what Christ wants me to be and Christ wants you to be.
It is true.
And so when Jacob started with this whole idea of a city within a city, I want us to touch this thing and I want us to become this thing.
God wants us to touch this and become this because oh man, there are purposes that God has for our lives.
So this type of a man, when God from heaven looks on earth, Psalm 14, there is a line that says I'm looking from heaven above and I'm looking on the children of man.
To see if there is a type who understands, to see if there is a type who seek me.
And my prayer for my life, my prayer for our lives is that when God looks at us, he says, aha, I find this type of a man.
I find this type of a woman because that's what he's been after.
All these years, all these centuries, he's been after a type of people.
So he finds an Abraham and we read about Abraham and we go, wow man, what kind of a man, what kind of a man.
We read about some other people in the Bible, Moses, David and we all go, wow, we give them a place of reverence almost.
We say, wow, these are giants and they are.
But then this is what God has been after all these years.
Even today, he's looking for people, a type of a man, a type of a woman.
And when he finds one, then he'll begin to do things through your life.
And today I just want to be open because the way Tune started today's service, when he said, today you push boundaries and I believe that God will do that.
Today you push boundaries and I believe there was a word that was sent to Tune where someone saw this, that the church, and it's important for us to hear this, yeah?
That during the service someone sends this, that we as a church are at a river bank and we can, and God is saying, come, cross over to the other side.
And so I just want us to have the freedom to do whatever you may want to do in response to what God is saying.
And again, just like any other day, it is for me to decide what I want to do.
It is for you to decide what you want to do.
But I'll tell you this, I have such conviction in my heart that my father, our father, he's looking down to see if there is readiness in me, if there is readiness in you to become this type of a woman.
This type of a man.
And if you have readiness, then he'll take it.
If you have readiness, then he'll use it.
So I cannot truly have any excuses.
My failures are not an excuse.
My present reality is not an excuse.
My past is not an excuse.
My fear is not an excuse.
My future is not an excuse.
The greater reality is that inside me lives Christ.
And he has purposes.
And when he put me as part of a body, and then he put us together in this city, Richmond at this time, and then he begins to say, I have a plan for Richmond that I want to work out through you, then there are things that we can do together.
So the word Zion, 1 Chronicles 11 is where you read the word Zion, the name Zion for the first time.
1 Chronicles 11.
You'll see there that David was just made king.
The elders of Israel came and they anointed him again.
And now he's been, he's king, he's made king.
The next thing, the very next thing that David does soon after he's made king is he says, let's go take Jerusalem.
So there were a group of people there known as Jebusites.
So these Jebusites were living there in that place.
And David said, we're going to take over this land.
He goes and God gives that land to him.
And David then names that place, the city of David.
Zion, Zion meaning fortified, stronghold, elevated place, a high place.
And I want us to see that because Zion isn't any other thing.
Zion has got a place in the spiritual realm.
Zion is elevated.
So if I were to walk around anywhere and I see a place of elevation, it's been set up there for a purpose.
It has that place because there are purposes that must be accomplished by it being there.
So that's the first place you see the word Zion.
Then you go all the way to Revelation, Revelation chapter 21 and 22 begin talking up.
You see those verses there are talking about a new city, the new Jerusalem.
And in Revelation chapter 21, so we come all the way from first Chronicles all the way to Revelation chapter 21,
it says, John is seeing this and he is writing, I see a holy city.
I see the new Jerusalem coming down.
Adorned as a bride to the lamp, the slain and risen lamp.
So you see the same thing again, that what started in the garden with just two people,
walking with God and the commission that God gave them.
What did he say in Genesis chapter 128?
Go therefore, go and multiply, subdue the earth, take dominion.
And then Christ in Matthew chapter 28 says the exact same thing, just in different words.
What did he say? He says, hey, Derek, hey, Jane, hey, Karen, go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
So the commission that Christ gave to the disciples and to us is the same commission that God gave Adam back in the day.
It's just different words. It's the same thing that we are to go out and take dominion.
We are to go out and subdue.
And then you begin to see, well, this is how it started in first Chronicles 11 with David and the word Zion.
And then you see this fortified city coming down, beautifully adorned because this is the bride of Christ.
And then you begin to wonder what's in between.
And I want us to go to one passage in Hebrews chapter 12.
Hebrews chapter 12.
You'll see there, I'll tell you the exact verse.
Hebrews chapter 12.
22.
Thanks, Brandon.
But you have come to Mount Zion.
Can we read this together? Hebrews chapter 12 verse 22.
There is something here that I want us to see.
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem
and to the innumerable angels in festal gathering
and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven
and to God, the judge of all
and to the spirit of the righteous made perfect
and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant
and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
And here is what I want us to underline.
But you have come to.
So this city, Zion, is somewhere I've arrived already.
It's a place, a reality that you've arrived to already.
This is not something I need to prepare for, for tomorrow to enter into.
The writer of Hebrews is very clear.
This Zion, this holy city that's been adorned
and will be fully adorned for Christ by Revelation 21.
You've come to it already.
I've come to it already.
Man, then everything, if that is true, then everything that Zion must be
and Zion is expected to be, must be a spiritual reality in my life,
must be a spiritual reality in your life,
which then works out through your life into other people's lives.
And I believe what God is saying with the way we started
and with the way someone had a word, I think it was sent.
God is saying, come on church, can we cross over to the new place
in understanding this and becoming this like never before?
It is truly possible.
Everything I'm going to be teaching today over the next little while
is stuff that has been on my mind for weeks.
And I know what God can do with it.
I'm so sure if you and I begin to understand it and we say yes to it,
what God can do with it, I have no doubt.
No doubt.
And I also know, I also know deep down in my heart
that there are people who will step into a completely new way of living starting today.
And I am so sure about it.
And you know, I won't say something like that just for the sake of it.
I'm so sure that if you want this, if you want a new way of living,
not just for Richmond guys, for yourself too,
God is as concerned about your personal well-being
as he is about the well-being of Richmond,
as he is about the well-being of people in Richmond.
So if you want for your life a new place and even better,
if you want a new way of living with respect to what Jacob has been talking about,
Richmond and our role in the city, this is your day.
You can touch it, you can enter into it, all God needs is your heart.
So let's look at some characteristics that you and I must have
to be able to fully realize this in our lives.
Because in the Bible, this is important, when you look at the Bible overall,
you'll see some things. Christ says, you're the light of the world.
Great, I'm the light of the world. You are the light of the world.
That is my identity. My identity is that I am the light of the world.
But my identity alone doesn't do much, unless the second part of that verse kicks in,
which is, now therefore, because you are the light of the world, shine the light.
Make sense? So there is a part of what Christ says, and even with this whole idea of Zion,
when God says, when Christ says, hey, you're Zion, that's my identity.
That's your identity. That's our identity.
But the fact that that is our identity does not mean that is what we live out.
In order for us to live out, we have to be a certain way.
And when we do that, everything that he is saying with this idea of Zion becomes so real in our lives.
So there is identity, but then there is also responsibility.
That when I understand my identity, I can truly walk into my responsibility.
Otherwise, you may be thinking, well, I know this already. I am Zion. What's the whole deal?
I've known this for 20 years. No. Now that we know that is our identity,
how can we enter into greater, I hate to use the word, dimensions or levels of understanding this and walking this?
OK, so here is what we talked about. People like Abraham, Moses, I briefly mentioned them.
These are spiritual giants that we read of in the Bible.
But when you come to the Book of Judges, and that's where we're going to be parked for the next little while.
The Book of Judges. When you come to the Book of Judges, you realize this that it is a time in the life of the Israelites
where they don't have people like Moses. They don't have people like Abraham.
They don't have people like them. And it's like there's a vacuum almost.
Joshua had just died and God had already given promises about what they ought to be.
And during a time like this, and it's about, let's say 300, 350 years, around that many years,
what I love about this book is that all of a sudden in the narrative of the Bible,
there are certain people who just get stood up. And sometimes you don't even know where they come from.
But these are very regular people who, in my view, and I read through it,
there isn't too much ancestry being talked about them. It's like God is saying, here is a man who is ready.
God is saying, this is a type of a man. God is saying, this is a type of a woman.
And God says, oh, oh, I need them and I'll use them.
And so as much as we look at all of these figures, people in the Bible with much respect and honor,
I want us to know this. They were just like us.
But what was different about all of these guys that I'm going to talk about, a few of them,
is that they were ready and willing and they understood who they are.
If you go back to Hebrew, and I'll get to, I know I'm laying this large foundation
before we start talking about the characteristics, but it's important for us to get this in our spirit.
If you go back to Hebrews chapter 12, you'll understand this.
When Hebrews chapter 12, I think it was 12 or 22, the passage that we just read,
where it says, you've already entered into Zion. And it talks about God.
We are entered into and here is already God. It talks about the father.
I mean, it talks about Christ talks about his blood, talks about the firstborn of the redeemed.
And then it talks about the spirit of the righteous.
Did you read that? Spirits of the righteous.
Here is the point. When God looks at us beyond anything, he sees our spirit.
He sees your spirit. And so the only place, guys, that you and I today need to spend time in
is not about our spirits. It's our mind. It's our thinking.
It is the way we perceive things and the way we act on things.
Because as much as I am a spirit man and as much as you are a spirit woman,
the reality is that that part of you is forever sealed, forever perfect, forever complete.
The part of you where you need to yield to God for you to enter into this way of living,
to become all that you are, is your mindset, is your thinking, is the way you process things,
is the way you accept things, is the way you say yes or no to things.
It's the way you react to things. All of those things put together.
Let me put it in one word, your mindset.
And so my father looks at my life and he says, Derek, your spirit is so pure, man.
Your spirit is so complete. Your spirit is so full of me.
This one part of you, Derek, your mind, can you give more of it to me?
Can you have me come and change your thinking so that when some people hear you,
they'll be like, what is wrong with this guy?
Because that's exactly what I want you to be.
Because you begin to think thoughts that are beyond you.
You begin to think things that are so not your level.
But because you know who I am and because you know I am in you, you begin to be a certain way.
And when you become a certain type of man, when you become a certain type of a woman,
now I have found in you someone who I will raise.
And it doesn't matter then where you came from. It does not matter then who you are.
Does not matter, like I said, what your past is, what your challenges are.
All God is looking for is a type of a man, a type of a woman who is ready.
And this readiness first has to happen in your mind.
Before you say, God, all of my time I'm going to give you,
it's pretty futile if you haven't given him your mind.
Before you even give your time to him, give him your mind.
Which is why it's so easy to go through years sometimes without giving him mind,
but being so busy with good things.
Yeah, we can be so busy with really good things, but we don't give him enough of our mind.
All of our mind so that he can make us whatever he want us to be.
So now going back to the book of Judges,
Joshua has died and God begins to raise up people over 300 years.
And there are guys there like Ehud, Deborah, some people we know, Samson,
and others that God raises.
So here are five characteristics that I want to touch on today.
Five. Number one, this type of a man, this type of a woman
resists demonic alters and breaks them.
This type of a man, this type of a woman resists demonic alters and breaks them.
That's number one. What do I mean by demonic alters?
Here is what happened in the book of Judges.
God had already told the Israelites, here is the deal.
When you go into this land, you're going to find all sorts of alters.
In other words, strongholds. In other words, raised places, high places, asherah poles,
all sorts of demonic setups.
You're going to find them as you enter into this land.
What I'm asking you to do is I need you to go and destroy them,
dismantle them, uproot them, and I need you to build alters that are from me.
And so what the Israelites do is they go in, but most of them are passive or neutral to this.
In fact, when you see the story of Gideon, here is the crazy part,
God is calling Gideon out so that he can be a judge for the people of Israel.
But the first thing that God tells him is I need you to go to your father's house and break the altar of Baal.
So can you imagine, this is a guy, an Israelite, in whose house was the altar of Baal?
And so Gideon does exactly that. But here's my point and what I want us to think about.
In our lives, doesn't matter who you are, how long you've been a believer.
One of the things that you should look at, discern with the Holy Spirit,
resist, come against, and then break down are any, any type of demonic alters that have been set up.
And sometimes these are alters that you set up, and I'll explain it.
Sometimes these are alters that are set up by the devil. It doesn't matter how it happened.
It doesn't matter how it got there. But it is for you and I at this part of our lives to say,
God, if there is something that is not from you in my life, I will resist it.
I will come against it and I will break it down.
Because sometimes when we are as believers, we have a tendency to only look outside.
What can I break down outside? But we haven't spent enough time looking at what I must break down inside.
So if I can do that, now again, God finds this type of a man. God finds this type of a woman.
So when I say alters, demonic alters, that's the idea.
Anything that is a high place in your life, anything that you are submitting to,
anything that you're worshipping that is not Christ, that is a high place in your life is demonic.
Because it is not from your father. Anything that substitutes, anything that opposes,
anything that comes against who Christ is in your life is demonic.
I'll give you a very good example. You may think that something like comfort is a good thing because we all want comfort.
But what you don't know is how as you go through life, if you keep feeding comfort,
you will set up in your life an altar named comfort.
Now you will bow down to this altar that you set up, that you gave room to, and you may not even know until you die.
But then God comes through and he says, Derek, there is comfort that is an idol, a high place in your life.
And I want you to come against it, resist it, and break it down because I, Derek,
am in the business of setting up an altar in your life that is new and different.
And for everything that I have for you, this is something you must do. One example.
Let's pick another example, fear. So not something that you may have set up,
but something that the devil found a doorway through and then he began to set up.
That there are levels of fear in your life. You don't think even like that.
But when it comes to real, the real deal, there is fear.
And then God says, Derek, time now, son, that is a place, an altar that is demonic.
You don't like it. And I know that it's not that you keep feeding it, but it is demanding worship from you.
And I will help you break it down. You guys following me?
So these are strongholds that exist in our lives.
And there are so many things we can talk about with respect to how to bring them down.
But today I'm led to just go at it from one angle. And that's all I'll do.
Actually, I wrote down a few things, some strongholds, if you want to write down to help you think.
Comfort, fear, pride, emotional turmoil.
This is an interesting one. Inability to perceive situations and conversations accurately.
Inability to perceive situations and conversations accurately.
Habitual sins, offense, bitterness, unforgiveness, relational conflicts.
You're not even responsible for some of it. But man, they demand your time.
They demand your attention. They demand that you bow down to it.
Sickness, constant setbacks. Just when you feel like it's time for you to move on and just when you feel like you have moved on, there's a setback.
And you keep being there at a place where you want to push through, but you're unable to.
And these are the characteristics of strongholds. It demands your worship.
It demands your worship.
It brings condemnation and guilt and shame.
It makes you double minded.
Unable to come to decisions.
It robs peace and joy. It makes your heart harder.
Those are just some characteristics. All of these things are true with strongholds.
And here is the truth, guys. You're not going to sitting here right now, have a list of all of the strongholds that God wants you to deal with.
What you and I should do, and some things will stand out even right now, and we'll hopefully have some time for us to break it forever from our lives.
Because the only one who can break it is Jesus. And if Jesus is saying, hey, I'm here to break it in your lives.
It's easy. Yeah. And so hopefully we'll have some time to do that later on.
But then take time. Take time over the next week to think about, aha, God, you're saying there's a fresh start. God, you're saying crossover. I'm ready. I'm ready now.
And I've been doing this for a few weeks now to think, understand, look at my life, consider my life to see what are the altars that must be broken in my life.
That's why I'm saying some this takes time, but there'll always be like me, I'm sure for some of you, at least there'll always be some things that just stand out and you know those are there.
And let's come against it. So number one,
This type of man, this type of woman resists demonic altars and break them down. Now, the way we do that is through prayer.
And I know it sounds so easy and so simple. And it is in that this is a key that God gives us to break down strongholds prayer.
The thing about Christianity sometimes is we make the simple complicated and the complicated simple.
We make the simple complicated and God is saying, and like I said, there are so many different ways to go at it, but I felt in my spirit.
This is what I must say. The way to bring down demonic strongholds in your life is prayer.
Because when you build an altar of prayer in your life, when you commit your life to a lifestyle of prayer to a way of prayer, then these things cannot coexist with the altar of God.
You find that when the Philistines took the ark and they took it into this temple of Dagon, and the next day they woke up and they said,
Now they put Dagon back up again and they go to bed again and the next day they come back and just to realize again that this time not only did Dagon fall down, now his hands are broken.
It's broken into pieces.
And here is what I'm telling us. It does not matter what you do, you must do it.
It does not matter what you do, you must do it.
I'm going to tell you something that I'm going to tell you.
And last thing on this, guys, the only way we can do this is if we systematically,
with much thinking and effort, with discipline, give this a try.
And I would rephrase it, not a try, do it.
Not that we don't pray, but I'm saying there is a type of prayer
where we build brick by brick, coming against these things.
Otherwise, our prayer may be misaligned.
It's going in many different directions,
but isn't attacking the exact things you must attack.
Once you discern and understand what it is, then you go against it with prayer.
Because the power of God, because this is what Elijah did.
Elijah did, you know, the prophets of Baal came together and they did what they did,
but there was no response.
Elijah just came, walked into the scene and did what God asked him to,
and that was it. Other altars break down.
Yeah? Any questions on that?
Build an altar in your life. Take time.
Think about it.
Tonight, tomorrow, think about how you can build an altar in your life.
Does that mean you need to build an altar in your life?
Does that mean you need to have some space dedicated for just this?
Does that mean you begin to look at your schedules
and you begin to say, days and mornings are better for me.
You begin to say, no, no, no, evenings are better.
It doesn't matter how you do it, when you do it,
but you begin to cultivate a discipline of prayer.
Prayer that comes against anything that stands against your life.
And you're not passive to it.
This is what the Israelites did because they knew,
but they did not do anything about it.
And what we need to come against is passivity,
is being neutral to it, thinking it's okay.
So he said, sickness.
Let's take a stand against sickness in our lives and say, no.
Is it a relationship conflict?
You know it's been happening. You know you've been praying.
You know it's been, but today you say, no, no, no, today forever.
It's done.
I'm taking a new stance with God so that this doesn't become,
that this doesn't, that this is never going to be a stronghold in my life.
Number two, people of people of Zion are battle ready
and wield the double edged sword.
People of Zion are battle ready and wield the double edged sword.
In the book of Judges, you see a man named Ehud.
E-H-U-D. Ehud.
You see this man and God raised him up at a time when there was a king,
an evil king named Eglon. E-G-L-O-N.
Now the name Eglon, E-G-L-O-N, means circular.
Circular.
The Bible actually says he was a very fat man.
That's not the reason he was named that.
But here was a power that was able to have the Israelites go around in circles for 18 years.
Here was a power that was able to have the Israelites go around and around and around with no success,
with no progress for 18 years.
Cyclical.
Just when they felt like they were moving and progressing, there was Eglon.
And then one day, God raises up Ehud.
And God says, here's the beautiful part.
I love this part.
Here's what Ehud does.
Ehud takes this sword.
He makes a double edged sword.
It's the first time ever in the Bible there is a reference to a double edged sword.
So this guy, he has no template before.
There is nothing that he may have known about a double edged sword.
But he builds or he makes a double edged sword.
He takes this and he's a left handed guy.
How many of you are left handed?
Why Shigah?
What's the deal?
Okay, we have Shigah who's left handed.
He's a left handed guy, but here's what he does.
He takes this double edged sword that he has and he ties it, winds it on his right thigh.
So left handed man takes the double edged sword and wraps it around his right thigh.
Why would you do that and what's the significance?
Here's the thing.
When we read the word, we know now that the double edged sword is what?
The word of God. How do we know that?
In the New Testament it's talked about in many different places.
Out of the mouth of Christ, the risen Christ, even John on Patmos saw this double edged sword coming out.
It's not any type of sword. It's a double edged sword.
So this man takes, Ehud takes this double edged sword and he ties it on the right side.
He's covering it up on his right thigh so no one will see it.
But he's a left handed guy.
Here's what I want us to understand.
The way to defeat, bring down cyclical patterns in your life, in my life, is to take the word of God.
Regardless of how you feel, regardless of what your personality trait is, regardless of what your experience is,
regardless of what your natural ways of doing things are, you don't look at any of those things.
Like Paul almost says, you look at all of those things and you say, I count all of that as crap.
And I therefore take what God is giving me through the word and I'll deal with it exactly how God wants me to deal with what he's giving me.
So Ehud takes this. He takes that sword, puts it here on his right thigh, even though he's a left handed man.
In other words, guys, in my life when I read something, I'm not just reading the word.
I am understanding the word as how the word is.
And then I'll become what the word wants me to become, irrespective of how I am.
My natural instincts and the ways I am are so not important in the kingdom.
The way God wants me to be is way more important than that.
I sometimes when I hear people say, oh, I'm, you know, by nature, I'm like this.
There is value to it to some extent, but really, really not.
We're all meant to be a certain way.
Somehow we've been taught that no, no, no, we're all so different.
We're all so diverse. We're all so no, no, no, no.
Okay. Ultimately, after all of this, you must be a certain way when it comes to the word of God,
because when you come to the word of God, you must take it and wield it.
However, he prescribes it.
Somehow this guy knew because in Revelation chapter 21 years ago, centuries ago,
this guy knew that it is on the right thigh that Christ has his name written.
Somehow he knew it without knowing it.
Somehow he knew it. That is, there is a significance with his right thigh.
My point is only this, that when I read the word, I cannot come with my excuses.
I cannot come with my ways. I cannot come with my ways of thinking.
I must look at the word and go, this is so real and this is so true for my life.
I expect this to happen tonight.
This is so real. This is so true.
I expect this is who I become tonight that I do not look at what the word tells of me and say, but however, do you know this happened?
None of those things must be of any importance in my life.
No excuses because if the word says this is who you are, then that is who you are.
If the word says this is how you must be, then that is how you must be.
A left handed guy doing, tying this on his right thigh, forever may this be in your mind
that when you approach the word, it does not matter how you are, you take the word as it is and then you begin to deal with it.
And we do not just read the word, we use the word. How do you use it?
You just built an altar and in this altar of prayer that you built, you begin to use it there.
You come against things that have been stopping you, that have been plaguing you.
And then you begin to understand what the word says about those things.
And you begin to come against those things with the word of God.
You wield the sword, the double edged sword of God against those very things.
Is it anxiety? As much as anxiety is true, as much as yes, there is anxiety.
Now you wake up and say, here is what the word of God says.
So I stand up tonight, I stand up today and I'll come against anxiety with this double edged sword.
And if you believe that this double edged sword has all the power that is required to break your anxiety, it will happen.
The truth is this, how many millions of people, how many millions of people have already tasted this goodness.
Today, I can be that man. Today, you can be that woman who experienced the goodness of what the double edged sword of Christ brings to your life.
And it doesn't matter how you feel about it. What matters is do you believe.
And it doesn't stop there. You then begin to use it.
The only way to use it, the only way to deal with this double edged sword in your life and wield it is to speak.
So at, when you're building your altar, you now begin to use words.
You now begin to take scriptures.
You take what Christ has already spoken.
You look at whatever it is.
Here's a wise thing to do.
For those exact areas that you have trouble in, you begin to see what the Bible says.
You begin to look for what the Bible says about those very things.
And then you take them and you use them.
Any questions?
Yeah. Third, we'll go through the last three very quickly.
Is Zion people take on the privilege of priesthood?
Is Zion people, city within a city, take on the privilege of priesthood?
Just like he had in Judges Chapter four, out of nowhere, there is this woman named Deborah.
You almost don't know where she came from.
But all of a sudden, there is Deborah and it is written about Deborah.
Now, Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lepidoth was judging Israel at that time.
She used to sit under the palm of Deborah.
And the people of Israel came up to her for judgment.
Guys, in your journey, in your walking with Christ, when you hit the milestone,
the developmental mind stone of knowing that you are a priest and living like a priest,
heaven rejoices.
From babes as we mature into adulthood in the kingdom,
from babes as we mature into adulthood in the kingdom,
when you get to the place of really knowing and understanding that you are a priest,
not just knowing, but living like a priest, carrying the responsibility of a priest,
that you actually walk around all the places you go to,
you do things that you do with the mindset of, I am a priest, heaven rejoices.
It's like when babies grow up, they hit milestones.
This is one milestone that God looks for in this type of a man, in this type of a woman.
He looks for one with an accurate understanding of what priesthood is.
That now your life becomes more than just yourself and your family.
It's more than all of those things.
Now it is about others.
It is a huge thing for God and not once in a while,
but continuously walking in the awareness of this truth that I am a priest of God.
And priests are certain way.
They are a certain way.
They can't speak what everyone else speaks.
Your mouth guards wisdom.
So how can you speak what everyone else speaks?
Your lifestyle is a certain way.
Because when you go and meet prosper, you now have the priesthood of God flowing.
Because Christ is first and foremost, the most high priest.
He has gone before us.
And now as I take on the mantle of being a priest,
here is what I must expect that anytime anyone comes to me,
that the fullness of Christ and the riches of Christ will flow through you.
Always.
24-7, 365 days.
Always.
Because this is not just your identity,
this is the responsibility with which you walk in.
And one question, because we don't have time,
that you should keep asking is where is your palm?
P-A-L-M, palm.
Because Deborah had this palm, this tree under which they came from different places.
And when they came there, they knew that solutions would be given.
Things would be judged accurately.
And so this fortress church that we talked about,
this stronghold church that we talked about,
this Zion that we talked about,
becomes so real when a group of people realize that they are true priests of God walking around together.
So when we go to anywhere in Richmond and we have the understanding,
accurate understanding that we are priests,
then the way we relate to people, the way we engage with people will be different.
Priests carry an authority.
You cannot wake up one day and just become a priest.
You have to be made a priest in any other religion.
And in our case, in what we believe, Christ has made us priests by His death.
His spirit now in us has made us priests.
But it requires a type of a lifestyle.
It doesn't matter where you go, what you do, this must be true.
A few days ago I was driving and while I was driving to a place,
God said, don't go this way, go to, go do this one thing first and then you go to where you want to go.
And so I do that. I then go drive to where I wanted to go in the process.
I knew in deep in my spirit. I just knew as soon as he said it, don't go here first, go somewhere else first.
I just knew something was about to happen.
And in the span of in about 10, 15 minutes, I met the person that I had to meet.
And what had to happen happened very quickly,
which we'll get to know hopefully another day.
What's my point? This is so real. I'm a priest when I go to Best Buy.
You are a priest when you go to superstore. You're a priest when you're at the restaurant.
You are a priest 24 7. Number four.
So the question that I want to ask you is where is your palm?
Number four, is Zion people asked for more and do not kneel down at the river?
I'll explain this is Zion people ask for more and do not kneel down at the river.
This can change your life. You see, get in and God raised.
Get in and God says, get in. Here's what I want you to do.
I want you to go attack Midianites. But hey, you have way too many people in your in your camp.
I don't want you to take all of these guys. I want you to trim down the number.
And the way I'm going to have you trim down the number and take just 300 with you is this.
I want you to take all of them to water and some of them will lap.
They'll drink as dogs. They'll almost lap the water in.
And then there'll be others who will kneel down and the ones who are kneeling down.
I don't want you to take them with you.
But the ones who are drinking the water like dogs lapping, I want you to take them.
Here's the only one thing I want to talk to you today.
When we are enrolled in the program of God, because over each of our lives is are his purposes,
things that he wants me and you to do,
we cannot and must not settle when we find water and kneel down.
We must go beyond it. When we feel like God, you've been so good to me.
You've been kind to me. And I've experienced this from you.
Don't settle there. When you feel like God has begun to do something in your life that has completely changed the way you're thinking about scripture,
that has completely transformed the way you pray, don't settle there. Ask for more.
Because he's looking for a people. He's looking for a type of a man and a type of a woman who says more like Dillner said, more.
Every time and any time a man says more, any time a man says, I will not kneel down at this river.
It's a pleasant place, guys. It's a good place to be there.
They were all going to battle to a battle. They were going to war with Midianites.
God says, instead of taking them to the battlefield, I want you to take all of these guys.
I think there were about 20,000 guys. I think so.
Twenty thousand people take all of them to the water.
But they had already been given the commission that they must go fight.
And so some of them, while by the time they got to where they got to, they lost track of the mission.
This happened in the book of Hague. You'll see this.
Many of them returned from Babylon, coming back to Jerusalem, and they wanted to rebuild the temple.
And then God began to remind them, did you forget?
Consider your ways. You promised all of these things. You vowed all of these things. Did you forget it?
Now do it. Don't settle. Don't kneel down where you find water.
This type of a man, this type of a woman will ask God for more.
Will ask God for more. Last thing, number five.
A people of Zion, the Zion people, rely on God's strategies for difficult problems.
For problems. Doesn't matter if it's difficult or not. Doesn't matter if it's easy or not.
Zion people rely on God's strategies.
You see this with a woman named Jael. J-A-E-L.
There is an evil commander, Cicero, who has been running away from the Israelites.
And he finds himself at Jael's house.
Jael, who is a woman who doesn't have a man in the house, relies on a strategy from God to bring down an evil commander who could not be dealt with with thousands of Israelites.
What does she do? She takes the tent peg. What does she do? She takes a hammer.
And that's all she needed to finish Cicero.
With problems in our lives, there are two ways to deal with it.
Either we look at what has happened in the past and we derive conclusions and we deal with things that way.
Or you become like Jael in this example. She's not a judge or anything.
She just gets dropped into the narrative of that story very quickly.
You become like that and you say, okay, for this situation, God, for this situation, what's your strategy?
I've been waiting for a job for all this time.
What is your heavenly strategy now?
Because all of my friends are applying to 50,000 different jobs and they're sending their resumes everywhere.
But what's your strategy for me?
God, I'm waiting for this new thing to open up in my life.
And the most natural way to do this is this.
But instead of that, let me ask you, what is your God's strategy for this situation?
With Elisha, God said, just take the salt, put it in a bowl and pray and decree that the toxicity of the water in the land of Jericho will go away as soon as you say, I make this pure.
So in some cases, God may just say, I need you to stand up tonight at this time and I need you to declare to this thing and say this and that's it.
It's a divine strategy, a God's strategy that does not make any sense to anyone.
How would you kill and get rid of all the toxicity in a city that's in the water?
And there are many, many miscarriages, many, many miscarriages because people there can't give birth because the water is toxic.
And Elisha finds himself there and Elisha asks God and God's response is only this.
Take salt, put it in a bowl, pray and say, I make all things new.
I make this pure. That's it.
God's strategy for a difficult problem or problems.
Yeah, it takes this type of a man.
It takes this type of a woman.
I wish we could go on more, but I won't.
But I hope you can think about these things and live this because when you and I begin to live like this, things change, man, because everything that God wanted me and you to become as he gave birth to us,
as he formed us in our mother's wombs begin to happen as this becomes our reality.
And no one needs to be excused because there is nothing can stop any of us from becoming all of this.
Yeah, can we as Tony comes up and sings, these are the days of Elijah.
Here's the deal.
If you have things in your life where you've said, God, I really want a breakthrough.
I really want to push through this and get into a new place.
If you're at a place in your life where, as Tony said earlier on while worshipping, it's like you've hit a ceiling.
You know there is more, but you can't touch it.
If you've gotten to a place in life where there are cyclical problems, if you've gotten to a place in life where you know, you know what?
There are things in your life that you must destroy because they are in from God.
There is no compulsion.
You can come.
There's no compulsion in this.
But if you have, if you want to respond to any of these things or anything I said, when you sing this car, when you sing the song, give everything in your mind to God.
And say, in my thinking, I'm so willing, God, to change that today as I stand up, I'm not standing up to just sing a song with the rest of the people here.
I am standing up in response to what you're saying.
And if this is who you are, then I'm willing to become this type of a man.
I'm willing to become this type of a woman.
And may I just say one more thing?
Because you don't need to stand up for this song.
Only if you are that, in that you want that breakthrough, then stand up.
Because not all of us may be in that place.
In which case, I'll allow the rest of them to stand up.
Because I just want some of you, because I know it deep inside my spirit and my heart that God wants this for you.
Only those people, even if it's just one, it doesn't matter.
Only those people stand up.
Don't stand up because Aaron is standing up.
That would be a very bad reason.
Don't stand up because it's the end of the thing and Derek is anyway, 605 it's taken longer.
No. We'll finish it very quickly.
But in response to what God has been saying, and your readiness for not just what God, you want God to do in your life,
but for the city in and through this church, if you want to respond truly from your heart, sincerely, then you stand up.
And then we'll just sing the song.
You respond to God between you and him.
No one else.
Because decisions you make with him are far more important than anyone else coercing you to do it.
Yeah?
Because that's how things are birthed in the spirit and it'll change your life forever.
These are the days of Elijah, declaring the word of the Lord.
These are the days of your servant, Moses, righteousness being restored.
These are the days of Elijah.
These are the days of Elijah, declaring the word of the Lord.
These are the days of your servant, Moses, righteousness being restored.
And these are the days of Elijah, of famine and darkness and sores.
And still we have a voice in the desert crying, prepare ye the way of the Lord.
The hokey cocks, riding on clouds, shining like a star, like a trumpet calling to your voice.
It's the year of Jubilee, out of Zion's fields salvation comes.
These are the days of Ezekiel.
These are the days of Ezekiel, the dry bones becoming as flesh.
And these are the days of your servant, David, rebuilding the temple of grace.
And these are the days of the harvest.
Next slide please.
These are the days of Elijah, of famine and darkness and sores.
And still we have a voice in the desert crying, prepare ye the way of the Lord.
At the trumpet call, lift your voice.
It's the year of Jubilee, out of Zion's fields salvation comes.
Behold he comes, riding on clouds, shining like the sun.
At the trumpet call, lift your voice.
It's the year of Jubilee, out of Zion's fields salvation comes.
There's no God.
There's no God like Jehovah.
Behold he comes, riding on clouds, shining like the sun.
At the trumpet call, lift your voice.
It's the year of Jubilee, out of Zion's fields salvation comes.
Salvation is here.
The year of Jubilee is here.
We got a brand new start.
The old is gone.
We're crossing the river.
Leaving the old ways behind.
Leaving the old sins.
Leaving the old.
We're crossing over.
We're entering the promised land.
The promised land.
Yesterday's manna is gone.
Oh, you're doing a new thing.
Say, a-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na.
De na-ma-se-da-bra-ma-ve-re.
Holy, holy, holy God.
We long for more.
We long for fresh rain.
We long for fresh anointing.
We long for new wine.
New wine.
New power.
New start.
Oh, da-bra-ba-sha-da-da-de.
De na-ma-se-bra-ve-ve-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da.
We leave the old behind.
We burn up the old.
Burn up religious junk.
Burn up the old ways.
Burn up the old systems.
Oh, da-bra-ba-sha-da-da-da-de.
We're embracing a new thing.
A new anointing.
Say, a-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-da-de.
Father, we're thankful for new things that You're doing in this house.
We're grateful for yesterday's manna.
But yesterday's manna is yesterday.
We leave behind that.
Because the moment the Israelites enter the promised land, manna stops flowing.
Why? Because it doesn't require.
Because the land begins to produce fruit.
Father, we are grateful for yesterday's manna.
But today, Father, we're going to expect new things because we are entering a new threshold.
We expect new fruits to bear in our lives, oh God.
We expect new wine to flow into our lives, oh God.
We expect new strategies of heaven, like Derek said.
New heavenly strategies, oh God.
You're going to give us fresh blueprint, oh God.
If you can give the Ten Commandments to Moses, oh God.
Oh Lord, give us a new commandment.
Give us new blueprint from heaven that is fresh, that is relevant for our day, oh God.
Oh God, You're doing a new thing, oh God.
Oh God, we thank You.
We thank You for the new start.
You are not renewing something old about it.
You are giving us a brand new start.
Oh God, we bless You.
We thank You that we're going to worship in a whole new way.
We're going to pray a different kind of prayer, oh God.
We're going to build altars of prayer, oh God.
We're going to do new things, oh God, in this city and in this nation, oh God.
And You're going to use us beyond, oh God.
So, oh God, we bless You.
We bless You for this new start, oh God.
For this new start.
And so, Aba, right now we sing the song Egypt, Aba, because we are crossing over.
We're crossing over, Aba.
And Aba, so we leave behind the old Egypt.
We cross over.
We enter the new, the new, the new, the new land, the new anointing, the new spirit,
a different spirit, and a new promise, that and a new promised land that we have entered today.
So, Aba, this is a declaration, a declaration, a declaration of what you've already done.
Yes.
Yeah.
I won't forget the wonder of how you brought
deliverance, the exodus of my heart.
I won't forget.
I won't forget the wonder of how you brought
deliverance, the exodus of my heart.
You found me.
You freed me.
You held back the waters from my release.
Oh Yahweh.
You're the God who fights for me, Lord of every victory.
Hallelujah.
You have told upon the sea.
You have led me through the deep.
Hallelujah.
A cloud by day.
A cloud by day is a sign that you are with me.
A fire by night is the guiding light to my feet.
You found me.
You freed me.
You held back the waters from my release.
Oh Yahweh.
You're the God who fights for me, Lord of every victory.
Hallelujah.
You have told upon the sea.
You have led me through the deep.
Hallelujah.
You stepped into my Egypt.
You took me by the hand.
You marched me out in freedom into the promised land.
Now I will not forget you, God.
I'll sing of all you've done.
Death is swallowed up forever by the fury of your love.
You stepped into my Egypt.
You took me by the hand.
You marched me out in freedom into the promised land.
Now I will not forget you, God.
I'll sing of all you've done.
Death is swallowed up forever by the fury of your love.
You're the God who fights for me, Lord of every victory.
Hallelujah.
You have told upon the sea.
You have led me through the deep.
Hallelujah.
You're the God who fights for me, Lord of every victory.
Hallelujah.
You have told upon the sea.
You have led me through the deep.
Hallelujah.
Hey guys, just want to leave you guys with this.
This is what Yasuri drew earlier on during worship.
And I just talked to her about what her understanding was as she drew this.
And she said alignment, that when we worship in unity, we are so aligned with God.
And with what I taught today, give him your thinking so that you begin to think in alignment with how he thinks about you, your situations.
Become that type of a man, that type of a woman.
We bless you.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
Thank you guys.
Thank you.
There will be people up here to pray for you if you need prayer.
So please come on up.